Finally, Albany!

It's been way too long since we've gone down to Albany so I was so excited that we were headed down for Ames' first birthday! We'll get back to how crazy it is that he turned 1 in a sec...

I had not seen Zoey in 2 months (besides facetime) and it was KILLING me. She has grown so much, cannot believe she is already 4 months old. 

So fun to make her smile...and she has the best wardrobe ever

 While down in Albany it was also Brian's birthday and Kyle was Mr. Awesome and got us and Lance and Kayla club seats to the Beaver game!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Notice their VW bus shirts? I got those in San Diego for them to wear on his birthday :)

My favorite part of the game (cuz we lost horribly and it was pouring) was tailgating! I always love socializing with everyone and just having a blast.

My Jax man!! Love making him laugh!

The birthday boy on his birthday :)

Just a couple of blondes 

We be crazy

Jax and Kyle all ready to go into the game

Nate and Charlotte stopped by the tailgator and I was excited to see them. Charlotte is a little social butterfly and it was so sweet. She would run over and hug Jax and he would stand as still as a statue...totally reminded us of Porter. Adorable.

Hugs

Sunday was the big birthday party for Ames. I spent the week leading up to it just thinking back to where we all were a year ago...in constant worry and stress and in shock that Ames came 10 weeks early.
He was a fighter from the start.

 And now he is growing and growing and won't stop moving. He is freakishly strong and just incredible.

His smile wins over everyone and he is such a social baby. He LOVES people. Grateful everyday for this miracle and that the nurses and doctors at St. Vincent's took such good care of him. He is all kinds of special and I just love him to death.
Happy 1 year baby boy!!!

Tag along

Brian had a business trip to San Diego and invited me to tag along for a few days. I do need to give most of the credit to his Dad who was pretty persistent that Brian have me come along on his fun destination business trips, and I totally agree. 

He was down there for a week and although I would've loved to spend the whole week with him, we have these two cute things called kids, and they have school, and well, I don't think it's fair to leave anyone in charge of my household for too long. 

Grammy was nice enough to come up and stay at our house and get the girls to school and do all the fun Grammy things.

Snuggled up together the morning I left

The girls were very well taken care of and Aunt Heather came to help entertain and feed the girls so it wasn't all on Grammy! Very grateful for our village!

I casually headed to the airport and waited for my flight. Alone. You guys, I couldn't remember what it felt like to not have kids to wrangle through security, to the gate, on the plane and promising candy and toys every few minutes if they would PLEASE just not scream and throw tantrums.
So I did what most moms do, I got a Starbucks and then sat there. A little unsettled, but slowly started enjoying myself.

On the plane I started reading a book and every chapter I would close it and look around, wondering who needed my help. Oddly enough, no one needed snacks or needed me to take them to the bathroom, or was crying for attention and just to get on my nerves.
I had to remember I could read continuously and I didn't have to stop! It was fabulous and amazing. I even had a glass of wine to celebrate some me time.

Brian was already working when I arrived so I took advantage of the pool and continued reading my book whilst laying in the sun.

He requested a selfie from me :)

Fortunately he didn't have to work too long and we were able to take a stroll, eat dinner, and hang out for a bit.

The famous kissing statue (side note, it's ginormous!)

Margaritas!

The next day I went and worked out then leisurely laid around until my facial. Then I got ready for the day and read and read and read. I watched TV, ate, and took a nap. It was incredible.

Gorgeous view from the hotel room

Brian didn't have a lot of time that day but we were able to go in the hot tub at night and relax.
The next day was my last day and I got to meet up with my cousin, Annie, and her baby girl Mina.

Annie's husband, Eddie, was attending the conference that Brian was working.
After that I walked around all the fun shops and had fun taking my time browsing.
Eventually it was time for me to head to the airport and I sadly said goodbye to my hubby.

I was sad to go but I did miss my little rascals and couldn't wait to see them. I got in late so they were already sleeping but it was so fun to go in and look at them all peaceful and cuddled up. I gave them each a million kisses and went to bed. 

I think I like this tag along thing...

Pumpkins and fall stuff

 Halloween has come and gone and it's almost Thanksgiving, but I still have to post about our Halloween festivities! We carved pumpkins this year, "we" being Brian and myself. The girls won't even reach in and pull the guts out of the pumpkin, they are too grossed out. So the job falls on us and since I'm not a fan of carving, I choose to paint mine. I do carve one of the girls so Brian doesn't have to do 3 pumpkins, aren't I nice?
In other big news, Bria will be asking for two front teeth for Christmas!

 It is crazy how much her smile has changed.

I mean look at this little 3 year old!!! 

We also went to the pumpkin patch with friends.

 Brian wasn't able to make it, he had lots of work to do.

Our family photo made me sad...

...so Amanda lent me her husband haha! I mean, Dusty and Brian are practically twins anyway ;)

 In addition to pumpin carving and pumpkin patches, there are school Halloween parties. Reese's preschool didn't have a party, just a dress up day.

Halloween 2015, Reese is an adorable little owl

At school 

Loved this costume

Halloween 2015 Bria was a Bat! Her missing front teeth were the perfect addition to the costume

Reese accompanied me to Bria's Halloween party at school and both girls were excited for it.

 Reese didn't last long though...

She's not really sleeping but she did lay down for awhile

Bria and her friend Ruby

The day of Halloween Brian took the girls to the Columbia Employee store where they were having a mini Halloween party, complete with awesome face painting.

A pink bat 

Yep, that's Brian as a zombie...scary but impressive

All ready to trick or treat!

It rained. Hard. We were all carrying umbrellas and we were still soaked. It was an Oregon Halloween like you would expect. The girls lasted about 2 blocks and then wanted to go home, I was very glad! We spent the rest of the evening handing out candy with Grammy and Heather. We had a pretty fun Halloween despite the rain.

Bowling, donkeys, and snow cones

Future Red Hots!

Our bowling league is still going strong...Red Hots are representing and all of us are getting better. The girls love Sunday night bowling because it means they get to play together for 2 hours while we bowl. Us parents would prefer they stay at home so as not to interrupt us during our very important game...but making it a family affair is pretty fun.

 Reese's preschool went on their first field trip, it was to a pumpkin patch and luckily Bria didn't have school that day so she got to come along.

Admiring the ponies

 The kids also got a lesson in animals mating thanks to a horny donkey...I do NOT have a picture of that. Don't need one, it's burned into my brain. Fortunately the kids just assumed they were wrestling. Which is kind of true ;)

Heather won tickets through work for us to take the girls to Disney on Ice. I was so excited because the girls love Frozen (what little girl doesn't amiright?) and ice skating.

 They got to pick one treat and they both chose snow cones. Seriously? The messiest thing there. I would've preferred cotton candy but it was their choice so snow cones it was!

It was a pretty magical family night. Felt good to get out and spoil the girls and just have fun.