September

Boy am I feeling guilty. This is nothing new, actually, as "Guilt" is pretty much my default emotion, especially since becoming a mother. It's problematic. I'm working on it...but then I start feeling guilty about feeling guilty. It'll be a life-long process. But lately, the guilt-du-jour is not posting enough pictures and stories on this here blog. When Madelyn was a baby, I think I posted at least once a week, even if it was just one photo. Every little coo and expression was documented and shared. Poor Henry. We're taking lots of photos (albeit less than the first time around), but getting around to organizing them or posting them or commenting on them is so, so much harder this time around. Again, going from one to two is most certainly not a linear increase in work load: it's exponential. I try to remind myself that my kids would rather I live life with them than simply document it, so there you go. We have been living large, folks.

Certainly the biggest and most important event was my sister's wedding to our new brother-in-law, Ben. Wowza, what a soiree! If they ever tire of their current careers, my sister and mom can most definitely start a thriving wedding planning business. This wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and no detail went unaddressed. It was stylish and warm and intimate and FUN, and we pretty much celebrated and partied for four straight days. Kelsie was simply stunning...radiant. She and Ben were cool as cucumbers and looked so happy. We all had such a good time! Well, 3 of us did...poor Henry is 0-2 for weddings in his short life and, just like Auntie Kari's wedding, he was not feeling well that day. Thank God for Baba and Mimi who held him and walked (endlessly) with him and ultimately missed dinner so they could just take him home and put him to bed. They were saints that whole weekend, actually, and spent so much time caring for our kids so we could fully participate in all of the festivities (ahem, bachelor and bachelorette parties). I am so grateful to have two sets of grandparents who are so generous with their babysitting time -- what a blessing. The original plan was for Madelyn to go home with Baba and Mimi, too, but she was having so much fun and there were lots of other kids staying, so we decided last minute to let her stay. Oh my goodness, we are so glad we did. She literally danced from the first song to the last song. (With Aaron, the husband of one of Kelsie's bridesmaids, on whom she developed quite a crush. She later explained that it was because he copied all of her dance moves. True story.) The date of their wedding, 09/10/11, also happened to be Madelyn's 4th birthday. Kelsie and Ben were very sweet and thoughtful and had a Hello Kitty birthday cake for her and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. A few family members and friends brought her presents, there was bubblegum, and given that she was their Flower Girl, she wore a fancy dress. I suppose it only makes sense, then, that when we all finally collapsed -- exhausted -- into our car at 10:30 and started to drive home, Madelyn exclaimed with genuine wonder "Wow! I can't believe so many people came to my birthday party!"

So. Good, good times. There are photos. Amazing, gorgeous, perfectly lit photos, but so far, those are only on facebook. As soon as I can, I'll post a few.

Our girl is now 4 full years old. She cracks jokes and crosses her long legs when she sits and is currently eating my cupboards bare. Pink and blue have joined purple as her favorite colors, and she has developed an obsession with My Little Ponies worthy of the 1980's (why didn't I save all of mine?!!). She is fiercely independent, but every now and then if we're patient, her lanky body melts into us and we are reassured that she is still our little girl for a bit longer.

She learned how to ride a two-wheel pedal bike while we were in Sunriver this summer, so we got her her own big-girl bike for her birthday. For the most part, she's got it down, but we're still working on starting and stopping on her own (and I think we're learning that she and Kurt do much better in the teacher/student dynamic than she and I do).

Henry Finn is now 8 months old and has solidified himself as Monkey #2. He's an ATV crawler in that he'll just crawl over, under, or through whatever happens to be in his path. His daycare providers tell us that he crawls the same obstacle course every morning when he gets there that always involves taking the path of most resistance. He is especially fond of tunnels, and we find him tucked into the tiniest, most random places. He has recently learned how to pull himself up to a standing position, whether on us, on the coffee table, or in his crib. Consequently, he's had a hard time falling asleep these last few days because he's so fascinated with peering out over the crib and seeing what's going on. He's pretty proud of himself, and so are we! Henry gives the best kisses, too. Big, open-mouthed, drooly smooches that can last for several seconds. And he makes this little affectionate "ahhh" sound along with the kiss that just melts our hearts.

Goodness, what else? We went to the beach the weekend after Kelsie and Ben's wedding with my parents just to relax and wind down. It was Henry's first time to the ocean. It rained the entire time, so you know...we set some realistic standards for his time at the coast. But the Oregon coast is always beautiful and restorative, even in the rain, and we proved ourselves as natives:

Madelyn's first day of school. She has her same teacher and classroom as last year, so she's very excited.

I really failed in the garden department this year. The sun and heat were poky like they were last year, and I just didn't put forth enough effort to compensate. I was so looking forward to our big tomatoes, and they all got blossom end rot. Major bummer. But our Sungolds and our cucumbers did pretty well. Madelyn was really into picking them, and one night she suggested making a tomato and cucumber salad for dinner. So we did.


Backyard fire pitting is always a good idea. Now that the weather has cooled down, we are thoroughly enjoying ours. Madelyn roasts her marshmallow and then sits in her camp chair contemplating the fire like an old soul. We all go to bed (and wake up) smelling like a campfire which is just fine with me.