Sarah and Johannes Visit (June 28-30)

Mark's little sister, Sarah and her husband came up for an impromptu visit this past weekend.

Sarah and Johannes

We didn't even know they were coming until a day or two beforehand, and didn't know they were in town all day on Friday until after work. They came over for a few hours on Friday afternoon before heading down with Mark to his softball game in Worthington (Johannes even got a chance to play as the team was short on players).

We didn't see them at all on Saturday as they were busy with other plans, and we were busy just relaxing as a family :) We initially were supposed to take supper down to our friends the Larsen's, but I guess they ended up being out of town, so we enjoyed the meal we had made instead, and watched a movie together.

Sunday we had Sarah, Johannes and Mark's Mom over for a yummy grilled picnic meal, then taught Johannes how to play "500" to get him ready for the impending family gatherings in 2013 on Mark's Mom's side of the family. (They're all big card players, so if you don't know how to play, you can get pretty bored).

I failed pretty miserably at getting any photos from the first couple days, but did manage to remember to grab the camera on Sunday.

Diane and Sarah

Aunt Sarah and Cashel

The card players (sans me)

We visited with them well into the evening, watching The Bourne Supremacy on TNT for a while (we LOVE that trilogy!)

It was nice to catch up a bit with them!

Strawberry Pickin' at Schumaker's (June 29)

It was a LATE season this year at Schumaker's. In fact, while we were ready to go over Memorial Day weekend, they didn't even open until this past week (about a MONTH late!). But we were ready with our buckets as soon as we could get there! We managed to pick 14lbs of berries, and they were SO good and big and ripe last year! It started raining as we were finishing up, so we timed it perfectly!

Afternoon #2 To Myself (June 26)

I was a little more excited about this particular day (although the previous day was pretty great, truthfully), because I not only felt a lot more energetic, but I had no plans beyond a 1:15pm haircut that I had been looking forward to for a few weeks now.

I was off at 11am and promptly began working on my digital scrapbooking. I started with finishing uploading some finished 2013 pages to winkflash and placed a flat-rate book order for my first 2013 book, which I am GIDDY to get this next week!

Here are a few samples of what the book will contain:

I digi-scrapped right up until my hair appointment at 1:15, in which my hair went from point A to point B in about 30 minutes:

It doesn't look like much of a change to the average onlooker, but I think she cut off about 2lbs of hair (at least it feels like it) because during this pregnancy, I haven't lost more than probably about 20 strands of hair, so it was VERY thick. It feels so great now!

After my haircut, I had a few things to pick up at Hallmark before I headed home to finally eat some lunch (taco salad - yum!) and try to bang out a few more pages of scrapbooking before I picked up Cashel from daycare.

All in all, over my 2 afternoons of digi-scrapping, I finished about 38 pages, got one book ordered, another one started for the new baby (that will have to be customized once he or she arrives), one started for our 2006 wedding, one started for our huge Ropte/Cole Thanksgiving extravaganza from this past year, and I only have Christmas left to cover for my 2012 books. It's pretty exhausting even just thinking about it, honestly, but although I have a long ways to go to be where I want to be before this baby arrives, I feel like it's within reach for these next 2 months.

The best part about yesterday, however, was that I finally had a really great day with lots of energy to keep up with Cashel after work. We had an absolute BLAST playing in his new inflatable pool center - I joined him in there while I finished blowing up the slide and other stuff in there, and it felt so great after a long day of sitting on my tushy digi-scrapping. He especially loved the slide :)

Sometimes I forget to just take time to make sure I stay sane in life. If you have the opportunity (even you stay-at-home moms, who probably need it way worse than I do), I'd very very highly recommend finding a sitter or leaving the kids with your spouse or family for a few hours to just get away by yourself.

It's hard to be the best Mama you can be (or really, person in general) when you don't take time to rejuvenate your mind, body and soul. Take a walk, sit at a coffee/cheese/wine shop by yourself for an hour, do a little shopping for someone besides your kids and hubby, and just unwind. I can't believe the difference it makes in my disposition, and it's noticeable by those around me when I haven't been taking the time every few weeks or months to remind myself who I am deep down inside when I'm not a wife/mother/co-worker/etc. You know...when there are no expectations as to what I "should" be doing: When I get to do what I love doing and what makes me happy and smile and just feel good.

While Daddy is Away (June 18-26)

While Mark was in Seattle, Cashel and I had some good bonding time. While it was challenging from time to time, what with being into my 3rd trimester and beginning to slow down, we still had fun and lots of cuddles. We made it to family swim night (photos below) on Wednesday night, and Cashel had an absolute BLAST!

I'll say that sometimes I enjoy a night to myself while Mark is busy in the field or out of town. But it definitely takes on a whole new spin being almost 3/4 of the way through a pregnancy and having a very busy 17 month old toddler to chase around (even if he is adorable) :)

It's tough to chase after a pretty quick little dude (to change his diaper...or his clothes...or put on his shoes...or get something out of his hands that he shouldn't have), much less do that on top of everything else in a day with this little "basketball" we like to call LJ2 (Little Johnson 2, since BJ2 just didn't sound right) hampering my bending over skills. I looked like this a lot of mornings:

While Cashel was super busy doing this:

I spent a good amount of time in prayer just asking for strength to make it through each day, and although some days were definitely more challenging than others, I can say that we made it through the week with good vibes. We spent a lot of time doing this, too:

And Cashel really did sleep like a champ most nights. (Hallelujah!) In fact, I think 3/4 of the nights, he slept through the night! It was my self-diagnosed OCD about having the house picked up and put together before bed that got the best of me, so I didn't exactly had a lot of time to do my own thing without specifically setting aside time for it. (Like I did here {in Worthington}, and here and here)

I DID get a bubble bath some of those nights (which I immediately realized was a bad idea once I get in the tub and was trying to figure out how to get back out without either pulling muscles or slipping - haha)...

...but otherwise, just getting things put back where they go, the dishes done, and laundry washed/folded/put away, I didn't have much time to do the things I used to enjoy doing with a free evening to myself:

• Digital Scrapbooking
• Baking
• Watching TV
• Gardening
• Deep cleaning
• Crafting
• Trying a really awesome new recipe
• Taking a nice, long walk
• Shopping

It seemed like I had every-other-day syndrome: I'd have a great day one day, then the next would be super long and exhausting. We took a few walks in the stroller and even made it to the pool one evening for family swim night, but we didn't do a ton of outdoor stuff, since the weather was so hot, and then stormy, and then hot and muggy, and then stormy, and...well...you get the picture.

Thankfully he was cuddly and enjoyable when we watched his Baby Einstein videos, but short of watching those all evening (we usually limit him to 30 minutes to an hour in the evenings), it was difficult to keep him entertained. Thank goodness for the kids at daycare to play with him during the days, and the new pool activity center for the last 2 evenings so that he slept hard all night.

All in all, we're just so glad that Mark is home with us again :) It sounds like he had a nice time away, but I know he's glad to be home as well. It certainly makes us appreciate each other, and it feels so good to be a complete family again! We all missed each other - that much is very evident from our little family reunion at 5am this morning :)

Now on to getting this home of ours ready for Baby #2!

Mark's Trip to Washington (June 18-26)

I posted recently about Mark being gone for a week, so I felt it only fair to share what HE was experiencing at the same time. So, while I wasn't there to really experience all there was to experience this time around, I thought I'd do a (mostly pictoral) rundown of what all he and his Dad did while they were away :) I'd have Mark do the post, but quite frankly, he doesn't even read my blog, and is only vaguely aware that it even exists, so I doubt he'd be game lol

Mark joined his Dad on a trip to Washington state to visit Daniel, Iryna and Sofie before they made their big move down to California for Daniel's next naval assignment in LeMoore.

They left the evening of June 18 and spent a week, which included lots of great days busy taking in all the sights and events in the area as well as a few lazy days trying to help Daniel and Iryna get things in order for their big move.


Wednesday

They spent their first day exploring Seattle after a later "morning" and lunch, and then picking up the rental car and dropping Daniel and Iryna's car off to be shipped in Tacoma. They explored the Museum of Glass, which was a big hit from what I heard (although apparently it warranted zero pictures...come on, guys!), and then checked out Pike Place Public Market, which we had visited last year on our trip out there. They also checked out Seattle Center and the Space Needle, then drove up Queen Anne's Hill to watch the sunset at Kerry Park. They got to Oak Harbor fairly late and crashed.

Thursday

The next day they bummed around much of the morning before heading to Mount Erie to take in the view, and then they went to the sprint car races at Skagit Speedway in Skagit Valley.

Mt. Erie

Skagit Speedway

Friday

On Friday, they made the long trek to Mount Baker, which was about 2 hours northeast of Oak Harbor. It took the whole day to drive up, explore, and then get back home. Mark said it was certainly worth it!

It's at this point where I get a little jealous. Just a little. A smidge. Absolutely breathtaking!

Some of these pictures just make me smile :) It's crazy to think that we almost lost Kent this year, and here he is living it up and exploring the mountains with his boys :) What a great experience in light of a year that was filled with so much frustration, exhaustion and pain.

Saturday was another lazy day for them, which was much needed after their busy days so far. They did take in Deception pass, which is about half an hour from Oak Harbor, and a pretty incredible view (I remember this from when we went out last April to visit).

Sunday

On Sunday, they attended church, then grilled out at the park for the afternoon. Apparently it didn't warrant any pictures, so you'll just have to imagine.

Monday

On Monday, they made their way on the ferry over to Port Townsend to explore the Olympic Peninsula. They took in the Dungeness Spit, Lake Crescent and Marymere Falls.

My handsome hubby :) Gosh, I missed him while he was gone!

Lake Crescent

Marymere Falls

Tuesday

Tuesday was another low-key day helping Daniel and Iryna get things together and ready for their move.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a big travel day as they were headed home. Their flight wasn't until 3pm, but with the 2 hour drive to Seattle, finding lunch, returning the rental car, getting a cab to the airport and getting their boarding passes and through security, they had to leave Oak Harbor around 10am.

All-in-all, it sounds like they had a great time! It's unfortunate that the trip fell so close to the time Daniel and Iryna were getting ready to move, but still was certainly a wonderful trip to look back on fondly for these guys!

I'm so glad Mark was able to spend this quality time with his Dad, brother and his family before life gets even just a little bit more crazy than it already is for us. We are very much looking forward to our new little one arriving in late August, but are also certainly aware that a trip like this likely won't be happening again for quite some time.