Snowboarding on a Sunny Day

What a Day!

What a great day - sunshine & hero snow, the nice soft slushy stuff. While the girls worked on a few craft projects at home, the boys (minus scout) escaped for a couple of hours snowboarding. Oli continues to love it & make improvements every time he's up there.

Given that we were not going to be in the board park today, what else is there to do? Well If you're a fearless 6 years old, then it's try to go fast - really, really fast. Here in this clip, he's trying to leave me in the slush (and does so quiet well).

One Month Old!

Julia is one month old today....unbelievable! She has grown so much...not only in size but also grown into an integral part of our lives. Hard to imagine a day without her.

One month summary:

- 339 diapers

- 32 loads of laundry

- 21 visitors

- 0 days without a shower (thanks to my mom's help)

- 4 parent/baby classes

- 1 rollerskating adventure with Oli

- 26 walks

- countless hours spent just staring at our daughter

- 1 dinner cooked by me (thanks to many friends and my mom)

- 0 bottles

- 1 gazillion kisses given to Julia

Nana and Grandpa's Visit

We have had a great and meaninful visit with Grandpa and Nana these past two weeks. We would have had much less sleep, much more stress and much less fun had they not been here.

Here are a few photos.

Look at that BIG belly!

This might have been our first family photo...

First try with the Bjorn while visiting with the parents at Oli's school. Hands-free baby'ing....will be one of my favorite inventions.

Grandpa and his two friends.

Nana on one of the seven times she was able to rock Julia to sleep. She kept count...

Oli and Brett having some 'guy time'

Oli showing his great straight arms during his swim lesson

Oli driving the 'ferrari'....that is what he calls Brett's new car. Mercedes, Ferrari...whatever.

Love is in the air!

We have so much love for this little girl already...Happy Valentine's Day!

Nana Time

I cannot believe that Julia has been in our lives 2 weeks already. She is changing each and every day and we cannot take our eyes off of her.

Nana is here to see it all! My mom arrived on Monday and is here for 2 weeks...yeah! She is helping to keep us all sane and the house in order. What would we do without her?

We love her for who she is but also for the last 4 nights of great sleep. She has gotten into a routine (if you can call 4 nights in a row a routine) of sleeping from 9pm for 6 hours and then another 4 hours. Love You, Julia!






Itty Bitty fingers...

The hand knit blanket is from Brett's mum. It is such a special gift, a labor of love. And a great prop for our photo shoot this morning.

Long flipper feet...

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Listen to those lungs!

Not sure what I like better....her modest leg crossing or her kung-fu arms.

Mama Maro...thanks for all the food, errands and visits!

Here's winking at you, babe.

Brett and Oli as babies also winked for the first few days of their lives. An Alston trait.

Natalie, you are Incredible!

Natalie is an incredible friend to me and my family. And the most creative person EVER! Check out what she put together for Oli to make sure that he felt special with the arrival of his baby sister.

http://nataliegossett.blogspot.com/

Brett is a published author!

Today we found out that an article Brett wrote was published in Consulting Magazine! I am so proud!

You can read it here:
http://www.consultingmag.com/article/ART646607?C=85iDTXatF4B6CTht