Can I touch his face?

A seemingly harmless string of questions that are asked at least 5 times a day by the notorious nose-picking Finn:

Can I touch his nose?

No.

Can I touch his cheek?

No.

Can I kiss his face?

You can kiss his head.

Can I hug him?

Sigh. Yes.

The Givers

Merry Christmas!

It might be December 26 but we are still eating a lot of cookies, the living room looks like a tornado rolled through, and I am still on a holiday high. It seems like there should be another party tonite.

We had Carroll Christmas Eve at our place with lefsa and meatballs. It was like inviting Santa over for dinner. Soul and Rachel got us a new camera! I am so excited to have a cool camera to use for documenting these days that seem to be passing by ever so quickly.

With all of the fun and excitement we got a late start on bedtime. When it came time to set out some cookies for Santa, Finn felt as though he would rather eat the cookies himself. There were some tears. But we finally got them tucked in with the promise that when we woke up there would be stockings and presents. Then at 2am I hear from the other room "Finn! Get Up! It's Christmas!" All lights flip on and both boys come into our room. Leo is totally stoked and Finn is totally dazed. I am totally annoyed and Ben is totally asleep. The next wake up call came at 6am, at which point we could either get up or miss seeing the boys open gifts.

The Receivers

The biggest hits at our house were the bean bag chairs. Santa also brought binoculars, a stuffed cow, legos and a slinky.

One of the best parts of the day was a walk in the sunshine with Leo, we delivered Christmas cards to nearby friends. Christmas Day goes by too fast so I am choosing to celebrate now through New Years Eve.

As Long As We're Reminiscing

Another unforgettable girl moment.

It was totally worth the next morning's pain, for me anyway:)

Thank you for being so much fun Heather, where is that shot of you with the wind blowing through your mullet?

Girls...

How cute is this picture. Though not taken too long ago, think of all we have accomplished in the 8 months since girls weekend. 3 Babies were born! Ahhh... the miracles of life.

I just love getting together with the girls. I seriously doubt if I will be able to sneak away to Orcas Island this Spring, but I think it might be fun to bring a few babies along for a condensed version of girls weekend. Maybe we can do it at the beach house.

Until then, I cant wait to have a holiday craft and cocktail night with the girls (Heather included). I have Glitter Painting Fever right now. Love to you all!

Awww...

Snowy Owl

5 times the fun!

Leo is 5!

He's the biggest brother.

5 sounds so much bigger than 4.

You get real Legos, lots of them, when you turn 5.

You also get stuck picking them all up at the end of the day, even if your 3 year old brother helped scatter them.

5 year olds go to school, wipe their own butt, and get in trouble for hitting, even if your 3 year old brother started it.

A few of his most favorite ways to spend the day:

Going to the beach with Dad.

Going to the zoo with Dad.

Going to the toy store with Dad.

Baking and cooking with Mom.

Snuggling.

Talking.

Asking questions.

Negotiating.

Making loud sound effects.

Telling stories.

Listening to stories.

Listening to Mom talk on the phone and interjecting often.

Not listening when whatever is said doesn't suit you.

Going for walks.

Collecting rocks and sticks.

Making weapons out of anything and everything.

Bossing his 3 year old brother.

Playing with neighbors and cousins.

Kissing and cooing at the new baby.

Eating raisins and fruit but never dinner.

Drinking milk and juice but never water.

Watching cartoons.

Going to Grandma's for dinner,but not really eating dinner,

just playing with her toys and watching cartoons.

Getting tucked in by Dad.

Happy Halloween from the Santa Wizard

I live with four boys

"I knew we would be twins" Leo

Abe

Abe had his 2 week visit with larry and he is back up to 10 lbs 3 oz. and 23 inches long. BIG!

Home Sweet Home!

We are home! So happy to be here, we were welcomed with lots of hugs and love> Leo is all about holding his new baby. The boys came to visit a few times while we were at the hospital, well, Leo once and Finn a couple more times. Leo was incredibly suspicious of everything from the bed to the IV to the hospital gown, where as Finn thought everything was pretty impressive, "I love your new bed! I love your new dress! I love your new baby! ooh I love the new baby's soft hair! I love your new phone (the bed remote)!" Finn came back everyday to graze on hospital food and watch cartoons with me. It was a lovely little vacation for Abe and I. And now we are home and have Lydia doting n us all for the next week or so. Lucky!

Baby Abe seems like a mellow little guy, (which I totally deserve!) but then again, why wouldn't he be? He has fallen into a giant lap of love. I forgot how much I actually love newborn babies, they require a lot of energy, but so does a four year old, and it is such a short time that they are soooo small! The yawns and baby stretches are my favorite, along with the grunting and groaning that accompanies them.

Happy Birthday Finn!

Dear Finny

Happy Birthday to you! You are our baby boy today but soon to be big brother. Growing like a tree, talking like a book, you amaze me every day with your good nature and sense of humor. You love your family and your kitty and your 15 most special stuffed animals with a fierce heart. I admire your curiosity: how do you make eyes? how do you make bread? how do you make flowers? how do you make peaches? how do you make crayons? Yesterday you explained to me in detail what pooh-pooh farts are.

You had a great 3rd birthday with all of the usual fun. I meant to change you out of your pj shirt and diaper all day, and maybe comb out your bed head dreads and take your picture, but we were too busy partying and playing and eating pancakes and before we knew it the day was over too soon! I love you Finn!

Day after tomorrow!

Baby Boy arrives the day after tomorrow! I love thinking this, but if I say it out loud it is followed by a welling of tears. But we are ready for this ride to begin. We have accomplished a lot in the past few weeks. Finn is our big 3 year old as of Friday. The house is clean. The bamboo hedge is planted. The garden is sort of ready for fall/winter. I have grocery shopped, pajama shopped, slipper shopped, Halloween costume shopped, and been to the pumpkin farm. And as Cory so rightly put it, all of my shirts are stained and I am ready to fit into my maternity jeans again!

Even a third baby boy gets spoiled by our friends and family. The only thing we dont have for him is a name. Well, I guess we actually have 10 or so that we cant decide fr

om. Also, I waited too long to order the baby hammock that I have had my eye on for 9 months, and now they are out of stock until who knows when. So it is. And I do want to go to the dahlia garden today because I have hardly taken any pics of my boys this summer, unless you count the three rolls that Finn threw away. Otherwise, sigh....the list could probably go on and it hopefully will in a few months or maybe a year or two from now. See you soon!

EC Phone Home

So sad, I have lost my phone. This has never happened to me before and if you are reading this you can bet I have wistfully thought to myself how much I would really like to call you this week.

I had a wonderfully typical convo with Heather from Boston earlier in the week, then Finn and I dashed off to pick up Leo, I got pulled over for expired tabs (never admit you know it), and somewhere within that foggy window of time the phone disappeared. Where could it be? My house is going to be soooooooo clean by the time I find it. So, hi everybody, I still have a home phone if you want to chat, give me a call.

Dont forget

The Snapdragon Blog is getting most of the love these days so dont forget to add it to your list!

snapdragontacoma.blogspot.com

Budding Artist

An independent activity that occupies Leo for more than a moment is rare, but this summer he has discovered my digital camera. He loves snapping pictures around the house. Some of my most candid pregnancy pictures have come of this new hobby. I wont be sharing those, they're scary, but here are a few of the couple hundred that I just took off my camera.

Berry Picking!

We picked 16 pounds of blueberries yesterday at our friend Holly's house! We probably ate at least 3 pounds while we were picking. Leo asked me "Is Blueberries For Sal a true story??" I say most definitely.

Next it's blackberries for jam. Anyone have any tips on hotspots? We used to get a ton at the beach house but not so much anymore. City picking can actually be pretty good sometimes too, but the city suddenly decided to maintain the alley that was the most prime of picking spots near our house. After blackberries there will be pickling, and then I would really like to do applesauce this year. We walked past the forbidden tree that grows the most delicious apples in the city and it is loaded this year. I say forbidden because it grows on the parking strip of freaky 50 year old twins who look like frumpy Bon Marche mannequins from the 1980's, they must have been big Dorothy Hammel fans when they were younger. They let me have it a few years back when I was pregnant with Finn and strolling with Leo. We picked 1 apple and they came out on broomsticks to chase us away. The memory of that tasty apple will probably require a night time stealth mission to see if it was really that good.

I Am Alone

The boys left town this morning for two nights in Spokane at Grandma's house. As they were pulling away from the house I was ridiculously sad. But then I scrubbed both bathrooms and underneath the kitchen sink and felt quite satisfied and independent. I have three whole days to fart around my house, I have never been home alone for more than three hours since Leo was born. I feel like I could do ANYTHING I want to. I could drive to California. Okay, maybe Portland. There is a totally insane part of my brain that sort of wishes I could paint the bathroom and kitchen, weed the whole yard and reorganize the basement complete with playroom for the boys. Oh, and have another yard sale. That would be so awesome. But I am committed to at least two days of crafting for my Snapdragon biz, in part because when the boys are home that is what I really wish I had more time for. So today I pecked away at sewing skirts and then helped my mom set up her etsy shop too. She couldn't resist the empty house with clean bathrooms either. See new Snapdragon blog for more about that.

Something New

Winding down with the wine career and winding up some creative works. It's like pecking away at the prison walls with a toothpick, breaking into the "technical" crafty scene, but here is what I've got so far.... snapdragontacoma.blogspot.com and snapdragontacoma.etsy.com. Please visit and share with anyone who you think would like what they see. There are so many skirts sitting in a pile here in the craft room, but I need a couple of little models to show them off. Then they will appear on what is currently a pretty skimpy looking etsy shop!

Summertiiiiime and the Livin' is Easy

?

summer

summer

Update, Leo is NOT pissed.

First off, I would like to emphasize that the belly pics below are from the previous babies.  I am not that huge yet!  

Second, although probably more important than first, I am happy to announce that we told the boys the big news about the newest, bluest, baby boy due to arrive in the fall.  Leo had been really pulling for a girl, telling everyone "well, I'm just DYING for a sister".  I was sort of dreading shattering his dream, but once again he proved most amazing boy I know.  We cushioned the news with, you are going to have TWO brothers JUST like DAD!  It was an easy sell from there.  After brainstorming all of the boy activities that, as oldest brother, he will be in charge of, he announced "Well, at first I thought I needed a sister, but now I dont want one, and I would have been really mad if I found out that I was going to get one."   So special.  

Only Blue Will Do Thank You.

Oh Boy, here we go again!  Yes, let's just continue with fuzzy baby blue.  I do love that color.  Two seconds into the ultra-sound today we spotted the penis.  I never doubted it, but it was fun to imagine that there just might have been something different in the mix.  Truly it is a relief for me, but Leo is going to be totally pissed.

This is a little trip down memory lane to Belly #1, the morning of Leo's arrival.

Then Belly #2, Finn.

Belly #3 is huge already.  Will I ever be skinny again?  This might be the last straw for my ass.

Thank goodness they are all so handsome and sweet, especially when they aren't wielding sticks and breaking my stuff.  

What will we name this new Baby Boy?  I have no idea.    

Will he be another 10 pounder?  Green eyes or Blue?  Fussy tummy?  Fussy who knows what or why at the witching hour?  This time around I am buying a baby hammock, they look comfy and SOOTHING.  I will sit nearby and tap it with my foot every so often.  That should do the trick.    

We Love Mother's Day!

Mother's Day should happen once a month!

I was treated to chocolate orange brioche french toast in bed, cards, and kisses.  Then we were off to breakfast #2 at Mom's, sausage, bacon and heavenly rhubarb crisp.  Home in time for super nap or maybe it was a sugar coma?  Then off again for an afternoon hike through the rhodies and trails at Pt.D.  The boys are so much fun to hike with.  Lots of keen observations of nature and running with sharp sticks.  There were mud pits galore on the trails which added to the fun.  All that running brought our appetites back in time for everybodys favorite East West take-out.  Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!