Kids do the darn'dest things...

Today Hadley & I had our first mommy-daughter activity since Coen was born. Grandma Vicki generously agreed to watch Coen for a couple hours while H & I escaped to "Parent Toddler Relations" at Walla Walla Community College for a couple hours. The "class" is basically a big activity center (painting, play-doh, water games, little cars, dress up etc.). During the first hour, half the moms go into a room to discuss parenting issues while the other half of the moms watch all the kids, then the second hour we swap. During the first hour while I was in the mom-room, Hadley painted a lovely red & yellow picture and spent the remainder of the time washing her hands at the mini sink. Then, she discovered the dress up bin. She snagged a tiara and a pair of furry high heels and didn't take them off until we left. That girl can run in heels better than I can. (She must've learned that from Auntie Lisa.)

In the mean time, Coen hung out with Grandma. And wouldn't you know it, he rolled over for the first time from back to front while I was gone! I can't believe I missed it!

Uncle Josh

It's nice to know that even though we no longer live right down the street from each other (in fact, given the crummy flight patterns between here and St. Louis, MO, we actually live 11 hours door to door apart) that we can still get together for dinner at the drop of a hat.  Josh, Andy and I are kind of like the 3 Muskateers of good wine & steak consumption.  So when Andy and I came across a winemaker dinner put on by top Walla Walla chef Andrae Bopp of la Porte Brune, we knew Josh had to join us.  So, 3 flights for josh, 5 courses and countless wine pairings later, it's safe to say we got our money's worth!  Thank you, Josh, for coming all this way.  We had so much fun, and can't wait to return the favor by coming to St. Lou to see you...
Wait, what's there to do in St. Lou again? ;)

4 month check-in

Dear Coen,

On the 22nd you turned 4 months old.  Where has the time gone, is what I'd like to know!  You went from waking up every 2-3 hours around the clock as a newborn, to sleeping like an angel at the age of 10 weeks.  You are a completely perfect baby if I do say so myself.  You love grabbing toys and stuffing them in your mouth, I can't tell you how many strangers have declared "he must be teething!" when they see you.  Although you will roll from front to back, you haven't rolled the opposite way yet.  But no matter, you can scoot yourself across the entire room on your back.  Who needs crawling? 

You LOVE Hadley. Every time she comes at you you smile a huge gummy grin as if you're saying "bring it on sister!"  You put up with a lot of hugs and kisses, that's for sure.  You've recently taken to pulling things over your head when you sleep, which gives mommy a heart attack of course. 

You have big blue eyes, a smile that is ready for anyone, anytime, and the cutest / chubbiest little cheeks and thighs.  You are nearly the same size as your "big" sister. In fact, you wear the same size diapers as her, which makes it nice & easy to shop for you two.  I can take you anywhere and know that you will go with the flow. (At the moment you're on the floor next to me in your bouncer smiling away, squealing at the monkeys and trying to get my attention, so I'll make this quick.)

Coen, I am so glad you are here. Having two kids under two is not the easiest thing I've done in my life.  But if we hadn't done it, it wouldn't be you, and I can't imagine a life without you.  I can't wait for you to grow up and hear what you have to say about everything, but at the same time I wish you'd stay this way forever.

Love you little boy,
Mommy

P.S. This morning at the Dr. you weighed 14 lbs 9 oz (50th %) were 25.5 inches long (50th%) and your head, of course, is in the 90th %!  And this is you:

Celebrating Baby Henry

This weekend I was scheduled to throw a baby shower for one of my best friends, Robin (who was the nurse that delivered Coen).  Well, she surprised us all by going into labor early and delivering baby Henry Christopher Green at 35 weeks!  We himmed and hawed about throwing the shower after her having just given birth 3 days prior, but we ultimately decided the show must go on!  I was so very impressed with Robin & Chris who took the whole thing in stride and snuck away from the hospital (where Henry is still staying, since he was a bit premature they are keeping an eye on him, but he's doing fantastic) to be at the shower.  We had such a great time, I must say the whole thing went off without a hitch.  I couldn't have done it without the help of Angela, Erica, Vanessa, Bethany, Sarah & Ilene who all came to my rescue!  Here are some pictures of the soiree:

I had the brilliant idea to paint onesies for Henry as a shower game. Having approximately zero creative bones in my body, I enlisted the help of Robin's friend Vanessa who spear-headed operation decorate onesie. I must say, they turned out perfectly, and Robin was so excited!! 

 

Angie & Bethany
 

Me & Robin painting for Henry
 

I may not be creative, but I can use a stencil (and pose like a Sumo wrestler)!

Of course, Robin free-handed this one

 

Chris stuck around as moral support & to help open up gifts. He is such a wonderful husband to Robin and already you can see what awesome parents they are going to make.
 

Coen was my sidekick for the weekend (Andy & Hadley had a daddy-daughter weekend). He spent most of the shower smiling & gurgling at all the ladies and rolling around on the floor. He was an ANGEL. Like, a COMPLETE angel. Thank you, Coen!
 

Elvis.  I love this picture!


The 916 32nd St girls (we all lived together in college)

Robin, Me & co-hostess Erica (Henry's aunt)

First time Grandma, Sarah, who is over the moon excited and in love with her new grandson. She was a huge help at the shower and held Coen for me while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut-off.  Sarah is like family to me and I couldn't be happier for her that Henry is finally here. Grandma & Henry are going to have LOTS of fun!

After the shower, I had the honor of getting to hold baby Henry at the hospital!  I cannot tell you in words how absolutely beautiful he is.  I of course think my kids were the most adorable newborns ever born, but Henry takes the cake in a very very close 3rd.  He is gorgeous!!  I swear I fell in love with him the second I saw his perfect little head of hair and little newborn features.  I am just gaga for Henry!!

  

And of course, I'm not the only one. There is something so magical about seeing one of your best friends become a mom for the first time.  Robin has always been amazing with my kids, but finally seeing her with her own, was just out of this world. She is absolutely glowing from head to toe (as is Chris).  These two are going to be amazing parents to this little boy.  Congratulations to the Greens, and I hope you get to take your little bundle home with you soon!  We love you!!

Babies!

Coen (4 months), Roslyn (6 months), Gunnar (8 months)

Are they not the cutest little people you've ever seen?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

...It's off to work I go!

We're starting this transition from full time stay-at-home-mom to working girl very slowly...like 8 hours a week slowly.  How awesome is it that I found a job that will hire me for 8 hours a week? (Hint, my father-in-law and husband just might have something to do with it...)

Hadley has started at "The Kids Place" - a fabulous little hippy preschool down the street from us.  She's gone 2 days now and she is enjoying the pants off going to "school".  She cried on day two when we picked her up! Teacher Patti is amazing. She's got to be, since she's worked in the one year old room since 1984, now that is patience. I seriously asked when I went for our initial interview what kind of staff turnover they've experienced, and the answer was that Hadley's teacher had been with the school since shortly after I was born. Incredible!

Coen will be with my sister-in-law's sister Melanie who stays home with her 8 month old Gunnar and our shared niece Roslyn, 6 months.  As Mel said, she's got the two baby thing down, what's one more?!

Anyhow, I'm excited for all 3 of us, I think it will be awesome to get out of the house, dress up like an adult and get back into the working world a little bit.  Slowly but surely!

Wish us all luck - Tuesday is our first day!

Family Tradition

Thanks to these two who organized...

(Andy's brother Steve & his wife Andrea)

These two:

(Us)

And these two:

(Andy's sister Lea & Wally)


And these two:

(Andy's brother Ryan & his wife Michelle)

...all had a fabulous weekend away at the Gorge taking in the Brad Paisley / Darius Rucker concert!

There were girls drinkin' $9 beers...

...Beautiful views:

...and later, back at the house, brothers playing "wine-pong":

...and a big man cuddling a little 4 lb pom-chi named Rocco:

 

I think we'll go ahead and call this a yearly family tradition.

Thanks guys - we had so much fun!

These Ladies

Thank you to these 3 wonderful ladies who bailed me out this Friday when I had a mini scheduling conflict.
Nothing like having 3 Grandmas around to save your butt when you need it!

A Girl's Girl

I am so so so so so glad I have a girl. So glad :)

Corndogger

Forgot to mention that Hadley tried her first dippy dog from the Eagles booth (which is run by Grandma JoAnn & Grandpa Larry).
I think she enjoyed it!

18 Months

Well we knew she was a peanut! We were a little late on the 18 month Dr. visit due to the move, but on Sept 3rd (at 18.5 months) Hadley checked in at:  21 lbs 2 oz (still rockin the 5th %), 32.5 inches (50th%), head 90% (big brain, the little smarty pants). Dispproportionate, but oh-so-pretty!

18 months is so much fun, it's challenging, but fun. It is amazing to have conversations with Hadley. You can see her little eyes light up when she knows she's done something good and she claps and says "good job" in her toddler speak. She now knows all of her body parts, just about every animal sound and is quite good at roaring like a lion (that's her favorite), is starting to count "1-2-3" (thank you Deven for teaching us "THREE!"), she's got a vocabulary of about 40 words (including the word "backhoe"), she loves shoes, loves to hug & kiss, runs absolutely everywhere, is proficient with forks / spoons / drinking out of normal cups without sippy lids (such a big girl! though we still cuddle while having a bottle at night), is so so so wonderful with her little brother (it took her a while to get used to him but she is soooo good now, she gives him his binky when he cries and is always giving him kisses.  Something that I'm sure around juinor high will have to stop :).

I remember the first time I started these posts about the various ages, and I can't believe how much has changed and how fast she has grown up.  It is bittersweet to watch her turn from a baby to a little girl with opinions (lots of them).  I wish we could stop time!  Love you, Hadley Roo. 

The Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days, Take Two

I was just telling Andy, I'm so glad I married someone who loves the fair as much as I do. I grew up working at the Evergreen State Fair working at the coffee stand and helping with the horses (hmmm, I've probably mentioned this before.) Anyhow, year after year we always look forward to the fair events, and it turns out we're not the only ones! Angela & Nick, our best friends from Seattle, made the trip over with their 14 month old Deven (aka Hadley's BFF.) We had so much fun, and must thank Grampa Guy and Gramma Allison for making our evenings out a possibility!  Twice they babysat all three of our kids so we could whoop it up at the fair. In between concerts, rodeos, horse races, ferris wheels, livestock (and elephant ears, roasted corn, funnel cakes, lemonades, dippy dogs, nutty bars etc. etc. etc.) we had a blast just hanging out at home, making dinner (they brought a huge box of farm fresh produce and really treated us to some awesome meals - Andy even ate a few vegetables, that's how good it really was), having fires (in the fire pit and sometimes on the BBQ ;), and of course we made a stop through Dunham Cellars for some wine tasting ala 3 kids.  It was so wonderful having them here, and we can't wait for next year to do it again, as we've decided there is no other option but to make this an annual event!  Love you guys, thank you for being here! 

In the Jeep on the way to the fair

 

Ange & Nick on the ferris wheel

Hadley, Me, Ange, Dev

Grampa Guy babysittin' Coen & Lea's new puppy Rocco

 

Dev & Hadley being best buddies

Me & Ange @ the Gary Allen concert

 

Nick pushing Deven & Hadley in their matching cars

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Andy, Ange, Nick @ the Wagon Wheel room after (ok during) the rodeo