Today was tiring, but productive.

The house is way too warm right now, Eli skipped his nap ( I made him have "quiet time" that wasn't very quiet so I could have some mama time), and dinner needs to be cooked. At least I was able to get all the shopping done this morning.  Little man and I went to Safeway, Fred Meyer (rings needed to be redone), Petco, Becu, Costco, and got gas.  The two tiring house were made possible by the Ergo and the wonderful cart cover from you Becca!  Eli napped on my back the 45 min that we were at costco.  

Speaking of shopping I pretty much never go anymore.  We were out of pretty much everything, including bread, peanut butter, milk, half and half, milk to make yogurt (I make it with whole milk), fruit, and the only veggies we had was lettuce.  It was getting back because I usually get a bountiful basket weekly but we were out of town or I was working the last 2 weeks so I have been missing out! I save so much money getting the baskets.  I get a little of everything fruit and vegetable related and it keeps me out of the grocery store, and therefore I make meals of fruits and veggies instead of other crap.  I have started making our own bread but had to take a break because of this heat.  There is no way I am turning my oven on or spending that long in my kitchen in this heat, I just can 't do it.  Also Eli has gotten insanely more mobile and has been skipping a majority of his naps, so thats fun. ;)  He has two teeth about to pop through through so hopefully things get better soon.  I have to give him credit though, he sleeps 10-11 hours a night with an exception this last week when we were on vacation and the teething got super bad. We are getting back on schedule with the self soothing though.  He has been wanting to nurse all the time with this teething, do you remember that Becca with your kids? Some may be related to the heat but it seems more correlated with teeth. 

A few weekends ago Eli and I went up to Carnation for "Celebrate life with your midwife".  It was so fun to hang out with Roxanne at her gorgeous lakehouse home on Lake Joy.  So many mamas and so many babies were there too! It was worth the hour drive. :) 

I am finally using the sling I wanted so badly before Eli was born.  This sling works perfect for having him on my hip or slightly on my back and hip (arm in front of him) so he can watch me get everything done. I still love having the sling you gave me in the diaper bag for quick trips as well Becca.  Eli is the squirmiest baby and just holding him is way harder if I don't have the sling, only quickkkkkk trips get done without any carrier, they are so easy to pop on it's not worth going anywhere without one of my four, yes four, and I love them all! 

We bought Eli a blow up pool off amazon and he loves it!  I need to fill it up again so he can splash around in this hot week that is coming up.  I just leave the water in it on the deck and put some warm water in each time he gets in, so that it isnt frigid!

Eli is crawling so fast these days and loves standing and holding onto everything!  He can't be contained which means I need to be more creative with my time in order to get things done.  I still wear  him while I mow or vacuum but he doesn't like to be worn while I cook or clean up unless he is sleepy and clingy because he refused his nap (yet still won't go down for one). Babies are so silly. 

I started french braiding my hair again and I love it! My messy bun or pony tail gets annoying when in the car or laying on the couch because I hate the bump it makes, it's uncomfortable.  I just tuck the tail of my french braid under and wear a headband, it's my new favorite summer hair do! 

Eli has always loved Paul, but now that he is mobile and understands more he gets soooo excited when Paul gets home! Tonight he didn't want to go to bed even though he was tired because he hadn't played with Paul (Paul got home we ate dinner, I bathed Eli, and then tried to nurse him down).  So he ended up going to bed 45 minutes later (still at 8pm) and playing with daddy a bit.  

Eli also loves the cats!  He has this excited wheeze that he does when he crawls to some thing he either isn't supposed to get or he has never seen before. It's adorable.  The cat's let him get pretty close  before darting off. 

We went to Orcas Island with my parents this last week for 4 nights.  It was so awesome to have 4 adults to 1 baby ratio for caretaking, I know I enjoyed it!  We stayed at a place that overlooked the water and was so gorgeous.  We explored Mt. Constitution, pottery shops, downtown, and the water. The only bummer is Eli slept like crap, waking 2-3 times a night due to either teeth or just knowing he was in the same room as me, not sure which one.  I can see two little teeth buds so anyday this kid should have some teethers break through!  Poor guy.  Sometimes you can just tell he wants to be happy but all the nap skipping and teeth pain catches up to him and he fusses, then smiles, and fusses, then collapses in your arms. 

The first night we were there some deer came to visit, and I took a selfie. Best selfie I have ever taken :). 

The picture of Eli in the dark below was the day he woke up at 3:50 am.  Nobody gave him the memo that you are supposed to sleep at that hour.  

Feet in the water (it was cold and he didn't really like it), Ergo with mama- my little happy boy, family picture on our last day, and at the top of Mt. Constitution.  Hiking is a lot more work with a baby on  your back! 

Here is how I like to wear Eli while in the kitchen. I get both hands free and he can see wayyyyy more than if he was on my back in the ergo. Happy baby= happy mama.  

We are having to re sleep train Eli so the sight of a sleeping baby is oh so glorious.  He woke up twice last night but Paul was able to get him back down both times, so he went back to not nursing at night pretty well after vacation. 

We missed our first ferry on the way to orcas and the picture of my mom with Eli is us praying we make the one on the way home, we made it by 3 cars, too close for comfort! We got to the ferry over an hour early both times and went out on a tuesday and saturday. 

Eli has been wanting to nurse a lot and for long periods of time.  The hand holding picture was when I tried to unlatch him to take him to his crib, he grabbed on so sweetly and wouldn't let go. :)

I just cleared over 400 pictures off my phone before doing this blog post. I thought I took a lot of pictures pre baby, but post baby is no joke!  They were all from July too. :) 

Hope all is well, hope I get to see you on Saturday Becca! 

thankful for our life

I am so thankful for our life.  We live in a rich and amazing community, and our life has been so full lately.  Some friends moved back to the area and we have been spending time with them and making more connections with people in our area.  The last two weeks have been up and down emotionally for me.  My Grandpa died on Hailey's 2nd birthday.  He was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer just before that time and sent home with a few days to a couple of weeks to live.  Thankfully, my brother took time off of work and paid for my mom to fly out and see him.  It worked out that she was able to be there when he passed, which was peaceful and he had his family right there around him.

I wasn't close with my grandpa, but that mixed with some other things going on right now has felt like a lot to process, so last week I felt a little drained.  This weekend was really refreshing though (we went to the beach 3 or 4 days in a row), and full of friends and new faces.  I have been feeling overwhelmingly in love with the place we live, and I know I mention crazy off the wall things like buying a hotel and moving, but Jeremy and I talk more and more about how we could live here for a long time and really, the longer we live here, the more we feel connected to it.

Anyway, hopefully pictures will speak to what we have been up to, because I am playing catch up to day. We are all tired out from the weekend.

Hailey in her Cinderella dress (she was not interested in a picture)

hailey was running around outside in her diaper and looked like some wild hippie child

fun at the beach with friends!  She loves this little girl, Sasha.  They are only a few months apart and get along so well (Hailey likes being a bigger "sister", as she calls herself).  We played with them a few times this weekend.

more fun.  The girls were so cute relaxing in their chairs at our house afterward, and Shea was having  so much fun as I splashed warm buckets of water from a tide pool all over him.

left: at the park today, top right: at a local cafe on Sunday for breakfast, bottom right: Shea playing at a beach in Hansville

Left: Hailey at breakfast on Sunday, top Right: Jeremy and I put the kids down at his parents adn went out for a late night swim at the beach - so much fun , I felt like I was 18 again! 

Catching Up

Hi Ladies!

Long time no post.  I can't believe it's been over a month since our trip to Seattle!  Time has flown by since then.  I've been super busy with work.  Soon after I got back I started teaching a new class and using new curriculum in my other class.  I've finally gone through a whole cycle of the new curriculum and can use the lesson plans I've already made.  Usually it's not so bad using the new curriculum, but I had to teach a new grammar point I hadn't taught before (relative clauses) and I had to spend quite a while figure it out for myself and then figuring out the best way for my students to understand it.

I had horrible cold for two weeks in June at the same time.  It was so bad, I would just come home and hide.  I'm glad that's over, I told Justin that I better not have a cold when I go into labour, I can't imagine!

I hope I'm not too complainy in this post, but I will get to positive things.  But first, this week has been the first week where I've felt tired of being pregnant.  I think the baby was going through a growth spurt, and I've been really tired after work. I would come home, sink into the couch and not move.  It's been a week of frozen pizza and burger's and ordering out.  I also cried this week because my maternity dress pants for work were too tight.  Justin was really sweet about it and last night we went out to get another pair.  We went to a nearby outlet, and I found a pair for $5!

We've been busy getting stuff together for the baby room.  In the last month we've gotten a crib, change table, dresser, stroller and last night we got the car seat!  We found a lot of the stuff on kijiji (Canadian version of craigslist).  Every time we get something it feels so good, one step closer to being ready for the baby!

Like I said, this was a long week, and I'm so glad it's the weekend.  Justin made me pancakes for breakfast, and now we're cleaning our house (I'm taking a break to post while Justin vacuums the car...hehe). Then we're heading off to the beach to hang out with Justin's brother and my sister-in-law and niece.  Our plan is to leave in about half an hour, so I should get on making our picnic lunch and packing snacks for the afternoon.

Here's my attempt at a selfie at the computer, 33 weeks on Sunday!!

I am thankful I have insurance

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... but oh my gosh it is the most confusing thing ever, and my midwife is having problems billing correctly. I still haven't paid for Eli's birth and I just spent 20 minutes talking to the nicest lady about it through my insurance. Now I am asking my midwife to rebill everything. Maybe by the time he is a year old this will all be sorted out! 

Ok on to the cutey and fun that started this whole insurance mess ;)

Photoshoot with my little mohawk man. I need to hawk his hair up again, it has gotten so long in just a few short weeks! 

Is there anything sweeter than sleeping babies? I don't think so.  These pictures of him in his plaid outfit were all taken on Fathers day.  I had worked the day before and was oh so tired. We went out to pick quick to celebrate Paul's first fathers day and then had a chill evening. Eli thought the metal tables were awesome for banging on.  

Eli has been taking showers with me or Paul for about two months now. I can't even remember when we started. We had him in the bumbo for a while, but now he can sit and crawl so he just plays on the floor of the shower with his toys for 20 minutes and is happy as a clam. It is such a time saver to have him shower with me! Not only do I not spend the 20-30 minutes bathing him and letting him play in the bath, I don't have to take my shower during his nap time and ruin my precious alone time! Win, win! 

This kid, he is such a ham.  The pic where he is laying on Paul he was oh so exhausted but protesting bedtime.  I used to be able to lay him down and he would fall asleep at 8pm if he wasn't asleep already, but now that he can move so well he just crawls and kicks and now as of this morning, stands up and holds onto the bars of his crib!  Goodness he is only 6 months old! But we are getting better at naps and bedtime. I don't want to speak too soon and jinx it all but lets just say we are finally showing signs of improvement! 

I went to help a church friend pack who has a 3 month old. We packed and purged with both babies napping or playing for 4 hours or so then they were getting fussy and refusing naps so I took them on a 2 hour walk, it was good for everyone! 

My mom and I took a trip down to Salem with Eli (Paul had to work) so we could visit my grandparents, cousins, and aunt!  It was a wonderful but oh so exhausting trip! We stayed in a hotel, and Eli woke up twice a night to nurse. It's kinda hard when he is in the same room as me and knows I am there, he just fusses till he gets it, and mama is tired, so I nurse to go back to sleep quicker.  We also took a ride on grandpa steves new 4 wheeler. Well, Eli just pretended to ride because it would be impossible to steer and hold a baby. 

Great Grandparents and my cousin Anne. Everyone was all smiles when they saw Eli!  Even my dad's dad (bottom left) who hasnt smiled in at least a month couldnt help but grin at Eli! 

1. Eli loved the hotel pool, it was so warm it felt like a big bathtub!  2. 4 generations! 3. I took Eli to a friends apartment pool and the three babies swam together.  Eli was the only one that loved the water, the other two were a little leary. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have three water babies! 4. Eli never wears clothes these days!  It's too warm and cloth diapered bootys are adorable! 

I have been eating so much salad these days! I am loving putting some sort of noodle on them so they are way more filling and feel more like a meal.  Speaking of meals Eli lovesssss to eat, and especially loves watermelon! He also loves chasing cats. 

This was Eli's first time sitting in the cart, thank you for the cart cover Becca!  I got so many compliments on it like people haven't seen one before...except I see them on a regular basis so those people were just silly! :)  Eli loves sitting up like a big boy in the cart and he smiles at everyone, shopping trips take so much longer when everyone wants to talk to your baby! 

Eli has learned to pull himself up on things and he thinks its pretty cool. Just today he learned how to stand in his crib, makes going down for bed or naps difficult when he gets himself worked up because he just stands there!

I have a baby crawling all around me as I try and finish this up. He keeps pushing caps lock and other random keys. So I shall say farewell even though I had a few more things I was going to ramble about. Until next time!