Lincoln City 2010

I will not give up!!! It has been a rough summer for my dream to be a real blogger but I have not waived the white flag just yet. In fact I am going to make up for it with more pictures than anyone really wants to look at.

We took a fabulous vacation to Lincoln City, OR in mid August with the Mock's and the Hovis'. Since it took me the better part of a month to get these pictures up (this is a tiny fraction of a very overwhelming number of pictures), I have decided to let them speak, for the most part, for themselves.

Isabelle and Claire are 5 and 3. They did amazing with their baby cousin, Baby Josiah and are very excited to be big sisters to their brother in October!

This was the first trip we'd every made a fire on the beach! It was a hit! Doesn't get much better than hot dogs and smores!

Lincoln City is always overcast and freezing but we had some great weather a few days. We spent one of them at the dunes at Pacific City. What a beautiful place! I miss OR.

We have far too few opportunities to get these kids together! I am so thankful for each moment we got to soak up together.

We actually spent the first two days of our trip in Portland and got to see some friends from when we lived there. It was a great time but I have yet to convince my husband to email me the pictures he took on his cell phone. Sorry to those of you who know you saw us and are now feeling soarly under-represented!

We are now back safely in AZ, gearing up for fall and all that that brings. My hope is to keep posting so I can brag about my walker...no runner, who continues to amaze me everyday with the things he has learned and the goof-ball things he does (or that I find myself doing!).

My AWESOME Day!

Things were a little different today.


Usually I have to be kind of clean, but today I got to eat my yogart all by myself.

It was a good way to start my special day.

















Then I took a bath.


Then some of my friends came to play.


This is Maggie.
She's nice.

I can't think of anything funner than playing in the water.




Then I got a jungle cake.

I have never had so much sugar in my whole life.


I wanted to touch the candle but mom woudn't let me.





















I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I didn't let that stop me for long.

yum.




















oh, yummm.























ooooooh, yummmmm.

Then I took another bath.

Then I played for awhile with my new toys...

while they put my car together.

while I waited I practiced my driving skills because owning a car is a big responsibility.

It was a great day.

Just another day...

I came home today after a long and stressful day at work. I left the house this morning at 9 AM and got home at 10 PM. I missed Si terribly today, as I do everyday I leave knowing I won't see him all day. I walked in the door, Si already sleeping peacefully in bed, tossed by work bag down and headed strait for the bathroom. As I sat there, a rare moment of quite in this crazy day, I thought about how chaotic it sometimes seems for Caleb and I to be balancing two full-time jobs and a master's program without using regular childcare. How chaotic it seems in general to be parents to a little boy (one year tomorrow!) who can be best described by the words 'energetic' 'curious' and 'walking'. Then I looked down to see the toilet paper was crumpled up and re-rolled onto the cardboard, a clear sign that Caleb had salvaged the roll after Si successfully TPed our bathroom (probably for the 10th time today!). And all of a sudden, the stress from the day disappeared, a smile spread over my face and I was reminded of how overwhelmingly joyful I am in the midst of the chaos.

what happened to the camera craze?!

I guess we got busy, or the new is wearing off of our sweet little boy! Just kidding, Josiah just keeps getting cuter and more precious, but our over-the-top obsession to photograph every smile is starting to fade a bit. Our 11 mo photo folder has about 10 pics in it...and the Grandma's took them all! So lest I admit defeat before Si's first birthday, I will post what we have and assume that I am not likely to look back 10 years from now and mourn the gaping hole that seems to have become June of 2010!

Si and I took a trip to WA while Caleb was on a mission trip with the church. These pictures might look a little "wetter" than what we've had in AZ. I think we can "claim to fame" for at least a week that we recently tied Antarctica for the lowest humidity ever recorded. Those are the kind of stats you get excited about when you live in the desert. Thank goodness we'll be in Oregon for a bit in August! Looking forward to some more respite from the heat!

Summer!!!

Triple digits is an understatement here in beautiful AZ since the entire past week was around 111 degrees. I think it's safe to say the desert summer is upon us.

Thankfully, even though we don't have a pool at our house, we have had some great opportunities to pull Si's adorable swim trunks out of the dresser! Just last weekend, my mom visited for a week and we stayed a few nights at one of her BlueGreen properties! Sometimes pools, housekeepers and a day off are just what the doctor ordered!

Si loves the water so much I am convinced he must be hiding fins and gills under his skin somewhere.

This amazing raft/floaty was a huge blessing on our little retreat. We could keep the babe shaded and also allow him to float and kick around safely without having to hold him the whole time. Usually, I think the whole baby industry is way out of control with products that you "think you need" but really are just bound to encourage entitled, bored and sensory-overloaded children. But this floaty is not one of those items!

We borrowed it from a girl friend in case anyone is thinking it is a little girly for a manly-man like my son!


Si is fearless; loves to jump in head first, kick, float, etc, So safety first, people: swimming lessons here we come!

It is a little sad that summer is upon us here in AZ because I fully recognize how much Josiah loves to be outdoors. I mean, he is truly a different child when we get him outside. For instance, indoors (he's still perfect, BUT) he needs toys and a lot more direction to really be content. Get him outside, and he instantly relaxes, uses his own creativity to explore, and is just content in a whole different way than he is inside. I love it! My plan to make him hate video games is coming along quite nicely.

The problem is, that at this amazing developmental/mileston-y time between crawling and walking, it is so darn hot here that we can really only have him outside in the yard to play between 6 and 7 am. That makes for a long stretch of day for any child to be inside, and that much more for an almost-walking, budding outdoor-enthusiast like Si. So we will have to be creative...at this point, "creative" is SPF 85 sunscreen (who knew they made that?!) and friend's pools. Let me know if you have other sanity-saving summer tips for desperate moms!

Si turned 11 months this week and I will have to post a big update soon. I will be in Yakima all week while Caleb is on a mission trip. Si and I are going to hang out with my parents so that I can work without buying childcare for a week. Now that I say it, it sounds a little foolish to fly 1500 miles to avoid paying a babysitter for a week.

Maybe I should just call my little excursion what it really is: NOT TRIPLE DIGITS!

10 Months

Caleb's mom was in town this weekend and took some time for a little photo shoot. What a challenge with our little mover.

Okay, so this next picture...

...is not as bad as it looks! Shep doesn't bite down...and usually doesn't envelope Si's whole face in his mouth. This pic is a treasure, that's for sure, and quite possibly the reason for several worried phone calls. Thankfully, Si is no worse for the wear.

See, just fine!

Look at those beautiful blues.

We had so much fun with Becky! Si loved all the attention and I loved having a painting partner. Becky is teaching me how to watercolor

We are collecting baby Yoga poses. This is downward Dog...I think we have three now which we plan to make into a collage...and then what? I don't know. What would we do with a baby yoga collage?

This kiddo is so awesome! I can't get enough hugs!

I think this is such a cute picture of my guys!

Sweet, sweet baby boy.

Si has started dancing!!! Wow, Si does some adorable things, but this takes the cake! We'll have to catch him on video one of these days.

Too many cooks in the kitchen.