Nathan's 3rd Birthday

Wow I can't believe our little boy is 3 years old already!  He officially turned 3 on May 10.  It's been a fun few weeks of celebrating.  On May 3 we had his birthday party with friends and family.  It was Construction Theme (his obsession love of trucks & machines continues) and we held it at the Si View Community Park in North Bend.

The day couldn't have been more beautiful.  Mid-70's and not a cloud in the sky.  All our family and several of Nate's little friends and our family friends were in attendance.  We had folks "build their own sandwich" for lunch.  The kids played at the park and then we had some fun activities planned.  We had a dump truck pinata which actually turned out to be an epic fail.  A hilarious epic fail though.  It was a pull string pinata. One of the dads went to help his daughter pull one of the strings that was being stubborn and the whole pinata came crashing to the ground.  All the kids burst into tears.  And then they realized that all the candy had poured out on the ground and they scurried to pick it up.  Amazingly they felt better after that...go figure.

The next activity was a relay race where the kids had to run down the grass, put on the
"workerman" hard hat, vest, tool belt and boots and then race back to the finish line.  This was pretty hilarious too.   And so much fun.

Next up was cake.  Grampa Jay made an amazing construction cake which Nathan loved.  And it was delicious.  He is so talented!

And then we finished out with presents and favors.  Nathan got some awesome gifts including some new machines, fun games, and a couple books.   Here are a few more shots (photos courtesy of my brother and mom)

The celebrations continued the next weekend when the four of us went to the zoo as a joint celebration for Nate's birthday and Mother's Day for me.  We haven't gone through those photos yet, but it was a really fun day as well.

Happy birthday Nathan!  You bring so much joy to our lives and we just love you so much!  Hope you have a fantastic year!!

7 Months Old

So I'm recording Cameron's 7 months milestone and he just turned 8 months.  But I don't want to miss the fun things happening a month ago.  Better late than never right?

Here are the fun things happening at 7 months:

*Cameron has started eating solid food!  His very first food was sweet potatoes which he liked and then he moved on to carrots.  He did pretty well and is skilled with eating from a spoon although he often likes to steal the spoon from us to chew on it.
*James and I did our first trip away from Cameron when we went to Friday Harbor (earlier post).  And of course while we were gone he decided to sleep through the whole night for the first time!  Seriously?!?! Hopefully this will start be a trend soon though.
*He is almost crawling.  He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but can't quite figure out moving his arms forward yet.  He also has this funny army crawl that he does across the floor.  If he wants to get to something he will figure out a way to get to it.  He loves to be on his tummy playing with toys.
*Cameron has started sitting up on his own!  It took a little bit of practice and then one day he just continued to sit for long periods of time without falling over.  He loves being able to sit and observe his brother or play with toys in a more fun way.  I think he feels like he's more part of the action with everyone.
*I've noticed that Cameron is very drawn to the color red.  He loves his Elmo doll as you'll see below and any item that has a bright red color on it, he's drawn to it, wants to touch it or play with it.

We are having so much fun with Cameron and can't imagine what life was like before without him.  Love you buddy!

Love this photo sequence.  Happy....sad....curious....hungry...

Yay for sweet potatoes!  Nathan is such a great helper

Mmmmmm....

Easter in Pictures

Not much time lately to blog, but I'm trying not to get super behind.  I wanted to capture our Easter holiday so I'm going to do it through photos (which let's face it are much more fun than reading my descriptions anyway).  So here goes...

This year we did some serious egg hunting.  And Nathan learned the "hot and cold" game!

Having a blast and feeling pretty proud of his hunting skills

The stockpile of jelly beans, chocolate, and fruit snacks

Basket time!  And Nathan is using my old Easter basket--so special to me and brings back good childhood memories

Ah trying to get a good family photo with little ones.  At least one is looking at the camera!

We enjoyed a lovely brunch with Nana & Pops and Ryan & Carly

Cameron's First Easter and egg hunt!

Love these brother moments!

Nathan's helping explain all the great stuff Cam got in his basket

Cameron was really most interested in the grass

Wonderful Easter dinner with Gramma & Grampa and Aunt Jacky and Uncle Johnathin.  So happy to get this great family photo!  Everyone is looking and smiling at once.  It's a miracle!

Sweet picture of Gramma and Cameron

It was a nice holiday with both families.  And we also had a great sermon at church that helped me think about Easter in a new way complete with tears.  Not a big surprise with our amazing church.  Feel so blessed with family time.  And most importantly feel so blessed to receive Christ's love, grace and to celebrate the Resurrection that never ceases to overwhelm and humble me.  He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!

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!!!