These Summer-Fit books are awesome! Our boys are more excited about summer 'homework' than they have been all year! (& stubborn Andrew finally did some learning activities for the first time, motivated by his bros excitement)... Loving the daily fitness & nutrition activities & the weekly value pledge. And the weekly plan & star rewards. Great workbooks!!

Summer, here we come!!

First Camping Trip

Andrew 5 wk (4 5/7) 9/8/09



This was our first tent-camping trip since having kids. We went close to home just in case the nighttimes weren't going well, but it was actually great! We all enjoyed ourselves so much!!!

Andrew in the wrap... our favorite place!

Brother hugs, and ring-around-the-rosies



Jake & Andrew in the tent



The boys LOVED the tent!

The pictures below were taken 9/4/09. We just threw some food together and picked up a few bundles of wood for a BBQ/Bonfire down at the beach one night. It was Kevin's idea- I love that guy!!

Andrew & Kevin, Jake & Alyssa

9/4/09 Andrew is 4 weeks old here. (4 1/7)

Photos from July

Here are just a few more random photos from our July... It's been a fun & busy month!

We've been doing a lot of this lately:



And below is a cell-phone-photo of the boys eating their gummies (Juice-Plus) on the couch. Believe it or not, I was able to completely eliminate the furniture "artwork" with some crazy carpet cleaner I bought!



And below are some photos from my baby celebrations. Again, since many in my family are blog-shy, I have a very limited number of photos I can post. I just don't post pics if anybody else is in them. (Unless they have their own public blog, and/or say they don't mind.) But it's frustrating, because we had some REALLY cute and fun photos!!!

So my sister (Annie) threw Kevin and I a co-ed BBQ Poolside Baby Celebration. It was sooo much fun, and absolutely perfect!



My other sister, Christine, threw me a Blessingway. It was so special and fun and meant so much to me. These (linked) are posts I had written previously as I was planning her Blessingway, and here's another that talks more about what it is.




Getting pampered and feeling refreshed... loving the company of my Mom and sisters!



The belly mask we made after the delicious meal. I mean, DE-LICIOUS, some of the best food I've ever eaten!

Below, taken at a little carnival put on by SDFFCU.



And the last picture is just cute to me... the boys wanted the baby to have something to play with-- they each got their Lightning McQueen cars and put them in there for the baby. So cute! Already practicing their big-brother skills!

More Contemplations on the Sweetness of it All

We are in the midst of potty training again! Thankfully (and to my great surprise), it's going way better than it did last time-- I am so proud of Jake!!!

And, since I linked to that old post above, I thought I would just provide a little house update as well. I am happy to say that it is off the market! We decided to stay here and add-on after the baby comes. If that doesn't work out, we will deal with it at the time. But we're happy with our decision for now. Our house is tiny (the boys already share a room!), but we love our yard, neighborhood, and town. We have room to add two bedrooms and still have some yard for the kids & BBQs, so that seemed a better option. We'll see what happens!

And, keeping with the theme I guess, here are some more photos of the boys playing with Kevin. He works so hard during the week, that I just absolutely love seeing him with the boys on the weekends. They are so cute together, and these boys adore their "Dada."

Kevin pulled out the T-ball gear and played some ball with the boys. Austin was so cute... every time he hit the ball (with Kevin's guidance), his face lit up and he got a huge smile... laughed a great big belly laugh, and went running after the ball. I want to imprint these moments and sounds in my memory FOREVER!!!!

And sweet Jake loves playing ball with Dada too... I can't believe how well he catches!!!

Sometimes he holds back his smiles in a way that reminds me so much of Kevin, the mysterious & seemingly shy Kevin that I met in High School. Jake will be smiling all over, but then pulls himself back inward a little, sticking his tongue behind his lower lip and quietly giggling. It makes me a little sad because I want him to smile and laugh freely! I've been telling him how much I love his smile and when he laughs. And I've also been more cognizant of how I sometimes don't smile or laugh as freely in the moments with my boys. Sometimes I'm so tired or preoccupied with other things (making meals, changing a diaper or disciplining (er, teaching), or whatever), that I give my "half-there" smile or laugh. Oh, it has felt sooo good to realize this, and live more fully in the moments!!! I can't get over the sweetness of it all!!!!

And a little bit of GUY-time in the yard... there was plenty of rolling laughter as they rough-housed around in the grass, rode on Daddy's shoulders, kicked the ball, and ran back and forth around the house.

I hope these boys always know just how loved they are by their Mommy & Daddy. We have been talking about it a lot lately... just how it is so beautiful, these boys. And how excited we are to meet and hold and love our newest addition. He is already so precious to us.

Sorry for the mushy-gushy posts lately! Well, kinda. Because when I make my blog into a blurb book, the kids might read it and feel a little bit happy. I know I will!

Oh, and before I go... here's a peek at what I've been up to last night and this afternoon. Birthday invitations! (Ignore the squiggly white lines, my attempts at hiding my personal information.) It's been so much fun to pull out paper, scissors and adhesive again.

This project inspired me to organize my photos (again). I got some really cool monthly dividers at Office Depot today on clearance... Office supplies truly make my heart sing... Markers, white out, and, OH! Those little colored sticky tabs and sticky notes? Pure joy!

For me, NESTING ALWAYS BEGINS WITH PHOTOS!!! I start out organizing photos, making lists of outstanding scrapbooking layouts, and then embark on some major catching up. Because you have to catch up before you have another human being to document the life of!!! The nesting quickly moves to the address book (both computerized and handwritten), then to lists of emergency contacts, allergies, etc. And then to the home... where it settles indefinitely until baby comes. This is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy.

Enough randomness for the evening. I'll try to write a post that's not about ME some time again in the future. haha

Okay, so maybe that was majorly TMI!!!!

AKA: TOOO MUCH INFO!!!!!!!



Sorry...



I don't know what got into me!



In the interest of getting that post farther down the screen, here are a few cell-phone pics of the boys from yesterday's beach/park trip.


Sometimes I struggle with the difficult decision of whether to take the boys to the park or the beach. I know, hard times. :) I don't know why I forgot about this beach-- it's one of the closest ones-- and it has a little slide & swings on the sand. Woo hoo!

Yesterday I brought my Almond Joy Maui Mocha and my devotional. Sometimes the boys will play in the sand at my feet while I read, and then I join them afterwards. It's never expected, but always a little bonus. But yesterday I spent most of the time helping my son to play with other kids without stealing eachothers' toys.


I never bring toys to parks because it just makes it harder. Granted, this was different because it was the beach, so shovels, buckets & dump trucks were definitely in-order.

But at the park, it would make life so much easier if kids could just go and play together on the park equipment! I'm so tired of going to the park & having my son stare enviously at other kids' trucks. (And regulating him so he doesn't steal them!)

Even when kids say it's okay to share toys, it's never easy because, undoubtedly, the time comes when that kid sees someone else with his/her toy and realizes it's just not cool anymore. Then you have to talk your kid through taking turns, sharing, yada yada. I know, it's called parenting. But every time I've let him bring his own toy, (even something as benign as an empty Starbucks cup), some other kids runs up and takes it from his hands. Yes, these are learning experiences for them. Sharing and all that.

But just for a minute I'm going to make it about me. I go to the park to relax! I go to the park so my kids will run around and get out some of that energy! The park is sometimes our refuge when it's getting too crazy at home. Seriously, I get enough toy spats at home-- I'm tired of toys, who needs them!?!

Okay, there's my mommy-vent.

I know that the million-and-one mommies who bring toys have their reasons. I'm afraid that I'm the minority here for sure!

On to the pics:





Have a great day.

P.S. It's officially FALL! I'm thinking Halloween costumes and candles & pumpkin spice... but of course here in So.Cal it's hotter than it's been in a long time! Looking forward to the cooler evenings & light fall breeze-- can't wait!

What really happened last summer...

(This post, along with the last one, have been on my screen over 24 hours... they become long and jumbled when I do that, coming back whenever I get a few moments and adding more and more... so I've tried to make sense of it all and I separated them into two posts to make me feel a little better about the length & the rambling!)

Today marks my 6th year of marriage to my wonderful husband. I love him!!!

Of course, he is dove hunting right now. We go every year because our anniversary happens to fall on the opening day. He hunts (in the morning, done by the time I wake up), and then we all hang out by the river the rest of the time. It's usually such a fun trip, especially when we all used to stay in the hotel and bring boats. And before kids, when I could just sit in the river ALL DAY, for hours on end, fishing, sleeping, reading, swimming. After last year, though, I've decided to stay home this time.

Here is the untold part of last years trip. Since this incident isn't so fresh, I finally feel ready to reveal the rest of the story. I can actually laugh about it now. Please feel free to laugh with me. Though I will try to explain my rationale, I do know that I was a crazy lady.

So it was the hottest part of the summer. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with Austin, Jake was 14-months-old, and it was 112-117 degrees in Arizona. We were camping, staying in other people's RVs, & Jake wouldn't sleep. My blog post last year conveniently left out any negative aspects of the trip, but I was honestly miserable.

Imagine being (a very large) 7 1/2 months preggo in that weather. Now factor in the 14-month-old who was fussy in the night in someone elses RV on someone elses vacation, which made me feel incredibly intrusive & horrible, even though everyone was being so gracious & helpful. And the wonderful husband who was helpful sometimes, but mostly just relaxing. (P.S. I wasn't on my own! My mother-in-law is an angel & was extremely helpful, as always!)

The other part of the story, which was a big deal to me and probably the biggest deciding factor, was that the baby was always sweaty and very flushed, and of course over-tired, which worried the heck out of me, being a nurse and knowing that the young (and the old) are prone to dehydration & heat stroke. When we got home I read about a number of deaths that occurred that weekend because of the heat! Afterwards, I kept trying to justify our early departure by pointing out that there were absolutely no other people with babies in the campground. (For good reason, I believe.)

Kevin's parent's RV A/C wasn't working great so Jake was really hot & sweaty in there. And although his brothers A/C was good, I felt way too intrusive when staying there because he didn't sign up for a crying 14-month-old in his RV & all over his relaxation. He likes his naps & his sleep, and he should be able enjoy them.)

I must state, for the record, that Kevin and I had many conversations about this trip before even departing. I almost didn't go, but was feeling so much pressure that I finally decided to go. We drove separately (from the rest of the family) specifically so that we could leave if we had to. From the first day, I was sharing my concerns with Kevin & he told me he would support me no matter what I decided (to leave or stay). After two nights I was fighting back tears almost the entire time but couldn't get Kevin alone for more than a second to discuss.

The breaking point:

I think it was on day 3 (after 2nd night), I decided to take Jake to town in the air-conditioned car to get a Root Beer Float and think about it. This was my last-ditch effort at rolling with the punches. Making lemonade out of lemons. Whatever! And before I left, Kevin gave me one last plea that he wanted to stay but the reassurance that he would support me whatever I wanted to do. (He would not "allow" me to drive alone with Jake across the desert (as I requested) so I had to decide whether I wanted to 'ruin' his vacation and make him cut it short, or stay.)

Y'all know which one I chose, of course.

And why I candy-coated this vacation in my previous post, I have no idea. I think it's because I wasn't 100% comfortable exposing myself to this degree to Kevin's side of the family. My thoughts have changed in this department so drastically. My walk through Austin's colic among other things in his first months of life have brought me to a point where I had to be me, I had to expose myself and accept help, and in the process, realize that these people are one of the greatest gifts in my life. They have significantly helped me through one of the roughest years of my life and through it we have become a million times closer and more transparent with each other than we ever were. (At least I think so.)

At this time a year ago, though, I was still at the point where I was always trying to be the good daughter-in-law. I was so self-conscious and always wanting to fit-in and afraid that they wouldn't like me. Which is crazy because Kevin and I have been together since 1996!!! But anyways, the LAST thing on the face of this EARTH that I wanted to do was be the outcast jerk who ruined the trip!!!

But I did!!! And I was!!!

So back to the story. I called my mom from town & the moment she said 'hello' I started bawling so hard that I couldn't even talk. I don't think I've been that hysterical since grade school! I made my resolve to leave, and went to camp to break the news. And couldn't find my husband anywhere. Looked in all family member's RVs. Finally saw that he was at the rivers edge & didn't have the guts to go down there- plus didn't want to unload baby from the car to go tell him.

SO I actually became the crazy lady wife who packed.up.the.car (all of our stuff, Kevin's hunting gear, all the baby stuff, everything-- alone in the heat, being very preggo, through a zillion braxton-hicks contractions), and waved to Kevin from the road, baby in car seat and car running, saying, "we're leaving."

Oh, this went over so well.

Kevin wasn't happy, and he wasn't supportive at.all. He is a wonderful man. But he wasn't wonderful on that day. Nor was I, clearly.

People wanted to know what was going on, and he simply said, "Megan isn't feeling good. We're leaving."

Oh, I totally forgot to say that I was having lots of contractions! (But that was nothing new with either of my pregnancies! I had my Terbutaline in my purse, never had to take one, and they never progressed into true, active labor. I think I placed most of the blame on this, though, so I wouldn't have to explain everything to everyone and risk crying or looking crazy. Ha! But thankfully I didn't have to talk to anybody because they were all at the rivers edge.)

The absolute worst part was that I felt like Kevin's family would hate me. And given my deepest desire to impress them, you can imagine how difficult this was for me to throw myself in front of the train this way. (That's not the right figure of speech, is it?)

Of course, I imagined all the horrible things they must be saying about me in my absence. But nobody ever acted negatively towards me in the least bit! (Oh, except my husband, who barely said a word to me the whole way home. Ugh, it was ugly! We've never experienced anything like that as a couple, thankfully!) His mom even supported me when we talked on the phone & I finally explained my reasons, which I was incredibly thankful for and it lifted a huge burden off my chest. Oh, I'm so thankful that I finally realize that they love me for who I am, and through it all!!!! What undue stress I had put myself through for all those years!

Anyways, that's my story of a hormonal pregnant mommy becoming the crazy lady and ruining a little vacation. But I'm sure I would do the same thing again. I'm telling you, I was seriously LOSING IT. You would never know by the post I wrote last year, would you?!?

This is why I'm spending my anniversary today at home alone with my two babies. And we had a great day. And Kevin is having such a wonderful time in Arizona, and I'm truly happy for him! (I'd probably be a little bitter if we didn't celebrate early on our cruise... haha)

Of course he tells me the weather is NICE, 90's and a bit overcast. Oh well, I'm sure even though it's not hot and I'm not pregnant, I would still probably be sleep deprived & feeling guilty having TWO crying babies. Maybe next year. I vowed that I would never go again unless we had our own RV or stayed in the hotel. But now that I'm not putting so much pressure on myself to be "perfect", maybe I would actually feel comfortable asking for more help and saying that I'm struggling!

My 2nd family is so wonderful!!!!! I couldn't imagine not having them in my life.

Happy Anniversary to my truly wonderful husband, and to my incredible parents-in-law (& love)!

I love you!

And the Blog has Become a Photo Album / Baby Book...

Austin's first Baseball Game, 8 1/2 months. (Jake's was ~ 5 1/2 weeks!) Both boys were so good and Jake really loved it. He liked to say "Boom!" with Grandma when the batters hit the ball. He also loved seeing the fireworks and seeing the freeway & choo choo train from our seats.

Below are some pics of family playtime in the backyard.





JAKE SAYS/DOES:
I taught Jake his middle & last names today. He says it soooo cute!!! He says "NEM" (name) "JAYt PARTa" (Jake Parker), and I won't put our last name here, but he says it correctly except with a "W" in front instead of an "R". A few days ago he was calling himself "BeBe Jack" (Baby Jake) when looking at his baby pictures with me. He got some puzzles for his birthday and mastered them almost immediately. He likes driving his cars up & down his (& our) limbs, crashing them, & stashing them in his little backpack. Every letter is still "B", though he might have learned "O". And, although every color used to be "blue", now he alternates between black, white, and blue. He labels every car & truck with a color as he points them out, but he's only correct about 1/3 of the time! (He loves "Tra Tdruks" & "Two Tdruks", aka: trash trucks & tow trucks) His favorite number is 2, of course because he is now two years old. (When asked how old he is, he holds up 4 or 5 fingers & exclaims TOOO!) He likes to count his fingers (while pointing to each one): "Two" "Two" "Two" "Two" "FIVE!"

AUSTIN SAYS/DOES:
He babbles lots... making dada and mama noises as well as the typical gaga. Austin crawled for the first time today! He's been scooting (military crawl) for a while now. He also pulled himself up on my leg & on a toy, but it wasn't very stable & he doesn't realize that he has to hold on. I don't think it counts! He LOVES standing up and walking (with help), he loves eating and grabbing everything within reach. And he's loving Peek-A-Boo and splashing in water lately. Austin does not like to be alone, he'll scoot around following us wherever we go in the house. He also wants to do everything Jake does. He'll bite or grab anything in reach & he won't let go!

There are my updates. I've been so bad at the baby books, I think I have Austin's last 3 months to do and Jake's 2-year section to complete. Had to put them here so next year when I actually get around to it, I'll have a record!

Have a great weekend, friends ~ xo