Seasoned Travelers

Living far away from family isn't ideal but all our trips back and forth have turned our girls into seasoned travelers. I was reminded of how good they are on long plane rides when we were stuck in the "kid section" of the plane with a bunch of screaming babies and whiny toddlers. Teya and Brinley were the only ones not melting down. So glad we're past that stage of stressful flying.

Of course one of the things that made it so easy was that Taber (being the ever considerate husband he is) gave me the quiet seat by two sleeping adults while he sat between our girls. They weren't whiny or fussy but they kept him busy with their requests for snacks, crayons, games, movies, toys, drinks, stuffed animals, etc... He did a lot of maneuvering in that tiny space to meet all their demands.

And after a few hours of that he passed out. What a sweetheart : )

Other things that make flying easier, DVD players, new movies, sippy cups (we've had enough spilled airplane drinks to know now to bring our own cups) lots of snacks, color wonder markers and pads...

And car seats. On our last flight we skipped the car seat and Brinley was a squirmy little worm. This time we brought it and she was happily contained and able to take solid naps on the flight there and back.

Also we couldn't handle our vast amount of baggage without the trusty Sit and Stand stroller/smart cart. Seriously love that thing!

And that's the end of our travels for 2010! Now we're just going to hunker down and wait for "Big Baby" to get here. : )

Friday Foto: China dolls

A couple years ago my Dad went to China and brought back these darling little dresses for Teya. They were way too big for her at the time so they got shoved in the back of a closet and forgotten until a few days ago when I was digging around and found them. I was so excited that they fit the girls so I had to do a photo shoot complete with little buns in their hair and a pinch of eye make-up for the complete China doll effect.

Oh the cuteness.

Princess Brin Brin

Thanks for the great dresses Dad! The girls LOVE them!

Michigan Birthday Celebration

To celebrate the big 3-0 we went to Michigan to party with our super good friends the Hogges. We flew in on my actual birthday so when Laurel picked us up from the airport she had a birthday princess sash and flashing butterfly tiara ready and waiting for me. I felt pretty awesome in my birthday bling.

I was also a little biased in the way I dressed the girls that morning. : )

When we arrived at the Hogge palace the festivities began. We munched on supreme nachos made with all the fixings and homemade chips!

Then it was cake time! Laurel made me a GIANT cupcake with butter-pecan cake mix and cream cheese frosting. Hello taste bud fantasy land! (p.s. I think Brinley looks like a total mini-me in this picture!)

We decided that 30 candles might be kind of intense so we divided by 10 and settled on 3 ; ) The girls did a great job helping me blow them out.

After cake they busted out a pinata! Everyone got to take a whack at it and I was impressed with how solid Teya and Brinley's hits were.

Here's the Rigg Fam in action:

And the Hogge fam getting their pinata skills on.

After the pinata it was time for presents. Taber put together a day trip to Boston for me that involves going to this custom handbag store where you get to design your own bag and then they make it and ship it to you. He also got tickets to the Museum of Fine Arts which I've never been to so I'm excited for that. The best thing he got me though was a maid cleaning service to help me out in my last trimester!!! I am so excited for that since scrubbing toilets and mopping floors is getting harder and harder with my big belly.

I got thoroughly spoiled by everyone and was especially excited when I opened Laurel's gift, a free family photo session!!! Like I mentioned before, she is an amazing photographer and the thing I was looking forward to most was getting our pics taken by her.

We did our photo shoot the next day and all I can say is I am SOOOO excited about the pictures! Laurel really captured some sweet moments and I just can't wait to get them and put them up everywhere because I love them so much. Anyway, a huge thank you to the Hogges for hosting me on my b-day and making my day so special! It couldn't have been a more perfect day : )

Other Michigan highlights

On Friday night we made a bonfire in the backyard and roasted hot dogs and s'mores.

The campfire food was delish and the kids enjoyed roasting their own food. After we put wee ones to bed we stayed up ridiculously late playing games, eating and laughing. I think late night double date nights are one of the best parts of staying with good friends. : )

The next morning the boys got went out canoeing for a little "man adventure date." Taber and Nathan have been close friends since the 2nd grade so it's always fun when they can get together, catch up and good off.

When the boys came back the whole group headed down to Detroit for some sight seeing. I'll admit that most of the sights were a little depressing since a good part of Detroit is run down and abandoned. The river walk was beautiful though and it was fun to see Canada on the other side of the river.

Here are some of the pics we took on the river walk and in front of the GM headquarters.

After our day in Detroit we came back and left the kiddos with a babysitter so we could head out to Ann Arbor for a couple's night out. We found this fabulous Indian cuisine restaurant called Shalimar and ate like kings.

For dessert we stopped at Schakolad chocolate factory and loaded up on caramels, truffles, toffee and of course, chocolate!

I had to throw this picture in at the end because it made me laugh. Taber was taking a pic of me and Brinley on the plane ride home and the dude behind me did bunny ears! So random but funny!

Anyway, the whole trip was tons of fun. We ate A LOT, we played a lot, and had a great balance of family time, kid time, and couples time. I'm so glad we got to go, it will definitely go down in the books as one of the best weekends ever!

Thirty

Today I am 30 weeks along, and tomorrow I will be 30 years old, so here are my thoughts on hitting my 30's. : )

30 Weeks Pregnant

At 30 weeks I'm feeling pretty good. It's getting a little harder to bend over, climb the stairs, load kids into car seats and keep up with run away toddlers, but overall I can't complain. Unlike last time I've had no troubles with heartburn, I'm sleeping great and I'm walking a lot more than waddling so that's good!

This morning I stepped on the scale and low and behold, 30 must be the magic number of the week because that's how many pounds I've gained. I was hoping that would be my grand total but with 10 weeks to go (which cover the holidays) it looks like I won't be stopping at 30 ; ) That's okay though, it's totally worth it and I'm definitely enjoying every bite!

30 Years Old

I have to admit I've had a little bit of a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I'm turning 30. I didn't think it would be a big deal but I've definitely had some, "whoa, I'm going to be 30!" moments and the feeling that accompanies them isn't exactly euphoria. I think it's because I'm super prego and not in shape and about to be a mother of 3 and I don't know, it just feels heavy.

Taber cheered me up though by reminding me that he wasn't in great shape when he turned 30 either. But on his birthday he decided that his 30's were going to be the decade of health, so he started running, dropped 30 lbs, and I mean just look at the guy, you can't deny he makes the 30's look GOOD!

So yeah, I'm hoping to follow in his footsteps once the baby gets here and make 30 look as good as he does. : ) In the mean time though the celebrations to ring in the new decade have already begun. Last weekend Taber took me out to Takumi, a great Japanese restaurant with Hibachi grills.

We were thoroughly entertained and loved all the yummy food. They even brought me a little birthday dessert with a candle and sang Happy birthday.

After dinner we went to the apple store to drool over iPads and then we went to see RED, which was surprisingly really funny and entertaining. It was a great way to kick off birthday week.

Yesterday my friends had a little birthday brunch for me which included more yummy food and a homemade birthday cake! (Thank you Suzanne!!) And tomorrow we are heading out to Michigan to ring in the big day with some of our best friends, the Hogges, who are insanely awesome, funny and cool and are nice enough to host us for the weekend and take our family pictures (Laurel is like the world's most amazing photographer so I am STOKED that she's doing our pictures!) So yeah, lots to look forward too this weekend, I guess turning 30 isn't that bad after all. : )

"Please Bless That Daddy Will Win."

Yesterday when we were heading out to watch Taber run a local 10K Teya suggested we say a prayer. We thought it was a very sweet idea so we stopped and let her say it. Her prayer was simple, "Please bless that Daddy will win."

So the pressure was on that morning. Not that Taber expected to win since running is a hobby and not something he has time to train for extensively. Still, he wanted to do his best for his number 1 fan who really believed her Daddy could win. His goals that morning were to finish in the top 50, under 50 minutes with an 8 min/mile pace. When we saw him at mile 2 he looked on track to meet his goals.

The weather was a little chilly, but the girls were bundled up and excited to be outside to cheer on their dad.

The race ran through some scenic trails at a beautiful park called Mine Falls near our house. It was a really cool place for the girls to explore while we walked to different spectator points.

I was worried they might get bored but the leaves and rocks and sticks and logs provided plenty of entertainment and photo ops for these two.

Here they are waiting at a little waterfall bridge for Taber to come through.

It didn't take long before we saw him. This was near the end of the race and he was definitely ahead of the big middle pack crowd.

The girls cheered loudly when they saw him and then after a little more exploring and tree hugging we cut across to the finish line.

And there he is coming down the home stretch. He finished in 48:09. Almost 2 minutes faster than his 50 min goal time at a 7:46 min/mile pace which was also well under his 8 min/mile goal. He was also the 40th finisher which met his goal for finishing in the top 50. Teya excitedly asked, "DID HE WIN?!" And I said, "Yes he did, because he beat his goals and did his very best." That was good enough for her and she ran to find him and give him the biggest victor's hug ever.

It was a great morning and always so fun to support our main man in his running adventures. I love what a good example it is for the kids and can't wait till next year when hopefully I'll be back out there running with him. : )

Exceptionally Awesome House Guests

A week and a half ago our good friends, the Draschil's, came out and stayed with us while Joseph was doing Business school interviews at Babson and Dartmouth.

They earned "exceptionally awesome house guest" status by cooking for us (3 times!), helping set up our house for the Halloween party, filling up our gas, cleaning up and doing dishes after every meal, introducing us to a new world of iPhone apps, and thoroughly entertaining our kids. Totally above and beyond awesome. : )

It was also fun that Melinda and I are both pregnant at the same time again (her daughter Brielle was born a few weeks after Brinley) So we could totally relate on all the pregnancy issues of the glorious 3rd trimester.

Anyway, here are some of the pics from their visit:

The day after they got here they were gracious enough to be my party slaves and helped with all the Halloween party prep. They impressed everyone with their awesome Monster's inc. costumes and their mad Minute-to-Win it Skills.

On Saturday after Joseph's info session at Babson we all went down to Boston to the Halloween Fest at the Prudential Center. They had tons of great activities for kids:

Fun character's the kids could pose with.

A car they were given free reign to graffiti. Total kid heaven.

Now we're just afraid to ever let then near our cars with a real marker!

Free face painting (which Teya LOVED, if you can't tell from the pictures)

The three girls with their face painting designs.

(had to get them matching big sister shirts too since they will all be big sisters very soon!)

And Pumpkin decorating.

It was a great afternoon and so neat to have such a big kid friendly event down in Boston.

Other highlights from their visit:

Making sugar cookies with the kiddos. It was messy, and the cookies weren't pretty, but they tasted awesome and the girls had fun so that's what counts : )

Apple Farm visit: I know, I know, we've been there a ton this fall, but the apple donuts are awesome and fresh picked apples are the BEST!

5 mile run for the boys. Yeah, they're hardcore like that.

And possibly my favorite highlight: On their last night here we all stayed up really late laughing and chatting. I was worried I would pay for it the next day but to my surprise I blissfully slept in the next morning. I was shocked when I finally woke around 9am and wondered how on earth my girls hadn't woken me up before that. When I went downstairs I found them wide awake and being thoroughly entertained by Joseph's iPad. Apparently they had been up since 6:30!! But he wanted us to sleep in so he got up with them and kept them entertained for 2 and half hours. And as if that wasn't enough he also made German pancakes with homemade syrup. Um yeah, like I said, exceptionally awesome house guests!