ALOHA!

These are kinda backward but this is in the Honolulu airport on the way home:)

My attempt at family pictures!

He was so tired he fell asleep trying to escape our hotel room:)

Down the water slide!

Matthew can get her to giggle like no other!

The "dark slide" Matthew LOVED it!

"where's the beach?"

She may have not liked the humidity...but her hair was ALL curls!

They had penguins and turtles at our hotel.

The only time I could get her in the pool.

And coy fish

Well we just got back from Hawaii and it was truly an amazing trip! We spend the days swimming and hanging out on the beach. The only member of the family that wasn't too keen on the sun and humidity was Maggie. We basically took turns spending time in the room with her. She hated the bright sun and sticky humidity. It's ok though because she shouldn't be out in the sun anyway with her skin. Chris spent the first few days in meetings which is the whole reason we were there in the first place and then the last few days lounging with us. My parents came to help out which was awesome. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. I swear I gained 5 lbs eating and drinking beer but it was worth it and we had some great family time. There were 4 pools and at one of them there were water slides that Matthew loved. We successfully wore him out which was awesome. We all slept well and relaxed as a family. I am happy to have the comforts of my own home but it was all in all a great time! It might take me a few posts to post all of the pictures that I want so bear with me!

Stay Tuned

We just got home this morning from Hawaii and we had a GREAT time! I have a long list of things to do before I can sit down and concentrate on the picture posting. Don't worry, they will be posted tomorrow for sure!

Mooster is 5 months old!

I know I say this every month but I can't believe that she is another month older! Time is seriously flying and I am trying to enjoy every minute of it! She started rolling over and she "plays" and talks to her toys. She found her feet which is so cute (she can get them in her mouth!) and she started rice cereal, avocado and bananas. I had to buy more barrettes and rubber bands for her hair! It is so long it gets in her eyes but I refuse to cut it:) Matthew is getting more "annoyed" with her when she touches his toys or accidentally kicks him but he really loves her and is very sweet with her. I can't wait to post after Hawaii and show her in all her swim suits. (yes that was plural!) ALOHA!

I am DEFINITELY not in my 20's anymore...

Friday night Matthew took these next couple of pictures. Me and Terese

Katie
Becky

Having dinner at Clinks.

I don't use that title to be snotty about being 30. I am referring to the fact that I cannot hold my own like I was in my 20's (early 20's that is!!!) We had a girl's weekend this past weekend to celebrate the fact that we are all turning 30 this year and it was a blast!!! These are all girls that I went to high school with and they were nice enough to come over here to hang out since I am a bit attached to Maggie at the moment and I knew I wouldn't be able to go too far. We started out by having a wonderful dinner Friday night prepared by my father (who came over to help Chris). Then Saturday, we went to Spa Paradiso and got pampered. (It was very relaxing:) Even though I am a chatter box!!!) After that we had appetizers at PF Changs and a late dinner at Clinks. Oh and lots and lots of drinks! I actually was able to stay at the hotel Saturday night which was so fun! I am a bit tired and hung over right now but it was SOOOOO worth it! Thanks girls for coming over to good old Spokane...I had a lot of fun!!! Love you all.

Haven't forgotten about pictures...

I am not trying to put you all off but I haven't really taken any new pictures lately of the kids. I am excited though because some of my girlfriends from high school are coming over to Spokane and we are having a full out girls weekend to celebrate that we all turned 30 this year! I am very much looking forward to it. We are getting pampered on Saturday, having good food and lots and lots of wine. Ahhhhhh. I promise I will take a lot of pictures. Also, we are going to Hawaii next week for a week and I plan to take a lot of pictures then as well.
Oh and one last thing...I know you will think I am a dork but I just have to put a shout out to the show LOST. I can honestly say that I have never watched a show like I have watched LOST. I have never and I repeat NEVER missed an episode. Even when I was in the hospital giving birth to Matthew, I sent him to the nursery so I could watch it! Oh you laugh, but I did! I totally DVR it because Chris isn't really into it and I watch it on Thursday's during nap time. It is, in my humble opinion, the most intense, well written show. I decided that if I could meet one person it would be J.J. Abrams. He is so imaginative! I highly recommend getting all the seasons and watching them from the beginning. I know season 2 was a bit confusing but it has been worth it! Next season is the last and I am SO excited for it. Ok I am done now. Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

They say it's your birthday...

Well, I will forever be overshadowed by my son on birthdays but since it is my blog, I am going to write a shout out to myself for my birthday! I am 30 today and I am super excited! I am totally happy leaving my 20's behind. A lot of great stuff happened in my 20's but I am so looking forward to my 30's. I don't have any wonderful pictures of me to post but Kelli and I ran Bloomsday yesterday so I will post the one we took at the starting line. After we finished and I hobbled home, some girls came over for drinks and dessert. It was so much fun and the exact way that I wanted to celebrate! Tonight, Chris and I are going to go to a movie (it is what I want to do!) and relax. Happy birthday to me!!!!!

My Matthew is 3 today!

In early labor with Matthew

Right when he was born

Blowing out his candles

What a big boy!

His finished cake:)

I can't believe that Matthew is 3 today. It scares me more that I have a 3 year old than it does that I have 2 kids. It only seems like yesterday that I was pregnant with him. Most of you know the story but it is a tradition in my family that we tell the birth story.

We were at our tail end of living in Ohio. I was technically due April 23rd. It seemed like everyone who I knew that was pregnant (and famous people that were pregnant) were all having their babies before me. In fact, my good friend Sarah was due May 5th and had her baby April 28th! On the way home from visiting her in the hospital I totally broke down crying telling Chris that I was going to be pregnant forever. Well, thank goodness for modern medicine or else I probably would have been! I was induced May 1st at 7 am. I wasn't very dilated so I had this device called the foley balloon inserted to dilate me. It was the most painful experience ever to be dilated. When I was finally a 5, I got an epidural. That was at noon. Tick tock, tick tock and no Matthew. I never progressed past a 5. When they broke my water, it was brown indicating that Matthew had passed Muconium. At 10 pm they decided that they didn't want to risk the delivery and I was told I needed a c-section. I was totally fine with it because at this point I just wanted to have a baby! (On a side note, when I called my parents to tell them, my mom started crying because she had a very traumatic c-section with me. The nurse thought it was amusing that I was calming her down!) They wheeled me into the operating room and Matthew was born at 12:57 am on May 2nd! He couldn't even be born on his induction day! I should have know that is how stubborn he would be. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and looked just like Chris. He nursed like a champ was a really excellent baby. I was so happy and recovered very easily from my surgery. We moved to Spokane when he was 3 months old and the rest is history. What a sweet boy he is and we love him very much!