Bridal Veil Fun

Knowing that this was perhaps the last summerish weekend of the year, we drove up to Bridal Veil Falls to see the colors of the trees and hang out a bit at the bottom of the falls. When we were back in college we would often walk the path on a Sunday afternoon/evening and talk about our future little friends. Now that two of them are here, we have a harder time getting there, but go at least once a year.

Julia knew exactly what a waterfall is and was quite excited when we told her where we were going. "Waterfall... rocks" she kept saying in anticipation. We like to park at Nunn's Park so we can walk at least a little to the falls. It makes it seem more like a destination then just driving right up to them.

When we got to the falls Julia had already taken her shoes off and was very excited to get in the water at the bottom. I put her sandals back on and she stepped right into the freezing water that quickly numbed my feet. She didn't seem to mind, that is for about 30 seconds, then I had to carry her as she started to cry :) She loved tossing rocks into the water, especially "big" ones. The only way we could get her to leave was to tell her to grab some rocks to take home.

On the walk down to the car, Gabe put his hands up in the air and Julia took that as a hint to hold his hand. She grabbed his hand and held it the rest of the way. It was quite adorable.

BTW this is Jonny writing.

And now, this is Melody, adding two important elements of our perfect Sunday:

a delicious dinner made by Jonny

and delicious pumpkin cookies made by Julia

some bad habits lately...

Removing every single item from the crib,
including clothing, in an attempt to sabotage nap time:Squeezing babies too tightly:Discovering the usefulness of a pinkie:

Welcome, Babies

Emily and KC's TRIPLETS are here! Well, more like they are there. All of us here in Utah were so bummed not to be in Maryland with the Robinson family at this exciting time, so we had to throw a party for the babies from afar. We enjoyed a deluxe nacho dinner, Em's favorite. And I made a three layer, triple chocolate cake served with Neapolitan ice cream. Jake was observant enough to notice the 2 blue to 1 pink theme on the cake. (The triplets are boy, boy, girl.) It was so fun to celebrate for Em, KC, and the babies. But I missed them like crazy. While I baked the cake, I thought of the darling little ones that I won't get to meet in person until I fly out there in December. Can I really wait? I adore them already.

You can link to Em's blog to see photos and get more details. I'll just put a few down here:

The babies were born at 30 weeks exactly on Saturday, September 12 at 3:00 am. (Emily called me around 9 pm the night before to let me know her water had broken. Try to sleep after your twin sister tells you that.) They weighed in at 2 lb. 10 oz, 2 lb. 11 oz, and 2 lb. 13 oz. They are small but doing so well! We are all so thankful the three made it here safely and that Em is recovering well.

There is so much going on in my mind and heart that I'm finding it difficult to even begin to write it down. Next to Jonny, Emily is my best and sweetest friend in the world. She and KC have waited a long time for these little ones to join their family. The past several years have been challenging - full of tears, prayers, discouragement, hope, and faith. And now that their little miracles are here and Emily is a mother, I can't express my joy. Em knows these babies will be a handful, well, several handfuls. But if there is anyone who can do it, it's Emily and KC. Welcome to parenthood, you two. There is nothing more amazing in the world. We love you five!

little mommy

Ever since Gabe arrived, Julia's little maternal tendencies have really surfaced. I've written about her "nursing" dolls and toys, but she also puts blocks (or any other toy) to sleep in the swing, changes diapers on her dolls (just fiddles her fingers around as if changing a diaper), and yesterday I caught her putting four dolls to bed in her room and going through our entire nap time routine.

Today, this little mommy and I went on a walk with our babies. When I suggested an afternoon walk, she hurried away and came back with her little stroller and doll. I explained that I would do the walking while she and Gabe sat in the stroller (as usual), but she would not have it. So we headed out, Julia strolling behind Gabe and me. Just like all walking moms do, we chatted as we walked. She commented on every bike we passed, noted the flowers, said "Bye-bye, water" to the sprinklers, and counted the flags that lined the streets today. (Her counting went like this, "One, two, three, four, five, six... two flags!" She can count to ten, but if there is more than one of anything, it's always "two!") It took us quite a while to walk around the block, but it was quite pleasant. And I couldn't help but remember my days as a girl pushing my own doll and stroller around the neighborhood. (Ashley, we don't have to tell anyone exactly how old we were when we did that. Ha.)

And another motherly instinct came out when we watched Dumbo today. During the "Baby Mine" scene Julia was in tears! She snuggled close to me and cried for the "mommy and baby." I admit I may have shed a tear or two myself.

Although not directly related to this post, I've included a slide show of a photo shoot by Jonny a few weeks ago that I discovered on the camera. I love all the different expressions.



Okay, Gabe's expression is pretty much the same in every picture! But it really is so easy to get a smile out of him these days. Most of the time, all you have to do is give him one and he'll giggle and freely smile back.

lunchtime

What could be better than eating a fresh-from-the-garden-tomato, sprouts, ham, and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes, celery, carrots, and Hint of Lime chips on the side? Sharing it all with Julia, of course. Remember when I wrote a post about my picky eater? Well, I am very happy to announce that she is certainly over that phase. She's back to eating the good stuff, and is even willing to try new things. (No, she won't eat everything, but neither will her Daddy. Ahem.) I love sharing lunch with Julia. We take bites of things at the same time, say "Ahhh" after drinking our watered-down lemonade, and use napkins when our faces get messy. Gabe watches happily from his bouncer. I love lunchtime with my little friends.

Our Favorite Oregonians

Last weekend we were so happy to spend time with Jonny's sister Sarah, her husband Jesse, and their beautiful dog Bella. (And of course, we always love having Rudi around.) Thanks to you all for making the trip! It really means a lot to us that you'd take the time to drive all the way out here. Please know you are welcome anytime. We love you!

P.S. Julia loves her new dolly. She named it "Sarah" and is always doing the name sign. She really loved having you three around. (Even though she didn't quite take to Bella, she likes to talk about the "doggy that yicks (licks) you!"

P.P.S. Sorry about your car troubles. That is never convenient, but especially on a road trip. You handled it well though, way to go. (As you can see from the picture of Jonny and Jesse, Jonny felt a little foolish for causing another little problem after the main problem was just fixed. I say, don't be so hard on yourself, honey! You and Jesse did a great job.)

Hello, Dolly

Julia seems to think everyone loves dolls
as much as she does.