How many married couples can taxi a B1 together?

Honest. This was legal.

But still pretty cool.

Back then, dating for however many years, but not yet engaged, we didn't have a plan at all. Now, we picked a path, and with our family of 4, Colorado, here we come!

High Flight

So tomorrow is a big day for us. Brian has his last Active Duty flight. M, K and I will drive down, squirt him with champagne, and celebrate the many years, with many, many flights with some In and Out burger on the way home. Brian flew up super dooper high in a space suit last week with his bud Bam Bam. Here are a few shots from that cool flight.


Is that the moon in the background? Or Saturn? how high are you??

NINER

Keegan is 9 months old. Which means we only have 3 months until Xmas! This kid, man we just love him so much and he's such a cool little guy. He loves to stand up, and turn around and smile. He still only has 2 teeth, but we swear weekly that more are coming in. The only thing he says is "DAH DAH DAH" and no real affiliation to Daddy. He will wave bye bye, but again, we think it's just luck that he does it when we say Bye Bye. (Interruption- Brian just walked in and said "What's on your face?" to which I looked in the mirror and saw Destin on my my cheek and forehead. The job of Mom just never ends)

Keegan is a carb baby, happy with Cheerios, crackers, and any sort of 'snacks'. Yogurt is also a hit! Still on the bottle, not a fan of the sippy, although the straw version we can get a hit or two. He crawls up on all fours, and sometimes stands alone for like 5 seconds. He is really so easy, we just sit and smile at how great the little guy is. Again, his grin is so wide, and he laughs like an old man. His hair is sparse, but what's there is super blonde like his big sis. He loves it when his Nana watches him and likes to listen Papa play guitar. Knock on wood but he's been super healthy with no ear infections. Boo Boo bear, we are so happy that you turned us into a family of Four. We love you!

Another Bday party

Maggie had a semi- 'real' bday party at this huge old gym nearby, 21 kids and then their associated parents showed up:




1/2 the kids just liked making Bri sprint around and they chased him!



Even the Mulloy side made it out for the event. Mike flew up for both this and his 20 year reunion and one of the parties gave him a hang over, guess which one?!




Sweet Mags had to wait until AFTER her nap to open all these! Then WE had to write the thank yous! Next party, year four! (fyi, those are not my toes...)

A pic of Mom for once

So for once Brian had the camera so there is proof I do really exist. Mom and two kiddos, Mom, Mags and crazy Elmo cake, and then just a mom and Mags shot all posted below. Enjoy!

SHE'S THREE!

We officially have a three year old in the house! And she knows it! Magpie is full of questions, still takes good naps, prefers fruit to any other food, loves playing and smushing her little brother, sleeps in a big girl bed, loves going on walks with her Nana, and wrestling with dad, and likes unloading the dishwasher with Mom. Her favorite color is pink (uggg) favorite THING is Dora, and her favorite buddy is of course Sadie. She'll be the oldest cousin on dad's side, and will soon be getting two new cousins from Kiki and Lisa (who, by the way she can't really tell apart, and the fact that they are both pregnant with curly brown hair and freckles makes it even harder for a 3 year old). She's our favorite little monkey and we had such a great Labor Day birthday with her!

Mags started off the day with a new apron!


Next was cooking whole wheat blueberry pancakes with Uncle Billy, Mike, Dad, and Kiki


Opening gifts from Mike and Jen before they headed back to San Diego for Jen's new school year and Mike's cancelled Fed Ex trip!


Showing off her new puma track suit from Lisa and Tom. She said "It has kitty cats on the back!!!"


Heading down to the village for some birthday bouncing and ice cream with the gang: (check out Kiki's 30 week belly!)


Bouncing on the super tramp contraption for a whole 5 minutes! (worth every dime to see her catch on!)


Special day = her OWN bottle of Gatoraid and a matching orange mustachio


Blowing out the candle. Her shirt says Life Is Good and aint that the truth! Thanks Nana and Pops for hosting us! More pics to follow!

The Widest Grinned 8 month old

Keegan, Baby Kong, Big K, Boo Boo Bear, Buddo, our little guy... whatever we might call him, is officially 8 months! This guy is so chill and fun to have around, and he really has just the widest grin ever, as you can see in these pictures.

He loves Cheerios, Stars, cheese, some days a bottle, and other days not. Baby K happily sits up, moves around a little, but no official crawling. His favorite position is to be standing but he's not very good at it. His favorite toy is far and above his big sister Maggie, and he lights up any time Euchre walks in the room- here's a shot where he's NOT smiling:
I think he's just too cute! Of course, I'm just his mom...

She Jumps!

Aunt Barbara caught this awesome pic of Maggie jumping in to Bri. Thanks for sending along the pictures, makes me feel like I'm not really a 20 hour plane ride away!

Missing the gang from Down Under

Thursday I left the family and started my trip to Australia. I think it's been a few days but some how I made it down here and am enjoying the cool weather, cafes, and views of the Indian Ocean. But, I miss these guys:




My conference officially starts tonight, and I think I've slowly adjusted to the 14 odd hour time change. I've learned that everyone down here wears skinny jeans tucked into cool leather tight boots, and I stand out in my boot cut jeans and Dansko clogs. I ordered crepes thinking I would get the yummy thin things from Europe and was bummed to get some regular old Waffle House style pancakes.

I'm off to take a long walk along the ocean to burn off my crepe induced carbs. Ending with this pic taken yesterday of Maggie and gang kayaking up North. You think she'd miss me but while video conferencing she just gave me a quick "Hi Mom" and then went back to playing with her cousin. Keegan however gave a good cry when he realized the computer version of Mommy couldn't hold him.


I promised Maggie a Kangaroo, but this Rock Wallaby was cuter. I don't think she'll know the difference!

At the lake!

We pretty much spend any free time at the lake. Molly caught these pics when she was out visiting from Hong Kong. It's so fun to see Maggie jump in and go under!



And cute baby K of course too!

County Fair Baby!

So up here in Northern California, the 'Fair' is a big deal. We've lived here almost 4 years, and I always manage to skip it. Thanks to my good friend Kels, I was talked into going this year. I just hate large groups of people, it reminds me of Walmart in Oklahoma in my 20s... which is usually what you come across at a fair-like-environment! It ended up being super fun, and I had some world famous corn-dog which kept me full all the way through cocktail hour!

Here we are at the get go: Keegan in Maggie's old backpack for the first time. Waiting for Kelsey, Sadie and Josie to hit the fairgrounds:



After checking out 9 piglets eating dinner off a big 'ole mama pig, seeing sheep (smooth and fuzzy alike) goats, cows, and chickens, we hit my personal highlight. I used to favor myself as a Bud girl in my college days, and the only cheap beer in our fridge is Bud Light, so it was fun to see the official Budweiser Clydesdales! And the polka dot doggie too, from the super-bowl commercials! Here are the girls, unaware that they are with the Thunderbirds of horses!
Next was the racing cars. Maggie kept saying to Sadie "Sadie, it's bumpy!"
Then we went on the Dumbo ride. Kelsey has the pictures on her camera, since I had to ride with the girls because they were under 42 inches. Then the little ones hopped on this Australian Kangaroo adventure ride. They were so sweet and honestly happy!
So 3 hours past morning nap time, baby Kong melted into my backpack. Not bad.
More pictures to follow. A fun day with great friends.

They play together now!

So tonight I caught on tape the 2 munchkies playing together. First off is Mags feeding big K. She's my helper, especially when Bri is gone.

The second video got cut short. Maggie did this move like 30 times but my camera ran out of memory. I'm surprised they didn't head bonk!

With Papa

This week Nana was nice enough to come down and help with Maggie while I worked, because Maggie's day care was closed. I guess we were pretty busy because the only proof I have of the week is of Papa and baby Kong right before their departure!

Saying Blah blah Blah

Keegan loves to chatter- Lisa caught it on tape this weekend:

Triathlon!

One night I came home and Brian told me he'd signed me up for a sprint triathlon. How's that for post-baby motivation? So here are some pics of the event.


This is after the bike. Check out how cool the mountains and Donner lake are in the background!
I was trying to fix my hair and catch my breath. This crazy husband behind me kept yelling that I was spending too much time in transition!

Our family of four- check out how excited Keegan is!
We told Maggie she'd get a jelly bean if she'd smile for the camera. Good for the blog picture, not good for the dentist!
We usually do tri's with our pre-kid gang from North Carolina: Decoy, Hummer, Dog, the Rices... but this time we had the chance to race with Brian's best friend from high school, Jess. Both the guys came in under an hour which was their goal. How funny is it that they were the only 2 without wet suits! LOCALS!!!




Me feeling like a champ. Didn't feel so much like a champ the next morning! Who'll race with us next July? Can't beat the scenery OR the burning lungs!

SIX month stats!

Here's the big guy on our trip to Savannah. Prior to the trip he had his 6 month check up. He was 29.5 inches long, 18.6lbs, and his head was somewhere in the 70th percentile. He's off the charts for his length, and in the 70th percentile for his weight. It's kind of funny to me that he's only gained 8 lbs in his life, but I guess when you start out as a ten pound baby it's tough to maintain that 'weight class'! He's our super happy little guy, who loves to sit up, roll on to his tummy and get stuck, say "Dah Dah Dah", and giggle endlessly when Daddy tickles his ribs or Maggie is nearby. Maggie calls him Boo Boo bear, and sometimes just Keeg. She think it's cool she has nicknames for him. Happy 6 months baby K!

Triple Digit Heat...

It's gotten pretty hot here. So we filled up the pool and have been using it for entertainment. Mom, K, and Mags all outfitted in our SPF 50 shirts because I hate smearing on sunblock:



Keegan is Euchre's biggest fan. Like Euchre walks into the room and Keegan goes nuts. Here he is smiling at his bud. The fun thing is that when we had Maggie, Euchre (our true first baby) would get up and walk out of the room in disgust any time she was near him. With Keegan, Euchre just welcomes the attention since he is the one who gets ignored!




Brian and I went out to lunch today- he took the day off and was the official 'nanny'. He and K had a fun day watching the Tour D' France and splitting a captain and coke!