SWEET SORA SAGE

 Meet Sora Sage Irvine, born to Jenny and Ladd on October 30, 2016 in the wee hours of the morning. Isn't she the cutest little thing?! We think she looks a lot like Jenny :-)

HUGE Congratulations to the new parents! We love you guys!!

ROSIE

Aunt Sandy had her baby!

And it's a beautiful little girl!!

Camille Rose Newell was born this evening. Sandy and Barrett will call her Rosie.

SUNNY SUNDAY

We started the day with some coloring at Cheryl and Doug's house...

 ...then eventually got our acts together so we could go meet baby Eli, Ben and Whitney's 3-day-old cutie.

 Once the kids were too antsy to sit around looking at the baby any longer, we took them outside to meet Ben and Whitney's dogs and run around their huge yard. The dogs scared Cora of course (even though they were locked into their large fenced area), so she grabbed the nearest free hand. Whitney's brother.

After some snacks, we went to get GG (we saw her Saturday afternoon as well, but I forgot to take photos... everything post-race on Saturday is a bit of a blur), grabbed some frozen yogurt, then headed down to Cheehaw to play at their awesome playground. Uncle Gerald joined us over there so we'd have some time to chat and it was so good to see him! Bub Bubs fell asleep before we even made it out of Ben and Whitney's driveway though, so he had to wait and eat his "ice cream" when we got to the park and woke him up.

 Later that evening (and late into the evening...) the kids snuggled with Doug and Cheryl. We were very lucky to be able to stay with them while in town and it was wonderful to spend time with them!

LITTLE LAUREN

We had the pleasure of meeting Lauren Claire Kennedy a week ago (just after her 1-week birthday - she was born on July 18th). She is absolutely perfect, in every way, and absolutely beautiful! We ended up staying way past dinner because I lost track of time while snuggling her - such a squishy, sweet, sleepy, calm baby. Jay was able to take some newborn portraits, and he wanted to share this one with all of you. 

ALLY ANNE

Ally Anne Roach
July 10, 2012 - 8:27am
6 lbs 14 oz - 19"

She's absolutely beautiful, and looks just like her mama did as a baby. She is already the apple of her grandpa's eye and fiercely protected by her big bro Tyson (who turns 3-years-old later this month).

Congratulations Jamie and Chris!

MEETING ISAAC

Meet Isaac Lucas Hopkins. 8 lbs 3 oz of sweetness who looks a lot like his big brother Gabriel.

Love that handsome profile and those chubby cheeks!

Proud mama Michelle is doing well. (And look at all his gorgeous hair!)

There's just something magical about meeting brand new babies...

"JOHN BABY" AND BABY K

I attended a shower today to welcome "John Baby" (as my kids call him), as well as the impending arrival of Baby K ("Will Will's" baby sister). Lauchlin and Olivia threw a great party (with yummy food of course!) and it was fun to watch all the little guys play together. (I say guys, because Cora, the only girl in the group, wasn't there. Neither was James. They were home napping while Mama sneaked out for a kid-free afternoon and Daddy and Grandma worked hard re-building steps on the back terrace.)

John Baby with his pretty mama, Mary Beth, napping in Cora's Beco Gemini (the test-drive was a success!)

Big Brother David

Beautiful Christina and Baby K (we can't wait to see whether she has blonde hair and blue eyes like her mama!)

Big Brother Will!

Baby Grady, Manu, and Baby Leo

I made a couple of items for Baby K: this little Simple Skirt and a pair of baby pants. The skirt was fun and easy, and my best guess is that it will fit Baby K around 9-15 months, since I used Cora's first skirt as a model. The pants on the other hand, well, I could definitely tell that I've never sewed clothes for newborns before, because those tiny leg hems were tough. I aimed for 0-3 month size (using an old pair of Cora's pants I found stashed away), so I'll just have to wait and see when they actually fit the little miss. I, for one, can't wait to have another girl in our group! I only hope Cora doesn't try to run off with her like she does with her baby dolls...

PARK POTLUCK PICNIC PARTY

We've had a really good, fun weekend: 2 playdates for the kids (painting with Azure on Saturday morning - photos forthcoming, and a potluck picnic playdate at the park this morning) and 1 for ourselves (dinner at Sandy's tonight), and some quality family time at home in between. It feels great to spend time with friends, and even better to see our kids so happy, playing with their buddies! Many thanks to Amy and Katie and Sandy for helping put together such a fun weekend!

We finally got to meet Leo! (He is SO cute and little and squirmy!)

The playground was a huge hit! There were puzzles, 3 slides, a ladder (James can climb ladders now - perhaps I should add that to his "Latest and Greatest" column?), swings, and lots of Manu's toys to play with.

James drank a LOT of water. I swear every time I turned around he was over at the water fountain, but at least he stayed hydrated! (He didn't eat much, of course...)

At one point, I turned to hear James yelling "Ba-noo, look up at ME!"

They were absolutely adorable, running in circles around the playground and sliding together. It warms my heart almost as much as seeing James and Cora playing nicely together. There's just something special about kids reaching an age where they truly connect with their friends and appreciate them. Honestly, I was floored this weekend by James. On Friday night, I told him that we'd be going over to paint with Azure in the morning. First thing Saturday morning, as he was sitting on the potty and chatting with me, I asked him what we were going to do that day. He said "Paint!" And when I asked him who we were going to go see, he said "I go paint Azure!" He remembered, and he was SO excited! (Don't worry, I explained to him that we were going to paint WITH Azure, not actually paint Azure...) Then, on the way home from the grocery store yesterday evening, James started asking for "Will Will". When I told him that we'd be seeing Will at the park the next day, thinking I would make him feel better, he literally whined and cried all the way home, wanting to go to "Will Will's house, not James' house!" So this morning, after breakfast, he was thrilled to hear we were going to play with "Will Will" and "Ba-noo!"

Cora kissed lots of boys today. That tends to happen when you're the only girl in the bunch...

Speaking of Cora kisses (Will and Manu each got some as well), and Cora cuddles, she had quite the thing for Christina today. It was SO cute! She went right to her when we arrived at the park, then repeatedly wanted to be held by her throughout the morning, even calling her "Mama!" to get her attention. You all know what a shy, Mama's girl Cora can be, so we thought it was super sweet that she was being so friendly with Christina. (And at the end of the night tonight, she was so snuggly in Philip's arms that we thought she might go to sleep as he was rocking her - what a little lover she's turning out to be!)

And finally, here are my poor, banged-up kiddos. Cora bumped her head 3 times at the park this morning, with the first faceplant being the worst (she hit the edge of the metal stairs, which resulted in an immediate blue mark that swelled quickly). James scraped his chin back on Monday, but decided on Friday night that he needed a band-aid to make it feel better (and we obliged, because he was picking at it anyway and we figured the band-aid might stop that). At least they still cleaned up well for our dinner date tonight (and might I add, they had 3 baths/showers each today - a definite sign of a good day!) When we told James we were going to Sandy's for dinner, he threw his arms up over his head and yelled "Hooray!" And when I asked him if he wanted to dress up, he said "I wear a towel!" Apparently, "dress up" to him means costumes (since his towels turn him into a frog or a dinosaur, I ASSUME that is what he was getting at by requesting a towel as attire for a dinner party...)

MR. GRADY

On Friday we had the pleasure of meeting adorable little Grady and spending some time with his awesome mamas (when we weren't chasing our 2 munchkins around their house... Cora became comfortable over there surprisingly quick, and she was into EVERYTHING)! Even the kiddos thought he was cool:

It's so hard to believe Cora was once that small (Grady was born 2 weeks ago, and had almost the same stats as Cora, weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz and 18.5 inches). It was so fun to hold such a precious little newborn again. Of course, when it was my turn, all he wanted was his mama (both times)!It's OK buddy, I totally understand. Mamas have the good stuff, after all. Congratulations Lauchlin and Olivia, we are so happy for you both!

BIG MAK

Cora's future husband was born on August 1, 2011. We made the arrangements when he was 12-hours-old. That's not too soon, is it? And she's a lucky girl, because he is BEAUTIFUL!

My best friends, Robyn and Stephen, welcomed Christopher Makai Johnson to their family. He was a week late, but I figure he was just waiting for the start of Shark Week. Those of you who know Stephen realize how fitting that is.

He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and was 22.5 inches long. Big and TALL!

For anyone not in the know, Robyn and Stephen moved to Maui almost a year and a half ago. In Hawaiian, Makai means "by the sea". We think his name is perfect. He is perfect. And we couldn't be happier for our friends, who are so deserving of this joy! We wish we could witness their happiness in person, because we're pretty sure little Christopher's birth ranks right up there with their wedding day.

Congratulations again you guys, we love you!

(And no, they haven't decided on a nickname for him yet. Maybe once he's been around a bit longer. The possibilities are endless though! And personally, I like Big Mak!)