Vacation to Moses Lake

This last weekend we went on a mini vacation to Moses Lake to attend my cousin's wedding. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. It was held at a beautiful location in the country, there was a caterer that served delicious BBQ, a live band, an open bar (no drinks for me though), the setting was just gorgeous and the atmosphere was great.

The bridal party walked down a stone pathway on the way to the place where the ceremony took place. Here's a picture of the bride and groom cutting the cake.
Below is a family picture of us. I don't like this picture of me at all but, Jeremiah looks great!
Back at the hotel, we had a great time playing in the pool. Judah hadn't been in a big pool like this before and he was a little timid but, I think he had a good time.

There were a couple things I learned on this little vacation.

#1. Judah is a great traveler in the car. He has this weird thing were he won't sleep more than 30 minutes in the car. It started when he was about 3 months and it's always been that way. His eyes pop open after 30 minutes. When he's sleeping in his crib, I hear him stir at 30 minutes but, most of the time he just goes back to sleep without a fuss. I think it has to do with when he changes sleep cycles. So, the bottom line is that I can't ever rely on a car nap to be a good nap. I really like to be home for naps so, I know that he'll get enough sleep.

Even though he only napped for 30 minutes on the way there, he was a great traveler. We only made one stop and no tears were shed. One the way home, he took a short nap also and then he was happy as a clam the rest of the way, also with only one stop. I'm so thankful that we had a happy car ride!

#2. Sleeping in a hotel with a 17 month old is HARD. At least it is for our family. Judah is used to sleeping in his own bed, in his room and sleeping in a hotel ( I mean, being awake almost all night long) was difficult. We brought his play pen with us and put him to bed in it. Around 3am, he woke up crying. I picked him up, started bouncing him to try and get him to go right back to sleep and I couldn't get him to sleep. I haven't bounced him to sleep in awhile and it just wasn't working. So, I tried bringing him to bed with us, he's never slept in our bed before and he couldn't fall asleep. I tried putting him back in his play pen awake but, he stood and cried "mommy, daddy" and he could see us right there (only 1 room), and I couldn't let him cry for us when he can clearly see us. Jeremiah finally bounced him back to sleep around 5:30am but, at 6am, he woke back up. We decided to just start our day then so, we went down and had the hotel's breakfast and coffee and we survived.

I love going on vacations and now I know we need to figure out this hotel sleeping thing. He's a perfect sleeper at home, we just need to learn how to make sleeping in a hotel work. I think it was easier when I could just nurse him back to sleep and he just layed in the play pen but, those days are over.

At home, last night I put him to bed early and he slept over 12 hours straight. I made the smart choice of going to bed shortly after him and I got about 11 hours. So, we are definetly getting caught up on our sleep.

Overall, it was a very fun little vacation!

Summertime with a 17 month old

Over at Kelly's Korner for "Show us your life Friday", the theme is "Activities for Kids". Since I just have one child and one on the way, I'm not an expert on this subject yet. I can just share what works for us.

Judah is 17 months and our favorite summertime activities are playing in our backyard, going to the local playground, having picnic dinners at the beach with Daddy and going for walks with the stroller. He loves being outside! Fresh air and exercise are good for all of us so, I'm glad he likes playing outside so much.

For us, taking a picnic to the beach is easy because we live about 10 minutes away. The other night, I made a taco salad for dinner, then at the last minute we decided grab a few plastic bowls, plastic forks and head to the beach. Well, I also made a PB&J sandwich for Judah because he isn't too crazy about taco salad yet. I think it's almost easier to eat outside because we don't dirty up the kitchen.
One of the things I'm learning to embrace is that toddlers have a need to climb and explore. When we play outside, he can get this out of his system alot easier than when we are inside and there are so many restrictions. I just can't let him climb on top of the dining room table or run back and forth on the couch! However, climbing on drift wood and throwing rocks outside is ok!

So, we play outside where there are also less "No's" and we can both have a great time!

Wordless Wednesday

Grandma Dotti's "Going Home" Service

My Grandma's memorial service was yesterday and it was wonderful. She wanted it to be a celebration of her life and I think she would've been very proud of her "going home" party. I feel like a horrible blogger because I forgot to bring my camera to the service and there were some great moments to take pictures. I'll just have to write down some highlights of the special time.

Before Grandma died, she put aside a few special cards and scriptures and marked that she wanted them read at her service. One of the cards was something that I had sent her last Grandparent's Day. When I sent her that card, I never imagined that she would want me to share it at her service. Another thing that she wanted shared was a letter that my cousin had written to her. I think he was in high school when he wrote it and it described what an amazing person he thought she was. This was so special to me because there aren't alot of high school boys that will share their heart on paper and tell their elderly Aunt what an amazing woman she is.

My Grandma's brother was a pastor before he retired and she requested that he would share the Gospel at her service and that he would give an opportunity for anyone that hasn't asked Jesus into their heart, to do so. I hadn't heard him preach in so long and I don't think I ever realized what an amazing preacher he is until yesterday. If I wasn't already saved, I would've gotten saved yesterday. He preached simply from his heart and he quoted scripture over and over and so accurately. It was an amazing thing that she had written a note saying that she wanted him to preach and it was so powerful to listen to him share about Jesus.

After the service, we all stepped outside and released helium filled balloons. It was so beautiful to let them go in her honor and watch them quickly float into the sky. There were many yellow, pink and green ones but, there was only one red one. There is something special about red balloons and as we let the balloons go, the red one went high into the sky way ahead of the rest. It was special to see the red balloon leading the way for the others. I really wish I would've had my camera to capture that moment.

Another highlight of the service was all the music. Sally & Ben sang a beautiful collaboration of songs, we all sang a few good hymns and a quartet from my Grandma's old church also sang. My Grandma loved music and I know she would've loved all the music at her service. After the service was over, a CD played with some of her favorite jazz, some Charlie Brown music that she loved and some of her other favorites.

I feel like a memorial service can either be a really sad and hard time or it can be a celebration of someone's life. Yesterday was truly a celebration and I think it really honored my Grandma and reflected the kind of person she was.

How we survive

Lately, my sweet little boy wakes up from his nap grumpy. It's hard and confusing for me. He sleeps well and he's napping long enough. He usually sleeps 11 hours straight at night and then he naps around 2 hours in the afternoon. He still wakes up grumpy and just seems very discontent. So, when it's not pouring, we've been going and playing outside and he LOVES hanging out in the back yard.

Our dogs are named Fritz and Rosie and he shouts their names over and over. They like to hide their toys underneath a big tree and Judah loves to chase after them.

I have a feeling we are going to be spending alot of time hanging out in our yard this summer.

Judah loves it out here and it's a great place to thrive, not just survive.

1st time to the Dentist

This morning, I took Judah to the Dentist for the first time. I've understood that the child is supposed to have their first visit around their 1st Birthday and seeing that he's almost 17 months, it was time for us to go!

We went to a great Pediatric Dentist office and they were so nice. There was a TV in the waiting room with a fun movie playing and a great toy area. Judah wanted to walk around the waiting room and say "hi" to everyone. It started becoming pretty embarrassing when he started saying "Daddy" to every man he saw. I was like "yes, YOUR Daddy will be home after work". All the "daddy" talk was making it sound like he hadn't seen his Daddy in at least a week. How silly! He also was walking around saying "Potty" very loudly, again and again. Oh my, I laugh as I type that. He's been saying "potty" randomly lately. He has said it for a long time when we are actually in the bathroom but, now he is just saying it a different times. I'm starting to wonder if he's saying it when he just went in his diaper. I might just get a potty chair and start sitting him on it when he randomly says it. No pressure for him to potty train (he's so young) but, I want to see why he's saying "potty" sometimes.

Anyway, the appointment went well. He was happy and friendly except for when he was leaned back in my lap and they were putting the fluoride on his teeth. They gave him a red balloon afterwards and he was excited about that. As I was buckling him into his carseat, I mistakenly let the balloon go and it went up in a tree. Oh, I felt bad. Bad Mommy! If he was older, I think we would've been making a stop to get a new balloon on the way home but, he forgot about the balloon today in 2 minutes.

Well, it's naptime and I need to finish uploading pictures to Snapfish. They have a special going where if you buy $5 in photo gifts, you get 100 free prints. I haven't printed off pictures in a while so, this is perfect for me.

Black Beans & Cheerios

This is what we're eating at our house at 10am. At least it's healthy!

Judah's Drawer

I love the fun little boy that my baby is becoming. It's the everyday things like watching him climb in and out of his drawer while I make dinner, that are the special moments. See, Judah has a drawer in the kitchen that is "his". I keep fun things in there for him and also things like his bibs that I don't care too much about. The other night while I was getting dinner ready, it was so fun to see how much joy he can get just from climbing in his drawer.
Judah has been kind of under the weather for the last week or so. He just hasn't been feeling that great and he's been more whiny and throwing fits way more than normal. It's hard to see your child having a hard time. Now he is better though and it's so nice to have my happy boy back! I've been trying to be more intentional about spending good quality time with him and I think it makes a big difference.

21 reasons why I like the 2nd trimester

Well, I'm almost 21 weeks pregnant and as I was making lunch today, I started thinking about how the 2nd trimester is really the best one.

21 reasons why I like the 2nd trimester:

1. I'm not throwing up anymore.
2. I only wake up to pee once a night and I can go right back to sleep.
3. I sleep comfortably and I can still move from side to side without hurting!
4. I'm not so big that I feel like ticking time bomb.
5. I can feel the baby move.
6. I don't have any NEW stretch marks yet. Notice I said "new". I think I got more with Judah than some mother's who have twins get. Maybe I won't get any this time? A girl can only hope...
7. I still go see my midwife only every 4 weeks. I love her but, having less appointments is nice.
8. I can move around comfortably.
9. I'm still comfortable enough to sometimes forget I'm pregnant.
10. In the 2nd trimester, you find out the gender of your baby. That's fun.
11. I have way more energy than I did in the 1st trimester.
12. I still have time to clean out our 3rd bedroom and organize it.
13. Judah loves my tummy. He always lifts my shirt and hugs it. Cute at home, embarrassing in the grocery store.
14. We don't have a baby name yet and we have enough time that I'm not stressed about it.
15. My hands and feet aren't swollen.
16. I can still bend over and tie my shoes without loosing circulation and turning blue in the face.
17. I'm past the half way mark now.
18. I can still cross my legs when I sit.
19. I'm not peeing 100x a day yet.
20. I can start thinking about cute baby girl room ideas!
21. Every week that goes by is exciting because we are that much closer to meeting this sweet girl!