Mexico 2013
Who would have thought we could have so successfully pulled of a family trip amongst 12 of our friends! I was worried about trying to find that perfect balance between having "family time" and "friend time" and my expectations around spending time with just the 4 of us (well, 5 if you count the little one in my belly) were a bit threw the roof. But, in the end, we were upgraded to a HOUSE on the hill - about 10 minutes away from anyone else - just enough space so that people to allow us to be alone when we wanted but join the chaos when it felt easy and right as well. The house itself was amazing - slept 12 and we had it all to ourselves. The only freaky thing was that it had its own pool - on the same level as the kids' room. They could have literally walked out their sliding glass door and jumped right in. So, we had the maintenance folks duck tape the doors shut which eased our minds.
The trip was a dream. Everything we needed to relax and rejuvinate. The kids spent every day in the pool, either at our house or down at the resort. We went into town on a couple occasions to get some good food (shrimp tacos at The Office) and to spend some time at the beach. We all got too much sun but that was inevitable. Highlights of the trip were
#1: Liam jumping off the Sky Pool ledge - about an 8 foot drop into the pool below and coming up out of the water and yelling "AWESOME!" The people in the pool could not believe it and I didn't think there was a chance he would actually do it! We were so proud but, as Leif put it, "that was awesome - now never do that again!"
#2: Skyler passing the "swim test." Ok, she is not exactly swim safe but she had a major break through swimming with her daddy in our pool at the house. She worked hard and by the end could swim all the way across, grab the ledge and pull herself up. She spent the rest of the day chanting, "Skyler passed the swim test, Skyler passed the swim test."
#3: Leif being the supportive and humble husband that he is and letting me practice my barre classes with him on our patio. I had just taken the training and did not want to forget, so he agreed to be my guinea pig and let me teach him! So sweet.
#4: Shrimp tacos at The Office. The kids got to play in the sand with their sand toys while we relaxed and ate such a good meal.
#5: Loren's birthday dinner. I forget the name of the restaurant but we had fresh shrimp and lobster. I have to admit, it would have been a little more fun for me had I been able to drink a margarita or 4, but it was a great celebration nonetheless!
NYC
Leif's release party for VERA was in NY this last week and auntie Kayla came up to babysit. Before I go into the trip, I have to give her a huge shout out for flying to Seattle to take care of the little ones. We are SO unbelievably blessed to have the family that we do who cares so genuinely for our kids. It meant so much to know that they felt safe and secure with their auntie - the pictures on Instagram proved it!
It was a whirlwind trip for Leif and I and the highlight was defintely the night we got dressed up to go to the party at the World Trade Center. However, we also got to do a tiny bit of site seeing (Ground Zero), and experience an amazing steak dinner. I will admit that I was not the best traveling partner and I hope that Leif can forgive me for that. I have been SO sick and SO tired with this pregnancy and I was unable to rally like I wished I could have. But, we did it - a 3 day, 2 night trip to NYC.
Blessed...
Just feeling extraordinarily blessed this morning as I sit on the couch eating my cheesy eggs (specially prepared for me by Leif even though he has to be a short order cook for me these days - kids wanted bacon eggs and I wanted nothing to do with bacon). Since I am pretty sure that everyone reading this blog already knows I am pregnant, I can talk about it here! We are almost 9 weeks along - can't believe it is true! I have prayed for this baby and begged for this baby for 3 years and now I am the luckiest woman, wife and mom ever. It was a rough start to the pregnancy but my doctor has assured me that after the 8 week mark, things are almost always okay. I try hard to believe what she says but after miscarrying last year, am still so so reserved and scared. But I do have a good feeling that this is all going to work out.
I have been SO SO sick the last few weeks unable to stomach hardly anything but bagels and cream cheese and, occasionally an egg or two. Leif is dead set on me gaining weight and has been willing to go get me anything I ask even when it is a hamburger at 9pm and he is trying to eat paleo!
Little Liam is sick today and all he wants is to snuggle with me. In one hour last night, he randomly told me he loved me 3 times. What a sweet heart. And little Skyler just walks around getting her brother anything he asks for. She is so good to him!
Anyway, between Leif being so incredibly sweet, my two babies giggling and being the best of friends, and this baby in my stomach, I am overwhelmed with greatfulness this morning. God is good.
Skyler sleeps in Undies!
Well, she did it! She has been asking for months to not wear a diaper or pull up to bed because, and I quote, "princesses don't wear diapers." She was not buying it that even Ariel wore diapers when she was three! This is also her reasoning for not wearing jeans, not putting her hair in a ponytail and not putting on tennis shoes. But she earned it - 5 nights in a row of waking up with a dry diaper and so we went for it! She is now, officially, completely, potty trained!
Jensen Christmas Vacation
Not even sure where to start. We decided to drive to California this year to spend Christmas with Gruncle and Grauntie (my uncle Alan and auntie Anita) and my cousins Jada, Kayla and Chani. My mom and aunt Chris drive down as well and Kent drove up. Everyone we told that we were taking a 3 and 5 year old on a 15 hour car ride thought we were crazy but I swear to you - they were easy as pie! We had a formula - 1 hour of Leap Pads (courtesy of gpa Teddy and gma Stephie), 1 hour off. Break to get out of car and get coffee, gas or lunch and then 1 more hour of leap Pad or listening to a book on tape. Then, only of they took a nap (and both of them did), they could watch a movie of their choice. We filled in the rest of the time with Christmas carols, "I spy" and other silly games. At times it was very "Christmas Vacation", but we loved it.
Our first stop was in Eugene where we saw Keith and Mary Ellen for a few hours. They had prepared a great lunch for us and showed off their new addition to their house - an upstairs sanctuary! The kids got to open some presents a little early and Leif got to give Keith a poster that Leif made for Keith's 60th ("Peaking since 1953!").
In Santa Rosa, we stayed at the Hyatt which was perfect. It even had a pool which we went in twice (yes-we were the only ones swimming in the 52 degree weather but it was sunny and us Seattleites were not gonna waste the opportunity for some vitamin D!). We did not spend much time at the hotel however as there was so many things already planned for us!
On the 23rd, we were at my aunt and uncle's house for a big Filipino feast! We all had more than out fair share of lumpia and cioppino! It was a celebration of my cousin Chani and Brendan's engagement. The 24th was also at Alan and Anita's where we ate even more wonderful food - ham this time. My brother kent was there and we had fun prepping the kids for the next day!
Back at the hotel we hung the stockings on the tv stand and laid out cookies for Santa and an apple for Rudolph and what do you know? Santa figured out where we were and he came to our hotel room and left all kinds of presents behind! The kids were so stoked and remained that way all day long. Skyler's favorite gift was probably the two pink princess dresses which she would not change out of for the rest of the trip and Liam's favorite was either the stuffed animal dog from uncle Kent or the Lego Ninjago set from Santa.
Leif and I, my uncle and the cousins went to see an afternoon movie while kids stayed back with my mom and Anita. That evening, the four of us went back to the hotel early for a night cap in the lobby and them am early bedtime!
The ride back went just great and we even decided to extend our trip a day and head to Hood River for the night after spending time over lunch with Keith in Eugene. We just were not quite ready to be home. However, once home, it felt really good to be here and we haven't wanted to jump back in that car in days! :)
Best day all year!
I can honestly say that, even with the fairly large scale meltdown at the end of the night (courtesy of Liam not wanting to put his jammie's on), today was the best day of my year. The kids woke up early but did not come into our room until 7! Leif did elbow me at 6:15 to tell me that "Liam is blowing his toy whistle and somebody needs to do something about it" but to his defense, I had agreed to take the kids in the morning if he took the night shift. ;). We went to church at 8:30 and, as they always do, the kids went running for Leif to hug him before going into class (Leif goes early to help with parking). For some reason, it always makes me choke up when they go running for him. How lucky I am to have him as my husband. He is seriously such a wonderful father. After church we did our regular grocery shopping and then stopped off at Michaels to grab gingerbread houses. The rest of the day was filled with watching the Seahawks slaughter Arizona, making gingerbread houses, and then decorating the tree. Grandma came over too and the kids showered her with some much needed love. Liam unpacked every ornament with care and was so excited to decorate the tree. Skyler fed off his energy and followed in step with her own little touches (mostly pink flowers). Everyone was so relaxed, content, and grateful. It truly was such a special day.
NEW CAR!!!
Ever tried to buy a new car with a three and five year old? Well, it takes some serious negotiating skills - not with the car dealer but with your kids! But, Liam and Skyler really wanted a new car. Each time they crammed into the back of my Jetta, they would say "moooommmm....when are you going to get a new car!" Or, "your car stinks. We like daddy's new car." Geez....privileged kids, huh? We did end up getting a new...beautiful...roomy....nice smelling Ford Explorer. Decided to lease it for three years until we know what the ultimate size of our family is going to be. Plus, hopefully in three years cars will be lighter and more fuel efficient - the one downside to having a big car! Other than that, with the heated seats, heated steering wheel, third row automatic seats, back up camera, blind spot indicater...what more could I ask for!!! Oh...it even told me to get some rest the other day! Seriously, a warning indicator came on that said "warning...driver should get rest." It had a little coffee icon next to it. Doesn't say much about my driving I suppose but HOW COOL IS THAT!
Halloween One, Two, Three and Four
Halloween Three: the kids got to dress in costume for church on Sunday. It is always a surprise to find out which costume Liam will choose (given that both kids spend the majority of their days in costume!). Skyler is a different story. You can almost count on her Aerial costume every time. Liam dressed in his red ninja costume this time!
Halloween Four: Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year. We had so many options for trick-or-treating this year but the kids wanted to stay on Goat Hill so we did. This time Liam wore his black spiderman costume because he knew that his buddy Blake (our next door neighbor) was going to wear his red spiderman costume. The boys were so cute and SO excited - running from door to door together. It was pouring rain for the first few minutes but then let up and we actually were able to enjoy a fairly mellow and humid night. Skyler made it until about 7:15 and then looked up at me and said "I just want to go to bed." I carried her home and she went right to sleep. Leif took the boys all the way down to the mailboxes and back. So much candy came home that we decided to tell the the kids that they could exchange their candy for a toy from the Great Pumpkin. Both were okay with this but Skyler DID NOT want the Great Pumpkin coming into her room!
Big brother
We were watching the Seahawks today and several of the commercials during the game were scary and inappropriate for the kids so Leif kept telling them to look away. Then tonight, the kiddos wanted to watch the tail end of the lion king. Leif and I were in the other room and we heard Liam say "Skyler! Close your eyes. Close your eyes now!" It was a commercial (not a very scary one but still). Then "ok Skyler. You can open them now!" Such a good big brother!
Spontaneous Fun
Mom and dad needed a major pick me up so decided on taking the kids to Maggianos for dinner in Bellevue. A few glasses of good wine, muscles, a plate of pasta, and a slice of tiramasu later and we were feeling full of life. Leif decided "why go home?" So we left our car in the garage, walked across the street and booked a room at the Hyatt. The kids LOVED it, and I (of course) loved it. Spontaneity has to be one my favorite things in the world. Liam and Skyler were angels - here is a picture of them after they crashed...