Our Dancing Queen
2 months ago
And just like that *, we have snow. And just like that *, it's gone!
Oh! I have so MANY projects that I need to sew (I'll post some pics later...pretty soon I'll be revealing a surprise!). And lucky for me I have this cute little bubby to keep me company. Because most of my work consists of the boring job of patching up the boy's clothes.
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| my husband is awesome |
But we had a fun time! We took a quick weekend trip out to the coast to go yurt camping again. This time we went to Nehalem Bay State Park. It is a fun little campground nestled on a peninsula with the Bay on one side and the ocean on the other. There is a bike trail and a playground as well as nice beach access. I can see us going back in the summer with our bikes, canoe and surfboards (which we hope to acquire cheaply before then)...and just rip it up!! {Ohmygoodness! I LOVE summer in Oregon. I CANNOT wait.}
We arrived the night before my birthday and Brent had planned a cookout with Joshua. They made foil-wrapped tamales and steamed vegetables! We discovered that Nehalem Bay State Park has a raccoon problem. A raccoon problem where they come way to close and try to steal your dinner. Next we discovered that you can scare raccoons away by standing up on your tiptoes, raising your arms abover your head and RAWRing loudly. Then we retired to a lovely accommodations.
Reading stories
Toby's always hamming it up for the camera.
Oliver's plush accommodations
The next morning we went to breakfast, as is the tradition for my birthday. I LOVE going to breakfast...but we rarely do it because it is so easy to make breakfast foods, so when we go out to eat we try to keep it to foods that are hard to make. We found a sweet little cafe nook in the Wheeler Hotel which we all agreed had the best french toast we've ever had. Hands down.
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| is this not a GREAT eating picture? |
Then our plan was to spend the rest of the day at the beach. Hiking, beach combing, playing soccer, rolling down sand hills, playing tag, etc. We arrived at the beach parking lot to overcast skies, but nothing terribly daunting. Then we climbed over the sand dunes to the actual beach...
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| boys bundled up |
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| Ollie safely tucked in under my rain jacket |
...and we got blasted:
BLASTED:
BLaStEd by wind:
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| the winds were 40-50 mph, with gusts up to 70 mph! |
But it's also very fun to feel like to can lean back into the wind and not fall down...unless you're Toby. Then it's very scary because the wind might blow you away!
But the wind/sand combination is also very picturesque:
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| its a VERY quick run down the beach with THAT wind at your back |
Then there was poor Toby who only wanted to play soccer on the beach...
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| ...but of course his ball rolled away before he could even kick it. It rolled right into the ocean. He was hysterical! Until Brent ran against the wind to the rescue! Whew! |
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| triumphant! |
Joshua likes to run by the waves:
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| good form Joshua |
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| CrAzY weather day! As much as I love Oregon summers...it's days like these (winter days) which make you feel so aLiVe! |
Finally Toby could take it NO MORE!...
...and we rolled on over to the other side of the sand dunes, back to the parking lot...where strangely, there was no more wind.
After rubbing the sand out of his sad eyes, he finally got the chance to play some soccer!
And we climbed some trees:
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| some raccoony trees |
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| Happy 33 years of living to me! |
Baby was just happy to be safe in the car with his Sophie the giraffe teething toy:
This is the watch we got for Toby for Christmas:
Oh heaven help us before everything in our house gets chewed to shreds!
Seriously though. Poor guy. He's really sad. He slowly chewed this down over the past couple of months and then cried about it. Then he decided he would put it in his pocket so he could still pull it out to see the time. Well...I accidentally washed it. I was 'waterproof' but I think the washer was just too much for the poor watch. Bye-bye favorite orange watch! RIP.
Seriously though. Poor guy. He's really sad. He slowly chewed this down over the past couple of months and then cried about it. Then he decided he would put it in his pocket so he could still pull it out to see the time. Well...I accidentally washed it. I was 'waterproof' but I think the washer was just too much for the poor watch. Bye-bye favorite orange watch! RIP.
Since I am thoroughly enjoying every moment with my baby, I want to keep track of all his milestones. I've been trying to get a picture of him every month on his birthday. 6 months is a BIG one...but I didn't get great pictures since I remembered after it was dark. Oh well...I have some pictures that are pretty close to the day. And hopefully very soon I will have my friend take some professional pictures of him!
Oliver Silas
Oliver Silas
All of us are enjoying every single moment with this new baby. It is such a blessing to attain this kind of love and enjoyment of life. A blessing I know I would not have been able to appreciate if Elsa had lived. <3<3<3
Ollie's six month stats:
Height: 28 inches, 96th percentile
Weight: 18.5 pounds, 70th percentile
Head circumference: 17.75 inches, 85th percentile
Our pediatrician said he was the size of a 1 year old! Haha! He is still a bit smaller than our two other boys were at this age. He's babbling up a storm...so cute! He is social with everyone, but especially with his brothers and Brent and I. He grabs for EVERYTHING. He loves eating solid food and drinking water out of my glass. He started sticking his tongue out all the time, especially when he smiles. He likes to imitate sounds and blow raspberries. He still isn't quite sitting up independently, but he is very strong. He seems to be content to just be held or sit up in his super saucer. He also has NOT cut the two bottom front teeth which he has been working on for months! But he has become a lot less fussy since I started feeding him solids and he is sleeping better at night. I feed him avocado mixed with ground up brown rice every night before bed, and that has done a GREAT job of keeping him full at night.
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| such a sweetie! |
Now's as good a time as any I suppose, to finish catching up from the summer.
4th of July hike:
Mt. St. Helens:
4th of July hike:
Just a favorite little lesser-known trail, where truly the wood is between worlds!
Upper Butte Creek Falls
It took FOREVER to drive here (I had forgotten since the last time we came I was in a cocoon of grief).
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| I brought Brent's parents here while he was at work. |
4th of July party:
it was the BEST party EVER...hosted by the Hartley's. Barbecue, cotton candy, fun and games and TONS of fireworks!
Tara and her sweet little
The babies
sweet kisses!
Tara and Rachel are two friends who are very dear to me. They both supported me in different but crucial ways through the loss of Elsa. Tara was of course, a part of it. Rachel was my Visiting Teaching companion at church. Her baby ^ is only 4 months older than Elsa. Instead of feeling awkward and avoiding me, she went out of her way to find out how she could help me in my loss. She asked her sister who had a previous stillbirth what to do. She made us dinner, brought us a plant (which traveled to Utah and back and is still alive in our dining room window), brought over the book Tear Soup, and sent cards to me every month in the mail with comforting scriptures. I will never forget how she did not run away, but made my burden light.
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| Thank you Rachel |
Some fun and games before the fireworks!
Mt. St. Helens:
still active...ever steaming
from inside the visitors center
arrayed in hues of violet
and surrounded by 30 year old dead wood
with hints of new life here and there
lots of dead wood
a picnic by spirit lake
and a canoe ride for all!
Goodbyes to moving friends:
This really deserves its own post and 6 months ago would've been better, but I'm tired. Sorry friends! Love you! At least I'm finally getting these pictures posted.
Tara, Kate and Katie...aren't we cute?
(one of the reasons I started going by Kate was because of all the 500 Katie's who lived in my ward)
Tara's and Katie's babies who were born 1 month after Elsa
SO PRESH!
Last year at almost the exact date, we had a picture take of the three of us with our matching pregnant bellies...now here we are a year later!
friends 4eva!
