Thursday, March 20, 2014
Greg's birthday
So, even though we had a par-tay for Greg that was almost thirty days before his 30th birthday, we did also have cake and ice cream, and a full fledged bbq (on a cold rainy January day!) for his actual birthday. See?
Cheers to being 30!
Life is full (full!) of surprises!
This is our 30th Year. And I and a big believer in celebrating.
But, wow, were my socks totally knocked off this year with surprises!
My sister (you remember - she lives in Korea!) managed to fly into town and surprise me for my 30th birthday.
It was spectacular. And really, there is no way to sum up how much joy I felt. (And how dazed and overwhelmed I way!) I was overcome with joy to celebrate with her, and for her to meet Griffin, and see the kids and Greg. It was an amazing visit, that went by in the blink of an eye.
But, wait - there's more! The week prior, Joe, came to visit en route to a very good friend's wedding. And the kids loved having Uncle Joe here. I think from the moment he arrived, Nate asked every 5 minutes, "Hey Uncle Joe, should we play (baseball, basketball, golf, bowling, soccer... you pick the sport, they played!) and Brooke loved having him here too.
But, wow, were my socks totally knocked off this year with surprises!
My sister (you remember - she lives in Korea!) managed to fly into town and surprise me for my 30th birthday.
It was spectacular. And really, there is no way to sum up how much joy I felt. (And how dazed and overwhelmed I way!) I was overcome with joy to celebrate with her, and for her to meet Griffin, and see the kids and Greg. It was an amazing visit, that went by in the blink of an eye.
But wait... there's more! After my sister flew back to Korea, Greg had arranged for some of our nearest and dearest to meet us for a kid-free afternoon of birthday celebrating at a glass blowing studio! It was an amazing experience, so interesting and so cool. It's been on my bucket list of things to do (especially after living in the northwest for more than 10 years!), and I am so tickled that it was the way I go to kick off this new decade.
He is here! Griffin James!
... by the time we arrived at the hospital, things were really going fast, and a mere six hours after contractions started, our sweet bundle of joy arrived.
It was by far the fastest delivery, and least complicated - truly a blessing.
Griffin, from the moment he arrived, has been so calm and relaxed. He barely cried when he got his newborn immunizations!
Now, when he's not sleeping, he is already working hard to keep up with Nate and Brooke. He's cooing and is so alert, always looking around. He loves, loves, loves the mobile that hangs above the changing table, and is so smiley. He packs a solid kick (but I knew that already!), and has quick feet.
And today - at 10 weeks! - he rolled over. Three times. All by himself.
He is a total joy, and really brings out the best in our family.
Nate and Brooke adore him, and love to make him smile.
Griffin's first snow!
A usual sight after stories are read at bedtime.
It was by far the fastest delivery, and least complicated - truly a blessing.
Griffin, from the moment he arrived, has been so calm and relaxed. He barely cried when he got his newborn immunizations!
Now, when he's not sleeping, he is already working hard to keep up with Nate and Brooke. He's cooing and is so alert, always looking around. He loves, loves, loves the mobile that hangs above the changing table, and is so smiley. He packs a solid kick (but I knew that already!), and has quick feet.
And today - at 10 weeks! - he rolled over. Three times. All by himself.
He is a total joy, and really brings out the best in our family.
Nate and Brooke adore him, and love to make him smile.
Waiting, and waiting, and waiting
My parents arrived for the holidays (my mom came in on Christmas eve, thereby saving us one more year of Santa questions - the kids were so surprised and excited to see her! And my dad came in a few days later. Though odd to not have them together on Christmas, it certainly kept the excitement around the house at an all time high!)
We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas day with Greg's parents, and our friend Zach (who is really in the family), and my mom.
And we all were waiting the arrival of our little cherub.
So, while we all waited, we played and went golfing, and saw Zoolights, and even rang in the new year (and then promptly went to bed after clinking our glasses!)
On New Years Day, we went to Gig Harbor for a change of pace and went walking on the waterfront. As we were climbing a small hill, my water broke. And so I quietly said to my mom as my dad was telling a story, and Greg had walked ahead with the kids in the stroller, that I thought my water broke.
Cut to my dad in the street stopping traffic letting people - everyone! - know that my water broke.
But, since I didn't have any contractions, we went to lunch at Panera Bread, called the midwife who said to wait a bit longer, and then came home for naps.
After 4 hours, and no contractions, we visited the midwife who said to just. keep. waiting.
So we had Greg' parents over for dinner, and over dessert (8 hours after my water broke!) contractions started. By the time we finished dessert, and everyone was calling it a night, I told Greg we should head to the hospital....
We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas day with Greg's parents, and our friend Zach (who is really in the family), and my mom.
And we all were waiting the arrival of our little cherub.
So, while we all waited, we played and went golfing, and saw Zoolights, and even rang in the new year (and then promptly went to bed after clinking our glasses!)
On New Years Day, we went to Gig Harbor for a change of pace and went walking on the waterfront. As we were climbing a small hill, my water broke. And so I quietly said to my mom as my dad was telling a story, and Greg had walked ahead with the kids in the stroller, that I thought my water broke.
Cut to my dad in the street stopping traffic letting people - everyone! - know that my water broke.
But, since I didn't have any contractions, we went to lunch at Panera Bread, called the midwife who said to wait a bit longer, and then came home for naps.
After 4 hours, and no contractions, we visited the midwife who said to just. keep. waiting.
So we had Greg' parents over for dinner, and over dessert (8 hours after my water broke!) contractions started. By the time we finished dessert, and everyone was calling it a night, I told Greg we should head to the hospital....
The holidays (and things in between)
For Halloween, the we had a pilot and a dragon traipsing door to door in search of treats. (And we allowed them just small samples at their treat bags over the last few months. They seriously just finished the last treat last night.)
Then we did the very special task of finding our Christmas tree. (The kids were not so into it at first.)
But warmed up to the idea when there was hot chocolate and candy canes at the end.
(Admittedly, it was really cold. But not raining!)
Then, we celebrate Greg's 30th birthday, almost 30 days early...
But it was a special surprise celebration, bringing together friends recently returned from deployments, friends from highschool, pilot training and family. It was a blast to plan something that Greg had no idea about, and a super fun night celebrating just him, and all that he does for our family.
Then, it snowed!
And the kids met Santa, and Nate got to tell him that for Christmas, he would very much like to havea new set of gold clubs "because my mom ran over my other golf club."
(True story. We were getting in the car one day, and he put his golf club next to the car as he climbed in - instead of in the correct place as I had asked him. Everyone was buckled, and I put the car in reverse, and the most horrendus crunch sounded out from under the car. I thought for sure something punctured the tire, but no, it was Nate's golf club completely in half, not at all fixable. He waited three whole weeks to tell Santa he needed new clubs, and another 2 weeks after that for Santa to bring him clubs for Christmas. We are, however, still reviewing the lessons about putting our toys away...)
We made sugar cookies (heavy emphasis on the sugar. Can you see the piles of sprinkles on those cookies up there?!?!), wrapped presents, counted down on the Advent Calendar, and re-created the nativity with magnets on our fridge. Brooke is still carrying Baby Jesus around the house, and sticking the Baby Jesus magnet on all things magnetic.
Then we did the very special task of finding our Christmas tree. (The kids were not so into it at first.)
But warmed up to the idea when there was hot chocolate and candy canes at the end.
(Admittedly, it was really cold. But not raining!)
Then, we celebrate Greg's 30th birthday, almost 30 days early...
Then, it snowed!
And the kids met Santa, and Nate got to tell him that for Christmas, he would very much like to havea new set of gold clubs "because my mom ran over my other golf club."
(True story. We were getting in the car one day, and he put his golf club next to the car as he climbed in - instead of in the correct place as I had asked him. Everyone was buckled, and I put the car in reverse, and the most horrendus crunch sounded out from under the car. I thought for sure something punctured the tire, but no, it was Nate's golf club completely in half, not at all fixable. He waited three whole weeks to tell Santa he needed new clubs, and another 2 weeks after that for Santa to bring him clubs for Christmas. We are, however, still reviewing the lessons about putting our toys away...)We made sugar cookies (heavy emphasis on the sugar. Can you see the piles of sprinkles on those cookies up there?!?!), wrapped presents, counted down on the Advent Calendar, and re-created the nativity with magnets on our fridge. Brooke is still carrying Baby Jesus around the house, and sticking the Baby Jesus magnet on all things magnetic.
I'm TWO!
Lest we forget, our little energetic (sometimes diva) sweet girl turned two at the end of October. TWO. Seriously, I blinked and here she is already insisted that she wears only "cute" pants each day, and not that shirt, but this one.
Her smile lights up her face, and she and Nate get into serious giggle fests that are infectious. She is opinionated, and sweet, determined and mighty, a chatterbox, and a snuggler.
She is so sophisticated in the way she talks, keeping Greg and I on our toes because she really is exceptional at parroting what we say.
She says, "That's ridiculous."
And mutters, "oh my goodness. oh dear." when something is not quite right.
She sticks her tongue out and announces "I'm just being silly crazy!"
And she loves to talk on the phone. (Already). Even when there is no one on the other end, she'll carry on a full conversation that starts like this "Hello? Hi, how are you? Good, good. Yeah, fine. Ok, good. Yep. See ya, bye!"
And she will proudly hold up her two little finger and tell you, "I'm TWO."
Her smile lights up her face, and she and Nate get into serious giggle fests that are infectious. She is opinionated, and sweet, determined and mighty, a chatterbox, and a snuggler.
She is so sophisticated in the way she talks, keeping Greg and I on our toes because she really is exceptional at parroting what we say.
She says, "That's ridiculous."
And mutters, "oh my goodness. oh dear." when something is not quite right.
She sticks her tongue out and announces "I'm just being silly crazy!"
And she loves to talk on the phone. (Already). Even when there is no one on the other end, she'll carry on a full conversation that starts like this "Hello? Hi, how are you? Good, good. Yeah, fine. Ok, good. Yep. See ya, bye!"
And she will proudly hold up her two little finger and tell you, "I'm TWO."
Did you miss us?
Well, friends... here's a recap of the last four months:
We came home from Korea, promptly unpacked, and had a soccer game for Nate.
Then we decided to drive to California. No, really. On Tuesday night after our epic Korea trip, we decided that we would pack up the car the next day and drive to California. The goal was to try to "hop" to Hawaii for a few days.
So, by noon the next day, we were road trippin' south. And then... we just kept right on driving south! There were no seats for us on a flight to Hawaii and rather than hang around hoping to get on the perverbial next flight, we were really hankering for some beach time. So we drove to San Diego.
Thank goodness our kids are amazing road warriors, and kind of get a thrill out of taking a trip. (It does this mama's heart so much good to hear those sweet voices as when we can go on a trip again! I love a good does of wanderlust!)
We spent 6 lovely days on the beach and exploring San Diego. It was so great.
On our way back north, we stopped in and visited with some of my family in Sacramento for a much too short visit.
One major bummer of the trip? ALL of the national parks were closed. Remember? There was that sequester thing? But, by the grace of Congress (and God), when we left Sacramento to drive home, the government started work again, and we were able to stop at one of my bucket list parks, Crater Lake.
Two words: Stunningly glorious. Seriously. One of the most majestic sights I've ever seen.
And, because the parks had been closed all week... there was almost no one there. Which made for plenty of great wide open, no-tour-bus space for Nate and Brooke to run around. It was a great way to end our amazing month of vacation.
As the holidays grew nearer, so did our anticipation of the arrival of our sweet new babe.
We came home from Korea, promptly unpacked, and had a soccer game for Nate.
Then we decided to drive to California. No, really. On Tuesday night after our epic Korea trip, we decided that we would pack up the car the next day and drive to California. The goal was to try to "hop" to Hawaii for a few days.
So, by noon the next day, we were road trippin' south. And then... we just kept right on driving south! There were no seats for us on a flight to Hawaii and rather than hang around hoping to get on the perverbial next flight, we were really hankering for some beach time. So we drove to San Diego.
Thank goodness our kids are amazing road warriors, and kind of get a thrill out of taking a trip. (It does this mama's heart so much good to hear those sweet voices as when we can go on a trip again! I love a good does of wanderlust!)
We spent 6 lovely days on the beach and exploring San Diego. It was so great.
On our way back north, we stopped in and visited with some of my family in Sacramento for a much too short visit.
One major bummer of the trip? ALL of the national parks were closed. Remember? There was that sequester thing? But, by the grace of Congress (and God), when we left Sacramento to drive home, the government started work again, and we were able to stop at one of my bucket list parks, Crater Lake.
Two words: Stunningly glorious. Seriously. One of the most majestic sights I've ever seen.
And, because the parks had been closed all week... there was almost no one there. Which made for plenty of great wide open, no-tour-bus space for Nate and Brooke to run around. It was a great way to end our amazing month of vacation.
As the holidays grew nearer, so did our anticipation of the arrival of our sweet new babe.
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