Summer of '14

Trying to catch up before baby arrives so this is a snap shot of what we did this summer!

Went to Cruisin' Sherwood and Robin Hood Festival in our town. Luke go to make a boat with his Daddy at Cruisin'. We love our hometown festivals! 

Luke and I went to our first drive in movie. Let me just say that going to a drive in and being pregnant is not very fun. I'm glad we did it and I would consider doing it again one day, but not pregnant!! 

Luke did two different swimming lesson sessions this summer. He is NOT a fan of water on his face/head or getting splashed. He did pretty well with his lessons and they defintely helped a lot! He is still not putting his face in the water, but is more comfortable getting splashed and will blow bubbles. 

We drove to Utah in June for a family reunion and to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary! I will be 100% honest here. We kind of love/hate going to visit Utah...because we never have enough time to see anyone, friends/family always get their feelings hurt because we can't spend enough time with anyone, the drive is NOT fun with little people, none of us ever seem to sleep well BUT we love it because we DO get to see our family and friends that we miss, there is lots of delicious places we like to eat and lots of fun things to do! 

Luke loved every minute with his cousins! 

 We went up to Deer Creek Reservoir one day and had a blast.

We were able to visit with Dan's family! 

The BEST part of our visit was Lagoon! We came up after nap time and went on 5-6 rides and then ate dinner. After dinner it dumped and dumped rain for at least 1 hour and it might have been 2 hours. It was so crazy, but we braved the rain because Luke was in heaven with all the rides and his cousins. So, Daddy went to the car and found a winter hat that we had in there and Luke wore that and we were all soaked but it was a great day! 

For the past 10 years I have been thinking about my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. I really wanted to do something very special because I think it is a very big accomplishment to be married for 50 years! Marriage is hard and they have stay committed for a long time and I am very proud of them and so happy that we could celebrate this wonderful day. 

I have to give my sister 100% credit for this BEAUTIFUL display!! 

This was about 20 minutes from home after 13 plus hours in the car. Not fun....

Celebrated the 4th of July with our usual Hillsboro parade in the morning and then fun and fireworks in Vancouver in the evening! It never disappoints! 

Luke and I did lots of painting, stamping and drawing this summer. I was too pregnant to go out in the afternoon heat so I pulled out the art supplies many an afternoon to keep us busy. 

We went to many different fountains!! I feel like we went to more fountains last summer but I think that is because I just didn't have the energy this summer being big and pregnant! 

We took lots of great naps! I am SO grateful that Luke napped the majority of my pregnancy. He has definitely gone through times where I thought he was done napping, but I have never given up and it gave me lots of great naps this summer. Thank you little buddy :) 

Potty training....not fun. We did it and now I am glad it is done, but it was definitely a test of our patience and parenting skills!! Glad it is over and that I won't have to do it for another 2.5-3 years!

I have been pregnant. All. Summer. Long. I really dislike being pregnant. I will just stop there. 

We made a couple trips to Oaks Park Preschool days. 

Visited Silver Falls and we loved our picnic lunch, playing in the water and then hiked to a couple waterfalls. It was a bit more difficult being ginormously pregnant, but still fun! 

Made our way out to the coast a few times. 

Some very kind friends gave me a baby shower! 

 Lots and lots of visits to the park! 

Rode on a Choo Choo train! 

Finally, on Labor Day, to finish off the summer we went to Battle Ground Lake. Such a beautiful setting and we had a great time. I literally sat there the entire time and Dan took Luke out in the water and played with him in the sand! 

That's about it! It has been a HOT summer and our lawn is dead and our garden did great! Not my favorite summer since I was pregnant, but I enjoyed my air conditioned home and tried to do fun things with my Lukey. I am seriously looking forward to fall, pumpkin patches, crisp nights, a baby waking up to eat, football games for Daddy and Lukey and NOT BEING PREGNANT!! 

10 Years

Back in May we went on our first solo trip since having Luke. We spent three nights at a beautiful cabin in Mossyrock, WA. We have spent time here with family in the past so it was a little strange to be there with just the two of us. The first day/night was a little hard because we had zero cell phone coverage and it was weird being away from Luke. I knew he was in great hands, but being the first time away from him I was a little worried. Nonetheless, we adjusted and had a great time! 

We took a nap every afternoon and it was glorious! 

We cooked and ate delicious food and didn't have to worry about feeding a small person. 

We watched TV and movies and did have to watch one episode of Little Einsteins!

There was no worrying about naps or bedtimes. We did whatever we wanted to do.

We played games, enjoyed the hot tub and went on walks.

I miss it....

There is a lovely little fire pit where we enjoyed a campfire each night. One night we made tinfoil dinners using this recipe and they were TO DIE FOR! So yummy! We sat by the fire and talked and listened to music and roasted marshmallows. 

 The next day we drove up to the Mt. Rainer area. The drive was stunning and the scenery surreal! The Pacific Northwest is really the most beautiful place on earth. We first walked down to a river to check it out. The spring run off was in full force and it was amazing to see the power of the water.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then hiked The Grove of the Patriarchs. A very family friendly (also pregnant friendly!) hike. It is really more of a stroll through the woods and then you cut down to the river, over a bridge and onto a boardwalk through some massive trees. It was just right for me in my pregnant state. 

On our last day we drove to the outlet mall in Centralia and enjoyed some kid free shopping time! Too bad we were in Washington and had to pay stinky sales tax. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset one night and walked out to a viewpoint by our cabin. It was three days of R and R. At the end we both just wanted one more day...

Proud Owner of a Three Year Old

I am now the proud owner of a three year old! He understood what his birthday was this year and was looking forward to it for several weeks. We taught him that his birthday was April 28th and he got pretty good at telling people. He also would regularly respond with "cupcakes" when asked when his birthday was. So, I knew that he would want cupcakes and some presents and that is what he got! 

I decided to forgo a "friend" birthday party this year and just had the family over for games, presents, dinner and cupcakes. I knew Luke would be perfectly happy with that and it was a lot easier on me! Next year I will have a bunch of 4 year old's over.

He unwrapped lots of presents! This is the first year he has not needed assistance in unwrapping. 

Loves his new bubble machine!

 Playing with his new car rug that I very proudly purchased used for $4! Most of his gifts came from a consignment sale or the target after Christmas clearance. Hooray for good deals!

 Time for the highly anticipated CUPCAKES! He requested blue and green icing. He was so excited that everyone was singing happy brithday to him. His little face was so cute. We were sad that we did not video it.

Of course, he only eats the frosting so he got one blue and one green and was all done!

Then we sent the people under the age of 16 outside so we could clean up inside and they enjoyed playing with the new bubble machine. I gave Kelsey the camera and she got some great shots of Luke! 

On his actual birthday (Monday) we went to Sky High with a couple friends. It is a place that is full of trampolines! Luke loves it and had been looking forward to it for a couple weeks. 

Luke tried out the rope swing for the first time, but it really consisted of me tossing him into the foam pit because he wasn't very good at holding on tight to the rope.

Just look at that face! It makes me so happy! He is such a fun age right now.  I can communicate with him, but he is also getting more independent all the time. He is really such a good boy and only has melts downs when he is tired. He loves to run, dance, wrestle, play at the park, run around with friends, play with mommy and daddy, play with trains and cars and do anything active! He is 40.5 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. He is a very big boy and it is hard for me to carry him. He loves to read his books at nap time and bed time and then have his three songs (Mommy, Daddy, Lukey Song, I am a Child of God and Hickory Dickory Dock). He is still a great sleeper and naps most days for 1.5-2 hours. He is not interested in potty training and is still sleeping in a crib, so we are hoping to ween him off both of those things before baby #2 arrives! He is excited to be a big brother and I am sure it will be hard for him when I am nursing the baby all the time, but I know he will be a great helper as well and that he will love his baby brother.