Am I allowed to blog without posting pictures of my kids?

Hey Uncle Jesse remember when I had a blog?

I don't want to be one of those people who doesn't blog for a month and then starts every post with remember when I used to blog....but remember when I used to blog?

What's really sad is that I had lots of great stuff to talk about and just no time.

I turned 30.

That wasn't actually great but all the hoopla surrounding it was.

My friendsies came. I missed those who couldn't make it! I love them! I love eating mashed potatoes and watching Miss America with them and making fun of delusional "ladies" seeking the hand of Mr. Brad Womack with them.

Then my wonderful sneaky husband sent me on a surprise trip to San Francisco to visit my other half; my separated at birth Egyptian (or is it Turkish ;) sister Lailah

There were trolleys! And boats! And hills! And prisons on islands!

I was forced to eat a bucket of donuts against my will. Forced!

My real sister came down from Portland to hang out with us Turkish kids.

I went to China! But I didn't need a passport. So convenient! And economical.

I can't thank Ben, Lailah, and Lindsay enough. I really needed to get out of dodge for a bit and I had an amazing time.

Did I mention that I have adorable children but no pictures to post? I will fix it I promise.

Long December

What a crazy month! Here's how it went down:

Ben graduated with his MBA from OC. We are so proud of him! He also turned 31 which is pretty impressive in itself.

Aidan set out milk and cookies for Santa, who was thankfully able to maneuver around the piles of laundry to visit two sweet girls.

Cora decided that if everyone was going to give her cool stuff she was going to figure this crawling thing out ASAP.

Aidan continued her quest to acquire ever Disney Princess product ever made.

Cora rued the slow (normal) hair growth that resulted in Mommy's new fondness for hats.

Ben and Dara resolved to spend less time traveling next Christmas and more quality time with these girls.

We only have a few years with them this way and we want to savor every moment.

Merry Christmas from our family!

Merry Stripes Christmas

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Outtakes

This is the picture I wanted to use for my Christmas card.

But I decided to dial it back a bit. It didn't seem fair to only show one side of her personality.

Because there's also this....



And everything in between.

pics from Mandy Stansberry Photography

You Win Halloween

Aidan was ALL about Halloween this year. She has talked about it for 2 months and we are officially exhausted. She was a fairy princess for her 4 Halloween parties and she wanted Cora to be a flower. In my official unbiased opinion, they were the cutest little fairy and flower you ever did see. We partied at Sonshine School, trick or treated at the dorms, went to Ben's work party and wrapped it all up with our annual Stansberry Halloween bash.

Pumpkin Patch and 5 months

We took Aidan to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. These kinds of activities always seem so much more fun before you're smack in the middle of hoards of unsupervised children. Aidan pretty much hated all of the adorable animals but give her any kind of playground equipment and she will be happy for days. We got some great pictures and once Aidan warmed up a little she had a great time.

The only semi-picture we have of Cora at the Pumpkin Patch. Never wake a sleeping baby.

Definitely not afraid of heights

Happy 5 months Cora! I promise I will try and get better at documenting your life!

Sisters

Aidan is a typical toddler who throws fits and has meltdowns at the drop of a hat. But of all the scenarios we could have imagined for her reaction to Cora, we could never have imagined how wonderful a sister she would be. She loves Cora, she protects her, she entertains her. I'm sure that we have lots of rivalry coming; especially since Cora is getting more mobile and is a wicked hair puller. But we could not be more proud of the way Aidan has treated Cora the past 4 months.

She's totally going to step on her now.

Just the stats ma'am

We took Cora to her 4 mo. appointment yesterday. She is 14 1/2 lbs and 25 3/4 inches long. I knew she'd be up there on weight but I was shocked that she is in the 90th percentile in height. It's my life long dream to give birth to a person of average height so it's all very exciting.

She smiles

She poses

She flies on Daddy's feet

And then there's Maude

So about that blog....

...oh yeah I have one. You'll have to cut me some slack, the amount of people I'm responsible for increased by 50% this summer. Or is that 100% or 25% if I count Ben? Those are all wrong aren't they? I'm confused. I'm not very good at math.

Today was Aidan's first day of SS. She is a big 3 yr old and doesn't take naps and goes to the potty by herself and has a hook for her backpack. sob.


Aidan loves school. She loves it so much she gets annoyed when I come to pick her up. I love you too.

Cora is sweeter and bigger every day, maybe there's a correlation. I don't know I'm not a scientist. I'm not good at science or math okay?