Summertime

August is the time for laying blankets out on the grass, cutting up lots of fresh fruit, breaking out the bags of chips and munchies, and hanging out in the sun (or in today's case, shade under a big tree).

There was no questioning who's diaper bag this one was (Hi Kim!). I loved the capture so much, I had to showcase it here on the blog. Not one, not two, but THREE bottles of sunblock. :-P


We got together this afternoon with a bunch of our friends, who all have babies close to Logan's age, for a little "family play date" (I suppose?) at the Vasona Lake Park. Logan was pretty content to just SUCK on pretzel sticks all day long and watch the action all around him. About the only time I could get him to crawl was when he was ready for another pretzel stick. I'm beginning to think our little guy is into carbs. Seriously.

As always, great company and all sorts of yummy food to munch on as the kiddos got to play with one another. And yes, we definitely had our hands full with all seven kids.

Starring...

*drum roll please*

Jamie (5 yrs) is one spunky little gal who cannot be contained. By far the eldest, she will be the model that all the little ones look up to. She will do what it takes to gain attention and approval from all, sometimes with a bit of a dramatic flair. She is the entertainer of the crowd, usually a silly little goose, yet is as lovable as they come (using her Aunties' laps as reclining chairs).


Robert (just shy of 1 yr!) is an active go-get-'em crowd pleaser. Loyal to his friends and an avid trendsetter (esp. for Mr. Logan who looks up to the only older boy of the crowd) in fashion, toys, new foods, activities, you name it. In your camera face, loves attention, can't be still and will be famous. Ambitious, stubborn, proud and honest.







Addison (11.5 mths) is kind-hearted and generous and will be a great listener. She loves to nurture and share (although sometimes NOT her chocolate chip cookies). She is caring, creative and shy but a natural helper around the house, and later to the world.


Molly (9.5 mths) is a lover, not a fighter. She is charming, easy-going and loves to please. When she's missing Mommy and Daddy's affection, she tends to be grumpy, having a rare off day (luckily, Mommy and Daddy have plenty of love to give). Balanced, constant, agreeable and polite. And definitely loves her raspberries.


Emily (9 mths): Calm as she may seem, there's a lot going on beneath the surface. Her need for a strong emotional connection (Mommy can never be too far out of sight) drives her intense, creative and magnetic personality. Loves to win and wise beyond her years, she will be a devoted leader.









Logan (7.5 mths) is a born adventurer and free spirit. Tons of fun, he is also impatient and gets into loads of trouble when bored (curiosity killed the cat?). Naturally athletic, which helps burn that excess energy. Loves to travel, particularly head dives off the couch. Optimistic, independent, honest, outgoing and happy.



and last but not least,




Jessie (3.5 mths), our little lamb. She's impulsive yet friendly. Adventurous, always pushing ahead of the pack and loves to rock the boat. She tells it like she sees it, never holding a grudge. Daring, competitive, self-reliant and outgoing. A promising lawyer or doctor, who knows. Bottom line, she's one tough cookie you don't want to mess with.


It's days like today where I really hate going back to work on Monday..... *sigh*

Hope everyone had a great summer weekend!

Mommy/Baby Get Together

A few friends of mine who all had babies around the same time as me came over for dinner and a play date tonight. We had a really good time -- tons of food, little pieces of toast for each baby that lasted the entire meal (so that we all actually got to EAT our own dinners first!), and then pictures and playtime until the little ones started getting too cranky to see straight.

There's only a four month gap between the oldest (Robert) and the youngest (Logan). And yet, they are all so uniquely different! It was tons of fun and I'm really looking forward to another get together soon :)


From left to right, Robert (10 mths), Molly (8 mths), Emily (7 1/2 mths) and Logan (6 mths). Click on the picture above for more shots of the night!!

Stroller Power

Last night was another tough night alone. Don't I sound like the whiny baby?? Well, who gives a shit. I'm going to share my woes with you anyway. ;-)

I went to bed way too late (taking care of chores after I put Logan down), and woke up a few hours later to three short shrieks bursting from Logan's room. I've never heard him scream like that before (usually it's a long wail that he takes some time to work up to)....so you can imagine how quickly I jumped out of bed only to find him pouting at me, apparently done with sleeping and not happy to be in his crib. So, I fed him and let him hang out with me on the bed while I secretly tried to catch a few more zzzzz's, but he didn't like that idea and pretty much kept me up until the sun rose. Heh. I finally put him down in his crib about 6:30am so he could fall asleep on his own and so I could too!

He woke me up about 8:30am - I stumbled in the bedroom to check on him. He was still sleeping but annoyed about his blanket on his head again (I guess) because when I moved it, he stopped fussing and went back to sleep. soooo, I fed the dogs and got dressed, ready to go to Stroller Power!! :) My friend Katrine and her 5 mth old Emily have been going 3x a week (yes, hard core gals). I've heard about programs like this but never knew anyone who went, so I decided to try it out with Katrine today. Class was at 9:30am, around the corner from our house. It's a whole running, circuit-training, outdoors class with your babies/strollers, for 1.5 hrs. I haven't been as lucky at losing the pregnancy weight very quickly and I've really been noticing a lot more aches and pains in my joints (particularly my bum foot - sports injury from many moons ago) after just a simple walk around the neighborhood. Totally annoying. I KNOW it's because of the extra weight I'm carrying that my body is not used to - so I really need to be more proactive and get it off fast.

At any rate, poor little Logan was sound asleep and mean mommy woke him up about 9:10am to get to the class. The class was really great - running is not really my thing but it was a good workout. I didn't stay the entire class, left about an hour later, because it had started raining pretty good and Logan was an unhappy camper the entire time (probably something about me waking him up and not feeding him immediately like he's used to!) But that's ok. I still got a great work out, met a lot of cool moms, and hope to go back again next week! :)

Afterwards, I met up with Kim for lunch and another Diaper Day at the movies. This time we saw La Misma Luna - I wasn't really that interested in seeing the movie, it was more just an excuse to get out of the house. But, it was actually a really great flick (a tear jerker!) and I'm glad we caught it. :)

Gotta go pack for our trip tomorrow while Logan's snoozing. It's amazing how much more crap I need to load up in the car and suitcases, now that I'll be traveling with a baby. Yikes!

I'll leave you with one pic that I snagged this morning just before waking him up from his peaceful slumber.... yes, there IS a baby underneath those blankets. When I put him down, the white blanket was around his legs. He manages to kick it up over his head EVERY time. You'll also notice a little arm sticking out - he managed to wiggle both arms out of the swaddle while sleeping. No, he's not really an active guy. Not at all. *sigh*