Got their hair did.

 Two haircuts for two little cuties! They always do so great at the salon.  Love these two.

Deja Vu

I think we'll have to get this picture every year until he's 6 feet tall!

The Ole Tree

With some of the family stuff going on and Andy being extremely busy at work, we were running WAY behind this year on our Christmas decor.  We finally got our tree up and going this weekend! 

Did you know that Reindeer are in fact not mythical creatures? Yeah, me neither.

This is the one!

The finished product.

I seriously cannot believe it is December...much less the end of December. Between chasing toddlers, working 3 days a week and generally trying not to lose my mind, I just barely got my Christmas cards out the door today.  Next year, I vow to be ahead of schedule! 

Happy Holidays one and all! 

Vegas in Pictures

Although the end of the trip was pretty sad and difficult with the loss of my aunt, we still ended up having some great fun with our Swiss friends that met us there for two nights.  It was beyond amazing reuniting with our friends (Braden & Anna, Lisa & Martin, and Josh) that we hadn't seen in ages.  Just the sight of Anna and Lisa had me in tears on the spot.  I have really missed having daily contact with those ladies.  So here we go, Vegas: In Pictures.

The flight -- we learned many valuable lessons about travel...such as, we won't be doing it again with toddlers -- EVER!

Martin, Andy, Braden - Drinks at the Venetian before our amazing meal at Sushi Samba.

Hads got to come out shopping at the Forum with me, Lisa & Anna.

H&J with cousin Olivia (9 yrs old)

Family shot at Caesar's Palace

At Harrah's Jack Daniels Bar...had so much fun with these girls!

Hadley learning a thing or two about style from auntie Lis.

Dying to make this an annual trip!  Thank you for the wonderful times girls, until next time!

Joanie

Joan Ellen Miller {May 25, 1951 - November 30, 2011}

At the beginning of December, Andy and I and the kids (plus my mom) took a trip to Vegas for a combined family visit and a tax seminar.  We had a wonderful trip and visit with my aunt, uncle, three cousins and their husbands/wives/children.  It turned out we hadn't all been together in over nine years (at the same time anyway), so it was very long over due.  We had such an amazing trip, except that we had one very special member of the family missing....aunt Joanie.  Joanie had come down with some health issues at the last minute and had to cancel coming on the trip with us.  On one evening of the trip, the entire family was gathered around the dinner table and saying how we missed Joan and wishing there was something we could do to help.   The next morning, we found out that Joan had passed away peacefully in her sleep and it turned out it had been right when we were all together talking.

Losing such a sweet, smart, spunky soul at the young age of only sixty has hit us all pretty hard.  I know Joanie was always an avid reader of this blog...so it pains me extra to even be writing this. 

Above all things, Joan loved animals.  She had the biggest heart for her pets and the last time I spoke to her was about Dublin and how glad she was he'd found a happy home.  She is survived by her 18 year old cat, Gracie, who misses her dearly.  She loved watching all her nieces and nephews grow up.  She loved President Obama and followed all the polictics religiously.  She owned an encyclopedia collection about every President that ever lived, and owned about every classic book ever written.  She loved shows about nature.  I think the best way to remember tiny little Joan is to picture her watching National Geographic surrounded by books and with her cat on her lap.

My favorite way to remember her is smoking cigars with all the boys at my cousin Brian's wedding.  She was dressed to the nines and all 4 foot 9 of her was sassing with all the young cute guys.  Her personality always packed a punch, and everyone that knew her loved her.

I wanted to just put this out there into the blogosphere in hopes that she knows I am thinking of her often...of how much I loved her, how much I appreciated her as an aunt and how much fun I had with her growing up. I know things in the end for her weren't perfect, she was very lonely...but I know she's resting peacefully now with all her cats and dogs up in heaven. I just hope that now that she's there, she knows how much she was loved, how much she is missed and how very special she was to us all.



Love you, Joanie.  I will always think of you with a smile.

Halloween

I am so bummed....I didn't take a single good picture on Halloween to fully capture how darn cute the kids were and how much fun they had trick or treating.  Hadley led the pack of about 15 kids on the charge through the neighborhood...She scored handfulls of candy and is obsessed with dumping the bucket out over and over to check out her loot.  Jameson sort of got the short end of the stick and I made him hang out in the stroller 1) because it was freezing and dark and 2) because there were so many kids I was worried I was going to lose him.  Next year, buddy, next year!

Hadley the Dinosaur.

 Jameson the disgruntled Tickle Monster...complaining to the union about not getting to trick or treat properly :)

he may be grumpy, but he sure is cute!

October

As usual, we've been too busy to blog.  But until I have time to sit down and play catch up, here's a bunch of pictures from our sunny yet cold October!

The 3 amigos...We've spent a lot of time at the park lately.

The kids always goofing off. I think they especially look like twins when they're upside down.

Hadley likes the dog...but Jameson LOVES him.  They wander around all day together. So sweet, a boy and his dog.

Jamie trying to read :)

Twins.  Totally.

Night walks....this was actually taken at like 6:15 but man it's dark early these days!

Can't help but think that Jamie is a dead ringer for Uncle Steve in this picture!

We snuck away to Portland for two glorious days (and nights!!) while my Dad & Allison chased the kids around back in WW.  We had such a great time.  Though have to admit, felt super weird to spend a full 48hours without the kids....like old times! 

A glimpse into the life of my children...they are both complete dare devils...

The dog.  He loves tennis balls....obviously.

Big Kid Bed

First spin in the big kid bed tonight!

Walla 10K

My little cheer squad after the race.

My second 10K in two weeks...and it occurs to me, in all my years of running this is only the second official 10K race I've ever competed in.   Weird.

It was a VAST improvement over last week's hungover mess of a 10K, and this time I came prepared finished in 51:37 (8:18 pace).  I was 4th overall for women, 2nd in my age group and 11th overall for men & women.  This time though, it was cold and rainy and the course was 100% flat.  The cold & rain I love, the flat, not so much for me.  I love me some hills! 

I am definitely working on a come back tour, but unfortunately around this area there aren't many races to partake in...we've got the Turkey Trot 5K coming up but other than that we'll have to wait til spring and Bloomsday in May for any more official results.  Good thing Dublin likes to run or I don't know if I'd be able to keep this up through the winter!  I can't decide if I want to go for the half marathon or stick with the 10K distance, which is my favorite for sure.

One thing I do know, I LOVE running.  Like beyond love it.  And the sight of my husband and two kiddos waiting for me at the finish line was just priceless.  I am bound and determined to be a running mama (just like my own). 

Speaking of....my little mama ran her very own race on Mt. Eerie yesterday, and she found she'd set the record for her age group.  Like the RECORD.  Of all time.  For the past 60 years, my mom holds it.  She set the record of 29:34 (2.5 miles of intense uphill battle on Mt. Eerie)...this year she was just 2 seconds off her own record.  The fruit (hopefully) doesn't fall far from the tree!!

Fall.

Falla falla in Walla Walla...my favorite time of year.

As we rounded out summer, Ange, Nick & Deven came for their annual fair trip. We saw the Band Perry in concert (pretty darn good), ate a load of corndogs & elephant ears, whooped it up and had a great time as always. I love love love that my kids are going to grow up with Deven as an honorary cousin.

We squeezed out every last bit of summer that we could with BBQ's with friends and plenty of pool time. Though I have to admit, summer ended a lot sooner than I'd expected. Despite the abrupt end, it is so good to enjoy the cool fall air.

On September 30th, Andy's Grandpa Boldman passed away after a six month battle with cancer. He was a sweet man, married to the love of his life for 62 years (Hadley was born on Grandma & Grandpa B's 60th wedding anniversary) and a Great Grandpa to eleven great-grandchildren. Vicki and Bruce hosted a celebration of his long and happy life at their home and despite it being a sad occassion, we had a really nice time catching up with so many members of their extended family. Ryan & Michelle moved the 'party' to their house after hours and it was a touching tribute to Grandpa B's life that so many of his children, grand children and great grand children could be found talking, crying, toasting and laughing well into the night about what an awesome man he was. He will be very very missed in this family and beyond.  See his obituary here.

Yesterday I did my second Walla Walla Crush Run (Crush = grape crush season, as in wine for all you non-winos. Wait, do I have any friends that aren't winos? Hmm.) The 10k race zig zagged up and down rolling vineyards and it was such a beautiful, full blue sky, crispy air day I almost forgot that I'd been out with the girls til 3am the night before and was operating on a massive hangover. Though I've been having a hard time getting back in the training groove since my injury, my stubborn self managed to whip out a 54:56 and came in 10th in my age group. Very happy with those results! I think there is some promise here for next year.

The gals at the start of the Crush run.

Today our family of four went to Klickers to pick out our pumpkins, made chili and cornbread and carved pumpkins to get us into the swing of fall. Such a wonderfully relaxing weekend full of great visits with family, beautiful weather and quality time together.

And last but not least, the Dublin update.  He is wonderful.  He is so mellow and good with the kids, and he runs with me which is an added bonus.  His only little teensy problem...is that he can't stand being left alone.  He actually ate part of our door trying to get out.  We had a little visit to the vet today for some advice, and after a home visit from the vet (she's wonderful) she brought me an extra large crate for free, and helped me for an hour getting him acclimated to it, with the help of a tranquilizer :)  With any luck this will be the solution we need to get him used to being alone occassionally.  Because other than this, he is the best dog in the world and we love him dearly!! 

 His favorite spot to ride in the car.

Taking a break during our run this morning to fetch the tennis ball.

Our Third Child

Introducing....Dublin Hansi Burton Block. Half German-Shorthaired Pointer, half Chocolate Lab...18 months old (read: housetrained, leash trained etc.), 80 pounds of super duper mellow, friendly to the maximum, dream dog. Jame's new BFF...our very first family dog, aka our third child.  We love him so much!  Welcome to the family Dublin!!

My Little Hot Mess

Who Was I?

I read this somewhere recently:  Who was I before we had them, and who will I be when they're gone?

Crazy Town

Jameson 15 months

Hadley "two and a half"

Thought I'd do a little update on what's happening with both the kids...since I've completely abandoned all efforts at filling out their baby books, this will have to do!

Hadley:

- Tells you her age "TWO AND A HALF!"

- Knows her address (6 2 5 Hobson St) which she says in a whisper for some reason

- Knows her full name (Hadley ROSE Block - yells the Rose part)

- Knows her birthday (Fevruary twelve) so cute.

- Can do ABC's from start to finish

- Counts to 14

- Still mixes up her colors a lot, but she's starting to get them right more often. 

- Loves to draw, can do circles and squares...pretends to draw stars and hearts but it those look more like morse code :)

- Still switches shoes any chance she can get (usually doesn't match) but she's at least usually getting them on the right feet now!

- Can get dressed and undressed all by herself (I did it!)

- Recently became obsessed with her princess dress and tutu, which to be honest makes my life slightly easier.  Never have to wonder what she wants to wear and it sure cuts down on laundry!

- Loves getting owies for the sole purpose of sporting her hello kitty bandaids "Mommy I'm gonna need another bandaid RIGHT THERE" (invisible owie)

- Calls me honey.  It is hilarious, everyone is like "wait, did she just call you honey?" Yes, yes she did.

- Is SO nice to her little brother..she was so proud to show him to everyone at school the other day.  The teacher told me she kept taking her friends into the room where Jame was and saying "that's my bowie!"

Jameson

- Has developed his sister's love for shoes...in fact today at nap time, he HAD to be wearing her pink crocs to sleep.  It was quite adorable if not slightly troubling. 

- Loves to tear apart my decorating attemps and bring me things (for instance, as I'm writing this blog he is bringing me picture frame after picture frame from our bookshelf)...

- Is a total bruiser.  For as much of a mama's boy as this child is, he is afraid of absolutely nothing and he constantly scares the crap out of me.  I find him on top of the kitchen counter all the time.  No idea how he gets up there but all I can figure is he's scaling the drawer handles??!!

- Still eats everything.  And I don't mean his peas (even though he does eat those).  Any tips on how to get a child to stop eating crayons, markers, chalk, toilet paper etc.?  For three days straight his poop alternated between electric blue and mint green....

- For all the times he doesn't sit still (pretty much always) he love sitting in chairs or on the couch like a big kid.  He looks so proud :)

- Copies everything Hadley does.  I swear if she jumped off a bridge...

- Adores animals.  I think he got his mama's heart for doggies!

Both of these kids melt my heart every day.  For every time they drive me nuts and never let me sit down, they are also the light of my life and I can't get over how much I love the sibling connection.  Every so often I think we should have five more just like them...but then I come to my senses and pour myself a cocktail. 

Love you Hads & Bo.

Mommy

The Kids Place

Mommy is a WRECK this morning...both of my babes are at the Kids Place from 8-3 today...I know I should be doing a little mini celebration dance for the logistical simplicity of both kids finally going to the same place...but deep down I just wish I was home with them!  Even though they can drive me nuts, I love being home with them.  They are amazing little people.

Frama Joyce & Frampa Warren

We had another great visit with my mom & Lor this past weekend (Frama Joyce & Frampa Warren :).  Hadley keeps asking where they are now that they are gone.  There is never enough time together! We had a blast and got a few great photos.  Love you guys, come back soon!!