friends

Liam scored his first goal of the season in under-10 soccer today. It was a great game! Here are Liam and Milo with some of their closest friends, relaxing on the tailgate of the miniV post-victory for the Headless Chickens. (Yes, that's really the name of Liam's team...)

milo, liam, miles, emma, chloe and alanna

inservice day

The boys had the day off today, so we decided to chronicle our adventures on the iphone.

Liam and I walked the dog. We took turns holding the leash. I asked Mom if we could go to the park. The weather was fine, there was no raining. -milo
I really liked our walk - it was nice to get out of the house for a little while. -liam

We went to the library. I checked out five books. I got Ricky Ricotta, two Medabot books, a book about the Titanic, and a book about knights. Liam checked out 10 books. -milo
At the library I checked out 10 books. I had a great time, I read a really good book about UFOs at the library. -liam

I got my hair cut by Kristie. She gave me a lollipop. I liked my haircut. -milo
It took a long time to get my hair cut, but at the end I got a sucker. I don't really like my haircut, but Mom says it'll grow. -liam
I wanted to go to Gramma G's later in the day because I was bored. We played cards, watched TV, talked with Gramma, and had four cookies. This is a picture of me watching TV in Gramma's chair. -milo And finally, we got a picture of Lucy May smiling! -melissa

This was a great day. I really liked it because we spent a lot of time outside and we also spent a lot of time with each other. -liam

The Pink

It’s April and I’m about five months pregnant with Lucy, and someone has just sent us our first baby gift. Joel and I lay it out on the kitchen table, and a lot of pink stares at us. We stare back in silence. Pink. For the record, neither of us is actually opposed to pink – Joel has this pink polo shirt that looks great on him, and I have several pink t-shirts and even a pair of pink pants. Even Milo has a pink button-down. But we’re having moment here, with the two lovely pink kimonos wrapped in pink tissue paper and accompanied by a pink envelope, inside of which is a pink card wishing us happiness with our baby girl. We’re realizing that pink is about to take center stage in our lives.
I resisted the Pink for a while. I thought, I don’t need to be that mom who dresses her baby girl all in pink. I thought, baby girls can wear other colors.
It wasn’t like this with my boys. True, I avoided clothes featuring sports themes, bears and trains. But the color blue doesn’t define a baby boy the way Pink does a baby girl. I walk into children’s boutiques and the infant section at Old Navy and I am dazzled by Pink. When I was pregnant I would often walk back out, empty handed and overwhelmed, realizing that I had no idea how to shop for a girl. It became this weird metaphor for me – my resistance to Pink stood in for my bewilderment at becoming a mother to a daughter. Instead of freaking out about this paradigm shift in my life, I freaked out about pink onesies and frilly socks. It got to the point that one of my dearest friends, who is also the mother of three daughters, sent me a box filled with pink clothes, a pink blanket, a pink doll, and the message GET USED TO IT.

Today, Lucy is one day shy of eight weeks old. Two baby showers, four Rubbermaid tubs of hand-me-downs, a few shopping trips, and countless sweet gifts from our loving family and friends later, Lucy has not spent one of her 55 days on earth in an outfit that doesn’t include something Pink (or at least a ruffle or two). I find myself acquiescing to the Pink. And as I do, I also feel myself melting, bit by bit, as I start to define myself as a mother to a daughter as well as sons. When she smiles at me from under her pink hat, or kicks her pink-clad legs at me, it dawns on me that I have my own sweet girl. And I do feel different now, and I’m glad for that. And she does look pretty in Pink.

are arranged marriages out of the question?

Pilar and Milo were born four months apart, and have been friends since they met in the womb. Lately they have been enjoying building with duplos, playing with Pilar's pony collection, and eating snacks.


Mateo and Lucile were born seven months apart. Mateo held Lucy's hand all the way home from lunch and tried to share his rattle with her. She wasn't interested this time, but be patient Mateo. Try her next time.

Feeling so grateful for good friends.

swinging

Thank you Shay! Lucy loves her swing, and the new cover is so pretty. Here she is while I was making dinner last night...with both arms free!

blackberry picking

Our friend Paula came to visit from Austin, where blackberries do not grow on the side of highways and up telephone poles. Milo, Lucy and I took her to the river, near Autzen Footbridge, where blackberries have taken over the riverbank. Even without appropriate footwear (flip flops are not ideal for stepping into thorny blackberry patches, it turns out), or protective gloves, we managed to get a bucketful. And the sweet scent of hot blackberries ripening in the sunshine was worth every scratch.

sweet boys and a girl

Liampalooza

September 7th, 2008 - Liampalooza. Party in the park.




Party in the gymnastics studio.



And a party in the North Star classroom. Chocolate cupcakes and angel food cake all around. Nine years passes so quickly, and he has become such a sweet, self-possessed boy. How did we get so lucky.

6 Weeks

Some of Lucy's new skills, now that she's six weeks old:

• Smiling (still haven't gotten a photo of this phenomenon, but she has got quite a lovely smile).
• Mimicking her brothers when they stick their tongue out at her.
• Gazing at the toys hanging from her play mat.
• Using the pacifier to deal with car rides (a relief for everyone else in the car).

First Day of School

The best part about the first day of school was recess because I got to play with all my friends again. This is a picture of me in circle. -milo

On the first day of school I was in a new classroom. My new teacher's name is Debra. We are learning about Aztecs, Incas and Mayas this fall. This is a picture of me with my friend Oliver, who is in my class. -liam

After school everyone got their ya yas out in the hammock.

Labor Day, Upriver

Lucy's first weekend at the cabin on the McKenzie included knitting and wine drinking (and nursing) on the deck, knitting and wine drinking (and nursing) inside by the fire, two delicious meals of polenta and ratatouille, and a bonfire, thanks to Marquis. Joel, Mark and Nathan biked the MckKenzie River Trail, and Liam and Milo taught Rohanna how to play chess. In all, it was a fabulous and relaxing a way to spend the the last weekend of summertime!

Guess Who?