3 in 4

The Farwig Family is happy to share the news that we are adding to our family! Baby Farwig #3 is expected to arrive at the beginning of March '10. We are not out to set any records for the pace of childbearing or anything. We are just blessed/cursed with fantastic fertility. Maggie is very excited for "the baby in mommy's belly" and she thinks it's a boy. I have had more nausea than I had with the girls, so she might be right. As always, we love a surprise, so we won't be finding out till the birth day. In the meantime, we start the minivan shopping!

My friend, the novelist

My friend from high school Rachel recently published a mystery novel titled Final Approach. It's in stores now! This Dayton native and C-J grad is an amazingly accomplished woman. She is a mom of 3, a NASA engineer, a marathon runner, a sky diver, and now a published author. Check out her book if you like a good mystery! I haven't read it yet, but if I ever find time to read again, it's at the top of my list.

Farwig Family Vacation

We packed up the SUV and hit the road to visit Jim's parents at their home in Mobile. After relaxing there for a couple days, we headed over to Destin, FL where we met up with the Jacobs. Our condo was nicknamed, "Villa Pepto Bismol" for the lovely pink color that decorated every surface. The Villa was within walking distance to the beach, which is all that really matters on a beach trip. The girls had a great time playing in the sand and surf. Maggie especially enjoyed the pool where she mustered the courage to "go underneath water" and loved it! I was so proud that she succeeded in this preliminary swimming feat, especially since she has not had formal lessons yet.

We celebrated MawMaw's birthday with a delicious cake and a nice dinner out on our last night there. As always, the girls loved the extra affection showered on them and we enjoyed playing games and relaxing together. When it was time to head home, we decided not to spend the night as we had on the way down, but to push on through. After 15 hours in the car, we arrived safely back home around 1 am. Maggie and Claire did a fantastic job in the car that long and have been sleeping in late every day since!

Claire is 15 months!

Our baby isn't a baby anymore! Claire is well into her toddler phase, complete with the occasional temper tantrum. Although, it's still pretty cute when she does it. At her check-up today, Claire tipped the scale at 29 lbs, 14 oz. She is the exact height Maggie was at this age, 33 inches - 97th percentile for both. Claire is transitioning to one nap a day this week which will open up a huge window of time for activities in the morning. Of course, I think, she is the most gorgeous, brilliant baby ever to walk the earth (besides her sister of course). Claire knows over 10 words and has even said some two-word sentences. She knows a handful of body parts and a few animal sounds. Her "moo" is just precious. She loves her baby doll and pink blanket more than anything in the world. Claire's favorite things to do are hide in the bathroom when it's time to change her diaper, play peek-a-boo, dance to music, look at books, and play with her sister's toys. I'm so blessed to have two healthy, happy little girls!

Toddler Mania!

Jim's Wash U. friend Scott and his family paid us a visit last weekend. The Hurley's have two little ones as well, so we had a small zoo on our hands with four toddlers under the age of three roaming around. It's amazing the number of diaper changes in just two days! Katie and Maggie played together a little bit and when they did there was lots of squealing! Claire and Danny, who are just two days apart, certainly preferred the parallel play. The highlight was a visit to the Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale where the kids got to see chickens, goats, pigs and mules up close. Claire even learned to say "Goat!" while we were there. Much fun was had by all!

Independence Day Weekend

We had a busy, fun-filled holiday weekend! Friday afternoon we ventured up to Mason to check out their July 3rd festival. The girls had a blast at the kid zone and Jim enjoyed the DeLorean exhibit. Saturday was the annual Flynn family cookout at my aunt Mick's in Dayton. The rain couldn't dampen the spirit of the kids who kept busy playing in the garage and parading around the house. We didn't take in any fireworks this year since the girls go to bed long before dark. There's plenty of time for that in the years to come.

Bouncy House fun in Mason


This DeLorean was outfitted just like Marty McFly's

Sparkling Sisters

"Painting" the garage floor

"You can't rain on my parade!"

Cutest Baby on the Block

Claire might just be at maximum cuteness right now. At 14 months, her vocabulary is really expanding with new words every day. She is so excited to be communicating with us and loves to wave "Bye, Bye." She is silly, playful and super snugly. Claire has started to understand how the camera works and always puts on a show. Here is some adorable video from snack time this earlier this week.