Big Brother

Visiting Old Friends

A week ago now, we visited our old San Francisco neighbors and good friends the Kanes.  Tessa turns 3 this week, and she was once again, very interested in the baby girls.  Jake and Tessa had a great time together, although it was near nap time for everyone (including Josh after trying to park Big Bessy in the Marina for 30 minutes), so our trip was cut a little short.  We definitely do miss aspects of living in SF, but the traffic and parking were definitely a reminder that life in the burbs is just fine for us!

Happy Birthday Grandma Lee Lee!

Happy Birthday Grandma Lee Lee!!!  

We hope that you have a fantastic day today and do something extra special!

 

Fun four days off!

It has been a wonderful four days off for our little family.  The girls are getting to be so much fun, and Jake is just fantastic with them, so family time really is special for us right now.  Friday we didn't get any fun Black Friday shopping in, but we did take everyone to get their flu shots...so fun!  Afterwards though Josh and Jakey went to Jake's second ever movie in the theater (they saw Wreck It Ralph) and had a blast.  Saturday was a little rough for everyone as the flu shots set in, but Sunday everyone was back to normal, so we decided to get Christmas out at the Goines house!  Its going to be so fun being able to celebrate the entire holiday season in our home this year.

Here they are- three kids after three shots...what a fantastic start to Black Friday!

 

Dada and Jakey at the movies:

Our Christmas tree:

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  We started the day with a little neighborhood 5k run with all of our new neighbors, then headed up to my parents house for the feast.   It was a gorgeous day up on Kings Mountain, and my mom outdid herself yet again with an amazing spread.  The kids all did pretty well, although many of us ended up sprawled out on the floor next to the table, playing with the babies between courses.  We had an early birthday celebration for Grandma Lee Lee as well as her big day is coming up soon.  Great day of family fun.  We are so thankful for the amazing family that we have around us, and we missed Tia Erica greatly.

 

We are SO Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving dear friends and family!   We are incredibly thankful this year.  We feel blessed to have two healthy, funny, happy baby girls, a wonderful, smart, fun 3-year old son and fantastic family and friends around us always.   Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Addy Giggles

I had the girls on my own most of the afternoon and evening today, and they were in great moods the entire time (thank goodness!).  Addy went through a good half hour of nonstop giggling, so I caught a minute of it on tape.  Nothing beats baby giggles!!

A & C are 7 months old!!

Today marks 7 months since Colbie and Addison were born.   They are both sitting up just fine for long periods of time, both have two teeth, and neither has really attempted to crawl yet.   Colbie (in white) is still about a pound heavier than Addison, and very excitable.   Addison is still the more mellow of the two, but insists on waking up many times throughout the night. 
Jake is doing REALLY well with both of them now that they can really play with him.  We're getting very excited for the girls first Christmas!

 

 

A & C meet the GSB crew

Saturday we headed up to SF to see many old friends.  Our first stop was a little get together of some of Josh's best buddies from the GSB.  Many of them have recently had their first child, so there were lots of babies!   No one could quite believe the 3 kid thing, but all three of ours behaved really well the entire time. 

Happy Birthday Tia Erica!!

We are posting this a day early, in hopes that Tia Erica gets to see it on her actual birthday with the time change to Morocco.  

So,   
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIA ERICA!!!!!!

 

We wish that we were there to shower you with attention and birthday wishes today.   We hope that you have a wonderful day of celebration with your new friends.

 

We think of you daily!

Love,

J,J,J,C & A

 

 

 

 

School Picture Time

Here it is:  Jake's 3 year old school picture.   Of course I had quite the morning trying to convince Jake to put on jeans and a nice shirt.  In the end, or compromise was jeans (instead of sweatpants) with his favorite Superman shirt.  In hindsight, I'm happy that he wore this shirt, as it so perfectly captures this moment in time, and his complete obsession with superheros.  Yes, he is the only kid in the class who isn't dressed up, but it's just not who my kid is, so oh well!

Cute Colbie

Caught this pic as we headed out for a morning walk as a family yesterday:

Visit to Lindsay and Jonathan

We hadn't seen Tia Lindsay and Jonathan in a long time, so we headed over to Walnut Creek this morning for a quick visit.  Lindsay had a great idea to take all of the kids over to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum near their house for a couple of hours.  I have to say, I was really, really impressed with the museum.  There were a bunch of really special live birds and other animals for Jake to look at, as well as fun kid areas to play in.  It is clean and not crowded too, AND there is a fantastic park right behind it!  We'll definitely be going back, and we highly recommend it for all of our east/north bay friends.   Our visit was cut a little bit short by two cranky babies in desperate need of a nap, but it was still absolutely wonderful to see Lindsay and Jonathan!!

 This exhibit was so awesome- the kids lay down and spread their arms like a bird, and sensors at their fingertips help them glide through the air, and move one direction or another to avoid trees, mountains, etc.  Really cool!

 Of course we had to play a little football after the museum:

Halloween was a Success!

Wow...what a day yesterday!   We all woke up really excited about Halloween, and Jake jumped right into his costume for school (what a change from last year!!).   Josh headed home from work early so that he would be with us for trick or treat time as well.  Jake initially wasn't really sure about this whole trick or treat thing, but once he saw the big bowl of candy that I had out for people who would come to our door, he couldn't get out on the street fast enough!  We bundled the girls up in their warm costumes and headed a few blocks up from us where the streets are blocked off from cars.  Some of our neighbors really go all out (I'm talking, hired actors to put on a show in their front yards!!!), so Jake had a great time.  The first two houses I had to walk up with him, but after that, he had the concept down and was running up to houses on his own.  We only stayed out for 45 minutes as the girls were hungry, and how much candy does a 3 year old really need??  Once we got home, we got a few trick or treaters, but not nearly the amount that I expected.  It looks like since we have all of the middle school/high schoolers on our street, they all headed out late, and we already had our lights off/babies asleep by that time.   Here are a few pics of the day...LOVE that even Josh (the guy who previously hated dressing up) put on a funny hat for the occasion (think it's yours Brie, so thanks!).  Special thanks to Nana and Granddaddy as well for passing out candy at our house while we were out trick or treating as a family!

 Addy tried the ladybug costume on this time (we were thinking of you Tia Erica!!!)