PBR &L

Easter Egg Dying

2011-04-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

We had an impromptu egg dying session on sunday night with the girls and our buddy george. they all did great and stayed focused for quite awhile. i highly recommend the egg markers, it was much easier for the little ones to use and see immediate results, they weren't as into the traditional dye. stickers were also a huge hit. rory loved it and was very intent on getting the perfect shade of color with each egg. i was just impressed that we managed 3 kids with only 2 adults and the worst of the mess was lucy's blue hands. well-done!

4 or 14?

2011-04-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

no pictures for this post, but i thought i should write this down, b/c i will forget it and it is just sooooo Rory! Lately when I put Lucy down for her afternoon nap, Rory chooses to play quietly instead of laying down and napping, often waiting for me to get done so i can play with her. Today she says, ‎"Mom, today while lucy naps, instead of playing with you, I think i am going to listen to your ipod in my room and dance". For the next hour she DANCED (well, i think it was dancing, it sounded like a herd of elephants) with her door closed and the music loud (well as loud as an iphone can get). She came out twice for costume changes, and several times to see if lucy was up yet." She reported that Eric (yes, from little mermaid fame) was there and he was "rock and roll dancing" She is currently wearing high-heeled dress up shoes, a tiara, a tutu and wings and just came out quoting katy perry. Pretty cute, and I guess I better start editing what's on my ipod!

Easter party at Play Boutique

2011-04-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

We hit the Play Boutique Easter party today and hung out with mr. bunny himself. Lucy showed no fear and crawled right into his lap. George was hesitant but very curious and Rory walked straight to him, pushing Lucy in front of her human shield style, the entire time. All in all a really fun morning.

serious hiatus.

2011-04-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

I suck. I just stopped blogging for no real reason. I could go into how crazy the holidays were and then feb-march birthday onslaught, but instead of making excuses I am just going to try and make it better. This is the only record of my children's upbringing, so i vow to get back on track and at least add it back to my to-do list. Blog on!

mall pics

2010-12-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

I am realizing just how spoiled i have gotten when it comes to professional style pics of my kids. These are some we took at the mall, and i think they are cute, but just don't capture the kids the way my friend pk has over the years. What I really did like was the experience of getting them dressed in cooridating outfits, heading to the mall with my mom and pat's mom and spending a day together eating lunch, etc. it brought back memories of brady and me with my mom and grandma. we would go every 6 months or so. so for the sake of tradition, it was really fun and i am glad i did it. on the other hand, it may be time to schedule a playdate with pk!

a little late.

2010-12-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Just thought i would throw rory's school pic up for fun. It is now several months old, and a scanned version- but this way i can look at it long after i have lost the original.

Visit with Santa

2010-12-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

The girls' school hosted a holiday party on sat. with lots of art projects, cookie decorating, ornament making, and a visit from santa. both of them did great with santa and while lucy didn't smile, she did communicate her desire for him to bring her a new baby doll. she really grasped the whole thing much better then i would have expected. i had to scan the pictures so they are a bit grainy, but you get the idea. no tears- so that was good.

halloween craziness.

2010-11-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

This is one of those posts that i envisioned spending lots of time recalling the details of the whirlwind of a weekend and retelling the story of all the events that took place. the reality is that if i do that, this will never get posted and i have exactly one friend left who is not on fb, that i promised i would update the blog with halloween pics, so for her sake i am going to just post the pics and get it done. the gist is that we attended a party at rory's school, hosted a party at our house for 11 kids and 30ish adults, participated in the crazy neighborhood parade, and trick or treated. the girls loved it all and did well w/ no major melt downs. we even seemed to manage the sugar intake. (well, except for this- it was lucy's first attempt at helping bake cupcakes- i had to let her)

We once again found ourselves surrounded by so many wonderful family and friends, it was a really fun day.

littlest crabs

2010-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

My parents bought a boat, so this week we went on our first crabbing trip with the girls. I grew up crabbing out of Waldport, on my grandparent's boat, so it was cool for me to see my girls getting that same opportunity. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be on the water. sunny, no wind, not a lot of people. We only spent about an hour and a half on the boat, then we took the dog for a run on the beach, had some lunch and headed home. The girls loved the boat, but i think i was the one having the most fun. I love crabbing! we only caught one keeper- lots of almosts. While on the beach, the girls decided to collect shells. rory chose some really pretty ones and lucy just picked up anything in her vicinity.

grandpa faithfully collected them all and rory spent lots of that time with soap and water cleaning each one. they also loved running from the waves (who doesn't?) After such a long day of outside adventure we got to eat the crab we caught and had to deal with the 2 littlest crabs that live with me. over all super fun and worth a little evening meltdown. thanks grandma and grandpa- can't wait for more boating adventures!

Pumpkin fun with friends

2010-10-19T15:21:00.001-07:00

We again hit the pumpkin patch with Jaime, Tate and Lexi and my mom. It was warm day with lots of sun, fun, and silly kiddos. Lucy and Rory both loved the slides, the bounce house, feeding the goats, picking out little pumpkins, and getting to try candy corn. there were 4 wk old puppies for sale that almost came home with us, and both girls loved this giant bull mastiff puppy named bulldozer. such a fun day, one of my favorite fall activities.

1st day of school- round 2.

2010-09-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

So rory started back at school today and lucy had her first day ever. I'll start with rory. She did fantastic- she has the same teacher, but moved up to an older classroom. she is one again the youngest in the room. she didn't remember her friends from last spring, but quickly jumped in and all reports were that she did great and had a lot of fun. one distict difference between this year and last year's first day was the dressing. last year she wore (at my choosing) tights, orange boots, matching brown jumper, pig tails. all in all- total cuteness. this year she came out of her room (where she goes each morning for "privacy', shuts the door and comes out with a "ta-da!") in orange bike shorts, a white tank top w/ butterflies, a headband, 4 hair clips, and some beads. she then requested i add a bandana. needless to day, cute in an entirely different way. i insisted she add something over the bike shorts, so in the end she added a skirt and sweater and looked fairly put together. she was very proud of her "grown-up passenger bag". i think she meant messenger bag, but she loves it either way. you will also notice in the pics her new haircut. this happened while i was in vegas, but grandma swears that the lady told her that the long hair was very damaged due to chlorine and just needed to be cut off. it is pretty cute.
so lucy was very excited to get to go to school just like rory, until she realized that meant that we were all leaving her there by herself. she did great for 4 days w/o pat and i, but appearanly 3 hours of school was too much. when it was time to go home, she left happy, and blew her teacher kisses, so there is hope, but the first report was "she had a rough day' and i returned to very red and swollen eyes. we'll just have to wait and see how next week goes. My favorite part was how excited she was to wear her little backpack.

she kept turning around and showing it off. we are very lucky that they have such a wonderful place to go learn, play and grow.

rory's 1st "graduation"

2010-08-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Before school starts again, i thought i should catch up on how school ended for miss rory last year. she ended up having her tonsil surgery right near the end of the year, so was out for a few weeks at the end. she did recover just in time to participate in their 'graduation" celebration. really it was for the kiddos going on to kindergarten next year, but for rory's class it was an end of year celebration. it was super cute and the kids all sang a couple of songs, some in english and some in spanish. they each got to wear a hat (rory refused) and walk across the stage. they each got a certificate and a big hug from miss angie.

grandma dawni and baba were able to join us, and after the program was dinner and music for dancing/playing. we ended the evening with some special frozen yogurt treats. it was really fun and a good way to introduce rory to the concept of summer break. that being said, it is almost september and we are ramping up for lucy to start school one morning a week and for rory to start her second year with miss angie.

1st boat ride

2010-08-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind on blogging, it is tempting to scrap the whole thing and just give up, but since this is the ONLY form of baby book/memory keeping i have for either child, i am determined to press on and just do what i can- even if it is out of order and very delayed. that being said, we recently got invited to take the girls out on their first boat ride. i had just ordered them new life jackets so the timing was perfect. rory was nervous at first, but agreed to just tour the boat. once aboard she was in her element and loved it. She especially loved driving. lucy wanted to touch the water the entire time and showed absolutely no nerves or fear. she'll probably be on skiis next summer! anyway, it was a fun day- a little too cool to get in the water, but a great way to spend the afternoon. looking forward to lots more boating adventures.

Lucy at 17 months

2010-07-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am actually not really sure of the date today, but i know that it is somewhere near the end of the month and that means that lucy is about 17 months. i thought i should write a little about where she is at, since i remember this time in rory's life as being one of very fast paced change. so lucy is still a bit of a bruiser, but has gained a ton of coordination and is actually becoming quite athletic. she can climb up anything and will do so at any opportunity. she loves to dance, which mostly consists of her twirling and "singing". She loves to swim/play in the water and is a total adrenaline junky. the bigger, faster the slide the better. she is just always on the go. she doesn't like to eat any fruit- but will tolerate bananas. she loves to any anything protien- meat, cheese, yogurt etc. she will only feed herself and will not tolerate help or a high chair- making for some messy meal times. i am okay with the mess b/c the trade off is the freetime i get at meal time. she loves shoes and is obsessed with getting rory's shoes on and then walking/tripping around. she likes to immitate rory in almost everything, and they are just now beginning to play together peacefully, sometimes. she can sign a bunch of words, including: all done, more, help, mom, dad, car, baby, food, binky, water, please, thank you, cat, dog, sad, sleep, tiger, elephant, monkey, fish, music. there are a lot more, but i can't think of them right now. she can verbally say, mom, dad, all done, bye, dog, duck, grandma. but she only says these things when SHE is in the mood. she is not really into performing on command. she has a new love of books- which i am excited to see. she is very determined and knows how to get a rise out of her sister, and frankly out of me. she loves her crib and sleeps great- although gets up really early. 6 is the norm, but can go earlier on some days. ugh. overall she is just a happy, healthy little ball of a toddler. she still has beautiful blue eyes and her hair is turning blonder this summer. she loves to ride bikes or really anything that moves. she continues to love dogs, but is an agressive lover, so we have to find really nice and patient dogs. that's about it. we love you lucy!

bend 4th of july pet parade

2010-07-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

The 4th started with our annual sunriver porch maloney girls photo shoot. that lasted about 3 seconds and then we were off to the bend pet parade. after that it was the fireman's picnic with the unlimited free bounce house- also a hit. we ended the day with a FEAST of bbq steak and pork burritos. i would love to take credit for the cooking, but pat with the help of his brother managed to cook for 7 adults and 3 kids while managing said kids. i gotten taken out on a tour of sunriver's happy hours- a much needed break and so much fun!

"you've got to be kidding me with this bow"

and of course the grand finale every year- the flying dog!

a year gone by...(school year that is)

2010-06-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

Rory recently completed her first year of preschool with much success. I can't speak highly enough of her school and how much progress I have seen her make through her twice weekly classes. She would love to go everyday, but I am not ready to give up my freedom of schedule just yet. Anyway, we love teacher Angie at our house and rory often leads her babies through a day of school when she comes home. they had a really fun end of year celebration where the kids got to where caps and sing a couple of songs in english and spanish, followed by dinner and dancing. Since rory had missed several days due to her surgery, it was great for her to get some closure to the year and get the idea about this whole summer vacation thing. what i was most struck by when looking through pictures was how much older she looks at the end of the year compared to the beginning. see here for the 1st day of school.... http://pbandr.blogspot.com/2009/09/1st-day-of-school.html
here are pics from the last day of school. notice the addition of the starbuck steamer- one school day habit we need to kick this summer!

a rare sighting...

2010-06-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

...both girls clean at one time! just thought I would take a few obligatory bath photos. someone once told me that if you have a crab then get it to water. so true- no matter how bad the night is going or how cranky they are, water always helps.

blowing bubbles!!

Jr. Rose Parade

2010-06-09T15:55:00.001-07:00

once again we ventured out to see the jr. rose parade. the real rose parade is a big deal in portland, but pat hates parades and i am not brave enough or motivated enough to haul 2 young children into the mass chaos that is that particular event. soooo, we settle for the jr. version. this means that the floats are homemade and mostly consist of decorated bicycles and cardboard attached to wagons. the bands are all middle school instead of high school and the audience is mostly the 6 and under crowd. what this means is that it is PERFECT for us!! we have a whole system of eating lunch at one of our favorite breweries (fancy micro brew included!) and then timing it just right so there is no waiting and no crowds. the best part is watching how excited the girls get. they clap, dance, and stare in awe the entire time.

it really reminds me how simple it is to impress them- the littlest things are so cool to them. rory's favorite part is that the mascots stay in their cars (unlike various sporting events where benny or blaze try to come talk to her) and all the dance teams. every one that passed was accompanied by "ooh, mom- i am going to do that when i get older!" lucy just loved the bands. she was big into clapping and dancing and has pretty good rythm. it was supposed to be thundering and super rainy, and ended up being perfect. now we have done it 3 years in a row- officially a maloney family tradition! next year, come join us!!

off to the hospital

2010-05-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

it's almost time to get up to go to the hospital for rory's tonsil surgery. i have been up since about 3, got up with lucy and then my brain took over and no sleep to be had. i did have a very vivid dream that i remembered. it was pretty typical i think for the current situation, just my brain processing the natural fears that go along with surgery- the weird part was the enormous role that facebook played. rory had not made it through surgery, and while pat and i were still talking to the dr. and getting all the info our phones went crazy with people saying they had heard it on fb. then at the funeral our normal friends and family weren't there, but the far reaches of our facebook friends list were. so bizarre. also- the funeral was essentially the scene from the church in the last episode of lost- nice, i think my brain has been taken over by social media outlets and pop culture. anyway, even though i have been up for hours and stewing a little bit, i feel really good about the day. not much else to share in this post, just taking advantage of the inherent theraputic effects of journaling/blogging. rory totally figured out the whole "i am having surgery tomorrow" angle and got dinner at her favorite restaurant, dessert w/o sharing, tv before bed, a super late bedtime and got to sleep with us. crazy treats all around! in the middle of the night she was restless and obviously having a nightmare. she kept saying "i don't want to, i don't want to" i immediatly start my internal monologue about how we are traumatizing her and she is processing her fears about surgery in her dreams. next sentance out of her mouth "i don't want to share that book with you." okay, so i guess she was processing her fears- the worst fear of a 3 year old, forced sharing. gotta go rally the troops- more to come later.

Mother's day

2010-05-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

started the day with a solo run, the first in several years. w/o the stroller, i forgot what to do with my arms, must have looked silly shadow boxing while running. we then hosted a brunch at our house. it was great b/c the weather cooperated and we were able to use the patio. Pat did all the work and it was a lovely day!

Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here are the gifts I made for rory's teachers for teacher appreciation week. I signed up to bring a small gift for 2 different days- and then the school collected money to do bigger gifts from all the kids. These are packs of 10 handmade cards- a variety of sayings, and a little magnetic board w/magnet. I still need to figure out the other day- but wanted to post these so i remember the idea for future years.

This project as well as the entire week of solo parenting have been brought to you by the letters C, O, F and E and our featured sponsor.

Sunriver February trip

2010-04-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

i do realize it is almost may and i am just now getting to blogging about something from february- but as my new mantra goes, "i am doing the best i can!"

we visited sunriver at the end of february, in what i am sure will be a new tradition. evan, renee, brian, brie anne, brady, shahnaz, the boys, and our troop headed east for a long weekend. it was tons of fun and included lots of hanging out, some games and even a little outside time. no snow on the ground this time, but that just meant the kids could enjoy the park and they even played a little baseball. my favorite was rory and owen playing outside on the deck, sweeping the pine needles.

evan, renee, brady and i hit the slopes one day leaving pat at home with the girls. it was a lot of fun and reinspired my love of skiing. it was also cool, b/c brady and i haven't skiied together in more then a decade. some things never change, as the first thing out of his mouth was a challenge to a race down the hill. those were the highlights- the down side was lucy was a horrible sleeper for the 3 nights leaving me a bit exhausted and overwhelmed. i am looking foward to next year, when we just have kids, no babies- i can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

sunshine where are you???

2010-04-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

sunny days

2010-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since we've seen the sun around here, but these pictures taken in late march prove that it was in fact here. Mandy and george stopped by after work for some outside hanging out, some snack, and some really cute kiddos. Rory was very excited to bust out her outside toys including the bubbles and her golf clubs. you could tell how much she has grown this year, b/c her golf clubs were all the sudden way too small (thanks aunt madi for the new taller set) as were her pants appearantly. Lucy was into the bubbles and in general just rolling around on the grass and taking rory's stuff. George seemed most into the snack. he LOVED the goldfish crackers (really, who doesn't?) and used his new found mobility to creep up and try to sneak rory's away from her. they are all so cute, especially together. I can't wait for some beautiful spring oregon days- this week has been brutal. I am most excited to just have the girls be able to play outside for extended periods of time. we are working on our wish list for summer toys and our list of ways that rory can earn money to buy said items. rory is also excited to help me garden this year and we are going to plant a kid garden section that they will choose, plant, maintain, and eat/pick. George also shows signs of walking and will be toddling around in the back yard soon i'm sure. get ready summer, here we come!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T07:20:00.001-07:00

*********Just added a post on Lucy's 1st bday, but you have to scroll back to feb.22nd.*******

Happy Easter!
We started the weekend off with some intense egg decorating on friday night. Rory preferred the glitter paint, while lucy was into the egg markers. Both worked very hard and really enjoyed it.
Saturday, we went to an Easter party at rory's school but we were having too much fun to take pictures so I will have to wait for the school to email me their's before i can add them. Sunday the girls woke up to a bunny trail (m&ms) that had been left for them starting at the top of the stairs and windind all the way downstairs to their easter baskets. Rory's favorite thing from the easter bunny was the m&m's and lucy's was the super hero cape that was left for rory.

skating

2010-03-29T14:11:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago we tried a new portland adventure and took rory and her friend eli roller skating. they have preschool time at oaks park and it includes skates, a little lesson, and milk/cookies afterwards. i was shocked at how well the kids did and how much fun it was. the best part was that they allowed shoes and strollers on the floor so the mommies and babies could participate too. both the kids did really well and rory even ventured off by herself a little bit.

she was very into using her arms to balance

and even had the sahnow tongue out to help her concentrate.

lucy loved the music and they all loved the hokey pokey and the other songs. totally brought back memories of the skating rink in corvallis (can't remember the name). i was most proud of the kiddos ability to try something new, not be very good at it, practice and get better. they both took some good falls and there were very few tears, just lots of 2 year old determination. overall a very sucessful playdate and something i would recommend to all you portland moms out there.

shamrock run 2010

2010-03-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

the maloney clan showed lots of spitit at this years shamrock run. it is a fun tradition and we even added a brunch at pat's parent's house afterwards. the only down fall this year was that it was the morning of daylight savings so getting the kids up, fed, dressed and out the door by 7am, which to them feels like 6am was tough. we logged about 4 miles and kept a good pace this year. this event combined with an afternoon at the kells tent rounded out our st. paddy's day celebrations. on the actual day we ate dinner at chevy's. I also had my first attempt at being a room mom. I led Rory's classroom in making st. patrick's day crowns out of paper plates. I was too busy (by busy i mean completely overwhelmed at how difficult it is to lead 15 2-4 yr olds in anything) to take any pictures, but the end result was so super cute and rory was really excited to have me in her class.

funny conversations part 3

2010-03-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

the last couple of days rory has been really funny. i think she is just figuring out this sense of humor thing and is starting to say things to get a laugh. of course, the first time it's funny and adorable and the 900th time, not so much. so here are a few roryisms from the past week...
1. we have only been to toys r us a couple of times, and not in her memory. we walked in looking for owen's octipus i promised him for his birthday (optimus prime the transformer) and rory said, "OMG, mom- look at this store!"

2.we were at a friends house and i told her to go get her shoes on. she says, " i will do it by myself, cuz that's how i roll." the best part was the swagger that came with it.

3.) pat and i were sitting one evening discussing how totally and completely lucy can destroy a room. we were describing how messy she is and calling her a grubby baby and rory pipes in with, " guys, welcome to my life."

and last, but also my fav. we were driving down i-5 and rory literally gasped and yelled, "mom, stop the car!". i, a little panicked, asked, "why?" she replies, "because i just saw cinerella's castle!"
yep, or the morman tabernacles- same thing.

to be continued this week i am sure as she pops off with more funny stuff. excuse my horrible grammer- still no shift key.

diaper suprises.

2010-03-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

With Rory, you opened her diaper and you knew what to expect. Lucy is a different story. yesterday i found a cheerio, some carpet fuzz, and part of a toy. not sure how that works, but it is always amusing.

Lucy's 1st Birthday Party

2010-02-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Lucy celebrated her 1st Birthday on Sunday with a little shindig at our house. I realize now that I was so busy I didn't get a lot of pictures taken of guests, but I think Madi took a few of the important moments. Lucy was pretty delicate with her cake- and wasn't as into opening presents as Rory was at 1, but did enjoy playing with her new things and liked the singing. I hope to get some time to write a little reflection about who she is at 1, but that will be seperate. Several people couldn't make it and asked for lots of pics, so that is why there are so many of the table/decor etc. Overall a fun day and Lucy so far has been a terrific 1 year old.

Tired baby- too many presents!

Her new Lucy golf t-shirt!

A very proud big sis!!!

Birthday girl and Grandma

lucy time

2010-02-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

now that Rory is in school for longer hours, Lucy is getting some much needed only child time. Since the weather was simply amazing on Thursday, Aunt Madi and I headed for the zoo with Lucy in tow. SSshhhhh, don't tell Rory. It was fun, we got a good walk in, Lucy got some outside time with undivided attention, and she even started signing elephant and lion. We then picked Rory up from school and enjoyed a little picnic outside- makes me so excited for this coming spring and summer- and the sun that comes with it. The pictures are courteously of madi.

as her first birthday approaches

2010-02-15T21:32:00.001-08:00

she embraces her inner super hero.

sick days

2010-02-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

multiple new posts- so scroll down.

We have had a sick house this last week. rory and i have been diagnosed with walking pnemonia and lucy i fear is not far behind. This has come with it's share of sleepless nights, cranky babies, cranky mommy, ridiculous coughing sessions, and generally no fun. It however has also come with a few really sweet moments.Yesterday Rory decided to read books to her dolls- it was just the sweetest thing. She made sure they could all see the pictures and checked in with each of them periodically to see if they were okay and liking the story. I like that all the dolls are dressed in pink, but she is rockin' her blazer pj pants. nice.

Then last night aunt madi came over and helped rory and i make cupcakes for today. It was super cute how rory just sat in front of the oven and waited for them to be done. we did the mini-muffin size which is perfect size for her. she loved all the measuring etc, she is getting to be a great cook.

lucy had to wash her blanket this week due to vomiting all over it from couphing so hard (i know, your jealous of my life) and rory offered to share her orange blanket while it was in the wash. for those of you who may not have seen rory in person lately- that is a huge offer- she is pretty attached to orange and usually gets mad if lucy even looks at it- so we were impressed with her generosity.

For those of you who are wondering where the sweet lucy moments are and where her pictures are- let me just be honest. it has been a rough week. before she got sick she just moves too fast to capture on film- i have lots of blurry streak photos that aren't worth posting. and since she has been sick she has just been too miserable to even function. she did fall asleep last night sitting up in my lap and clinging to my shirt- so that was sweet. looking forward to healthy kids next week.

shopping with daddy...

2010-02-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Pat has often tried to coax Rory out of the house on sat/sun mornings to run errands with him and give me a break. Usually she is not terribly interested in going, preferring to just give him orders for a steamer or specific groceries etc. Today however when pat announced he was going to hit the grocery store before it got busy (I am sure counting on a 20 min or less roundtrip), Rory promptly announced that she was going too. Since she was wearing 2-piece fleece jammies that basically looked like cozy clothes, we just said- sure, just go put on some shoes, but hurry because dad is ready to go. 10 minutes later she returns downstairs with new pj pants (she was very proud that she was able to change them herself), 2 hair clips (one of which was red/green with jingle bells on it), a pair of sunglasses, a necklace, and a thoughtfully packed purse/diaper bag. The content of her purse included a cell phone, a piece of paper she had scribbled her "list" on, her keys, and some 3d glasses left over from zoo lights. After 2 more trips upstairs to get shoes and other things she thought she needed they were off. It was so sweet how intentional she was about everything and how much she mimics the adults in her life. I think the time it took them to get out the door doubled the time they were actually gone, but it is a good chance for pat to practice patience and for them to have special time together. she even came home with a special tinkerbell heart balloon that he got her for valentine's day. why are dads and daughters so darn cute?

funny sick talk

2010-02-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

so rory came down with a fever last night and by this morning as a completely stuffed nose, fever and cough. not fun for anyone. what has been funny is listening to her talk. not only does she sound like elmer fudd due to the congestion, she is just saying completely random things- i don't know if it is the benedryl or the fever- but she is loopy.
conversation #1
out of a dead sleep at nap time she sits up and says "mom, sometime can we have eli over to play? like maybe next tuesday?" okay-rory, whatever you want- go back to sleep.

20 minutes later out of a dead sleep again. "mom we will get a kitty cat first named palmer (that is her grandma's cat's name) so baba and i will have matching kitty cats. then we will get a dog named scrabble. no, named lightbulb." okay rory- go back to sleep.

can't wait to see what she says next...

a glimpse of spring....

2010-01-24T22:37:00.000-08:00

My "add to blog" file is getting huge, meaning I am WAY behind on blogging, but instead of going back and being perpetually behind, I decided to start with 2010 and get caught up eventually. on that note, here are some pics from our venture to the park yesterday. It was a little glimpse of sunny days to come and was especially fun becuase it was our first trip with lucy as an active participant i instead of a passive stroller/ergo pack observer. she got to ride the tricycle for the first time and loved all the kids and dogs at the park. I am about half way through a video pat's dad got me about my camera and had a lot of fun playing around with some different settings. enjoy!
ps- for those of you who will notice that these are very lucy heavy, c'mon- it's about time!!

I gotta dance part 2

2010-01-12T14:16:00.000-08:00

I think I have mentioned in the past Rory's sudden urge to enter stores like abercrombie and holister. she walks bye, hears the loud techno-ish music and just has to dance. I finally got some video of it. The best part is that I am standing out in the mall, so the music you hear on my camera is the slow mall music, you can't hear the beat that she is dancing too. she cracks me up. enjoy!

Rory's message from Santa!!

2009-12-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

funny that one of the most magical moments of the season came from this silly gimmick. she loved it and promptly went to bed in her own bed last night w/o any fuss, only saying "santa knows i am working really hard on this." pure brilliance. thank you to whatever genius wrote this program. i am sure we will be watching it periodically for the next 2 weeks. gotta go wrap presents...

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/161d0149201b22c7a189a58e5b784ffc

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree...

2009-12-07T21:45:00.001-08:00

The tree is up. 2 days, 3 phone calls to parental units for advice, 1 trip to home depot, a lenthy tree wrestling match staring pat and i vs. the tree, 2 power tools, 3 saws, a living room that looks like a grand fir massacre and finally a visit from a tree elf that looked surprisingly like pat's dad- but the tree is up. Our annual trek to the deep west side for Helvetia cheeseburgers and helvetia tree farm was a success. sunny skies and super cold- but rory loved it. she is at such a fun age because she doesn't remember anything else but is old enought to be excited by it all. when i was explaining to her the process of going to get a tree and cut it down to put it in our living room, she looked at me like i was crazy and said, ''why do we do that?". good question kiddo, good question. my other favorite comment from her today was while we were home all day cleaning the house and setting up all the decorations she put her hands on her hip, holding an ornament and said, "mommy, christmas is hard!!". i agree.

like i said, the tree is up, let the festivities begin!

funny rory conversations...part 2

2009-12-05T20:23:00.001-08:00

this was written awhile ago- but i finally got around to revisiting old posts and getting them up.

I have every intention of getting caught up on posting pics/blogging about recent events- but for the sake of being realistic i wanted to post a few things before i forgot them. also- i realize i don't use caps anymore when typing, it is because lucy removed the shift button from my computer.
conversation #1
after returning from getting a temporary (and very metallic) crown put in at the dentist rory and i were talking about dentist visits in preparation for her first visit. i thought she would be apprehensive when she saw my tooth, but instead gasped and dramatically said, "oh mom, it's gooorrrrrgeeeeooouuuussss!!!" now periodically she will ask to see my pretty tooth.

conversation #2
after a lengthy conversation about what it means to practice something (like swimming, and figuring out her new toys, her new bike, etc.) rory adds..."yeah, like how i have to practice being tall"

she makes me laugh every day.

cousins

2009-11-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

teething sucks.

monster march

2009-10-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

~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

2009-10-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

ROCKBAND!!

a glimpse at my future....

2009-09-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T07:52:00.001-07:00

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!!

2009-09-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

dueling laptops!

funny rory conversations...

2009-08-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-08-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

Cape Cod and AJ's wedding

2009-08-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-02T09:08:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

****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 dinner and spend some quality time with the grandparents. It was a super fun trip and one we plan on repeating throughout the summer.

buddies

2009-07-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

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 fountain ride 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

2009-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

random pics...

2009-04-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-03-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-28T21:18:00.000-08:00

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

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

2009-02-24T20:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-20T07:47:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-02-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

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!!!

OMSI playdate

2009-01-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-28T09:16:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-28T08:53:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

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!