Portland or bust...

 You know those friends... the one that you can go forever without speaking to and then when you finally get together it's as if you were never apart.  Jenny is one of those friends.  In college she was the wild and crazy gal that I have almost every memory with, the good and the bad.  Well, after 10 long years, taking her from Germany to Spokane and then Montana she is back and I couldn't be more excited... because this time it's for good!  

She moved back 3 weeks ago and I was anxious to plan our first of many visits, so the little boys and I headed south for a few days.  It couldn't have been a better 3 days either.  We walked, we talked, we shopped and we ate... oh and we laughed... A LOT!  

No trip to Portland would be complete without a trip to the old alma mater.


It's a little crazy how 10.5 years can change you.  Here I am 3 kids later, breastfeeding my youngest on the campus of my college.



The boys had so much fun meeting Jenny's mom and playing with their wild and crazy doggy.

In our short visit we were able to squeeze in a visit to 23rd AND saturday market!
Thank goodness fort he iphone because these girls were on  a mission and without it I am sure Alex would have had nothing of it.  Yes, I am THAT mom.


And no trip to Saturday market would be complete without a trip to Voodoo donut, even with a line down the block!  The ODB donut was well worth the wait!







The street performers were, er um... entertaining, shall we say.



Graham fit right in with the locals at the street fair.



Amen Sista'!
Despite the fits and whining provided by a certain 3 year old it was a pretty great visit.  And this, I know, is only just the beginning of all the adventures we will take with the Webinger's!
Thanks for the memories!
Love You!

Catching up is hard to do...

Lucky to have a friend who knows exactly what I need, when I need it :)


Don't judge!  I know you all take pictures of yourself at red lights too!


I have to pinch myself every morning when I get to wake up to this beautiful face.  To think that there was a time in my life that I was nervous about seeing it makes me sad.  He is my perfect!


Our house motto.

We love our friday play dates with Tyler and Landon.

The dreaded homework.

Lou-Bug

Watch out 'yall.  Bugbee in the house.

Ugh, the dreaded shopping cart car.  It's only redeeming quality is the smile it brings to my baby's face.

The Party

Sadly, as I mentioned in my mother's day post, I accidentally erased all the photos from Alex's birthday party.  After a few good tears I pulled myself together long enough to do a little research.  I am one lucky girl.  Who knew that Costco could pull deleted images off of an SD card?  I wasn't able to recover them all, but I am not going to complain!

Alex was ecstatic about his party, not so ecstatic about getting his picture taken.

The beach club made for the perfect venue on a perfect day for a little Buzz Lightyear Third Birthday.

From May 2012

Most of the pictures I lost were of the table set up... bummer!  I was so proud of myself!

Once again, our friend Val made the most amazing cupcakes.




The photo booth was a hit!
Jesse and Woody couldn't get enough of it :)

{THREE}

Oh Alexander,
Where do I start with you?
You are the apple of my eye and the bearer of all my frustration all wrapped up in one.  You are stubborn but a lover, defiant and oh so strong willed.  You test me constantly and challenge me to be a better mom.  You are insanely funny!  You speak far beyond your years.  Oh, and you LOVE Buzz Lightyear.
I thank God everyday for you.  You have shown me that there is more to life than rules.  My directions are mere suggestions to you.    I am a much more relaxed with you because I pushing you only causes you to push back.  For instance binkies.  The plan was to buy you a toy, put it on the shelf and when you were ready you would give your binks to Graham and receive your toy.  Well, Alex :1  Mommy : 0.  Some how you have your Buzz Lightyear AND your binks.  Not quite sure how that happened.  Your a conniving little one!

Your smile is contagious and can bring happiness to my heart on the roughest of days.  You are always reminding me that you "love me to the moon and the stars and the sun and the clouds."  I love you more though buddy!
You are the most gracious little boy and mind your p's and q's without being reminded most of the time.



You are the best big brother ever!  Graham is so lucky to have you... some day he will appreciate that.
For now I am sure he could do without all your cuddles and kisses that frequently knock him down.
You are always the first to hear him in the morning and run to climb into his crib with him.
You love school and all your friends.  If we could you would spend every waking moment with Erin and Tyler.
Thank you Alex, for blessing our lives with your humor, your love and yes, even your defiance.
We couldn't imagine our lives without you in it.  



I love you Alex!

Happy Mother's day?

Well, I am not going to paint a picture of roses here.  Today pretty much sucked.  I am taking it as a reminder that motherhood is tough.  We have good days and we have bed days but in the end I wouldn't change it for the world.  

We started out the morning at 0530 when Graham woke up for his SECOND feeding of the night.  I nursed him and climbed back in bed for what seemed 5 minutes when I heard Bella barreling up the stairs and making her self known.  Soon enough it was 0700 and everyone was up.  Dan had somehow escaped to get some coffee, donuts and flowers and I pulled the pillow back over my head hoping for just a few more minutes of sleep.  

From the moment I got up it was whining, crying and disobeying.  It's as if they got the message backwards... do anything and everything to make sure your mother enjoys her day the least amount possible.  We haven't had a day like this in a long time.... and they chose TODAY.

Church, pppfff.  That was one of the worst ideas I have had all year.  First it was the battle to get them to wear "church clothes", then to brush their hair.  Oh, and getting IN the church... that was awesome.  Then there was the behavior when we finally got in, followed by the tantrum over fruit snacks during the homily of which I heard not a single word.    

Back home, Tyler had an especially hard time listening to anyone, including me.  We couldn't get the little ones down fast enough to get a little reprieve.  The only quiet time I had all day is the 1.5 hours I spent roasting in the theater at Seattle Prep watching the school play.  (Really, it was pretty awesome!)

At one point I turned to my mom and said "Mom, why does today have to be one of the days when I really don't want to be a mother?'  She simply smiled and laughed a little and proceeded to tell me a story of one such mother's day for her.  On the way home I had the urge to run.  Literally, to go for a run and not come back.  But then I thought, they are all rested and it surely can't be any worse than it was this morning.  

Well, once again, I was wrong.  The whining and crying continued to no avail.  Graham was attached to my leg if not my hip.  Alex was... well Alex.  And Tyler made everything a production... everything!

Finally, we got all three boys in bed and I couldn't wait to get in bed, edit my pictures of Alex's party and blog.  That's when the cake got iced.  In the midst of transferring my pictures my computer froze.  I restarted it, downloaded my pictures and erased my SD card (of which I NEVER do).  Opening my pictures there were only 15 when there should have beed over 200!  Gone... ALL GONE.  

Yes, my friends, this is a good reminder that this day is indeed just another day!

Happy freaking Mother's Day to me!

Someone's excited...

...because he is THREE!

More to come!

Tacoma Children's Museum

I am loving all these new outings we have gone on with our buds Tyler and Landon.  A few weeks back we headed down to the Tacoma Children's museum to meet up with Malia, Charlie, Will, Lori, Owen and Carson.  Four moms, eight boys and lots of fun stuff to do!  I highly recommend this place!  You pay by donation only, it is small and enclosed so the kids can't escape.  There is so much fun stuff to do for little kids and big kids.  Alex had a blast playing on the ship while Graham preferred splashing around in the water.  And the best part is it was clean!  I didn't hesitate to let Graham down to crawl around.  My only piece of advice from this outing, if you park on the street turn your wheels towards the curb!  Who knew they actually wrote tickets for that?

Afterwards we headed to Malia's new house for lunch and more playing.