Weekend Getaway

In late March, James and I were fortunate to get away on our own for the weekend.  It could not have come at a better time.  As many of you read this post, we clearly were at the point where we desperately needed some time to relax and rejuvenate.  Thanks to our amazing parents, we were able to do just that.

We traveled to San Juan Island which we had never been to before together.  I visited there many years ago with my parents and James had never been.  I had forgotten how lovely and relatively easy it is to escape to the San Juan Islands.  We kept saying how we want to go back this summer and take the boys.  Initially we were looking at places to stay in Friday Harbor.  But my brilliant husband found a highly rated place on Trip Advisor called Snug Harbor Resort.  We could not have picked a more perfect place for what we wanted the weekend to be all about....quiet, peace, sleep, couple time, reading, and nature.  For any of you looking to travel to San Juan Island, we would highly recommend it.  We stayed in a little waterfront cabin.  It had a small living area, full kitchen, wonderful shower and cozy little bedroom.  It had just been remodeled recently too so it was beautiful.  And right outside our large windows was the peaceful harbor.  Talk about a little haven!  I unfortunately didn't take any photos of our place, but the website definitely does it justice.

I never knew that San Juan Island had so much history!  It played a pretty major role in relations between the U.S. and Britain a few years after the Revolutionary War and was the subject of much land control conflict.  The Island still has an American Camp and English Camp of which we visited both.  Nice little history lesson which we always enjoy.

English Camp (the prettier of the two camps)

Cute little cemetary at the English Camp

We also took a great hike up from English Camp that gave us beautiful views of the surrounding islands, the Haro Straight, and all the way to Victoria, Canada.  

The orange colored buildings down below is our resort

We also visited Lime Kiln Park which is normally where you can view Orca whales from land, but they aren't usually around until summer (see--another reason to go back).  But they had a great lighthouse and James had fun taking photos.

Unique silver and gold tree

We also went up north to spend a little time in Roche Harbor.  What a cute place!  And a wedding was going on which is always fun to observe from afar.  

Other than exploring, the weekend consisted mostly of reading books, taking naps (I took a nap each day--I never do that!), sleeping in, making breakfast, watching movies, and going out to dinner.  We went to 2 fabulous restaurants in Friday Harbor--Cask & Schooner and Backdoor Kitchen.  Yum!  Even the ferry ride both to and from the island felt heavenly--nice views and peaceful.  At one point we were sitting next to a family with a little toddler.  Although we felt bad we actually moved to a different seat saying "We'll be back in that world in a little bit.  Let's just savor the quiet for a little longer."  

Needless to say we finally felt human again after this trip.  And probably acted like better parents upon our return.  It was exactly what we needed.  And it's amazing how even though we relished the quiet time and chance to reconnect, we missed the boys a ton!  It was fun to come home to them and appreciate them more.  Thank you Warners and Spauldings for helping to make this getaway possible!

6 months old

How is it that our sweet little baby is already half a year old??  What??  It's happening too fast.  Stop growing up, Cameron!  I think every day lately James and I have looked at it each other while playing with or being with Cameron and said "this is the best age!"  Seriously this timeframe until 18 months is my absolute favorite.  He's so cute and fun...and he can't talk back to us yet.  :)

Here are the fun developments at 6 months:

*Unfortunately a week before he turned 6 months, Cameron had his first major sickness.  He had the stomach flu for a little over a week!  Apparently the stomach flu can last up to 14 days!?!? He was throwing up all the time and just didn't seem himself.  It was awful.  Thankfully it's over now.
*He is a definite mover.  We'll put him down on his back, his quickly flip to his stomach and push up on his arms and sometimes even his knees a little bit.  I'll leave the room for a few minutes and come back and he'll be in a completely different place.  He can't crawl yet, but he worms his way to wherever he wants to go--it's crazy!  He's gonna be an early crawler I think.
*He's not officially sitting up yet, but we're working on it.  He's getting longer and longer at it, but still loses his balance.
*For toys, Cameron loves anything that lights up or that feels good to chew on.  He seems like he's teething but so far no teeth have come in.  And he still loves his bouncy chair--he bounces so fast now!
*We noticed that lately he's had more separation anxiety where he realizes we've left the room or where he just wants to be held and be with us more.  This has caused a little more sleep disruption lately too.
*The big milestone the doctor wanted to make sure he can do at this age is switch objects from one hand to the next.  Luckily he passed that test when we were at his 6 month check-up.
*Cameron is the best to cuddle with.  He's so happy and gives such a huge grin when we go to pick him up or spend time with him.  He is the best thing to come home to after a long day at work.
*He loves books--especially anything with bright colors or fun characters in them.  We do the same nighttime routine with him that we've done with Nathan all this time.  He feeds, gets into pjs, then we read 1-2 books, sing to him, pray and say goodnight.  I love the bedtime routines with the kids--my favorite time of day.
*We started solids!  We've only done it a couple times so he's still trying to get the hang of it.  So far he's tried carrots and sweet potatoes.  I think he liked them pretty well--hard to tell though since he was getting used to the texture and process of eating from a spoon.

Happy 6 months Cameron!

Blessed and exhausted

Life feels like a constant dichotomy right now.  

On the one side I feel so utterly blessed and that life is so full and rich.  So many dreams have come true--amazing husband and happy marriage, two wonderful, healthy kids, living in a comfy home in a beautiful area, great jobs that provide well and satisy us, surrounded by amazing family and friends, awesome church community, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.  I could go on for a long time.  

And on the other end of the spectrum (and I know I can speak for James on this too) we feel utterly exhausted.  I'm getting an average about 5.5 to 6 hours of sleep a night.  We each commute about 1.5-2 hours total every day.  We are ALWAYS late.  We barely have any time for each other at night after getting the kids to bed and getting things ready for the next day.  If one kid doesn't need something, the other does and then when those needs are met, the other kid needs something.  And in the middle of that we need to keep up with the house and general life responsibilities.  By the end of the work week, I feel like a zombie.  Weekends are filled with grocery trips, errands, swimming lessons, family/friend events, church, yardwork, etc.  And sometimes it all just feels like one giant rat race that I have myself wondering what's it all for?

It's funny how you always want what you don't have.  About 10 years ago I would have killed for the life I have now.  I was so insecure in my 20's--didn't know what I wanted, up and down relationships, unsatisfied, away from home, etc.  And now I would give anything to have 1 week to be ALONE back in my apartment in Missouri--no one needing me, tons of free time, barely any responsiblities. Every day I find myself longing to go to a cafe and have a cup of coffee with a good book, get a pedicure, take a nap, go on a day trip with James, cook a fancier meal, exercise, and just feel more balanced. 

And then I start to think well maybe I need to make some changes in my life--somehow find a job closer to home to cut down the commute, do better time management so there's more "me" time in the day, figure out a part-time job situation, and on and on.  But as I think more about it, I don't really want anything major about our life to change right now.  When I step back, things are really truly good.  Could I be better about balance and creating more "me" time?  Yes, probably.  Is it super overwhelming to have 2 little kids right now?  Yes.  Will it always be this way?  No.  Will someday they be grown and I'll feel like I would kill to be in the position I'm in now when they're little and just love being with us?  Yes, probably.  And let's be honest...if I had the chance to go back to that Missouri apartment to be alone, probably two days would go by and I would severely miss James and the kids and want to be back in my current life. 

So the words I hear God whispering over and over again in my head is "Contentment.  Be present. Be grateful."  I'm trying my best to be there.  It's a daily thing I need to work at.  Some days I'm better at it than others.  But it's my personal development work going forward--no matter what stage in life I want these words to echo in my mind and heart.  Life is too good and I just don't want to miss any of it.  

**Side note--HUGE shout out to my sweet husband.  He knows me so well and saw how overwhelmed I was feeling so for Christmas he got us a house cleaning service!!  They come every other week and honestly it's been such a saving grace.  Thank you honey!!!  

5 Months Old

Cameron is way past month 5 by now, but I didn't want to miss capturing that timeframe on here.  So much happens in this first year and I love to track the development because each month is so different.  It feels like he changes week by week!

It is so fun to have Cameron as part of our family.  It really feels like he completes us even though that sounds so cheesy.  But it really is true how your love can grow for another child and how as time goes by you start to wonder what life ever looked like before he entered our family.

Here are the fun things happenings at 5 months:

*This month Cameron started to grasp on to objects and hold them for longer periods of time.  He's now very into playing with rattles, rings, soft blocks, etc.
*He's finally back to sleeping well again.  He goes to bed around 8pm, wakes around 1am to nurse and then I wake him in the morning around 6am to get ready for the day.  Sometimes in developmental periods or in random weeks, he'll wake up needing to be soothed or helped back to sleep.  But for the most part he is a good sleeper.
*Cameron rolls over all the time now.  And he likes being on his tummy for long periods of time.  Nathan really never liked being on his tummy.  But Cameron prefers it I think.  Sometimes after awhile he fusses and we have to help him roll back over to his back.  But then he rolls back to his stomach again!  Maybe he just likes the sensation of rolling over.
*Cameron is enamored with his brother more and more and it's been fun to watch the brotherly bonding occur more often.  They love being in each other's company...at least for now.  :)
*We pulled out our bouncy chair this month and Cameron loves it!  He took to the technique pretty quickly and bounces all the time.  His favorite activities are his bouncy chair, his floor gym, rocking in the swing, and playing with toys.  He's comforted by a blanket and his little struffed giraffe.
*Cameron is thriving at school and really loves it.  He's always happy when I drop him off.  And we already have several art projects that he's done at school--amazing what they do with those kids.

We love you, Cameron!

One of my favorites!

4 Months Old

Cameron is 4 months old!  Now we're officially into my favorite time period--from about 4 months until 2 years old.  I feel like this time period with Nathan just got better and better and now I'm excited to experience it with Cameron.  So much development and personality is coming out every week.  Here are the things about this time that I don't want to forget:

*Cameron rolled over!  It just happened yesterday for the first time as far as we know.  And then it happened again today.  Unfortunately the roll over is still elusive though.  No one has actually witnessed the act in person.  Yesterday Gramma and Grampa went to hang something on the wall and when they turned around, Cameron was on his tummy all by himself on the play mat.  Then this morning Nathan and I were in the kitchen and when I went to check on Cameron in the living room, he was on his tummy!  Hopefully we'll get to see him in action soon.  Such a big milestone!
*He's also started to grasp on to things.  He can now hold on to his rattles or play toys.  He doesn't hold on to them very long, but it makes him happy to get a few noises or shakes out.
*Cameron's temperament is still great.  His smile just lights up our days and he is such a joyful boy.  He's starting laughing a little too which is so sweet.
*What a mover!  His legs never stop.  And now that he can roll over, he goes over to his side all the time.  I'm sure he's so anxious to just get up and walk already after observing his brother all the time.  It's all I can do to get a diaper on the boy!
*The challenging part about this time so far is that Cameron's sleep habits have really changed.  He's waking up quite a bit at night--every 1-2 hours.  He just needs help soothing and getting back to sleep when he wakes up and he's not up for very long.  But I'm exhausted getting up so many times during the night and having my sleep broken up so much.  I've read that this is common.  I feel funny about starting any kind of sleep training because he feels too young.  But I've resulted to giving him the binkie every time he needs to be soothed and I might need to start moving away from that so he doesn't get too dependent on it.  Oh the neverending change of babies' sleep patterns!
*Cameron is "talking" quite a bit.  He loves to make squealing and cooing noises like he's talking to us and definitely always wants to be part of the conversation.  Poor James--I think he's gonna have 3 extroverts on his hands!

Happy 4 months Cameron!!

This looks like 2 little old men having a chat :)

Christmas Moments and Memories

Now that I'm back to work full time it's tough to find time to blog.  But I'm committed to doing it even if it means the entries might be shorter.  This is one such entry.  I want to capture our Christmas moments for this year and I'm mostly going to do it through images.  So here is a look back at Christmas 2014:

James and his little "elf" decorating the Christmas tree

Our annual trip to Molbaks and the traditional photo in front of the poinsettia tree

Seeing Santa was a success....no meltdowns!

Visiting the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel

Our annual tradition of making Christmas cut-out cookies at Nana and Pops' house!

Riding the Santa Train in Snoqualmie

Christmas morning at our house--the boys in their Christmas pj's

Love this shot of Nathan going through his stocking and pulling out the traditional orange from the toe

Our sweet little candy cane.  Happy 1st Christmas Cameron!

One of Nathan's favorite gifts--he's an official "worker man" now

Look at all that loot!  Legos, puzzles, books, etc.

And the grand finale gift from Santa....a train table!

Every year Christmas gets more and more magical because of our kids.  Unfortunately because James was kind of out of it from his surgery, we didn't get many photos from our time with our families.  But we had wonderful Christmases with both the Spauldings/Antis' and the Warners as always.  Can't believe it's already over and we're into 2015 already.  Happy New Year!

Surgery Round 2

A little over a year later and here we are going through another surgery.  For the last 2 years or so James has been dealing with pain and irritation in his right shoulder.  After seeing the doctor and getting x-rays he determined that he had a calcium deposit in his shoulder.  Strange I know.  They're not entirely sure why calcium collects in one spot--maybe something is rubbing inside or something is off with the bone structure.  But nonetheless James developed a chunk of calcium that has been irritating his shoulder area for a long time.  After a cortisone shot did nothing to relieve the pain, he decided it was time to remove it through surgery.

Based on conversations with the doc, I think we thought this wouldn't be that big of a deal. Definitely nothing like his ACL surgery last year.  And so far it's been easier than the ACL surgery, but it's been far from easy.  My assumption was that it would get removed, there would be a little bit of recovery and then James would finally feel relief.  We're now into week 3 of James being in a sling and he's suffering with a lot of pain at night and not able to sleep well.  He's sleeping downstairs on our chair with the ottoman because it's the only comfortable position.  And he found out yesterday at his post-op that he has at last 3 more weeks left in the sling.  And probably 4 more weeks or so until he can start PT.  So needless to say--definitely not a "minor" surgery.  Part of the reason is because removing the calcium deposit left a hole in his rotator cuff.  So his injury is similar to a rotator cuff tear which is pretty major.  James did the surgery on the 23rd right before Christmas because he had the whole week off and didn't have to take sick time.  So our Christmas was a little off this year because he felt pretty loopy from his meds and we mostly stayed home and were low key during break.  But it was still a nice holiday....more later on that.

I've been able to be pretty patient and positive about it so far.  But James and I looked at each other the other day and said "No more surgeries for a LONG TIME."  We're looking forward to getting back to normal again soon--especially him so he can have full use of his arm and not have annoying pain from the calcium deposit.  I'm looking forward to having a partner in crime again for diaper changing and taking care of the kiddos.  :)

Deja vu with this photo.  Looks a little similar to this.  James we love the hat!  Feel better soon honey!!