thoughts on a sunday

Thought it was time to put a picture of all of us on here.  

• I really don't want to brag, but last week when I came downstairs after getting ready for church, McKay looked at me and said, "Mom, you look like the girl from Single Ladies!"  Me and Beyonce.  I get it all the time.

• While stopped at a light on a freeway exit McKay looked out the window and said, "Mom, I see a dead man," just as nonchalantly as could be.  I then noticed the homeless man laying flat on his back in some grass on the side of the street.  It was very hard to tell if he was sleeping or if he really was dead, as the location was a very strange place to take a nap.  Another driver actually got out of the car to make sure he wasn't dead.  He wasn't.  Just nappin'.   But I love how McKay just noticed a dead man with absolutely no alarm or concern in his voice.  

• On Monday Ellery woke up throwing up.  My poor girl threw up twelve times in less than four hours.  It was heartbreaking.  She just laid around all day and I washed towel, after towel, after towel.  She was so good though, and by six o'clock she was running around with her brother.

• Last night I was trying to describe someone from our ward to Brian but I didn't know his name.  "He's a normal looking guy with brownish hair."  Brian just looked at me like, "Are you serious?" and then we both started laughing.  We still haven't figured out who I was talking about, even though Brian played basketball with him yesterday.  He said he didn't see any normal looking guys. 

• Of course I'll do a separate post on this, but we took off McKay's training wheels yesterday. He and Brian worked on riding his "two wheeler" all afternoon and he is doing great.  Still needs more practice stopping and starting, but we're sure proud of him!

• Potty day is getting closer and closer!  Today we picked out some undies for little Elle.  She was so excited and picked out princess undies, of course, and a pack of Tinkerbell.  She and McKay had just watched the Tinkerbell movie on tv earlier this week, so she was really excited about those undies.  Like really excited.  Brian was having a really hard time accepting her choice as he is not a fan of the little fairy.  He kept trying to tempt her with Minnie Mouse or Dora, but she was not giving up those Tinks!  He had to admit defeat, and we had to have a conversation about why he hated Tinkerbell so much.  

• After we got home from the store, Brian made a bold move and let her try on some of her undies, sans diaper.  Naturally, she chose a pair of Tinkerbells and insisted on ditching all of her clothes as she ran around in just her new undies.  Her face was adorable and her dance moves/excited squeals/ running around in circles were priceless.  I don't really know how this potty training thing will work for her because she is really into being a baby and being babied, but I was encouraged when she had a fit at having to go back to her diaper.  We shall see- next Friday is the big day!!!

• After Elle was dancing around in her undies Brian looked at me and said, "I can't believe my boy is riding a bike and my baby is wearing underwear.  What is going on here?"  I agree.  I can't believe it either and they are just growing up so fast.  McKay is going to be five soon.  FIVE.  How can I have a five year old?  

• Rugby has started up again, and Brian is playing on Saturday mornings.  He's also playing ward basketball, also on Saturdays.  He's also studying on Saturdays.  I am a nice wife on Saturdays.

• I had a doctor's appointment this week and was relieved to hear that everything on the ultrasound was normal.  So baby girl looks good and healthy.  They couldn't tell me anything except the gender when we got the ultrasound, so I had been waiting to hear that everything was normal. So glad that everything looks good so far.

• Ellery loves to talk to the baby.  She pretty much has the same little speech prepared every time.  She first says, "Mom, can I talk to your baby?" and then she'll pull up my shirt- has to be skin to skin- and say, "Hi baby.  How are you?  I'm going to play with you when you come out.  Okay?  Bye baby."  It's adorable.  But it wasn't so adorable when I was visiting teaching and she was getting restless and wanted to talk to the baby.  Remember the skin to skin thing?  Well, I then spent the remainder of the visit trying to keep her from pulling up my shirt and exposing my lovely stomach.  It was a fight, and thankfully I won.  

• I've been missing our families this weekend.  We didn't have much going on and I just wished that we could go and hang out with our family.  Anyone want to move to Portland?  You'll like it, I promise.  

Happy, happy Sunday to you!

seriously, i'm posting about easter

How annoying is it that I have waited until now to write about Easter?  

We spent the Easter weekend with Brian's family.  The whole family was in town because of Lindy and Alex's wedding a couple days before, so we lucked out and were able to spend conference weekend and Easter with the family.  We had such a good weekend and we loved being all together again.  

Here's a brief recap of our activities:

Conference:  Treats after each rest hymn, Elise cutting her paper up into teeny tiny pieces, Adele's cinnamon rolls, big McKay's purchased homemade goodies that came to the door at random, coloring to stay awake, Missy's amazing artwork, me doing a loud snore that startled me awake, and of course the amazing messages we got to hear.

The Easter stuff:  Dying the eggs, finding the eggs, breaking the eggs, snow on Easter morning, more conference, remembering and pondering, delicious Easter dinner, having a family stretch, playing games after the kids went to bed.  

My camera battery died right after we got to Utah, so I only took a few pictures, and none at all during this weekend, so these pics are all courtesy of Ken, Jaynann and Adele.  

Elise, McKay, Sharp, Marilyn, Brigham

Marilyn and McKay

Silas and Addie

McKay, Elise, Elle, Sharp

In Brian's family they do such a fun thing with their Easter eggs.  A few weeks before Easter they delicately crack just the bottom of all the eggs they use and save them.  Then they dye the real egg shells, just like you'd dye a normal hard-boiled egg.  After the eggs are dry the egg shells are filled with candy and little treats and sealed with wet tissue paper.  These are the eggs that the children get to hunt for, and once the hunt is over they get to crack all those beautiful eggs and find their surprises inside.  

It's the funnest tradition, but I still haven't decided how we will do Easter.  Luckily I didn't have to because we were at Grandma's this year, but by next year I'm going to have a plan of our own to follow.  I had always thought that these eggs were too much work, but after seeing them again this year I may have decided that a little hard work is worth it.  We'll see.

after easter

I have four pictures.  Four pictures to show for the wonderful time I spent with my family after the wedding festivities.  Brian flew home on Monday and I got to hang out for a few more days to spend some time with my family.  

We did a lot.  We kept busy.  We did not take a lot of pictures.  Here is what we do have:

Ashlyn turned three and had a belated birthday party just so her favorite cousins could be there.  She loves books and so Lisa threw her a book party.  Let me tell you about my sister Lisa.  She is amazing.  She throws amazing birthday parties for all seven of her kids every single year until they are twelve.  Not only that, but she   hardly spends any money while doing it.  

And.  My amazing, birthday-party-throwing sister Lisa just started a blog.  (Yes, I said it.  It's time.)  She started one mainly as a way of journaling for her family, like me.  But she also has wonderful ideas and is documenting/sharing them on her blog. She will hate this and try to get me to erase it.  Go take a peek! 

Okay, back to the book party.  The kids loved it.  There were different books in several areas of the house and they went to each "station" and read a book and then got a little prize for their goody bag that went along with that book.  It was so simple, yet so fun for them.

Alyssa, McKay, CJ, Ashlyn, Ellery, Eto

After the party we went to swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center.  It's a fun pool, but was SO crowded because of spring break.  My kids had a ball, and I was grateful for uncle Trevor who played dad for my kids- meaning he let me not get all the way wet while he wrangled my two little monkeys as well as two or three of his own in the lazy river.  We swam for a couple hours and then I knew it was time to go when Ellery had a total breakdown about wanting to be big and go down a huge water slide by herself and McKay tried to run away from me because he wanted to stay longer.  I left the pool with two crying children.  Okay, maybe two screaming children.

We did a little shopping while I was there too.  I took this because Ellery had found one of uncle Jason's orange hunting beanies and wore it around while we shopped.  Oh, and she also carried a windmill.  I enjoyed a whole day of shopping and running errands with my mom and Jana.  It was so fun to spend the day with them and mom was so helpful with some of the things I needed to get done and I was happy to get to spend some alone time with my cute mom.

We also got to hang out with this cute little boy.  This is Ellery's much loved cousin Carson.  They were both preparing to get a tandem diaper change here.  Look how big and long my baby is!  Jana fed us a yummy dinner and we went through all of our maternity clothes so that I could bring them home with me.

I don't have pictures of going to dinner with the whole family, hanging out and talking at mom and dad's, going to dinner with Katie, Jason and Molly (missed you Kris!) and lunch with my sisters.  Plus I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting.  I am really bored and annoyed that I'm still writing this post, so I'm just going to leave it at that I loved getting to see my family and I miss them.  The end. 

thoughts on a sunday

McKay with his slug cage around his neck and Elle with a lip gloss-filled cell phone talking to baby Carson.  She talked to him on and off during this whole hour long walk, which is funny because she tells me often that he can't talk yet.  She's kind of a little bit obsessed with him lately.

• Is it annoying if I keep going on about the weather?  We have been enjoying lots of time outside this week and I am obsessed with the area that we live in.  It it so gorgeous here.  There are huge clusters of pine trees, ponds with accompanying wildlife to observe, walking paths weaving throughout the community and the air just feels clean.  I love that we can go out our door and in about one minute we can walk into all of that.  I feel so happy that this is where we get to spend these couple years.  

• About that wildlife.  We have been going on lots of walks/bike rides this week and have seen plenty of animals.  There is a pond a couple minutes from our house where we saw a beaver (or something that is like a beaver that I can't remember the name of but I like calling it a beaver), fish, ducks including ducklings, and geese.  Not to mention the slug that we found on the sidewalk who instantly was captured (with bare hands!) and became McKay's pet.  He didn't even live long enough to get a proper name, but those were a few great hours for my son.  

• Instead of crickets chirping at night, there are frogs.  I have yet to see one, but I am pretty determined that I'm going to catch one for my kids this summer.  I just really feel strongly about it.  Brian thinks I'm insane.

• Is that enough about the local wildlife?  I thought it might be.  So how about earthquakes?  What is up with all these earthquakes?  I'm afraid that McKay's nightmare is getting closer and closer to becoming reality.

• Today Ellery and McKay were taking a bath and she stood right up and said, "I have to go poopoo."  So I ran and got the little potty that we had just gotten out yesterday, and grabbed her bubbly body and sat her down.  She will tell you that we sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat, and then she said, "I'm going!" and she did.  Except it wasn't poop.  But still.  We were all so happy that we marched around the house clapping and singing about it.  Oh she was proud.

• I should say that we are not potty training her.  We are talking it up, as we have been for several months actually, and it's getting very near.  But this morning was just on her own so we went with it.  Maybe she's more ready than I thought.  

• Last night I helped out at a wedding reception of someone in our ward.  Before the four hour reception, I had gone grocery shopping with both the kids, and before that I had gone a little crazy organizing several areas of my house.  I had pretty much been on my feet all day.  By the time I walked out of the reception I was waddling like I was nine months pregnant.  Sweet.  Waddling already.

• How come I always seem to have to go grocery shopping on Saturdays?  It happens way too often.  Like almost every weekend.

• In church McKay will often ask me to tell him the words to the hymns so he can sing.  I tell him one line at a time and then we try to catch up to the singing.  Some songs work better than others.  Most of the time he has no idea what he's saying.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm disturbing those around me.  Either way it sure is sweet.

• This week, as a Jane Austen-virgin, I was invited to watch Pride & Prejudice with a group  of devoted fans or other virgins like myself.  A cute girl in our ward threw a Jane Austen party and we ate yummy treats in our pajamas while watching the original version.  I have seen the "Kierra Knightly version" but I am told that does not count.  So far I am a fan, although the language is hard to follow because they talk so fast.  Part two is on Tuesday so I'll be able to draw formal conclusions then.

• Brian took his eleven year old scouts on a hike Saturday morning.  They saw lots of slugs.  I wish I had a way to make this more interesting but I really don't know what else to say about it.  I'm realizing that Brian and I have not had a real conversation in two days.  Saturday was crazy busy and today we haven't had time without kids.  Guess it's time to stop blogging and go talk to the husband.  Maybe something really amazing happened on that hike and I just haven't heard about it yet.  

Happy Sunday!

ellery

There is a reason we are finding it so difficult to come up with (and agree on) a name for this baby.  It's Ellery.  At least for me it is.  I love the name Ellery.  When I was pregnant with McKay, and before we knew he was a boy, we had names for both sexes.  McKay and Ellery.  Now we have a boy and a girl and we have a McKay and an Ellery and I'm afraid that no other girl's name compares.  I just can't find one that I love as much as that one.  It's feminine and beautiful.  And I want to love this baby's name, I really want to love it.  We have a small list of names, but I'm finding it really hard to just settle and not be totally in love with one the way I am with Ellery.    

Just for fun, this beautiful bride is the original Ellery.  Isn't she gorgeous?  This is the first and only Ellery I've actually known.   She is my best friend Katie's sister and I find myself talking about her all the time.  Well, basically I say, "My friend's little sister was named Ellery," when people ask me where we got her name.  It happens often.  Ellery is an amazing dancer as well as being a total sweetheart, so I wasn't surprised when Katie told me that there are a whole bunch of baby Ellery's inspired by this girl.    

This picture was taken at her wedding reception a couple years ago.  I wanted to make sure and snap a quick picture of these two together because I figured it might be the only time they would be in the same place at the same time.  I think it will be fun for my Elle to look back and see where we got her name.  

And as for baby girl, I'm just hoping that something comes to me.  And even more, I'm hoping that Brian agrees.

mother's un-tuition

With my first two pregnancies I had no strong feelings of what I was having.  I had guesses, but nothing more.  If I've talked to you about this pregnancy, you know that I had some pretty strong feelings that I was having a boy.  I haven't been shy at saying so.  I had a feeling that there was a boy for us even before I found out I was pregnant.  This pregnancy was more similar to McKay's- heartburn, acne, feet growing, insatiable hunger- all that good stuff.   All my dreams have been about a boy.  And I've just had a feeling.  I just kind of knew.  

Well.  I guess I don't really know that much, because we found out today that I was totally wrong.  It's a girl!  I'm still kind of shocked about it.  It's not that I wanted a boy so much, I really didn't care either way, but I had been so sure it was a boy that I was just really surprised about this little girl.  

So now, we can get serious about naming this little one.  McKay really wants Lindsey (he has been attracted to that name for some time now) and Ellery is voting for Snow White.  Whatever her name will be, we're sure excited to have her.  

  

thoughts on a sunday

at the open house

I just got back from a fun little trip to Utah for Lindy and Alex's wedding.  That's why I haven't been bloggin'.  But now here I am and there is plenty to report on- the wedding, Easter, fun with family.  But because it's easier, here are my thoughts from today.

• I know this is old news, but I'm too proud to just not talk about it.  Guess who picked the winning team in her March madness bracket?  Yep.  I did.  To be fair, I must admit that I pretty much always pick Duke to win every year, and lucky me, this time they did.  Brian's bracket did not compare.  When you know, you just know.

• This morning Brian was fixing the kids lunch.  Top Ramen.  Our kids love to help us cook and are often by us at the stove even when it's on.  We have taught them that it's hot and to never touch it and all those safety things.  But apparently we haven't taught them well enough.  Brian was at the sink and hear Ellery say, "What's that red?" and then screaming.  Her poor little finger.  She is totally dramatic about owies right now anyway, so to actually get a real one, well, you can imagine.  Or maybe you can't imagine her crying for over an hour and insisting on being held by only me, who had one side of my hair done, the other side completely wet-frizz and had yet to get dressed.  And then the little princess laid on the floor while I did the rest of my hair- head propped up on a pillow, hand dipped in a bowl of ice water, snuggling her bear and pink blanket while I dropped chocolates and jelly beans into her little mouth to keep her from screaming.  Just a great way to spend the afternoon.

• McKay has sweetly remembered to pray for Elle's finger in both the prayers he said today.  He also remembered to ask that his tongue wouldn't feel weird anymore.  I have a sweet boy.  I love him.

• My kids are sleeping.  It's seven-thirty and they've been asleep for half an hour.  Last night it was six-thirty.  I am so happy to have them back in their own beds, going to sleep on time.  Well rested kids are definitely a priority of mine, just not while on vacation I guess.  It's good to be home.

• Tomorrow we get our first ultrasound.  We are all going to go and it is blowing McKay's mind that we'll be able to see the baby in my tummy.  They were asking questions about how you can tell if it's a boy or a girl.  I told them that if it has a penis, it's a boy, if it doesn't, it's a girl.  McKay said that he hoped it had one.  Ellery then decided to have a full blown melt down as she cried, "Where is my penis?  Where is my penis?"  for about twenty minutes.  You should have seen the proud look on McKay's face.  By the way, I think this baby will have one.

• Before we left for Utah I took the kids to the dentist.  With the type of insurance we have, there is not a lot of choice with who you see.  It's kind of like you take what you can get.  Well, there was one dentist that took our insurance in this area, so I was a little nervous when we went not knowing what to expect.  Well, it was pretty much Christmas morning.  My kids walked out of the dentist with a helium balloon each, a barbie-type doll, a knock-off transformer, stickers, blown-up gloves with faces drawn on by the dentist and a cell phone filled with lip gloss, not to mention the regular stuff like floss, toothbrushes and those little dental mirrors.  It was insane.  I needed a whole extra bag to cart all this stuff out of the office.  The dentist was really nice.  Very young and very laid back.  But I now fear that their expectations of dentist visits will never be the same.  Luckily there' no cavities or problems so we won't have to go back for awhile.

• Oregon is very green.  Even when it's not all green, it's still very green.  It's very noticeable after being in Utah with all the brown sticks.

• I can't hold my stomach in anymore.  Not that I was really, but now even if I wanted to I can't.  It's a weird feeling.

• I cut my hair.  A lot.  I cried about it, as usual.  Why am I being so reckless with my hair lately?  I'm used to it now and actually don't hate it.  There comes a time with my hair when it's long and has been long for several years, where I just have to chop it and start over.  So I started over.  I've now made Brian a promise that I wont' do anymore drastic things to my hair ever again.  I don't know if I'll keep that promise, and actually, I'm making it sound more dramatic than it is.  It's just passed my shoulders.  The reason I cried about it was that I asked the girl to cut a lot off, but not to that awkward length that isn't long, but isn't short either.  You know the one.  She assured me she wouldn't do that, and then I walked out of there with, you guessed it, the awkward length.  Stop talking about your hair!  Okay.

• Have I told you that I don't know if I can name another child?  Especially with Brian?  I sometimes wonder why I didn't get one of those husbands who doesn't really care about names and just lets their wife take control of it.  But maybe there aren't those kinds of husbands anymore.  I don't know.  But he's difficult.  He has an association with every name, usually a bad one.  And naming a person is just hard anyway.  Especially if that person is a boy.  Ahhh!  Help us.

• Brian is back in school and busy, busy, busy.  He is doing more clinicals than ever this semester, which is good, but takes up a lot of time that used to be free.  

• Ellery has been telling me that I'm the best mom in the whole world.  She also says that Carson is her best cousin in the whole world.  She loves baby Carson.  She also says that Taylor Swift is her best song in the whole world.  She's passionate about Taylor Swift.

• While shopping a few days ago, Jana and I realized/rejoiced in the fact that we don't dress like teenagers anymore.  It's weird because you never really notice that change happening, and then here we are.  Women.  We dress like women.  And we like that.

• I'm ready to go eat some ice cream now.  I'm already suffering from horrible heart burn and I pretend that ice cream makes it go away.  

Happy Sunday!

his view

A couple weeks ago- during spring break- we took a little trip up to the hill to see the OHSU campus.  I have been wanting Brian to show us around up there since we moved here.  

Not too bad of a view to look at almost every day.  It was actually quite foggy because it was still fairly early in the day so it's not the best picture.  It's actually not the best picture for other reasons also, but the view from the hill really is beautiful. 

McKay was so excited to eat at a cafe.  We weren't sure where we were going to eat, but he started talking about cafe's and then we walked right by one and so that's what we did.  How does he know about cafe's?  

Now, notice Brian's face.  This is the why-are-you-taking-a-picture-hurry-up-then face.  I am putting it here for everyone to see in hopes that he won't make it anymore.  Also, notice the joy on McKay's face from being in a cafe.  Ellery is perfectly ready for a picture and I appreciate that.

OHSU has a tram that goes up and down the hill.  It's a big hill.  We rode it.  We liked it.  The kids got a sticker and even got to help the tram master (that's the guy who works on the tram- i just made it up) direct the passengers off the tram and to the right.  They thought that was very cool.

OHSU is a pretty amazing campus to visit.  Lots of hospitals, pretty views, and cafe's.

thoughts on a sunday

• We have been enjoying spring break this week.  No school for Brian or Mckay.  We've done a few fun things which I will probably post about later.  The weather has been gorgeous for most of the week and we've had fun playing outside and going to the park.  The upcoming forecast calls for rain for the next week, so I'm glad we got out as much as we did last week.

• It is so funny to hear McKay describe people.  I was telling him about someone in our ward, and he said, "Is it the one with the round head all around that kind of looks like Theodore (the chipmunk) with a body that's round and small?  Or is it the one that is straight up and down with the long head?"  His descriptions are surprisingly accurate and head shape is the most common one we hear about.  And, it was in fact the one that looks like Theodore.      

• With the second trimester comes the hormone overload.  At least that's what I'm experiencing.  I really am not a person that cries very often.  But oh boy, these last couple weeks!

• This week we went to the Original Pancake House- like the original Original Pancake House.  It was as good as we heard.  I had the dutch baby, which Brian practically forced me to get because he wanted to try it.  I'm already thinking of an excuse to go again.  "The baby wants it" can only get me so far.  I think I'm starting to overuse that one anyway.  But baby really does want a lot of stuff!

• So lately I've been feeling like my kids are always jumping all over me.  Brian will have a whole couch to himself (the big one, even) and there I am on the little couch with two monkeys all over me.  Jumping and twisting and flipping on top of me.  And there's Brian just kicking back lounging comfortably watching it all.  Why does this happen?

• Ellery is pretty much only interested in wearing skirts.  If I pick out her clothes without her with me and get her dressed right away I can get away with what I pick, but if she's there watching me she definitely has an opinion on what to wear and that is skirts.  She is starting to want to chose what she wears more and more and the other day we had a play date and she chose the ugliest outfit with a big ugly claw clip she insisted on wearing in her hair.  I have to chose my battles with this girl and that is one I had to let go.  Her friend McKenna didn't mind, I'm sure she thought the ensemble was just right.

• I have very nice visiting teachers.  McKay always corners one of them whenever she comes and talks to her the whole time.  It's like she's his little visiting teacher.  He invited her to have a playdate at our house sometime, but instead she called him this week and invited him to her house to play with her seven year old son.  McKay was so excited, but nervous, to play with an older boy.  After a few hours I went over to pick him up and found that McKay and Max were dressed like twins- Max had changed into an outfit just like McKay's.  He had so much fun playing with their dog, playing with animals and making parachutes with Max.  I thought that was really sweet of her to invite him over, and even sweeter of Max to play with a four year old for two hours.  They seemed to have fun together and McKay loved every minute of it.

• So, I mentioned that I'm extra emotional about things lately.  With that comes good feelings too.  Right now I am feeling very content and peaceful with my life.  I have the sweetest kids.  They are so good.  I am so lucky.  I have Brian.  I really love Brian.  We are happy.  I am happy.  

• I am also a little bit terrified to have another baby.  Two was so easy for me that I've decided three could very well be the number that does me in.  Oh, it's a roller coaster ride around here, I tell ya!

• The other night I was at the store.  There were two ladies pushing a cart with a little three year old boy in the seat.  He was crying, he wanted to sit in the basket, not the seat.  He was crying loud.  I remembered Ellery crying in that same store the week before.  Loud.  It was annoying.  This lady said the following to her child and it made me freeze . . . and cringe.  And maybe tear up for this little boy.      "Stop crying!  Do you want to go live with your dad, huh?  Do you want to go down to the jail again?  You can have a new mommy."  Little boy crying, "No, I don't want a new mommy."  It continued, but I had to just get out of there before I heard anymore.  What kind of woman is that?  And she said it in this proud, "I'm just showing my kid who's boss" kind of way.  It broke my heart.  

• I told Brian about that little experience and so now he's always asking me if I want to go down to the jail again.

• We were out running errands yesterday and McKay had to pee really bad.  I knew he could hold it until we got home, but he booked it into the house as soon as we got there.  Brian walked past the bathroom as he was in there and heard McKay whisper to himself, "That was awesome," as he flushed the toilet.  Funny boy.

• Yesterday we were invited to a BBQ at some friend's house.  They have a huge yard with a little playground and my kids had so much fun playing with their little friends and just running around until it was dark.  It reminded me of being at home in grandma's or Lisa's backyard with my kids running around with their cousins.  It made me happy and sad at the same time.  It also made me want a big backyard with a playground.  Oh, someday.

• At this BBQ Brian asked Ellery if she wanted a bun with her hot dog.  She said, "I don't want a bun, I want a ponytail!"

Happy Sunday!

to the coast

Last Wednesday Brian took his last final of the second term.  We had a whole week and a half ahead of us with no studying, no tests, no early morning classes, no long commutes, no stress.  None at all.  Since our time here in Oregon is probably limited to just two or three years, we decided we needed to splurge- and by splurge I mean 'cheap' by anyone else's standards- and go on a little vacation.

We headed south to the coastal city of Newport.  In the Pacific Northwest, you never say you're going to the beach. You always say "coast".  If you say beach people look at you funny.  

Here's a little rundown of what we did:  

McKay outside the weirdest shopping center I've ever seen.  I have no idea how these little shops stay in business due to all the junk we saw inside them, but they were sure colorful on the outside.  They also had plenty of pirate and sea animal statues, which the kids loved, so it was worth the visit.

Hanging with Wally the walrus.

This is right below our hotel.  The beach was pretty cold this day but we had fun finding dead crabs on the sand, which as you can imagine was very exciting for my four year old.  We had just eaten at a little seafood restaurant near the pier where Brian said their clam chowder in a bread bowl rivaled Disneyland's.  

The thing McKay looked forward to the most was swimming at the motel.  This is the view from our room that we walked in to after spending the evening at the pool.  These kids loved the pool.  We could have gotten a motel two minutes away from home and I think they would have been just fine.  It was fun to see McKay swimming around, sans floaties even, and Ellery jumping in over and over with a pool toy in each hand that she didn't let go of the whole time she was in the water.

One of my favorite parts of this little trip was seeing how excited these two were to be on a real vacation.  McKay desperately wanted to live in Newport forever and they were so excited to be staying in a motel and sleeping all together in the same room.  I had a weird parenting realization that Brian and I have this family that we can take on vacations.  I guess because they are getting old enough to really get things.  

The first thing we did on our only full day in Newport was visit the tide pools on Cobble Beach.  We saw all sorts of little sea creatures and even some seals.  McKay was brave and touched about anything he saw, but Ellery flinched every time her hand hit the water so she never really got too far with touching more than a starfish.   

After the tide pools we walked around this lighthouse and enjoyed the beautiful scenic views.  One of my favorite things that McKay kept doing on this trip was say, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" while raising his eyebrows up and down.  We would then try to say what he was thinking, which was usually whatever the next activity we had planned.  He said this probably twenty-five times.  He was so excited.

We packed a picnic lunch and ate in on the beach.  The weather was so perfect this day and we were glad to be able to spend some time in the sand and near the water.  Ellery was not a fan of getting wet at all and hated the sand in her flip flops.  

After our picnic we did a little building.  They both loved playing in the sand.  Actually, Brian seemed to be enjoying himself too.   

Next up, the Hatfield Science Center.  We spend over an hour at this place because McKay was so into touching all the fish, including a sting ray, starfish, anemones, and other fish.  Ellery still wasn't to excited to touch anything but loved looking at the big octopus.   

We got to rest in the car as we drove south a little bit to the Sea Lion Caves.  McKay was really nervous to go in a cave.  The whole drive down there he was asking question after question about it.  We had no idea what to tell him, since we'd never been.  

We took an elevator three hundred feet below the highway where you end up in a huge cave where hundreds of sea lions go to rest and sleep.  The viewing area is fenced off and this is as close as you can get to them, but it was definitely close enough for us.  I didn't know this, but sea lions are totally disgusting animals.  They make huge burping noises and flop around fighting with each other for prime rock space.  And the smell!  Oh boy!  

This is looking out the other side of the cave.  Pretty view.  Not such a pretty picture, but I thought I should post it to show that I was actually on this trip. :)  The drive down to the cave was so gorgeous.  On the way back we saw a bald eagle just flying right over our car.  The scenery is just amazing.  

We had so much fun on our little trip.  McKay was devastated the morning we had to leave.  He really wanted to live there "forever".  I can't really blame him.

he wants to be a great dane

Recently we discovered something. 

Something that just might be the most amazing thing this boy has ever seen.

Some place that we will be returning to over and over and over again.

The dog park.

Completely in heaven, this one.

thoughts . . . of my wedding day

Brian and I have been married for seven years.  I made him watch our wedding video with me in an effort to celebrate our anniversary at least somehow.  While watching the video we both laughed and we both cringed. There is so much I love about our wedding.  So many things we did right.  And yet there are others that I just cannot believe I chose.  I chose to wear flip flops.  I chose to have shimmery eye shadow below my eyebrows.  I chose my photographer.  I chose to wear jewelry from Alyse's bridal that I could have bought at Claire's.  I did.  

So just for fun, and to celebrate our anniversary in one more way, you know, since we're going all out, I'm going to embarrass myself and talk about some of those priceless things I chose.  And just so I feel a little better I'm going to have to tell you about the good things too.   

Babies.

Just for fun, Brian and I in one of our engagement pictures.  February is a sad time to take engagement pictures.  Who are those children?

Flip, flop, flip, flop.

Unfortunately, we got married right around the time that wearing flip flops on your wedding day was not only completely acceptable, it was fun and cute!  I look back at the video footage we have and I am waddling like a duck in those babies.  I am waddling around on my wedding day.  Oh regret.  

No flowers.

I may have been waddling, but fortunately I have little regrets about my dress.  As I was dress shopping I had one strict requirement:  no flowers!  I did not want any sort of floral design beaded or embroidered in my dress.  I think that was also a trend at the time and I wanted my dress to be more timeless.  I realize the scattered crystals and pearls may not be totally classic, but I love everything else about it.  

Bee sting.

This is Brian.  No really, it is.  While we were watching the video tonight he said, "I look like I've been stung by a bee and am having an allergic reaction."  My poor sweetheart was a bit chubby after having served a mission in New Zealand, where the average missionary gains like 50 lbs or something.  I didn't even notice, or care.  It's funny, now we seem to have traded places as far as weight goes.  It's actually not that funny.

Photography rules.

Don't we look natural?  We were totally just sitting like that looking at something really interesting and the photographer captured it!  What luck!  Oh dear.  This one is the most painful for me.  Picking a photographer was one of the most important things to me.  Sadly, after not having any luck finding "the one" I decided to let money be the answer.  If he is the most expensive then he has to be the best, right?  Wrong.  I felt like the photographer ruled our wedding day.  When he said, "stand like this," we did it.  When he said, "kiss," oh you know we did it.  There are so many awkward kissing photos and dips and gazes that are so not us.  I realize that that is what a photographer does, but there is just one candid shot of Brian and I after we got married on the temple grounds.  One.  The rest were very posed and very rigid.  

Our one shot.

I don't love this picture because of how we look.  In fact, my eyes look kind of weird.  But I love that it is our picture.  Just us being us on our wedding day.  And I guess I can't blame the photographer entirely, because I know Brian and I are not the easiest people to capture.  We helped a lot with the awkward factor.

Like for example when we had a small flower mishap as I was leaping into Brian's arms to do some tricky move that our photographer directed us to do.
Ahh, wedding photography has changed so much since 2003.  I've had to just release the regret and be happy that we have the pictures we have.  Life goes on.

The stage.

I said before that he directed our wedding.  Aside from the photo aspect, he directed us to do everything we did at the reception.  "It's time to cut the cake," he said.  Okay, we'll cut the cake.  "Even though you're not done with your reception, lets stage your exit to the car because it's time for me to go."  Okay, lets go stage our exit.  Who's wedding is this again?  Maybe that is normal, I don't know, but to me it didn't feel normal.  It's all so clear in hindsight, but there's plenty I would have changed in this department had I known how it would have gone.

Blessed.

We lucked out in the flower department.  I didn't/don't know much about flowers, but luckily we had an amazing and generous florist who knew just what to do and it all turned out incredible.  My only requests:  a white bouquet for me and no babies breath.  That's about how much I had to do with the flowers.  We were literally blessed with these flowers.

Pretty girls all in a row.

So bridesmaids, how do you feel about your outfits?  I loved these skirts.  I had seen one in another wedding and I had to have them.  My mother-in-law was able to make them without a pattern and they turned out really cute.  You can't really see the cute bustle-thing in the back, but that was my favorite part.  I'm sure they never wore these skirts again, but that's okay- I still think they look nice, even after seven years.

Just for fun.

    Look at these guys.  

Ahhhhh!

I don't have to say much here.  We made that stand.  I think you can tell.  I didn't want to spend money on a cake, so I went small.  It was still like two hundred dollars.  Maybe three.  And bless my husband for letting me plan a pink wedding.  

Ballroom.

  Lighting in the ballroom wasn't great, but I loved the room with the tables and the topiaries.  The ribbon around the topiaries I could now do without.  

Sweet.

One of my favorite parts of the reception was the candy table.  Although, boston baked beans were surely only there because they were the right shade of dark pink.

I know. . .

  I know it doesn't matter.  I know that a wedding is outdated as soon as it happens.  At least mine was.  But that's okay.  I loved my wedding day.  It was perfect, even waddling through it all in my flip flops.  It's fun to look back and cringe, and it's fun to look back and smile.  I'm glad I get to do both. 

And I'm glad I get to do it with him, bee stings and all.