My Little Leprechaun

Turned 8 months old right around St. Patty's day. And believe it or not--the little guy has quite a bit of Irish blood running through him. I'm about 60% Irish-30% Italian and a wee bit o' German. Which would explain his reddish hair because both my dad and my aunt had it.

He's getting so big!

Help! My daughter's been arrested

By the fashion police!

This godforsaken ensemble is what Mia demanded to wear the other day. Including the accessories--portable video player, gypsy bling and bright orange spatula. Cuz really, nothing brings an outfit all together quite like, kitchen utensils.

Not pictured are the jelly shoes. 


With socks.

You are free to go throw up now.

Small Packages

Every time we go on a trip I tell myself to pack in advance, but it never, ever happens. I end up packing the night before--losing a ton of sleep making me the biggest biatch to be around let alone in an airport or god forbid an airplane.

But this time, I followed my instincts. We leave for our trip in 5 days and I'm proud to say that I'm 98% done. It's the greatest feeling. I can't believe it's taken me so long to figure out the secret. Pack early. Enjoy the anticipation with none of the stress.

My sister-in-law is getting married in Florence and we are soooo excited. Our first stop is Paris. And I've been prepping the girls with croissants, crepes and Nutella for weeks now. Speaking of which, I cannot wait to shove my face in a banana Nutella crepe. It's such a treat!

I have no idea how it'll be traveling with three kids, but no matter what--we'll figure it out. We even jimmy-rigged a velcro blanket contraption to the strollers so that the kids can sleep in the stroller while we enjoy some type of night life. An 8:00 curfew? In Europe? I think not. Let the kids suffer--at least for a couple of nights. Parents of the Year!

I couldn't help but smile as I packed Chance's things. I love having a boy in our family. It's such a different experience than having girls and I'm so very grateful.

How cute is this? 

His teeny tiny little suit for the wedding fits in a gallon ziplock! 

One day, not that long from now, this little dude will tower over me (or actually maybe not considering eu-gene pool and all). I hope when that day comes I'll remember these moments, when holding him and smiling at him and caring for him was all that really mattered. 

Someone's got a new camera to tinker with, adios grainy iphotos!

So I left my cute lil' pink camera at the Vegas airport. No, that's not a set-up for a joke. Boy do I wish. As I stood up to board the plane after an awesome bachelorette weekend, I absent-mindedly left my camera on the bench. I'm still in mourning. Not so much that the camera was gone, but more about losing EVERY SINGLE PICTURE from the bachelorette party. Total bummer.

But, the upside is that I got a replacement. This time it's red. I'm so that margin of people who fall for the little things, like color. I once wanted to buy a Volkswagen solely because their interior dashboard lights were periwinkle. It pissed the shit out of Eugene--who spends HOURS researching products based on, oh I dunno, quality perhaps. 

Here's some of the pics that my brand-spankin new fire engine red camera produced:

Oh look, little Chance's eyes are sensitive to my shiny new flash

ahh, that's better.

Yesterday morning Bella decided to create a "kids store" on our couch. 

She organized the toys into sections. 

And made signs. 

She should work at the Gap. She's got some pretty rad merchandising skills. 

Until she told me that everything in her store was free. "FREE?" I said and promptly sat her down and had a lesson in economics. But still, she wouldn't budge. Everything was free. 

And if you act now, we'll even throw in a light blue stingray. 

I think this is what torture feels like to an 8 month old.

And then there's my Mia, who dresses up as someone different every day. Today she's a wandering nomad gypsy mother/Sleeping Beauty. 

Time to burp the baby.

Ummmm, bowl lids for lunch today.

Ciao!