One Year Old

Here are some pictures of Joshy that I took today. It was a beautiful and warm fall day in Alaska. Perfect for some official One Year portraits!

Joshy's Birthday

We got a one day break and then it was time to party again. I can't believe my baby is already a year old. He got some fun presents and he and his siblings have been fighting over them ever since.

And despite everyone's best efforts, Josh was just not down with getting messy in his cake. I don't think anyone was more dissapointed that Jake.

Birthday Boy!

Today little Jakey turned four years old! He was so excited waiting for his birthday to come. He's been counting down the resteses! (That means bedtimes, i.e rest). This morning he woke up raring to go. Darrin came home for lunch so that Jake could open his first present and not have to wait all day. He got a giant Rescue Helicopter with battery operated rotors. He's been flying it all over the house.

I made a cake and decorated it myself with some frosting tubes I found left over from Christmas. Like my car? Well, Jake did and that's all that matters! It took him three tries to blow out his candles.

He opened his presents and spent the rest of the evening playing with them non stop. Jordan can't figure out why it's not her birthday. She's going to be really bummed out on Wednesday when Josh has HIS birthday and she, once again, doesn't.

A Chick Weekend!

Right now I'm am super-duper excited. Somehow, my friend Carly and I managed to find a way to fly to Seattle for a weekend (NO KIDS!) in November for a scrapbooking convention of all things.

How strange will it be to walk through airport security and not have to remove three coats, three pairs of shoes, collapse a stroller, try to get Jordan to let go of her blanket so it can go through the xray machine AND try to keep everyone calm as I send them through the xray one at a time?

And how strange will it be to walk right onto an airplane without collapsing a stroller at the end of the jetway, not lugging on two carseats, three carry ons, herding a preschooler and a toddler in the right direction all while carrying a squirming baby?

And how strange will it be to sit in a seat on an airplane and not get barfed on, or cried on, or spilled on, not have to go to the potty every 15 minutes, not get dirty looks from the guy in front of Jake because he's kicking the seat, not get dirty looks from everyone else because someone is crying and not have well-meaning but annoying passengers walk back to tell me what they think I should do to handle a situation?

I am going to sit and read or watch TV or listen to music or talk to Carly and that is it. What will that be like? And what will it be like to walk off the plane and just walk away? No picking up a stroller, no balancing carseats and kids all on one stroller, no millions of bags at baggage claim. Just me and my backpack. What will that be like?

And what will it be like to spend two and a half days with no kids? No feeding anyone, no resolving fights, looking for lost toys, no fighting over bedtime.

Hmmm. I miss them already.

Baby Shower

This past weekend I had the honor and joy of co-hosting a baby shower for my sweet friend, Lucy. Her baby girl, Katelyn Reese, is due to be born on November 2nd. We are all hoping she decides to come a little early!

High Five

Joshy's offical first word has finally occured. He says, "high five" and gives high fives. It actually sounds more like, "hi bob," or "fa fa" sometimes. But he's trying to say it and he says it when he means it. Like when he's actually giving out high fives.

He has said a few other things prior to this, including "mama," "dada," "baba," and "uh oh." But he says them whenever he feels like and doesn't mean anything by it other than babbling.

So "high five" it is!