Baby Mine

My two babies, couldn't you just eat them up?

So Long Mickey Mouse

We're back from Disneyworld! Patrick had an absolute and complete blast, he soaked up every single little detail and loved it all. It makes me want to take them back when Molly is 4 because it seems like such a perfect age for the Disney experience. Plus, at 40+ inches Patrick could most most everything. Patrick's favorites included Thunder Mountain Railroad, the monorail, the Kilimanjaro Safaris, Star Tours, and meeting the princesses (hubba hubba, he has stars in his eyes). Molly's favorites included running around after Patrick, the model trains at Epcot, the monorail, and frozen strawberry fruit bars. It was a wonderful time to go, the lines were pretty much non-existent everywhere we went. We missed the hurricanes, but did get a taste of Florida's rain which was really quite spectacular (I am thankful it doesn't rain like that here!). We all had fun but it was go, go, go all week and when we got home on Saturday night we were exhausted.

Here are a few of my favorite pics. I took about 500 pictures, and uploaded about 100 to flickr (including pictures from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party), so please look over there too!















It's back to the grind here for all of us. Patrick is now in school Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings, and until the end of fall he'll be taking science classes on Thursday mornings. I think I am going to sign my fearless Molly up for gymnastics while Patrick is in school. My plan to get her down to one nap a day seems to be working, which is better for preschool pick-ups but unfortunate for me because I used to nap with her in the mornings sometime while Patrick was at school.

And on the house front, our hall bathroom is getting completely torn out in about 2 weeks. If you have never seen it it is quite possibly the smallest full bathroom ever known to man. It's the last big house project we have left, I'm really excited to finally get it done. Tom and I are going to pick out tile tomorrow, whoo hoo!

Missing Persons

I've been a neglectful blogger. I can't even blame it on being super busy because school was out, summer camps were over, and we spend most of our time at home. But oh, how those weeks kicked my behind. I decided to use the break from our regular schedule to work on getting Molly down to one nap. Mission mostly accomplished. It didn't help that Molly was teething yet again, this time getting tooth #13 and 14, her eye teeth. Despite being a calm newborn Molly has proven to be just as willful as her brother, maybe even more so. Patrick was beyond bored being home all day and made sure to tell me as much. At least 10 times a day. That boy has boundless energy, it's really rather amazing. Anyone who spends a few hours with him is sure to comment on how worn out they are. Trust me, I know. In the last few weeks they've started to play together, which warms my heart to watch. Molly no longer seems hell bent on destroying anything Patrick is working on. Yesterday she sat patiently with him while he did a puzzle of the 50 states, she just watched and handed him pieces. Patrick continues to adore Molly and loves teaching her new things. Today he taught her how to jump on the bed. I am thinking he may need to run future lessons by me before hand.

Some quick picks of what we've been up to over the last few weeks...

Molly was cute.



Patrick went to his first Giants game. That's cousin Danielle in the background.





It got really hot and the kids played in the "pool".



We went to Chico for the wedding reception of cousin Gina (they got married on a mountain top in Colorado!).





Patrick played a LOT with Legos. New obsession!



And today, preschool started up again! Patrick's in new room this year and will go 3 mornings a week. Notice the ever present Batman cape.



Coming soon, another big adventure! Wish us luck on the airplane :)

The First Cut IsThe Deepest

For years I've been hearing about trips to the ER and Urgent Care from my mommy friends. Mostly mommy friends who have boys. I considered myself lucky that we hadn't had to make one of those trips. Until today. We had a completely freak accident in the kitchen. Patrick pulled down a Cuisinart bowl off the counter that had the sharp chopping blade in it. And of course the blade flew out of the bowl and across his cheek. My poor baby! Patrick was freaking out, I was freaking out, Molly was freaking out because we were freaking out. I called Tom just as he was going into a meeting to have him come home and I took Patrick to Urgent Care. The cut wasn't deep enough for stitches, but did need some Dermabond glue. He was actually really, really, really lucky. It could have easily been so much worse.

Patrick thinks his face "looks like a zipper!".



And you may notice Patrick's cape around his neck. He has seriously worn it for the last 3 or 4 weeks straight. He only takes it off for school and to sleep. He is obsessed.



And I took this picture at the park this afternoon. Molly can now climb the slide and go down by herself. She has no fear. She's just like her brother. We may be in for it!

Swiss Cheese

2 years ago cousin Olivia came out to visit from Switzerland. This year she is back with her mom and dad and 2 brothers for a few weeks. So many cousins! I think last time we figured out that Patrick and Olivia are fifth cousins. Pretty cool, huh? They've been busy traipsing all over California and the West and going to all sorts of cool places we've never been (can you believe we've never been to Alcatraz?).

Yesterday my mom and Michael had a BBQ for everyone in the family to come and meet the Swiss cousins. Cousin Catherine (Olivia's mom) is a professional face painter and spent some time painting the kids faces after dinner. Patrick of course wanted nothing to do with it, but check out the cool faces!











See Patrick's Batman cape in the picture above? He's been wearing that every day for over a week. The role playing has moved beyond firefighters, we now play super heroes. I suspect this is going to be a long phase.

Cut Loose

Yesterday I had 12 inches of hair cut off yesterday. It's now chin length. I don't remember the last time I had hair this short (1986?). I liked having long hair but it was constantly getting caught in car doors, under the straps of my diaper bags, and in Molly's fist as she pulled handfuls out. Plus it took so long to straighten it every day. You can just call me Shorty McHair.

Wedding Bells

We had a very exciting weekend. My cousin Andrea got married in Carmel Valley on Saturday. Her new husband, Matt, is a fantastic guy and we couldn't be happier for them. Patrick was honored to serve as one of their ring bearers (or "ring bear" if you ask him). Andrea was an amazingly beautiful bride. The wedding was perfect and lovely, and Patrick was too, too cute in his tiny tuxedo. I took about a million bazillion pictures, here are some of my favorites.















Congratulations and best wishes to Matt and Andrea! We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine grows with 2 little cuties!



Recently, I was whining to my mom about the fact that Molly pulls rubber bands and bows out of her hair, and is a general spaz when I try to comb it ir do anything with it. She reminded me that when I was young, I used to pout and whine while she did my hair, and I swore that if I ever had a little girl I would let her wear her hair however she wanted and I would never force braids or bows or anything else. And you know what? I totally remember saying it. Crap.

Walk On By

It's official: Miss Molly is walking! She spent about an hour before bedtime practicing going back and forth across the family room. Patrick is her biggest cheerleader. It's all just too cute.

Miss Independence

Happy 4th of July! We went to Grandma Mildred's annual BBQ, Patrick had fun playing with his cousins. And Nana and Papa were nice enough to take Patrick to see fireworks since it was too late for Molly. A good day for everyone!