Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A North Carolina kind of Christmas!

Christmas in Chapel Hill North Carolina was wonderful! Watching the kids hang with their cousins and having Christmas together was a great time as always.
 
 
Hanging out at Pop and Gran's! Lucy, Katrina, Anna, Sadie, Audrey and Miles up top!
The weather was so great on Christmas Day- Before dinner and gifts, the kids got to run around outside on the golf course which they love to do!

Dishing out Christmas Dinner!

Time for gifts!

Watching the kids together on Christmas was so fun. They all enjoy each other so much and we all had such a nice time!

My friend Lesley lives in Durham NC and came to visit us for Christmas dinner! We have been friends since 6th grade; she was at our wedding and having her as an addition to our Christmas was wonderful

Pop and Gran's beautiful home- we love going there

Gran's beautiful Mantel- Look Closely...Red Sox of course!

Welcome to Jay and Mary Ann's!


The Baker Family EST in 1968
(we got that wall hanging for Pop and Gran for Christmas and appropriately used it in our photo!)
Kim, Anna, Dave, Heather, Pop, Gran, Karie, Sean, GG, Miles, Katrina, Lucy, Audrey and Sadie


love this shot



Katrina and Anna
 
We went to Sean and Karie's for dinner one night and all the cousins had a sleep over there! They had a ball....The Daley's have a new addition! Mickey is their new dog and he is adorable! Him and Lola are great Daley dogs! What cuties!!

Lucy with Mickey!

 
The kids loved visiting Uncle Sean's work! ABC NEWS station in Durham NC was a great activity for us. He gave us a tour and we all got our chance to be a star at the news station!

Katrina and Miles - Future Anchors

interviewing Sean

A natural

Audrey and Miles playing with Green Screen- too funny!

Anna Lucy and Sadie give it a shot!

well Miles, What does the Doppler say?!

 
Aunt Kim's turn- Kim was a natural too :)

Dave was not the best anchor haha!

 
We had dinner at the club and the tree was stunning!!! If you look close, their is cotton buds all over the tree...very NC appropriate...gorgeous!

Katrina and I at the club for dinner-yummy!

Pop and Gran- Wonderful Grandparents and Parents.

GG with all the Great Grand kids. GG is 92 and so lovely. She is so fun to talk to about the family history etc.

Father and Son- Love these guys

Miles and Katrina - Dec. 28, 2012



Lesley and I met up again for lunch while the kids shopped around and we had girl time shopping and lunching!

playing more games :)

What a fun visit!!!

THANK you to Mary Ann and Jay for always being so generous and being such wonderful hosts- we had a great time as always! Love to you guys! See you soon!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Nutcracker ~2012

Today was our annual visit to The Nutcracker Ballet! Katrina and I go every year and we have such a nice time. Usually my Mom is with us or family but today our friends Erika and Stella came along with us! Erika and Stella live down the street from us and are a couple of our friends who have become like family! We had Brunch at a wonderful restaurant in Portland called Veritable Quandary; the food was amazing! Afterward we headed to the show! The girls got their pictures taken with characters from the Ballet , got souvenirs, loved the music, costumes and dancing! What a beautiful ballet at Keller Auditorium by The Oregon Ballet Theatre! It's such a fun and festive thing to do each year and I have always loved dance! (Katrina does too!) It was a great day and another one for the memory books!



Katrina and I love our yearly tradition to The Nutcracker! She looked so cute and festive in her new outfit we got her and boots for the show!


awe, she is sweet!

stylin!

a festive brunch!

sweet friends!


Such a fun day girls!!!!!

at the show!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

BAKER BABY NEWS! DUE JUNE 25th 2013!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US EARLY!!

Dave and I are elated to announce that we are 13 weeks pregnant! Those of you who follow our blog, our friends and family all over the country, know that this has been a little bit of a rough road! We lost three pregnancies between 8 and 10 weeks to miscarriage and went through a lot of sadness BUT now,  no more dwelling on that! We grew together and learned so much through that process. There is a time for everything. Now is our time!
We are pregnant with a healthy baby, measuring perfectly with a beautiful heart beat and could not be more thrilled! Dave and I have cried (yes Dave cries!) together, laughed, had anxiety and nervous bellies, excitement and elation together and could not be more ready to grow our family! Miles and Katrina (especially Katrina) are thrilled to be big sister and brother! When we were first married, Miles was not sure of the idea of having a baby around. He has really matured and thought a lot about the process and knows how much his Dad and I want this. He is really happy for us. He will be an amazing big brother! He is happy but nervous. Katrina is thru the moon. She told everyone as soon as she found out and is hoping for a sister, but wants the baby healthy no matter what it is!!
We pray and have all the faith that the pregnancy will go well (Doctors have no concerns so far) and that we will deliver in June!
We cannot thank those of you enough, who have prayed for us, thought about us, sent positive vibes our way, sweet comments on facebook, emails, calls etc! We are incredibly thankful for our friends and family in good times and in bad! We love you all, near and far, and will keep you all posted!


BABY BABY BABY!

Hand near the mouth, cute button nose!

oh yes, we are pregnant!

Hi baby!

One HAPPY Mommy!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

a girlie kind of weekend

On Saturday, some of my dear Oregon friends and I loaded up and headed to Hood River for some fun! My friend Tonya turned 40 and we thought that was reason enough for a girls day away to celebrate! We shopped, walked, talked and had lunch! We had a great time. The girls spent the night in Hood River but I headed home to my peeps. It was a nice time with them as always!
 
The tree at Church is gorgeous. Had to get a picture of the kids today next to the tree....

 
Tomorrow I attend the Adopt A Family Donation Party with my girlfriends. The kids, Dave and I picked out two cute outfits for a family in need (we bought for the young girls in the family). I am excited to deliver our gifts along with the rest of the gifts from my friends for this special family. Christmas is a time of giving and I think it was a good experience for the kids to help pick out gifts for children they don't even know; children in need.

Gifts for our Adopt A Family

Monday, December 3, 2012

Oh What Fun!

The main question is where did our weekend go?! From Friday night Zoo Lights to Sunday's soccer Day with 5 Futsol games, the weekend is OVER! Saturday night we celebrated at a Christmas Party with our neighborhood friends (like family to us here). Before the party the kids names were drawn and each child bought a gift for another kid. It was fun watching them open their gifts from each other. The ladies also did a white elephant gift exchange and of course the men did Gag Gifts (too funny). It was a really fun night hosted by Erika. Dinner was great and we continue to be thankful for that group of people! Thanks again for hosting Erika.
 
That same night, Dave and I also had a 40th Birthday party to attend. We stopped by for a bit and said hello to Kelly who turned 40 and had a great time visiting at that party! She is such a wonderful person! Again, we are happy to have met her and her family!
 
Sunday, Miles played on Jeld -Wen Field (where the Portland Timber play)...Though cold and rainy, we had a blast watching #10 run around and have fun with his team mates on the field. What a cool experience for him!
 
 
 
The Crew of kiddos! Oh what fun!
 

they were all so cute....
 


We all have a great time together-The girls with new baby Brook!


girl table

guy table



The oldest boys got to the cake early!
 
Kelly's 40th


We stopped by Kelly's party! She is the greatest; Happy 40th Kelly!!

Jeld -Wen Field
Miles #10

Charlie and Katrina hanging out at the field! Cuties.


growing up...




I love this shot
Maximum effort sign!

after 4 futsol soccer games....on his way to a 5th...yesterday was a big day of soccer!