life up north

Ashley & Andrew

2012-01-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

I will never forget the first time I met Ashley. I was visiting Andrew in the hospital with my kids and she walked by his room, decked out in her crimson WSU scrubs. She looked in and saw the kids and stopped in his door. She smiled and said, "I wore these scrubs for you!" Andrew (a staunch Husky) and her had a laugh. She was beaming and excited to meet my girls. She left the room after a few minutes and I turned to Andrew and said, "WHO IS THAT?, she is CUTE!". He told me who she was and that he liked her. He said she was kinda seeing someone, "but don't worry...I'll get her". From the moment I saw and met Ashley, I loved her. Over the months they became fast friends and quickly realized they had both found true love.

Ashley became a Moritz sister, though not by law, but by love. We love her as our own and she will always be one of us. She and Andrew didn't have long together on this earth, but their love was real and true in the most magical way. It was beautiful to witness. She was sent to us, to him, to love. Andrew had said that he was afraid to die with out ever meeting someone he loved. But he said, "but then I met Ashley". He told me he was so sad to think about life without Ashley. He died holding Ashley's hand. They will one day be together again.

The Moritz Sisters

(photo by Kristen Gough)

5 days after Andrew died us sisters went and did this:

(photo by Kristen Gough)

Something I never thought I would want to do. But when someone who is a part of you dies, you are compelled to take extreme measures to remember and honor them. This tattoo is an almost exact replica of one of Andrew's tattoo's. He got his "Drew" tattoo in college on his right arm. We took lots of pictures of it and gave them to the tattoo artist. He shrunk the size down, thinned out and shaded some of the lines to make it a bit more feminine. I love my tattoo. Every time I look at it I am proud of my brother and am honored to have a piece of him with me.

January

2012-01-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

This month we have been trying to find some sense of normalcy. We've been home a lot with very little plans. It's been nice, although we sure are ready for some sandy beaches that may or may not be in our near future :) Some pictures from the last few weeks...

Our climber! Also, usually has a toothbrush in hand, much to Tyler's dismay

It snowed this week! Riley, our daring and brave girl. We always push her to try (almost) anything. She has proved to be quite bold. We love this about her. She bombed down hills on her tummy on the sled. I was quite the proud mother :) (Even when she flew into the bushes a few times)

Happy Weekend!

A little update

2012-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

The last 4 months of my life have been a whirlwind, yet they feel like a lifetime. I'm not sure if anyone is even still reading this, but I enjoy posting photos of my kids here, so I'm going to give this a try again.

If you don't know what I've gone through, you can read my brother Andrew's blog by clicking here. Andrew died on November 26, 2011 after living with cancer for 3 years. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and loving during this process. And really, the process of grieving has just begun. It has actually gotten worse and harder as time has continued forward. I think we were all protected in a bubble those first few weeks, motivated by the details we had to take care of and running on some kind of adrenaline. But now, as everyone has gone back to their lives, we are left with the emptiness and it just feels awful. Since my kids are young and demanding, I am often caught up in the day to day and march through the motions of my responsibilities. Whenever I have a quiet moment, the grief overtakes me and I am at a loss as to what to feel or think. It feels impossible that I have to live the rest of my life without Andrew, my brother and most favorite person. I'm sure I'll write about the process and my thoughts about it in this space from time to time. Mostly I'd like to continue to post about our weekly happenings, as now the small moments seem so much more relevant to me. And finding something to smile about (my kids!) is healing too.

October 2011:

My mom, siblings & I, the night before the run/walk at Greenlake that benefited Andrew. Watch a short video capturing the turnout here.

Halloween 2011 - yep, I dressed up as Snow White!

November 2011:

My baby turns 4 and we throw her a fancy tea party!

Thanksgiving 2011 ~ last thanksgiving and photo with Andrew

December 2011:

The day after Andrew's service we ride the monorail, visit the Space Needle and do downtown with Tyler's mom

Riley's first Nutcracker

Preschool Christmas program, Riley is a mouse in the manger scene

Santa Train, an annual tradition. I love that Sonja is screaming. It's classic!

Hope to be back here soon.

sonja's birthday party

2011-09-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

we had fun celebrating sonja's 1st birthday last week. on her actual birthday we had a family celebration at home. riley helped me make chocolate cupcakes, decorate the house and pick out a few small gifts for her. we had so much fun getting everything ready for our sweet sonja! she loved her cupcake and we had fun thinking about her birth just 1 year ago.

then on sunday we had a family party for her in seattle. my family and tyler's family were able to be there and we had a yummy lunch, cake and presents. it was so fun to celebrate with the whole family. (we missed you rachel and sarah!)

i took sonja to her 12 month doctors appointment on monday and i got some of her stats. she weighs 18lbs 11oz and is 27 1/2" long. both in the 20%...we have a petite one! her head, however, is in the 95%! she is wearing some 6-12 month and some 12-18 month sizes. her feet are tiny...she still fits into 0-6 month shoes.

sonja is such a delight. she smiles and babbles all day long. she loves her sister and is generally happy. she is a speed crawler and is walking along the furniture and when we hold her hands. she loves to climb and is starting to love to pull everything apart! she can sit and play for a while, especially in riley's room. it is so adorable to see the two of them playing next to each other. sonja loves music and has even started dancing and waving both her hands up and down when she hears it. she is still taking 2 naps each day, but seems to be transitioning into 1. she still just has two top and two bottom teeth, but is working on a few new top teeth. everywhere we go people stop and admire sonja and her bright white blond hair and big bright blue eyes. she really has a way of drawing people in and seems to be quite social.

we love you sonja! you have added so much to our life in this last year. we are excited to see you grow this next year into a toddler!

First day of Preschool

2011-09-20T21:09:00.001-07:00

Riley had her first day of preschool this morning. She did about 4 months of preschool last fall until we decided to pull her out. It was pricey, got in the way of Sonja's sleep and I was not really wanting to start the whole school routine until we absolutely had to. I'm really glad I decided to do that. It's given us lots of time to just be at home playing this past year. It's amazing how much difference a year can make though. Riley has been really ready for school these last few months. She's needed something more than just being home with me. So today could not come soon enough! She just went for 1 hour, then Thursday she'll start in with her normal schedule. She was very excited last night, but definitely had a lot of nerves mixed in too. She had a little trouble falling asleep and we even had some tears (although the tears were mostly due to Tyler's travel schedule).

Both Tyler and I were able to take her to school this morning and she was all smiles. She was especially excited about finding her cubby and being able to put her sweater in it. She was very brave and walked right into her classroom to her teacher. We were very proud of her and all I could think was, "When did my little baby get so big?!" It's always a mixed bag of emotions, watching my kids accomplish new things in this world. But mostly just very exciting and fun.

She was excited to see me when I picked her up and the teacher said she did great. She complained of a tummy ache today, which I hear and read is normal for any kind of change in a kid's life. After an afternoon walk to the park, she told me her tummy was feeling much better. She crashed at 7 tonight, a sure sign of a good day.

happy 1st birthday sonja

2011-09-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

we are so excited over here that our little sonja drew is 1 today! she is a true delight and this past year has been full of so much joy. more on her 1 year stats later.

we love you sonja. we can't wait to see what you do with your chocolate cupcake tonight!

Movement

2011-08-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of movement in our house...

Sonja started crawling a few weeks back and she is on the move. She is pulling herself up onto everything and taking walking steps along the furniture. She is so curious about everything and we think it's so cute! She's very proud of herself and has used her new skills to transport herself into Riley's room where she loves to demolish and take apart all kinds of things. It's adorable to see them "playing" together. Much more of that to come, I'm sure.

Riley is officially riding a bike now - no training wheels - a regular big girl bike. She's been on her balance bike for several months and lately she was showing signs she was ready to make the transition. Tyler scored a $10 craigslist bike and brought it home last Tuesday evening. After dinner we ventured out to the front and after a few tries she was riding on her own. It was amazing to watch and made me so proud (teary even!). The best part was how excited Riley was. She was so so proud of herself and was having so much fun. It's now been 1 week since we've had her bike and she begs to ride her bike morning, noon and night. She can start completely on her own and is getting really comfortable with it. I swear by balance bikes...the transition to a regular bike was completely seamless.

So you could say my life has changed - I am literally chasing after Sonja in the house and Riley down the street!

lummi island

2011-07-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

this past weekend tyler's mom visited us from spokane. after an awesome dinner on the patio and a post-dinner walk on friday night, we decided to head to lummi island the next day for an adventure.

we had a big saturday morning breakfast then loaded the truck with bikes and snacks and made our way to the lummi island ferry. it took about 10 minutes to cross and once on the other side we took off on our bike ride - a 7 mile loop around the north end of the island.

tyler and i were on our tandem, pulling the girls in the trailer and melinda was on my road bike. it was a gorgeous ride. i was loving every minute of it. the weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot and the views were spectacular. the girls were content in the trailer munching on snacks and enjoying the ride. we stopped about half way along the route to tour the willows inn. i've heard great things about it, especially the chef, so i wanted to check it out and possibly add it to my list of "places to go with tyler after i'm done nursing" list. it looked wonderful and i hope to be able to stay a night there someday.

we finished our ride at the beach store cafe restaurant, right next to the ferry dock, where we enjoyed lunch on the deck. we played on the beach a bit before we loaded up and caught the ferry home.

what a fun adventure! we ended the day with mallard ice cream for riley and dinner at jalapenos. thanks for coming beba!

4th of July weekend

2011-07-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

we had a fun 4th of july weekend...tyler had just returned home from a week of traveling so we were thrilled to get him back friday night. we spent the weekend biking, playing outside, pool & dinner with friends then a bbq and fireworks on the 4th. here are some pictures from our weekend.

Teddy Bears Picnic

2011-07-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, on Father's day actually, Riley had her first ballet recital. To say that I was a proud parent is definitely an understatement. It made my heart swell to see my little ballerina on stage...hair, costume, makeup and all...very serious and performing her dance. She loves to dress up, loves to dance and in general loves to be a little girl.

They performed at the Mt Baker Theater and leading up to her recital, Riley kept exclaiming, "I get to dance on the stage at the Mountain Baker Theater!!!" (as a side note, one of the cuter things that Riley does is call Mt. Baker "Mountain Baker"...this started when Tyler took her skiing last winter) Anyway, she was thrilled at the idea of it and could hardly wait for her big performance.

My parents came up from Seattle and Tyler made us an awesome dinner of homemade bacon & onion hamburgers, homemade sweet potato fries, grilled veggies, green salad and i made this strawberry shortcake for dessert...everything turned out perfect and the dessert was seriously amazing. We had dinner, dessert then went to the show. Riley sat with us during the whole first half of the show as her class was the first act after intermission. It was at least an hour of sitting and she barely moved an inch. She was mesmerized by all the ballerinas and dancers. I was thoroughly enjoying myself as well - I always wished I was a dancer. I hear that the dance studio has classes for adults and that the adults can perform in the shows...watch out...you might just see Kari and I next year on stage dancing in our tutus!

Riley's class danced to The Teddy Bears Picnic song and when it was finally their turn and I got to see her perform it all felt worth it...the classes, the rehearsals, the amount of money I had to continually shell over for this performance...it was so fun and Riley was very proud of herself afterwards too. She did great on stage, although she had about a 10 second moment of completely zoning out and staring into the crowd. Other than that she was right on track and did her dance. We bought her a bouquet of pink carnations and gave them to her afterwards. It was a fun evening...something I know we will do again for years to come.

Sonja ~~ 9 months

2011-06-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Sonja Drew turned 9 months old a few weeks back. At her appointment she weighed 17lbs 3.5oz and was 27 3/4 inches long. She continues to be fairly small, but I am worrying about it less and less. She is a pretty good eater - never consumes too much food, but has tried a variety of foods. She tends to like savory rather than sweet. Her favorite so far has been avocado and a recent new love are blueberries. No crawling yet, but she scoots backwards on her tummy and has just started pulling herself up on us when she's in our laps. I still nurse her every 3 hours or so and she wakes up 2-3 times per night. She is still in our room - I don't have a clear plan yet to move her into Riley's room. Most days she takes two good naps per day, so I don't want Sonja sleeping in there and therefore giving Riley no place to play. I'm not worried about it, although some nights I would like to read in bed before I fall asleep. She is as sweet and mellow as can be. She is very curious and seems to be pretty social. She loves engaging with people, although lately if I'm in the room she gets very concerned about where I am and why is she not with me! She simply adores Riley and squeals and laughs at Riley's many antics. Sonja babbles a lot and makes all kinds of noises. She is seriously a delight. We all adore her. Riley told me the other morning, "Mommy I don't never ever ever ever want Sonja to grow up. She is just so cute!"....so true...I feel the same way. Sonja Drew...we love you so.

June Update

2011-06-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since I've posted. Not for lack of things to post...we've definitely been staying busy. Just lack of time, energy and often motivation! Tyler has been in and out of town this month which always causes extra exhaustion. Not to mention my normal exhaustion from taking care of the kids and the house. It often feels like I'm treading water - just doing enough to stay afloat - namely food preparation, serving and cleaning up of said food preparation, dishes and laundry. That about sums up my day....day in and day out. No different from any other mother's life though. But, I do not complain, because I am so blessed to have the health and relationships that I have.

So this last month we have been staying busy doing the norm - naps, lots of playing, walks to parks, playdates with friends and trying to exercise and eat healthy meals. I recently participated in a 30 day food challenge with my gym. It's called whole 30 and you can read about it here. I was very pleased with the results - I lost a significant amount of weight - still have more to go, but it was a great start. But more importantly I felt great. It took lots of preparation and planning, but it became easier as time went on. I plan to implement many aspects of that style of eating into my life. I am reading lots and becoming more and more aware of all that I put into my body and how it affects my health. With cancer so prevalent (and so close to my heart) I am making healthy food a big priority for our family. It is a process and slow journey, but rather exciting, I think!

We also decided a few months back to take our house off the market. After 8 long months of our house being listed and not a single offer, we decided to stay here for a bit longer and see what the market does in another year. It was a hard decision, but I certainly am glad to not have to clean for showings anymore. Since then, and knowing we'll be here for a bit longer, I've been re-arranging and doing some much-needed decorating. I've been slowly changing Riley's room and making it more big-girl and cozy, so I'll be sure to post some pictures when I'm all finished.

A few weeks back my youngest sister Sarah graduated from Roosevelt High School. Click here to read the post I did on my brothers blog. Martha and I made a Mexican fiesta for dinner and overall we had a great night celebrating Sarah's success.

I am working on a few other posts and will hopefully get those up soon!

most days riley is re-arranging our house and playing some variation of "bus, school, house, park, store, etc" with all her animals

i can't remember why the grumpy face, but here riley had just taken her bear on "a magic carpet ride"

usually riley stays in her pj's until late afternoon, when we finally manage to leave the house after sonja's naps. it takes some convincing to get riley out of her pj's...but otherwise she is usually in some sort of dress up costume

i can only convince riley 1x/week to take a bath with her sister...she ends up enjoying it and SHE EVEN LETS ME WASH HER HAIR W/O SCREAMING (this is huge people)

riley is becoming a champ on her glider bike...a real bike w/no training wheels is in her near future

one morning while sonja was napping riley helped me make this simple tea towel apron - she is so happy to finally have her own apron. i made one for myself out of a different tea towel.

one sunny morning riley ate her waffles outside while sonja played and i hung diapers on the line. lately she has been carrying her bear on this necklace aka make-shift sling

this weekend

2011-05-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

last friday night was the jr ski to sea parade. some friends came over for a fun and casual backyard happy hour for the moms and hot dogs for the kids. we decorated bikes and strollers and then walked to the start of the parade. we actually marched in the parade, which initially felt kind of silly, but proved to be a very fun experience. the parade ended just blocks from a friends house where we ended the night with a bbq. very, very fun evening. i am so proud of riley too. she rode her skuut/glider bike for over a mile. that was the longest she'd gone. then on sunday we went on another bike ride but this time she rode for 3 miles. we were all so excited. we are getting closer and closer to her riding an actual bike!

saturday morning was picture day at riley's ballet studio. they got to put on their outfits for their upcoming show. it was really difficult to get a cute picture with my phone, but i think you get the idea. cuteness all around.

saturday evening my littlest sister sarah went to her senior prom. she graduates in less than 1 month and is headed to the university of denver in the fall. i am so proud of her!

most of you already know this, but my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in april. one week ago today she had a mastectomy. she was very brave and the surgery was a success. she is at home recovering and resting for a few weeks before she goes back to work to finish up the rest of the school year. a friend picked her up on saturday evening so she could partake in sarah's prom picture night with the other parents. my mom's friend took all these photos for my mom. doesn't my mom look amazing? please keep her in your thoughts - that she will heal and move forward into a cancer-free life. my mom is a very brave and amazing woman.

may 17, our wedding anniversary

2011-05-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

on tuesday, may 17 tyler and i celebrated 8 years of marriage. what a joy to be married to someone for 8 years who is a great husband and father and loves me through all the ups and downs. we laugh (rather than cry) about all the adventures/trials we have endured over the past 8 years. i'm so thankful our marriage and love have grown deeper and stronger because of it.

this year we celebrated by sending riley to seattle for the weekend so she could spend time with nana and we could have a quiet, low key weekend at home in bellingham with just sonja. we spent the weekend eating out, doing a little shopping, haircuts for both of us, naps, movies and playing with sonja. it was very relaxing and we are so thankful my family took riley in for the weekend. she had a blast with nana and the crew. in fact, she scowled when i walked in the door to pick her up. i'm so grateful she feels at home at my mom's house. it truly is a second home for her. her weekend was spent picking out a new princess polly pocket and barney movie, friday night pizza and movie night and lots of playing and hanging around.

last friday when i took riley to seattle i met martha and henry at the zoo in the morning. after the zoo we stopped at the park and the kids had fun running around. sonja took a ride on the slide with riley as well as a ride in the swing. riley is a very helpful big sister. sometimes a little too helpful, but we are working on that.

on tuesday, our actual anniversary, we went for a quick spin on our tandem/bike trailer combo. riley had been begging to get the trailer out and go for a ride, so when the sun was out on tuesday i thought it'd be the perfect way to remember tyler's dad (who passed away on our anniversary, 5 years ago). we loaded the kids up and took a quick ride around the neighborhood. it was sonja's first ride in the trailer and she seemed to really like it. i got pretty sentimental as i watched riley in the trailer - i have so many good memories of carting her all around town from the time she was about 6 months old. she has always loved riding in the trailer and now her long legs and tall body can barely fit! i'm hoping she is able to fit all summer long, as it's such a fun and easy way to get around town with the kids.

after we put the kids to bed i made this awesome dinner for tyler and i. it was in last month's sunset magazine and kari made it and said it was really good, so i had to try it. i loved it. i definitely will make it again this summer. we had dinner on the patio in the crisp evening air. it was a great end to a fun celebration.

my two beauty queens

2011-05-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

sonja's first...

2011-05-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

ride in the swing

tulips

food!

easter

we have been busy around here. mostly just busy with caring for the needs and demands of two small children who are constantly growing and changing and keeping me on my toes (like, literally, i never sit down!). i really can't figure out how to get everything done all the time, so things like blogging and general communication with the outside world tend to be neglected. but we are well and next week riley will be 3 1/2 years and sonja will be 8 months old...it leaves me speechless thinking about it. i am enjoying our fairly non-scheduled life right now, so as to enjoy the most of the simple moments. happy may!

Andrew's Birthday at the Mariners

2011-04-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

For Andrew's birthday this year we celebrated by going out for hot dogs and a trip to the Mariner's game. We had dinner at Diggity Dog Hot Dogs in "Tangletown" (but known to our family as a block down from where Brigg's pharmacy used to be - we lived in a house just a few blocks off Tangletowns main drag and would ride our bikes to Briggs and buy candy). We were pleased with the food and it was the perfect pre-baseball game dinner.

At the game we were sitting in the nosebleed section, but decided it was a pretty good view for only $10.

It was Sonja and Riley's first baseball game, and they both did great and enjoyed themselves, especially for being up way past their bedtimes. Sonja even slept for a while on my chest, amidst all the noise (have you ever been to a baseball game with my Dad and brother? they loooove baseball and know everything about it and are very very loud)

Riley told me her favorite part was eating ice cream with Henry and Auntie Martha (and did you see the licorice Uncle Drew bought her?) I guess anything goes at a baseball game.

Andrew had a great birthday and we had lots of fun, despite our tired eyes returning home at midnight. Riley has since lined up the baseball cards she collected at the game in front of her animals and told me they were all going to a baseball game. Cute!

sister love

2011-03-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

dance

2011-03-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

last week riley started a dance class with her friend annika. it may just be one of the cuter things i've ever seen. seeing your daughter dressed in pink, frilly skirts and smiling from head to toe while she twirls?

it's pretty amazing.

and actually makes me wish i could twirl and dance around the room.

the class is once a week through mid-June, at which time the dance company puts on a show. the two teachers actually teach a class full of 3-4 year olds a dance routine to one particular song, dress them in matching costumes and perform the song on a stage in front of a large crowd of people. now THAT will be a sight to see!

sonja's half bday ~ 6 months old

2011-03-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

6 months since sonja drew was born...half a year...can't wrap my head around that one. we are so crazy for her. she is insanely cute and smiley. she has been nothing but joy and laughs. i do wish she liked to sleep all night, but oh well. i am soaking it up and enjoying my baby being a baby. she's working on sitting up and we're hoping some teeth pop through soon, as she's been drooling and putting everything in her mouth for months.

we love you sonja!

home

2011-03-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

we just returned home from an incredible vacation in sayulita, mexico. it was one of those vacations where i could have stayed another week (or month) and have looked through my photos again and again, dreaming about still being there. here are just a few photos from my phone for now. i plan to post in detail about our trip, so as not to forget anything.

happy love day from us girls to you

2011-02-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

i made this shirt for sonja (saw the idea on a blog) and made one for riley too. riley picked out a pink shirt for hers, which i was fine with. she was excited while she sat and watched me sew the heart on her shirt. then this morning when i asked her to put it on so i could take a picture of her and sonja together, she refused and informed me the shirt was silly. she even hid the shirt behind her play kitchen in her room. what a crack up she is.

5 months

2011-02-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

today sonja drew is 5 months old. she weighs 14 lbs 9.5 oz. she truly is a delight. her smile seems to light up the room wherever we go. people can't help but to comment on how happy and smiley she is. she is so so sweet and such a joy to us. she is getting really wiggly and i forget that she can't be set down just anywhere now. she rolls from her stomach to her back and just today rolled from her back to her stomach. she loves to be talked to and engages us with all kinds of cooing sounds and laughter. nobody can make her smile and laugh quite like riley can. sonja adores her big sister and spends most of her day watching and listening as riley dances and chats the day away. sonja is a fairly good sleeper, although she wakes up about every 3 hours at night. since she's a tad on the smaller side, i'm happy to feed her through the night, especially since she's becoming more and more distracted with nursing during the day. her eyes are big and bright and very blue. her hair is a blondish red color and we are interested to see how it turns out in the next few years. sonja is the kind of baby that makes you want to have lots and lots of babies...she is so mellow and happy. happy 5 months to our sweet sonja.

my valentines

2011-02-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

this past week riley and i really got into the whole valentine thing. we have grown to love baking and crafting together, so it's fun to find any excuse to do it. we spent the week baking cookies (and packaging & delivering them to friends too), making valentine cards and also making some simple decorations. riley loves decorating the house with her various creations. often her placement of these crafts are quite random, but i just go with it. it's hard to crush a girls creative ideas.

hope everyone has a lovely valentines day.

Cancer update from Andrew

2011-01-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't read it yet, please go here to read my brother's recent blog post about his latest scan and his new treatment plan. He checks into the hospital this Wednesday at 8am for his first cycle on the new chemo drug. Please remember him this week!

our sweet 4 1/2 month old

2011-01-25T20:23:00.001-08:00

snow bunny

2011-01-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

Riley has a new love: skiing! We have been pretty excited to take her skiing for a while now and finally made it happen a few weekends back. We had pretty low expectations and our main goal was to get her up to the mountain and try and make it as fun as possible. We fully expected tears, lots of snack breaks and her maybe lasting 20 minutes. She definitely proved us wrong. She had so much fun and at several different points she was laughing and even asked to go faster. We were up there for about 3 hours, including a few snack breaks and lunch in the lodge. I bundled Sonja up and strapped her on me and we stood by and cheered Riley on the whole time, minus a nursing break in the car. It truly was so much fun to watch Riley try something new and take part in her excitement for it. Tyler took her up again the following weekend while Sonja and I enjoyed the peace and quiet at home (as a sidenote: nobody ever told me that 3 year olds NEVER STOP TALKING ALL DAY LONG). Tyler plans to get her up 3 or 4 more times before the season ends this year. Riley's goal is to be able to ride the chairlift, which she spotted while eating lunch in the lodge and pointed at it and said, "I want to go on that". Tyler said she can ride when she learns to make her pie and stop...she practices her pie random moments throughout the day. It's adorable.

Tyler told me that it's been quite an emotional journey for him, teaching Riley how to ski. Tyler's father taught him to ski at age 3 and their family of 4 spent countless weekends and vacations skiing together, usually accompanied with good friends and family. It's what his family loved to do and Tyler's mom, brother and himself still love the sport. Lots of good family memories are recalled when Tyler's at the mountain that leaves him aching for his Dad.

Dave, we wish you could see your granddaughter ski...you would be so proud.

We really are excited to start skiing together as a family. We still have several years ahead of us before Tyler and I will actually get to ski, but we hope to carry the tradition on and use skiing as a way to spend time together with the ones we love, exercising and breathing the awesome mountain air. For now Tyler will mostly take Riley up by himself and Sonja and I will get to have some down time together at home. In a few years we'll be able to get Sonja up there and Tyler jokes by then Riley will be 10x better than me. Tyler is trying hard to not impose his dreams of having a sponsored Olympic downhill skier for a daughter...no pressure Riley!

Moritz Family Photos

2011-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year I got my Mom a photo session with all of us kids. Last time we had a family portrait done was for our church directory back in the early 90's. Man I wish we still had that picture because we were all wearing denim. Awesome! Anyhow, we went to the UW campus to take the photos the weekend before Christmas and we were blessed with a break from the rain. We even got to go inside Hec Ed, where Andrew used to play basketball, and got some cool shots in there. Since Sarah is a senior this year she took some senior shots, and we all ended up getting some self portraits. Oh, and yes, Riley did pick out her outfit and it was so fitting. We are very pleased with how they turned out. We will surely treasure them for a long time to come.

christmas 2010

2010-12-28T13:39:00.001-08:00

we've had a wonderful christmas season this year. seeing christmas through the eyes of a 3 year old is over the top exciting and so fun. we've enjoyed every activity through this whole month.

christmas eve and christmas were spent with family and friends in seattle eating good food and enjoying each other's company. we're back in bellingham now, getting settled back in and sadly had to kiss tyler goodbye for a few days of traveling for work. i'm also gearing up for the new year, making lists of all the things i want to de-clutter and organize. i already found the massive ikea shelving system i want for our living room, now i just wish i could snap my fingers and have it here and assembled. but for now we are taking it super slow this week, playing with new toys and staying in sweats allll day long (like i am right now! love it!)

i'm excited for a new year, for a clean slate and for a chance to be renewed and refreshed.

happy 2011!

during this season...

2010-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

we have been...

caroling with friends at two retirement homes

enjoying hot cocoa while watching christmas shows

hanging ornaments

snuggling

holding christmas bears with friends while reading stories

and generally smiling through it all

snowy cabin

2010-12-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

we enjoyed a weekend away at a cabin in the woods in cle elum a few weekends ago. i hardly took any photos...but the weekend was lovely. amazing food, snowy walks, sledding, christmas music and movies, games, good company...everything was just right.

3 months

2010-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

sonja drew is 3 months old today. here are a few things she is doing:

cooing, laughing & smiling constantly

starting to push her chest off the ground

a new found obsession with sucking on her hands

starting to grab for toys

completely in awe of her big sister

spends lots of time in the moby wrap or ergo and loves it

is losing all of her thick baby hair

generally sweet & mellow

we are so in love.

thanksgiving

2010-12-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

for thanksgiving this year we flew to spokane, just like last year. last year traveling was a breeze and was clearly the better option.

however, this year was sooo different. never underestimate traveling with two kids with 1 of them being an infant. yikes. the snow in spokane didn't help, so we ended up getting stuck in sea-tac for a few extra hours then i somehow ended up flying standby ALONE with riley and sonja. riley was so so anxious to get out of the airport and onto the plane, that i decided, "oh well, how bad can it be, it's only a 45 minute flight". well, we did survive, but there was about 5 minutes of pure stress for me. walking onto the plane with sonja in the carrier, carrying two bags and holding riley's hand all the while having EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the plane watch me because they were all seated. and then having riley chant the whole way that she wants to put down her tray and is being otherwise difficult. taking off my coat, putting the things away, asking someone to switch seats so riley can sit next to me, buckle up, nurse...you get the picture. meanwhile i'm sweating profusely and just praying that riley doesn't start screaming. riley was so so close to a full-on meltdown (it was clearly naptime at this point) i somehow managed to distract her enough to hold it together. we got there ok and tyler flew in a few hours later.

it really put a damper to our thanksgiving morning...but we were greeted in spokane that afternoon by lots of snow and tyler's mom, brother and nephew. we spent the next few days basically lounging and seeing a few family members/friends. we returned saturday night and by that point riley had already come down with her nasty bug. i'm blaming the airport for that one!

riley & bjorn drinking hot cocoa while watching charlie brown's thanksgiving

the chef and her turkey!

the kids table

post thanksgiving dinner sledding

i think we may have a red-head on our hands

riding in the back of jon's truck to drive down hill to find more sledding

we got to spend the afternoon with our dear and long time friends troy & jenny. tyler grew up in spokane with the two of them. they just had their 2nd son so are home from their work overseas. we were so blessed to see them and spend time with them. no group shot though...

sweet sonja drew

2010-12-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

snow

2010-12-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

our first snow in bellingham, almost two weeks ago

our week

2010-12-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

let me tell you friends, to be very honest, this past week has been awful. tyler has been out of town since monday and riley has been the sickest she has ever been in her 3 years of life. double ear infection, pink eye in both eyes, cough, fever and runny nose. caring for her by myself, being completely housebound (well i did sneak away for a few hours thanks to some lovely babysitters) and unable to socialize while still caring for my sweet baby (and desperately trying to keep her from the illness) has truly put me to the test. mothering is not for the weak, let me tell you. but all you mothers know that. we have managed to survive and i will admit that the tv has been my helper. she usually only gets to watch 1 show/week but this week it's been a free for all. bless on-demand tv!

we completed two different craft projects, both courtesy of martha stewart. the first one, a baby sock advent calendar and the second one, a greeting card wreath. my house is not yet decorated for christmas, since we were gone for thanksgiving, so it was fun to start putting a few things up. riley enjoyed helping me too...they both were extremely easy and kid-friendly.

tyler returns late tomorrow night and then we take off for a much needed 3 day getaway to a snowy cabin in the mountains with some friends. i already informed tyler that i'm not washing a single dish all weekend :) here's to a great weekend!

THREE

2010-11-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

~~~ happy 3rd year of life to riley kathleen ~~~

my sweet

determined

full of life

and lots of jokes

gal

babies + cloth diapers = cuteness!

2010-11-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

so glad i finally started, not so glad to have more laundry :(

toni & guy

2010-11-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

this was taken by the professional photographer, isn't it adorable?

i've never talked much about tyler's job (well other than to complain that he's away)...but on november 1st we attended the seattle toni & guy hair academy's grand opening.

tyler has been working for toni & guy for almost two years now. his job requires a lot of hours from him and also requires him to be on the road. he started traveling often and consistently when riley was just over 1 years old and right after my brother was diagnosed with cancer. it has not been easy or fun and it seems like the timing has always been so wrong. HOWEVER, tyler works very hard and we are constantly grateful that he has a steady job. i remind myself of these two things whenever i feel like complaining (which is often). we've trusted that this is the right place for him for the time being, so we've made adjustments and are somewhat settling into what our new norm is.

the fact that we were at the seattle grand opening, signifying it's completion, was a huge celebration in our house. this deal was on and off the table several times and has been in the works for over a year. i've heard countless stories about the journey the past year and tyler has logged hundreds of miles as he's traveled down to seattle and back sometimes 3-4x/week. he helped to oversee the entire project and i am so proud of him and his work. it was so satisfying for me to walk through the school and see everything he helped to accomplish. the school is beautiful. (for all you seattle friends they bought the old greenwood beauty school, moved it out to 185th & aurora and turned it into a toni & guy...check it out for cheap cuts!)

all that to say, it was a fun night to celebrate the hard work and somewhat of a relief that it is over...well, until they buy the next school...but for now we will enjoy a tiny bit of downtime.

our friends john & jessica showed up so they could meet sonja and check out tyler's work. they have two adorable girls, charlotte & violet, and riley loved playing with them

and thank you to claire who came just to look after riley so i could hold sonja while meeting/chatting with tyler's co-workers

halloween weekend

2010-10-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-11T20:41:00.001-07:00

preschool

2010-09-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

riley's first day of preschool was this past monday. it took her a long time to fall asleep sunday night and the first thing she said when she woke up monday morning was, "do i get to go to school now?" she was very excited and was just fine when we dropped her off and said goodbye. tyler and i drove away and were amazed that we have a preschooler. time goes by so quickly. she looked like she was having a lot of fun when i picked her up, so i trust this will be a great new experience for her.

she refused to take a picture with out her baby sister, and well, we can hardly ever get her to smile for the camera.

after a lunch and nap that day, and only because i still had tyler's help, we ventured to the local apple farm to meet up with friends from my moms group. when we got there we sampled apples and cider and took in the fall surroundings. it was a perfectly sunny and clear day and was just beautiful on the farm. sonja and i only lasted about 15 minutes then spent the rest of the time in the car sitting...but tyler and riley had a blast. everyone drove a golf cart out to the orchard to pick a small bag of apples. we came home with a few bags of honecrisp apples as well as a jug of fresh apple cider and have been enjoying their goodness this week.

it was a big day - preschool, a family outing and our last day together before tyler had to go back to work. i was actually pretty tired come the end of the day. i've taken it pretty easy the last few days as i adjust to this new life. i really can't complain though - sonja has made the adjustment extremely smooth. all 3 of us are completely smitten with her and in a sort of baby bliss stage. we are enjoying it while it lasts :)

birth-day party

2010-09-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

i had visions of making a chocolate cake while i was in early labor, but seeing as how my early labor fairly quickly moved into active labor, i did not have time for this. and who wants to bake while having contractions? anyway, i found this recipe (i've been really into her website for baking lately) and tried it out a few weeks prior. i talked to riley about having a little birth-day party for sonja and she was beside herself with excitement.

so last saturday morning her and i baked the cake then my friend claire, who was visiting that afternoon, made the frosting and raspberry filling with riley.

that evening, along with the oranens, we had a little celebration. we sang happy birthday and enjoyed some cake. as you can see below, riley was extremely excited. she really has taken to this whole big sister thing quite well.

and the chocolate cake? it was delicious.

photo shoot

2010-09-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

last weekend our friends andy & erin came to see sonja. erin is quite the photographer so i asked her to take some pictures of sonja. here they are below.

sonja.drew.denton

2010-09-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

we are so happy to announce our baby girl is here and is just perfect. sonja was born 1 week ago today (on her due date!), last tuesday morning at 5:08. she came after just 6 hours of active labor. nothing compared to what we experienced with riley. i had a successful vbac, which i cannot even begin to express how joyful this makes me. it was a huge accomplishment for me and such an answer to prayer. thank you to everyone who was thinking about me. sonja weighed in at 8lbs 14oz and 20 3/4 inches long. she is plump and so cuddly. at 1 week, she is already back at her birth weight. so far she has been pretty sleepy and quiet, so i am having to wake her up all day long to feed her. she seems to be a bit more awake and fussy at night, so i am adjusting to less sleep, but such is life with a newborn.

i came across the name sonja, a scandinavian name which means wisdom, only about 3 weeks before she was born. tyler and i both instantly loved the name and knew it would be hers. tyler's scandinavian roots are important to him, so he was especially in love when i told him the current queen of norway is named sonja! we really struggled with loving any name we talked about and could not agree on a single name, so her name really was delivered to us at just the perfect time. her middle name drew is of course after my older brother andrew. he is a very special & important person to us and if you've ever met him you'd want to name your child after him too :)

i had my first day at home alone with my two girls today. to be honest i was very nervous about tyler going back to work, but the day was smooth and actually quite enjoyable. i even managed to clean and bake banana bread. huge success! riley is adjusting quite well so far and is just smitten with her baby sister. the only problem we've been having is getting her to not smother sonja with hugs and kisses while nursing.

i'll post more later this week.

from the moment she was born she has been trying to suck on her hands

riley is a very proud big sister

my mom is in love! she came up to stay with riley while we were in the hospital. she was a huge help and riley loves spending time with her.

sonja gave riley this strawberry shortcake doll when riley first met sonja and we aren't sure if riley loves strawberry shortcake or sonja more :)

our little one has lots of hair. it's all the nurses could talk about when she was coming out!

she looks like she's laughing!

she is such a joy already. we are completely in love and feel oh so blessed.

carrie + jeff

2010-09-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

last night we celebrated the marriage of carrie and jeff. carrie and i have known each other for years (technically since kindergarten but we really became friends in high school), so it was such a privilege to be able to attend. (so i guess i am grateful i haven't had this baby yet!) they were married at the uw botanical gardens in seattle. their ceremony was outside in the grass, in front of 3 beautiful trees. the reception was inside the horticulture center, and because of the great weather, spilled outside onto the patio. the wedding was beautiful, simple and very carrie and jeff. it was perfect. congratulations you two! we are so excited for you as you embark on this new journey together. sadly i forgot my nice camera, so these so-so pictures will have to do.

the majority of these beautiful dahlias were provided by carrie's dear friend janice's husband. janice was one of carrie's dearest friends and she passed away a year ago this month from a nasty 6 month battle with cancer at the age of 31. janice grew and loved beautiful dahlias in her garden, so carrie honored and remembered her by using the flowers from her garden. it was beautiful and meant so much to carrie, as well as to marcus, janice's husband who was at the wedding. janice is sorely missed.

me + my nearly 40 week pregnant belly

the beautiful bride and her handsome father

the wedding officiant was john, another great friend from high school

the ceremony

kim + i

carrie + i

it was a beautiful wedding and we had so much fun. it was awesome to see friends from high school and spend an evening together celebrating a great marriage. unfortunately i don't have any pictures of tyler and i, but take my word for it, he looked so handsome. we had fun dancing, yes, i danced, and i'm sure it was a sight to see. the photographer told me i was the cutest pregnant dancer she's seen. haha. little did she know i was just trying to shake this baby out of me! we left the wedding while my friends were still dancing the night away, but my heavy body and sore feet could not handle another minute. we also drove back to bellingham last night, wanting to get home, just in case.

39 weeks

2010-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

...and 100% ready to have a baby. baby denton please come soon (like tomorrow 9/8 would be perfect!)

37 weeks

2010-08-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

i'm 37 weeks today, which means i can have this baby any time now. kind of a scary & exciting thought all at the same time. my body is ready to have this baby and not be pregnant anymore, but having this baby means a lot of change, which is hard for me. transitioning into two kids will be rough, i'm sure. but i'm really not looking forward to losing my individual time with riley. she is so ready for a sibling, but we've had almost 3 years of just her and i. not to mention the fact she starts preschool in a month, which has me completely freaking out! it's only two mornings/week and i will definitely enjoy the time to rest and be with the baby, but it's just hard to imagine her not being with me everyday...i'm really trying to soak up these last few weeks and enjoy them, even if my body is tired and achy. change and fall are in the air, both of which i have a love/hate relationship with :)

we have been busy around here tidying things up before this baby comes. a few weekends ago tyler and his buddy andy tore down the remaining side of our old fence and started putting up a new one. tyler just finished it this past weekend. it still needs to be stained, but looks amazing. he spent all weekend doing odds and ends for me while i organized the garage, ran errands and cleaned some things out. it feels great to get our house in order and finish some projects that have been hanging over our heads for quite some time now. nothing like a baby coming to give us some motivation.

on sunday tyler's grandparents came for a visit from spokane in their big RV. they parked right in front of our house and stayed for two nights. riley calls their RV a bus and absolutely loved spending time with them inside their bus. she just adores tyler's grandma and she was so helpful with riley, spending time with her while i was able to do some other things. tyler's grandpa is king of projects, so he decided he needed to help us build a rock wall in our backyard. something we've wanted to do for years...so we completely appreciated the motivation to start and the help. we had a wonderful dinner at anthonys, (a tradition every time they come into town since the seafood over here doesn't even compare to spokane) as well as an awesome backyard salmon BBQ. they are in amazing shape for 78 and 79 and we always enjoy their company and the love they pour into us. we only see them a few times a year, so we treasure all our time together. tyler and his grandpa leroy are two peas in a pod - they can sell you on anything, charm their way out of any situation and have an intense amount of energy. it's really quite cute to see them together.

here's to hoping this baby comes soon :)

the fair

2010-08-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

on monday we went to the northwest WA fair in lynden with some friends. we saw lots of animals - the highlights being the cow pooping a few feet from us and the laboring mother pig. we did the rides - although not me, as pregnant riders were not allowed. riley, however, was thrilled by every ride, as this was her first experience on rides. we ate plenty of food and only had a few minor meltdowns. we picked the warmest day to go and being 9 months pregnant i was looking for every opportunity to sit down, as my poor feet were throbbing and my body was melting from the sun. all in all it was a very fun afternoon/evening. i only took pictures of riley on the rides...so here are just a few pictures below.

our "babymoon"

2010-08-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

last weekend the youngs took riley for the weekend so we could have some time before baby #2 arrives. after much deliberation and not being able to find a reasonably priced hotel, we decided to just stick around and enjoy being home w/o a toddler. friday night we went to dinner at a new restaurant in town that i've been wanting to try. it was so nice to sit for a few hours and not have to rush home. i spent saturday checking several things off my "before baby" list while tyler installed a new kitchen faucet and got a massage. we took off in the afternoon for vashon for claire's 30th birthday party.

new kitchen faucet (forgot to get a before shot)

the party was at her uncles house on vashon, where he has an incredible piece of property. claire and her family put together an amazing dinner and it was so fun to see old friends and meet claire's friends that i didn't know. we got back to seattle late and crashed at my mom's house.

sunday morning we got up and attempted to eat breakfast at tilth in wallingford, but were sad to learn they didn't open for another hour. my hungry pregnant self could not wait so we went around the corner to blue star and had a nice breakfast. the youngs dropped off riley in seattle on their way to a party and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out with my family. my sister rachel was in town from LA, so it was fun for all of us siblings to be together.

family taco dinner

martha & rachel being silly and sarah laughing so hard she can't handle it

we joke that our mom will want to use this for her christmas card (we like to make fun of a few of her choices over the years and tease that she likes to pick the pictures of us in our pj's with hair flying everywhere)

thank you youngs for taking riley for us. we had a nice weekend and really appreciate it!

2010-08-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

what we've been up to lately...

34 weeks and getting b-i-g-g-e-r!!! (and nesting mode has kicked in, in a major way)

this is how riley likes to nap most days: wearing something strange and all her babies snuggled next to her

blueberry picking as a ballerina (and refusing to look at the camera for most pictures)

trying to spend more time at home just playing (as i'm getting more & more tired)

awesome camping trip with friends last weekend on san juan island (the only pictures i took the whole weekend were on the ferry ride over - i totally regret that now)

happy weekend!

my cozy girl

2010-07-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

just a few pictures taken last week in the backyard. ever since riley was born, she has always been a snugly, i want to be laying right on top of your face, kind of gal. when she stays with my mom they snuggle in bed and sing, "cozy girls, cozy girls, cozy girls" and riley just giggles with delight.

lately she has been obsessed with taking all her dolls and stuffed animals and placing them all over the house and putting each one of them to sleep. she wraps them in blankets, gives them pillows to lay on and informs me that they are all sleeping. and if you've ever been to my house you know how small it is, which doesn't leave much room to move around when they are strewn across the house. and they tend to sleep all day long and can NOT be moved. it is just the sweetest though. she sings to them, pats their back, snuggles them...what a good big sister and eventually mama she's going to make.

all that to say, riley brought her pillow and blanket to the backyard and insisted on being cozy with her dog. actually, the dog she is snuggling with used to be my dog when i was a girl. my nana & papa gave me this dog for my birthday and i named him fluffy. i loved this dog and even took him to college. riley loves to remind me that i used to have that dog when i was a little girl.

my sweet, cozy girl...

Swim Lessons

2010-07-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

Riley took 2 weeks of swim lessons with her friends Bjorn, Saben & Annika the first part of July. We lucked out and happened to sign up for the 2 warmest weeks so far. It was so nice to lounge in the hot sun while Riley got to play in the water.

Lessons were a huge success this year. Riley has always loved the water and did great in her lessons last summer, but she has been extremely sensitive to water in her ears & on her face. It got to the point where we would only bath her 1x/week and wash her hair maybe 2x/month because she would scream and cry absolute bloody murder. It was never worth the battle for me. For about the first week of lessons every time the instructor would ask her to get her ear wet or blow bubbles she would refuse. They never pushed it and I didn't really care. It wasn't until her friend Annika attacked her from behind in the baby pool (where they played after the lesson) and got her head wet that she finally accepted the whole water on your face thing. We all watched as her eyes grew wide and her face had that look of "I'm about to completely freak out right now" so all of us on the sidelines cheered and clapped and exclaimed how awesome it was and that was that. From that moment on she happily put her face in the water and the next day at her lesson she was beaming with pride when she got her face wet for her instructor. She also is thrilled to have her hair washed now and is still so proud of herself that she can do it. Phew, that was a huge hurdle that we just crossed! So I guess I should be saying a huge thank you to Annika!!! We owe you.

This is a game Riley & Annika would play in the baby pool: climb out of the pool, watch the water drip from your bottom, shriek with laughter then jump back in the pool. Repeat 100 times.

Another game that was fun: tell your mom you are done swimming, have her take off your top, then before your mom can catch you jump back into the pool and run circles all the while squealing with delight.

Bjorn & Annika jumping, Riley smiling

Riley, Saben & Annika

Riley jumped off the diving board twice by herself!

We are signed up for one more week of swim lessons in mid-August. Should provide plenty of entertainment!

hiking disaster

2010-07-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

last thursday martha, henry & maggie the moose (martha's dog) came to bellingham for a visit. we took the kids and dogs on a hike after lunch that quickly proved to be a comedy of errors.

our little human and dog creatures were running through the woods, happy as can be for about the first 10 minutes of the hike. riley then decided to hide behind a tree, (which she loves to do on hikes), and wanted me to come find her. as i was walking over to where she was hiding i heard her whimpering and when i got to her she told me she just had an accident. this is pretty rare for her anymore so i didn't have a single thing with me on the hike (including my camera which is why all these photos were taken with my phone!). she is ultra sensitive to any kind of wetness so she could not be convinced to hike in her wet pants. we stripped her down to her shirt and shoes and decided to turn around. the wet clothes went into the dog poop bag!

the nakedness did not stop the fun, however. we made our way back to the car where martha had some extra clothes of henry's. after dressing her in swim trunks, socks and nikes, we made our way to the lake where the dogs are allowed to swim. martha and i sat down and before we knew it riley and henry were splashing their feet in the water. we warned them this would make their shoes/feet wet (no we were not smart enough to take off their shoes) but they continued on their merry way. the feet splashing quickly turned into full-on jumping in the water. they were shrieking and squealing with delight, so we were obviously not going to stop them.

the jumping quickly led to kneeling then sitting in the water. it was awesome.

in the meantime doc was chasing the ducks and maggie was close behind. he almost got one.

after the water episode they begged to play on the playground, so of course we obliged then carried their wet bodies back to the car and stripped them naked for the car ride home.

after a bath at home they ran all around the house with towels on their heads shouting "super cape". they were being silly and having so much fun then went to play in riley's room. i was putting my feet up on the couch while martha started a load of laundry. i heard them playing in riley's room and both martha and i remember having a vague thought of "i wonder if henry needs a diaper on?". next thing i know i hear riley say, "henry, is that your poop?" she then says, "you better go tell your mom". at this point i start shouting for martha while i race to riley's room. we both get there right as maggie is about to eat henry's big poop on the floor. martha takes maggie and i take henry into the bathroom and proceed to clean him up.

somehow the combination of martha & i and our two children together always leads to lots of chaos and disaster. but not bad disaster, just funny craziness. we always wonder what other moms think of us when they see us with our crazy and dis-shelved children. oh well, at least we have lots of laughs!

this last picture is un-related, but just about sums up my daughter. we were hanging out in the backyard friday afternoon after lunch and i was sitting on the patio and riley was playing. she loves to lay on this little ball crawl thing we have. i asked her to come over to me, and her reply was, "no mommy, i can't, i'm resting".

this last week...

2010-07-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

~ here is my 31 week picture taken last tuesday. i will be 32 weeks this tuesday - hooray! the baby is head down now and i feel like the countdown has begun. although i would like the next 8 weeks to go by rather quickly, i do think how nice i have it right now and get rather sad thinking about riley and i's era coming to an end. change is coming and i'm not sure i'm quite ready for it. riley is excited though and has been talking more and more about her baby sister and asks over and over again if she'll be able to hold her and if she'll be heavy or not. she also told us today that she was going to teach her things that were hot, like the oven. glad she's got that one covered.

~ last tuesday we went to seattle to see my youngest sister sarah swim. she is an incredible swimmer and that night she placed 1st in all 4 of her events. she is long & lean and so fun to watch swim. awesome job sarah!

~ my friend stephanie invited a few of us over for a happy hour/pool party last wednesday. it was another hot day so it was perfect. we soaked up the sun and watched all our kids play in the yard. between 5 of us gals we realized we had every single age covered, all the way from in utero to age 8.

~ last week proved to be a very challenging week with riley's behavior. i think between being too busy and not enough sleep, as well as possibly just a lovely toddler phase, riley was completely out of sorts. as most of you know, she is extremely intense, emotional & knows exactly what she wants in every situation. i keep telling myself these traits will pay off in the long run, but as a toddler they create some challenging situations for me. she would meltdown over anything and everything, threw countless tantrums and screaming fits and was nasty to her friends (mainly annika, sorry...). one of her screaming sessions lasted 45 minutes and she was choking she was screaming and crying so hard. i wondered if i should shut my windows for fear of what the neighbors were thinking. i managed to stay calm through all of it and rewarded myself with naps and baking. for me baking is very relaxing and at the end of an exhausting day, it is just what both of us needed. and of course at that point i wasn't going to argue about whether she could lick the spoon or not, even though it was 5:30. some things just aren't worth it

~ we also just wrapped up 2 weeks of swim lessons, but i will post those pictures in a separate post. here's to a good, sunny week!

backyard fun

2010-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

on tuesday my long-time friend kristen drove up from seattle with her 2 boys evan & miles. we have 2 mutual friends here in bellingham - kari & kelley - so all of us ladies and our children got together for an afternoon of lunch, sun & lots of water play for the kids.

ayda, annika & riley in the sprinkler

annika & riley trying to lick the water

miles & riley

annika & riley would run through the sprinkler then jump in the baby pool

miles loved the hose and at one point we all looked over and he had it to his mouth and was drinking from it

thanks for the really great afternoon...

the 4th

2010-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

we had a nice long 3-day holiday weekend. it was full of bbq's, house projects, yard work, a massage for me, bike ride, friends and lots of lounging.

we spent the evening of the 4th at kyle and kari's house, along with a few other friends. all of the food was amazing and i think all of us completely stuffed ourselves. we just kept eating and eating and eating. well, especially me since drinking was not an option :)

we did lots of our own fireworks then watched the downtown fireworks on the front lawn. riley managed to stay up until 9:30 or so then practically begged to go bed- something that never happens. i think the intensity of all the fireworks did her in. i was very proud of her though- she is very sensitive to loud noises and was so brave and pretty fascinated by all the fireworks. i did spend several days leading up to the 4th prepping her for the loud noises and talking about fireworks. it seemed to really pay off.

i found riley & annika in kari's raspberry bush

riley, annika & bjorn with the sparklers

i taught riley to cover her ears around loud noises - she takes this job very seriously

kyle with our 2 huge boxes of fireworks

watching the fireworks in the street

riley is very serious about holding her sparkler

and this about sums up our night: complete & total indulgence

thanks for the fun party kyle & kari!

family photos

2010-07-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

about a month ago our little family met with a photographer on a sunny afternoon and had a photo session. i bought the session last fall at an auction but wanted to wait until i was pregnant to use it. i always feel a bit cheesy when doing pictures, but it's usually worth the effort and the sometimes awkward moments. (like when she asked tyler and i to stand and look into e/o eyes while she took pictures...who gazes into their spouses eyes in front of an audience?!)

we were definitely pleased with how the pictures turned out, and of course i love the ones of riley the best. it's fun to do pregnancy shots, but also not so fun...pregnancy is not my best look so embrace my puffiness :)

and speaking of pregnancy, i am t-h-i-r-t-y weeks today. 10 to go and i really think it will be an all out battle to get to the end. i am positive i will be completely gigantic come september. i am not feeling all the whimsical feelings i had when pregnant with riley. it is hard being pregnant while parenting a toddler. however, i am grateful i feel so good, it's just becoming more and more awkward to do everything i want to and my poor little puffy feet are so tired by dinnertime. i love feeling my little girl move though and am getting more and more excited to meet her.

these are my favorite photos...

spokane

2010-06-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

last week we spent 5 nights in spokane. we stayed with tyler's mom - beba - as riley calls her and visited with lots of family & some friends. we completely enjoyed the 80 degree weather and had some park, beach and boat time. tyler worked during the week and played in hoopfest on saturday. a few pictures from our trip below...

playing on the beach at lake coeur d'alene

on tyler's uncles boat

riley & bjorn - cousins

breakfast at grandma & grandpa's house - this picture is proof that tyler's grandpa CAN in fact cook, as he made us breakfast which included jumbo prawns cooked in white wine

riley & bjorn in the garden

hoopfest

riley insisted on taking off her shirt - she was too hot i guess???

we had a nice trip - but it is good to be home. riley started a summer ballet class this week and will do swim lessons next week for 2 weeks. we are so happy summer is here and look forward to lots of sunny days.

29 weeks

2010-06-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

today marks 29 weeks for me, which means i am in my last trimester already. it is really hard to believe that in just 10 or 11 weeks this little girl (completely un-named with few ideas at this point...) will make her entrance. i have started to get a few things ready - we re-arranged rileys room as well as ours to make room for a rocking chair, bassinet and changing table. i've organized all of riley's old clothes by size and really can't think of much else i need to get done. the second kid is so much easier - not many items to collect. we are gearing up for 2 kids in our small home, which at this point feels like it will work, but i guess we will have to wait and see until she, along with all that baby gear arrive.

for the last month i have been exhausted, so i was happy to find out that my blood work showed i am anemic during this pregnancy. the iron has been really affective and i'm also being more conscious about eating meat. otherwise, i feel great. just growing, as you can see below.

and here's a picture of my funny little gal today playing with her playdough. she, of course, decided to dress up with headband and all after quiet time today. awesome.

fathers day

2010-06-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

we spent the day together as a family - making breakfast, taking a walk, working outside & in the yard and ended with going out for a yummy treat. happy father's day to an awesome papa to (soon-to-be) two daughters!

and of course we always think about tyler's dad on this day....we miss you dave.

friends

2010-06-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

we have been busy around here this last week with two different sets of friends staying the night. first we had saben and annika for 1 night while their parents are traveling through spain. it was interesting having 3 kids sleep in our 900 sq foot house...but it worked out and everyone amazingly slept great. i had the kids for not quite 24 hours and i was exhausted after dressing, feeding, cleaning and shuffling 3 kids in and out of carseats. i was even crazy enough to let them talk me into walking to the store in the rain first thing in the morning because a request for cereal was put out there, followed by an "i want mommy and daddy"....i was suckered into feeling bad and therefore ditched my plan of making pancakes and negotiated with 3 children under the age of 5 in the cereal aisle. everyone was happy post cereal - especially me because it's not something we normally eat so felt like a yummy treat!

annika, riley & saben - getting ready to leave for saben's preschool

annika & riley reading to e/o at the library

our next visitors were all the way from michigan...our good friends kristen & cora. they were in WA for a visit to several friends so they spent two nights with us. we spent the couple days lounging around, playing outside & at the park and laughing at our funny toddlers. kristen and i are both due with girls within days of e/o in september. we love you girls and thank you again for visiting us!

cora gave riley her very own "baby sasha" - a doll of cora's riley has been in love with since the day she saw her. riley was thrilled to open the gift and has not put her down since.

lots of naked sun time

tyler has been gone all week in Idaho for work, so i am ready to have him home tomorrow night and enjoy a mellow weekend. we are starting to re-arrange our bedroom to make more space for a few pieces of baby furniture that will need a home in our room...rocking chair, changing table/dresser...i have become very creative with my limited space!

i am now 6 1/2 months pregnant and still feeling good. i've been a bit more tired lately and my belly is just getting bigger and bigger. i will take another picture and post it soon. speaking of pictures, i promise to post pictures from our maui trip soon. the amount of pictures i have to choose from is too overwhelming so i've just been ignoring it...happy wednesday!

henry turns two

2010-06-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

last wednesday may 26 my sweet nephew henry turned two. the saturday before his birthday martha had a party for him at one of henry's favorite parks. besides for the usual park play, food and presents, they had a firefighter friend stop by the party with his fire truck and crew. the kids were excited, but none of them were brave enough to sit in the truck or wear the helmet. i think the adults were more interested in asking questions, especially my 90 year-old engineering grandpa!

riley and henry - the best of friends!

uncle drew & nana

the firemen said martha could be the may calendar girl - haha!

uncle drew & henry

the birthday boy

~~~ we love you henry ~~~

my 30th

2010-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

last monday may 24th i turned 30. i always like to turn my birthday into a week-long celebration, so i started the saturday night before with an impromptu dinner with claire and erin in seattle. we dined at this lovely restaurant and finished with dessert across the street at the kingfish cafe and ate the most divine piece of chocolate cake! it was fun to get out for a nice dinner with some girlfriends and eat yummy food - a rare treat!

the next day my family had lunch on alki at cactus and wandered across the street afterwards for some beach, cupcake and present time.

riley decided to dress up in this adorable outfit on my bday - as well as wear her birthday crown. tyler took me to dinner that night, just the two of us. (don't mind the iphone pics...)

last thursday we had another celebration with some friends here in bellingham at the temple bar. we had appetizers, drinks and dessert from the mount bakery. it was a great party and again so nice to get out kid-free and talk to friends.

i'm thankful for all the great friends and family i have - it made me thoroughly enjoy all my celebrations. it feels good to be 30!

pink flamingos

2010-05-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

yesterday morning i opened the door a few minutes before 6am to head to the gym, and much to my surprise there were 50 pink plastic flamingos on my front lawn! at first glance i thought it must've been a joke, then i thought an advertisement of some sort...i had no clue what was going on. i didn't have time to investigate so i hurried to the gym smiling the whole way! when i came home tyler was up and had seen the front lawn and we grabbed the binder off our front porch...this local organization was behind it and our friends bret & leah were the ones who paid to have our front lawn "flocked". check out pictures of their lawn here.

a group of women started this organization 10 years ago to raise awareness and funds for cancer. it made my day to see pink flamingos in my lawn all day. and riley? she was in love. a bit tentative at first and it was pretty cold when she woke and we showed her...but when we left the house mid-morning she had to kiss every one of them goodbye and told me later that she didn't want the "ma-fingos" to go away. even though she can say flamingos, every time it came out of her mouth it was "ma-fingo". i made her say it all day long. i was a bit sad when the women came by this afternoon to take them away. they really are a funny sight and obviously an extremely worthy cause to support. we were giggling all last night about the fact that we donated money to have the young's lawn decorated this morning. hope they like it as much as we did!

20 weeks

2010-04-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

well, not the most flattering picture ever taken, but i seem to forget to ask tyler to take one of me and i couldn't let another day go by without documenting this pregnancy. this is the FIRST pregnancy picture i've taken! poor baby #2...already being neglected.

i am just over 20 weeks and feeling great. i'm still working out 3 mornings a week, (even though at a slow pace and with light weights!) it feels great though and just this past week i have really felt this little girl start to move. i had forgotten what it feels like...to have a little creature inside you moving around. it sometimes startles me and i have to remind myself that i am pregnant and this is a good thing that she is moving! no names yet and i'm almost positive, knowing tyler and i, we will not have a name until she is born. we are the worst at coming up with names and can never agree, ESPECIALLY with girl names. any suggestions??!!!

not much new around here. riley is as funny and intense as ever and will officially be 2 1/2 may 11. which i have learned that 2 1/2 is a period of "disequilibrium" and boy, is that ever true. she is waking up almost nightly, very sensitive to any kind of change and extremely emotional over just about everything. she is so sweet though and almost daily asks if she can kiss and sing to the baby. her favorites continue to be books, arts & crafts, riding her trike, her babies and creating lots of loud noises (both happy and not) with her friend annika.

here she is helping me make some chicken pot pie for a friend that just had a new baby:

we are gearing up for a busy month of may: mothers day, my sister martha's 28th birthday, maui, tyler and i's 7th wedding anniversary, remembering tyler's dad dave who passed away 4 years ago (wow, i seriously can't believe it's been that long, it still feels like yesterday), my big 3-0, my nephew henry's 2nd birthday, as well as a few close friends & kids bdays...

happy (almost) weekend!

girls

2010-04-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

baby denton #2 is a girl!

(more importantly the ultrasound reports she is healthy and growing) but we are thrilled to call her she and prepare ourselves as parents of TWO daughters.

wow! i must admit, i was a bit shocked and not sure how i felt about the idea of having two girls. i mean, i have 3 sisters and let me tell you, there were some nasty and rough moments in our house! however, having a sister is so significant and has brought so much delight and joy to my life. there is really nothing like it. so for this, i am thrilled beyond belief that riley will have a sister. not to mention the sharing the room, already having the clothes aspect makes things a bit easier.

and how can i not be excited about more :

tea parties

wearing "a beautiful dress with a bow", heels, pushing your baby in a stroller and pretending to go shopping through the house

reading books under tents

coming up with awesome outfits like this

and getting in bed dressed in pj's and wetsuits to snuggle and read books???

my weekend

2010-04-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

tyler was out of town this past weekend on a work trip so riley and i spent the weekend in seattle. we started off with a visit with kristen, aleah and all the kids. i have known these gals since i can remember...early elementary school probably? anyway, it is so fun to get together and catch up and feel so comfortable. i hardly took any photos of our morning/afternoon together, so here are just two. love you ladies!

the next day we had a shopping trip to the u. village with martha, henry and andrew. riley wanted auntie mar-fy to play dress up with her so the picture below is what they came up with. i found a maternity suit for our up-coming trip to maui and uncle drew spoiled riley and bought her a hello kitty compact mirror and comb. while they were sitting down waiting for me, riley said to andrew, "uncle drew, i just need a yittle (little) treat". he asked her if she wanted something to eat and she said, "no, i want some candy". so he let her pick out a bag of gummy peaches...talk about riley fully taking advantage of the fact that mommy is gone and uncle drew is watching her! she knows exactly who to ask!

on sunday morning we drove to buckley and got to visit with angela and hold her newest little girl, kate. riley was very eager to hold her and was so sweet. i think she had more fun playing with ellie though. it was a gorgeous day so the girls put on dress-up clothes and played and ate lunch in the backyard. thanks for having us mcdonald's!

after riley's nap on sunday afternoon riley and henry helped nana in the yard for a bit before we drove home. i'm not sure how helpful they actually were...but they sure were funny and enjoyed the sun!

last night we had dinner at kari's house and you'll have to just read her post here about our evening. the combination of both of our husbands being gone and the personality of our daughters makes us a bit crazy and also extremely lenient about what takes place. we will do anything for some peace and quiet and a chance to chat (and laugh too)!

the picture below describes about how i feel right now after tyler being gone for 5 days...this is where riley fell asleep for her nap today. she asked me to close the door (which i'm usually required to leave it open) so i was nervous that she wanted to just play and not fall asleep. i heard her chatting for just a few minutes and when it was quiet i opened the door and this is what i found. passed out and snoring on the floor. priceless.

tomorrow afternoon tyler will be home...thank goodness...and tomorrow afternoon we also learn the gender of our baby!

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

A few days before Easter my friend Leah hosted an Easter egg dying party at her house for 6 toddlers. She was very brave, but everything turned out great - she even put together baskets filled with goodies for all the kids. I forgot my camera, so here are just a few from one of the gals.

Notice Riley is again wearing her wetsuit and hogging all the babies? One can never have enough, is her motto.

After a church brunch and church on Sunday we drove to Seattle and spent the afternoon with my family. We had a yummy dinner and an egg hunt in the front yard for Riley and Henry. They were both extremely excited about hunting for eggs...holidays are so fun now that they are toddlers and can really get excited about everything.

We spent today at the tulip festival, so I will post those pictures later. Happy Friday!

Raspberry Pie

2010-04-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

I was going to make a fruit tart for Easter, but my brother Andrew requested a raspberry pie. I was happy to oblige and found this recipe. I followed some of the readers advice and used two cups raspberries and two cups strawberries plus extra tapioca to prevent it from being too runny. Everyone in my family loved it and I will definitely make it again this summer.

Tyler took these pictures of Riley while I was rolling out of the top of pie crust.

more quirkiness

2010-04-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

lately i've been quite nostalgic and emotional (pregnancy hormones) over the fact that my baby is truly growing up. she is pushing 2 1/2 years and acting more and more grown up each day. oh wait, except when she screams and tantrums in public, but we can't expect perfection! anyway, i'm trying to record some of her quirky/strange/toddler behavior so i don't forget her little personality at this stage.

riley, her friend elizabeth and their baby and bear having a party on the potty. they were literally in the bathroom for 15 minutes just singing and talking. it was hilarious.

taking her cement bunny for a stroll on her trike, which she now calls her motorcycle

dancing with the most obnoxious bunny that a family friend sent us last year. it sings and hops and riley loves it

if you look closely you will see riley's "worm" that she found at the park one day. for several days she carried this plate with her wherever we went, put it next to her bed, talked to it, etc

since getting a new camera i've let riley use my old digital camera and she has become quite the photographer. and yes, she's wearing a wetsuit which happens to be one of her most favorite things to wear.

i brought out my old-school strawberry shortcake sleeping bag and riley had a ball playing with it. she told me "take a picture of me and darcy sleeping"

hiding in the sleeping bag with darcy, singing and talking

darcy and riley, very best friends indeed! she will often interrupt me and say, "oh mom, i hear darcy crying, just a minute". she'll run to get darcy then i'll watch her pat darcy's back while saying, "it's ok, it's ok".

oh, and don't forget the princess band-aid that she now has to wear on a mysterious "owie" on her arm (thanks a lot annika for starting this love of all things princess!!!)

and last but not least, today, riley was suppose to be napping, but an easter basket filled with stickers was within arms reach of the crib and just too tempting. this is what her bed looked like once i went in there to tell her to go to sleep.

the blessing/curse is, about 90% of everything riley does is just so funny i can never get mad...

she's a quirky one

2010-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

our quirky toddler keeps us laughing constantly - here she is snuggling with her cement bunny

this little bunny has been in our garden since we bought the house years ago and she's always enjoyed petting and saying hello to the bunny. it wasn't until a few weeks ago that she decided she wanted to bring the bunny in the house and told me, "but mommy, the bunny NEEDS me to snuggle her". she kisses the bunny, sleeps with it, carries it around, talks to it, etc. it's not worth the fight with her because 1) she will win and 2) she will get over this soon enough and move on to something else.

also, she decided last friday it would be fun to drag her mattress into the living room and line her babies up and sit on it. she requested to take her nap in the living room and when i said no we decided on the floor of her room. she ended up sleeping almost 3 hours, which is very rare for her, so maybe she's on to something!

on another note, i went to a baby shower yesterday and brought dessert for everyone. i found this recipe for chocolate souffle cupcakes with mint cream from smitten kitchen, and let me tell you, they were to die for. the whip cream (white chocolate, whip cream and peppermint) was like nothing you've had before and the cupcake was rich and light and just perfect. everyone gave them rave reviews and they were pretty simple to bake. i highly recommend trying them.

happy monday!

lemon

2010-03-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

thank goodness for an iphone - i don't know how i managed life before. i would not know such things as 1) the weather report in seattle, nyc or maui 2) my current spending habits and where i was over budget or 3) the fact that my little baby growing inside me is now the size of a lemon.

yes, its true. my bulging belly is not due to the fact that i love dessert. i am, in fact, just over 13 weeks pregnant and due september 14. we are thrilled! i will admit that the 2nd time around is so different. i haven't opened a single pregnancy book (i seriously love the pregnancy iphone apps for this reason!) and often forget that i am pregnant, as its not the first or even fourth thing on my mind. however, i am excited to have reached my second trimester already. those first 11 weeks or so were brutal. not having an appetite, being so tired i was practically comatose and overall just feeling blah was rough with a toddler. i don't know how many of my friends had their kids any closer together! i commend you! i am feeling on the up and up, although my first trimester daily nap might be here to stay!

we told riley a few weeks back and when i said that mommy has a baby in her tummy her eyes lit up and without hesitation she exclaimed "i have a baby in my tummy too!"

baby denton #2 at 11 weeks

birthday boy

2010-03-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 30TH TO AN AWESOME HUSBAND AND PAPA!!!

the olympics

2010-03-05T14:24:00.001-08:00

last sunday we needed a family outing since tyler was leaving the next day for a week, so we decided to head north to vancouver to see the olympic sights.

riley's favorite part was riding the sky train into and around the city. she was squealing with delight and looking out the window and pointing out everything she saw.

we mostly just wandered around the city, seeing the olympic flame and several of the venues where the events were taking place. we were there during the canada vs. usa mens hockey game, so the streets and restaurants were packed and filled with an immense amount of canadian pride. we americans finally found two seats in the back of a small sandwich shop to watch the game and eat lunch.

it was a nice day and was so easy getting up there and around - - - we were very glad we went to experience the olympics!

the zoo

2010-03-04T14:39:00.001-08:00

tyler is out of town this week for work, so riley and i hung out in seattle for the day on monday. andrew got to come to the zoo with us, before his chemo appointment. riley and uncle drew are bff's...it's very cute. she often will call him "unc drew" and she even told him, "you're the best friend i've ever seen." does that melt your heart or what???

riley's favorite part was watching the gorillas. she loved the baby gorilla and squealed with delight every time it moved. we also got to witness true animal behavior, as the daddy gorilla pooped in his hand and ATE IT. riley was really struck by this and has been telling lots of people about it. "the gorilla pooped in his hand and ate it!!!"

this is riley refusing to look at the camera

and by the way, doesn't andrew look great?

2010-02-24T09:59:00.001-08:00

riley is pretty obsessed with her dolls - - - her american girl baby that my mom gave her for her 1st birthday, in particular. as you know, her name is darcy (and as a sidenote, my sister martha solved the mystery about the origin of darcy: elmo has a fish named darcy!) anyway, often at meal time riley will drag her little chair into the kitchen and sit her baby on the chair next to her.

so the other day riley did this and after she was finished eating she put darcy in her booster and told me, "mom, take a picture of me and darcy"

then she said, "and take a picture of my milky" (yes she calls it milky and on this particular day she wanted her milk in a baby's bottle)

and finally she said, "take a picture of darcy" and as i was snapping the picture she said, "ok darcy, now smile"

here's another picture i took yesterday - a girl after my own heart, snuggled up with a good book!

happy wednesday!

our valentines day

2010-02-17T13:58:00.001-08:00

we had a very nice sunday celebrating the day o' love...we started by cooking a yummy breakfast for ourselves and some friends (quiche, waffles, fruit, coffee, mimosas) then did church and came home for some naps and lounging time. in the afternoon we ventured down to boulevard park on the water and got a treat at woods coffee then played on the play structure as well as near the water. we ended the day with a home-cooked dinner by tyler (a very nice and rare treat!)

here are some pictures from our park time:

tyler bought these flip-flops for riley for our upcoming trip to maui. she decided she had to wear them all weekend, even to the wet park.

i'm not sure why riley is making that face, but it is very silly. and please excuse my awful hair color! i went darker a while back and as it fades, it is not reacting very nicely with my once blonde hair. i am going even darker next week.

today we received more good news from andrew's doctors in houston. he has not had any new tumor growth or spread - which is just the news we want. he flew to houston yesterday and is en route back to seattle now. we are thrilled! be sure to check out his blog over the next few days, as he'll post an update.

tomorrow we leave for leavenworth for two nights for some girl time with my mom, martha and henry. we can't wait to get away and breathe some mountain air. have a happy weekend!

happy valentines day!

2010-02-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

we have been busy little valentines over here this week. having a toddler who is excited about arts & crafts and baking makes me so happy. it's motivated me this year to do a few little projects.

we spent a few days making valentine cards for all of our far-away family members. it was so fun to sit with riley and make cards together. of course i had to interject and remind her to not use so much glue or glitter, but we managed to survive.

yesterday i made a huge batch of sugar cookies during naptime and once she woke up we rolled and cut out heart-shaped cookies. we frosted the cookies and will add all the "frinkles" today. we even bought some cute little plates to use to transport to a few of riley's friends.

as a totally random sidenote, i have to tell a story about the other night.

after we got back from our fun date and brought riley home she was in crazy hyper mode after being with her friends. tyler was in the bathroom with her and was asking her to stop doing whatever obnoxious behavior she was doing. she continued on her merry way so tyler started to raise his voice. (all the while i am laying in bed listening to all of this). she then tells him, in a very calm voice, "no freaking out" and repeats herself over and over. i was almost in tears i was laughing so hard, which in turn amped her up even more. so she then started running around and ran into her room and slammed the door. she decided she didn't like being stuck inside her room so she started knocking on her door and saying, over and over again, "hey, what's going on here?". needless to say it was difficult to get her to fall asleep and it wasn't until just after 9 that she finally went down.

have a happy valentines day!

a big surprise

2010-02-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

yesterday tyler texted me half way through the day, "can you get someone to babysit tonight? let's go on a date, i have a surprise for you".

i was curious and thought i had it figured out but was anxious to find someone to watch riley. my normal babysitters were busy so finally at 4 i called kari and asked if riley could come play and she said yes! i put riley in front of a video so i could hop in the shower (i was still in sweats, of course) and hastily made myself presentable for this mysterious date. we dropped riley off and were on our way.

he asked if anything sounded good/bad but that he had a place in mind because it was fitting for the surprise. as soon as we pulled up to coconut kenny's, i knew. i waited patiently while we ordered and chit chatted and got our food. FINALLY half way through eating tyler presented me with a card and inside it read: "Thinking of you, me, and riley in Maui".

an early anniversary gift - to return to the place where our marriage and new life together began almost 7 years ago! i am still in total and utter shock and beyond excited. we will go in may (we'll be there on our anniversary) and it will have been almost 5 years since i've been back. we spent the rest of our date talking about every single thing we wanted to do, places we wanted to go, a few friends we wanted to see...oh the sweet memories we have from that place! and to take riley will be amazing. what more does a little kid need than a shovel and miles and miles of sand and ocean?

we are excited over here and totally consumed with thoughts of beach and sun!!!

oh, and in case you were wondering, tyler scored an AMAZING deal on tickets, plus used some air miles. very, very affordable. so go find yourself a deal!

*us enjoying another amazing bbq and sunset in kihei*

*me cooking in our first apartment together, just a few blocks from the beach*

*i can't believe i used to be so young, tan and blonde!*

i am excited for some new maui memories!

A bit about Riley

2010-02-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a month since I last posted! I guess I've been a bit distracted and busy lately. And also just been having a lot of fun hanging with Riley, friends and family. I've really been wanting to record some of Riley's daily antics, sayings and favorites, just so I don't forget this awesome toddler stage (she will be 27 months old next week!):

~ Riley insists on keeping her door open whenever she naps and goes down at night and she reminds us several times, "Keep the door ALL the way open"

~ She also requests that I change her into her pj's when she goes down for her nap

~ She asks me almost daily, "Mom, did you have a good day?" or "Mom, did you have fun?"

~ Her favorites right now are to mother her babies, do puppet shows, take her babies on walks around the block and ride her trike

~ And speaking of trike, just this week she has been pedaling all by herself! We spend a lot of time in front of our house, riding up and down the blocks on her trike

~ Just this week she also learned how to do a proper somersault. And the cutest is that while she is doing it she is explaining what she's doing step by step..."You bend your knees, put your hands down here, then you do a somersault!"

~ She uses the words "fascinating", "amazing" and "anymore" in context

~ If you ask her the name of any stuffed animal, little person or baby she will answer, "Darcy". We have no friends named Darcy, nor do I remember reading a book with that name in it. We seriously have no idea where that name came from. But Darcy might also be an imaginary friend as well because she will occasionally tell us that she's "going to Darcy's house" then will march into her room and slam the door.

~ I think this is my brother Andrew's favorite, but she can not say her "L's". The phrase she says all the time is "Yook at my yeg" aka look at my leg. This always makes us smile!

I'm sure there are others...but I just had to write some of these down. There is so much I already forget. This next picture is of Riley dressing up and about to dance to her music in the living room. The last one is of her sitting on her potty with a jelly bean on her finger. We are in the beginning stages of potty training. Wish us luck!

riley LOVES her cousin hey-yay

2010-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend to kick off the new year, full of lots of get-togethers with friends, as well as a snowshoe trip. We are pretty tired tonight and wishing we had just one more day to relax and do some of those much needed chores (like put food in the fridge)...but I guess that is what this week is for.

Some friends came up from Seattle and we joined them on a snowshoe adventure on Saturday. We had no expectations going into the trip, knowing Riley would probably not last that long. She in fact, did not last that long, but we had a fun time regardless. It's always good to lower your expectations when dealing with toddlers. We maybe walked for 15 or 20 minutes then turned around before it went from bad to worse. We made it back to the car, drove up to the ski lodge at Mt. Baker and ate our sack lunch while enjoying the warmth of the lodge. We picked our friends back up (they completed the entire trail...no fair) and made our way back down the mountain. We hope to go at least one more time this winter, but probably with a sled and proper boots for Riley so her feet don't get cold again.

This is how we started off: all smiles

Pretty soon we moved to this: happy to be walking

Then we quickly moved to me holding her, then Tyler holding her, then on my shoulders and ending the journey on Tyler's shoulders. Good thing we turned around when we did!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

Having a toddler made Christmas so much fun this year! We spent several days in Seattle seeing a few friends and spending lots of time with family. I only have about ten photos from the entire 6 days we were there which is quite frustrating since it's rare that my whole family is together at once!

It has been a tradition in my family for years to travel to our Aunt & Uncles House in Hansville for a big family Christmas Eve dinner. We have taken the Edmonds ferry across every year, but decided to drive around this year. With two toddlers nap schedules, a long ferry line and Andrew having to do chemo, making the drive was the better plan. It was a beautiful drive, but took 2 hours and by the time we got there, we were only there for 2 hours then took the ferry home. My aunt is a gourmet cook, so the drive was worth it just for the food! We also only see our cousins once, maybe twice a year, so it's fun to catch up. It's a fun tradition, especially because a few of us cousins have our own children. Here are a few shots of the kids. It was hard to get 7 children all under the age of 6 to look at the camera...

Christmas morning was spent opening gifts, eating a big breakfast and then the rest of the day was spent watching movies, taking a walk...then ended with a big dinner that night:

It was a nice several days spent with family - laughing and telling lots of jokes, getting annoyed with e/o and also remembering many sad/happy events. A year makes such a difference in the life of my family (especially the month of December!) and we were especially aware that at this time last year we just learned of Andrew's diagnosis. It is a sad memory for our family, but we are committed to each other and God and the journey that lies ahead. We look forward to and anticipate lots of good news in 2010.

As a side note, I would like to include a few other pictures. The following pictures were taken of Riley's hair (a.k.a. the most awesome bed head ever) right after she woke up this morning:

And also, Riley and I have been sharing a car with Tyler the last 3 days due to mine being in the shop so we had to take the bus a few different times to get around. Talk about dry and cheap entertainment for a toddler! Riley was thrilled by the whole adventure of it and asked about every sound, what everyone was doing and told Tyler tonight that the bus ride was "real bumpy". She even got up at one point and stood in the middle of the aisle and acted like she was on a ride, laughing and squealing as she was tipped over every time the bus turned. So needless to say we will definitely take the bus again!

the santa train

2009-12-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

last friday martha, henry, nana, riley and i rode the santa train out of north bend. we had such a blast...we want to make this an annual tradition for sure! riley is pretty obsessed with trains, and has never riden on one, so she was beside herself with joy when the train was moving and the whistle blowing! the train cars were decorated for christmas and there was the cutest 80 year old man who walked up and down the aisles leading the crowd in christmas songs. we rode about 15 minutes to the snoqualmie depot where santa was waiting for us, as well as cookies, hot cocoa and plenty of trains to play on. after about an hour the train came back to pick us up and we rode back to north bend.

i think some water got into my camera, so my pictures are turning out a bit blurry...but enjoy them anyway!

i came back to bellingham friday night BY MYSELF!!! i left riley in seattle under the care of nana, uncle drew, and her 3 aunties. tyler and i had all day saturday and sunday to ourselves, and i have all day today by myself. it has been a wonderful break. we spent the weekend going out to breakfast, browsing through shops, reading at a coffee shop, sleeping in and just laying low. i spent yesterday afternoon baking christmas cookies and sewing - what a treat! i am very thankful for my family. i have been kept up-to-date on riley's activities and she has taken long naps, slept great and been an overall gem :) she's been on play dates, walked through candy cane lane, read lots of books and is going to the aquarium this morning. her and i are both having a special weekend!

on my to-do-list for today is a hair appointment this morning, lunch with tyler, back home to read and finish up my sewing then a dinner date with tyler. i am getting very excited to see riley tomorrow morning!

i'll be in seattle tomorrow thru sunday, so not sure i'll be back on here. have a wonderful and joyful christmas!

december so far...

2009-12-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

has been very full - so expect a long post!

we started off the month with a visit from the oranens. we had a great, laid back weekend and spent lots of time laying around the warm house and hitting up some bellingham favorites. erin was the photographer for the weekend, so check out her post for all the pictures!

after they left on sunday we hit the road for ellensburg. tyler had to spend monday & tuesday in idaho for work, so he dropped riley and i at kristen's house in ellensburg for some girl time. on monday he left early to leave for idaho and was only about 30 minutes from ellensburg at 6:30am when he hit a huge tarp on I-90 (that flew off a semi). luckily he wasn't hurt, but our car was...and it was 10 degrees outside and he was in fancy work shoes with no hat or gloves. it was quite the adventure and involved getting towed back to ellensburg, renting a car and continuing on to idaho several hours behind schedule. we spent an extra day in ellensburg due to car parts not coming in on time and therefore not getting our car fixed by the promised date. good thing we were warm and happy at the shooks! what lovely hosts! now check out these pictures of our two cute girls:

reading books & sipping on lukewarm vanilla steamers at the local coffee shop

a new favorite for riley - kipper on netflix (for free!)

a late afternoon tea party

making christmas cookies, hot chocolate & jammies

several brisk and QUICK walks from kristens house to our various errands/stops around town...it was between 5 & 10 degrees while we were there...

and this past weekend was full of christmas parties, the jingle bell run, hanging christmas lights, a cookie exchange and a dinner/movie date with friends...for as busy as the weekend was, it was very enjoyable and festive.

riley and i FINALLY got our tree this evening before dinner. we decorated after we ate and i'm thrilled to finally have it. this year we opted FOR THE SMALLEST TREE EVER...mostly because it took us so long to get one and i'm too cheap to spend $$$ on a tree when we leave for seattle next week.

here's to a cold and (hopefully!) snowy week!