Thanks Uncle Justin!!

The girls loved their Birthday gifts, Uncle Justin! Thank you so much! (Audrey said she is saving her skirt for the winter) We miss you and hope we can see you soon!

What a difference a year makes...

The more things change the more things stay the same...I can't believe that our baby is a year old today. I will try not to get too sappy or nostalgic, but looking at these two pictures makes me wonder what percentage of her short life has been spent sleeping my arms. I think that having the two older girls made me realize just how quickly they grow up, and how brief and precious the baby stage is. With Lili, parenthood was so new and each of her milestones so exciting, it seems like a blur, and with Audrey I stressed out so much over her little health problems that maybe I was a bit too anxious for her to grow out of them. When little Kateri came along, I think I had just learned to sit back and enjoy it while it lasted...My mom gave a copy of this poem in a frame : "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, for babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow...So quiet down, cobwebs, dust go to sleep...I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep." Am I making excuses for my less-than-stellar housekeeping? Justifying our attachment-parenting style and inability to get our babies to take naps for longer than 45 minutes? Quite possibly. But a little sleep deprivation and a mild case of tennis elbow seem like a small price to pay for so many sweet hours. Kateri, I have loved every second!

Like the new layout?

I hope the pepto-bismal inspired shade of the template doesn't give anyone a headache...I realized that Kateri is just two days shy of her first birthday and she still hasn't been added to our profile description so some updates were in order...the pink was unanimously voted in by the girls.

Puppies!!!

There was a special surprise waiting for the girls when we went for a swim at Nona's last week.
Nona was puppy-sitting two adorable chocolate lab puppies.

Seriously what could be cuter than puppies and kids...we even took them into the pool for their first swim...it is amazing how instinct takes over...they knew how to paddle around right away.

so much fun!

On a more serious note, we got to spend some really nice time with Uncle Travis the past week before he takes a big step in his life. Today he will be entering the novitiate at St. Michael's Abbey of the Norbertine Fathers in California. We very proud of Travis' amazing journey and will be sending lots of love and prayers his way!

Thanks, Nanny!

Kateri's present from Nanny and Papa arrived early, so we decided to let her play with it right away...

Great choice, Nanny!!

Thank you!!

Sea Turtle Baby

Another better late than never posting from our summer in Scituate. Kateri completely fell in love with the beach. At the beginning of our trip, she was only crawling, and as soon as you set her down on the sand she would make a beeline for the waves, just like a little baby sea turtle emerging from her nest. ( I don't know if you have ever seen a video of that on a nature program, but they basically just book it for the water as fast as they can before they can get picked off by a sea gull or some other predator) After a couple weeks, she decided that holding a grownup's hand and walking was easier on her chubby little knees, so i am glad I managed to get a video of the sea turtle stage.

I think she misses the beach, she still says "Pat pat pat" and pats her hand on the ground when we talk about the beach, just like she used to do on the sand. I guess she will get to discover it all oven again next summer. I have a feeling she is going to take after Audrey, who most days was out in the water almost over her head before I had time to take off my flip flops...maybe next summer I will let Audrey watch Shark Week with Papa and learn some healthy respect for the ocean.

one month later---Lili's birthday evening

I finally got around my computer's video-posting issues...here is Lili blowing out the candles on her Princess cake at Nanny's house.

back in the desert

The heat actually hasn't been as bad as I was fearing. Since the kids are still operating on East Coast time, we have a couple of cool hours in the morning and some time in the evening... our old Dora the Explorer sprinkler helps too...

I'm glad our sea turtle baby hasn't been too spoiled by the Atlantic Ocean to enjoy playing in it...

Backyard Bliss

I had to make a post about Nanny's backyard, where we have been spending so many pleasant hours this summer. It is a little slice of paradise, where the ever-expanding flower beds buffer you from the rest of the world... the deck is the perfect place to learn how to "backy down"

or have a happy hour with some appetizers and a Twisted Tea (I know Lili and Cindy look really depressed here, but trust me they were having fun)...

or admire the "jurassic" lettuce garden

or grill up a delicious dinner

or watch the hummingbirds and the butterflies in the beebalm (can you spot the hummingbird?)

or wash off the sand after the beach...

somehow it's cuter with the kids...

Row Row Row

Ok so I think the audio is totally off here...anyway this was an attempt to capture for posterity Kateri singing Row Row Rw your boat...she usually says "meh meh meh" for the merrily merrily merrily part but she gets disctracted and just starts making goofy faces....Nanny has been teaching Kateri loads of new songs and words...ah multigenerational living....