Summer!!

I guess I am unintentionally taking a blog break this summer! :)  We have been so busy traveling, working, that I have hardly had a moment to sit and collect my thoughts (and projects) to share with you!

I'm already over half way through my pregnancy and it we are preparing our  home and Addy for the new addition.  Our task this past weekend was to tack potty training head on.  She is doing so awesome!  We followed some advice from Happy House of 5 Blog. Thursday was day one, and yesterday we went to church and spent the afternoon on a boat (with potty seat in tow) and she had NO accidents.  Keep in mind she was showing all the signs of readiness and I still fully anticipate accidents, but we are diaper free and loving it!! :)

We have so many projects going on that I can't wait to fill you in on!
-Jon is building  a new patio table to eating
-We are moving Addys bedroom downstairs which means I get to decorate it for a girl (since her gender was a suprise)
-With the bedroom move comes lots of painting, deocrating, crafting and sewing so I will have a montage of things to update you with come fall!

Blessings to you!

Excuses, excuses!

I have been a slacker in the blogosphere.  We have been super busy, this week is no exception!  While my energy is returning (did I mention I'm 15 weeks pregnant), I still am not my super motivated, ambitious self.  I can finally get through the day without a nap, but have no energy for much extra, and usually fall asleep on the couch by 8:30 or 9pm :)

My husband is working on a FANTASTIC table for our outside patio.  A wind storm destroyed our glass one, so he went to work on a new one and it is going to be awesome!!  Can't wait to show you photos!

Other than that, no real projecting going on around here.  I'm lucky to get the toys put away before bed...

Did anyone check out the library yet?!?!  Um, it is awesome!!  Sorry for the random blurb of thoughts.  Just wanted you to know I am still alive and well!

Saturday Snippet!

Hello friends!  We have had a busy fun filled week which has kept me away from my normal blogging routine.

Monday marked miss Addy's 2nd birthday.  We are doing a small celebration today finally which will consist of cake and ice cream with my family who are in town.  Then tomorrow our small group is celebrating.  Since we decided not to do a big party this year, she has been having small celebrations, which have extended the fun!  Dad took her to McDonalds yesterday for their celebration while I was at work :)

Today we reveal the long awaited playroom.  It's not too fancy, and I would have like to spent more time on the wall decor, but her cool new play kitchen is in there, along with the awesome kids table Jon made her.  I will feature it on the blog soon!

It's amazing how much they change in such a short amount of time!

This past week we have had some house guests!! Some international workers with the Christian & Missionary Alliance (the denomination Crosspoint Alliance is affiliated with) we here to speak for our Missions conference week.  We had a blast with them!  So fun to have four other kids in the house.  Addy loved all the excitement.  She actually has been asking us about them since they left.  Here we all are in the youth room at the church.

It's been a great week!  Next week will likely feel super slow and quiet since we have been so busy over the past three.  Well I better be on my way.   I have a cake to frost and some other birthday party tasks to attend to.  I joked on twitter last night that if the difference between Addy's 1st and 2nd bday parties is any indication of future birth order treatment, I already feel sorry for my second born (and no I'm not announcing anything as my facebook friends wondered) :)

The great thing is no one cares about those over the top birthday details but the parents (at least at this age), so be free all you pinterest burdened moms.  You are NOT the only mom who barely has time to purchase a cake for your childs birthday party contrary to what Pinterest may have you believe :)

Happy weekend to you!

Self-Inflicted Chaos / Friday Snippet

Our house is in disarray right now.  We have our bedroom/bathroom/closet destroyed, holes in two rooms in our basement, our bed in our future playroom (that I was supposed to be finishing this month...ha).  My hanging clothes are in the downstairs closet, my dresser is in addy's room, my other dresser is in the living room, my shoes are in the downstairs playroom... as you can imagine gathering my things to get ready in the morning can be quite exhausting.

Our remodel is coming along quite nicely!  I am loving watch it come together, I'm just super excited to organize our new space once it's all done!

I also am prepping for a huge weekend next weekend.  I will be feeding 35 people out of a hotel suite with a mini fridge and sink.  Talk about interesting.  I've done it a couple years now, but our group keeps growing (yay) and prep becomes a lot trickier with a toddler in tow :)

Then to top it off we return from our trip next Monday night and will need to prime all our walls, and Jon will have to paint all day Tuesday on his "comp" day from the retreat.  I'm sure painting for 15 hours will be a truly restful comp day from our hectic weekend.  haha!

We are up for the challenge!  If I'm scarce you will know why!!

In other fun news:

- Jon's sister welcomed her first child, a sweet girl, this week.  We are now and Aunt & Uncle!
- I received a cloth diaper that I will be testing this month and review in March with a fun giveaway!
- Kindermusik starts next week.
- I got my wedding ring resized because it came of twice because of all my weight loss.

Even this post is chaotic... sorry!

Saturday Snippet

We had a pretty typical week here so I will just share some fun snow photos we took with Addy!  She loved the "no" so we had to get some photos of her exploring it :)

Monday Snippet!

As you may (or may not) have noticed I have been away from my blog for the past week!  I actually had intended to have some scheduled posts and possibly post while I was away but time got away from me, and then I just didn't even want to touch my computer once we had finally left :)

Jon and I attended a Pastor's Renewal Retreat at Canon Beach, OR last week!  It was such a wonderful time!  It was only 48 hours, but in that time there were 5 encouraging sessions and a big chunk of time for rest and relaxation! It was just what I have been needing for quite some time now.

I fell asleep before 9:30 one night... I obviously needed some extra rest!!

 Jon and I

My cousin Hannah works on staff with the group that put on the conference so we got to hang out  a bunch!

Addy stayed with my mom so we stayed a few nights in Ellensburg to visit.  Had a great time visiting with a few friends while we were there.  

We got home Saturday and headed straight for a lovely wedding where Addy danced the night away.  We regrouped Saturday night by unpacking/cleaning and preparing for our Sunday.

We had small group yesterday which was a blast (as always), and mourned over the Seahawks game (me, not Jon).  

It has been a great week of rest and now I'm trying to wrap my head around getting back into our routine.  Easier said than done.  Normally I love jumping back into normal, but this past week was so great it's a bit harder this time.  

Saturday Snippet!

Had a wonderful Christmas!! Family in town, all the normal crew was together for Christmas brunch and dinner, which I don't think has happened in a few years.

After the Christmas Eve service at church the family came over to our place for dinner and games.  We ended up receiving the gift of the game Quelf from our church district office, so we decided to give it a shot.

Lets just say that I have not laughed that hard in a LONG time.  We played Quelf a couple times on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day.  I totally recommend this game to any family who wants to have some silly fun together!

{Jon was an angry gnome who burnt his cookies and had to hold a plunger to skip a penalty!}

{Addy in her Christmas dress before Christmas Eve service}

Christmas morning we opened our immediate family presents at our home, then went up to my Aunt & Uncle's for our extended family gifts and to spend the day.

It was so much fun watching Addy open and play with her presents!!  The highlight were her cradle from Grandma, her dolly and dolly blanket from auntie Susie, and her tea set from Grandma Jam.  She has been rocking her babies in her cradle and serving us tea and cupcakes for days now.  :)

{Eating her fake pastries from her tea set}

It was such a great couple of days it was sad to see them pass so quickly, but I'm now starting to think forward and set some fun goals for next year!  

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

Monday Snippet!

Our Saturday was super jam packed with lots of fun so no blogging for me!! :)

We hosted an Open House lunch for our youth leaders and it was super fun to have a bunch of them stop by and hang out out together!  I got up and started in the kitchen right away making frosting and soups and getting everything all set up!

After the Open House we hung out with our good friends ordering in pizza and going and looking at Christmas lights at locomotive park and the Nightmare before Christmas display out on Grelle.  It was super fun, and then we topped of the night by watching the Nightmare before Christmas with almost all of us (not me) falling asleep by 9:15 on our sectional.  You know you are a parent when you try and hang out with your friends but really can't even keep your eyes open.

Sunday we had our small group which we love.  It's just three couples but we always have dinner together and then the kids hang out downstairs.  I look forward to all of our get togethers.

Christmas shopping is complete!
Tonight we make our family ornament!
Gifts that need to be mailed are out!
Family arrives Christmas Eve!

I love this time of year.  I mostly love that the next two weeks slow down.  All the parties and get togethers are over and we just get to spend time with family, and be homebodies!  Love it!

Addy, her BFF, and I

Us at Locomotive park (2nd time of 3) :)

Saturday Snippet

I think I will spend this post talking about our Thursday/Friday since they were the highlight of our week :)  Like everyone else we have our good and not-so-great days, and this was one of those weeks for sure.

We take those not-so-great experiences and try and figure out what God is teaching us through them, and sometimes we just have to trust God has got it figured out, even when we can't figure out what on earth the purpose of something is. That being said....

God blessed us with a super fun family day on Thursday.  Jon had the day off so we enjoyed spending the day together and doing some fun Christmas-y activities with Addy.

We started out running our errands, and then after nap we took a trip to Starbucks.  Addy loves her hot chocolate, Jon had his Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate and I enjoyed my... um... water.

Once Addy finished she walked around pointing to all the "no-mans" on all the Winter decor.  There are snowmen everywhere I tell ya! She also danced around in circles.

We then went to Locomotive Park to see the lights.  We got there around 4:15 so we had to wait for the lights to come on at 4:30.  It was so awesome!! Addy was mesmerized by the lights and music.  She would walk over to all the characters/objects and call them by name.  She was super excited.  It was so fun to see her experience it all and enjoy it.   She LOVED the dancing penguins.

Then we went home had dinner and got started on our Gingerbread house.  We quickly learned that Addy is not ready for making a gingerbread house.  She basically just wanted to eat the entire thing.  So as the photo may show Addy putting candy ON the house.  She is actually trying desperately to remove it.

It was a super fun day.  

Friday we did some work around the house.  I had a dentist appointment.  Then we had our church annual meeting, which is more like a celebration really.  After that I went over to my friend Julia's and we had some girl time.  It was refreshing and encouraging.  So thankful for her and our friendship.  

Next week will be insane with all we have planned, but I look forward to it!! 

Saturday Snippet

So wonderful to have my husband home! We have had a pretty relaxing week at home and hanging with friends.

Today we went on a family trip to Starbucks and addy downed her hot chocolate again.

It's been rainy and dreary so we've been spending a lot of time at home keeping warm and cozy.

I've started working on some Christmas gifts and shopping. My goal is to have it all finished by December. So we can slow down and rest rather than stress.

I've been feeling super blessed this week as our family has been adjusting some priorities. It has been so awesome to already feel God's blessing in our obedience to him.

Hope you all had a blessed week!

Saturday Snippet!

I feel like I have so much to say today... perhaps it's because Jon left Thursday and I haven't talked to an adult for longer than 5 minutes.  Thanks to the lady at the Diamond Shop, and two groups of people I ran into a pumpkin palooza I had three conversations - all less than five minutes... and so I ramble to you reader.

Addy and I have been keeping busy.  We went to Walker field on Thursday and walked around the track... very slowly.  I actually let her walk because I am desperate and trying everything I can to get her to sleep in past 5:45 (it didn't work).  She would take  few steps than play with a dandelion, or she would hear a plane say "lane" and point to the sky and try to find it.  Believe or not 5 planes took off or landed in that hour long walk around the track...once.  Yes, one lap took an hour.

Yesterday we went to the mall and Costco. She also allowed me to go through my clothes and bring out my new smaller size.  She drug half the clothes out down the hallway, but hey she was content.

Today we went to pumpkin palooza, but first we stopped at Starbucks.  And for the record an american with sugar free syrup is just not a latte.  But I abiding by my eating rules even though the scale has not budged and ounce since my official weigh in on Tuesday.  Addy had her first ever hot chocolate.

I thought, "hey lets bond and get Starbucks together."  She amazingly only got a tiny bit on her jacket (hooray she was in a windbreaker and not her nice peacoat).  She had that thing FINISHED before we got to Brackenberry square for Pumpkin Palooza.  Crazy kid.

Her favorite things was fishing at the fishing booth.

Sorry for the poor photo quality... remember I was doing one on one here.

She also had her first painting experience.  First she ate the paint, but she got the hang of it long enough to paint three colors.

Who is that kid in the photo behind her lovely painted pumpkin?? By the way that is the awesome photo print I won from Vintage Buttercup Photography.

We also went on the trolley ride together.

Now she is napping and I'm frantically typing because I'm conflicted between finishing this post or sitting and reading the book I have been addicted too for the past three days.  I have been reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.  I've had in on my Kindle App for months but finally hunkered down and now I can hardly think about anything other than the next time I can sit down and read.

Basically this is Jen Hatmaker's journal and thoughts throughout this awesome experiment she did.  Each month of 7 (7 months total) she focuses on giving up or minimalizing in some area of her life.  She is hilarious to read.  Oh goodness I have laughed out loud and cried in the same hour.  I'll fully review the book when I'm finished, but you should check it out.  Definitely a good read if you want to be challenged.

Okay I'm gonna go read now!

Monday Snippet!

I have such fun stories to tell about last week.  Let's start with last Sunday (not yesterday).  I was enjoying the worship service at church and during the closing song my pager number flashes up on the screen.  I thought, "why on Earth are paging me now when church will be over in 30 seconds."  I got up went to the nursery to see Addy and one of the nursery workers covered in vomit.  Apparently Addy just started barfing and the poor nursery worker got the brunt of it.

I quickly picked up Addy to go get her clothes off while the nursery worker covered in puke cleaner herself off (SHE WAS COVERED PEOPLE) and the other nursery worker started cleaning up puke off the floor.  After everyone was cleaned off I took sweet Addy home where she puked several times over the course of the day.  It was her first stomach flu.  Poor girl did great, and you would never know she was sick other than right when she was puking.  And most of the time she would say "uh-oh" about 5 second prior to throwing up.

She was A-ok by Sunday night and great by Monday.  Tuesday morning Jon and I weren't feeling well and then the bug visited us.  ugh.  We were fine by Tuesday evening though.

My house is completely lysolified now, and we are all back to normal.

Can I just get back to the nursery workers.... SERIOUSLY.  Angels! Saints! Servants!  I felt so horrible about the whole thing, but they were all, "oh it happens!"  I'm pretty sure I would be puking in the bathroom if someone elses kid puked on me.

Sorry for the somewhat gross Snippet, but hey... that was our week.  Lots. Of. Gross.

Saturday Snippet

I moved my Snippet to Saturday!!  

Had a great week home.  So happy to be in my comfy, cozy home after lots of travel.  Back into all my routines.  The gym.  Youth Group.  Cleaning.  Laundry.  So wonderful.

Changed out my Scentsy warmers to fall scents.  Currently warming Central Park Pralines to remember our NYC trip of 2010.  I will get back there again someday.  

Went on a family date last night.  Dinner with an after party at the pet store and park.  Fun stuff (no pets were purchased or ever will be purchased again).

Enjoying this sweet season of life with a pretty spectacular toddler and husband.  While sometimes the routine and everyday may seem mundane, I keep being reminded that this is a short and sweet season of being at home all day, everyday with kids.  

Started attending the Parenting Sunday School class at church, and in one week felt so challenged and encouraged at the same time.  Really feeling that I need to be super intentional about pouring into Addy and whatever kids may come, and to do that I have felt called to say "no" to lots of extras in life.  While all these extras are good extras, they are still extra and create some chaos in our lives.  

I used to think, "I don't want to be one of those parents that puts their entire life on hold when they have kids."  I'm now more of the thought pattern, "My priorities and life should and need to change while I have kids."   

Still trying to determine what that looks like and figuring out balance.  For me, I'm finding it means I don't need to serve in several ministries at church, I don't need to try and pick up lots of extra hours at work to make money, and I need to be intentional in encouraging and lifting up our little girl.  

Balance.  Notice I didn't say I don't need to serve in any ministries....  I still need to serve others, love others, grow in my faith because all those things will make me a better mom.  Balance.

Wow, this became more thoughtful than I planned.  

Headed to the Pumpkin Patch with great friends today.  So blessed.

Sunday Snippet!

We had a fabulous weekend.  Really, we did nothing.  But it was the first weekend in a LONG time where we were all home and we did nothing.

I spent Saturday rearranging my living room and putting up our fall decor.  I quickly realized that my fall decor will be much more minimal with a toddler who grabs and climbs on everything :)  We also watched a movie together as a family and made a delicious dinner at home.

I worked a bit more than normal this past week in preparation for our trip that we head out for on Thursday. I had made all my list of things not to forget for the trip and then realized that we had not made arrangements for our house sitter/dog sitter yet.  Glad we remembered in enough time to find someone!

We were cooped up most of the weekend with the crazy amount of smoke in our valley, but we were able to go for a short walk this afternoon as the smoke had cleared up quite a bit!

Our deck project got underway this week.  I am super excited to see the progress, and am even more excited to have it done!  Next summer is the summer of the yard, where all the projects we've been putting off will come together!

Addy is so much fun right now.  She run around the house playing with her toys and chatting about nothing.  I love it!  I love how happy she is, and I love that she can entertain herself more which allows me to still be semi-productive throughout the day.

On Friday she played so great by herself I was able to accomplish a ton of freezer cooking.  I baked two batches of zuchinni bread, some baked oatmeal, and some oatmeal peanut butter things that I mention in my menu this past week.

I am still loving my Take Shape For Life program and have done super awesome!  No cheating for this girl!  I've been brainstorming how to make succeed during vacation too.  I am very hopeful!

Have a great week.  Blogging may be a bit more sparatic over the next couple of weeks while we travel, but do check back because I do have some fun posts planned!

Our Trip In Photos

I just realized I never typed a Sunday Snippet!  But here are some photos from out trip last week with some captioning :)

Fort Ebey State Park 

We rode our bikes on the trails which were much harder than we anticipated at some points, but it sure was an adventure!

Deception Pass

Walking through the barns at the Ellensburg Fair

Addy Baaa-ing at the sheep.

Newest attraction on Seattle Waterfront.  This thing is enormous.  It is also pretty spendy so we didn't go :)

Pike's place $5 bouquet!  I would buy these weekly if I could!

View from our room at the Anchorage Inn Bed and Breakfast.  Seriously such a great place, and I was skeptical of B&B's to begin with!

Coupeville dock

We were able to connect with our good friends Michelle and Geoff for dinner one night in Anacortes, and then went to Washington Park.

Sunset! One of my favorite things about God's creation!

Jon and I in Anacortes!  

We had such a great trip.  It was so nice to get away for some down time, I even slept in till 7am one day!  It was a miracle.  

Sunday Snippet

This week flew by, which was great because I was anticipating our mini vacation that we are currently on!  We headed to my hometown of Ellensburg for the Kittitas County Fair and Rodeo!  Really we only went to the Parade and the fair yesterday but it was a fun time!  It's just nice to take a more extended trip to visit my mom since we normally don't make it here for longer than a night or two.

She is blessing us with some free babysitting and Jon and I are headed to Whidbey Island today for two nights!  We haven't been away from Addy by ourselves for US yet.  We went to a conference in April, which was still a treat, but this is more relaxing.  

We are staying at a bed and breakfast for the first time, so we will see how we like it!

Hope you all had a wonderful week.  I will leave you with a photo from our river trip last Sunday!  We had such a good time with my team from work and our families.  Addy was so awesome and played in the sand and beach all afternoon without a whine.  She also ate her sandwich like a big girl in our camping chair!  She is growing too fast!

Sunday Snippet

We have had a whirlwind past couple of weeks (Sorry for the lack of Snippet last Sunday)!  We had lots of company over: my family, Jon's family, and my high school BFF Michelle.  Yes I just typed BFF.

This week Jon worked almost every night between working at Hot August Nights (youth fundraiser) and and Elder's meeting so Addy and I spent lots of time together and I had the late evenings to myself.

I painted my toes, read some old notes from a retreat I went on a few years ago, watched some movies.  It was actually quite a good time!

We are headed out on the river today with my team from work and all our families so that should be a great time!! :)

We head out this week for another mini vacation and Jon and I will even get a few nights away alone together, which will be super nice.

Have I mentioned that I'm ready for October yet??  We have a bunch of stuff going on in September so October is looking super nice to me!  I have been loving the cooler weather and we went on two family bike rides this week.  Addy is getting used to her bike helmet and the bike trailer we got.  She can go about 6 miles then starts to get antsy.

Please forgive the randomness of this snippet.  I need to go get us packed for the beach and my mind is going 100 miles a minute!

Oh - Don't forget to enter my current giveaway!  

Sunday Snippet

This week was insanely busy!  I worked two and half days which really threw me for a loop.  I typically only work one day in the office, but since I am not working at all this upcoming week I wanted to be able to make up some hours.  

I missed Addy like crazy!  I am so thankful I am able to be home mostly full time, cause I am not talented enough to balance a full time job, mothering, and keeping a house semi-clean.  

We had an impromptu family swim Tuesday night when it was 106 degrees outside.  My boss has a pool and has offered it to us to use throughout the summer and we were very thankful for that this week especially. 

I went on my first bike ride in the valley.  We went to the river trail and I had a blast!  I am so confused as to why I waited this long to get a bike.  There are so many awesome trails and beautiful things to see.  

Addy has been throwing  a few tantrums here and there.  Today we had a rough one.  Pray for me as I navigate this new part of parenting.  

We have another busy week ahead of us. What are your plans this week?

Sunday Snippet!

So apparently finding time to blog is a bit difficult when your husband is out of town.  Jon got home yesterday and Addy and I survived our 7 days on our own!  It actually wasn't too bad.  That might have something to do with the fact that I had something planned for almost every minute of the day so we weren't sitting at home.

I felt like superwoman the day I took Addy to moscow to pick up my secretary's desk and then perused the mall for an hour and a half.  I treated myself to Qdoba to reward myself for that bit of bravery.  I also will confess that I spent over $100 in the mall in that short time (and some of it I had to steal from other budget category envelopes!).

I realized I spend much more money when Jon is out of town.  Oops.  I even decided that I'm going to start buying Fiesta Ware dishes and started my collection.  I am starting with Scarlet, Sunflower, and Lemongrass. I am not buying the sets though cause I don't want the mugs.

Addy and I also went to the gym every single day.  That gave me an hour long bit of "me time" during the day, and Addy loves it there, so I didn't feel the slightest bit guilty.

My mom came over Friday and stayed till today, so she helped me survive the last 24 hours of time.  The hardest part for me was just feeling pretty unproductive.  Normally I get "stuff" done when Jon is home, either first thing in the morning, or when he gets home from work.  I could have used time after Addy went to bed, but that time of day all I wanted to do was sit and relax watching mindless TV, or peruse Facebook.

Thanks to all my friends who reached out to me over the past week.  Addy and I went to the aquatic center for the first time with friends, took coffee to some friends, visited a pool with some friends.  It really helped the time go by!

Sunday Snippet!

Our week highlights were definitely over the weekend!  Jon and I had a great date night on Friday.  Had our favorite food at Thai Taste and then went and saw Batman.  Both were great.  The Batman movie was pretty suspenseful, which is not my typical favorite genre but for some reason I really like the Batman movies.  

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with our good friends.  It's always interesting dining with a toddler.  Will & Julia's Eleanor is 2.5 months now, so it's quite fun to give them a preview of everything toddler in life. After a fun breakfast of catching up (& catching food) we headed to the Clarkston Farmer's Market where I snagged some delicious honey, blackberries, and cookie!

Jon is out of town for a few days and of course Addy woke at 5am this morning.  I am exhausted and typing frantically before she goes down for nap so I can relax as she naps and do absolutely NOTHING.  In the pre-Addy era of our marriage I would actually sort of look forward to a few days by myself when Jon had a camp or retreat to go to.  I would eat what I want, watch what I want, do some long put off projects that I have been wanting to do, connect with my girl friends.  It was actually sort of fun to have a few days of me time.  Now the post-Addy era has a much different feel to it.  I am on daytime duty, and night time duty, and early morning duty.  It gets pretty exhausting and isolating sometimes.  I'm trying to have a positive outlook but a 5 am wake up call on day one is a little defeating.

Hope you all had a great week!  I am sure going to try to this week!