Virgina 2010 Vacation

We timed our trip to Virginia perfectly this year. We went back to meet our new niece Olivia and new nephew Peyton and to give Kris' extended family a chance to meet Tucker. Luckily for us, the babies made it home from the hospital about one week before we arrived so we were able to hug and dote on them all week long.

Highlights from our trip:

• Crisp sunny fall days with beautiful fall foilage surrounding us everywhere we went
• Giant piles of leaves for the boys to play in for hours at a time
• a big family party at Great Grandma's which included a full afternoon of trampoline jumping with cousins, petting goats, looking at the beautiful horses, a ride in the back of a pick up truck, almost petting a buffalo and a cow, and yummy food and great company.
• Owen and Tucker playing with Jenkins and Onyx
• a trip to Build a Bear with Auntie Kyndal
• a trip to the toy store with Nana
• a visit with Robert & Jenny and their sweet baby Abby
• a delicious Thanksgiving feast with Robert and his pals at his Smith Mountain Lake cabin
• first park trip with Auntie Kyndal and her beautiful babies
• a family photo shoot
• lots of relaxing and watching movies in the evenings
• yummy meals at home with the family
• Aunt Jackie's AWESOME sugar cookies

can you believe this color on the maple tree?

could they be any sweeter?

Welcome to the world Oliva & Peyton!

On September 10, my sister in law Kyndal went into early labor and delivered her two twin babies, Olivia and Peyton two months before their due date. The babies were very tiny, both less than four pounds, but they were oh so cute. They spent the first seven weeks in the NICU, growing stronger and bigger, developing at impressive rates. Kyndal and her husband Tracy, were finally able to bring the babies home a week before our scheduled vacation to meet the twins and visit with family and friends.

During our Virginia trip a few weeks ago, they had a check up on November 10 which can in some ways be considered their Day 1 for milestone tracking. Peyton weighed almost the same as Tucker did at birth (1 oz heavier) and Olivia weighed almost the same as Owen at birth (2 oz lighter). It was especially sweet for me to hug and kiss my new niece and nephew and to also be reminded of how itty bitty my babies were such a short time ago. The size difference between Tucker and the twins is remarkable.

Owen treated the babies so carefully and lovingly, it was adorable. Here is a picture of the four grandkids. Kris' parents went from one grandchild to four in 1 year!!

Family help- Part 2 (aka A Shout Out to Kristin!)

My sister Kristin is wonderful. She signed up for a month of "nanny" service and the day after she arrived she had to immediately help us as we came down with the nasty stomach bug. Sure enough she also had to personally endure the bug and also witness her husband and son (not to mention our step-brother Gianni) go through it. She could have gone home early and enjoyed a much easier, less demanding summer; instead, she warmed our home, entertained three kids on a daily basis, fed my baby his daily new food and patiently helped him with his sippy cup, made us many yummy meals, and helped keep us organized. One night she even gave me, ME, a neck massage when I complained of a headache. How could I be so lucky?!

Within a few days she understood Tucker's needs thoroughly. She was able to rock him to sleep quickly and anywhere.

She took the boys all over the place -the library, the zoo, the grocery store, on train rides, and to a bounce house gym- just to name a few.

She doted on our friends' kids during swim lessons and a birthday party.

She shared in our joyous adventure in San Francisco

and accompanied us on a camping trip (her first)

On a "free" evening without my boys, she took Charles for his first climbing experience, which "rocked" (thanks Renee!)

To help keep Tucker away from small toy parts, she happily tolerated many Lego and Bionicle building sessions on her bed.

With Tucker and Charles in tow, Kristin ventured to Santa Clara with me so that I could attend a critical business meeting without interrupting and impacting my ability to nurse Tucker. She worked all day and all evening every day to ensure we were well taken care of and well loved. She managed through the kid's bad moods, Owen's melt-downs, and the inevitable fighting that will occur with young siblings/cousins. She watched as I made multiple "to-do" lists and meal plans and helped with the grocery shopping and of course she was the brain behind the cute shirts for the boys that we purchased for the so-cal birthday celebration. She read to the boys, helped put them to bed, helped with our laundry, helped with bath time, and helped with the dishes- day after day. This list isn't comprehensive, but it is amazing; I'm still trying to figure out how she also made her way through the first three Twilight books.

Kristin - we love you - we thank you- and my oh my- we miss you!

Summer Birthday Celebration

We were in Orange County this past weekend to celebrate birthdays. In addition to my Grandma's birthday, we had a slew of special birthdays. Many of us adults have summer and early fall birthdays and many of the kids were also born in the same months. My nephew Dylan turns 1 in a couple weeks, Owen and his cousin Aiden are turning 3 in September, my step-brother Gianni is turning 13 next week, my cousin Alysha just turned 18 and baby Ethan was born 1 month ago. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon with pool time, a pot luck bbq, decadent desserts, and a fun family photo shoot.

Kristin and I found these great polos for the kids and decided we'd get a shirt for each of the boys so we could take a photo of all of them together. We differentiated families by color just to be extra cute. We had a vision of a perfect photo with all the boys and a few other group shots. Boy, did I have high hopes. I'm sure my camera alone has over 500 shots and I only have one with all of the boys in it! Owen cried through most it because he wanted to keep playing and Dylan was much to busy exploring the grass. We had no chance at pulling off other group photos of the boys, but still, we had a lot of fun and captured a great moment in time.

Here are a few from the night

Baby Ethan, 1 month old with Daddy Gino & Mommy Kelly

Aiden (almost 3) charming us all to pieces

Tucker enjoying life

Aiden doing his best to keep Dylan in the photo

the only shot where I have all 7 of the boys!

cousins!

Dylan - 1st birthday party (a couple week's early)

the gang

Grandma's 80th B-day

My grandma Jeanne has a special birthday next week, she's turning 80! Unfortunately, we couldn't make it for birthday bash next weekend, so this weekend, while we are in Orange County, we planned a birthday dinner. We went to our favorite pizza restaurant, ate delicious grub, listened to live music out on the patio, and enjoyed hearing stories from her past. My grandma met Tucker for the first time (on his 7 month birthday) and we took a photo with four generations!

4 Generations

My great-grandpa Louie, Mom, and her sister Marilyn, and her family, recently embarked on a wonderful family vacation. They left Chicago for a two week RV trip. Before stopping here in Folsom, they made it to Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Reno, Lake Tahoe and many other stops in between. My aunt Laura flew in to Sacramento to meet up with the RV gang at our place and join the crew for the second half of their trip. They are currently making their way back to Chicago and have already toured the California Coast, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon.

The RV gang arrived in time for an evening of pizza and some good old fashion multi-aged kid play in the street with tricycles, bikes, and kid lawn mowers. It was the first time my Grandpa had the chance to meet my sons and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed watching the wild play from his "throne" on the driveway. The visit was much too short, but the time was definitely well spent.

Here are a few photos:

The RV & the gang

Grandpa surrounded by the boys

Great-Grandpa & his youngest great-grandson

Family help- Part 1

We have had the opportunity to have our family help us out this summer and care for the boys. We were hoping for the chance to keep Tucker out of day care an extra month or two, I wanted a bit more time for him to learn to take the bottle and to start food, and really I wanted a chance to mentally adjust back to the idea of being a working mom again. Time off with the boys went by so fast. I will still visit Tucker every lunch at day-care once he starts, but having the opportunity to just run home and feed him and play with Owen really warmed my heart. Somehow the stars aligned and it worked out for us to have seven weeks or so of family help. We're about half way through at this point, and while it hasn't been seamless, smooth, or perfect, it has been very special and our boys have been very well loved.

My sister Jamie, her son Dylan - ~10 months, and mom came for the first week that Kris and I were both back to work. They had their hands full - mainly with the extra attention required for three kids - a 2 year old that is sort-of kinda potty training, a ten month crawler/cruiser, and a five + month old baby trying to learn to roll over, apart from both his parents for more than an hour or two for the first time. What a week! Needless to say, we all turned in for bed early most every night!

Kris' parents graced us for the second shift. For a few hours, they overlapped with Jamie & my mom and they enjoyed their chance to dote on Dylan. Unfortunately, they came for our first heat wave of the summer which impacted our daily fun outings a little. Since it was a bit to hot to enjoy the patio most of the time, Granddaddy decided to help us out and install ceiling fans in the boys' rooms. What a difference a fan makes! I'm sure they don't really agree, but in our opinion, week 2 has probably been the easiest week to date. We had 2 adults for 2 kids and as demanding as that can be, we are now quite aware of how much more 1 extra child adds to the mix! Our best indicator, however, is the fact that we actually had a chance to watch a few movies in the evening. By "we", I really mean Kris and his parents. I think I slept through the only one I attempted to watch!

Kris' parents left on the 4th of July and my sister Kristin and crew arrived on the 5th.

Kristin and Charles planned to stay for one month and return to OC with us on a road trip in early August. My brother-n-law Jeremy and step brother Gianni planned to stay for about a week, and my dad planned to join us for a fun, long weekend before Jeremy, Gianni, and my dad went back to OC.

It's probably fair to write that all hell broke loose when late on the 5th, Owen woke up from his sleep with the stomach bug. By early morning, I had it, and by the next afternoon Kris had it. Oh my - this was a nasty bug; quite possibly one of the nastiest bugs to ever inflict itself on me or anybody I know. We weren't even attending day-care and we were hit! Our entire day-care - with the exception of a handful of kids and two teachers, was hit with it at one point during a month long period (as were most other facilities in the area). Owen was okay- off and on for a few days, but remained sick for most of the week. The bug kicked my butt and I was down for about two days. Relatively speaking, it was mild for Kris. And sadly, my entire visiting family came down with it at some point during the first week. We postponed my Dad's flight to Sunday afternoon, with the hopes that he'd miss it and that with our intense cleansing with bleach- we'd kill off most of the germs. Jeremy got sick shortly after me, but Kristin, Charles, and Gianni all seemed like they were golden. Within a few hours of picking up my Dad from the airport, Jeremy, was hit again and Kristin & Gianni came down with it. Charles came down with it on Tuesday morning- and at that point, we gently suggested to my Dad that he and Gianni leave before he came down with it, too. He ended up with a mild version - but thankfully, it wasn't too bad.

As I write this, I'm aware that there is no way I can convey how awful Kris and I felt - physically beat up from the bug and emotionally drained from Owen's ordeal and the worry about my family getting it to the strain and horror of them actually getting sick, especially Charles who like Owen cried multiple times when sick. The week was so long! We are grateful because it could have been much worse. We were able to help each other and for the most part the intensity only lasted 24 hours. Many friends inflicted endured a longer 76 hour strain. Believe it or not, somehow, Jeremy managed to do a bunch of yard work for us and he also cleaned our garage! We have no idea how he found the strength to attempt those jobs, let alone finish. We had a few fun hours at Lake Natomas with my Dad and the whole gang before we knew round two had set in and we also recovered well enough to enjoy a couple of meals together and the boys were able to get in a couple of games of laser tag.

After the "sick" week, we decided to put Owen back into day care a few days a week. While Kristin is an absolute pro with kids, it's tough to provide enough quality care and attention to three kids - age 8, almost 3, and 6 months, especially when the two younger ones have different nap-eating-potty schedules. It would probably be different if Owen was completely potty trained- but the fact that he is in training really doesn't help the cause. Plus, Owen was really starting to miss his friends. We're optimistic that the the next month will be easier for everybody. We've had a few healthy days to create a new routine and so far everything has been great.

Let me just say - we appreciate our family SO much!! I'm especially grateful to Kristin, who decided to hang in with us for the rest of the summer. Even though we are ready to put Tucker into day-care in August, it's really wonderful to know he can stay at home for a few more weeks!

Part 2 - to follow in a few weeks. Here's to wishing the stomach bug stays away for a very long time!