Patty II

I bought a laptop with my earnings from my Dandy hobby!  And I found the most perfect laptop skin to go with it!  The last laptop I bought was in 2005 and I used it for three years of college and beyond.  It's name was Patty the Lappy and it really was a dinosaur, but I thought I was living the dream.  I think it got passed down to several siblings as it got sicker and sicker.  The last time we were visiting home, I found her abandoned in the garage.  I took her home with us, and as soon as Lincoln found it, he plucked off all the keys, one at a time. 

And so, Patty II, welcome to the family.  We're finally a 2-computer family again.  We're really living it ritzy, huh.

Parley Dean is 6-months Green

 Oh, Parley, you are my sunshine!  You have brought me SO MUCH JOY the last 6 months!

 Happy 6 months old, you sweet boy!

 

  I think your fluffy hair is my favorite feature of yours!  I love how you think everything is funny, how you admire your brother, and how you slobber like a faucet!  It won't be long before you're cruising around this house!  Watch out!

Dinner and a Murder

 Jason and I have always wanted to host our own murder mystery dinner, so this year we finally did!  We invited four other couples from our ward and enjoyed a night of lies, bribing, secret-spilling and a murder!

 

Jason was an excellent host, and I won't disclose any information about who exactly was our killer, since I'm passing along the box kit for my parents to use, but I will say I was so pleased with how many murderess votes I got!

  

On the left are our "Best Performer" and "Best Costume" stars :)

Fall in New England

 Brett & Sabrina hit up Palmyra, Vermont, and Rochester, then we met up with them again in Maine a few days later.  Beautiful, so traditionally Maine, and SO COLD up there!

 

We had to try the (muy expensive) lobster to see if it really is better in Maine.  Yup, it was delicious!

Lincoln really took a liking to Uncle Brett!  Link would beg and beg to be held, and would only trust Brett in the pool to help him swim around.

 We did some more touring, driving, hotel swimming, and leaf peeping.  We stopped by the original L.L. Bean store, and the beautiful Acadia National Park!

Thank you again, Brett, for all these amazing pictures!

 

On the last day, we saw the Portland Head Light lighthouse--the most photographed lighthouse in the US.  

 We kept saying how this tour was really just a sampling of New England, and how you could spend days at any of these places.  I'm so glad Brett & Sabrina could come and visit and give us such a good excuse to go see it all ourselves!

Take a Stroll

My Mom has been telling me for months that I should blog about our stroller :) and since Brett took these fun pictures, I didn't have an excuse.  So here is the post, Mom!

 There are a few key items that become incredibly crucial when you go from one to two kids--a double stroller comes to mind.  It really is a symbol of freedom for a new mom.  The day Jason went back to work after Parley was born, I was feeling particularly poor and particularly anxious about how I was never going to be able to leave the house again, when Jason called to tell me that his co-workers all pitched in to get us an incredibly generous giftcard to Target! 

 Which meant a stroller!!  I cried, of course, and immediately bought us a double stroller of our dreams!  We were pretty limited by what we could fit in our mini-trunk, but this Jeep double is a rockstar. 

THANK YOU, friends at Cambridge Associates!!  I think of you every time I hoist this beast all around town!

Visitors from the West

The Millars (Jason's brother & family) came to visit from Arizona on their grand tour of New England!   

 We took it pretty easy the first day since Brett & Sabrina flew in on a red-eye.  It was crazy around here for a few days, but lots of fun with so many little kids, five under five!

Lincoln and Chase were good buddies the whole trip!  I've never really seen him interact and play with other kids his age.  How fun that there are so many boy cousins close in age on the Millar side!  Future college roommates?

 PS--THANK YOU to Brett for all these fabulous pictures!

The next day we did the tourist-favorite Freedom Trail, and I finally found the Make Way for Ducklings statues!  For two years now, I've been trying to find them in the grand park.  Check!

We hit Haymarket, the Aquarium, lots of sites and lots of subway rides!

  We had to pull out the nailpolish since we never have little girls around here! 

Saturday night we got a couple of babysitters and met up with cousin Peter to try out the famous Giacomo's (and only stood in line for an hour and a half!), and of course, Mike's Pastry cannolis!  I'm trying to try one of every (30?) flavor before we leave Boston.  We only go when we have company, and I'm getting close!

What I Love About Fall

My "What I Love About Fall" list begins with all the things on everyone else's list: the leaves, the smells, the pumpkin cookies, the scarfs.  I'm sure your list would look a lot like mine.

But now, to be completely honest, rumors of a colder-than-normal winter are making this Fall less glorious than others.  Perhaps if a threatening gas bill wasn't a constant gloomy worry, I'd be more ok with it. 

I DO love not being pregnant this fall.  Last year, sweets were not so sweet on my morning-sick stomach, so I feel like I missed out on enjoying a lot of the hot chocolately drinks and other sinful sugars.  

I love buying pumpkins and then cooking them up so that I have a dozen bags of frozen pumpkin in the freezer ready for pumpkin cookies, pancakes, pies, etc.

I am truly embracing the accessories that come with Fall.  I will wear boots and tights to church without shame every Sunday till April, starting today.  I fully intend to participate in No-Shave November :)  I'm making it my new fall cleaning goal to weed out the clothes/accessories I only sort of love and occasionally wear, and hold on to the select few that I actually wear and love.  Genius, right?  So goodbye bucket of scarfs and coats I previously could not part with.  Hello to the chosen few who made the cut.

I really do  love staying indoors.  I could probably hermit myself for a good week or two if I didn't have a toddler who must get out once a day or else he tears the house apart.  Autumn just gives me a good excuse to stay in and feel better about not leaving the house.  Baby, its cold outside!

I also love how the little bugs disappear.  I have finally won my battle with the ants in my kitchen who would never go away.  

And of course,  since I'm a little cray-cray about the holidays, and September/October is prime holiday gift-making time, I am in such a jolly mood this time of the year.  Its been so satisfying checking gifts off the list.  Since "gifts" is my primarly love language, I've been loving you all so much as I've been putting your gifts together!

I love you, Fall.

 

Happy TWO!!

We loved having the Millars (Brett & Sabrina) here the last few days vising Boston!  Perfect timing to be here for Lincoln's basketball birthday party!

 

Happy 2nd birthday on 10-11-12!

Link's basketball hoop came without a net, but he didn't seem to mind!  We ordered this months ago and have been dying to give it to him!

Lincoln is such a crazy, happy, loveable kid!  We love having a funny toddler!

Parley's New Trick

 In a matter of seconds, Parley can get himself all over the room!  At 5 months!  (Lincoln barely got the hang of sitting up by 9 months, so this mobility is so novel to me!)  

By inching, rolling, and diving, PD can sure get around!  Until Link comes and clobbers him.  This baby is so very very tolerant.

MBTA Boy

 I did a review for "Shirts That Go" last week, and loved picking out a diesel train shirt for Lincoln!  He's pretty fascinated by the subway these days!

It was fun taking him on his private photo shoot!  I love that this not-quite-2-year-old wears the 4T size with style.