cousins

Rory and Lucy are blessed to have 3 fabulous cousins, two of which get to act like their big brothers respectively. Watching rory and owen together is like watching a flashback to 1980- they just physically look like brady and i, not to mention the same hero worship dynamic. meanwhile- quincy is tickled to have lucy around and is so cute with her. i just think he is excited to not be low man on the totem pole anymore as evidenced by the mischevious smile/laugh he was giving while "playing stickers" with her. The other fun dynamic is rory and quincy together. they are only 3 months apart, a gap which is quickly narrowing. they look like twins and are never to be left unsupervised! owen is also super sweet with lucy, although he loves to show how strong he is by carrying her around. luckily she just sort of hangs in his arms and waits to see where it is she got transplanted. he will make a great babysitter in about 7 years. now if we could just get to see sabine more often, all would be right in the world of cousins.

Rory's understanding of college...

recent conversations we have had about college with Rory.
Conversation #1
Me- (driving by our local elementary school) Rory, there is your school that you will go to after preschool.
Rory- when i'm older?
me- yeah. you will go to that school and then middle school and then high school and then college.
Rory- will you drive me to college or will i take the yellow bus?

conversation #2
Pat- You know rory, Notre Dame is more then just football, it is a college and you could go to school there (shameless!!)
Rory- okay daddy, but I kinda of like my school- it is pretty neat.

conversation #3
Rory- mom, who's that picture of? (while looking at blogs)
me- that's mommy's friend wendy and her family
Rory- who's wendy?
me- she's a friend from college.
Rory- maybe someday i will go to college and meet her, she looks nice.

blah...

teething sucks.

monster march

We decided to make an event out of the yearly neighborhood Halloween parade and invite our toddler friends and families to join us. It was such fun and will definitely be a tradition. We had a little food and drinks, and lots of friends and family. I set up a couple of art projects for the kids to do- and they all really got into it. The baby pumkin decorating was especially popular. Another favorite was the pile of Halloween books we have collected this year. Rory loves "There's a monster at the end of this book" which was one of my favs growing up. my favorite moment of the day was watching my dad read that book to the kids in the same style he used to read it to me.

After hanging out we got into costumes and headed to the parade. My dad and Linda definitely take the cake for best adult costume and what's really cool is that linda made them! She also made Quincy's big bird costume and some of owen's batman costume. All the kids were so adorable and it was really fun for them to get to wear their costumes more then once. The parade was fun, we narrowly missed the rain and the kids loved seeing all the fun costumes. Ideas for next year include tailgating on the parade route! Thanks to all who made it and we look forward to next year.

words

we have a tie for first word from lucy. several people have heard her say "hi" and pat and i have heard her say dada. since rory's first word was dada, i am inclined to go with the hi. either way it is pretty darn cute! sorry for my horrible punctuation and lack of capitols recently- lucy removed the shift button from my laptop. that reminds me, she says dada when she sees pat, but also when she sees the computer!!

Lucy update

Lucy went down in her crib tonight awake and with NO tears!! Thanks to all for repeating what I already knew, but needed to hear. The irony is that in order to let Lucy cry, we had to get Rory out of the room, so she slept with us for several nights- now we have to retrain her. Luckily she can be bought! I haven't come accross the problem that a few m&m's can't solve (I know, not my best parenting). We are hopefully closing in on beautiful, peaceful, much needed sleep. Goodnight!

A 2AM letter to Lucy

~warning- this is the ramblings of sleep deprived mom who is using the computer to distract her and to pass the time- probably doesn't make great reading~

Day 2 of "get lucy to go to sleep in her crib and stay in her crib" project. Day one included 20 minutes of crying at bedtime- 5 wakeups between 7-midnight and mom giving in at midnight due to total exhaustion.
Tonight included only 5 minutes of crying at bedtime- but you fell asleep sitting up in your crib- pretty cute actually. And i don't remember the rest of the night- but I woke up in the chair at 1am holding you- so obviously it didn't go as planned. 1:45 Dad took Rory downstairs for a slumber party leaving me and you to battle this out. 2:43am- all is quiet. 2:47 more crying.

Dear Lucy,
I thought that i should write to you tonight because somehow i don't remember having this sleep problem with rory and so maybe, god willing, i will forget this someday too. Here is what i know. I know you want to sleep in my bed. I don't blame you- it is WAY better then your crib, however you can't have a cozy down comforter of your own until you get older, so cozy minky blankets will have to do. I know you want to sleep with me. I don't blame you, i am super cuddly! You are also my daughter which means you will prefer to sleep snuggled with your feet tucked under someone (anyone really) for the rest of your life. I know that i am sorry. I HATE to hear you cry. If it were just you and me, I would let you sleep in my arms until you were 20 if you wanted- but it's not and I can't. I promise i will pay for therapy to correct any deep seeded abandonment issues i am creating tonight. (okay- that was totally my projecting- sorry) . I know that you can do this. everyone learns to sleep eventually, the sooner the better kiddo. I know that I can do this. you are round 2 so you don't get to prey on my vulnerabilities like your sister did. I know that I will survive this, that we will all eventually sleep 6, 8, maybe 10 hours at one time.(that seems like crazy talk at this point- but I am pulling an Oprah and just putting it out there. my vision board would just have a big pillow on it. and maybe a really long shower. but I digress...)I know that I get to win- because I am the mom and I have something you don't- caffiene. Props to you for the short intervals of quiet- that is brilliant. You must know that will wear me down much faster then just constant crying. I know that I love you very much. I have been playing my "instant vs. long term gratification" lecture (yes, mommy used to do things like give lectures!) in my head all night. I would never let you feel any sort of discomfort if i didn't know that it was for your greater good. I know that the persistance, determination, strong will, and dedication you are showing tonight will serve you so well in your life. I just hope next time we get to play on the same team! I love you, goodnight. ~Mom
3:05 all's quiet....for now.

technical difficulties

can't seem to change the dates of 2 old posts that i just finished so if you want to see them they are dated aug. 26th about sunriver and sept. 15 about a mid-year check in. just an FYI

what do 4 adults do in a house with 4 sleeping babies?

ROCKBAND!!

a glimpse at my future....

1/2 year check in...written a few weeks ago

So lucy recently turned 6 months old and Rory is weeks away from being officially 2 1/2. I felt I should update a little about where they are at this point in time, more for my memory's sake then anything. Pat has been gone to vegas and then on a business trip, so it has been "girls night out, woooohoooo" ~rory, every night. I keep using Pat's absence as an excuse/motivation for her to get things done, for instance "Let's redecorate the bathroom and suprise daddy" or "let's put away all your toys and reorganize them so that when daddy gets home he will be surprised." It backfired last night when rory told me, "mommy, I love murphy (my mom's dog). We should go get a dog so we can suprise daddy!" yes Rory, that would certainly be a suprise and no. rory is loving school, continues to be amazingly verbal, and has had recent huge growth spurts. Pat noticed that she no longer has toddler legs- she is a string bean of a girl- no more baby!

Lucy continues to be one of the most active babies I have known. constantly moving. she is crawling and lights up with smiles at the drop of a hat. she loves to play and is very vocal about it. she watches rory like a hawk and you can see her trying to mimic her. we are starting to sign with her and she is starting to get the wave thing down. She continues to be a good sleeper- but prefers being near someone for best results- she is a total cuddle bug.

1st day of school!!

I love school!! It was only preschool- but so much fun taking Rory to her first day today.

Pat suprised us and came home from work to escort Rory on her first day. I was so proud of her, she just kissed us goodbye and away she went. This is when I wish I was a good writer so that I could accurately describe the variety of emotuons that today held. I contemplated hanging around "just in case", but decided that if something goes awry that it would be better for her to deal on her own from the very beginning. BTW- Pat went back to look through the window TWICE- it was very cute! The end of class report from teacher Angie was all positive. I got the sense that Rory was a bit quieter then usual, but I can just imagine her standing there watching the kids and trying to figure it all out. I guess there were some brief tears when another girl painted Rory's hair and face green, but she recovered and was all smiles by the time I got there to pick her up. The funny thing is, Lucy was out of sorts all day- I think she missed Rory!! As Rory was going down for her nap today here was the conversation.

Rory "I can't go to sleep mom, I have to go to school"

Me "You already went to school this morning, we just got home from school"

Rory with a giggle "Oh yeah, I forgot!"

It obviously didn't leave a lasting impression.

Lucy 6 month photo shoot

August Sunriver trip- trying to catch up on blogging!!!

Our second week long adventure in Sunriver this summer included lots of park time, sewing (rory even helped sew a doll quilt), music in the village, 1st time cookie baking, pony rides (no hesitation this time!) hanging out with the cousins and spending time with Dr. Mandy and her family. Pat joined us for both weekends, but the girls and I stayed with my mom for the week. We of course continued the tradition of eating ice cream at Goody's and started what I hope to be a new tradition of going to south twin lake for some swimming and picnic- it was beautiful and i liked letting the girls swim in something other then a pool! Another fun addition was eating at flatbread in Bend. Rory loved getting to make her own pizza- definitely something we will make a habit. It was fun, but it seemed like we weren't home at all this summer. We have enjoyed our Portland time since being home and have had lots of fun play dates.

like daddy, like daughters.

dueling laptops!

funny rory conversations...

So Rory is quite verbal these days and pretty funny too. I just wanted to write these down so I don't forget them later. you may or may not be as amused as I am!
(repeat from fb)
me: Rory, why don't you go play coffee shop?
Rory: okay- mom, do you want a coffee or a caramel machiato?
me: a caramel machiato? what is that?
Rory: It is a coffee drink. I just need to know if you want salt or pepper.

since then the conversation has gone...

Me:rory- usually people don't put salt or pepper on their coffee, they usually put cream or sugar.
5 minutes passes
Rory: mom- here is your coffee and I added sour cream for you.

Another amusing conversation from this morning. We had been home all morning and Rory had spent most of the morning w/o a diaper (not by design, I just hadn't gotten to it yet!) and had used her potty several times on her own.
Me: Rory- I am noticing that you are using your potty a lot today and doing a great job. Does it help you to remember to use the potty when you get to be naked?
Rory: Yes, then I will be on the potty train.

seriously, she cracks me up. on a Lucy note- she has fully mastered sitting up and is so anxious to follow her sister around she has started to sort of launch herself from a sitting position onto her belly, hands outstreached in hopes of getting to her desired destination, which is usually rory. She gets around in all ways but crawling and has showed just how tough she is by not even blinking when her head has met hardwood floor.

watch out world....

Cape Cod and AJ's wedding

2 weekends ago I ventured with Lucy, Madi and my mom to Cape Cod to celebrate AJ's wedding. It was a whirlwind 4 days. Flying cross counry with a 5 month old is an adventure and I was so thankful to have madi and mom along. Lucy was a champion traveler, possibly better then any of the adults. I think at one point I realized that she had been strapped to my body via the ergo for approx 12 hours straight. I was the matron (that sounds soooo old!) of honor so had lots of things to do while there and my mom and madi took the lead on Lucy care. In the 2 days we were there that we weren't traveling we fit in a bridal shower, a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and the wedding. Basically it was a blur of great food, outfit changes, meeting new people, and enjoying time with AJ and seeing her hometown. Scott (her groom) is so great and they seem wonderful together. We got to eat lobster at the rehearsal dinner (thanks AJ and Scott!!) and triple crown champion chowder at Mr Parkers (a local recomended this and it was awesome!) and enjoyed a brief pitstop at the beach on our way off the cape. very Jaws. The wedding itself was beautiful and so much was hand done by AJ- it was truly amazing. She made our flowers (knitted), sewed her own dress, baked and decorated the cake, made all the favors and programs and it was all perfect! Thanks to mom and Madi for coming with me and making the whole thing doable and thanks to AJ and Scott for letting me be a part of such a special day.

lucy's first food

So this was almost a month ago now, but wanted it recorded for memory sake. I am trying to get caught up on blogging in the next week or so. This is from our 4th of July SR trip when we gave Lucy her first food. We waited until 6 months to give Rory food b/c of family food allergies, so by the time we started her she was physically really good at eating right from the beginning. This time around our pediatrician advised us to start Lucy at 4 months because she is so big (at that time she was the size of an average 8mos. old) she needs the food. So needless to say she is a little less skilled, but totally loved it and has been a champion eater ever since. There is video- but have not yet been successful at uploading it to blogger (any tips?)

A Week in Sunriver

It's funny that I am just now blogging about the week we spent in Sunriver over the fourth of July because I am currently again spending a week in Sunriver- maybe I will get that posted by the time school starts. Anyway, the week started with Pat's cousin and family for a few days which was so fun and great for Rory as she loved spending time with the older kidsl. Then we were joined by Pat's parents, his brother and our niece Sabine. Sabine lives in VT, so her visits are special and highly anticipated by Rory. This week was marked by a lot of firsts for the girls. Lucy ate her first solid foods (more on that in a seperate post), Rory got to ride a big girl bike for the first time (thanks papa John!!) Rory had her first sleep over (well, just down the hall with cousin Katie and Connor- but still counts!) Rory rode her first pony and Lucy logged her first pool time. I had over 200 pictures from the week- but here are a few highlights. Our trip also included a trip to the children's museum in Bend, a fabulous anniversary dinner and night out in Bend for Pat and I, dancing at the village concert, shopping, Papa John's waffles and lattes, a really fun 4th celebration (see previous post), lots of bbqing, and good old fashioned QT with the fam.

the 4th

I had hopes of finding time to blog about all the adventures that happened on our 9 day sunriver trip-however these days I can't even get the dishes done- so blogging is a no-go. Needless to say the 4th was super fun- started the day with the animal parade in Bend- quite a sight! Then we hit the Sunriver fireman's picnic where Rory ruled the bounce house and Lucy got great use out of the pop-up shade tent I had bought- it was HOT! We ended the day with a bbq at the house and then into the village for some music and dancing. True to tradition- Rory and Sabine got ice cream from Goodies (something I did as a kid) and Rory LOVED it. The girls danced- the adults relaxed with drinks and lounge chairs- it was really fun. By the end of the day Rory was a mess- doing a sugar prompted version of the hokey pokey- I will keep trying to get that video up- so far no luck. Thanks to BrieAnne for the girls matching outfits- they got lots of compliments!

Oh yeah- the girls also made a happy birthday America cake- they each got their own cake and decorations thanks to Joanne- they were so focused and into it- a great project!

corvallis visit

****Updated multiple posts so scroll down to see them*****

The girls and I spent an overnight in Corvallis a few weeks ago and were able to meet up with the cousins for dinnerand spend some quality time with the grandparents. It was a super fun trip and one we plan on repeating throughout the summer.

buddies

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of Rory and her friend Eli. Mandy, Lisa (Eli's mom) and I have been close friends since middle school so it is so cool to see our kiddos hanging out. Rory and Eli are the same age and Lucy, George and Niaya (due in august) will all be the same age. So fun!!! This was Eli's first zoo trip so Rory took it upon herself to show him the ropes. She looks like the littlest tourist in her white shoes and map. Every time I would ask her if she was ready to move on to another exhibit she would say "let me just look and see if they are there, and what time they open" and a variety of other things she thought she could read from the map. Looking forward to many more zoo adventures with this crowd!

summer fun...

A new favorite of ours is fridays at jamison park in the pearl. I have been doing stroller strides there and then we stay and play in the fountainride scooters/eat lunch and hang out. Rory loves the water and with it getting hotter it should be a fun summer tradition. A great place for a playdate if any of you portlanders are interested....

Furball 2009

The Maloney clan sponsers a golf tournament (it used to be 3 on 3 basketball, but everyone got too old) every year for a charity that honors a member of the family that died of kidney disease. see http://www.scotthughes.net/ for more info. It is a super cool event and lots of fun. It amazes me each year how much dedication it takes and how successful mike and shannon are at hosting such a big event. I used to help out and volunteer- but with the kiddos that became difficult so now I just go and hang out. I got to spend the day at the oregon golf club driving a cart around and sitting on the 8th whole watching the groups come through. It was lots of fun and since Rory and Lucy were the only kids there they got lots of attention. Rory even wore her golf outfit and brought her little clubs. I think they raised over 6,000 dollars this year and it was a lot of fun.

Children's Rose Parade

Here are some pictures from the Children's Rose Parade last week. We decided that the big parade is too chaotic for little ones so we would take them to the children's parade instead. My parents brought Owen and my grandparents up from Corvallis and Mandy, her mom, and George met us there. We had enough grandparents with us that Mandy and I barely touched the kids, which I enjoy being free to chat and take pictures. It worked out perfect to have lunch at Laurelwood and then just head out right at parade time. I could not believe how mandy people were already sitting outside 3 hours before the parade even started. It was super fun, a little too hot near the end, but a new tradition I am sure.
The back row trying to shade the babies.

Rory showing off her sunscreen application skills.

Grandma Addie on Lucy patrol

Baby George turned 1 week old during the parade!

when asked to smile Rory replied, "no pictures mommy, I am clapping!"

The Corvallis crew

Rory was serious about parade watching.

So Cute! Rory insists on holding Owen's hand and Owen is such a great sport.


Grandpa Stan with baby Lucy

Is she 2 or 95?

Mandy's baby shower

Some pics from the shower we threw for Mandy at our house at the end of April. The best part was that out of 20 guests, 5 were pregnant! Talk about it being in the water!!! It was a successful event and I think everyone had a lot of fun. Lisa T. co-hosted and made thefavors and diaper cake which were both really cute. My mom helped with set up and clean up which was so great. Thanks to all who came and all who helped.


Aramis batting clean-up w/meatballs and champagne

George Edwin Asher VanSandt

Born May 27, 2009 at 12:54 pm. 8lb 5oz, 21.25 in. Lots of hurdles to get here- but he is here and he is so sweet. Mandy did so well and I am so proud of her. She already looks like a veteran mom. I may start printing the wedding invites this weekend, I think "George and Lucy" sounds like a perfect match!!!

Lucy's open house

Once again I have gotten myself a month behind in the blogging department. Last month Linda and Dad were sweet enough to throw us a "come meet Lucy" open house. It was part baby shower and part open house. It was super relaxed and great to get to see so many people from Corvallis w/o having to drag Lucy all over town. there was lots of yummy food and even a frost your own cupcake station. This of course was Rory's favorite part. You can tell it is a weekend spent and grandma and grandpa's when you get 2 cupcakes in one day! Rory also managed to get some cool big sister gifts and only made it half way through the party before she shed her party dress and opted for the new swim suit. It was a really lovely party and we are so lucky to have so many people help us welcome miss Lucy to the family!

Ps- I do realize that it was Lucy's party and yet all the pictures are of Rory. As a second child I am painfully aware of this phenomenon, however this time I tried to take pictures of Lucy, but she was so busy being held and cuddled by all the guests i didn't even really see her all day. More pics of her next time, I promise!

3 month comparison

Here are the girls at 3 months each. They remain very similar in looks and very different in temperment. Lucy is a great sleeper and rarely do you hear her voice (although she is starting to do a lot of "talking"). Rory is now a great sleeper, but we paid our dues early on. She is making the transition to her big girl bed like a champ and is doing great with the potty training. She is just such a big kid these days. Lucy is sweet and snuggly and I can't believe how fast time is going. In a blink they will both be in school. I am loving the weather and am so looking forward to the next few months of sunshine, swimming, vacations, and lots of people off from work!

Another Roryism and a Lucy milestone

On April 26th Lucy rolled over from back to front unassisted- just for the record books. Last week when in her mind I was not listening adequately to her, Rory put her hand on her hip and very sternly said, "Mommy Ann!" She must think that I use "Ann" as a way to get her attention and not because it is her middle name.

matching...

One of our latest adventures is getting dressed in the morning. It is a balancing act between practicality (nope, can't wear your swimsuit all day), wanting to encourage her Independence, and my wanting to get use out of all the adorable clothes we have for her. If she got her way she would wear pjs, swimsuits, "cozy pants" (leggings) and lots of accessories. In trying to help her make good clothing decisions, I started talking about the idea of matching. she would pick a pair of stretch pants and then we would try to find all the shirts that might match. She was so excited yesterday when she found a shirt and pants that matched! I guess I need to talk about coordinating instead of matching- she was right it did match and she wore it proudly all day. so much for her stylish wardrobe!

Spring photos

Here are some of the shots from the girls' last photo shoot with our friend pk. There aren't as many of lucy because she doesn't do much yet, but I love the ones of Rory outside our house and the one he did get of lucy is a great photo considering she was only 6 wks old. my favorite one is of Rory sitting in the back patio where you can see her green socks. those socks represent the daily adventure that is getting her dressed and her constant struggle to add one more accessory. It's no wonder that the Fancy Nancy book became a quick favorite. She does seem to have a decent sense of style, she always manages to make it work. Thanks to PK for continueing to give us these images! I am trying to push him towards doing this professionally, I think he is really good! Lot's going on in the next few weeks, I feel like everyone is all over the map, so please all travel safe and have fun. ~b

25 months and 2 months

Just some snapshots of life at our house with a 2 month old and a 25 month old. Lucy continues to change and grow and rory continues to grow and be silly.

c'mon dude

Just one of those things I don't want to forget. A couple of days ago I was driving and I slammed on the brakes before I could say anything, I hear from the back seat "c'mon dude!". too funny- at least she repeated that and not something worse. Today I had to brake a bit hard again and this time I heard "c'mon dude, gimme a break!" wow- what a great reminder that she will do as I do and not as I say!

Corn Dog Day 2009

Same story as the last post- just got these off the diaper bag camera. We only made a brief appearance at corndog day this year b/c Pat and Brady had to get to the rose garden to watch the NCAA games that were in portland this year. Also- it was Rory's actual birthday and I didn't think watching that kind of debauchery all day was an appropriate way to celebrate. We do thank Evan and Renee for hosting a great party and for providing Rory with her first taste of corndog. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about check out http://www.corndogday.com/

back track to st.patrick's day

So one of the benefits of having my new big camera is that I get to keep my old little digital in the diaper bag at all times- which has come in handy many times. The drawback is that I forget about it and hardly ever remember to download pics from it- so when I do they are older. Sooooo, here are some pics from the weekend before st. Patrick's day. We used to go to the Kell's tent on Saturday night and meet up with large groups of friends and celebrate in true Irish style, with many Guinness. For the past 2 years we have done the modified version of Saturday afternoon, meeting just a few friends and equal parts food and drinks. It actually is a lot of fun, and i don't miss the nighttime version at all. When you go in the afternoon it is free, you get to watch little kids dance to Irish music, including our little leprechaun. Rory loved the Irish Wolfhound dogs- they are absolutely stunningly huge and graceful. All in all a really fun day. This year Pat's parents came down to meet us so Rory was in heaven with Baba to spring for face painting and souvenirs. We didn't get to do the Adidas walk this year due to other commitments, but are hoping to bring it back as a maloney family tradition next year. The other great part of going to the kells tent is you get to see BP wearing green- a once a year event! for all you portlanders I highly recommend this family friendly event and hope to see you there next year!

6 week comparison

random pics...

Just wanted to post some current pics of the girls. Lucy is sporting her best beaver basketball watching gear (and her only departure from footie jammies) and Rory is enjoying the first sunny day of the season. I am struck by these pictures at how much Rory is starting to look like Pat's baby pictures. For awhile she was a dead ringer for me at that age, but now she is definitely looking like a maloney. Lucy looks a lot like Rory and if I get a minute I will dig out some pics of Rory at this age. We are six weeks into being a family of 4 and everything is going along fine. I feel more rested then I remember from last time. The biggest challenge at this point is keeping up with all the stuff. I feel like i spend a good portion of my resources moving things from one floor to another and constantly trying to keep clothes/books/toys/dishes etc organized/clean/put away. Rory is experiencing some serious emotions these days. quick to tears and a low tolerance for almost everything is the mood of the day. I am attributing it to her age, molars, a lasting cold, growing pains, or probably a combination of these. I try to remain patient and find the delicate balance between validating what she is experiencing and not pandering to it. I can't tell you how many times a day I say "It's okay to cry if you are sad or frustrated, but crying is not going to change my answer or get you what you want" and she responds through choking tears "big girl (hiccup) words (sniff sniff) get me (hiccup) what I (sniff) want" Most times she tries to be brave and work through it, but there have been a couple of complete melt downs. Also a good refresher for me on my counseling skills of being present, not projecting, and picking my battles. We went to an Easter party the other day and she started the process of leaving the house in a cute party dress, white sparkle shoes and a white sweater (an outfit that we painstakingly laid out the night before and that would meet even my grandmother's idea of Easter appropriate). By the time we actually left the house and after my best effort at reverse psychology, pleading and flat out bribery (none of which worked) I gave in and she arrived in the green party dress, red patent leather boots, a hot pink sweater and sun glasses. Like I said, I am reminding myself daily to pick my battles. She actually looked really cute in a alternative, Hawthorne hip kind of way. It is probably good that my grandmother isn't around to see what 3rd generation fiercely independent tomboy looks like, although I think she had some of that in her it was just hidden deeply behind a sweet and and equally fierce sense of appropriateness. I am rambling and nap time is officially over- back to work!

Rory turns 2!!

So we had a long weekend of celebrations for Rory's 2nd birthday. On Friday night Brady, Shahni, the boys, Aunt Madi and Grandma Dawni all ventured to the Play Boutique in Lake Oswego for Rory's first movie- Horton Hears a Who. It was great because the kids got to play and the adults got to enjoy a beverage and visit. Rory got her first taste of German food on Sat. when we took her to the Rhinelander for dinner- she loved the fondue, the music and the singing waiters. She may have an Irish name, but that kiddo looks every bit her German heritage. On Sunday we had her official birthday party at HUB a local brewery in SE. Due to illness, only one of her little buddies could make it, but Eli was adorable as usual and the two played and ate and had a good time. Rory was VERY into her Dora cupcakes and loved having all her people around her to sing and help her celebrate. She is one lucky girl and we are a very fortunate family! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make her 2nd birthday so special. I will blog more on life with Rory at 2 soon. BTW- lucy is great!

computer blow up

typical that our computer decides to completely fry during Lucy's 2nd week at home. We have replaced it so I have internet access again, however we lost about 2 weeks of pictures. So you can use your imagination to fill in the posts that I missed- first bath etc. We are approaching the 1month old phase and she loses her newborn look a little every day. Exciting and sad at the same time. 2nd time mommyhood is definitely different- time flew with rory but this time we are moving at warp speed. I look back and can't figure out why I thought it was so hard with just one baby? I think the biggest difference is the first time around it was a serious identity change. I became a MOM- which was a huge adjustment. This time I am crazy busy, wicked tired, less then clean, and having a great time. All in all everything is going really smoothly. Rory continues to amaze me on a daily basis- she randomly started counting in spanish the other day (maybe due to the increase in Dora viewing since lucy's arrival?) and chats nonstop. She turns 2 in a couple of days and I hope to spend some time writing a bit about her soon for my own memory. PK came to visit when Lucy was only 5 days old, and took some more pics. He has given us such a gift of capturing these precious times on film. i love what he has done with the images to enhance them and I think they look really beautiful. March is so incredibly busy with birthdays, march madness, corndog day, spring break, etc. It feels good to take a moment out of the craziness and reflect on this little thing called my family!

Back tracking

I am trying to get caught up on blogging, emailing, etc. and I realized that in my hast to get pics up of baby Lucy I skipped several events from the weeks prior to her arrival. So I will back track a bit and try to get caught up. First up is the awesome babyshower that Shahnaz and Rebecca threw for me down in Corvallis. It was supposed to be at this fancy spa in Corvallis, but 4 days prior to the event the spa hung a sign on their door that they were out of business, a scary sign of the times. Rebecca was generous enough to open her beatiful home to us and the event went on and was lovely. It was so nice to get to spend the afternoon with some of my favorite ladies! They even brought the spa to us and had a chair massage lady there to give us short massages- it was really fun. Good food, good company, good times! Thanks again Shahni, Rebecca and everyone who attended and helped out to make it such a special event!

It has taken me a full week, but here are the pics from Lucy's birthday. Of course there are a ton more, but until I figure out how to put them in slideshow form, this will have to do. Overall it was such a great event. It went as well as you could hope, very peaceful and relaxed and quick! All the grandparents got to come in fairly soon after her birth and madi did a great job of capturing at least one picture of lucy with each of them

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Rory got to come in as well and meet her new sister. She wore her Dr. outfit and charmed all the hospital staff.

Through out the rest of the day we had visitors and hung out and celebrated. Shahnaz and the boys made it at the end of the evening and the cousins got to meet.

Literally as Lucy was born there was a double rainbow outside the window!

In the week since then things have gone so well. Rory has taken her new role as big sis very seriously and is even starting to ditch the binky a bit more since that is only for babies like lucy! She is very concerned for lucy and if she cries rory immediately says "quick, get orange blanket" (orange blanket is rory's trusty companion who she recently started talking on the phone to) or sits next to her and sings. It is such a different experience this time, with Lucy continuing to be super mellow. she does try to nurse 24/7 but we are working on that. anyway, thanks for all your well wishes, phone calls, texts, and visits. Lucy is one lucky girl.

Lucy Mae Maloney

Just wanted to briefly introduce Lucy to the blog. She was born on Sunday at 4pm (checked in at the hospital at 1:30), after a fast and furious labor and delivery. I avoided being induced which was awesome and overall the process was much more peaceful and enjoyable then Rory's birth. THe timing was perfect and lots of family and friends were able to meet her. I am totally sleep deprived and am typing like I used to type term papers, half asleep and unaware of what I am writing until I go back and read it later. Soooo, here are the stats and then I will add more later.
Lucy Mae Maloney
DOB 2-22-09 4pm
9lbs, 10.6 oz
21.5 inches

Pictures and details to follow... post nap!

41 weeks

just an update.... No baby yet. I am 6 days past my official due date and 12 days past my ultrasound due date. Things are going fine- just getting very big and very immobile. Rory reports that the baby in her tummy is coming soon and that it kicks her and makes her lay down because her back hurts. This has been a great lesson in just how much our kids mimic and learn from our actions- it is like having a constant reflection of what I say and do, including the groans when I sit down- although hers are a bit more dramatic! She also reports that the baby in her tummy is a boy and that it will be named catherine- so go figure. At 36 weeks I was convinced we were having this baby early, and Pat promised everyone a January baby- so just goes to show how much none of us really knows about this process. Unless something happens this weekend we will induce on Tuesday. As of today this baby is officially a pisces instead of an aquarius. If it comes tomorrow it and I would share a bday, which would be fine with me. So thank you to all for the calls, emails, texts and well wishes. We are fine and just trying to live in the moment and enjoy these last days of being a family of 3 and of having the ability to easily get a babysitter! Pat and I went to the blazer game on wed. and the man who works in our section who has watched me get bigger and bigger throughout the season was SHOCKED when he saw me there- he just started laughing at me. none of us thought I would be at that game. We had dinner at Montage afterward and Channig Frye was there- he is my favorite Blazer so that made the night worth the trekking to the game. I am definitely starting to ramble- thanks for all your nice thoughts- now start focusing on an easy and pain free labor- those exsist right? I will text/email/blog with any updates!

39ish weeks.

So mandy and I got a coupon for free pictures at babies r us when we went to register her for baby stuff, so we decided to recreate the cheesy highschool back to back picture ala prego style. I think they are actually pretty cute, and actually the only pictures I have of my belly this time around. She is around 25 weeks so just starting to really pop- I on the other hand look like not only have I popped- I am nearly going to burst. This was last week- this week is even worse. The 8th was my ultrasound due date and it has come and gone. Tomorrow (Happy Valentine's Day btw) is my official due date and I suspect will come and go as well. My Doc is okay letting me go 10 days before inducing (something I am trying to avoid) so if nothing else we will go in to be induced on the 24th. I guess I might have to return the aquarius onsie I bought- I really can't believe that this baby wasn't early- go figure. I am still content to enjoy my last days of relative freedom, but am getting increasingly immobile and uncomfortable. Rory and I have been hanging a bit closer to home lately as the outings to OMSI, the children's museum etc. are just exhausting at this point. I think next week may be a long one- but we will embrace it as our last as a family of 3! One way or another we are days away from welcoming miss or mr maloney into the world! We will keep you posted and wish me luck!

Rory pics

We recently had the opportunity to hang out with our friend PK and he brought over his amazing camera and took some pics of rory playing. THere were a ton of photos- but these are the ones that he then took the time to edit, crop and enhance. It is amazing how cool he can make a regular snapshot after the fact. Just thought I would share! The best part was that Rory was just hanging out in normal clothes, crazy hair and all- so I think they really capture her on a daily basis- versus a fancy photo shoot style. Enjoy an THANKS pk!!!

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OMSI playdate

A few weeks ago we got to go to OMSI with my friend Nicole (we were neighbors in grade school and then again in portland 20 some years later!) Nicole's daughters are 2 of the few girl kiddos we know- seriously everyone else Rory knows her age is a boy! It was a fun day and a lot of blonde hair and blue eyes!

Papa's 60th Birthday

So I am a month behind but here are some pics from Pat's dad's 60th birthday. Not only are we lucky to have such great family- we are lucky to have a lot of it! Rory has 8 great grandparents alive and living in Portland/Corvallis area- pretty cool! I particularly love the picture of rory and Great-Grandma Maloney talking- they look like they are in serious conversation! This celebration was also made special by the presence of our niece Sabine. I love seeing Rory and her together, they are just really sweet together. We look forward to summer when she returns for a bit longer visit and can play with the new baby.

big girl bed

Just a few pics of Rory's new big girl bed. So far we haven't pushed for her to sleep there since that means she gets control of when she gets up! She has taken some naps there and really likes it. Mostly it has been where she stashes her treasures and plays with her baby.

artist focus

Here is Rory and I at a ceramics painting place recently working on some gifts. I was absolutely amazed at how much focus she showed and patience. She waited for instructions and was very meticulous in her painting. The final product was awesome and we had so much fun!

Harry Potter

So this post is entirely for my own record keeping. I kept a belly book for my pregnancy with Rory, but as 2nd children all over the world know, things are different the second time around. So as I sat awake in the middle of the night last night- I thought- "I should at least blog some stuff about the pregnancy so it is recorded somewhere". So here I am- just be warned this isn't that interesting to probably anyone but me, so feel free to skip this one. As for the reason I was up in the middle of the night and the reason for the dorky name of this post, my scar has started to be really painful. Normally it is inverted and puckered with extra skin (it is about 3 inches long on my abdomen from surgery I had as an infant) but at this point in the pregnancy it is stretched to the max and starting to hurt! I don't think it has any power to tell me when my enemies are near (another dorky HP reference) but it feels like it is going to bust open (my dr. assures me this is not the case.). So my official due date is Feb. 14th, with the ultrasound putting it at Feb. 8th, so just a few more weeks. Things that have differed this time around is that I am lot less active, more fatigued and got way bigger-way faster. THe baby is hanging really low so walking very far is out of the question- I can't even imagine swinging a golf club, which is how we passed the time in week 41 with Rory. I have gained 12 lbs so far, but none in the last few weeks so who knows where I will end up at the end. I think I was about 16 with Rory. I haven't craved as many different foods this time, but the ones I have craved have been a hard itch to scratch. For some reason chocolate cake has been on my mind at least 3 nights a week, but I can't seem to find the product that actually satisfies the craving. Actually, not true- the co-op in corvallis sells the one cake that has been absolutely heaven! I have had a pretty limited apetite for most of the pregnancy, but I am anticipating the "nursing hunger" I experienced with rory- much more desperate then anything I experienced while pregnant. I have been obsessed with juice. Can't get enough of it- doesn't matter what kind. All the medical stuff has been uneventful- totally normal, healthy pregnancy so far. My blood pressure remains low, and I continue to have some fainting symptoms. I only actually passed out the one time at work (totally embarrassing) but have had dizzy spells off and on. The only other difference this time that stands out for me is the lack of anxiety. I was so ready and anxious to meet rory that 41 weeks was almost torture. This time I know what to expect with delivery and in the first months and am more then happy to let this baby hang out as long as he/she likes! I am still really excited to meet him/her, however I know that all good things take time and am happy to wait (and get more things done off my list!!!) I think that's all I can think of. Now at least this baby can't say that I didn't write down anything for him/her! I will keep everyone posted on baby developments, Britt

Beaver Bowl Game

Here are some pics from the Beaver Bowl Game. They are mostly of Rory playing the new Wii like a champ! She says, "hold trigger" then she swings her arm and says "Wwwiiiii". It is pretty cute and she actually bowls better then I do!

Christmas part 3

I know, I know, I am seriously behind on the blogging. I didn't forget about our third and final Christmas celebration, I just haven't been able to find time to get on the computer sans rory. Anyway, it was a really fun day spent at Grandma Dawni's house with Brady, Shahnaz, the boys, Lourdes and Jo, Ginnie, and Jimmy. Pat unfortunately caught the bug that was ripping through the family at that point and went home sick. It was a little dicey getting everybody and presents into the house since my mom's street was still covered in snow/ice, but once inside it was toasty warm and lots of fun. Rory was also under the weather at this point so pictures of her are pretty pathetic. We spent the day opening gifts, playing with gifts (the cash register we got for Owen and Q was a hit- except Owen was charging $17 for a latte!) and eating, eating, eating. We were in charge of cooking the meat and by we I mean Pat. So when he went home sick I was up to bat. I think I did pretty good for my first time cooking that much meat ( I am usually a grill kind of girl)- and we as usual had soooo much yummy food. Rory and I had Jimmy give us a ride home in his huge truck only to return to my mom's the next morning for pancakes and some Wii. Owen was really good at Wii bowling. It was a great celebration and an official end to the crazy weather. I spent my childhood having Christmas's at my grandma's house, so I am so thankful that Rory gets to continue with that tradition.

Christmas part 2

So after the trying travels of Christmas Eve we were so pleased to have a relaxing Christmas at home. Rory slept in (all the way til 8am!!!) and then made her way downstairs to wait for Baba and Papa (pat's parents) to arrive. She literally waited by the door and watched through the mails slot for like 20 minutes. We have decided that Christmas mornings each year will be spent at our house with anyone who wants to join us more then invited. This year we had pat's parents and his brother Kevin and niece Sabine join us. Sabine lives in Vermont so it is always a special treat to have her visit. We had planned to cook a special breakfast using recipes from our childhoods, but due to the travel issues of the day before and the lack of access to a grocery store in the week leading up to the holidays we had to punt. Luckily Pat's mom is nothing if she's not prepared and brought with her sausage, yummy rolls, extra eggs, juice etc. Basically she saved the day, although pat did make quite an impressive show out of the things he found at the 7-11 in our neighborhood. So we opened stockings, ate tons of food and opened lots of presents. It was lovely, casual, fun, and felt like Christmas should. Rory's big gift was a kitchen from Pat's parents so Kevin spent some time putting that together (under the supervision of rory of course) and Sabine gave rory some lessons on how to play with it. They are soooo cute together and Rory literally follows Sabine around mimicking her- in this pic, she had put on Sabine's coat and boots and was calling herself Sabine. Sabine got an American Girl doll and shrieked like only 6 year old girls can. She was so excited and it was fun to watch the girls get into all their new stuff. Rory perfected her thank yous and hug giving and seemed to enjoy giving the gifts as much as getting them (well, maybe not quite). My big present from Pat was a new camera, so I had fun playing around with that. I can't believe what great pictures it takes and I look forward to spending some time with the manual learning all the cool tricks. After naps for everyone we made the trek up to Pat's parents house and enjoyed dinner there. It was fun because Joanne stayed busy playing with the girls and I got a break and even got a present made. Pat cooked a HUGE prime rib and we had an absolutely wonderful meal together. Again, casual and laid back was the theme of the day.

Christmas part 1

I know I am terribly behind, but I have been focusing all my freetime (as if there is an abundance) on getting my pre-baby to-do list in order. Since Christmas was, as usual a complete whirlwind of multiple days and locations, I am going to get it documented in steps. So Christmas Part I included Christmas Eve at my Dad's house in Corvallis. We were supposed to go down Christmas Eve morning and return that night at Rory's bedtime but the threat of more snow pushed us to leave on the 23rd. So we packed up in a matter of minutes and made a mad dash south....with the rest of Portland. It was insane. It took us 5 1/2 hours to get there and was a more sketchy drive then any over the pass we have taken. Between the ice, snow, ruts in the road, and LOTS of people it was just plain maddening. But, we made it and rory was a champ. We did have to resort to plugging in the laptop and letting her watch a Dora episode to get through hour 5, a first that I am just fine with- at that point I would have done anything to keep everyone in the car sane. In fact, Rory might have been the most patient! Anyway, we made it and Rory got to spend the night at Papa Stan and Grandma Linda's much to her delight. They have fun toys and different books and lots of adoring attention. We spent a frantic but fun day on the 24th running last minute errands, visiting with family, eating and opening presents. It is always fun when rory gets to spend time with the boy cousins, the 3 of them are just so cute! Rory got a recorder (thanks aunt madi- you too someday will have children!) and perfected her surprised oohs and aahs look with each present. Just when she thought the fun was over she was told to wait with daddy while one more was brought in. this picture captures her displeasure of having to wait- too funny. The grand finale was that my dad had renovated (I mean top to bottom redone) the doll house that he had originally made for me. I think as much as rory loved it, it really was a gift for me. I remember it distinctly (and wish we had taken before pics) and it has been stored at my parents house and then my garage (where it briefly served as living quarters to a nice family of mice) for the past 20 years. It now is amazing. My dad fixed up all the broken parts and then added additions of gaurdrails for the stairs, a whole new floor, a new patio etc. He also repainted the entire thing, gave it a new roof and updates such as accent walls, river rock fireplace (used to be brick), hardwood floors, and handmade tiny shutters. It is truly beautiful and will be cherished! The best part is that it is big and open so all three cousins can play in it (literally) at the same time. So that was a great way to finsih the day. We then decided to head home early due to yet again the threat of more snow so we missed Owens pageant and hit the road. Since we didn't wait to leave until rory's bedtime and we had to leave aunt madi in corvallis the ride home was a bit more stressful then the way up. It started with the realization that the dollhouse was not going to fit in the jeep- I was fine with that, but as I loaded Rory in the car she noticed it's absence and started her lip quivering inquiries about where "Rory's big house" was. It was heart breaking, I was so glad my dad had left for the pageant- I am not sure he could have handled the pathetic sobs from my daughter. So that is how we started the trip home and 4 hours later as we pulled in we answered for the 9 millionth time "the doll house stayed in corvallis- Grandpa will bring it to you next week" Seriously the longest car ride EVER. It felt so good to be home we let rory run around a bit (even though it was already super late for her to be up) and just cherished the good feelings of being in our house with our tree and our kid on Christmas Eve. With all the snow outside it really was a very peaceful feeling. Pat says next year we are staying home, but I would do it all again if it means getting to spend time with everyone- we are just so lucky to have such great family!

Hello Mr. Fish

We got a last minute visit from Grandpa Jimmy on Saturday (he barely made it out of here before the latest snow storm hit!) who brought Rory an early Christmas present. Ever since we visited my friend lisa's house where they have a beta fish- rory has been into fish- so she now has her very own. She is really excited and at first named him "rory's fish" (no points for creativity) and has since started calling him Mr. Fish. my favorite is that she will be doing something else and pass by and randomly say something like "hi mr fish" or "mr. fish water" and then giggle. Not the most cuddly of pets, but at least fulfills the pet quota and honestly is about all we can handle at this point. So, welcome Mr. Fish and thanks Grandpa Jimmy!

The perfect weekend

For my 30th birthday present Pat's parents got me a gift certificate for a night in a downtown portland hotel and overnight babysitting for Rory. Since baby #2 is quickly approaching (8weeks and counting) we thought we better use it now. Plus, I have alway loved downtown at Christmas time. Soooo, we dropped Rory off and headed downtown. After getting checked into our really beautiful room at the Benson we walked around the pearl and downtown and did a little no-pressure shopping. We then had lunch and even had time to catch a movie. It was awesome. Enough stuff to keep us busy, but no so hectic that we weren't able to enjoy. We had a late dinner reservation so we met people for drinks prior. We then proceeded to have a FABULOUS meal at el gaucho. I enjoyed every uninterrupted bite and never once uttered "sit on your bottom" , "mommies turn with the spoon" or "what do you say when you toot?" It was heaven! We then went back to the Pearl to meet up with Brady, Shahnaz, Corey and Rebecca for dessert. It truly was just the perfect day. Our Sunday morning plans of a leisurely breakfast before getting rory were cut short by a nasty snow storm that blew in to PDX hard and fast. Instead we spent the morning trying to get to Pat's parents house in the west hills and testing out our snow tires. We eventually got Rory home (and even got to Aunt Madi's apartment to pick her up as well) and spent the rest of Sunday decorating Christmas cookies and watching/playing in the snow. It was a very fun snow day. It was actually too cold to be out for very long, but we did get a chance to get Rory in all her gear and prop her up outside. she can barely move in her snow gear- it is pretty funny. The best was the first thing pat did was make a snow ball and toss it at her, trying to show her how to play in the snow. He misjudged how short she is and tagged her directly in the neck- the ONLY exposed area on her body. she just stood there and looked at him as if to say "this is supposed to be fun?" One of my favorite parts of skiing has always been coming in from the cold and shedding layers and hanging out it in whatever comfy clothes were underneath the snow suit. Well I have opviously passed this down- as this is how Rory ended up playing yesterday afternoon. too funny. It is now Tuesday and we are on day three of being house bound. We have had apple cidar in santa mugs, gingerbread man shaped pancakes, built fires (lost power last night so fire was a necessity), read Christmas books, wrapped presents, done CHristmas themed art projects, walked/played in the snow/ice, got Christmas cards mailed out, the list goes on. I am officially out of things to do in the house to make "snow days" special. I had no idea how much I depended on Rory and I's daily outings to make the day go by. oh well, I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts. Amazon.com is getting a much bigger share of my holiday dollar then anticipated- so I will sign off, I am sure there is something I need to go buy online!

Downtown Portland

Last Friday my mom's school choir was singing in Pioneer Square so we thought it would be fun to take Rory on the Max (or Max the train as she calls it) downtown and hear them sing and have lunch etc. What we didn't count on was horrible windy weather! It was a little crazy at times but Rory loved the max and loved dancing with grandma to the music. Prego mommy loved her philly cheesesteak that you can only get at pioneer square- so we were all happy!

Newport Sea of Lights

We headed to Newport with the whole Sahnow clan for our 2nd annual Sea of Lights event. Basically the Newport Aquarium stays open late and puts up a bunch of lights and has santa and carolers and food etc. It is really pretty and the kids loved it. I was shocked that both Rory and Quincy sat still for getting their face painted. Rory was obsessed with the sharks and still talks about them. We had great weather one day and got some good (although cold) beach time in. The house we stay is attached to a hotel so we got to take the kids swimming twice which was really fun- definitely a bunch of water babies! We took turns cooking and did lots of eating and grandma Linda brought dough art for the kids to make ornaments- they were very busy. It was fun to hang out and just spend some time together.

Rory loves feeling the baby move and giving it hugs and kisses!

Thanks Grandma Linda and Grandpa Stan!

An early tree...

We have never gotten our tree this early, but the next few weekends are packed and the weather was too good to pass up on Sunday. We now have a tradition (2 years in a row!) of hitting the helvetia tree farm and then burgers at Helvetia tavern (voted best burger in the world by Brittany)! It is really fun and the tree farm has a little store, hot chocolate, 2 beautiful HUGE st. bernards running around and my personal fav a tree shaker and baler to get all the critters out and keep it contained until you get it in your house. After a painstaking process Rory made the final call and we (Pat) started cutting. Of course Rory was there to help supervise his progress. He kept complaining that it was a really thick trunk and the tree was too big- but eventually he got through it. Sure enough, when we got home it didn't fit in the tree stand and I had to do some whittling to cram it in the holder so as to not take the blame for that one for the rest of my life. We then got out the decorations and started introducing Rory to all the stuff that comes with "rory's tree" being in the house. As we explained that she couldn't grab the tree, only a "1-finger touch", she instantly went and got her baby doll to pass along the new rules. She painstakingly placed "her" ornaments in a very straight line across the bottom of the tree- we think she is a little OCD. It was a very fun day and one of my very favorite traditions. I am looking forward to sharing all those little things with Rory this year. Next weekend we are going to the sea of lights at the aquarium, we have a trip to zoo lights to fit in, watching the Christmas ships on the river, caroling, light seeting, and she already loves her advent calander. So much to do, so little time....

other then the game- civil war was great!

Other then the obvious disappointment in a completely crappy Beaver performance on Saturday, it was a really fun day. Rory was feeling better so we left her for the afternoon at my dad and Linda's house and she got to go to the park and have solo playtime with the grandparents- such a treat! Around noon Madi and I headed down to campus to catch up with the Brady and Pat who had organized and hosted a tailgater out of the back of our jeep. Now compared to tailgating out of RV's (which we have always done in the past) this seems pretty rustic (no TV, no bathrooms), but the guys did a great job. Brian and his family were right next to us so it turned into a pretty big group. Brianne made homemade treats and brady brought left over treats from the Turkish family that had joined them for thanksgiving. We had tons of food, lots sunshine and a variety of people came and went throughout the afternoon. It was really fun and only dampened by the actual game. Brady plugged in his ipod so we had tunes as well. my favorite was Owen dancing in the middle of the crowd to "I like to move it, move it!" as well as when O requested the star spangled banner so we all crossed our hearts and sang along- too funny. They did kill the jeep's battery so we had to jump it right before game time to make sure we could leave afterwards. Brian's brother, Corey gets a huge shout out for helping us jump it, even though it meant getting a late start to the stadium- thanks corey- you are my hero!! Anyway, no bragging rights, and no rosebowl, but a great day and a great end to a very fun season.

Thanksgiving celebrations

So I am going to skip a bunch of posts I have in the que and try to just keep up to date with all the holiday stuff. As usual we had a very fun and VERY busy holiday weekend. We spent actual turkey day at Pat's parents with the entire Maloney clan- it was great to see everyone and the food was amazing! Rory woke up that morning sick, so she was a bit fussier then normal- but still had a great time chasing her cousins around and showing off her twirling and acrobatics. I will add pics from that day when I get them off of Pat's dad's camera (it is a fabulous camera- so I take any opportunity to use it!) Friday morning we got up and headed south to my dad's house to spend the day with the fam. This included the 3 cousins running circles through the house, total chaos, aunt shahni horsey rides (and collapse) and a special showing of "albiquerque he's my turkey" by mr. Owen. We had a great meal with everyone and the hurried off the Corvallis light parade. It was a bit long- but the kids LOVED it. It was fun to see everyone including the klinkhammer/badger clan and the matzkes. There were lots of dogs (wrapped in christmas lights!), floats, lights, music and just plain sillyness. This parade also marks another first for Rory- she got a balloon. I am categorically against them (afraid of them?) so she hadn't had one up until this point. She loved it of course! It was really fun and a tradition we will join in anytime we Makes me very excited for the upcoming holiday season and all the business it brings!

This was back in September, but I liked the pics of Owen- and I am still trying to get caught up from all the fall happenings. I went down to Corvallis sans Rory and we hit the traditional fall festival and started some early Christmas shopping. Owen had a great time meeting Benny Beaver and getting a tour of a CPD car. The weather was beautiful and another example of why I love fall in the NW.

USC victory

I have to back track a little bit and try to get caught up on the past few months- this night is definitely worth mentioning! Not only was it the first football game that we have attended sans Rory (and thus the first I have been able to focus on the game) it was the best game of football I think I have ever seen. The actual football was great, and the atmosphere was so fun. I have been to some big Beaver wins, but this was next level. GO BEAVS!

Halloween Day

We started Halloween with a visit to Grandma Dawni's school to see all the kids. Rory was a little hesitant, but enjoyed seeing Grandma all dressed up. That night we had people over to our house for dinner and trick or treating. Rory loved being a bee all night, loved handing out candy to all the kids, and was very into going door to door. Our neighborhood is INSANE with kids, I think they bus them in from all over Portland. I can see why, several houses gave Rory full size candy bars (which we promptly rehanded out!) I gave out play-doh and am shocked we didn't get egged! Rory did great, said "trick or treat" with a little prompting, and was thrilled with the treasures she collected in her "pumpkin purse". She doesn't know what candy is, so she just thought it was cool to collect the different shapes and colors, she didn't know what was inside. She kept shaking the M&Ms like they were an instrument. I am sure next year will be a different experience. By the end of the night she was answering the door in her diaper and was basically asleep on her feet. Grandma stayed to babysit while Mandy and I made an appearance at a real live grown up halloween party- what a treat! Nothing says fun night out like two pregos out past 9pm. We could barely get a conversation in between all the yawning! I did steal rory's bee wings so technically I was in costume! A fun night for all and another first for miss rory.

Monster March

Our neighborhood has this tradition on the Sunday before halloween that there is a Monster March Parade. They said that over 1000 families participated and it was pretty impressivce. The parade was led by a fire truck, police escort, and the middle school marching band. The rest is just families all dressed up and walking around a few blocks. We went last year, but since Rory was little we just sat on the curb. This year we invited the sahnow clan up and all marched together. The kids were so cute. It was great because it gave them another excuse to wear their costumes. Owen was Sir Owen of midvale, a knight with cape and hand made shield by grandpa Stan. I didn't get any good pics of him so see Sahnow Boys blog for those. Quincy was a farmer and got lots of comments on his shoes which were crocs that Shahnaz had tied farm animals too- so creative! Rory was "alt bee" as pat was calling her. She had the regular bee accessories, but added her combat boots, striped baby legs, and down vest with yellow duck tape stripes. The new pixie haircut (a total accident and worthy of a different entry) just added to her alternative look. She reminded me of some of my students at gateway. Anyway, they all looked great and had fun. My favorite part was that my dad spent the entire time on the side of the parade route waving to the kids. As soon as we would get past him, he would run ahead and then yell and wave at them again. Rory loved it. Each time she would spy him, she got really excited that someone was there cheering her on. I think he got more of a work out then he had anticipated. He defintely gets the award for best parade audience member ever! I am hoping that this becomes part of our yearly halloween tradition! I forgot to mention that as many adults were dressed up as kids, including Brady and Pat as "blazers"? those two are as cute together as the cousins!

2nd annual pumpkin patch trip

So this is quickly becoming of one of my favorite traditions. Fall is already a favorite time of year and with Rory now so into going on adventures it is even better. This year the trek out to the Sauvie Island Pumkin Patch was super fun. Rory was into everything, and the mud was at a minimum. There is a barn with lots of animals which was a hit and the tractor pulled hay ride out to the field of pumpkins was almost as good as a roller coaster in her eyes. She did show her ultra sensitive side when we got to the field and she saw that some of the pumpkins were smashed or rotting. She started crying and saying "broken, broken". She recovered enough to enjoy the rest of the trip and all in all it was a great day!

1st Beaver game and game day scramble

Questionable fashion sense...

So we have hit the point in Rory's life where she is starting to have opinions on what she wears. She has been obsessed with shoes and accessories for a long time- but now she is starting to pull things out of her closet and demand to wear them. She is also starting to try to put on her own clothes which is pretty funny to watch. I just wanted to post pics from the past few weeks showcasing some of my favorites. The first is her new set of fairy wings. these were at the dollar store and since they were orange I figured we could put them to good use. The best part is she won't wear them on her back- she wants them on her front so she can see them and then runs around the room doing her best superman/airplane impersonation. My next favorite is this outfit that I dug out of stuff that my mom had saved. It is circa 1979 and even though it is a 2T- it barely fit over Rory's tummy and the skirt looked a little too Brittney Spears for my liking. I thought she would hate it b/c it is all scratchy, but she insisted on keeping it on, twirling in the skirt and reading books in it for almost an hour. It was so cute. And last but certainly not least is from today. My dad and Linda sent via Madi this leotard/tutu number. The minute Rory saw it- she was in love. She just kept saying "pretty" and pointing to the shiny parts. So as soon as she got up from her nap today she asked to put it on. I thought she would just play around in it- but I swear within 5 minutes of putting it on- she went to her shoe cupboard and added the boots- I could not stop laughing long enough to get my camera. She then proceeded to go about her business, read books, climb on chairs, etc. all in this ridiculous outfit. I swear Jim Carey wore this in Ace Ventura. My favorite part is how it flips up in the back- too funny. I am not sure what this says about her fashion sense. Some days she is totally my little alternative artsy kid, and some days she is straight princess, and some days as her aunt madi's friend noticed, she just looks like a drug addict. She has never seen an accessory she didn't like. Anyway, I am trying to get caught up on posts- but these pics were too funny so I wanted to get them up. Thanks to dad and linda for the outfit, hope your trip is going well. thanks to mom for saving my clothes for 30 yrs. it was worth it!

State Fair with the Sahnows...

So it has been YEARS since I have been to the state fair and was super excited when my dad and Linda asked if we wanted to go last week. As an added bonus Shahnaz hadn't started work yet and was able to join us with the boys. We had so much fun. It was a long day but the weather was perfect and the pronto pups delicious! Rory even got to try her first french fry! I had always gone to the rides portion and had never really explored the other parts of the fair. With the kids in tow- obviously the ride place was the least attractive so we spent hours touring all the animals, the gardens, the dog show, petting zoo and some crafts. The baby mini horses were the best as they were rory and quincy size and super friendly. We did hit the rides on the way out and Owen was able to go on 3 rides all by himself. I couldn't believe what a big boy he was! Rory was super tired at that point, but would perk up enough just to watch owen go round and round and wave each time he passed- super cute. I think my fav was at the end we went back to the mini-van and attempted to get all 3 kids changed, pj'd and fed. It was chaos- they were crawling all over the van and pretending to drive. luckily with 4 adults we managed to get it done and hit the road just in time for bed. All in all a great day and a future tradition I'm sure. Thanks to dad and linda for such a fun day and to shahni and the boys for sharing it with us! ~Britt

Grandma time

My mom sent this video to me after babysitting Rory for an evening. It is a bit long, but I couldn't figure out how to shorten the format she sent me. She said that Rory did this forever. We sit in our rocking chair every night and I read to her and then tuck the books down by my side- so I can see she is mimicking that. The glasses are my moms- we will be charging her for Rory's future eye problems! This was one of those things that I am glad was captured, b/c while it seems so common now- it will be the moments that get forgotten with all the busy life stuff. She changes so fast, I am trying to capture more of her mannerisms at each stage. For instance, it is on my to-do list to get some video of her talking. It is so cute and changing every day, soon we will forget that she calls madi maaaaahiiiiii and the word "no" sounds like a cow mooooing. She has more words then I can count and it basically happened over night. She is still signing a bunch and that helps us reinforce her verbal vocabulary. We hung out with Robin and Justin and baby Jack a few nights ago, it was so great to see them easing so gracefully into parenthood. I don't think I looked that put together for several more months- if ever. Jack is adorable and Rory was really sweet with him. She was very intent on keeping tabs on what he was doing. If he fell asleep, she let us all know that the baby was sleeping. I love that the circle of friends with babies is expanding and we get to spend time with all these amazing new human beings. Hopefully we will have lots of opportunity to do that before February so that Rory gets some baby time before her sib arrives. Anyway, hope all are staying cool- We are debating having a family camp out in the basement as the other 2 floors are just too hot. Enjoy the video, and thanks mom for thinking to film it!

So I have gotten WAY behind on blogging, but I am going to make a valiant effort to catch up and do better about staying current. I so look forward to other people updating their blogs- so I figured I better return the favor. This time I am not totally to blame. My laptop blew up and so now to get any screen time I have to use Pat's. Sharing computers may not be his strongest skill. Anyway, so way back in June Mandy and I took Rory to the children's rose parade. I mostly wanted to check it out so that in coming years I knew what I was dealing with. She is still young enough this year we could have bailed if it was crazy, but by next year if we say we are going to a parade I have a feeling I better produce a parade! Anyway, it was really fun and cute. lots of people, some of which appeared to do the whole sidewalk lawn chair camp out thing- we just walked up at the last minute and sat on someone's steps and enjoyed the view. Rory really liked the dairy float with a mascot cow on it- she had just learned to sign cow- and was very happy to use her new word. She also loved all the marching bands and drums. Overall I'd say it is definitely something to add to our growing list of traditions. Maybe next year we will get organized earlier and get a group to go together. ~Britt oh yeah- this last shot is of rory's "whatchu talking bout Willis?" face. classic.

blog name change...

So we are going to have to change the blog name from PB&R to PBR&...? Here is a first glimpse at the newest addition to the maloney clan. He/she is due to make an appearance on valentine's day 2009. Rory is super excited (she demonstrated this by kissing her baby and then throwing it on the ground!- ala jeff lewis for those of you who watch flipping out.) and we are confident she will make a fabulous big sister. All is going well and we are all doing fine. Pat has been a bit extra tired lately, but he blames the pregnancy and is sure he will be fine- nothing a little XBOX 360 college football can't fix. the video I added is only 3 seconds long and I am not sure it will work- but I thought I would try. Enjoy, Britt

Furball... limp to the links

So a little background info on Furball. http://scotthughes.net/index.htm It is a fundraiser that Pat's family puts on each year. It is to benefit a camp that hosts pediatric kidney patients for the summer and allows them to attend sleep away camp while maintaining their dialysis and medical care. One of Pat's cousins died of kidney disease at 24 years of age and he had worked and loved this camp. Furball was his college nickname. So anyway, Pat's cousins Mike and Shannon have hosted a 3on3 basketball tournament for the past 8 years and it has always been super fun and something that we have supported and helped with. This year they decided that everyone is getting too old to play basketball (the injuries were starting to rack up) so they moved it to a golf tournament. I love this idea b/c you can have lots more people participate and include families. This June was the first Furball limp to the links and it was a HUGE success. not only did they more then triple the money they raised from years past, it was just a really fun event. Rory and I ran the putting contest in the morning and then returned for the dinner at the end. It was at the oregon golf club and I thought Rory looked especially country club in her little pleated dress- I swear she has somehow channeled my grandma ding's style-between all her accessories and her fashion sense- she is an old soul. (and yes, she has her own fashion sense. at 15 months she has started wanting to pick out her own clothes and having protests and opinions on what goes on her body. it may be a long 17 years...). The team we sponsored this year was Pat, Evan, Brady and Brian. Brian won a driver (I can't remember what for- maybe for just being a super good golfer?) and was nice enough to give it to Pat. They all had a great time and I think this will continue to be one of our favorite family traditions.

back to the gilbert house...

Since fun new kid activities are hard to come by, when we find one, we like to over indulge as much as possible. This trip consisted of borrowing my dad's mini-van (actually, I was driving it for the week while my car was getting fixed from the accident) and hauling 5 adults and Rory down to salem to meet shahnaz and the boys for the day. This is one of those days when you actually start considering the purchase of a mini. I think it has passed now, but for that week I gotta say, I was a bit smitten. So we all spent the afternoon tracking the kids around the entire place. once again the bubble room was a fav- rory got a little more hands (er, head?) on this time. It was also fun b/c since Owen is 3 he is able to do things better then the babies and is fun to watch him get so into all the discovery stuff. At one point he and rory were on a stage dressed as pirates? knights? not really sure, but they were cute and into performing for their entourage. We also visited the carousel that is near by. Rory loved it, and was very into kissing her horse. Owen was into what their names were and how they were designed. All in all a really fun day.

a playdate at the Gilbert House

We recently visited the Gilbert House in Salem. Lisa lives there and Eli and Rory are at a great age to get together and let them run around while we all talk. We did decide that having the third unattached adult (in this case, Mandy) was essential as we found that in that place you need to out number the kids. It was a really fun day and there was lots to do. I think the favorite was the bubble room and then the HUGE outdoor play are with music, slides, and whimisical decor. I am not a huge fan of Salem (sorry, not trying to offend anyone) but this definitely is a good place to go, and is 1/2 way in between portland and corvallis so is convenient for family get togethers. After we left there we went to lunch with 2 sleepy babies and managed to make it through the day successfully. At lunch Rory was obsessed with sharing her blanket with Mandy- she kept making mandy smell it. When she gets tired she rubs her blanket under her nose so I am sure she was just trying to be sweet, but it was very funny. It was fun to get to hang out with the ladies and Rory and Eli are pretty cute together. Rory being older and bit of a bull in a china shop tends to overwhelm Eli a bit, but overall they were sweet and did lots of sharing! We'll see if that lasts as they both enter into their second year. See I told you my blogging would get more frequent and tedious the longer I was stuck on this couch!!! ~Britt

beach, beach and more beach...

So for our token memorial day weekend outing we headed to pacific city for a day at the beach. It was so fun to see Rory really play in the sand and water- it definitely showed how old she is getting! She loved watching my mom's dog run wild and playing "football" with dad.

We are excited to take her on some camping/boating adventures this summer. maybe next time the weather will be better!!! ~Brittany

Happy 30th Birthday Mandy!!

So not a Rory centric entry, but noteworthy. Mandy turned 30 and we celebrated with some wine tasting and a great dinner at a really good Italian place (Alba Osteria on Capital Hwy for you pdxers.) We were supposed to go hotair ballooning as well. We arrived at 5am (yikes!) only to have them cancel it due to weather. We were then stuck down in salem until the wineries opened at 11- so what else could we do but hit Spirit Mountain Casino? I won some cash playing craps- and it definitely was a unique way to spend the morning. It was also the first time we left Rory for both the day and night. Needless to say she did great and even slept through a fairly heavy thunderstorm. I think now it's time to start planning a whole weekend away. vegas anyone? Anyway, it was a fun day- Happy Birthday Mandy

Rory finds a friend that is a GIRL!!!

So Rory is surrounded by boy baby friends. Her cousins- boys, our friends who have had babies recently, almost all boys, even the classes we have attended have been boy heavy- so it was so fun to attend a BBQ at our friend Robin and Justin's house with some of their friends who have baby girls. One was exactly Rory's age (Addie) and Rory and her were very cute together. We even discovered later that they take swimming lessons at the same place. Robin has had her baby since these photos, welcome Jonathon Hawthorne, (yes, another boy!) but I loved the ones of Rory sitting on her belly (these were taken her 39th week). I also love the one of Addie giving Rory what appears to be a headbutt- but is actually an attempt at a hug. Anyway, we are excited to expand our baby friend circle and look forward to more playdates with this crew! PS- This post as well as the next few are from late may and early June- I got behind on my blogging. Now that I am stuck on a couch due to a knee injury I will get caught up and may be driven by boredom to blog incessantly until cured! I am sure you are all looking forward to whatever rants may come from my trapped little self. ~B

Rory on the party circuit

Since first birthdays are pretty important, they are also worth celebrating. We most recently attended Eli Whitinger's (lisa truong's son) 1st birthday party. Rory I think has figured out that these events are more then just play dates and particularly likes the singing and the special treat that comes with the candle! As soon as she hears the song and sees the candle, her eyes light up and she starts saying MMMMmmmmm, MMMMMmmmmm. She does love Eli and liked helping him open all his presents. She won the pin the banana on the tree and dug her box of take-home goodies. She is becoming a pro at this stuff and is looking forward to cousin Quincy's birthday in June. Happy Birthday Eli!

OSU Spring game

A couple of weeks ago we headed to corvallis to celebrate Shahni's birthday as well as catch the OSU spring football game. For those of you not familiar, it is the greatest. The Beavers scrimmage each other so no matter what we win, tickets are only $5, you still get to tail gate, and the stadium is open seating so you can sit in great seats. It was super fun b/c this is the first time we got to see rory's reaction to all since last fall she was still fairly little. She of course was a champ and brought new meaning to tailgating. literally sitting on a tail gate but with sippy cup and banana instead of beer and brats. There were several highlights of the day other then the tailgating. my first fav (luckily no one got hurt, so it is just funny) was when pat was carrying rory on his shoulders to the game and ran her directly head first into a overhead pole that hangs the banner- it made my heart stop,but upon rory laughing we were all able to laugh as well. my next fav. was when the announcer yelled "James Rogers scores a touchdown" and Rory instantly threw her hands in the air. It was extra funny, b/c she kept insisting on having her own seat (one of the many reasons she may not attend many games in the fall) but wasn't heavy enough to make the fold-up seat stay down. So as she threw her hands up, she kind of got folded up in the seat- again she laughed, so we laughed. My last fav was our pre-game activity of attending OSU's vet. school pet day. It is essentially all the vet school students out there with all sorts of animals. they had a petting zoo, tiny chicks you could hold, horses you could ride, a million dogs, and a giant blow up slide to ride down. Rory was totally into it all. she loves dogs and usually I-spying just one can cause her to leave bruises on her chest as she does the sign for dog- with all of the dogs there i don't even knew where to start. She got to pet a duck, a goat, a horse, a huge irish wolfhound, and hold tiny chicks. Dad, linda and madi went with us and then brady and owen met us near the end. Owen loved the slide as did rory. she went on madi's lap the first time and then insisted on going alone- I was pretty impressed with her bravery as it was a fairly big slide- but she loved every minute of it. Pet day will definitely be a new spring time tradition! It also totally got me excited for football. soon enough, i don't want to wish away summer.... ~Brittany

Solo SR trip

So Pat and I had a free weekend near the end of April and so we decided to head to Sunriver. It was a weird time b/c it wasn't cold enough to ski, but not warm enough to swim or bike, so that combined with it being just us with no grandparents or visitors made for a very quiet and relaxing trip. We hung out, I went shopping, we cooked all our meals, went to bed early and hung out at the park with Rory. All in all an uneventful trip, but I thought it blog worthy due to these pics from the park. She tried the swing for the first time and was able to "pump" her legs to be a self-sufficient swinger- very cool. She also became obsessed with the slide and made pat send her down it like a million times. All the sudden the choice on the maloney's part to buy the house next to park instead of on the golf course is looking like absolute brilliance. Enjoy the pics. ~Britt

BBQ

I can almost smell our future barbecue adventures. We have taken on the project of putting pavers down in our yard. Home Depot quoted me some ridiculous amount, so in true Sahnow fashion, we decided to give it a go on our own. My family friend and old boss Gary has been helping with the technical aspect and we have called in lots of favors to get helpers. Although it looks at this point like a giant sand box, you can not believe what it has taken to get us to this point. over a 1,000 lbs of debris dug and wheelbarrowed out, over 20,800lbs of gravel and sand wheelbarrowed in and lots of sore muscles have gotten us to the point where we can start to think of what to do with the 4 and 1/2 pallets of pavers. I had no idea the mass amount of just moving heavy objects this was going to entail. the good news is that it should be done (weather permitting) in time to have some great bbq this summer. stay tuned for updates and get ready to help us prove that the work was worth it- we plan on having lots of company! ~Brittany

Zoo Trips

So we have been hitting the zoo a lot lately and I wanted to add some pics from various trips. Rory and I took Mandy with us one time (yeah for mandy being in PDX, and for having some time off! She just graduated from medical school, congrats Dr. Mandy) and another time we went on a Sat (talk about a zoo!) so that Madi and Pat could join us. Anyway, it is super fun to take her these days because not only is she totally thrilled with all the animals, she is getting more signs for animals, so she goes to each exhibit and signs the animal. It is really cool to see her make connections in that little brain of hers as well as be so able to communicate her thoughts. It is also super cool to see the animals respond to her. there have been several times when she will stand by the glass and an animal will come up and check her out as much as she is checking them out. Somehow they are drawn to the babies. I love the zoo in the spring b/c the animals are out when it is a bit overcast, and the crowds are generally lower. Also, Rory is totally growing taller, she is really confident in her walking and so she loves to just cruise all over the zoo, the stroller becomes just storage space. Joanne has been taking her on their days together too, so Rory is also very familiar with the gift shop. I don't think they know her name (I recently took her to a toy store near joanne's house and they recognized Rory and asked who was I and why do I have her.- I guess they have been shopping a lot!) yet, but she acts like she owns the place. It is pretty funny. Later, BrittPS- notice the beads, I am not kidding, they are a permanent fixture these days!

Yeah for the return of farmer's market

So it's not Rory's 1st Farmer's Market, but the first that she was old enough to enjoy. This has once again become a favorite weekend activity. The only down side is since we moved we can no longer walk and now we are one of the people who has to drive into the city and park miles away and be mocked by old us. We did a lot of mocking of those driving/parking when we lived downtown. Anyway, these pics were cute of miss Farmer Rory. ~Britt

Mardi Gras

So I have been terrible about blogging lately, mostly because we are in the 2nd half of the term, so I suddenly have midterms to grade and a final to write, and actual work to do while at home. I will try to get caught up as well as be better from now on. So recently we were at our new home away from home HUB (Hopworks Urban Brewery). It is super close to our house, is totally green, serves great organic food (pizza, burgers, etc) and really yummy original organic beers, and best of all is totally kid friendly- so you can see why we basically live there. Anyway, we were there for dinner and Rory was totally flirting with this table of 30 something guys. Well of course she was wearing an assortment of accessories (she will not leave home w/o beads, glasses, hats, or some combination on her person) so they started calling her Mardi Gras. "uhoh here comes mardi gras again." they were really nice to her, but Pat was less then thrilled with the nickname or the bead wearing for that matter. (wait til he sees that I put up naked mardi gras pictures!!) I think this story lost it's point somewhere, so I will just add the pictures. THese are all from april and demonstrate her new love of accessories. sorry for the rambling... ps- I especially like that her beads frame her tummy- I am sure that this picture will torment her

someday!

1 year check up

just for the record Rory had her first year check up last month and is meeting all bench marks easily. She weighed in at 21.6 lbs and 30 inches. In the month since this check up she has done nothing but eat, so I am guessing (by my sore biceps) that she has put on some lbs since then. I just wanted to get it in the books (since a baby book is non-existent at this point, the blog will have to do). Also wanted to record a few details of Rory at 1. She loves to eat avocados, bananas, cheerios, granola bars, yogurt (peach is her fav), broccoli, and grilled cheese. Annie's whole wheat and alredo mac and cheese is quickly becoming a staple. She continues to drink a ton of water, wasn't wild about cow's milk in the sippy. no juice still. As for her favorite activities, she still loves weebles, loves to shoot hoops, likes to ride her tricycle, LOVES to be outside (in fact would stay at her sand/water table in the back yard as long as I would let her) likes bubbles, is obsessed with dogs, generally likes to re-arrange anything, is a hug flirt,loves to have people around (started crying monday morning when she realized all our weekend guests had left and it was just her and I) loves to give hugs and kisses. She is totally entertained by outings to the zoo, omsi, the park, the store, and well, really anywhere. She has become quite the shopper, I think due to her time with Baba every week. She likes to take things off the rack and carry them around while "commenting" on them. She is also really into those musical cards- we have them stashed EVERYWHERE. She is signing a bunch. she can say, car, bath, dog, cat, monkey, house, bird, mom, dad, grandma, aunt, all-done, more, sleep, milk, please, thank-you, water, food, cereal, no, music... I know there are more I am just blanking at the moment. This whole entry is really more for my benefit then any of you readers. I was at shannon's today and she said how much fun it was to go back and read the journals she had kept when connor was a baby and I realized I should be better about blogging since that is essentially acting as my journal and baby book for the moment. Rory is at such a fun, very busy, but fun age. I love our outings and how excited she gets when I get home from work. I know that I am blessed and that things are good. ~Britt

Spring Break in Seaside- recap

So Madi and I both had the week off from work for spring break so we wanted to do something fun. Sunriver was out b/c of the long drive and the weather and us only having 1 night to be away due to other commitments, soooo we decided to go to the beach with dad and linda. It was soooo fun. They stole Owen to join us so the four adults and 2 kids climbed in the mini van and headed to the Oregon spring break mecca- Seaside. It was great to go in one car- the kids helped entertain each other. This pic is of Rory sharing her pirate's booty with Owen. We did get some good beach time in, and did lots of activities on the first day. Owen loved the bumper cars and Rory was a huge fan of the carousel. She even gave her horse a kiss when she was done. She got lots of good grandma and grandpa time and even got to go swimming at the hotel. We stayed in a really nice suite and just played, played, played. It was great- we did have a dicey trip home b/c it started snowing! not exactly my vision of seaside spring break- but fun anyway. Rory also enjoyed the arcade- including the roll the ball game and dance, dance revolution, or DDR if you are cool. She was exceptional at the ride-on motorcycle game- a scary thought for mom. We ate corndogs, clam chowder, and elephant ears. We fed the sea lions. In fact I think in 24 hours we did everything there is to do in Seaside. Thanks to Dad and Linda for a great trip- and I now can't wait to take rory to the beach this summer- she is a natural beach comber. ~Britt

Rory's 1st 2nd Holiday

So Easter was Rory's 1st holiday of her life last year, so this year it is her first repeated holiday! I know...dumb. We celebrated by opening easter baskets from John and Joanne in the morning and then going to my moms and doing more easter baskets, decorating eggs, and having dinner. As usual Rory loved all the new stuff, especially the markers she got to use to color the eggs. We continue to struggle with the teething issue- you can tell by the red patch on Rory's cheek and all the drool. The following day we went to Corvallis to spend the first part of spring break with the cousins and had dinner at Aomatsu- a fun japanese restaurant. Rory loved the fire on the grill and kept signing for more- I finally got a good photo of her signing. After she ate she grabbed her blanket and binkie and "took a break" on the floor- this is her new thing- essentially taking 2 minute naps on ANY floor- I'm sure the waitresses were less then impressed at my killer parenting skills. I figure as long as no one is going to step on her she is fine- probably cleaner floors then at our house- I am sure they get mopped more often! Again, sign me up for mom of the year! ~Britt

Rory turns 1- recap

This seems like a long time ago now- a whole month! Looking back it is clear that we celebrated in style and that she loved every minute of her birthday celebrations, especially the singing. On her actual birthday many people called to sing to her- at the conclusion of each call she would sign "more" "music" - so finally Joanne called and we missed it- so she left the singing on the VM. It was perfect- I just kept hitting repeat all day and Rory could hear her special song as much as she wanted (trust me it was a lot!). Besides lots of singing, she got lots of wonderful presents and cards. The invention of the musical card has been a lasting gift. for those of you with babies- it is the cheapest entertainment ever. ROry got a couple of them for her birthday as did pat and I for our birthdays. We now keep one in the diaper bag, one in the car, one in the ergo and one in each stroller- they make for very compact very effective entertainment! Joanne reports that when they go to target Rory immediately wants to go to the card section and pick out one to take home. Recently she picked out the electric slide- go figure. ANyway- back to her bday- on her actual day we went to dinner at a local pub and she got to have some apple cobbler. the other pics are of her with her cake at her party. It was a lot of fun! enough rambling. ~Britt

Owen turns 3-recap

So Brady and Shahnaz put on a great party at their house for Owen's 3rd birthday. They claim it was all low-key and last minute- but it had lots of creatity and fun details. Basically my dad made the wagons into pirate ships and sent the kids on a treasure hunt. Rory got to sit with the older kids (thanks Caden!) and was rocking the super tight jean jacket (thanks Aunt Madi!). In one of the pics Rory is attacking Quincy with a kiss- that is kind of her thing- she goes straight to 2nd base! The other picture shows Shahni feeding the 2 babies- like 2 little birds in a nest. 2 very hungry birds- they are too cute together. It was a really fun day with LOTS of babies and lots of friends and family. ~Britt

Pictures from March

As mentioned in the last post- things have been crazy and I am behind on posts- so this is a catch-up. First, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by going to the Kell's tent downtown. I figured we had spent our last spd there before Rory, but they actually have some really kid-friendly activities during the day. Rory loved the Irish Wolfhounds and all the dancing and music. Brian and BrieAnn met us- so that was fun.

The next morning we joined the ENTIRE Maloney clan (I think we had around 20 people) for the Shamrock Run to benefit the children's hospital. This is the 2nd year we have done it and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite family traditions. Rory looked cute in her gear and made it about 1/2 way before passing out in her stroller- rough life! The rest of us made the trek back and forth across the bridges and then Pat and I bee lined for Corvallis for Owen's 3rd birthday. Quite a busy day. More Later

march madness

So as mentioned in the last post- March is absolutely insane with birthdays. check out the sahnow boys blog for a good recap- shahnaz did a good job of documenting. We celebrated Madi's 23rd bday by taking her to the Dublin for a little "Boys next door" (a great cover band that has been playing there since long before MY 23rd bday (which I also spent there)). Anyway, we cooked dinner for a few of her UPS friends and then hit the Dub. It was fun to get to meet her friends and have a night out sans baby. Then came Owen's 3rd bday. He had a pirate themed party down in corvallis including a full blown treasure hunt and costumes. it was absolutely adorable and Rory got to participate a bit by riding with the older kids in the pirate ships (wagons). Next was Rory's 1st bday which we celebrated with 40 of our family and a few friends. She was a champ- she made it through the whole crazy day with a smile and impressed all with lots of flirting and signing. She liked the little bug cake I made her and of course tried to grab the flame of her 1 candle. Fun was had by all and she was so wired afterward she didn't go to bed until 10pm- lucky us. It was also National Corndog Day (http://www.corndogday.com/) so we watched some bball in the afternoon and tried to put our house back together post party. I stipulated no gifts on the invite- but that didn't fly so we had tons of wonderful new things for her to play with and find a place for. Then last week we had Pat's 33rd bday which he and I celebrated with dinner at Oba- always a fav. And we finished this crazy marathon off with having tons of old friends in town for the fake, oh I mean fantasy baseball draft. This basically means 10 boys in my basement playing cards on friday night, and then disappearing all day to do their draft and then reappearing for a big group dinner on Sat. at a local pub. It was fun to see those guys and fun for them to get to meet/see rory. I will add pics to this post later, but for now, Spring Break is officially over and I have to get back to work! good night, Britt

A day at the zoo for two

So Rory and I spend a lot of time together by ourselves, but I relized today that rarely do we go to the zoo, omsi, children's museum or other event places alone- we almost always have family, friends, playdates with us. So today it was 11am- She was fed, napped, and dressed and the weather was nice, but not too sunny, so I decided to run up to the zoo for a bit. I figured I could kill 2 birds with one stone because I had wanted to work out today and if you do the zoo right, you can get in a great speed walk! I hadn't realized how long it had been since we had done an outdoor outing- talk about spring fever! It was a totally different experience going with almost 1 year old Rory instead of 7 mos. old Rory. She LOVED it- she was totally into watching all the animals and kept trying to share her snack with them. I took a ton of pictures b/c I just kept trying to capture the look of wonderment on her face. My personal fav. was the larakeet landing- she kept doing the "come here" sign to the birds, followed by the "please" sign- I think she thought if she asked nicely they would let her pet them. She did get to get pretty up close and personal once we bought the nector to feed them. She also loved the sea lions, the polar bear(although she kept doing the sign for dog- so she might be a bit confused), and of course the monkeys. I need to figure out how to do a slideshow of pictures because I have a lot of them. My friend Seth's blog does all slideshoes and it makes it easier to see more pics.- I will work on that. Other then zoo trips, we are staying busy with all the march b-days. Madi's was todays. Owens this week- Rory's next week, Pat's the week after, and smattering of friends in their as well- my one goal for our next child is no March bday- it is just too full! Enjoy, Britt

Bubbles

Just a few pics of Rory's new favorite sunny day activity. Bubble, bubbles and more bubbles. At least it is a cheap habit. I am loving the nice weather and am dreading the dark and rainy days that I know are still in store before summer. In one of the pics you see her newest super cheezy smile and in one you see her new favorite sign "come here" it looks like a low baby wave. She likes to use it when I am asking her to come to me, as if to say, "no mom, you come here." Ah the next 15 years ought to be fun... Enjoy the pics, britt

A little old

So this clip is a bit old, but I had so much fun watching the video of cole badger on his blog, that I thought I would attempt to start figuring out how to add video to ours. since our camera does take video, I had some old footage. This is of Rory and my friend Nicole's daughter Sierra with Madi at OMSI. It was right after Rory learned how to dance. ~Britt

Since I added the video, I might as well add a few of the cute pics of them as well. Rory is around 9.5 months at this point and Sierra is around 6 months I think. As you can tell from the first pic Rory is using her age and newly aquired kissing skills to make friends with Sierra.

a whole new phase

So we have entered a new phase of Rory not only being very mobile both crawling and walking, but being very adept and interested in opening things. Currently the fav is to unload the pots/pan cupboard. She is so funny, the more noise the lids make, the happier she is. We officially installed the permenant baby gate (thanks grandpa stan!) and are on constant mischief watch! It is pretty cool to see how curious she is and how quickly she is able to figure things out. I think we are going to have our hands full. On a not so fun note, she is getting her 1-year molers and it is brutal. she isn't sleeping, is incredibly irratible, and seems to be in pain most of the time. I just hope they come in quick like her first group did- cuz this sucks for all of us. I am off to put the kitchen back together again, Britt

thoughts on mental health

So I don't know how many of you have seen the news about the clackamas community college student who wrote threats about a shooting spree on his my space page. He is not one of my students (thank goodness), but it has spurred quite the turmoil on campus and brought up many issues of student vs. staff rights, safety, and well-being. This is the one part of my job(or working in mental health in general) that i truly hate. I don't mind the long hours, the emotional exhaustion, the chaos, and even the really mean students- (in fact those are some of my favorites). It is the feeling of complete helplessness that I despise. For a control freak such as myself it is a hard concept to grasp. It also goes against my general (yet naive) belief that there is enough love, help, counseling, friendship, mentors to reach every lost kid. I hope this situation resolves itself and this student gets the help he needs. I also hope that the work I do with my students is enough that I never have to face this situation any more up close and personal then this. and lastly I hope to raise Rory in a way that she will not only never feel isolated enough to be this student, but that she will treat all other people in a way that maybe it will prevent others from feeling such complete dispair. Okay, enought rambling. time to go hug the baby!
PS- as if this week wasn't depressing enough, now I am old and I have a scary job. lovely.
I promise next entry will be back to pictures and happy tellings of Rory's latest acheivements.

killer superbowl party

So the days of our house hosting a huge superbowl party with lots of people, food, beer and general mayhem (I still have the picture of the year the keg shell ended up on the roof) are OVER. This year we did end up with a few people last minute, a little beer, a lot of food (thanks to Brianne!!), and still some mayhem. I can honestly say this year saw the most nudity ever! If you are wondering what is in Rory's hair- it is oatmeal- we are working on her spoon skills. Hope you all enjoyed the game (sorry AJ) and aren't in too much of a football withdrawl. ~Britt

over the river and through the woods...

...to grandmother's house she goes. So I started my new job today. I have been working since Sept. but this was my return to the up early- out the door in the dark-home in the dark work world. First let me say, that I LOVE my new job. I get to be the counselor for all the students that I had previously been a teacher for. Since I think I am a much better counselor then teacher, it works out well. Nothing better then manically running from one group of wayward teens to the next. I think the highlight of my day(at least the part that made me giggle the most) was (earmuffs boys) using the carjack attachment to my breastpump and pumping on my drive from one site to the other, including the tacobell drive-thru. I told you it made me giggle! I did have a cover on- so it was decent and very discreet, but still funny. So back to the title of this entry- So since I returned to work Baba (aka -joanne, pat's mom) has selflessly volunteered to watch Rory for the 2 days a week. One day at her house on the west side (hence over the river she goes) and one day at our house. So this was her first day of being away from me for more then 4 hours at a time, and I think she did better then me. I was a little meloncholy this morning. As I woke our snoring 70 year old man, oh wait-10 month old baby girl (she just sounds like a 70 year old man) from a sound sleep, got her settled in her car seat and sent her out the door into the cold windy morning with her dad I had pangs of sadness, guilt, remorse, doubt, and worry-she stuck out her tongue at me, smiled a huge smile and was happy as a clam to be going on a daddy adventure. this was 6:45am. I spent approx. 3 minutes acknowledging these feelings when it suddenly hit me- I was alone in the house. For those of you who aren't moms or parents you probably can't realize the feelings of freedom one can feel in this instant. I literally did a happy dance and then starting the manic-in my head list of all the things I could get done in the next 45 minutes. I prioritized and decided to ignore all house duties and nagging projects and focus solely on getting ready. I managed to brush my teeth and hair in the same day(something that has eluded me up to this point in my parenthood), put on make-up (ok, just mascara- but is still counts), put on clothes that match and were for the most part free of baby residue, find matching socks, pack a bag for myself including food that wasn't pureed. Basically it was a thing of beauty. I could go on and on to describe my day in such detail, but I am running out of time and I am sure you are not nearly as amused by my feats of independance as I am. In the end, I had a fabulous day, my job is great, I was able to focus only on work w/o worrying a single minute about rory. From all reports rory had an amazing day, met a friend(and held hands) at starbucks, was fed homemade organic food, had music/dance time, had arts and craft time, and essentially will be a more well-rounded, smarter kid for getting a little variety in her week. I am so thankful that we have so many wonderful caretakers around for her and that I get the opportunity to miss her. Good night.... Brittany

sunny days

The weather here has been amazing. Super cold and windy but really sunny. It is so amazing how much good it does my mood to see the sunshine! I keep wanting to take Rory out and go do stuff outside because it looks so nice, but then the minute we step outside I remember it is still January and barely above freezing. Madi and I did venture out on a walk both to the local park to feed the ducks and up to washington park. Both adventures were cold, but I think Rory enjoyed them. The glasses are a new thing. Pat was watching her one night and they found them in the drawer and were playing with them and now they are a favorite accessory. Such a diva...

I ended up accepting the new job, so I will be working 2 full days a week instead of just 4-5 hours at a time. Should be a good balance and Rory has so much fun with Joanne/Madi (her current 2 caregivers) that I am not worried at all about her adjusting. I do however worry about me adjusting. How do people get through the day without at least one siesta? I guess that is what cars are for. I will keep everyone updated on how it goes. I am also going to attempt to backtrack and add some pictures to previous entries, mainly christmas. Time for bed, Britt

on second thought

maybe I should have been tisking(see last entry) more at omsi. We were there on Wed. and by Friday Rory had a fever and by sat. was in the ER with 104.2 temp. Scary, awful and not fun to say the least. The good news is kids tend to get better as quickly as they get sick- so she is fully recovered and we are starting to get back into our normal routine. No way to know for sure if it was all the chewing on toys at OMSI, or all the sick people (including her parents) that she has been around. I am still fairly convinced that we can't avoid this stuff- it is everywhere this year. We went back to her sign class on thurs. she is consistantly signing "more" "all done" "dog" and "hi/bye" She loves class, although rarely pays attention. She is too busy stealing toys from those younger then her and trying to get her toys back from those older then her- ah the pecking order! This week we start seriously working on her sleep schedule as I got offered a job with more hours and will probably be going to work for long days soon. We will start the process of finding a nanny/day care so if any of you know of someone PLEASE let me know!! Have a great weekend. Britt

ramblings on parenthood

So we have settled back into the home routine and recovered from our crazy and wonderful holiday travels and celebrations. I am back at work this week and we have re-entered the world of baby playdates. We attended the library baby time on Monday with Joanne. Rory loved it. She was a bit put off by all the playing- she takes her reading very seriously and was a little confused as to why we were all singing and playing and not concentrating on the books- we might have a little academic on our hands. She also impressed the other mommies by her insistance on sharing things with other babies- I think all the time we have spent telling Owen to share things with the babies has rubbed off on her- because now she spends most of her time trying to give other people toys. We attended OMSI with some friends Alyssa and Charlie today and she has her sign class tomorrow- A very busy week in the life of a 9.5 month old. So since I have a rare moment with Pat gone and Rory in bed I feel the need to comment on our visit to OMSI today. Since Rory doesn't walk around yet, I end up sitting in the infant corner with lots of time to observe the other kids and moms. It seems that I have been thinking a lot lately about "parenting styles" and where I/we fit in. It seems that it has come up a lot and people have asked me a lot lately about my mommy style. To quote Juno "I don't really know what kind of girl (insert mom) I am". After watching the moms today, I guess I know more about the kind of mom I am not, then the kind I am. I am NOT the mom that spent the entire time video taping her 11 month old. This mom's only interaction with her son was to tisk (also something I am not, a tisker) him when he tried to put anything in his mouth. Should make fascinating HOURS of video tape. I am not the constant nurser mom. This mom sat on a bench while her 1.5 year old went about playing only to return every 10-15 minutes for a quick 30 snack. I am not a 7-11!! I am not (well at least not today) the totally frazzeled mom- this lady had what looked to be a BRAND new baby strapped to her chest, several different bags strapped to her body, a 2 year old on her hip and an appearance of utter shock. I felt like I should ask if she needed any help, only because I am sure I have at some point had that same look and will more then likely be there again in the future. I am not the gasper mom- this one followed her learning to walk child around gasping at every teetor, on this scale I am the complete opposite- Rory took a header out of the foam circle that holds the colored balls and I just sat there- several moms looked at me like I was completely heartless. I figure Rory will let me know when she needs me, she got herself up from her header- it just took her a minute. there weren't even any tears. I also felt judging eyes (okay that might be a bit dramatic) when I let Rory chew on the toys from the water table and get fairly soaking wet. I am not sure I could keep things out of her mouth, even if I tried, and I am not sure what the point of a water table is if you are going to be obsessed with trying to keep them dry- I guess I just have lower standards! There were several moms that I think fit into the category I like to call "urban hip". Babies wearing baby legs, great shoes, and clothes that I think were great and that my mom would think didn't match. Letting their kids maul eachother in the name of letting them figure it out. Like I said, I am not sure where I fit into all this, and I am the last person to judge anyone else's parenting style, but it is helpful to sit and observe how others do it, both to clarify my own style and see examples of what I want to avoid and what I want to strive for. I apologize for the agonizingly long entry that seems fairly narsisstic, but I am pretty sure that is the nature of blogging in general. If you have any insights into my parenting style as you see it, please share, I am always interested in others perceptions! I swear parenting is just one big social experiment! I will upload more pics soon as miss rory is starting to get some hair! that is just a teaser so you will come back to my blog even after this post....~Britt

Weebles

Thank you to grandma Linda and Grandpa Stan for the weeble castle- it was a huge hit this week at sunriver.

the rest of the SR trip

So the rest of our Sunriver trip was great. We took Rory snowshoeing, and Pat and I managed to get to the mountain for a 1/2 day of skiing. the weather was so nice up there and we had a great day (this was the first time we have gotten to ski together- so that was super fun.) NEw Year's EVe was a bit mellower here. The whole crew was sick, so Pat and I just went to dinner and I think everyone was in bed by 10:30. Rory did wake up at 11:58pm so we didn't miss it entirely! I will attach pictures of us skiing and rory playing in the snow. My favorite ones are of her eating snow. I let her touch the snow with her fingers and she instantly starting eating it. THen of course manically signing "more, more". She is also really i