The best parts of Christmas.

Katie had so much fun playing with her friends.
Anna loved the paper best.
Ceci seems to like the Barbie. What a great smile. Look at Hazy in the background. What a Cutie Pie.
So yeah, these are not in order. First a little skeptical about the gift, now quick scroll up and see what she thinks about it.
Babies love the paper. Better than the apples and banana bread.
Peas in a pod. My good friends and their good friends. What could be better?

My friends.

DAMN Blogger and it's inability to upload pics. 

Foiled again.

Snow day, again and again and again.

Cookies anyone?
Teresa cheating.
MMM corn dogs, I mean ice cream pie...
Ready, set mix.
Mmmm, super yum.
There is just something about waking up and see the world covered in white. It's just so quiet. Maybe the snow insulates everything. Or maybe everything just sorta stops. You can't drive too fast and you have to decide how much going out really means to you. We had the best day. Baking. I think it was a random bout of nesting. 

Pancakes, 5 quiche, a double batch of peanut butter cookies, a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, at least two gallons of chicken and barley soup, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, chicken and even an Ice Cream Pie! In the end I gave into my craving and ate an ultimate burger from DQ for dinner. Yum

The funnest part of the day was playing games with the kidlets. Clue, which Teresa cheated twice and beat them all. Meanie. I personally like Don't Break the Ice. I am a master!

Anna cried about school being cancelled again as she really wanted to go to pajama day, have an assembly and class party. Poor girl. I am consequently stuck with a huge Costco cake I got for the party and I have no idea of how to unload it all. Bummer.

The very best part of the day was the chocolate chip cookies. My dad made chocolate chip cookies and I have never had a cookie as good ever since. He used the same cookbook I have all greasy and stained, I imagine there are still his finger prints hidden on the pages. He made huge batches and the house would smell like happiness.  I hope my kids smelled the happiness yesterday. 

More Christmas Pictures...

Merry Christmas!!

Hmm I want....
If only this was all that came out her mouth...

Super genius.
Makes my heart melt.

And so the season starts. I love to just hang with the girls. Swim and play baby dolphin. Watch TV in bed and eat cookies. We rented a room downtown, saw Santa, got ornaments like we do every year (lordy it's alot of ornaments), swam in the pool, rode the street car, watched Charlie Browns Christmas, The Christmas story, went to a play, The Wizard of Oz, puked my guts out in front of dozens of mortified children as my friend is a crappy driver,  ate steak till I thought I would die, had the lousiest service at the Portland City Grill, but grinned at how happy the view made the girls, played in the snow, made out with my husband, soaked in the hot tub, ate free breakfast, drank coffee... just laughed and laughed and lived.  What more is there?  

Turkey Day

Check out the look of joy, holiday gatherings and family. And Torture.....
She was asking for it. Jonathan the littlest brother of Darren and Kia. Super silly.
He's getting married! To her. I like her. Alot. Anna Dennis. Soon to be Anna Digby, the second one in the family,
Games. The best part of the holiday.

Dylan. Shellie and Cayden. 
Lelan and Jason. I can't believe how high he gets!
The boy cousins Lelan and Cayden. Maybe we can start to be in the "boy" pics soon!

Weekend...

The dog is super excited that there will soon be a baby to suffer at katie's loving hands.
Darren is a pack rat. He insists that this still fits and is a perfectly good jacket...It is I guess.
Must be love...
I think it was her. When we started this adventure of having another baby, Darren's argument was who have we not met yet? That there was someone that we would love and adore and think the world of. Someone who would make us laugh and worry. Someone as amazing as the three we have already. But I think it was her. The soft cheeks and crazy ideas. The laughter and overwhelming energy that she posses. It sent him over the moon. 

Igby Digby....Falling in love.

3d Picture of igby's face. 
Big nose just like Darren's.
Adeline? Vivianne? Rowen? Rockstar? who are you? Just kicking back, feet crossed hanging out.

So it totally happened this morning. I fell in love. Madly and completely in love. In like an instant. This baby, not until now for whatever the reason, was just a baby. But now it's WOW a baby a cute wiggly baby with fingers and toes and eyes. Igby has a perfect heart, no clubbed feet, an intact diaphragm, closed belly, developing lungs, perfect lips and palate. I could go on forever. The things we worry about! The ultrasound today was so much fun. The girlies went and chattered non-stop and made lots of noise. Begging to know if Igby is a boy or girl. I said the sonographer cold write it down for them to read. Katie pointed out that she didn't know how to read. Oops bummer for you. Fred was there and fantastic. I told him I wouldn't know what to do with a boy really. There's so much "stuff" in the diaper, how do you clean it? He said that somehow he manages to keep clean. That's good  I said. He took some great pics and we got to see the baby's face and fingers. I really liked them. I can hardly wait to see this baby and hold it and kiss it and squeeze it and love it. And love it. And love it.  And love it.

So now they all know. Well Anna knows and told Katie who promptly, like 5 seconds later told us it was a girl. Anna laughed evilly. Leading me to think she either lied or didn't. What a mess. No one knows for sure and I love it.  I know for sure. It's a girl or boy. But only one gender, for sure.

Darren on the other hand had an eventful day. He woke my up by sitting down on the bed, mopey and sighing. He asked, aren't you at all disappointed that were having another dumb girl. Well no I say. 

He said I don't care because I am a dumb girl. That it is just him and Olaf, the nut less wonder. Poor guy and his small dog nut less dog. Soon they'll have more in common than he knows. 

He also said poor Katie needs glasses. He said that sucks. Poor girl. I reminded him it was his gene pool that caused that action. 

I think she will look super cute with little glasses on. In the end I guess is could be worse. Like a brain tumor.  So glasses, no big deal. He worries they'll call her a four eyed freak. Poor guy, regressing to his childhood. 

When I woke up early this afternoon I found him outside shooting things. I though I'll leave him alone, maybe it's therapeutic for him and safer for me, after all he did have a gun. I do know better that to bitch at a man with a gun in his hand. Even if it's just an air riffle. 

Don't worry babe, tomorrow it will be better. Anna will tell you it's a boy. The day after that it'll be a girl again. You get the drift. 14 weeks 4 days and then we'll know for sure. But no matter what I love it. A lot. A lot. 

Perspective...

I am beginning to better understand my husband. We really really see thing differently. So like I realize the odds of this is astronomical but on the same day both of us managed to get our cars hit in like a parking lot or something as there is terrible damage to my front bumper and the passenger side of Darren's car is a bit munched. I told Darren he should be more careful about where he parked and he said he should be able to park wherever he wants and not get hit, which is technically true, but still you can be careful right?

So this is where our perspective differs. He thinks what happened to the cars was me. 

Whatever! When I was backing up into my neighbors driveway to turn around like I always do and he was distracting me by walking next to my window talking to me making it impossible to look at him and the mirrors he shouts "watch out for my,"

CRUNCH....... SCRAPE.........CRACK........., 

"OH F*&K*&G HELL Heather, my car!!!"

(I narrowly missed hitting the car, but missed it none the less, at least that's what I remember)

 

All I can say is I just don't see it that way he does. What I do know is he has not been parking in the right spot lately and it might have caught me off guard that his car would be there and not where it supposed to be. I pointed this fact out to him, but at the time he was not very receptive to the feedback. Sometimes men can be so closed minded.

I will point out that tonight he parked in his "normal" spot. 

I sure hope who ever was out there hitting our cars is doing a little better with her spacial perception.

James and the Giant Peach

Kia is so silly. 
Anna and Marrisa at the Newmark.

Happy Birthday...

These two...they melt my heart.
Lucy TEARING around the corner in her walker! Watch out for your toes....
Hazel and Karen. Such a beautiful baby.
Coca's twins.
MMMMmmmmm the bomb digity birthday cake.

Marriage

Katie received and accepted her first of what I fear to be many marriage proposals this last weekend. The poor boy, an older man I might point out 8 years old, was initially thrilled. She bossed him around like any wife would do, pointing out that they weren't married yet and if did not comply, they might not be. By the end of the night she had broken it off and he had to console himself with a bowl of popcorn. On they way home she said she'd be more careful about who she agrees to marry. Good lord what am I in for???

Political Pride...

So we don't have a TV. And never have I been happier about that. 

Ignorance is bliss. 

I wonder what other countries think as they get a glimpse of our world, the lives we live our reality through TV. What kind of people do they think we are? As our presidential candidates dance to rap parodies on Saturday Night Live. As they slander and demean one another. The leaders of the most powerful nation in the world. Deciders of war. Oil brokers. 

Inspiring.

We must be seen as monkey's. No reverence. No respect. No dignity. 

I am so thankful in the final hour we made a decision that has strength and conviction.

 

Halloween Part Two

Candy? I'm not eating candy. Me? I certainly did not lick the crumbs up either. MMM my eyes are rolling up in my head with delight.
The loot, the trade and the mommy candy raid. I imposed candy penalties for bad behavior, real or perceived if momma needed a sugar fix. Terrible I know.
All four spontaneously sat down. They needed a trick or treat break. Tired babies. Anna's poor feet. They had been sitting on someones front porch just chillen in the Adirondack chairs till the door opened. So cute. They declared they were done.
I'm done? Your done. Yeah our buckets are full. Awesome lets go home.
Scary girls. Really just cute.

Happy Halloween

Darren actually wore those glasses. For years, until we met. He won the office costume contest. King Dork of the dorks.

The girlies had so much fun trick or treating !
Katie thought there was a caterpillar on his head.
My friend coca apparently has the best shoes. They raid her closet everytime we go over. Tonight anna found her stripper boots and wore them trick or treating. We thought for sure she would break an ankle or crack her head open. Instead she just skipped the houses with alot of stairs.
Katie Loves Loves Loves Ceci. Sometimes Ceci feels afraid that Katie will eat her.
Fairy Princess and Pirates Galore. The Kennedy school was a zoo, but super fun.