We love you Uncle Dave...

It feels like a lifetime since my last post, and in some ways it really has been.

On Tuesday, March 30th, we lost my Uncle Dave. He was a fantastically happy man, quick with a smile and laugh. He will forever be ensconced in my memory as a man of vivid imagination (I still remember the magic water from the sap of a special tree), tireless energy and a huge and generous heart. Please keep our family in your prayers, especially my Aunt Jeanie, Cousins Lisa and Jason and his grandchildren Josh, Taylor and little Noah.

I’ve had to look back at my pictures to remember what life has transpired in the last month and a half…

I FINALLY got to meet the Matt to our Nat.

My dear high school friends, Brooke, Jill and Natalie, all came over (+families) for a yummy dinner (several) weeks ago.

We had such a ball! Miss Haley got to play with Miss Reilly and we all got to grill Matt, Natalie’s newish boyfriend. They are just adorable together and it was so much fun to catch up with everyone!

Our Mommies and Babes playgroup is going strong, we have our 4th group tomorrow. The kids are just adorable, and we have such a great time together. It really is a great time for us mommies to chat about everything going on in our lives. I love it!

Dear little Miss Peyton turned 1 last month and we were thrilled to attend her birthday party.

As with everything the Patricios do, the party was perfect. All pinks and oranges and gorgeous weather! Miss Haley had such a ball with all the other little ones!

My garden finally went in and we got out Miss Haley’s gardening tools so she could help (thank you grandma Conway)! We are so looking forward to fresh tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and squash!

Our alma mater, St. Marys, went to the big basketball conference this year. We had the Prosperis, Leah’s mom Chris and my parents over to watch the (disappointing) game last Friday. Cal and Haley were so adorable in their red and blue. My mom made her out of this world enchiladas and it was the perfect Friday night (minus the Gael’s loss).

The Hudsons came to visit last Saturday and we had such fun catching up. Their daughter, Miss Allison, is getting so big and is just adorable! Cal lucked out with two cuties in his nighttime bath!

Sunday we packed the kids up and headed to the park. It was Miss Haley’s first trip to a park and she loved it, especially the slide!

Along with all our fun things, we had our first round of flu. We’ve taken to calling our little one Typhoid Haley because she seems to infect EVERYONE in quick succession.

Here are a few more Haley loving her pup pics...

We are looking forward to a busy Easter weekend! Christopher will be confirmed on Saturday night and we have a big Easter celebration at my parent’s on Sunday. The Comstocks are coming down tomorrow and are in for a surprise. They haven’t seen Haley since she started walking!

Love and Happy Easter Wishes to All!

Brenna and Haley

Had to post these dual pics....cousin Brenna has the same same outfit down to the Aunt Natalie made headband and Aunt Brooke strawberry bottom suit! Love it!

So, it’s been awhile since I’ve had time to get around to blogging! Life seems to have gotten even more hectic lately what with weddings, baptisms, trips and all the other amazingly fun things that make up our life. In order not to make this blog MILES long, I’ll condense as much as possible.

My double cousin Katie married Jim Sieser on the 16th of January.

It was really such a fun wedding because both the Richardsons and Conways were in attendance. The rehearsal dinner was held at Woolgrowers and was Basque…so yummy! Lane and Chris went out and partied into the wee hours of the morning (THERE’S ONLY ONE LANE DAVIES…walking along, singing a song, walking in a winter wonderland) while Haley and I retired. The wedding was held at their beautiful parish church and the ceremony was lovely….and then the drinking began. It was really just a ball! Lane and I were bridesmaids (or matrons I guess)

and Lane was able to stay for an entire week! I didn’t take a single picture at the wedding, but will post when Katie sends along the wedding proofs. Here are some of Auntie Lane arriving!

The following Monday Miss Haley began Little Gym. She is a tiny bit young for the class, but we wanted to be with Miss Peyton so they made an exception. She was a bit tentative at the first class, but has really warmed up since. It is so much fun to see the Patricio girls every Monday!

The next Sunday Vincent Camarena and Brenna Long were baptized. I did manage to take a ton of pictures at this event. We even were able to line up all the little ones for a group picture. They are going to have so much fun growing up together. Miss Haley tried to give Cousin Brenna a kiss! Miss Brenna certainly would fit right into our family…she looks more like me then Melissa!

Clockwise - Haley, Brenna, Vincent & Noah

Gourmet Group was up the next weekend, hosted by the Camarenas. The Godfather theme was so much fun and we all went to great lengths to dress the part. We even had a modern day sopranos gangster (Kevin) and a little inmate (Noah). The dinner was delicious and followed closely by a very competitive (Carlos) game of battle of the sexes. Kip and Julie took Miss Haley for the night (yea) and Chris and I picked her up early the next morning on our way to the Bay. We had a great Sunday with the Comstocks, yummy Yankee Pier lunch and all. It was great to catch up with Brian and Sarah who have been quite the world travelers of late!

Finally, last weekend we were off to Texas to visit Jessie and Isaac in their new home. We left Haley for 3 nights with my parents and had such an amazing time. We visited the Kima boardwalk (I made Chris do the rides with me), had some fantastic BBQ, a wonderful fancy dinner, and such a ball at the birthday/superbowl party. The best was getting to catch up with old friends! We miss you Jess and Isaac!

Now onto Miss Haley news…

Haley with her farm book and Haley chair from Grandma Comstock

She is walking! Can you believe it??? This past Monday she did 2 stints of about 5 steps. Lord help us! I’m hoping it was just a fluke, but doubt it is.

She is eating all sorts of things now and loving it. She had her 9 month checkup yesterday and is still light in the weight department. Her doctor thinks it is because she is so “advanced in her motor skill development” her words not mine!!! She is in a super high percentile for height and just over average with head growth. Now if I could just fatten her up a little! She is babbling up a storm and just a joy every day! She began sleep though the night FINALLY after a 4 night stint of Chris and I letting her cry it out. I really believe her 3am wakeup was just a habit she had developed and we needed to break her of it. We tried all the “gentle” methods but none of them were working and I was really tired, so we let her cry. Last night she slept from 7pm to 6:30am when Chris went in and woke her up! Love getting a full night sleep! Miss Haley has also signed an exclusive modeling contract with Lion & Bee (lane's onesie company).  Here are some of the latest shoot.

The pinup pose

We missed her so much on our trip away and are glad to be back as a family again! Loves to all!