Bedtime Shenanigans

Well you can tell Issie is feeling better when she is back to her bedtime shenanigans. Something bizaar happens at bedtime, it starts right after prayers and right around singing time. Issie gets some wild fire energy spurt that turns into a little baby hanging from the side of the bed upside down doing stunts well after both her brother and sister has fallen asleep. We do the back to bed thing from Super Nanny but she is so resistant and happy go lucky playful that it seems relatively ineffective to actually get her to go to sleep. It does get her back to bed though, but only for another round of bouncing or climbing or dancing with her stuffies. Thankfully Kadie has learned to ignore her (I have no idea how) and fall asleep in the midst of all the craziness. It is good that she is feeling better. I know this is a battle of the wills to some extent and possibly a night owl personality in the mix too. She is winning the will thing however.

Sick Babies

I know it is so sad when they are sick. I do not enjoy vomit in my hair or down my back or everywhere else for that matter. Issie had the stomach flu this weekend. It was sad. She seemed totally fine, laughing and jumping around then out of no where, she started throwing up. She seemed shocked by the whole thing. Then fine, asking for breakfast. Silly mommy gave her some. Then she decided she did not want it but just wanted to snuggle and whine. I choose to cherish this moment. I hate them sick but I love the time when only mommy can make it better, the suction cup hug and the feverish sleeping on your chest. Until the whine turns into more puke, this time down my shirt and in my lap. She was so sad in the shower getting clean, only to throw up again walking in the hall. Then slipping in it and throwing up some more..... poor thing really had no idea what was happening. She took a good nap, and we started to really limited her intake and now seems better. Rough weekend. Mom was next.

Brad turns 40!

Today was Brad's birthday! He turned 40. I made many plans to have a great celebration and each plan did not work out. We have a joke in our family called the "week of Brad". Brad used to have so many things he wanted to do that he would say, "we could do that for my birthday" that it just turned in to a week of celebration. It was fun.
We don't do that anymore, not for any reason other than it is just not as big a deal I guess. But this year, I wanted to make it a big deal. He is forty after all. We started out with a big party but all of his best guy friends could not make it this weekend (or last weekend, or the next 2 weekends for that matter). So we ditched that idea. Then we thought we would go to the beach with his mom and Rod but his boss would not let him off work since there is already someone on his team off till April. So that plan was dropped. Then we thought of a poker night, but no guys in town. So we thought we would go hiking, but then Issie started puking and puked all day on Saturday. It rained Sunday. So we decided just to do a date night instead. Well then I came down with the puking Issie had and we had to cancel that. So Happy Birthday Brad. You got to spend your big day taking care of 2 puking girls, so fun.

We do love you. You are a great man, a wonderful husband and the best father. I love my life with you. I love growing older with you. I decided to pick some pictures that I liked to share a bit of you with everyone out there.

I love this picture of you with the kids at Pacific Beach last summer. It was rainy and cold but you would never miss a chance to play in the waves and look for creatures. The kids love that about you. You are the fun one. You are the playful one. You are the one who can totally lose track of time, playing a game and just spending time with the kids.

I love this picture of you with Kadie. I think she was hurt or cold or something and wanted her Daddy. She loves you so much. You are a good daddy.

Here is one with you and Issie, the wild child on the hike. I think she has your adventurous spirit. I love that you nurture that and let them be who they are.

Me and you. Thanks for taking care of me, not just today but all of the time. You are my prince charming. I love who you are and who God is growing you to be. Happy Birthday!

Girlfriends Weekend at the Beach!

This post is over due! For the second year me and my 4 girlfriends went to the beach for the weekend. This year we were kid free and I was not pregnant, to big changes. We go for my friends Melody's birthday, but also just to get away and have uninterrupted girl time. This year we stayed a super pretty beach house in Lincoln City so we stopped at the outlets on the way down for a little shopping too. We spent most of our time at the house, lounging around, enjoying our company and relaxing. A fun time to get away.

From Left to Right, Melody, Marnee, Kristi, Michelle and Me.

Sunset walk on the beach- it was beautiful.

We live in such a beautiful place. What a blessing to be surrounded by such beauty, in relationships and scenery.

Hiking Beacon Rock

Sunday was a beautiful day and we have been wanting to start hiking as a family when the weather is nice. It would be nice to go once a week, so hopefully that will work out. Issie is finally at the age when we could go together and she is so independent that she wants to walk most of the time. It does make everything go at a 2 year old pace but it is a start. We live in such a beatiful area that it is like an adventure each week. Plus it is nice to look at things that we can embrace with the kids getting bigger since there is always that temptation to dwell in the sadness of them growing up. It was good thing to do the week we took the crib down and started packing up the nursery.
My family, so cute to see them taking off, and Issie smiling over Daddy's shoulder on the way. I just love these guys. What a blessing they are to me.

Issie determined to do it herself even on the rough terrain, so funny.

Happy girl with her Daddy.

Kadie was all about the "short cuts", trying to cut corners and find secret ways to get ahead of us.

Me and Issie, pulling up the caboose. Jack was not really understanding why we were so slow, we offered to let him walk with or carry Issie and see how fast he would go but he was not interested.

UP and Up and Up we go, it was such an amazing day, really feeling like spring here. So nice.

Had to put this one in, our little nut. She loves this smile, Kadie used to do the same thing. She certainly has no fear of heights or anything else for that matter. We had to keep a hand on her at all times. Brad actually brought a rope in case we needed a leash but she stayed close. That would have been a sight.

Sweet boy, at the top. It was good lesson in patience for Jack as he probably could have climbed the rock in half the time. But he had a good attitude about it. The sunshine sure helped.
Our family. What a nice day. Hopefully we will do more and more of this all spring and summer.

Every day stuff.

Always lots going on around here. Jack continues his cooking lessons and we are trying to get to the point that he cooks dinner on Thursdays but we are not there yet. He learned how to make burritos last week. Including fresh salsa, and guacamole. The beef was a bit crispy but that was likely because I had him multi-tasking too much. It was really good. One of his favorite things to eat so it was a good one for him to learn. It is good for me too, he wants me to write down instructions for everything so he can try to follow the recipe without my help. I realize how much I just cook stuff without thinking. I have never really written down how to brown ground beef or how to cut an avocado. It was fun though, he even took the initiative to clean up the entire kitchen after dinner, this was a huge thing for him since we usually have to nag and nag to get it all done. I think American Idol being on may have been a big motivator too.

It is hard to get any pictures of Jack since he is in that stage where it is totally not cool to pose for mom. So when I catch a shot where he is not givign me some snarky look, I need to share it. I love this boy.

Issie got her first official haircut last week. I have been trimming her bangs for a while and at times it really has looked awful. She has had a full on mullet and it is embarrassing. So I finally had my hairdresser fix in right. She was incredibly still and obedient. She loves being the big girl. So independent.

The update on the transition to bed: it only took 2 nights to get her to stay in bed, amazing! She is still often the last to fall to sleep but she just lays quietly there playing with her hands until the wee hours of the night. So cute. We moved her to her bed for naps too later that week and she has done great. Sleeping 3 hours and going right to sleep almost every time. Our issue now is how to keep her in bed beyond 6am! She is an early riser and we used to just keep her in her crib and she would play or fall back to sleep. But now she is up and running. Kadie is up right with her and soon they are fighting and then Jack is mad since he actually likes to sleep past 6:15am. Let me tell you it is not the wake up call you want every morning. I will take any suggestions on this one. Kadie was trained early to stay in her room until the clock said 7 but Issie is younger and when one of them wake up everyone is up. Baby steps.

Kadie and her best little friend Rylie. We have small group together so these girls play every week and just love each other. They decided to coordinate their outfits so they looked like twins. It was so cute, calling back and forth to decide on jeans and what color socks, so funny.