Sol and Rachel do a Blog

Friends at the Farm Party

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Oh the ill fated farm party. We were supposed to have a lovely day at Deanna Rose followed by an outdoor picnic with some little friends--but mother nature severely disagreed. The party was still adorable--and many more pictures will follow after the party is featured. But here's my favorite shot... I just love that the plates look like little eggs!

Vic and I had a blast setting up together--for a duo whose business involves parties, we are rarely able to actually throw parties together since, you know, we live in different time zones.

Braden had a blast too--mostly because the dessert table was at his height and he was able to snag unlimited sweets. He loved the sugar cookies... and everything else with sugar.

The best part of the party was that it brought together lots of Kansas City friends in one place! I was excited to get a few tips from Jenny about handling three munchkins... and Finley was reunited with his blond pal Hayden. Wish these two got to see each other more!

All I can say when I looks at this picture is that Braden's hair is OOC. I've been lucky to see Alison and Dinah a few times in the past year. I just love when my friends' kids get to play with my kids! It's the circle of life... or something.

And this is four sixths of our housemates from senior year at K-State! Unfortunately Tara had already left and Kat lives in the far far corner of Kansas... so this was the best we could do. But still, a pretty good showing!

Thanks to B-Roe for letting us take over the house with a million kids and letting them run amok with awesome vintage toys... and thanks to Vic for always letting me come crash and being my BFFFF.

Last Days in Little Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

I'm barely ready to deal with real life--so instead of blogging about moving to PA or the overflow of love on my birthday, I'm posting pictures from Mother's Day in Little Rock. I'll blog about real life soon--I just am not ready to acknowledge it's happening!

Mother's Day was extra special this year--because I got to spend it with my mother! Which means I had someone to take pictures of me and my sweeties eating some froyo. Are you impressed that my body was physically holding three various sized humans? I'm strong as an ox!

After we got back Finley and I played outside a bit and he was willing to make a small amount of eye contact with me because he was so distracted by the brick wall. Cutie.

Like the awesome photographer that I am, I seriously didn't take any pictures of the boys with my family until my second to last day in Little Rock. Finley resembles my brother Dan a little more and Braden resembles Ben--but I forgot to get a picture of my wild curly haired child with his buddy.

And this photoshoot with my parents went just really well as you can tell. Braden was thrilled to be there, they were sitting in front of a truck tire and Finley only wanted to throw rose petals. And their little doggy kept wandering around them. Would it be appropriate for Finley to be the flower girl in my sister's wedding? Maybe?

I just had SUCH a nice time in Little Rock--it was so great to be taken care of so completely by my parents for a month... although it probably made the transition to a house with no food or furniture slightly more traumatic. I'm so grateful for my mom--for the sacrifices she's made for me in the last 30 years of my life and in the 30 days I was living with them. I'm so lucky to have a mom who is excited to spoil me (and unfortunately, also my kids) at the drop of a hat!

Three Things in Little Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

My sister Laura joined us in Little Rock for a few days--and we picked one day to be our day filled with things we'd never done before. First up: machine quilting with a long arm sewing machine.

My mom and I were way excited--probably more excited than one should be about a sewing machine. But it was pretty cool! The best way we described it was as a sewing machine/motorcycle hybrid. The needle is out a few feet in front of us and you steer it from the back using the handlebars.

You can see better where Laura is--she's tracing over a design with a little laser to actually sew the design on the quilt.

Not at all nerdy, right? We had fun--it took about 3 hours to do a twin sized quilt which was WAY longer than we thought. I had another twin sized quilt to do as well that I ended up paying them to quilt because three hours was enough for us.

Next up... wedding dress shopping for my sis! I took pictures of her in lots of dresses but it's probably bad luck to post them, so instead you get weird ones of me and my mom. I thought it would be funny to pretend like I was the bride and ask where the maternity section was... but I didn't. Missed opportunity for sure.

And our third activity... a Segway tour of Little Rock! Weird! And awesome!

The sweet tour guide was VERY worried about me riding a Segway. I assured him that I had impeccable balance and that I had brought my very own doctor in case of emergency (my sister). She could give me a colonoscopy or cut open my heart... and maybe deliver the baby? I ran a half marathon when I was two weeks less pregnant with Braden, so standing on a Segway seemed like a safer option.

It was REALLY REALLY fun. They were so fun to whiz around on and Little Rock was lovely. We went by the Clinton Library and saw the actual Little Rock the town is named for. It was a gorgeous day and I was inspired to re-learn a lot of things I'd forgotten about our great nation. And then I dropped the ball... I think I'll just wait for Finley to go to school and teach me things.

And in real time life... the moving truck is bringing our things today! How I've missed my things! I'm not looking forward to putting all the things away, or cleaning the things, or cooking with the things... but I'm certainly happy to have my things back. But I was SPOILED in Little Rock because my mama took care of all the things. Oh to live at home...

Deanna Rose

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We have kind of rotten luck at the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead--we went last July and it was sweltering. SO so hot. You can see my sweaty boy riding a pony here. We figured May would be the perfect time to enjoy the farm--and we were wrong. It snowed. It was cold. But lots of fun.

There are no shortage of goats--we started to be concerned about the long term future of the goats... what exactly do they do with all of them? I mean, there are A LOT. Vic had free reign over my camera and got a TON of great shots of Finley... she invented a new trick that gets him to looks at the camera and sometimes smile.

The boys loved the tractors even though they still aren't big enough to pedal them. One day, my little boys. One day.

It's so nice to have Vic around because I get to be IN the picture (and the picture is properly exposed and in focus!) I love these shots with my four year old!

These ones are more typical of what we normally get... kids wo are not interested in being in a picture with me. C'est la vie. I also need to thank Vic for the use of her winter coat--it was supposed to be SPRING.

And here are Vic and Finn ringing the cowbells. Nothing is more fun apparently!

Broken Braden

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:19:00 +0000

Finley was born with clubfoot. He went through a series of casts when he was a baby--so I'm always friendly and interested when I run into other moms who have babies in casts. I have a vivid memory of carrying tiny Finley in the Baby Bjorn through Whole Foods and running into a mama carrying a much bigger two or three year old in a carrier--with a cast on his little leg. After kind of stalking her through a few aisles I tried to not weirdly ask about her baby's cast. And this has stuck in my mind forever: he was going down a water slide with his dad and his leg got snagged on something, bent back and broke.

Since then, I've had two friends whose little boys have also had leg injuries from going down slides with an adult. The statistics are telling: 14% of fractures in toddlers are from sliding with a parent. That's a lot. And even though I talk about it a lot, and always have anxiety about the boys going down slides, it still happened to Braden.

My sister and I took the boys to what I had already deemed the world's most dangerous park (the pictures of Braden in blue are of our first trip to the park). It's essentially an enormous rock pile with big tunnels going through it and ladders going up to the top where there are two big twisty slides going down. I had said on several occasions that a park like that would NOT fly on the East Coast. It's terrifying. It was sunny and hot and pregnant Rachel couldn't help Braden down the slide--so I sent him down with Laura. I quickly told her about the dangers of sliding with kids and down they went. And about halfway down--tears. We're not really sure what happened, but I do know my sweet baby hasn't taken a step since it happened on Thursday. I think his shoe choice was also poor--the Crocs caught on the slide and probably threw his leg back. We took him to get x-rays and nothing is fractured visibly, so it's either sprained or a greenstick fracture that's too tiny to show up.

The first few days he was a real sad pup--not sure how to handle the injury and just wanting to be held. We're doing better now--he's figured crawling out, standing on one leg and how to kind of protect his ankle. When I carry him (everywhere) he melts into me and holds on so tight--it's heartbreaking. I'm grateful it wasn't worse--no cast, nothing broken seriously. Just a little guy with a sore leg. Bottom line is: he's fine. He's extra cuddly, needs to be carried everywhere and gets frustrated quickly when he can't do something he wants to do. He's gotten better at standing on one leg and crawling so is coping much better than he did the first few days. He still has some very silly moments and is happy most of the time--hopefully walking again is just around the corner. I am a little nervous about our flight back east on Tuesday and trying to move into a new house following that...

It seems like it would always be safer to accompany your kiddo down the slide, but often it's not. And it's something you may not think about until it's too late. With the warmer weather comes more time at parks--so tell a friend today to be careful with their kiddo. Here are my recommendations:

Don't go down the slide with your kid.
If they are too little to go down alone, put them only halfway up or let them go down on their belly.
Choose shoes that won't grip the edge of the slide.
If you do go down with your kid, put them ON TOP of your lap, not between your legs, and hold their ankles together so they can't slip out. Maybe that will help?
Don't go down the slide with your kid.

(Unrelated sidenote: most of these pictures were on a phone camera--which made me feel creative about processing them. And therefore I used... CLIPPING MASKS! I'm proud.)

Stay Thirsty

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

During a quick trip to KC, Vic an I attended part of a Queso Crawl. It was awesome. I had some really yummy cheese, but most importantly, I got to meet this kind fellow.

Remember when Sol dressed as him for Halloween? It was awesome and I was so happy to see my husband's likeness during our long month living in different time zones. Yay for cheese and the most interesting man in the world!

Peter Pan Party Post

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Well, about 6 weeks ago we had Finley's Peter Pan Party. It was so much fun--which is probably why it's taken me so long to recap it! This post has a lot of words and pictures--you win my undying love if you read it all. There are lots of awesome items in the party that are from various vendors, so make sure to check out the credits at the end of the post.

First up, the missing picture with the photographer that made it all possible. Thanks Jenn!

This party was especially fun to plan because of the costumes--oh, the costumes.

Initially I just was going to make a Peter Pan costume... and then I pretty much decided we needed the rest of the set too. I packaged the kids' costumes in paper sacks so they could quickly change when they arrived and not miss a minute of the fun.

Wendy was made by one of my friend's mother-in-law, it was way beyond my sel-taught skill level. And Tinkerbell was an eBay purchase--the rest were sewn/scavenged by me. I'm especially proud of... well everything. Captain Hook's three corner hat and coat, the crocodile's awesome head, and Tiger Lily's dress--I was just so pleased with how everything turned out! So pleased.

Here's the whole crew--they were such troopers for braving the slightly chilly weather for some pictures.

Um, love. Why don't I have little girls to wear such sweet costumes? Someone tell me now please.

I couldn't stop at sewing costumes... I had to sew a teepee too. Naturally. You know, for the highly offensive part of Peter Pan involving the Native Americans. The boys loved playing in it while it was in the house and the kids had a blast relaxing in it during the party--in between jumping in the bounce house, playing Captain Hook's ring toss and sword fighting with our crocodile pinata.

I'm overly in love with setting tables (no thanks to Jenn!) and can't get over how much I love this particular set up. I rented a kids party table and six chairs for the event--it was much cheaper than you'd think! I packed little lunches in gable boxes, tied with a red string. Our guest dined on Neverland Star Sandwiches, Pirates Booty and Peter's Fruit Pouches. Unfortunately, none of them were packaged in a way that four year olds could open without help... planning fail. I tried to keep the decorations as "natural" as possible--the kids' wooden flatware was tied to a red feather with some leather cord and the gable boxes were perched on top of slices of tree trunks. (Helpful hint: the tree slices are called "cookies" and you can probably sweet talk your way into some for free from a local tree removal company. I seriously went to a random house where trees were being cut down and the nice men made me some slices. It was ridiculous.)

Pops of gold were fun to include in the decor--down the table runner I had spray painted Tinkerbell's lantern, a hook and the Crocodile's clock all gold. I could have spray painted forever. Do you have any idea how fun it is to turn things gold? Only me and King Midas know.

It was a chilly day, so I was glad we had planned an indoor activity. We were all very nervous about how sand art with four year olds would go--but it went shockingly well. They all took it very seriously and dutifully poured and shared sand to make their Pixie Dust. A few guests were disappointed that they didn't actually get to sprinkle it and fly. Life's tough, kids. Two tips: first, the red funnels are cheap at IKEA and help minimize mess and second, hot glue the lids on.

I think the theme of this post is starting to be "Rachel pats herself on the back" but listen, I made a pinata. With newspaper and flour and water. And it turned out to be quite obviously a crocodile. Can we all take a minute to bask in his scaly glory? I bought thisfellow on Amazon and used him as a mold. That's a completely reasonable thing to do, I promise.

Speaking of buying things on Amazon, I also bought a bounce house so the kids could "fly." Please stop looking at me like that. I promise it was a good idea. We used it for Braden's party the following weekend and like ten times since then. And I have a feeling that it will be used at every party (and in our new basement on yucky days) until it pops and dies a sad, leaky death. Much much cheaper than renting one. And it immediately makes you the coolest house on the block. (Next set of helpful hints: I got the bounce house for about $200... let me introduce you to my new friend, CamelCamelCamel. You can set up an Amazon alert to let you know when a product drops to a certain price and can check out the price history on an item to see if you are getting a good deal. Aren't you glad you read until the end of this long paragraph?)

Oh my goodness this is getting long. Treat bags! Full of pirate goodies, a crocodile lollipop and clapper. Pretty much I just loved the burlap and feathers. Love it.

I joked that I should have given all the parents an apology note regarding sugar intake... because there was a lot of sugar. I was lucky to have wonderful friends and vendors to work with who made all the sweets for me--so I can say without any bias that everything was DELICIOUS. I can not get enough of the cake pops. I want to throw parties just so I can order more! Other non-edible things I love on the dessert table--the amazing felt ball garland and darling balloon wreath. I feel like putting them all over every surface of my next house. I'm only kidding a bit.

I saw this Peter Pan peg people set and fell in love. I had to include a bigger picture so you can see their full amazingness--they get a bit lost in the next picture. Unfortunately, Peter was out fighting battles and was unable to make this particular picture, but you can only assume how amazing he is as well.

And here's the full table--burlap, sparkly gold, wood, feathers... I loved it.

Writing all these paragraphs (at midnight!) makes me grateful for the friends who helped with the party and didn't stage an intervention. I sure used vintage stamps on the envelopes because I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. I had to. Even after I kind of said it was over the top. I had to have them. But look, aren't they perfect? They are.

And the most important moment--Finley blowing out his candles. He was clearly excited and loving his party. After the party was finished he came to me with a shaky voice and very sadly let me know that I had forgotten two very important things. His party didn't have cake or balloons. He was upset. And so it goes to show... you can't please everyone. You'd think that any four year old would be thrilled with the party, but all the kid wanted was cake and balloons. You better believe there were BOTH when his actual birthday rolled around.

So many people to thank. Vic for being my partner in crime, Jenn for being my photographer, Kat for basically doing whatever I asked, Sol for letting me work on parties like this for a month in advance, Finley for being born, Finley's friends (and their parents!) for coming to the party and putting up with a crazy lady planning extravagant parties. And all the lovely vendors who helped make the party easy to set up and lovely to be a part of. If you are interested in anything, you can probably find it below. And if not, leave me a comment and I'll try to help!

Printables, Costumes, Sugar Cookies and Party Styling - RV Parties

Photography - Peanut Butter and Jenny Photography

Red and Ostrich Feathers - Moonlight Feather

Leather Cord - Sleepy Dog Beads

Vintage Postage Stamps - Verde Studio

Peter Pan Peg People - Allie Gray Creations

Burlap Ribbon, Favor Bags and Twine - We Can Package

Felt Ball Garland - The Fickle Felt Tree

Cake Pops, Pretzels and Dubloons - Miss Lulu's Sweet Treats

Crocodile Lollipops - Candied Cakes

Balloon Wreath - Little Crafty Cottage

27 Weeks with Baby #3

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Yes, I'm still pregnant. For awhile I'd sometimes forget because I'm so busy with trying to figure out the move to PA and take care of the boys... but it's getting harder to overlook. The little man is more and more active and kicks and jabs me more often and the belly is beginning to limit what I can do. I gave up running about a month ago and have made it to the gym just about everyday to swim for an hour while living at my parents' house. I've really really enjoyed swimming and hope it's giving my Achilles some time off to heal.

Courtney took some pictures of the ole belly while we were at the beach. I know I've done a sub-par job of recording this bump so I was lucky to have friends willing to take silly pictures of me on the beach while we were in San Diego.

I'm continuing to live with my parents until May 14th--when we fly back to close on our house! I'm excited to start getting settled in our house--there's lots of furniture to be purchased and boxes to be unpacked and stuff to be hung up. And at almost seven months pregnant... I'm going to be anxious to get it all taken care of as quickly as we can. I randomly found an OB practice off the old internet, so I'm also anxious to meet them and figure out what the end game for this baby will be. I've gotten to hold a few newborns lately and it makes me so excited to have one of my own to snuggle all the time. I'm excited to meet this fellow. Hopefully we can pick out a name before he shows up...

Viva La BSC (or spend time with your friends if you want to survive)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Sunday morning in San Diego, my alarm went off at 3:55 in the morning. I tried to creep quietly out of my room and not wake my sleeping roommate. I did anyways, because she's the world's lightest sleeper. I threw my remaining items in my bag, hugged her goodbye and backed out of the world's smallest garage to return my rental car. It was early. I was leaving my favorite people and I was sad and alone. We'd spent the last three days being overly involved in every detail of each other's life--like every detail. And now I was stuck traveling back to Little Rock by myself. Which means alone.

Pictures taken by my Canon 60D on a remote timer on a beach chair. FANCY. It wouldn't be a BSC trip without a mandatory photo shoot.

{Group hug, Everyone rudely scooted away from me, Friends, Act like you love each other}

Seven of my high school friends (Rhonda not pictured, sadly) met in San Diego to celebrate the marriage of an eighth. Out of the seven us, four of us spontaneously cried over the weekend over nothing but an overwhelming love for one another. It was weird--and sweet. And mostly weird. We've been friends for longer than we haven't. And these girls--they are really the people who taught me how to be a friend. I've been lucky to continue making fabulous friends since high school--and I owe it to the faithful BSC for teaching me how to love, and how to be loved in return. (Viva Baz!)

{Purple Pie Man???, Surprised yet confused, Family portrait kind of, Pregnant girls can't jump}

We sent over a hundred emails planning the trip--some of which were more focused on talking about Breaking Bad or making #reallyweirdhashtags. Lots of us are mothers, and somehow it worked out to leave our babies behind for a girls' trip. A 4 month old, 8 month old, 13 month old, 2 year old, 3 year old and 4 year old all survived without us for three days. We missed our kids and shared anecdotes and tips with one another--but for a few days we were able be who we were when we first met--girls who were friends and laughed a lot. And only cried a little.

{The Rhonda, Weird Standing Backwards, Amy's Pyramid, Come Hither Look: aka my belly likes Amy's butt}

As we emailed and debated and brainstormed about leaving our children behind, it became more and more clear to me how much we needed this time. My boys are older and were in great hands with Sol and my parents (yes, I left town on the only weekend in the whole month my husband could come visit us) but I still suffer from terrible guilt from not being with them. On the spectrum from being able to leave your kids at the drop of a hat and wanting to stare at them all the time, I tend to be on the creepy stalker side. This trip reinforced the importance of friends--and remembering who you are outside of your day to day existence. Whether it's being a stay-at-home-mom or working everyday--it's easy to lose sight of who you are apart from that. And spending time with people who have known you forever helps take you back to who you are and allows you to be better at what you do every day. When I'm able to remember that I'm more than just Finley and Braden's mom, I really think it makes me be a better mom. Our day to day drains us--and it fills us back up to be around those who know us WELL.

{Looking for Whales, TWELVE FEET OF FUN, Manhattan Friends, KSU, Boston dwellers, Down with England?, Rach + Court}

All this to say, I love my friends. I love that they give me a hard time about being bossy and don't let me get away with anything. At all. I love that they bought me aloe when I fried my legs and let me be the DD all weekend. I loved dancing with them (ridiculously) at the wedding and eating many, many Petit Ecoliers. And I love that they were all completely willing to take ridiculous pictures on the beach at thirty years old. I mean, I'm still a spry twenty nine, but they are so wise and old and thirty...

Viva la BSC.

The People Behind Finley's Peter Pan Party

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Finley's fourth birthday party was last month--and I'm excited to share the pictures soon! We were featured yesterday on Hostess with the Mostess. I'll post all the pictures soon, but I wanted to share a few special ones first... because the party would have been pretty pathetic without a LOT of help. First, I have to thank Jenn for her sweet photography/cupcake baking skills. I'm not sure how we missed taking a photo together... but it's probably because she was too busy photographing everything to pause with me! It was so great to get to throw so many parties with her in VA--hopefully we haven't reached the end of the road!

Victoria obviously puts the V in RV Parties and it was so special to have her here for the party! We planned it over her Spring Break so we could set up and execute together. I was lucky to have her share her famous sugar cookies skills and be there to somewhat keep me in line. But let's be honest, the party was pretty much already off the rails by the time she got there...

Katherine was there too. Luckily--because there was some serious M&M sorting that only her keen eye was fit for. I was grateful she was willing to help set up and do weird things for me. Friends are great.

And also strangely... I managed to get four of my high school friends there. Which is a lot since only one of them lives in my time zone. I love opportunities for our kids to play together and love when I get bonus time with friends!

Sol barely made it in for the party--he was already working in NJ but managed to make it back to celebrate with us!

We're obviously set on Halloween costumes for this year... as long as baby #3 is willing to be a baby crocodile.

It was such a fun party made possible by so many friends. My number one tip for parties is to outsource--let people help you and try to get as much done ahead of time as possible! We still had plenty to do the days leading up, but nowhere as much as we could have had. A big, huge THANKS to everyone who helped put the party together. And check back in a few days for more pictures of the actual party!

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

After we went to the train museum on Braden's birthday, we decided to go spend some more time with a train... in Vienna. The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad has been turned into a fabulous running/biking trail and they have this train car out for kids to climb and play on.

Braden obviously had a hoot. The curls.

(The shoe shot is for Jenn.)

Finley enjoyed it too--boys and trains. And cars. And trucks. I mean, boys. What am I going to do with all these boys?

Trains for Braden's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Braden's birthday fell while the boys and I were living in Virginia and Sol was working in NJ. Luckily, he was working second shift that week, so we met in the middle to go to the Baltimore Train Museum. I know Braden loved it because he screamed and cried most of the time because he was so overwhelmed by excitement and love. I know it.

The museum has a few train cars filled with exhibits and model trains--in the first picture Braden is saying CHOO-CHOO! He loved watching the trains--meaning he cried when we left the train to do something new.

There's a huge roundhouse filled with a bunch of different engines--not many of them are open to climb on, but they are so fun to look at.

Obviously, the one thing I wanted was to get a picture of the boys together. And also for them to be somewhat happy. And also obviously, that did not pan out. But we were close.

The best part is a little area filled with toy trains, train books, train hats and all sorts of awesome train things. The boys could have spent hours right there playing. So obviously Braden cried when we made him go somewhere else.

It really is a great museum--and a great meeting point for any friends who want to meet us from Virginia! We will always be happy to go. Hint hint.

Cherry Blossoms

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

The boys and I made a run into DC (even though my allergies begged me not to) to see the cherry blossoms. Finley was a much more willing participant in my photoshoot than his brother--and I got a few sweet ones of him, which you saw in the post for his birthday. (In case you are interested, here's a vintage 2009 post about Cherry Blossoms...)

We went out on a Wednesday morning--one of maybe five good days of blossoms. We made it early enough there weren't many people out. The boys got to run free and enjoy the blooming trees--and I got quite a few good shots with no people. I had some anxiety about taking the boys into DC alone--but they did great. Traffic was moderate, I parked easily and the boys happily rode in the stroller as we moved around the tidal basin. It was a lovely day.

Braden was too busy exploring and asking for snacks to participate in the pictures. This really was about as good as it got! I mean, he's cute even when he's not smiling.

All my favorite smiley pictures of Finley are in his birthday post--but I this is one of my favorites, even though he's making a goofy face.

A nice lady was kind enough to take our picture--I'm so grateful she did! A very sweet memory to wrap up our Virginia time. (Sidenote: the first time I typed that sentence I typed BOSTON instead of Virginia. I still slip up and tell people that's where I love when people ask... And I majorly have Boston on the brain after the bomber was captured a mile south of our old house in Watertown!)

On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Jefferson Memorial and the boys climbed around and I took some pictures.

Here's some pictures of us at the Jefferson two years ago... I can't believe how LITTLE Finley looks! Tiny peanut. After we left, we stopped and picked up We The Pizza as the culmination of my DC Gastro-Tour. I hit just about every restaurant on my list!

Lovely Light in our Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We spent a few nights in a hotel while we were homeless in VA--and lucky for us, there were huge windows that let in tons of lovely light. The boys were playing sweetly together and continued to be adorable while I moved around them and took sweet pictures. I downloaded a bunch of new Duck Duck Moose apps and the boys were SO entertained.

Braden snuggled close to Finley and put his head on big brother's shoulder. And he just giggled at whatever Finley did. It was precious.

Of course all three monkeys and one giraffe were in attendance. When are they not?

I was so proud of both boys--how Finley let Braden sit close to him and always made sure Braden could see. And how Braden kept his hands off and didn't try to touch the screen (since he has zero iPad skills currently).

I mean, I was obsessed obviously. This is a fraction of the pictures I managed to take of two kids playing a game. Silly. It's just so precious to watch them be closer to being on the same level and be able to do things together. A few days after these pictures they figured out wrestling and spent a good fifteen minutes tackling each other and giggling. I imagine it won't be quite as cute in twelve years when they are middle schoolers... and there are three of them... and they are actually causing each other pain. But for now, it's sweet.

Finley is FOUR!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Against my best efforts, Finley is FOUR.

My new trick for making him smile? Telling him jokes. He doesn't understand jokes at all, but he fake laughs and smiles every time. And then tells me nonsensical jokes in return. Yesterday, he made a legitimate pouty face with the bottom lip sticking out. It cracked me up.

Finley is a pretty avid learner--he loves asking us how to spell things so he can write them and having us make up addition problems for him to do. I'm constantly impressed by what he can do. He really is good at adding and can add numbers up to about 6 in his head. When he's in the mood, of course. He loves to do puzzles and read. He'll be going to preschool five days a week next year and then the next year... kindergarten. How is that even possible? It can't be. We're working on some independence things--he's all too content to let me get him dressed and do all sorts of things I'm realizing he's big enough to do on his own. That's trickster.

He's always saying things that crack me up. He often says, "Excuse me..." which is super polite, but he only uses it appropriately 50% of the time. He also says, "I realized..." and when something isn't working, he says it's disobeying him. He's getting tricky about blaming things on other things--like Pete from Mickey Mouse. Other sweet phrases are "Oh nevermind" said very dramatically, and "wait a minute wait a minute." It just always makes me smile when he uses little adult phrases.

He's pretty good at being kind to his brother and somewhat sharing--I'm lucky I don't have to mediate too many battles yet. He's very content to play on his own and make up games and stories by himself. It's also sweet when he'll ask for someone to play with--"Does anyone want to play with marbles/blocks/read a book?" I just love his sweet personality.

It's so hard to even try to write a post summarizing what Finley is like these days--he's just such a big little personality and we really cherish every minute with him.

We're celebrating today in Little Rock with my parents and grandparents by going to the zoo and the train restaurant--all that's missing is Sol. We're bummed he couldn't make it out this weekend, but are looking forward to a fun time with him next weekend!

Last Outings in Virginia

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Our last few weeks in Virginia were hectic--we moved out of our house about two weeks before we actually left the area, so we stayed under many different roofs and kept ourselves busy with many different activities.

Our last Monday was WARM--so my friends and I packed up our kiddos and headed to the zoo. We were vastly outnumbered--four mamas and eight little ones. The kids had a lot of fun--I think the meerkats might have been the biggest hit.

These kids are the cutest. I always hope that I can get a good picture of the boys together--and it pretty much never works out. Can you feel the love here? Braden did not like Finley putting his arm around him.

And here's the whole crew minus the little bitty baby who really slept the whole time and didn't make a peep. We lost zero children on the outing! Well, I lost Finley for a few minutes, but I'm not counting that.

The next day we went to Clemyjontri--the coolest park in NOVA. It was very sunny and I had to chase the boys A LOT--but I really wanted to get a picture of Finley with his best pals (Finley and Margaret) and of Braden with Oliver, who would be his best pal if we weren't ripping them apart.

What can I say about my Virginia friends? I can't believe I found such lovely ladies with kids the same age to learn how to be mothers with. I'm so grateful for this time with them and for their friendship, and for the friendship between our children. I'm so sad to leave them--and I can barely stand to think about Finley losing his two closest pals. Luckily, we're only two hours away...

Yesterday in Boston

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Part of me feels like I have no right to weigh in about Boston at all, after all I wasn't even there--but as someone who has a serious love affair with Boston, marathons and more specifically, the Boston marathon--I have a few thoughts. Probably not well put together thoughts, but thoughts all the same.

First, it's really scary. Like really scary. Scary that there are people that would attack something as noble as marathon (or as innocent as an elementary school). And it's hard to feel safe anywhere when you know that pretty much everywhere has the potential to be unsafe. But after watching hours of the live coverage--much of it being the video of the actual explosions on loop--my faith in humanity is a little restored. Because while many people ran away--many people ran straight towards the smoke to help. I love this quote that's popped up around the internet in times of tragedy...

And as the mother of small children (who are mercifully still too young to understand) this is the message I want them to remember. That there are people who are not helpers--but there are always more people who are crushed by tragedy and run to check in on their loved ones and do anything they can do to help. And more and more, as the mother of boys, I feel convicted to raise them in a way where they know that no matter what, hurting another person is not ok. Ever. As Finley starts to talk about "shooting bad guys" or making gun sounds, I have to think long and hard about how to gently raise him in a way where he knows that it's not something to be taken lightly. I love this Ted talk my friend Carrie sent me (ironically, shot in Boston). Every Ted talk is great, but this one has a unique perspective on raising boys. It's worth your time.

And what makes it harder is that the people running at that point in the race likely weren't running because they were fast and qualified--they were running because they were passionate about running and about a charity and raised thousands of dollars to be there. And the people hurt the most were the spectators--they were there because they were cheering for someone they loved. There's really no better people than marathoners or their supporters--this article speaks to it well. We felt it after the cancellation of the NYC Marathon--the runners coming together to take care of each other and their community. And I keep finding more heartwarming things--the lovely people of Boston putting together this spreadsheet to help people who need a place to stay. And one last article that I loved--from the husband of Katherine Switzer, the first woman to run Boston after trying to be forcibly removed from the course. The marathon is special.

So if you haven't already, hug someone you love. Thanks to everyone who checked on me--I suppose it was also by the grace of God that I didn't qualify for Boston this year and went the path of having baby boy #3 instead of running the race. I'm just so glad that the boys weren't there waiting at the finish for me--and that everyone I love in Boston is safe. Praying for the victims and that those responsible are quickly identified.

Braden is TWO!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

My baby is two today! When Finley turned two, I already had Braden--it's crazy to think that Braden will be a big brother soon too. (And here's when he turned one--it's so fun to see how he's changed and how he's stayed the same!)

The day we brought B-town home from the hospital.

There's a lot of things I love about this boy, but my favorite is that he is a snuggler. He's affectionate. He likes to hold my hand when we walk places and sometimes he'll lay his head on my shoulder when I carry him. He'll occasionally give me hugs and kisses without being prompted. Or honk my nose. And if I'm ever laying down (which, lets be honest, is as often as possible) he immediately scoots over to curl up next to me. And suck his thumb, naturally. And he still lets me hold him like a baby.

Getting so brave on the playground.

He's such a talker. He'll regularly speak in four or five word sentences and is great about communicating what he needs. I want a drink of water, I want to get down... or maybe he is just good at saying I WANT. I would say roughly 80% of his vocabulary is MAMA. Somehow he works a good MAMA into about every second. He's always saying, Hi mama, hey mama or hi mom. He's said "I so sorry" for quite awhile now--and he definitely doesn't understand what it means. Some of his other sweet phrases are saying, "Hi guys!" to a group of people, or saying "See you soon" when we have to put toys (or toothbrushes) away. And most of the time when I ask him something, his response is, "Yes Mom." He's just a sweet (verbose) little guy.

Struggling a bit to get the 3d glasses to work.

He loves to brush his teeth and read books. He loves Tucker the giraffe and trains. And he loves to sleep--we're so lucky he's a great sleeper. I think I can count on two hands how many times he's resisted going to bed. He kind of loves it. When I lay him down he'll normally pray (Dear Jesus, Amen.) and then says, Sweet Dreams! and Bye Mama. He's starting wiggling a little more, but for a long time I'd lay him in his bed and tuck him in and he'd be in the exact same spot when I go to get him after his nap. He doesn't wiggle all over like his big brother. And sometimes he says, "Hi pumpkin!" when I go to get him after his nap--because that's what I say to him.

Lest you think he's always sweet... I apparently don't swing him the right way and he doesn't think me taking pictures of his tantrum is as funny as I do.

On his last night of being one, we hit a new milestone. WRESTLING. The boys wrestled for a good fifteen minutes--each of them instigating the other and grabbing each other and rolling around. It's probably the first time they've actually played TOGETHER. It was really cute and quite indicative of what my life will be like for the next... 20 years? Who knows. God help me. Please.

I'm so grateful for these two sweet boys. Whenever Braden is acting like a two year old and driving me crazy, I try to hold him real close and kiss those curls and feel the blessing that is a crazy two year old. And Braden, don't think that just because you are getting a new baby brother doesn't mean you aren't my baby anymore. Because you are.

Boys at the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Last week, it was cold. We had to wear jackets and I was grouchy because there's nothing worse than being cold while your head is dying from allergies. It's unfair is what it is. The boys and I went to play at the park while we were staying at my friend Kate's house and they managed to have fun, despite the April chill.

Braden was sure he could climb this rope if he just held on tight enough. He was wrong.

Luckily, this week has been unseasonably warm. It's been a great way to bid farewell to Virginia--with trips to the zoo, Clemyjontri Park and tomorrow--to see the Cherry Blossoms! I got to break out my maternity shorts, which is not as exciting as it sounds. We list our house Thursday and I fly to my parents Sunday--hopefully we'll have had an offer for like double our asking price by then. Dream big, right?

What Does a Giraffe Say?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

In the evenings, I like to trick the boys into playing in my bed. Braden loves to pretend to sleep and hide under the covers and Finley likes to either play the iPad or have a "tickle party." And I like to lay down. I snapped some shots of them while they played and were being sweet.

I always want to write posts of what Braden is saying these days--his vocabulary is just so extensive, even if I'm the only one who knows what he's saying. It was much easier to keep track of what he was saying in bed and report... he wouldn't stop playing with the fork and spoon and kept showing me them and saying, "Fork. Spoon." He played with his trains and laid them all on their sides and told them, "Night night, sweet dreams." And he would let me know when he wanted me to "tuck you in" and when he wanted to crawl under the covers and "hiding." He also would pretend to jump on the bed and say "Jump! Jump!" So cute.

Finley was oblivious and did puzzles on the iPad. Also he got marker on his face very early in the day and I thought it was so funny he didn't know it was there that I didn't wash it off until bedtime. Jokes on him!

I tried to interview him and got a few cute moments. This is our second take because he did something super cute in the first one that I actually didn't record very well... When quizzing him on animal sounds I always like to ask him what Tucker (who is his giraffe) says since giraffes don't really say much... and for the first time he gave me an answer: Tucker says, I love you! Such a sweet answer that he then gave for all the other important people in his life. It was adorable.

If you watch carefully you can see one of his eyes wander out--we're in between doctors currently, but the treatment has actually been going well because it's made the both eyes wander out more equally, which means that his good eye is less dominant. I think. I'm anxious to see our new doctor and continue his treatment.

On Friendship and Love and Providing

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

As we begin to wrap up our time in Virginia--spending time with friends, packing boxes and readying the house to sell--it's natural to look back and reflect on the past moves that brought me here.

Twelve years ago... I was graduating from high school and I think my friends and I were all sure there was no way we could go on. We were the rare girls who LOVED high school. And we still love each other to this day--traipsing across the country to go to weddings and snuggle babies and sit in each other's kitchens and eat queso.

The BSC at my wedding

Four years later... I was leaving Kansas State and another group of girls. I didn't think I'd ever make as great of friends as I had in high school--and somehow I did. I was lucky to be an Alpha Chi and find such lovely friends so quickly. Clearly, it was by the grace of God.

The Alpha Chis at my first marathon

Three years after... Sol and I were leaving Boston and the best friends we could ask for. We were so so blessed to fall in with such lovely and perfect people--all at the same point in our lives and looking for the same sort of friends. (And as a sidenote: thank you Jesus for the internet. The great enabler--if not for Facebook and Instagram, I wouldn't get to interact with these sweet friends, from any stage, near as easily. I'd have to mail stuff. Or talk on the phone. Yikes.)

Our Boston bible study being typical

And here we are leaving Virginia--surprised again at how greatly God has provided people to support and encourage us in our time here. I'm not sure how I would have made it through four years of raising these boys without the sweet women I've been doing it alongside.

Clearly, I need to embrace the fact that God is delighted to provide for us and exceeds my expectations with every move. We are blessed to be able to look back down a long trail of friends who are still near to our hearts. The words to the old hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness came to mind:

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Which is a convoluted way to bring me to the actual point of this post--that our God provides. One of our dear friends from Boston is bringing a little girl, Paulina, home from the Ukraine and they have the amazing opportunity to be working with a sponsor that will match donations up to $2500. Andrew and Ashley have three sweet kids already, two darling girls and an adorable boy that Finley loves, who they adopted a few years ago from Ethiopia.

Paulina will be five in September. Five--she's seven months older than Finley. She's been without her parents for five years--that alone makes me want to cry and jump on a plane to hold her now. She's facing some struggles when she finally makes it home--she's been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and other mental disabilities. Andrew and Ashley are two of our dearest friends and I'm so excited to be able to lend a small hand to them on this journey.

While every person isn't able to adopt a sweet kiddo today--part of the wonder of adoption is that even if you aren't in a place where you can adopt, you can still help give Paulina a home with a family who already loves her desperately. Because that's what this whole thing is about--celebrating love. The love that we've had from a hundred friendships along the road, the love our parents have for us and that we'll have for our children. You can help share that love, even in a small way, to give Andrew and Ashley their daughter to love, and help Paulina experience the love they are ready to give her.

Your donation goes twice as far with Lifesong's match--so even if you can only donate $5, it's really $10! Here's how you can help:

Visit here (http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/)

Click "Give to an Adoptive Family"

Family Account Number: 3486

Family Name: Andrew and Ashley Brill

Thanks for sharing the love.

Gallery Wall in the Boys' Room

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

A week ago, all our stuff moved into storage until we can close on our house in Pennsylvania. Luckily, my pal Jenn requested a few pictures of the boys gallery wall to help put hers together--so before our stuff left, I took a few shots of the gallery wall in the boys' room that I missed in the tour of their room from awhile ago. I'm fairly proud of how it turned out and don't want to forget that little corner of our house!

I used a variety of frames (almost all from IKEA!) and a few canvasses. I love the way it looks. There's a zillion tutorials on Pinterest on how to make a gallery wall--this is not one of them. I'm pretty sure I made this by making a fake wall in Photoshop and arranging the frames until I was happy. Normal.

There's a few photos from a beach trip last year and a photo of Braden the day he came home from the hospital. In case you want your own crayon canvas, that tutorial is here. The two photo canvasses are courtesy of Erica May--my favorite KC photographer. If you need an awesome photographer, you are going to have to wait because she's currently having a baby very very close to my baby!

I also love these three prints. The giraffe print is from Etsy, and the UP quote is a gift from my thoughtful friend Carrie. The cross print was a wedding gift from one of Sol's groomsmen, Luke, who passed away in the years following our wedding, and is also Braden's namesake.

I'm excited for a new house with more walls to cover with stuff.

Easter 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Happy Easter! I hope yours was peaceful--ours was not. After moving out of our house Friday, we took over our friends' home while they were out of town. So these pictures are all in their backyard and house--since ours is currently getting new floors and paint! And case you are interested, 75% of the last four years of Easter... 2009 2010 2012

Things that I did not save from the movers: a jacket or cardigan and mascara. I was a bit cold. And the best way to get two little boys to smile? Hold a train cookie above the camera. They will smile and drool.

Could you die over the matching tie and bowtie? They both wore them ALL DAY without making a fuss about it. All day. Finley had been talking for weeks about wearing the bowtie, but made a last minute switch to the tie, which was perfect.

He really does try to look at the camera and smile, he just can't figure out how to make his face do everything he wants it to. Life is tough.

And Braden pretty much just needs to be danced around and sang to and he will make a sweet face.

Unless you are not giving him the train cookie above your head--then he will make his DON'T MAKE THE HULK ANGRY FACE and scowl at you until he gets his way.

Their Easter baskets were a miracle in themselves--I managed to snag them as the movers were packing up our worldly goods. I grabbed a few marked down treats at Target and gave them the train party favors from Braden's birthday party the day before. Mom fail? Braden loved the trains and his big gift--some Lightning McQueen keys!

I found a Jake camera at Target as well that I thought Finley might like--come to find out it only displays pictures of the Neverland characters on the back. He doesn't seem to notice. Even though he has a real digital camera, he was loving this one--taking pictures of all of us and telling us he was taking pictures of his stuffed animals' bones. He's a little confused about x-ray technology.

He seriously took a picture of every single egg before he put it in his basket. I spy a future food blogger!

Are the collages getting ridiculous? My pal Jenn convinced me to get BlogStomp which is the COOLEST and easiest software for making collages ever. All I want to do is collage stuff for the rest of my days. Which is why you are getting like forty pictures here--even though they are all probably just average. :)

Braden was only minorly interested in the eggs. Sol carried his basket and Braden tried to figure out how he could pick up eggs without relinquishing the trains in either hand.

So a very happy Easter to all of you. I was seriously impressed with Finley's retention of Easter from last year--we did the little Resurrection Eggs that has a different part of the Easter story for the 12 days before Easter and he remembered a decent amount of it. And he told me all about the activity we did with baking marshmallows in crescent rolls to see how they were empty in side (like the tomb!) and remembered we rolled the marshmallows in spices when I forgot. Amazing. He has a decent grasp on the Easter story and my mediocre attempt an egg hunt and baskets hopefully helped to keep their hearts focused on the best part of Easter. That He is risen, indeed.

Moving Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Victoria was here last week. Towards the end of the trip she started to get sentimental--the house we both lived in for two years would be sold soon and her reasons to visit DC would diminish. She kept asking me if I was sad--and I really wasn't. I figured I was too busy planning the boys' parties and distracted by the pregnancy and move to be sad. But pretty much as soon as I drove away from the airport, I cried. Because of all the sweet memories we have here--it's where Finley, RV Parties and Braden were born (in that order.) And a few other abandoned businesses (blog design and screenprinting...) As much as I sometimes complained about this area, I really do love it here. An hour after Victoria's plane took off, we finally got an offer accepted on a house. And the next day we had to take little Copper to the airport to fly and stay with Sol's parents while we are semi-homeless. Basically I cried for like two days. After the baby shower in Charlottesville and being surrounded with old friends, I started to feel a bit better.

Virginia house on an overcast, grumpy day. With some weird stuff out front.

Yesterday, the moving company began packing up our stuff. Sol and I spent the last few nights trying to sort out what we'll need for the next few weeks (the boys and I will be living on air mattresses downstairs while the upstairs gets new floors and paint!) and what we'll need for the following month (the boys and I will be living with my parents in Little Rock). The fact that it was winter like yesterday and will be practically summer when we finally move in... and the fact that my body is rapidly expanding makes packing even more complicated. We are planning to close on our new house May 14. I turn THIRTY on May 17th, and told Sol that we needed a house by then. It's not ok to shack up with your parents when you are in your thirties. Oh, it hurts to say "my thirties."

Pennsylvania house on a gorgeous sunny day. It's always sunny in Philadelphia, they say.

I am excited about our new house--it's nicer and bigger than anything we've had before. And it has a conservatory, and I've always wanted to conserve some stuff. I'm excited to replace some of our Craigslist furniture we bought 8 years ago and pick out things that I love. I'd also like to win the lottery soon so I can pick out things I REALLY love.

So, yesterday began the craziness that will hopefully end in the middle of May. I can't promise regular posts or really much of anything. But I'm sure I'll still be around posting things you just won't want to miss. Preview: Finley's Peter Pan Party and Braden's Train Bash!

Megan's Nautical Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Eventually you'll get to see pictures of the first party I threw in my wild attempt to distract myself from moving... but in the meantime, the second party I helped out with was a shower for my tiny friend Megan. Her baby girl's nursery is nautical themed so I threw together some decorations to match. I didn't go a fraction as crazy as I normally do since I wasn't actually the hostess... I was trying to be somewhat normal. Which is hard for me. (Cupcakes courtesy of my photographer on call, Jenn, who might need to add baker to her resume!)

The shower was a little unique for two reasons--first, Megan is an OB so over half of the ladies there were also OBs. So the baby thing isn't quite as magical to them since they pull small humans out of big humans on a daily basis.

And second, the party included four of my high school friends. The rest of my high school friends all chipped in and we pretty much bought her every pumping item on her registry. Because we thought that was awesome.

Can't wait to meet Megan's little girl!