Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Just  a little love from our sweeties in time for Valentine's day. xoxo

A third FIRST birthday

our little sunshine baby is one today. one blur of a year with this little sweetie in our arms. it feels quite impossible that a year has already gone by, yet here is this little mister all full of life and charms and personality...feeding himself with gusto, scurrying across the room on his own two feet with a mission to accomplish, chattering away at us and gestering with purpose. we're just smitten, every last one of us. i can't wait to see this year unfold as he discovers his awesomeness and unlocks the magic of the world around him. xoxo

after enjoying his first cupcake - which admittedly, his little girlfriend norah (whose birthday is just after his) ate most of after he turned up his nose at the sticky frosting.

teaching his brother how to unwrap presents. poor pete had to wait two hours for baby curtis to wake up! such torture!

he does love him. :)

having a go at the wrapping

loves the new truck - and knew just what to do with it. i love boys

the rollipop game was a huge hit with everyone!

working together watching daddy set up the game

happy birthday breakfast for our big boy! we love you curtis!

10 months big!

my sweetie pie baby curtis is 10 months old. goodness how this year has flown by. this picture brings tears to my eyes as my tiny newborn snuggle bunny is swept away by time and is barreling into the toddler stage. but this picture also swells my heart with waves of incredible joy. he brings so much happiness to my days. watching him learn and move. he is into everything his big brother and big sister are working on and squeals with delight when they let him join along. he's quick as lighting on his hands and knees and moves pretty swiftly along the edge of the furniture as well. he'll be walking in no time of course. this little tiny sweet child has grown oh so much in these ten months and i've loved every single minute spent snuggled up together, nurturing him with "momma milk" as the big kids call it. and soon we'll be planning a birthday celebration. oh little man, we love you so much. thanks for all the fun and joy you add to our days! and heavens, thanks for your tolerance and flexibility - we've drug you through so many times of transition. getting ready to move. a long visit to family. flying across the ocean. changing 40 time zones. you are such a patient baby. thank you!!

three & 3

what is happening to time around here? i thought for sure these last few weeks would slow down and stall out and grind forward. not even close. its may 12th? i panicked today in an awesome/excited kind of way when i realized it was already the twelfth of may - oh my! - and curtis' three month celebration had whizzed past without any of us paying notice. sorry little man. well today we stopped together for a few minutes to focus on just him and take some pictures. we've been spending more time outside in the afternoons, although he protests the glare of the bright sun a bit, he loves lying on his back next to me looking up at the trees dancing above our heads.  three months. THREE! i'm smitten with this snuggly babe whose eyes sparkle and dance when he hears his momma's voice.  we're a good team when it comes to nursing and he continues to gain weight beautifully, weighing in at 14 lbs 5.5 oz at the doctor this week. he's rolling to his side and arching his back trying to figure out the last little step to kick his legs over and get onto his tummy himself. once momma helps him get propped up on his belly, he leans juuuuust enough to plop himself back over onto his back and do it all again.  the focus in his eyes as he takes in the pattern on the quilt or the fan whirring above him or the big kids zooming past is so cute - its as though you can actually watch his brain processing and storing all the data he is collecting.  my favorite trick that mr. curtis performs is his big, happy open-mouthed smile always accompanied by some coo's - just as soon as his tummy is full, he starts trying to catch my eye out of the corner of his. once our eyes meet, he turns his head up at me with a full toothless grin and i melt into a puddle of smitten momma-love.  he upgraded to a big kid carseat today - he just didn't seem comfortable in his infant carrier and he's already too heavy for me to lug him around in it so it seemed silly. instead of sweating in that infant chair, he's now got a big-kid luxury carseat to lounge in and he seems pleased. he also seems so super tiny in it, but i'm glad we made the switch for his sake.  ever since birth when he arrived, greeting us sunny-side up he's had some tightness in his neck. not a big deal, the doctors weren't concerned....but i noticed it from the get-go and my chiropractor said it was common for babies born that way (their necks/nervous systems go through a little more "work" when they have to flex and bend a little extra to get around all the bends and corners of momma's pelvic structure that way). well it continued and i noticed he tended to only sleep with his head turned to the one side and even when he was awake he didn't readily turn his head to take things in like i thought he would be. as a result he's had a little tiny bit of head flattening, which is typically very normal and self-correcting.  i decided to be proactive and get him a little help so we're seeing a pediatric chiropractor before our big move to see if we can't make him more comfortable and in overall good alignment and health. we love dr. lindsay and she's super gentle and sweet and is wonderful with the kids. just another person in san diego who we've come to love and trust - wish we could tuck them all into our luggage and bring them along (especially my hair dresser! love you girl).  scroll down and see how much our little one has changed. he's anxious to meet his daddy. SO. SUPER. SOON!

3 months

2 months

one month

one week

2 hours

a quick monday

2 months grown today...what a beautiful blur! am falling more and more in love with this little babe every single second. with his smiley grin and his happy coos.  with his long toes that curl around my fingers when i press on the pads of his feet. with his arching back trying to roll over or at least get a new vantage point to take in the world. with his sparkly eyes with looong eye lashes, long and straight and entirely different than the lady bug's lashes that curl up like they've been positioned with a magical mascara brush. today i'm mostly in love with his snuggles. am loving wearing him around in our mei tai, i wish i had known of the magic of baby wearing 3 years ago, although i only took to it out of necessity of keeping the baby happy while keeping up with the big kids....but boy does it sure do something special to the bonding with baby thing we've got going on.  he's grown so much, weighing in today at 12 lbs 13 oz...oh my goodness!!! the doctor said he looks beautiful and to keep doing what we're doing. yes sir.  sweet friends stopped by this afternoon for a visit, bringing a wonderful meal with them. have i told you how lucky i am here in san diego with fabulous friends every where i turn? so blessed.

smiley curtis loving on sarah and betsy getting snuggles from big girl kennedy. so much cute on one couch.

singing to baby curtis before bedtime

starting to get some sweet baby chunky on his legs. love those baby toes.

sweetest face ever? yes.

8 weeks and bye bye "b-nama"

 time is flying - 8 weeks old already today? how has that happened sweet baby curtis? oh my this little one is SUCH a joy, i can hardly stand it. he's too adorable and i feel i can literally see him growing by the moment. still sleepy most of the time, his awake times are spent intensely taking in everything around him. he's so close to finding his thumb or his finger with his mouth, but for now he is still exploring his fist voraciously. he's already arching his back and twisting with all his might to see all the action around him, seems like he's intent on rolling already. i'm sure in another month or so he'll have it mastered just like his big brother and sister did. tummy time is more fun now that he's got his head pretty well under control and can actually glance around the room, moving his whole head as he watches me walk across the room.  he's a wonderful little snuggly side kick and goes with momma whenever i head out without the big kids - happy to be along for the ride, snooze while riding in momma's mei tai baby carrier and peep out for a sleepy look around every once in awhile. i'm so grateful for this wonderful happy, healthy baby who has just slid into our family with ease. there was so much anxiety about adding a third baby and how would i possible manage it - but honestly, with the help of some wonderful friends and family these first weeks along with his precious personality, it's been a breeze transitioning to 3 (and now i have the perspective of two "big" kids who easily require more emotional and physical investments of my time each day). i'm loving seeing big bro and sis always running to play with him as soon as he laid down on his comfy blankets for some (very closely supervised) tummy time. i'll love it even more when he's a little chubbier, a little more resilient to bumps by the big ones and they are more well-trained in the art of being gentle--soon when they can all actually PLAY together. i'm most excited for his super proud daddy to finally get his big daddy arms wrapped around him, for those two to meet and bond and play. because that happy twinkle in that daddy's eye makes my heart the happiest of all.

 aunt briana came to spend an almost-week with us during her spring break. it was fun to see the kids and her connect and play. am looking forward to much more family time together this summer in illinois when we will have all the aunts and cousins and grandparents and great-grandparents with us in one state for a good long bit of memory making.

i scolded pete for picking his nose in the picture, so betsy refused to take hers out of her nose after that...she's basically two. anything momma asks her not to do, she will double down her efforts to ensure that she DOES continue doing it.  however, the potty training has been her idea and she is EXTREMELY good at getting that job done. i think ornery two year old antics are generally pretty cute - as long as it doesn't involve poop. :)

thank you

my goodness, grandma and grandpa are on their way back to illinois after spending a total of 5 weeks with us in the past two months. i am so grateful for their willingness (and ability) to spend so much time with us - helping me - and the kids have absolutely adored the extra attention. it was sweet to see how each child gravitated to their own special person. betsy is enamored with her grandpa and peter tends to hang with his grandma - although they both just love their grandparents.  i've learned an important lesson with this third sweet baby of mine; how to ask for AND receive help when i need it (and sometimes when i don't, just because its there and why not?) and i have been completely overflowed with so much help that i am feeling so wonderfully taken care of in what could be an overwhelmingly busy and transitional time in our life. thank you grandparents and friends and family everywhere for reaching out and keeping us all afloat and making this time even more special for us. we're already looking forward to our long summer trip home in the midwest to visit with our bigger families and make some wonderful memories. bring on the summertime! xoox

grandma snuggling her boys

look who grew a ponytail!

this is what our evening looks like after big brother is in bed - the kids are really enjoying puzzles lately

little man is growing OUT of his 3 month size clothes....tonight I am busting out the bin and breaking out the next size up. :)

i was trying to capture his sweet smile and mini dimple on the lower left cheek - i will keep trying

thanks for coming!!!!! xoxo

rainy st. patrick's day

at the science center

funny betsy at science center

i wasn't a very good irish momma today (even if i'm only irish by marriage)...i will try harder next year!  we did get out of the house to head to the science center down at balboa park. unfortunately, not only was it a rainy saturday (prime conditions for overcrowding) but it's also spring break AND the museum was free today. so, upon arrive, all four surrounding parking lots were completely full. i dropped grandma and the big kids off at the door and went and parked at the zoo with curtis until they had their fill.  at least we got out of the house for a little fun, perhaps we'll have to try again on a slow week day morning.  i've been spending all the "free" (grandma is helping supervise giving me extra time!) minutes of my day going through boxes, the attic, excessive children's clothing, etc getting ready to donate or sell at a garage sale all those things we just really don't need. we're blessed to have excess but i'm so happy that this move to japan is providing me the opportunity to really consciously examine all of the things we choose to fill our house with and pare down to a more reasonable amount of stuff.  we're not moving for a few months, but i'm doing as much in advance as possible to ensure a happy, as-relaxing-as-possible welcome home for daddy (ie: small to-do list).

bath pic the other day (grandma's phone pic)

hello world! (grandma's phone pic)

playing legos...can't wait for daddy to come play with him! (grandma's phone pic)

pete at swim class (grandma's phone pic)

little bug playing during brother's swim class (grandma's phone pic)

brotherly love (grandma's phone pic)

one kid per storage bin at bedtime (grandma's phone pic)

watching saturday morning cartoon inside a box :) because ... why not?

everybody snuggling on a rainy day

grandma giving curtis his first bottle. success!