Welcome Sweet Julia Simone

She is such a treat all 6lbs and 13 oz of her. As I write this she is exactly 4 days old. Born at 11:29 am on the13th of Nov.

TMI?

Expecting Elephant

Doctor Stella

I've taken Stella to the doctors with me twice; once today and once last week. Since I'm 38 wks, they have to "check the baby." I guess Stella has caught on. When the doctor walked in the elephant was already getting an exam. She had even put jelly on its belly. She also had a glove on. I hope she isn't scarred for life. But really it was so cute. The doc has 3 girls as well and didn't think I had anything to worry about. Afterwards, we went to Jimmy Johns and got the usual a #12 unwich and #4 slim. She loves that place because of the good music they play and good food. On the way out she said, "Mom we are just hanging out today right?" She puts a big smile on my face. I'm glad we have this hangin time together, alone till Friday night....

BMX Race

Rich took the girls to the BMX races Friday night. I opted out. But they did have fun. This is the only photo I got. One day they are flappers and fairies, the next they are into BMX. Trying to keep them well rounded.

Happy Halloween

Nursing According to Stella

Stella is very inquisitive about the new baby. I know she is excited because she is expecting as well. Her baby happens to be named Julia too. She is always asking why my belly is soooo big. "Mom, you ate too much food." The other day she asked how and what the baby eats so I explained it to her. But according to Stella nursing is like hitting the circle K; lots of selections. In addition to milk apparently I can provide apple juice, and chocolate milk. Today we had lunch with a friend and they have a 5 month old baby. Stella spent most of lunch holding her bottle, replacing her pacifier and poking her in the eye. Tonight she kept making her baby doll fly off the bed and I said, you know Stella you can't do that with baby Julia. She said, " I know mom, I can just hold her, but when I'm bigger." So I've drawn the conclusion that with a little supervision, a parachute and some protective eyewear, we are pretty much good to go. This baby will get plenty of love.

Mesopotamia

On the way home from dinner the other night I was thinking about the take out banana cream pie I had on my lap when Lucia started telling me about Mesopotamia. "Mom did you know that Mesopotamia means land between two rivers; the Tigris and Euphrates." She proceeds to explain to us that it was the fertile crescent and when the rivers flooded it was "rich in soil and nutrients." And goes on like this for awhile until we get home. Rich and I meanwhile are totally smiling at each other. Then when we go to bed she pulls out a book like the one in the picture. I asked her how she got it and she said she picked it out at library time. "I was just interested in learning more about this stuff." I had to write this down because Lucia is growing up sooo fast. She has always surprised Rich and I to the point where now we are not surprised we are surprised anymore. When she was a baby she came out screaming and really was a loud, happy, ENERGETIC presence from the start. She used to lay in her crib and lift her legs and let them slam together down on the mattress, over and over. Rich and I couldn't figure out what the sound was coming from her bedroom. When we realized what it was we figured I guess that's just what babies do. In the first week of her life I remember thinking she was here on loan from somewhere special. Sometimes I'm reminded of that thought as she continues to seem such an individual. I'm a little emotional right now. Its the 3rd trimester I'm sure, but I'm so glad that she is the leader of this camp of little Parkes.

Croquet Anyone?

For my birthday we stayed at the Biltmore. We swam and the kids spent a lot of time going down the water slide. A big rainstorm came and we headed inside, ordered take out and invited some friends to join us. We managed to have the "dessert crawl" I was dreaming about...everyone ordered their favorite dessert to share. The next day we woke up and walked/biked to breakfast and played a little croquet. It's a cool place in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright and has a older Phoenix vibe. However, this weekend Hell's Tattoo Festival was taking place in the convention center so the pool was definitely a people watching spot. I just hope the girls don't end up wanting one one day, associating tattoos with good memories. I don't think they noticed too much but Rich and I thought it was pretty funny.

Rain Dance

Yesterday felt like the hottest day of my life. It was 112 and I couldn't cool off. Being pregnant in the heat is crazy. Just when I thought we were going to melt a big storm came and it rained and cooled everything off about 20 degrees. The girls when out and danced in the rain. Rich pointed out to me a picture in yesterdays news of people waiting in line for food and water in Pakistan where it is 118 and their homes have been washed away by floods. I felt so bad. I could at least imagine the heat they felt but not that kind of desperation.

Stella's first day of School

Stella went to her first day of school today at La Casa Preschool. She was so happy to be there. She had a a big smile that her teacher was happy to see. Even though the pics are blurry they still capture her bright attitude.

Beach Bums

For Brooke's birthday we hung out with Ava and Eden and walked down to the tide pools. It was a little cold so we had to borrow some of the little boys clothes where we are staying. It reminded me of Oregon today. I took some pics of the signs to some of our favorite beaches.

Sisters

Today was Brooke's Bday and I'm so happy I have my sister. I'm excited for our third little girl to join the sisters she has waiting. They hold hands and watch the waves, hug and fight over makeup already. This could get interesting....

July Part 2

My little helper. I love this because Lucia knew I couldn't carry everything so she got creative.

We have now moved on to CA where we are spending a few weeks. Brooke is here and Rich took two weeks off. Its been a cool July here in Laguna. The first week really had no sun. I'm not complaining. We still have had some good beach time. Rich has been humoring me by taking long walks with me. I love this time here because there is no schedule, no expectations. Just lots of fresh air and time to spend enjoying each other. It was fun to go to our old Laguna ward and still see our same friends we made when we were first married and now we all can't believe our kids and how they are growing up. TBC...

Lucia turned 6

Lucia turned 6 this month and we just kept celebrating. First we went up the canyon in Provo to have a picnic with Grandma Mavis, Grandma Joan and Brooke. Then we had a birthday at the Gymnastic Training Center and invited all of her favorite people. She didn't stop smiling the whole day. Poor Stella got sick and had to leave but we saved her one of the animal cupcakes. It was easier to get pics of Dad since he wasn't bouncing the whole time. The big hit of the party was the hermit crab gift, who has since passed away. The trip to CA through 118 degree vegas proved to much for him, but we loved Sebastian while he lasted.

July Part 1

We headed to UT for a couple of weeks to start our escape of the heat. We had a blast on the 4th with good friends and the neighborhood. Lucia and Stella really loved spending time with their friends they had been missing. They did things like BMX biking, horseback riding, swimming, playing at Liberty park and on the old rides etc. It was such a fun trip.

Wild

I'm not sure what's in the water here, but strange things are happening at the beach. I went to tuck Stella in and look what I found. Earlier Lucia explained she turned into a dog. Hmmm...

Phoenix Children's Museum

Part of Climbing Structure and wall of discs

More of Climbing Structure

Measuring at the Market

Noodle Forest

Ice Cream anyone?

This week we went to the children's museum, now one of my favorite spots. I love the old building that they converted and I can't believe all the activities. They just completed a 3 story climbing structure that looks like it really came out of a child's imagination. They have lots of seating for adults and people around to keep it safe. Stella love the noodle forest, the grocer and ice cream stand, the race car track and the fort room. The cafeteria had yummy, healthy kid food that I enjoyed:) and best of all it had AC.