Thursday, June 25, 2009

first steps


Charlie took his first steps on Father's Day! I was eating a brownie while we had some friends over after our Father's Day dinner (Chicken Parm if you really wanna know). Charlie has been pulling his standing on his own move for a while, but on Sunday when I had a brownie in front of his face, he found great reason to take a few steps forward! It's not easy keeping up that buldgy physique.
Since then, Josh and I have been practicing here and there with him. It's usually two steps then dive. Last night Charlie was teething and a Barbie brush was his gum soother of choice. We got him to take more steps for the brush!




Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

To the three great dad's in my life! I love you.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Swan Boats Field Trip

Don't you just love it when you know you're kids are having the time of their lives? I had one of those moments yesterday when I went with Noah's class to the last field trip of the year. We went to the Boston Public Gardens and to the Common (Boston's Central Park). Noah's teacher has been kind enough to let me bring Charlie and Presley to all the field trips this year. They have loved every minute of it.

The class read this children's book about a real Boston location:

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Then we visited the location. This is one of the many reasons Boston is a great place for people to visit with their kids.



We got to ride on these charming swan boats in the big park pond.


here are Noah and PK enjoying their ride.


These are bronze sculptures of the ducks in the book.




Here is Noah with his best bud. See what I mean about "having the time of their lives?" Such a great moment. I live for this.



Then there's Noah's teacher...She's retiring this year after forty+ years of teaching. I haven't admired a woman so much since I met my mother in law. Noah's teacher is from South Africa and has this gorgeous accent. You can just see that she is a dedicated servant of society. She is n environmentalist, a child advocate, and when she is not out building homes in New Orleans, she's focusing on the little details that are so important, but so often get overlooked. She is so great at listening to the kids. Any little story they have, she stops what she's doing, looks them in the eye, and gives them her full attention. I can tell that she has built up Noah's self esteem. He comes home from school and knows that his opinion and words are imprtant and that he matters. How can you ever repay a person who has done that for your child?
I'm framing this shot and giving it to her as a farewell/ thank you gift. Not even close to enough of a gift for her, though.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Berry Buddies

We went strawberry picking yesterday and enjoyed a fabulous June day (Boston Style). I am finding it tricky to make summer plans here because rain sneaks up on you just when you plan a beach trip or a photo session! When it's sunny and beautiful you have to scramble to get outside while it lasts. Is that how it is in Seattle? By July it is HOT and HUMID, but the rain and clouds are still a factor. Yesterday was just right for getting on your knees and searching for bright red berries. Presley and Charlie were eating as fast as I was picking. Luckily they got their bellies full quick and I could grab a few pounds of strawberries. Friday afternoon we are getting together with other moms to make jam.


Charlie is doing his shy boy head tilt in this pic. When strangers talk to him he gets so shy he tilts his head until he's curled up in a little ball!





Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Our first trip to Maine

We took a spontaneous trip to Portland, Maine on Saturday. It was gorgeous and the lobster was the best I had ever eaten. It was a little chilly, but that didn't stop the kids from jumping into the waves in their snow jackets!






I also love it when my picture is taken just after I take a big bite of food! This shot cracks me up because it shows me eating the lobster and both PK and Noah so grossed out!

I don't know if I'll do that again. It was sad to think that little guy was swimming around just minutes before me eating him!!


Friday, June 5, 2009

11 months


I can't believe next month Charlie will be a year old. Time has flown so fast it's almost scary! Charlie's personality is coming out in full force. He has such a twinkle in his eye, full of spunk and so fun loving. He thinks everything is a game! It's too cute. Here are some bullets on Charleston:
  • standing on his own for half a second at a time
  • getting into the cupboards, tp, toilet, trash can
  • loves being in the middle of a pillow fight
  • eats spaghetti like it's nobody's business
  • turns into the wwf champ when it's diaper changing time
  • gets totally shy when a stranger gets googly eyes at him

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Presley's Turn

Presley helped me scout out the Community Garden for another photo session coming up. She has been choosing her own outfits since she was two and I have cringed my way through it. She has always been for the most part a total angel. So easy going and great with other kids. When it comes to getting dressed, the stinker in her comes out! We actually pulled her out of preschool partially because of the battles we had with her in the morning over her outfits. When the winter time came, getting her to wear warm clothes was like pulling teeth. She loves to wear all sorts of color and pattern combos. She has known what "match" means for as long as I can remember. Her current thing is doing her own hair and putting a million bobby pins in it or two barrettes. If she gets a little dirty or drips water on her outfit it's back upstairs to find a completely different ensemble. Lately she has been coming up with some pretty cute outfits, though. So cute I got the camera out and of course she got straight into model mode.