Happy Birthday Mom/Nina!! It's so wonderful to have had this last year with you, especially living in the same state again. This year especially! You have been a wonderful support in our world of craziness with kids and life. I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for us this year. Your love and support is endless and amazing! Thanks for being an extraordinary Mother, a lovable Nina, and a cherished friend! We all love you very much! Enjoy your special day!
We've had a very busy month and I feel like we're just about to come out from our tunnel, like the photo above portrays. I have a photo of myself from high school that looks very similar to this one. I'll have to find it and post it on the blog.
Anyway, we knew that October was going to be busy. We had visitors, we were visitors, we gave parities and Russ traveled for work. For some reason it always seems to come all at once.
Now that November is here, we are going to have a less hectic schedule. The kids and I are going to try to get into a new routine. Sloan was taken out of daycare - long story but she is now home full time with me. I've been cleared for the gym, so the three of us are going to make that a large part of our week. It will allow me an hour break from the kids and an hour of work out - which I feel I need! Although the baby weight has come off, I don't feel strong. I need to build up my endurance again.
We have Sloan's birthday next week and then Thanksgiving, which we are celebrating here at home. Then Christmas will also be here at home. It's going to be so nice being in our own home for the holidays. I just love being back in America. November and December are going to be wonderful, I just know it. I have a positive attitude going into the holidays. We don't have many plans, so it's going to just be relaxing, which we're both looking forward to. Sometimes you need that in life, a little break - a break from busy. A time to come out of the tunnel which forms around you when life get crazy.
Do you think someone might have been getting into trouble? Or, was someone else in the room getting more attention than her? Insufferable!
Last week, one of our Tokyo buddies had a second birthday. Carter!! Happy 2nd Birthday Carter. Carter, it's been so much fun watching you grow up. We hope you had a wonderful birthday. Love and hugs!
And just because I can't blog without a photo, I had to show you a photo of Carter and Sloan together. This is one of my favorites! Too cute!
Surprise!! Yesterday we hosted a surprise shower for my brother Brian and his adorably pregnant wife Pam. Here is a photo of Pam being "surprised." There was a great collaborative effort from both sides of the family, which made it a wonderful event! Pam and Brian were showered with tons of useful gifts. It was so much fun celebrating the upcoming arrival of Baby Marin! We can't wait for her to arrive. And let me tell you, she is going to be set for at least the first few months.
Thanks to everyone who came to the shower yesterday. It was so good to see everyone. And a special thanks to my husband, for being wonderful! Happy Shower Pam and Brian!
Today's simple pleasures has more to do with our overall family dynamic right now. With Sloan finally being able to fully understand things like Halloween, we are beginning to do more kid focused things. It's amazing how much fun these activities can be, such as trick-or-treating. To see these fun things through the eyes of a child is awesome! We are having so much fun with our little family.
Another simple pleasure is being able to see our families and spend time together with them. It's just wonderful. Another bonus is being able to get family photos of our activites. Happy Sunday!
Our little girl was a Chicago Bears Cheerleader for Halloween. After playing dress up with her prior to Halloween, I realized that the only outfit she really liked was the Bears Cheerleader outfit. Perfect! I even taught her to do "spirit fingers" upon demand, just to show off her cheerleading skills.
The above photo was taken prior to any trick-or-treating. For some reason, during her naptime, she crawled in between Russ' legs and fell back to sleep. I just love this photo, both asleep and happy as can be!
Here she is with Uncle Reese, which she pronounces as Uncle "Geese." She was practicing her spirit fingers prior to going to a neighborhood party. They have the best neighborhood! We partied before trick-or-treating and then after.
Finnegan Reese got to meet his namesake this past weekend. It was so great to be able to see Reese and Sara and to introduce them to Finn. He was, for the most part, a good boy. But when he did cry, they were nice enough to say, "don't worry, we'll have our own crying baby soon." We can't wait to hear the wonderful news!
We had a wonderful visit with Reese and Sara! Thanks for having us. Reese, thanks for allowing us to give Finn your middle name. As Mim put it, you share the same middle name. I hadn't thought of it like that before, since we call you by that name. But instead, you two share it. How neat! A special bond forever!
Here are a few pictures of the boys - the Hubbard men! Too cute!
Somewhere during the last two weeks, my infant has turned into a baby. He is head control is getting so much better and his interaction with everyone, including his big sister is amazing! We were visiting my Mom and I wanted to sit him up to show everyone how good he was doing with his head control when Sloan came up onto the couch to sit next to him. She immediately grabbed his hand. It was precious, seeing them holding hands! Then, without being told, she leaned over and kissed him. I love these two kids so much! Along with Finn loosing his infant phase, he has also graduated to larger, more manly clothes. This adorable outfit was a gift from Carrie, including the shoes. Thanks Carrie!
