Crafting

I love it and I haven't had a ton of time to do it recently. It is how I relax and keep sane though. So, I am trying to make more time. One craft that gives me instant gratification is pottery painting. There is an awesome pottery painting place in Olympia called The Painted Plate. The atmosphere is awesome and they have some beautiful custom pieces to paint.

Nathan and I painted Jason a Father's Day gift this year and I am very pleased with the results. Having Nathan's footprints done was quite the adventure though, as you can imagine. It took us about one hour to get it done. I returned on my own to finish up the plate.

Tushy!

Cutest Naked Baby

Camping with Children

Is fun, but tiring. Those camping days filled with beer and relaxation are over for now. No more afternoon siestas or reading entire books by the fire. Camping days now start at 7am or earlier and the majority of the day is spent keeping bugs and sun off the kids, figuring out the key to getting naps to happen in a hot, bright, and loud environment, and timing meals to avoid total hunger meltdowns. Camping is fun in a whole new way, but I came home in need of a good 12 hours of sleep.

Nathan loved it, of course. He played in the dirt and the grass. Had a blast hanging with his cousin Natalie. Thought it was cool sleeping with his mom and dad and overall did amazing. We kept him on schedule as best we could and he slept through the night both nights. 

We camped with the Maxey Family for two nights at Salt Water State Park near Hood Canal. A total family campground with a park and playground. Not exactly roughing it. I think it was a good choice for the first camping trip with an infant and toddler. Starting our camp trip on Thursday night was a good choice as well because once Friday night rolled around, it was one happening and LOUD place.

We spent all day Friday exploring the beach and playing at the play ground. At night the adults sat by the fire and we talked about our kids. Saturday we packed up in the rain and had brunch at a diner in town. The kids were getting cranky and ready for home. 

We have two more camping trips planned this summer and I am so glad. I want to make sure Nathan gets to camp a lot as a kiddo. Even though he won't remember it, we are building great memories as a family. After this trip I have refined my packing strategy. I am even making a master pack list and having it laminated for quick packing.

Anyway....What you have all come here for anyway....Please enjoy the photos!!!

Best new tent EVER! Nathan is on the "All Weather Porch"

 

Had to bring the favorite toys

Loving his momma

His face is classic. Notice the cousin love. Holding hands!

She'll be the best big sister

Nathan is loving the fire

Please don't call CPS. It is empty. 

Family portrait on the beach

Cutie. 

Smitten.

The Darrows LOVE to camp. 

What parents do when their children go to bed....

They roast marshmallows, drink wine and sit by the fire. 

My Weekend in Pictures

What a beautiful weekend. Over 70 everyday. Super busy. Totally satisfied.

Nathan and I went shopping for some staples and NEW BIG BOY TOYS at Toys R Us

I worked on Father's Day Gifts

We played with our new toys!

We hosted brunch for the World Cup

Nathan made some new friends!

I did some art with Abby on our patio

Nathan continued working on his crawling

We played outside at the fountain

We played with cousins at Luke's Baseball game

Had too much fun with Ms. Lila

Made and ate a delicious Sunday Breakfast

And finished it all off with a bath in the jacuzzi with my cutie

Welcoming our son

Nathan was baptized on May 31st into the Catholic church. Now, if you know me, you know that this was not at my initiative. I do not self identify as a Christian nor was I raised in any faith. I am spiritual and have come into my own in my beliefs and do sometimes attend Unitarian Universalist (UU) services and plan to raise Nathan with UU principals. But, Catholic baptism is a tradition in Jason's family and Jason self identifies as a Catholic, so Nathan was welcomed into their community and Jason plans to teach Nathan about his faith.

I thought that I may feel "weird" at the ceremony, like I normally do at other religious ceremonies, but I found myself crying and feeling so full of pride and love that we were baptizing our little guy. No, I do not believe in the washing away of original sins but I do believe in making it known to the whole world that my boy is here on earth and the feeling of welcoming us as parents and his "spiritual guides". I even cried a little bit. Me!

Anyway, it was nice and I feel good about it. I plan to teach him how to find his truth and to fill his heart with love.

Here are some pictures if there are some of you who really don't believe I went through with it and liked it :)!

Momma's new favorites

I posted on Facebook the other day that I was looking for brunch ideas for this weekend. We are hosting a World Cup kick-off party this coming Saturday morning and I wanted to feed everyone some yummy brunch.

What I got in response are two AWESOME foodie sites. I thought I would share. I love finding treasures like these.

http://smittenkitchen.com/
http://cookingwithmykid.com/

From these sites and the Food Network I got lots of inspiration and I will be making:
Boozy Baked French Toast 
Chili Sweet Potato Hash
and a Two Cheese Quiche that my friend Bethany suggested

Yum! Bet you wish you were coming to my house on Saturday...

Nathan's Top 20 Right Now

My boy is so cute and he has quite the personality! Enjoy his top 20 in his first 6 months of life.

20. Playing with his toes

19. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See by: Eric Carle

18. Naked time 

17. Bath time in the jacuzzi tub with mom and dad

16. A 4am bottle 

15. Kissing Kody (in the mouth, of course!)

14. Drinking from mommy's glass 

13. "Shaking it" - his rattles, maracas, bottle, sippy cup

12. His cuddle bear (snuggly for nap and bedtime)

11. Jewel's Lullaby Music

10. The Itsy Bitsy Spider

9. Eating REAL food (first pieces of food this week)

8. SWIMMING

7. Sitting up like a big boy to play!

6. Dropping things to hear mommy say "Ut-ohhhh!" 

5. Fake coughing (and you must fake cough back)

4. Bouncing in his bouncer

3. Putting EVERYTHING in his mouth (including our dog - any part he can get)

2. Peach and apple sauce (homemade, of course)
1. Screaming or squealing with delight - or just because he can

"Did you HIDE the diapers?"

Diapers are a subject of constant battle in our household. Not whose going to change them, but which ones we use. Jason and I decided to use cloth diapers and I spent months researching which ones to use. I finally settled on bumGenius, which I love,

BUT....

Sometimes it is nice to use a disposable. Sometimes it is just more convenient. Like when we go on long trips - packing all those bulking cloth diapers there and back is tough or when the diapers are in the wash, which you have to do every other day, and you want a little break from the two washes, plus folding and putting the diapers together!

A couple weeks ago I was feeling a little overwhelmed so used disposables for a day or two. Jason got after me about it and I told him that if he didn't like it then he could wash the diapers for once. Do you know what he did?

He hid the disposable diapers!


My darling husband, that I am sure you all think is so sweet, hid the damn diapers from me because he felt that I was using disposables too often! Did he do a load of diapers? Nope. Did he help put them together after they were washed and sitting on the drying rack awaiting assembly while I felt overwhelmed? Nope.

Jerk? Yup.

But, it did make me buckle down and stop being lazy and use the diapers. And I did have a nice chat with Jason and he is pitching in A LITTLE when it comes to the diapers.

But, on most days of the week you will be welcomed in the front entry by this:

Feel free to help us assemble them :)!

A great saturday with my boys

Today felt like the first day of summer. FINALLY. I made breakfast for the boys (Nathan had his first piece of toast), Jason worked in the yard and I was utterly lazy - except I did go out to get a mani and pedi! We talked to our neighbors and scored a free baby outside play gym with a slide from the wonderful people across the street. I was inspired to work on plans for a block party in August. Enjoy pictures of our beautiful boy enjoying his first summer day.

When I feel out of control...

When I feel out of control, which seems to be common these last two weeks, I take a time-out and write myself lists. I have lists EVERYWHERE. A work to-do list, home to-do list, a grocery list, shopping list, note list, goal list, project list, book list...the list goes on (haha).
Anyhow, today, I feel out of control. We have a grant due at work that has had an extremely short turn around,  which means my work to-do list is building up as I focus on one project. I hosted family this weekend and Nathan got baptized so we had an open house - this all means that my home list got super long because I did none of my regular household duties and errands over the weekend.
I like making lists because I can make progress towards a goal in little steps. This makes things feel less overwhelming. I can pick something from my lists to do based on the amount of free time I have.  Some things sit on my list for a couple hours, others for weeks. For instance, "make dental appointments" has been on my list for probably a month now.
It is 10pm now and I will add to my lists before I go to bed.
Tomorrow I intend to cross a lot off my lists.
Wish me luck.