Happy Birthday Andrea!

This is Andrea. Andrea turned 30 years old today!

I wish that I could have celebrated Andrea's birthday with her. I feel sad and I miss her.

Andrea is a really fun friend. She is kind of friend who would take a picture like this-

or like this-(By the way, I giggle every time that I look at this picture! What is going on with the robes?!)

She is the friend who will love Justin Timberlake and will go with you to a NSYNC concert (or two NSYNC concerts) ...

Or three NSYNC concerts...

(She'll also go with you to see the IMAX movie of the NSYNC concert, but I didn't have a picture of that).

She is always up for a dance party,

and sometimes she dresses for a dance party.
She'll take a "first day of school" picture with you, even if it is the first day of your junior year of college.


She is a very thoughtful friend. For example, when our dorm bunks were 3-high, she took the very bottom bunk, which meant that the bottom half of her body was in a very tight space under my bed.

In college, she owned more pairs of shoes than I could even count. She is the kind of friend who shares her shoes :)

She is the kind of friend who would go to an avocado festival with you and hug a giant avocado.

Or go to Las Vegas for Spring Break and pose like this-

Once, for a whole year (maybe longer), we had a crush on the same boy. We shared a crush. This is him. She is the kind of friend that you could share a crush with and it wouldn't ruin your friendship.

She is the kind of friend who goes on vacation to Palm Springs with your family and understands the significance of Enrique's song, "Now that you're gone, I just wanna be with you!"

She married a pretty cool guy who put up with a lot of Andrea/Allison/Annie mania :) This was the weekend that he proposed to her-

She is the kind of friend who is a bridesmaid in your wedding.

And when she has a baby (or two!), it is no surprise that she is a great mom.

And then her kids get to know your kids.

(I need some pictures of Brynn, Max and Baby Heinrich together!).

Andrea, you are the kind of friend that I will cherish for the rest of my life!

It has been so much fun to look through my "photo vault" and laugh at all of the memories!

Though our times together are fewer and farther between now, I can't wait to see what kind of fun we can find in our 30's, as mamas and wives :)

I hope that your birthday was fabulous!

aDORAble!

Who knew that a Dora nightgown (with matching headband and slippers!) could make a girl so happy?

Do you think I can get one in my size?? :)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Big family outing today--we went to watch the Mariners beat the Padres!

Joe took it upon himself to get Lucy ready for the game. Foam finger and all :)

We had great seats.

Ichiro!!

We taught Lucy how to chant EE-CHEE-ROW!, and when she looked at me and asked, "Mom, where are the Cheerios?" we figured that she'd better stick with "Go Mariners!"

Max slept on Devon's chest for nearly the whole game. He woke up once to look around...

but he was unimpressed and went back to sleep.

Good times! Kind of exhausting, and I may not leave the house again for a week or so, but it was fun :)

Our Tiny Superstar

If you are ever concerned that Max doesn't get enough attention around the Rantz home, here is a pic of how he is greeted most mornings.

He is our tiny superstar. He is super chill, he doesn't cry too much or too loud, he puts up with Lucy's "tough love," and he lets me play dress-up with him!

Here is Cowboy Max :) He is modeling the cowboy boots that my cousin Gina sent him from Texas. The boots won't really fit him until the fall, but he couldn't wait to try them on! Uncle Seth wears cowboy boots these days, and he will love to see that Max wears them too!

I decided to expose a fraction of the mess in my house. I unwind by cleaning, and I can only sit and relax once my house is clean, so needless to say, I am pretty uptight! Can you find Max in this picture?


I wanted to see if he fit into Lucy's toy stroller. Lucy was DYING to push him around, but Mama said no.

This is a great pic of the boys, and this is a not so great pic of Lucy...

She woke up from a nap with this sweat-styled hair-do, accompanied by an equally awesome expression :)

Circus Life

If my life was a circus, I'd be a juggler. Now, I've never been able to juggle anything-- not oranges, tennis balls, knives, chain saws... but I'm working on my act of juggling my children. I can nurse Max, help Joe with his homework, make snacks, draw with Lucy, and call Devon on the phone to see how fast he can get home from work, all at the same time! I can also change Max's diaper while reading a book to Lucy and help Joe find every piece of his baseball uniform all at the same time! Right now I am rocking Max to sleep, playing with Lucy (she hands me fake food and I hand her back imaginary money) and typing one-handed all at the same time!


I know, I know-- every mother performs a juggling act, but I'm going to come right out and admit that I'm pooped! I've been told that it gets easier. Someone tell me that it gets easier!


Here are some pics from our trip to California for Molly's graduation as well as some other pics :) My camera battery died shortly after I got to my parents' house (and I left my charger at home), so fortunately my mom and Lisa took a lot of pictures (neither of which I have available to put in this blog).

Max's first trip on an airplane

Me and my favorite travel-buddy

My parents and my babies

Lu and Ellee

My favorite nephew, Brady

Joseph and Lucy have been playing hide-and-seek in our house, and I couldn't resist taking this picture of Lucy hiding! Needless to say, Joe found her :)

Joe and Lucy peek through Joe's ball-toss game for his school's Market Day

And finally, my happy Max!!! It is so hard to get a good photo angle of a flopsy baby!

He might be day-dreaming about boobs :)