It absolutely kills me...

...to watch her feed herself. But against every instinct in me, I let her do it.

A little spontaneity.

The other day I was home and BORED out of mind. So I called my mom up at work and said 'wanna meet Hads and I at The Fountain.' She acted like she was busy but called back 15 minutes later saying...'come and get me.'

Little Posey Poserson.

Sharing snacks.
Practice makes perfect...or at least gives me hope.


Love these two pics.

Hadley saw all the other kids sliding down on thier bottoms, so she wanted to do it too. It was pretty darn cute. She kept looking at them, and then headed down.
And we 'stinkbugged' the entire way back up.

What would be a day in Seattle without showing your peaches. I'm kinda thinking it's not normal for a 16 month old to have cellulite...is it too early for lipo?

Benny.

Such a good little bean.
We're seeing those blue eyes a lot more now.
Ryan thought this picture would be perfect for when he wins the Heisman.

Gonna be a good big sis.

Benny was crying so Hadley found the binky and handed it to him. She actually shoved it in his face a little roughly, but how cute that she knew what to do with it. Maybe we will need those gifted classes afterall.
When that didn't work, she gave him a love.
Real big sis Lauren couldn't stand it anymore and came over to show Hads how it's done.

Surprise, surprise...these were a hit.

Baby-sat the kiddos the other night and brought over push-up pops. Umm, don't think I need to say much more.

Potty-talk.

Oh Hadley, you are so my favorite.

A happy ending.

Just received an email from a former patients family letting me know how well their baby boy was doing and it filled me with all sorts of emotion. He was in our ICU for a little over 2 months with a liver tumor that burst...this equals lots and lots of bleeding. After 8 surgeries, endless blood transfusions, and numerous doses of chemotherapy...he made it, against many, many, many, many, odds. I am asked ALL the time 'how do you do what you do?' And whenever I see success stories like Brent I think...how could I not.

Go Daddy Go.

Cheering on her Pops.
"You know Dad I think if you would have drafted a little longer instead of bridging away during the final sprint you could have pulled off a W. BTW, is that a rookie mark on your leg?"

Please don't be like your mother.

Hadley and I ran to the park the other day and were having a fabulous time...until other people showed up. Why am I such a recluse? I just hate faking that I want to know the other kids names, how old they are, and what their favorite color is....etc. So we played with them for about 5 minutes and then headed home, to be by ourselves. Oh Hadley, I'm already saving for your therapy babe.

Strike a pose.

See the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Here she is checking the kids out and surely thinking "be on your way people."
RUDY...he's hasn't gotten a lot of press lately. He is still alive, although the other day when I came home to a poop-filled diaper ripped open on the carpet he almost got a bowl full of sedatives.

Too tall Sally.

Mariners or bust.

Looking so, so big.
Zaide, it isn't time for rally caps.
Goofballs.
Yeah, even though we lost, Hadley refused to give up.
Most exciting part of the game was definitely the kid who ran across the field getting arrested.
Oh the things booze will make you do.

Littlest Mariner Fans.

CHEEEEESE!
"Come on Mads, let's 'Uno-do-si-etta'!"
"Allright, I'll settle for making out instead."
Good sharing girls...or taking...it's a little hard to tell, but there are no tears yet, I'm going with sharing.
They've both mastered the CHEEESE smile.

Bell Square letdown.

Hads and I went shopping at Bellevue Square last week with grand plans to play on the giant tugboat...and lets be honest, check out the Nordy's sale. Well, the big toy sucked! It was about 6ft by 6ft and infested by giant kids WAY too old to be there. So we pushed around her stroller, got in people's way, and ate a granola bar. She never knew the differance.

My new favorite.

Yep, Jocelyn took it. I'm getting nervous that I'm going to have to start paying her.

Go Cougs.

Yesterday we drove to T-town so I could visit with my best buds from college, Katy and Tyson. It was so much fun to see my two favs and their adorable baby girls. It's like time is never lost when we see eachother, we pick up right where we left off...which is why they are among my bestest friends. Thanks for the visit all of you, and Mama Rhodes for the fabulous chicken salad sandwiches, and Ryan for cleaning up the mess (Katy's Ry, not mine). I just can't believe how grown up we all are and how we're still so much the same. You'll always be apart of some of my most favorite memories, and I'm sure a part of a lot of memories I don't remember;)...we did go to WSU afterall!

Ava, Sadie, Ila, & Hadley. My baby being the only baby in this picture.
Ila & Hadley talking World Cup.
Tyson with Hadley and Katy with Ila. So funny that the biggest event in our lives used to be where we were going Friday night and how we were going to find time to study for that test next Monday.
Love this picture, but I need to photoshop my kid out...she looks like she's going #2.
A gaggle of gals.
Sadie and Ava. Ava made sure to let all the babies know these were her toys.
Airplane ride.
Kate doing what she does best, enjoying her girls.
The Sohns Family.
God, when did we all get so old...we're having kids like our mother's and teacher's (movie quote for you Kev).

So I gotta say a little bit about this gal Katy, since she is one of my most favorite people. However, it didn't start out that way. I first remember Kate when we had a Chemistry class together. I thought she was SO annoying; always asking questions, always flirting with the TA, and such a sorority girl. Our paths crossed again in nursing school and I soon realized why I wanted to kick this gal in the shins...I wanted to be her. She was super cute, super skinny, super smart, had a super great laugh, and drove a super sporty Outback. Luckily, fate was on my side and we became BF's literally overnight.

Katy is truly a saint. She lived with me for a year (no easy task) in the ghetto of Spokane, she studied with me at any and all hours (and ignored my ADD) and she never said a word when I would whip up one of my most famous concoction's: Ketchup/Mustard/Pickle surprise.

I can't think of a bad time we had, the three of us could make any and everything fun...even wiping old people in nursing homes, or playing chess with some psychotic killer at Eastern State Hospital. Kate you haven't changed a bit...you're still super cute, super skinny (even after two kids), super smart, have a super great laugh...and have an even cooler car with a PA and siren;). You are an amazing Mama and definitely found your true love in life...being one. Lets do this again soon...I love when we are gaga about eachother.

XOXO