happy halloween! 2010

Samuel chose Astro Boy. Check out those legs! I made the bottoms shorts and he said they needed to be shorter. I wasn't sure how little black unders (what's up with super heroes and those anyway?) would go over in public so we compromised by rolling them up. The hair was a HUGE challenge and Karl spent a ton of time getting Samuels hair to stay like that. And for the record, we were all surprised that Samuel would wear this. We were afraid to look at him wrong I fear that he would freak out and refuse to wear it.
Eva wanted to be a fairy of some sort. But I bought the jacket on clearance last year and she had all the other stuff. Sweet Eva. Willing to be a girl that she knows nothing about (which is probably a good thing), mostly just happy to be wearing lipstick. You see, Pink ladies have a special place in my heart. My besties all the way back from high school, we called ourselves the Pink Ladies or Pinks for short. It sort of stuck. All the way until now. It was mostly an ironic name because we were nothing like the girls in the movie. Even more ironic that it took us until now to realize just how ironic it was.
We tried so hard to talk Samuel into sporting his leather jacket for the occasion but he refused. Karl stepped up for his little girl.
With Maximus, I just couldn't resist. I totally don't understand the Pillow Pet craze but it was worth it just to see him like this. I wasn't even sure the kid was going to be here by Halloween and we for sure aren't going out but just for the pictures... he's a pillow, he's a pet, he's a Pillow Pet!
And me? I'll be that girl on the couch, probably wearing stretchy pants, holding a baby that is still in the sweet sleepy stage that is swaddled in her arms.
Happy Halloween!

brothers

Checking each other out.

Samuel told us he is glad we have a new baby. And we are glad he is glad.

picture day

And never to be forgotten are the other two stars in our show, all decked out in their school uniform finest for annual picture day. Whether they like it or not, we are keeping them, too. Forever. One more kid feels like a huge jump. With two kids with such different personalities and physical characteristics, I am excited to see how Maximus will fall into the spectrum.

new baby day four

Naming this tiny guy was no easy feat. It is so hard to commit to such a permanent thing.

We had a couple names for the first name. When it came down to it, Karl flipped a coin (and his mom said a secret prayer) and it was decided...

Maximus. Not a family name this time. Just a great name. Eva, Sam, Max! Sounds great when we are in a rush, doesn't it?

His middle name is Taisei (sounds like tie-say), Japanese for achieve greatness. The best part? No one will have any troubles saying it. We put a lot of thought into this one.

So far, it's been a lot of eating, sleeping, and staring. Oh, and one great big spit up. Just a little reminder to his parents what that stack of burp clothes is for.

Thanks for joining us Maximus. Just for doing so, I already know you are a brave brave brave little boy.

the arrival

Labor and delivery were a whirlwind of chaos and confusion with our first two. In the planning ahead department, we just don't seem to do very well. So we tried to be prepared for this baby. Since Eva was three weeks early, I had the back packed four weeks early.
The doctor told us that if I has progressed to a certain point at my next appointment that it would be best to just stay at the hospital and get things started for fear that I wouldn't even make it to the hospital. You see, we are low in the patience department, too. When my kids want out, they fly out. Both Eva and Samuel were born about an hour and a half after I arrived at the hospital.
So, after lunch, we headed back to the hospital, a few TMIs (I'll just say that labor is not for wimps and delivery is not for the fainthearted and all that stuff afterwards is not for those with a weak stomach) and walks around the labor and delivery floor, and five hours later, I held the sweet little Baby Eva Look- Alike in my arms.
I had forgotten how cute the little squeaks and scowls are. I have forgotten how soft they are. So much so that it feels like my sandpaper hands are going to hurt him when I pick him up. I had forgotten how fragile and sensitive to the outside world they are.
A head (and back and shoulders :)) full of dark hair and little farmer man hands, there is no doubt that he is one of ours.

baby update: preparing for labor

On Monday, October 18, we went in for the weekly dr appt. partially prepared to be told it was time to have the baby. She told us that today was the day. I wanted my "last" meal to be a good one and Cannela's did not disappoint. I was feeling so nervous and distracted and excited. I even left my sweater there on accident...

celebrating fall at wheeler farm

Here we are enjoying the obligatory pumpkin patch, hay bale maze, and wagon ride...

breakfast club: ruth's diner

We took advantage of the kids having no school today and went up Immigration Canyon to Ruth's diner. We braved the chill and ate on the heated patio.
When they sat us our waitress brought out Mile High Biscuits.  The size of a baby's head, these things would be a full meal.  For normal people. So we ordered (huge) hot chocolates, eggs benedict, eggs florentine, and cinnamon roll french toast. The only thing we didn't love was the French Toast. Too sweet for even the kids. Samuel was actually happiest with his orange slice and grapefruit half.
Snapped a few pictures in front of fall leaves and headed home.
With all that super heavy food, I am so glad I have time for a nap.  Still not a morning person...

breakfast tradition

We've done it twice so now I can say it is a tradition. One of the downsides of leaving our neighborhood is that we can't do carpool to school anymore. One of the upsides is that we can do things like go to breakfast.

I am not a morning person or a breakfast person at all but it has been fun to go as a family and the morning struggle with the kids is cut down quite a bit.

Today was Bakers de Normandy. I have fond memories of that place. Old memories of my mom bribing me as a 2nd grader to go to piano lessons with a pastry from here and recent memories of kidless meals (a big deal these days) here with friends. Turns out they don't serve hot breakfast until 8 so we got pastries and hot chocolate. They have great pastries but nothing like sending the kids off to school tanked up on sugar. I'll have to research better to make sure we can get a full breakfast the next place we go.

remembering cinque terre

I should have recorded this a long time ago.  I can't remember much except that this was my favorite part of the whole trip.

So happy with my gelato and what I thought was a big belly then.  Someone should have told me to take the sweatshirt off my non-waste.

 It is a fad for couples to put hang a lock together.  This was some walk of love so there were a ton of them.

 I really liked this plant.

 While Karl hiked, I sat.  Once again, a lady came and sat with me.  Through charades and Italian, she kept telling me how excited she was about my baby.  Instead of trying to kill it with her cigarette smoke.  She was my friend.

 Just beautiful.

Il Pirata, the cafe by our hotel.  We aren't the type to go to the same place over the and over but this place was so good we wanted to try everything.  We practically had dessert after breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I have never had pastries like these.  It is run by twin brothers.  They were a comedy show.  One told Karl he needed to shave.  Said he would look 10 years younger.   

 The food here was amazing.  Some days we ate extra meals just because we wanted to try so much.  These pictures make me happy.  And hungry.