halloween weekend

we had such a fun and full weekend. between having a newborn, trying to sell our house and tyler's work - it feels like it's been a while since we've spent time at home, having good quality time together. we had a great mix of activities as well as down-time around the house (NOT working on a house project or cleaning for a showing). it was very refreshing...i'm really not ready for this weekend to end.

we started out friday afternoon baking this amazing spiced applesauce cake to take to a party. i had high hopes for this cake and it really was quite tasty. a fun fall cake full of cinnamon and cream cheese frosting...yum. by the end of the night it was devoured. riley loves to help and she is becoming more and more helpful. she held the mixer by herself, singing the whole time.

eminem and 80's rocker girl...dressed up for a party

chuck norris & unicorn girl

my little gal!

the only boys who dressed up

saturday morning walk on my favorite trail in the fall

saturday afternoon trick or treating downtown with friends and family

my sis rachel flew home to seattle from LA for the weekend and came up for a visit on saturday. she turns 25 this coming wednesday, so we ordered thai food and had brownies & ice cream for her. she got to meet sonja for the first time too...she is in love!

sunday morning pumpkin carving

sonja sat by observing

riley told us, "this is the scary face i want to carve on the pumpkin"

she counted out 12 pieces of candy she got yesterday

the necklace was a last-minute costume addition by riley

after a homemade chili dinner we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood for a bit, mostly to the neighbors we know. riley wanted to bring along a halloween card she got, which is what she's holding. we actually had so much fun trick-or-treating. she REALLY got into it and was running in between houses saying, "let's try that house over there, maybe they will have some candy". it was so cute and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

i don't have too many pictures of sonja and i'm trying to be better about taking more, but i have a hard time knowing how to photograph a newborn. she really is delightful though. she's almost 7 weeks old and is gaining weight like a champ, sleeping well and smiling and beginning to coo. riley couldn't be more sweet with her. tonight a woman gave riley an extra piece of candy for her baby sister and as we were walking away riley told me, "mommy i'm going to save that candy and when sonja is big i'm going to give it to her". very sweet. we are all adjusting, but sonja is making it fairly smooth.

pictures

late afternoon sidewalk chalk

can you tell how smitten riley is?

painting pumpkins at a friends house

my coach at my gym gave her this onesie - so cute!

yes she picked this outfit out and yes i let her walk to the store in it

riley loves to help sonja with her tummy time

and so do all of riley's babies

trip to seattle

last weekend we took our first trip to seattle since having sonja. we were planning to be in seattle for just the day on sunday, to celebrate sarah's birthday, but we woke up saturday morning and decided to make more of a weekend of it. we set a few plans in motion, packed up and drove straight to the zoo.

we met tyler's brother jon and our nephew bjorn for an amazing crisp afternoon of wandering the zoo. we don't get to see bjorn too often, so we all enjoyed his company, especially riley. for as little as these two actually get to hang out it, they definitely know they are cousins. they always have so much fun playing together and it always warms my heart. we all ventured back to my mom's house for some more playing and chatting.

sunday we met our friends brian & erin for brunch at portage bay cafe downtown (YUM!), did some quick shopping downtown and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening at my mom's house getting ready for sarah's birthday dinner.

sunday was my baby sister sarah's EIGHTEENTH birthday. i was 12 when she was born, so not only do i remember the day/moment my mom told us she was pregnant, i vividly remember the night sarah was born, as well as the next day when i saw her for the first time. i will admit when you are 12 and in 7th grade it is seen as slightly odd that your mom is having a baby and you are a bit embarrassed. my sister martha and i cried when my mom told us - but only because she had been so sick we thought she was telling us she had cancer and was dying (true story). and then there was my brother andrew who was equally upset, but only because it meant he wouldn't get the new jordans he had been wanting. but anyway, it wasn't love at first sight (sorry sarah!) because also when you are 12 and you see a tiny baby who is pink and squishy you do not think she is adorable. i remember all of our reaction as being the same, "she looks like an alien, ewww". my poor mother! however, it did not take long for all of us kids to fall hard and fast for our little baby sister. we were all in love. i spent a good portion of my middle and high school years helping with the feeding, diapering and caring of sarah. she was like our little baby doll and all our friends LOVED coming over to play with her. i also spent countless nights and moments singing this song to her (well all but a few of the verses).

all this to say, sarah has a special place in my heart because i kinda feel like she's one of my own :) she has grown into a beautiful, intelligent and focused individual. she is funny, talented and so sweet. she is in the midst of finishing her senior year of soccer, applying for colleges and dreaming up what she wants to do in life. what an incredible place to be: on the brink of so many opportunities and adventures. happy 18th sarah...we love you.

oh, and did i forget to mention that we listed our house when i was 38 weeks pregnant? yeah, talk about crazy. so anybody out there want to buy a super cute 900 sq foot house? you would really alleviate my stress level.

pumpkin patch

last friday martha and i met at the pumpkin patch in arlington. we met up there two years ago -check out the pictures here. it's so fun to see how riley and henry have changed! we enjoyed the company, the sun and watching our little ones take it all in. we had a picnic lunch in the back of the car and then the little ones devoured their ice cream treat afterward.

oh, and i always say this, but isn't my sister gorgeous?!

pictures from the last few weeks