Summer

Well summer has finally arrived in Oregon! I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get some warm, sunny weather! But alas it's here! We have been having so much fun. It's kind of nice not having a set schedule for awhile. I'm sure by the end of the summer I'll be more than ready to have everyone (the girls) back in school. For now we are enjoying sleeping in (just the girls of course) and swimming pretty much every day. The girls both start gymnastics this week which they're very excited about.

Boston's not quite walking yet. He takes a few steps here and there, but still prefers to crawl. He's the fastest crawler I've ever seen, it's pretty funny! He almost hops, he's crawling so fast. He is into everything. I'm pretty sure the girls were never quite as active and destructive as this little guy! He's pretty cute though! I can't get enough of his little chubby cheeks:)

Madison has been reading like crazy. She's read all but one of the Ramona books. Perfect timing, because the movie Ramona and Beezus comes out this summer! She loves helping with Boston. She can get him into his high chair and get him food all by herself (he totally loves this!). She is very independent and wants to do everything by herself. She has become an awesome swimmer, I think it's quickly becoming her favorite sport!

Alex keeps us well entertained. She says the funniest things! She is loving having Madison home all the time. They spend pretty much every waking moment together. For the past six months or so they've been sleeping in the same bed. They think it's so fun! It's pretty cute going to check on them at night, and seeing them all snuggled up together. She decided about a month ago to switch from piano to violin. I think she just wants to do whatever Madison does. She's doing great though! I think watching Madi practice the past several years has made a huge difference. Oh, and she decided to cut her own hair today for the first time ever. Luckily she just gave herself some long layers, so it's not too noticeable! I'm actually kind of surprised she hasn't done this before~
We have lots planned for the summer....should be pretty fun!

• Camping @ the coast in July (not sure if I'm looking forward to this one)
• Madison - 2 week theater camp
• Brock going to Germany for two weeks (definitely not looking forward to this!)
• Having the exterior of our house painted...color suggestions welcome:)
• Weekend on the Southern Oregon Coast with my mom & sister
• 10 year H.S. reunion
• Hood to Coast Relay
• Trip to TX to visit old friends! (we haven't been back since we graduated from college!)

Boston loves sitting in Alex's magnetic doll set!

Having fun with friends @ Wildcat Park



~The girls and Ellie watching Jasmine cut hair~

Boston's Bday Party

We had a little party for Boston out at my mom's house this weekend. Boston had so much fun! We lucked out and got one of the only warm sunny days in weeks! Here's a few pics:

Boston's cousin Eden

My sweet friend Melissa made all the cupcakes and Boston's little cake! They turned out great!

Aunt Jasmine & Preston

Lovin' having all the attention!

Today Boston turns ONE!!!

Crazy how time flies! My sweet little boy is now one! I can hardly believe it! Boston has such a fun personality and has definitely been my easiest, most mellow baby. He completely adores his two big sisters, who love to take care of him and keep him entertained. On mornings when Boston get's up early, we'll get Boston out of his crib and Madison will take him downstairs on her lap, put him in his high chair and feed him breakfast! It's pretty sweet! She loves to help get him dressed, involve him in her imaginary games and read to him. Alex loves him too, but she's not what I would describe as super helpful:)

Boston's not quite walking yet. He walks along furniture and walls, and he'll stand by himself for several seconds. He is a fast crawler, so that is his preferred mode of transit these days. I'm sure it's not hard to believe, but Boston loves to eat! He will eat pretty much anything you put in front of him. His favorites currently are oranges and bananas, but he will truly eat anything. I tried giving him some cow's milk today mixed half and half with breastmilk and he made some funny faces and said "no-no-no." After several attempts he went ahead and drank it down.

He is definitely more active than the girls were at this age. He loves to explore, get into cupboards, and pretty much just make messes everywhere he goes. He's constantly on the move! His favorite place is the bathroom (of course!). We do our best to keep the bathroom doors closed, but he is quick and sneaky!

We're having a little party for him this weekend, so I will post those pics soon!

June 3, 2009

June 3, 2010

enjoying a little birthday gelato

playing at the toy factory

At Francesco's with Madi (couldn't get them both to look at the camera at the same time!)

Alex is 4!

Alex had such a fun 4th birthday! She's been talking about her 4th birthday since her last birthday! We celebrated her birthday at The Little Gym which is one of her most favorite places to go each week. We invited her preschool class and a few other friends. Usually when we have birthday parties there are several people who can't make it. Well not this year! We ended up with 16 of her little friends, so it was a bit wild! The Little Gym staff did pretty much everything which was great for me! We just brought goodie bags and cupcakes. All three of our kids' birthdays are within 5 weeks of eachother, so it's a bit crazy!

Brock made the cupcakes, and they turned out great. It's become a tradition for him to make their cake/cupcakes each year. I'm glad, because I don't think I'd do nearly as good of a job.

We topped off her birthday celebration with dinner at American Dream, which is her favorite (and ours too).

Jasmine and Preston came down on Friday and spent the weekend with us which was fun! The girls just love it when aunt Jazzy comes to visit!

Alex is getting so grown up and independent. She's up to all sorts of fun things these days:

• going to preschool three mornings a week
• changes her clothes multiple times a day
• well known for her creative and eccentric clothing and accessory combinations!
• learning to play the piano
• loves to help in the kitchen (even makes her own sandwhich at lunch time)
• loves to dress up and wishes I would dress more fancy too. She requested I wear a longsleeve shirt with a dress over it for her party:) I compromised with a longsleeve shirt and jeans!
• not quite as eager to help around the house as her older sister! Her typical answer when I ask her to do something is: "I can't"
• very curious
• loves to do things just a little different than the "norm"

Easter/ Boston's 10 months old!

We had a fun Easter weekend! I actually ended up working most of it, but Brock did a great job doing all the Easter festivities with the kids. They dyed Easter eggs and went to an Easter egg hunt. Brock even managed to get the kid's all dressed up and to church on Sunday morning. Sunday evening we had Brock's famly over for dinner. Brock made some amazing enchiladas from PW and chocolate pie!
In other news, Boston turned 10 months on April 3rd! I can hardly believe my sweet baby boy is almost a year! He's crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on everything! He's thoroughly enjoying his ability to explore the house and get into all sorts of things!

Spring break/ Update

Well spring break is just about over! We had a lot of fun this week, but I'm definitely ready to get back to our normal routine. We didn't go on a big vacation but we tried to do something fun each day. Tuesday and Thursday were the highlights of the week.

Tuesday we went to Silver Creek Falls. The weather was beautiful and the kids had so much fun! It really wasn't too far away, so hopefully we'll go back again in the near future. After spending the afternoon there we spontaneously decided to drive up to Portland to have dinner with Nick and Preston (Jasmine was @ school). We ate @ the Laurelwood, one of Jaz & Nick's favorite kid friendly places.

Thursday Madison and I went skiing with some friends. This was our second time this season which is a record for us! There was tons of powdery snow, which I guess is a good thing. The girls had a lot of fun at the kid's "ski school." They had class in the morning and afternoon until three. After that they skiied on their own for almost two hours! I figured they would totally crash on the drive back home. Amazingly, they were wide awake the the whole way!

Tomorrow Madison starts back to school. Soccer also starts up again this week. She has practice twice a week and games on Saturday. Brock is the assistant coach so he has to go to all the practices. I've been trying to be more organized lately. Now that we have three kids, our life has become pretty crazy!

Ooh and before I forget! Boston is crawling + he had his first haircut! ....and Madison just lost her 5th tooth:)

Brock packed us a fabulous little picnic lunch~

On the way to Hoodoo

Madi, Emily & Selena

This is after we had 1" cut off his hair! Brock wasn't ready to part with his wild hair! Okay, so I've had several people now ask me if we had his hair cut in a mowhawk! Seriously...do I look like the type of mom who would do that?!!