Happy Halloween!

 Mickey & Eiffle Tower

 little jaguar cub & Raggedy Ann

 (this dress was mine when I was little!)  

off to (the) grandmother's house(s) we go!  

 This WAS going to be Ax's costume (corn on the cob) however, it was a little too snug. (que - "fat guy in little coat"...) Thank you Seckles for lending us the jaguar at the last minute!!!  

 The Olsson side: jag, Raggedy, princess Leia & ewok

Birt side: Buzz, jag, Super girl, Raggedy, Woody 

We even snuck in a quick visit to the Thorstenson's in-between!  Happy Halloween all!  

Sweet moment.

Yesterday I was enjoying a quiet ride to Trader Joe's with my girl.  Apparently we were BOTH taking in the beauty of the bright colored trees that Seattle has this time of year & Lai says, "God made me those trees".  

All in the name of research...

I realize you don't need to know every detail of my every day but, today has been a doozy.  This afternoon I rushed out the door to get Axey to a research study at UW on time, found the specified parking lot & parked.  I could write a book about all that was happening between me getting out of the car & almost getting my child out of the car, but bottom line: I locked my keys, son & phone in the car.  Think about this.  Keys.  SON.  Phone.  And, lets assume I don't have OnStar or a spare magnet key box in my wheel well, Mkay...!?

As you can imagine this posed a bit of a dilemma.  Without a phone I would need to go to a phone, but I couldn't leave Ax.  Luckily, many kind strangers stopped to be of assistance.  Unfortunately, all coat hanger-less.  Long story short:  a locksmith arrived and wanted $225(!), I declined & ended up paying him $45 - about $40 too much... (Not that Axel isn't worth every penny but, he was fine & loving the attention of all the onlookers - he would have managed waiting 25 minutes for Jason to arrive with a spare key...)

Needless to say we arrived to our little research study late but, Axel did a stellar job.  You can't tell in this photo but, he has wires hooked up to his right ear - (it was a hearing study, same one that L did 2 yrs ago).

Axel today

Lai 1/09

Let the fun begin...

At 6 1/2 mos old Axel ate his first solids today.  I haven't been in any rush starting him on anything other than my milk b/c doing this I have to admit that he's growing up & I have to admit that in about a year I'll be weaning him completely... sigh.  None the less, avocado's watered down with my milk was the first foreign food that entered his sweet little body.  And not surprisingly, he ate it with gusto.  Laila was a great cheerleader.

Separated at birth?

(For those of you itching to see more pics from our Disney trip - they are finally posted below.)

Party #2.

Who says we can't have a party two nights in a row!?  Jason thought it would be the perfect evening to make cookies & carve a pumpkin.  It just so happened that Laila & I thought it would be the perfect evening to EAT cookies & WATCH someone carve a pumpkin... & have a dance party.  & whip out the trusty 'ol Jumparoo (or the "hopper-gym" as L called it).  What party animals I live with...

dark & white choc chip, oat cookies

Melis, correct me if I'm wrong but, I think Ax is the most current user of this great toy that has also been used by Bailee, Karlee, Derek, Brendan, Laila, Inger & Nils...?  am I missing anyone?  Hopefully it can withstand Axels "full-figured" body so that many more kids can use it in the future.  

she loved saying, "yuck" with every scoop (weird, who did she hear saying that!?)

we thought it would be fitting to honor the little fella we hung out with last week

front:  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

back:  BOO!

finished product, didn't J do such a great job!?  If this firefighting thing doesn't work out - look out people who carve pumpkins for a living!  
(can someone please tell me how to take decent pics at night??? ugh.)

My day.

This morning I walked into the kitchen & immediately was hit with the smell of onions.  "Yuck!  What smells like onions!?!" I complained... before I caught a glimps of this on the counter...

(Oh, this amazing meal that you prepared at 6:30am while you let me sleep in....) "I mean, yum - I'm excited for this fabulous meal, husband!"


Late morning, Laila thought it was really fun to give Axel some blankies, so he'd be "cozy"...  In true Birt O.C.D. fashion she would open the storage bench, pull out ONE blanket (that was neatly folded... sigh), close the bench, go place it on her brother, and go back & do the whole thing over & over again.  Before I knew it, he had 14 blankets on him.  

She then put them all away for me singing the "clean-up" song... what a helper (again... sigh)!  


After the devine dinner Jeremy & Monique joined us for L's first real movie night with popcorn & Thomas Kemper's.  She lasted about an hour before we brought her to bed & she crashed.  

Disneyland & California Adventure

We had a fabulous vaca with J's side of the fam.  There were 13 to 18 of us at any given time & I must say how impressed I was that we were all very comfortable to do our own thing with still getting lots of  family time in.  It took L some time to warm up to the rides (& figure out what rides were) but, once we jumped that hurdle she had a blast & loved the time with the giant Birt clan.  Ax also did great, he was often found in the stroller, in the Ergo or in our arms.  He was a champ and loved all the people watching.  Disneyland truly is such a fun and easy family vacation.  I can't wait to go back!

(this was taken on the last day.  the word "wet" is putting it mildly.  but still, oh so fun!)

 the triplets in their Mickey and Minnie shirts

 if your mom let you eat a marshmallow Minnie, what part would you eat first?  Why the face of course!  

 this is one of my favorite pics of L.  She loved the teacups.

 my honey with some honey

nightmare before xmas haunted house

 on Dumbo

 silly boys in their jams

 getting to the park early had it's perks - L & I had a whole rocket to ourselves!  

 L & M

 small world

 very first french braid

 driving uncle Jeremy around

 trying out Mickey's chair in his house

on her way up a big coaster... she freaked.

   

 the glue that held the group together - thank you Birt's for EVERYTHING!  

 the kids visiting with their 2nd cuz, sweet Addison

 6 mos Ax & 16 mos Addie, both 23 lbs 

 matching girls

 J's aunt Joan brought games and prizes for the kids.  the kids had a blast - it was so fun getting to visit with Joan, Theresa, Alex, Alli & Addi.  (keep us posted on that blog Alex!!!)  

Ax & Lai by their letters...

L loved going on the ferris wheel.  Her parents?  not so much... it's really high! 

we ate our way through this watermelon many a time...

 yippee!  tall enough to go on bumper cars!  

 view of Tower of Terror.  name says it all - free fall in an elevator - yikes!   

 L liked to pile her cars on him while they road around in the stroller.  he didn't mind at all...

 Muppets 3-D

 wet day in the only long sleeves that we brought...

 L & I had the pool to ourselves on this cold rainy day...

 luckily Ax had an extra fleece to loan L 

BOO!  

a few CHARACTER PICS: 

Fun time had by all.  We were lucky to get nice weather until the very last day.  

*some of these pictures were taken by Melissa & Monique - thanks ladies!