Our Week in Portland

The kids and I spent much of the week in Portland with Amber and Tony while Cade attended the University of Portland soccer camp during the day. Cade had such a great time playing soccer 5 hours each day and was sad to leave today. He says U of P is where he hopes to play college soccer! I had a great time hanging out with my sis (never enough time though!) and spending time with my nephew, Jacoby, and my kids. I always love my time in Portland and am passing that love onto our kiddos! Our week included a trip to OMSI and the Pittock Mansion, a little shopping, daily trips to Paradise Bakery, a stop at Powell books, a ride on the tram, a visit with Duane and Mary and sunny afternoons watching Cade (aka 'Ronaldo' this week by his camp-mates!) play his heart out in his scrimmage games at the end of each day.

Amber and Genevieve

Jacoby and Willem loved playing together

Cade, Jacoby and Willem having fun at the park

Another smile from Nev

Such a cute, happy boy!

I got to give Jacoby a haircut! He was very good!

Willem concentrating at OMSI

A few soccer shots:




Pictures from the Pittock Mansion:

Happy Father's Day!

We had a great Father's Day today. It started with Chad and me (and Genevieve) sleeping in until about 9:30 - yeah! We then relaxed and watched a fantastic USA soccer game on TV (Chad got a haircut by me during the match!). In the afternoon we went to Chad's parents and had a great meal and visit with Chad's parents, siblings and some nieces and nephews. Later we had pizza and cake at my Dad's with my brothers and lots of nieces and nephews. And it ended with Chad and me and the kids taking a walk in the fields. So very nice! I am so lucky to have married a fantastic dad and to have a great dad and father-in-law.

This morning after Chad opened gifts & cards. I love this picture!

Chad and our kiddos!

Grandpa and Genevieve

Me and my Dad (aka Opa)

Genevieve with her cousins & sis trying to teach her to crawl!

Genevieve's view!

Gabrielle, Genevieve, Willem & Cade

Faux Hawks and Fun

Tonight we celebrated cousin Roman's 16th birthday. Marcus came to the party straight from a haircut and on a sort-of dare to be a cool uncle he got a 'faux hawk' cut (circa soccer superstar Cristiano Ronald0). So we got this shot of a bunch of the boys (and a girl!) styling their hair in a 'faux hawk' style like Uncle Marcus. It's a bummer you can't see his and Chad's better but it's still a fun picture (and you do look very cool, Uncle Marcus!)...


Here's a classic birthday party picture with a bunch of kids on the trampoline and the soccer field...


And finally a few of the birthday boy, first with his dad (and my bro), James, and then with his cousin Daniel (visiting from Nicaragua)..


And another classic of the kids hovering around the cake singing 'Happy Birthday' with loud 'cha-cha-cha's' throughout...

Genevieve is Six Months!

Our sweet sweet Genevieve is six months old today! Amazing that she is halfway to one year old already! She continues to be our sweet, mellow, smiley baby. Here are some milestones:

- 16.5 lbs (nearly 2 lbs less than Cade and Gabrielle at this age and almost 3 less than Willem).
- She can sit up but not for very long.
- She loves to jump in her jumper (see pics below).
- She is sleeping from about 9:30 pm until 5:00 in her crib then I feed her and she sleeps till 8:00ish with us. We will sometimes put her nukie back in her mouth once in the night if she wakes before 5:00 am.
- Genevieve will take a good 1.5+ hour nap around 10:00 am and then another 1.5+ hr at 2:00 pm in her crib if we are home then she'll take another shorter nap or two in the car or on a walk later in the day.
-Nev is getting good at falling asleep in her crib on her own though we sometimes go to her after a few minutes and put her nuk in one more time to settle her.
- We haven't tried solid food yet, she still just nurses.
- Nev can turn over both ways very easily now. She can get up on all fours and scoot a little; she goes in all directions turning and scooting forward and backward but doesn't make much progress and doesn't seem to have figured out how to consistently move forward or backward.
- Genevieve loves to say babababa or dadadada or lalalala or mamama or just aaaahh.
- Nev continues to love to talk to people and loves to give us smiles.
- She also is pretty ticklish!
- Genevieve still has no teeth but seems to have been teething for a while!
- Lately she's been loving to grab things with her hands and her dexterity has improved a bunch.
- She really seems to recognize and love her siblings!

We sure do love our sweet Genevieve!!

Enjoy some (ok, a lot of!) pictures of our six month old from today in the beautiful weather outside...

almost falling over but holding it together!

she loves checking out the grass!

crawling is next!

sweet little chubby profile!

a smile we can't resist!

love the tongue and crazy hair!

We went for a walk tonight and Genevieve wore my hat. She looked pretty cute....

Not sure what this face is but it is too cute!

check out the drool coming off her chin!

She loves her jumper!

Surprise! Happy Birthday Sheri!

On Saturday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for my good friend, Sheri. I think she was genuinely surprised which took quite an effort! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Davis' and then wine at B-Squared. It was a great evening with great friends!

A surprised birthday girl!

The girls!

The boys!

Brandy and me with the birthday girl!

And finally, the drinks!

Getting So Big!

While we were at Sheri's birthday party, Grandma and Grandpa watched our kids. We were going to be gone for more than four hours so I got a bottle ready for Genevieve even though it's been a couple months since she's had a bottle. I was a little worried she may not take it but boy was I wrong! She not only took the bottle but held it herself and drank it all and then some! I can't believe she's almost six months old and old enough to hold a bottle!