tea party

Anna and I went on a date! she was so excited to go to the mommy/daughter tea party at church. she got to dress up in princess gear and be all alone with mommy somewhere, something that hasn't happened in the past 18 months. (technically i could have brought Maddie, but she's still a little young, this night was all about Anna)we had a great time eating yummy food and making these cute cookie bouquets!
i had fun on our date night Anna! you are a perfect little lady!

baby #3 update

so, you may or may not know that my girls have been pretty big, 9lb3oz and 8lb13oz respectively. therefore, size is an issue that we're keeping an eye on this time. at 33 weeks, the baby is measuring approximately 5lb11oz, which puts the "little" sucker on track to be 9.5+ at birth. wow! i am much bigger than i was with either of my other children, so the next 6-7 weeks are uncharted territory for me. the cool part though is my doc did some 4D images for us, just of the face of course, we wouldn't want to see any surprise-ruining anatomy. but the 4D is a lot more detailed and fun than the regular old black and whites.

the cord was blocking the shot, but we think this baby looks just like our others, and maybe even more like Maddie. the count down's on!

Tashy and Ian

Aunt Tashy and her boyfriend Ian cam for a visit. it was eagerly anticipated by both kids. Anna couldn't sleep the night before and to my surprise, when Maddie saw my sister's yellow beetle parked outside, she nearly leaped out of my arms yelling, "Tashy car, Tashy car!" and Tashy never disappoints. she kept the girls entertained while Jason and I spoke in church on Sunday, and the fun kept on coming. we spent Monday indulging in a just for fun photo session in Mesa (and avoiding some crazy monsoon action), and Tuesday at the Phoenix art museum. and of course visitors mean we indulge in all the fun foods we don't normally eat, Cracker Barrel (Ian's fav), Sonic, Sweet Cakes, and mass quantities of ice cream!!!! fun was had by all.

playing checkers at Cracker Barrel.

it was fun to get a little wet, since it was 101 outside.


Maddie has gotten a lot of play out of the "funny face" ever since she debuted it at the family reunion.

Anna's favorite shot, she thinks i am a magician or something, making 2 Annas in one picture!
the Mesa Arts Center has so many cool little details.


break time at the museum. we had to stop and get our wiggles out for a while. especially after the modern art wing. everything just looked so touchable there, and it was hard to keep little fingers off.

we miss you Tashy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

c'est fini, well - mostly

so, after nearly a year since i first began, i finished Anna's bedding and almost her whole "fairy" room. i really have one more wall to do. but this was the big stuff. it's so funny the way i operate. first, i research and try to learn everything before i do it, then i get overwhelmed and consider paying to have it done, lastly i say "forget it" and tackle the project by myself wondering why i didn't do that in the first place. oh well, all's well that ends well.

farrell family reunion

so, our plans for "stay-cation" just for mommy and daddy backfired when two little moneys were jumping on the bed, one fell off and sprained her foot. Anna became literally incapacitated Sunday through Thursday, so i cancelled our babysitters (Grandma and Grandpa) and we went as a family to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. we had fun there, and then re-routed to Santa Barbara for a family reunion.

it was so great to see all my cousins and aunts and uncles, and have the next generation get to know each other. my cousins have always been my best friends and i am sad i didn't take more pics. my cousin Bonnie and me

all the kids had a blast on the playground in our camp, here are just a few of the 17 kids that were representing. Maddie got over her fear of the slide.
Karah was a climbing maniac. my girls really had fun meeting more girl cousins.
Laine could keep up with all the kids.
and this was the first time i'd seen Robbie in his whole little life. that's what family reunions are all about!

Maddie decided this is her "funny face" she thought it was the best party trick and showed it to everyone.
these kids spent all day digging at the beach, then came back to camp and kept on digging!
though she wasn't allowed on the beach, or in the other camp, Nalu was still in heaven with all the dirt, kids, and cool weather.
my man. Jason is the best person to camp with, this is when his tidiness is truly appreciated. thanks honey for all your hard work keeping camp organized and comfortable!
this is a great picture, because it captures the essence of the whole weekend: exhilarating and exhausting. this little girl partied 'til she dropped, and she couldn't have found a more willing lap to hold her.

here's one reason she was so tired:

did i mention we played on the beach. i would say beach time is the number one thing we miss about living in CA. (okay, second - because family is the true #1) we relish every moment we are able to spend on the sand and in the water. Daddy and Maddie found this game to be worth hours of fun!
we even saw dolphins (though you can't in this picture):and who could resist this little beach bunny. she was so cute, my mom took a pic of us and then Anna was like, "take one of me kissing my mommy." and after the pic she looked at me and said really seriously, "i love you mom." i mean how can i not just be in love with this kid!
great times were had by all! big thank yous to my cousins Bonnie and Erin for planning such a wonderful family event!

friends, or more????

i am so happy that we have been able to participate in a neighborhood babysitting co-op. most people say, "oh yeah, that's great, but i couldn't do the part where the other kids are at your house." i wholeheartedly disagree. sure, not every night is a walk in the park, and we do dinner too, which isn't what most would call "easy" but watching these little friendships in action is priceless. i love to become a fly on the wall and listen in on their precious conversations and imaginative games. (sure i have to be ready to swoop in and institute a time-out for hitting once in a while) but it's so fun! this week we had Parker and Gray over. it's always a challenge to entertain boys at our house. thank goodness for blocks! these 2 busy builders spent hours constructing the perfect castles and imagining who lived inside. meanwhile, i made some burritos and found these 2 like this:

i have no idea how many minutes they embraced, but after i took the pictures Parker turned around and smiled "CHEESE!" it was classic. then i think he got a little camera shy.

thanks to the Thompsons for being out babysitting buddies!!!