2 and the Flu

Jacksen turned 2 on January 22. Unfortunately we all ended up sick. I started the whole thing and then one by one everyone got it. Body aches, fever, cough...Happy Birthday Jacksen. The Birthday Boy didn't end up sick until the night of his birthday so were able to still have a fun day. Donuts, painting, Happy Meals, digger decorations, and a gummy worm dirt dessert. It is absolutely bonkers that this little guy is 2 and just a few months away from becoming a big brother. He is a sweet and mischievous little guy and we love him so much.

We had made plans to take the train to Seattle to visit my parents that weekend but had to postpone our trip until a week later. Jordan and I figured that a week would be plenty for us all to be back to normal. The kids were so excited when we made it to the train station and got to board the train.

By the time we made it to Seattle what had started out as a little cough for Jacksen had turned into a fever and another round of sickness. He was such a trooper and we managed to have a great time. We laid low but ventured out a bit, one of the highlights being a ride around the mall on a motorized elephant.

They called these things Zoo-mers or something equally hilarious. You rent them and can drive them all over the mall. There were several animals to choose from and we ended up with the elephant. Lu was over the moon. If I were 5 I would've been too!

Besides Jacksen not feeling his best, it was still a good weekend getting to celebrate him. Our train ride home was fun too, aside from a grumpy lady calling me and Jordan lazy and telling us Jacksen was the loudest child she had ever been on a train with, but whatever. Jordan told her to take a seat. We made it home in time for the Super Bowl and Jacksen was back to himself after a few days. Hoping things are a little healthier for his next birthday.

It's a boy!

On Christmas Eve we found out we are having another boy! After my Doctor's appointment on Christmas Eve we brought home the jammies and ultrasound pictures, wrapped up for us to open. The lid came off and we were all seeing blue.

Lucy was a great sport. We could all tell she was a little bummed, but after a girl's only frozen yogurt trip her spirits were lifted.

Lucy made for a rocking Mary at her preschool Christmas program. She remembered her lines like a champ and it was the sweetest thing.

We celebrated Christmas here in Portland with Jordan's family. We started out with brunch at our house, made a stop at Jordan's Dad's for lunch, and ended the day with a big family dinner at his Aunt's. The kids were loving all the festivities and I even got Blazer tickets! Lots of smiles all around.

We closed out 2014 with friends and an 8pm countdown for the littles. While the grown-ups got crazy with a dice game named after Mennonites, the kiddos played and watched Madagascar. There was pizza and there were cream puffs and it was a great night.

As for 2015, its looking like its going to be a good one.

Time Flies

And just like that its December. I'm not going to bother going through the giant time gap I've left between blogs except for a couple highlights. Lucy turned 5, Jordan and I turned 31, Thanksgiving was great, and I'm 18 weeks pregnant! We are super excited for baby number 3 to join our fam. We get to find out what we're having on Christmas Eve, but we are going to switch things up a little bit. Instead of finding out in the ultrasound room we are going to have a friend take the envelope with the gender inside and wrap an outfit and ultrasound pictures for us to open as a family. I've been thinking girl, but lately am feeling clueless. Lu is definitely hoping for a girl, but Jordan thinks its a boy so who the heck knows.

Other than that, life has pretty much been business as usual. Lucy just got her part for her preschool Christmas play. She's Mary and her line is "Don't worry Joseph, God will take care of us." Last year one of the kids puked. He had just finished his lines and was passing the microphone and then just threw up. He was helped off stage but the show went on and the puke was covered with a poinsettia. (They cleaned it later.) I'm hoping there isn't a repeat this year.

We headed back to Sunny Day Tree Farm for our Christmas tree this year and picked a good one. Its a bit of a drive but a great spot. Once you're done getting your tree there's free cocoa or cider and a cozy fire to warm up by.

Our Elf on the Shelf has also started making appearances. He shows up holding a little paper scroll with some sort of Christmas activity or treat that we do each day. Yesterday's scroll sent us to see some reindeer. I think it would've been a lot of fun had we not been in crisis mode over a lost Princess Aurora sticker. I'm relieved to report, the sticker was found.

I really do love this time of year though. Cocoa, Christmas lights, parties, there are just so many fun things to do! Excited for the rest of this Christmas season.

Yurting

A couple weeks or so ago we headed to Ft. Stevens with a group of friends to do some yurting. I've been camping a handful of times in my life but have never tried yurting. I'm a big fan of being clean and taking showers so I've never felt the draw to the whole camping thing. But after this experience, yurting I can do.

There were five families, all with two kiddos. Each family had their own yurt which were all pretty close together. There was a big sand pit for the kids to play in. At one point I hollered out for any of the kids who wanted to go play in the sand to get in line behind Jordan for him to take them. And they did. So he marched them over to the sand pit. He's the best.

The sleeping arrangement was really the biggest downfall for us. Jacksen was really hit or miss sleeping in the pack and play, the first and third nights being horrible. With us all sleeping in the same canvas tent of a room it was a little rough and I felt terrible for our neighbors, but we made it. Lucy loves sleeping in bunkbeds and claimed the top right away. There weren't bathrooms in the yurt but they were a short walk away, showers included.

We had figured out meals ahead of time and mostly ate together which was super fun. Once the kiddos went to bed we had grown-up campfires and just talked, ate lots of really unhealthy food, and played ridiculous games. Really good to just have time with friends.

It was great getting to see all of the kiddos running around together. Whether it was riding bikes or chasing the abnormally overweight squirrels (one which they named Cakey), it was just special to see them being friends.  Speaking of chasing overweight squirrels, the menfolk may or may not have fashioned a homemade trap from a cardboard box with a pull-string attached and muddy buddies as bait. And we may or may not have all sat around while our kids napped waiting for the squirrels to show themselves. Seriously though, the squirrels were crazy. Coming like inches away from you and even stealing paper towels. Little stinkers.

One of our days there we went over to the actual Fort at Ft. Stevens which is an old military base so that was cool to walk around and explore. The kids loved climbing in the old jeep and giving us all heart attacks as they took turns venturing way to close to the open ledges.

Another day we made a trip to the beach. You could drive down onto the sand and there was a super old shipwreck there. The kids were all having a blast (and so were the adults) and it was just the best. Seriously, smiles all around. Sand toys, kites, and wet clothes from running around in the ocean. Definitely my favorite part of the weekend.

The beach is also the perfect backdrop for jumping pictures. 

Even ones that are photobombed.

I loved our little yurting trip and am so glad we went. Hopefully it becomes a yearly tradition. Its these kinds of moments and experiences that remind me how blessed we are to have such great friends.

Last Day!

Today was Lucy's last official day of preschool for this year. She will be doing a Summer school program they have which extends the year for a couple more weeks, but this was her last day with the class she's been with all year.

Lu has had a great year and I have been so impressed with the program, teachers, everything. Having a lot of experience in the preschool scene myself, its such a great feeling to walk into a place and feel confident leaving my child in someone's care, knowing that she is cared for, loved, and safe. When I picked her up today the hallway was lined with goodies for each kiddo along with all the stuff from their cubbies to take home. All the kids were so excited! It was important to me and Jordan that we send Lucy to a faith based preschool to help lay a strong foundation. She's a tough customer when it comes to spiritual things but we know that God is working in her little heart and we are so excited to see where she goes from here.

This is a picture of Lucy's first and last days of school. I think she looks pretty much the same. Equally as excited in both. I asked her some questions about herself that first day and asked her them again today. Her answers from that first day are here and there are her answers from today.

Favorite color: Light Pink

Favorite animal: Giraffe

Favorite Food: Mac and Cheese

What do you want to be when you grow up? Nothing anymore. I just want to be me. :)

Her answers were all pretty much the same except for the light tweak to the pink. That last answer was different though, what she wants to be when she grows up. She always gets a little uncomfortable when I ask her that question but I think she had a great answer, at least that last part. I just want her to be herself too. Can't wait to see who this little lady becomes.

Date Night

A few posts back I wrote about the date night exchange we do with some friends. This past Saturday me and Jordan went out for one of our dates. We pick the actual days awhile in advance but they always seem to sneak up on us and then we never know what to do. This time around we wanted to switch it up a bit. We debated for awhile and finally ended up with a plan.

After dropping off the kids we headed out to Monkey Subs. Since we drop the kids off in the Beaverton area I looked for restaurants somewhere in that general area. I found some reviews on this place and we decided to try it. Super good. We love sandwiches and these were some great ones.

Next stop? Driving Range. I had never been before so I was super excited. Jordan is not a sports guy but he was totally up for this. We got a large bucket of balls and borrowed some clubs. There were two tiers to hit from and we chose to go for the upper level. Honestly, I was just giddy about the whole thing. We teed up and starting hitting, trying different drivers and clubs (is that even the right terminology?!) There were several instances of balls ricocheting off of the roof and railings and even more complete misses, but it was so much fun. At one point I even hit the ball picker-upper truck, although I did feel bad afterward and waved at the driver. (And no I wasn't actually aiming for it.) We finished up and both decided that we would like to become golfers.

After we headed over to Well and Good Coffee House. Its a great space and we had fun looking at all the fixtures, sipping coffee, and finding things we thought Jordan could recreate for us.

On our way back we made a quick stop at Target and then off to get the kiddos. They were happy as always and ready to go in their jammies. We both agreed that this was one of our most fun dates lately. So fun to try something new together and just be silly and goofy. Seriously though, I want to be a golfer.

Easter Egg Alphabet Matching

Every Holiday brings with it its own stuff. Birthday banners, Christmas trees, pumpkins, and plastic eggs. Easter isn't Easter without plastic eggs. I never know what to do with them after and always end up buying new sets every year. This year I decided to change it up. After looking at Pinterest I found a really fun idea on how to turn those plastic eggs into a fun Alphabet Matching game. This isn't an original idea from me by any means but super easy to do.

I cut the hinge on the eggs and wrote a capital letter on one side and a lowercase on the other. Lu has gotten really good at capital letters but we haven't done much with lowercase so I thought this would be a fun way to start. This site used sticker letters but I just went with permanent marker. 

After writing out all the letters you make a bug jumble and then the kiddo go to town trying to find the matches.

Here's what they would look like all matched up! I'm planning on adding this to her Busy Box. She really liked it, by the way, but I can already tell the activities are getting old. The first time we brought it out she was really excited but every other time she seemed to be expecting something new and when there wasn't anything else in there she was unimpressed. Hopefully this will turn things around! If you're interested in more ideas like this one head to Pinterest and just search Easter Egg Alphabet. There are tons!