Thomas + MoBella = Happy

Jonathan, the Wee Ski, and I had the chance to celebrate Stella's birthday last weekend with her...at Anthony's. Celebrating with Anthony's calamari just makes things right in the world.

She was lucky enough to be born on the same day that the time changed this month...so her birthday was actually just 23 hours long.

She hadn't seen Thomas since he was a few weeks old - when she was the lucky duck who got to take us to the lactation consultant for a little breastfeeding 101. That's a best friend for you...someone who will not only watch you pump (and laugh at the sight) in the hospital, but who will take you in for advice on how to get the Wee Ski to latch on and sit through the whole appointment.

See how Thomas is sleeping contently in her arms? Brace yourself.


Because when he's in my arms, this can ensue:



That's a full-on, bloody murder scream. It's when he hits the major decibels that it's just easier to yell along with him. It usually throws him off his game and makes him forget why he was yelling in the first place.

Wait. This could be why he's upset. He had gone through the whole day with his pants on backwards.

I am definitely not "fashion forward" on this one.

God bless the child that's built to use a fake fly on his backside.


And of course...self portrait!


Happy birthday, MoBella! We ♥ you!

It's showering...

...just in time for Angus's arrival!

Vickie, Stella, Kristine, and Lindsay (who snuck out just before this photo) threw Angus a fantastic shower yesterday. It was one of the first times that it really began to sink in that he's coming...at some point in the near future, he will be on the outside of the womb...and not just kicking from the inside!

It was so good to catch up with everyone (a combo of the estrogen militia, table 10 and my fam)...with our crazy schedules this fall, I felt like it'd been ages since I'd seen a number of people! It reminded me just how lucky we are to be surrounded by such amazing and loving friends. We are so incredibly blessed.

I actually brought the camera AND shot a bit with it...so here are some glimpses of what was had...starting with food. Come on, seriously. That's where every pregnant chick starts.

Lindsay brought down these to-die-for cupcakes from west Seattle...


While Liz made this melt-in-your mouth gluten-free lemon bars...


And there were treats from my mom's favorite shop on earth (Metropolitan Market), where everyone knows her name...


I loved this gift bag from Angus's aunt Kristine...that's Angus and Avila together... :)


And after the infamous toilet paper diaper game (which is modeled after the toilet paper wedding dress game)...my beautiful little niece, Avila. Her grandma and Becky were responsible for this interpretive diaper...down to the headdress, in case she wants to rub her head in it. :)

Shot by my fabulous photog friend, Kili...


Most of the other diaper pics will stay off the internet (because at eight months pregnant, I don't run as fast as I used to, and most of the gals would be chasing me. But it should be noted that Kate and Sandra Q's bum ruffles were just beautiful.)

And one of the best surprises of the day...Crystal...not only modeling some fantastic diaper wear, but framing her growing little one underneath her fingers. Angus will have a playmate come next spring!!


Thank you, ladies, for a great afternoon...so much fun!

And way funner than today's 8 hour crash course in labor and delivery...but that, of course, is a post for another day... :)

To celebrate 30 years...

Miss Milasich is turning 30. And in grand Lindsay-style, Katy and Stella threw a 30th shindig last weekend for her - complete with chocolate fondue and martinis. (Thanks, Stella, for the group pic I stole off your blog).

It's hard to believe that she's not still living it up in her 20s...

I would be remiss if I didn't include this totally rad glamour shot - which almost takes you right back to the 90s. Eat your giant-hooped earrings heart out!


Stella was her lovely charming self...


Linds and her dad...the master mixologist


Bill and Lindsay


I realized how much I missed Amy's goofy faces...and with them, Stella makes a rare joyful appearance...


Nope, nope, nope. Back to the norm.


And the birthday girl and I in a self-portrait...featuring one of our famous fabulously-ugly self-portraits on Stella's camera.


Wishing you all the best in your next decade...you've earned it! :)

the wedding party: lindsay

exactly two years ago today, i was three days into my 500-day photo project. one of the very first questions from lindsay was "what about me? where's my special page?" it should come as no surprise that two nights ago, at the melting pot, one of the very first questions lindsay asked about our wedding was "when's my feature page going up? what about me?"

so here it is.

meet lindsay, a bridesmaid in the wedding.

she's seen all over my blogs. here. and here. and here. and here and here. and all of these here.



above, lindsay as a superhero in 2005. in many ways, she is definitely a superhero to me.

though she and i went to st. charles and bellarmine together and knew each other, our friendship really grew in the early part of this decade (wow, we sound old) when we both volunteered with the st. charles high school youth group.

sidenote from our youth group days...when discussing the wedding cake a week or so ago, lindsay offered the following idea as a cake alternative:

why doesn't everyone bring a cupcake to the reception? you can have them find the person whose cupcake looks like everyone else's, and it will be a great icebreaker!

ahh, icebreakers. the joy of high school youth ministry.

sometimes i'm amazed that we get along so well, seeing as we're both off-the-chart lions. strong leaders, good decision makers, and competitive. [though, by many people's accounts, you could also translate that to pushy, aggressive, and bossy - which i know lindsay and i both can attest for - :) ]

to me - lindsay's been a friend, confidant, roommate, sounding board, supporter, an organizer of my kitchen and sister in christ. she taught me the joy of singing out loud wherever i am, a trait that jonathan hates. when she lived at my house, she would sing anything - show tunes, classical songs, songs from Mass, oldies, and belt out a few verses from journey every so often. good thing she's a chorale director.

when she lived with me, one of my neighbors stopped me one day and said, "i just love working in my front yard ever since that girl moved in with you. the street's always been so quiet, but i always hear you two laughing together in your living room, and it makes our street joyful."

it was during that summer in 2003 that she and i came up with the idea of the girls group - aptly titled "the estrogen militia" by michael g since we never invited him along to things. the photo below is from our first retreat in 2003 at cannon beach - where we rented a giant house on the ocean and bonded.


and her fashion skills are incredible. :) (august 2004)


linds, i am so honored that you will be standing up with us on our wedding day. you are a blessing to me in my life, and i am so grateful to you for your friendship. i love you.

overheard...

while discussing the invite list for the wedding...

jonathan: shel, what does this mean?

shelley: what?

jonathan: it seems like a lot of our wedding guests have STDs.

shelley: what are you talking about?

jonathan: here. [showing me the spreadsheet] they all have 1 listed under "STD".

shelley: babe, that's not "STD" as in "STD". it's showing that they should get a 'save the date' card. it means they live far away.

jonathan: oh, good. i was worried there would be a lot of people in blue dresses.

(shelley's note: jonathan was present the evening of the estrogen militia bbq at my house and overheard stella telling a story about how brides who wear blue dresses have STDs. you never know what you'll hear when stella starts talking. so glad that jonathan overheard that particular conversation. yup, my friends don't seem odd at all.)

mahalo...

to my friend kilipohi...

she was on her first relay team this year (team hula), and took some absolutely beautiful relay photos (like the one above).

on saturday morning at relay, she and one of her hula sisters were absolute relay angels to me. with michael g down in arizona, he delegated the things he would have been heading up and we conquered them...and the hula sisters covered all the team photos for the relay. i can't tell you how much that meant to me that they just stepped in, took over, and did a fabulous job.

i was loving seeing the relay pics she was putting up on her photo-a-day blog...so when i was putting together the relay for life slideshow for the team captain wrap party tonight...guess whose photos i wanted to include? :)

mahalo, kili, for sharing your images and for capturing relay in such a beautiful way. you better be entering some of these in the relay photo competition! :)

the slideshow will be unveiled tonight at the wrap, but here's a sneaky peek:

2007 relay for life

(the photos in the slideshow are a combination of shots from kili, me, cheesy (thanks, bud!!), and a handful of team submissions)

the estrogen militia

a few years back, in the summer of 2003...lindsay was living in my house. after one of her long afternoons tanning on the trampoline in the backyard (such is the life of a teacher), we pondered the lack of cool catholic young adult groups that didn't involve creepy 40 year old guys hitting on young twentysomethings.

we came up with the idea to bring some of our favorite catholic gals together. most of us were involved in youth ministry in different parishes in the south sound - or knew each other through our respective college campus ministries.

since it was all girls and no boys and he was never invited - michael g dubbed us "the estrogen militia".

and they have been one of the biggest blessings in my life. we've been there for one another through job changes, breakups and new beginnings, job changes, backed each other up for high school retreats, moves (across the state and across the country), house fires, and stella's ever changing hair color.

it's hard to imagine life without them.

the face of the group has changed a bit over time - especially now that we are spread across thousands of miles. last friday night, we kicked off the summer season of all of us being in one place...where the rest of the gang met jonathan and had a big dinner together. we snuck down to ruston just after the sunset...because we are all a bunch of hams.

my two best friends...stella and vickie...


liz and lindsay under the street lamp...


and my favorite...an 8 person self-portrait!