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Washington for Christmas

We are in Washington! Due to our own ignorance and lack of detail orientation we had a less-than-perfect start to our vacation. It was a comedy of errors really, the kind that you choose to laugh through gritted teeth so that you don't break down in tears! To preface all of this airing-the-dirty-laundry, I do have to say that this was not the first time we'd traveled with Josiah. We went to Texas with him when he was 8 weeks old and packed perfectly. We had no trouble at all, forgot nothing, made no messes and inconvenienced no one; I think we got a little cocky for trip #2.

Here goes (I've numbered them so we don't lose count):

1. On Thursday morning, before we flew out, we made one last mall trip to get a specific present we had not been able to find anywhere else. We purchased the gift then stopped by American Eagle to grab Caleb a new pair of jeans before the trip. We were running a little short on time so Caleb didn't even try on the jeans, he bought them while I took one last work call and we headed home. It wasn't until we were ready to leave the house for the airport that we realized we didn't have the games. Caleb left them at on the counter at American Eagle. Really short on time at this point, we made a second trip to the mall before our flight.

2. Running late, we dropped Shep off at our friend's house and got to the airport. We parked and ran in. Well, we didn't run in because we were carrying a baby in the bjorne, 3 suitcases, a car seat and base, a stroller, a backpack, a purse and a diaper bag. But none the less, we got inside quickly and then did run through the gate when the airlines staff yelled "come on, you're the last one on. I'm closing the door." Thankfully she said that to us and to the other few stragglers with kids and gear.

3. We had a great flight but were seated in the bulkhead, the front seat, so our bags had to be stored in a seperate compartment. We got to WA and got off the plane to meet our family. As soon as we got back through the security point we realized we left the bjorne on the plane. Caleb had to go find airlines staff to run back out to the plane to get it.

4. So after all that, we were hungry. Mom and Dad took us to Anthony's. We had a great dinner and then started our 1 1/2 hour drive to Yakima. We drove for a half hour when I realized I forgot my purse at the restaurant! What? I guess my only excuse is that I use either a diaper bag or a purse, not both. Sigh.

5. Finally we arrived at my parents' home in Yakima. We started to unpack: first bag contained all of Josiah's rise cereal which of course broke open and spilled rice-confetti all over everything in the suitecase.

6. Second bag. I unpacked the monitor and realized that I had only packed the parent's end, and left the part that watches the kiddo conveniently on his crib at home. Huh.

So Thursday was a rocky start! On Friday we re-packed one bag for all three of us and headed out to Tacoma. Our plan was to visit several friends and family over the weekend before returning to my parents house for an entire week. We had a great time, but...

7. Caleb forgot to pack underwear

8. and although I packed at least 10 onsies and 2 pairs of pajamas for Josiah for a 48 hour period, he either puked or pooped on ALL of them before we got him home. Seriously, we had to pick up a new pack of onsies for our naked baby on the way home.

All in all, I think we will be lucky to make it home in one piece. Thank you, Lord for grace and laughter.

One huge blessing is that we got to spend time with some of our favorite people in the world! Here are some pictures of our trip so far.


Our nieces Claire and Isabelle with thier new cousin, Baby Josiah.

Our lovely Isabelle hanging out in Josiah's Bumbo

We got to spend an afternoon with the Brocks! We love the Brocks and had so much fun getting to see their growing family, a beautiful two-year-old, Elisa and their handsome two-month-old, Jonathan who is the same size as Josiah (at 5+ months).

I think Jonathan might actually be a pound or so bigger than Si!

Our little buddy loves his daddy!

We also stopped by and had dinner with our friends Brooke and Jeramy and their two girls Madison and Ashley. Look at these cuties; holding hands...Si's got a thing for the ladies. Look at those eyes :)
Here is Josiah at Caleb's parent's house just after he pooped through his last outfit. Quite the pair, my husband without undies and my son with only undies!

Caleb's mom, Becky with her first grandson.

Also in our short weekend we visited one of my greatest friends from college. Laura and Ryan are adding a little girl to their family in a couple of weeks.

Finally back to my parent's home. Si is loving all this time with Mooma and Papa! He has a little cold but is doing just fine. As you can see, he is taking in everything around him and loving all the attention.

He is giving lots of kisses and we can't get enough! Si's great grandmother was the lucky recipient of this one.

My sweet husband is still wearing shorts and t-shirts even though there is snow outside! We are loving the relaxation that being in the presence of family and friends brings! Now, bring on Christmas!

our most precious boy

The votes are in here in Arizona: Josiah looks exactly like his daddy!
We all think he is the spitting image of Caleb.
However, recently I was looking at photo albums of my family and of Caleb as a baby. I have to say, Josiah may look a little more like his mom....at least when I was a baby. What do you think?

Caleb

Anna

One thing is for sure: Josiah is WAY cuter than his parents!

Being a parent is the most incredible experience in the world! I've had the most vivid childhood memory lately of my own wonderful parents . I used to love falling asleep in the car, especially late at night on the way home from Nani and Papa's house or some similar location. The street lights creating a perfect, twilight glow and the motion of the car created the most peaceful, cozy environment. The best part though, was that I knew that my dad would carry me in to the house from the garage if I was still asleep when we got home. I loved that! I got really good (I think) at pretending to be asleep so I could get the carry-in. Well, now I get to carry Josiah into the house when he falls asleep in the car and there just is nothing better! I really do always think of my own childhood and truely feel most like a parent when my little boy folds perfectly into my arms, completely trusting, as I carry him inside and put him into bed. I hope he "pretends" for a long time, because I will never tire of this precious experience.

5 months!

Our beautiful baby boy is 5 months old today!

...and perfect in every way!
He sleeps wonderfully! We are talking 12 hours at night and a couple of naps during the day.

Caleb and I are so thankful! Now if we are exhausted in the morning we have only ourselves and Redbox to blame!

We have had lots of giggle fests lately! This is such a good natured, happy little man! We have so much fun rolling around on mom and dad's bed tickling each other! Si even (sort of) tickles back and he "honked" my nose the other day! What a smarty pants.

Also significate along side Si's incredible growth and development is the fact that it is WINTER in Arizona! That's right, we have lows of 35 and highs of 65 in the last couple of weeks! Bring on the sweaters!
Cold as it was, Caleb and I were not willing to pass up our first family trip to the zoo. Unfortunately our camera died shortly after we arrived, but at least we got one family photo with this hippo! All the desert-acclimated animals were hiding in their dens anyway because it was so cold (50)... that's right, the Fields are tougher than wild animals.
This is Josiah's "out for a walk when it's 35 degrees" duds. He actually does own a really cute coat but it was laundry day :).

He stayed nice and toasty in the pack with Dad...and with socks for mittens on his hands.

Si's fifth month is bound to be a good one! Already, he has eaten solids, sucked on his toes, gotten his first "injury" (he's fine!), gone to the zoo, and worn a sweater...and we have the whole month ahead of us! Next week we are headed to Washington for a whole new set of adventures! We can't wait for Josiah's first Christmas!

So much to be thankful for

From our wonderful family both here in Arizona and in Washington to our wonderful little boy who just keeps getting sweeter every day, Caleb and I couldn't be more thankful! We are thankful for a God who loves us in good times and bad and for people who do the same.

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Arizona with Caleb's parents and some of our friends here. We had a great time and a huge spread of food!

I can't help but remember that at this time last year we still believed that having a baby was a reality that we might not ever get to experience. What a miracle it is that we now have a happy, healthy little man living with us that God has allowed us to parent! I don't know why, but He did and we could not be more blessed!

Here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks and of our Thanksgiving celebration.

Josiah has started to like his bumbo chair...it was touch and go at first. He is so cute in it. It has become his football watching chair.

NO SHEP! NO SHEP! NO SHEP!....ughhhhhh

These were the words heard approximately 3 am on the first night of our camping weekend...They were uttered by our friend Bob seconds before Shep was sprayed at point blank range by a skunk. Those skunks, wow, do they smell! Fortunately, Caleb, Josiah and I were sound asleep in a nice cozy camper during this unfortunate fiasco and didn't know anything about it until morning. Instead our friends who did sleep outside got the pleasure of hosing him down and banishing him to as far-away location as possible (because he obviously smelled horrid) but that was near enough that he wouldn't whine all night...an impossible task to be sure. Poor Shep: The smelly kid no one wants to hang out with!

To be fair, Rocky would have been there trying to eat the skunk right along with Shep but his leash was too short.

Josiah loves camping! Well, he certainly loves being outside. It will really be fun when he actually knows he is camping and he can run around and enjoy the outdoors. We had planned to really rough it, but didn't plan wel enough for that, so several days before we left we changed plans from Sedona to Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is about 20 minutes from home and is basically a huge RV parking lot in front of a lake.

As you can see, our "campsite" was complete with picnic tables, a lawn, and a camper! Not really roughing it, but a good first camping experience for a 4-month-old. We ended up feeling pretty thankful for the use of a camper!

"crash landing " is one of our favorite games. I love to hear Josiah giggle!

Traci and Si

Bob and Bethany around our campfire. It was the coldest weekend of the season so far...I won't mention the actual temperature, or we will sound like wimps, but we desert folk were thankful for a good campfire none-the-less.

We had planned to go hiking all day Saturday but after a night of no sleep, we opted for naps and relaxing around the campfire all day long...it was wonderful! For most the group the lack of sleep was due to Shep's skunking...for me, it was because I slept in bed with the most violent-sleeping four-month-old ever who tried to snuggle with me all night! Don't get me wrong, those early mornings that we bring Si into our bed at home are some of my favorite moments. But all night with him was a horrible combination of being afraid that I might roll-over on him and him trying to roll-over on me! I could never have a family bed.

Bethany and Si

Joan and Loren and Si

This was the most activity that happened on Saturday...and the girls didn't even play.

Josiah wore socks on his hands all wekend bacause it's hard to find baby mittens in Arizona.

Parker also got skunked by proximity, and although he took like three showers on Sunday, none of them necessitated tomato juice.

Poor Shep!

baby bath found..

We found the baby-bucket-bath at http://www.mom4life.com/. It was 49.95 and worth every penny! We didn't get the stand because we didn't think it attached very well when we barrowed katie's. It seemed kind of dangerous, and although cute, was another 50 bucks. We can't wait for it to arive. (see last post for pictures)


I am planning to post some pictures of last weekend's camping trip but will wait until I have done enough working and cleaning to justify it! Just thought you might want to all go out and purchace a bucket tub in the meantime!