Bowling!

We took Amelia and Kate bowling last night and had the time of our lives! 

Can you believe that they make toddler bowling shoes? Yeah, it's a real thing. 

That's Brandon WEARING Kate and bowling. Dad of the year, for reals.

And I bowled a strike! In other news, check out my elbows. Full extension, baby! Who would've known that both those puppies were broken last year? Also, the strike was a fluke. It didn't happen again until brandon took over. 

Polka dots and peanuts

Kate is in all polka dots today. 

Amelia is in a print she calls "peanuts" today. It took me a really long time to figure out what she was talking about. You want peanuts? You want to wear pants? What?! 

The 'rents last day!

Mom and I got our nails done and it was awesome. I have gold nails that I look at every 10 seconds and smile. :) 

We had a great time at OMSI and Por Que No. It's my new favorite restaurant! 

Love this shirt for Amelia. 

My back is still messed up, so I couldn't carry my purse for very long. Carl and Brandon helped. :) 

Awesome atmosphere. 

Delicious food. 

Kate thought so, too. 

Multnomah Falls

We had a fun filled Friday! We bundled up, piled into the car and headed north to the gorge. 

Of course we had to stop and get some food first. We found some food trucks and got Indian, Greek and Chinese food. There was something for everyone. 

Then we headed to the Vista House, which is one of my favorite places in Oregon. It's absolutely beautiful up there. 

Amelia said "hold me, uncle Michael." Who can say no to that? 

A couple of miles farther and we were at the falls! 

Amelia was pretty captivated. 

The falls were too tall to get in a single shot, but we tried. :) 

Boxing Day!

Today we tried a new Costa Rican restaurant that was delicious! It's the kind of place that Carl loves - tiny, local and family owned. We spoke with the owners for a while and ended the conversation with an offer to visit my family in Ohio. It was a good time! I had to nurse Kate in the middle of all of that, and got a pretty cute picture. :) 

Then we traveled north to the zoo for Zoo Lights! We got there before sunset, which was genius on my part, if I might say so myself. We left at 6pm when it started getting really crowded.  

It was cold! 

But we saw some cool lights...

Carl and I went on to the Kennedy School to see a Boxing Day celebration with live Irish music and dancers. There were little five year olds doing river dance stuff! It was absolutely adorable. We had a drink in the tiniest bar ever, and had a delicious meal at one of the three restaurants on the property. There's just something about live music that is inspiring. We had a great time, and left feeling happy! The evening was topped off with a trip to the grocery store, which made me happy. :) 

Tomorrow we head to the gorge! 

Christmas Day

We had a fun-filled, delicious Christmas Day. The girls are off their normal schedules, and everything in their lives is just a little different this week, so there's a bit of an adjustment period for them. Amelia wasn't interested in opening gifts, but once they were unwrapped she was very excited. Her two favorites are her doctor kit and cash register. 

The first three presents I opened were cast iron, which is fantastic! I'm keeping all three! I also got a puffer jacket, sewing machine, cookbook and mani-pedi gift certificate. I made out! :) 

Carl spent most of the day slaving over the stove in the kitchen, and we all reaped the benefits. It was one of the best home cooked meals I've had. Here's proof:

I think that everyone took naps except Amelia, Mom and Brandon. 

We didn't even have dessert, that's how good the good was! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. 

"my family's here"

After Nana, Grandpa and Michael arrived, Amelia said "my family's here." And just like that, we all melted. 

Kate went to the doctor, and we found out that the horrible weekend we had was because of a new set of ear infections. I'm ready for tubes. 

We went to the gym to workout, and then hit the mall for some last minute shopping. I love how both my kids are shoving food in their faces. :)

We were all pretty tired by the end of the night, and Kate got the best seat in the house. 

walk around the neighborhood

The green moss and big trees just never get old.  Amelia was looking for the airplane she heard in this picture. 

I pointed this map out to Amelia, and she said "yeah! a rain map! look at the path, mama." The stuff she knows just blows me away.  I made a big deal about it and took her picture, because that's totally my style.  I'm so proud of her! 

In other news, she's proud of me, too.  She heard me going potty the other day and said "YAY MAMA!!!!! I'M SO PROUD FOR YOU!!!!!"  

christmas crafts

Amelia and I share a love of Christmas and crafts.  It's a good thing. 

Nelson Family is coming!!!

This was Amelia's face after she said "coo-wa-pa's coming!" 

We're all pretty excited. 

baby cabbages

Amelia loves the idea of cabbage. Especially "baby cabbages." 

Too bad she won't eat them. 

sick baby kate

You've never known fear until you've had the oncall pediatric nurse tell you to call an ambulance for your 8 month old.

When Kate woke up to nurse at 3am, she was checked out. Her eyes were glazed over, she was unresponsive and uninterested in eating. I gave her medicine that she threw up, and then woke Brandon so I could call for help. It was about a 20-30 minute ordeal, and Kate eventually woke up, started babbling and could hold her own head up.  After she fell asleep again, I lost it. We've had a rough go at it this month! We're happy to be together, and still have fun, but man...we've had some hurdles here recently. Send healing thoughts Kate's way if you think of us today. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Foy Family! Here's a recap:

Jenn - crazed mom who doesn't sleep enough and celebrates the holidays by throwing her back out. Receives more help from friends than I ever thought was possible and even had a physical therapist make a house call tonight to work miracles at no charge.

Brandon - dedicated law student who reads more than I thought was humanly possible. In the past week he has had to be Mr. Mom, breadwinner, student, therapist and mediator. It's tough to break this guy, but we're giving it our best effort. He definitely wins the "dad of the year" award!

Amelia - bright 2.5 year old who is on a very well-behaved streak! She's talking up a storm and loves her sister. She's growing like a weed, interested in everything and potty trained. Hooray!

Kate - cute 8 month old with a grab bag of ailments, including but not limited to a burned thumb, double ear infection, diaper rash, sleeping issues, 103 temperature and vomiting.  Consistently smiling, just learned to clap, and pulls herself up to stand.  She has a special laugh reserved just for Amelia, and is in love with her older sister.

Summer loving

The weather has finally started to cool off a bit, and we've been welcoming the change with walks to the grocery store and stops at the park.

Even though we're hundreds of miles from home, we've found activities and friends here in Ohio to keep us happy.  A few favorites have been gymnastics and soccer.  These classes, while expensive!, have really helped Amelia socially and physically.  It's so much fun to watch her learn and grow. 

 

We also went to the craziest grocery store in the world, called Jungle Jim's. They have every kind of food, with sections of the store devoted to different countries.  Here's Amelia trying on a sombrero in the "Mexico" section:

And Kate...chewing on her sombrero...