Preschool, Snow, Thanksgiving

New preschool class
Shaun started the preschool level class at the hospital group in November. There was a waiting list and some of his friends were getting in so they decided to sign up too, and got in right away because they opened up a new class. It is similar to the other class in that it is once a week for one hour, except that it is more structured and they have more defined lessons, stories, with less play time. For example, they learned all about November and talked about the weather on the first day. Shaun loves to go to “school” and looks forward to it each week. I am sure he really is going to love it next fall when he starts real preschool, 2 days a week for 2 hours each day.

Snow
We got our first taste of winter weather the week of Thanksgiving. It was very cold, in the teens with some snow. The cold and ice was worse than the actual snow. We were even thinking that it was going to ruin our Thanksgiving get together, but luckily it was warming up on Thanksgiving day, so the roads ended up being fine. Shaun got to go out and play one afternoon. We pulled him on the sled and he got to throw around some snow. The snow didn’t make good snowballs or snowmen because it was so cold, so we didn’t get to do that, but Shaun still had fun. He did not want to go back inside after we had been out for about half an hour. All of our cheeks and noses were telling us it was time to go in though.

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving day after deciding it was all clear to drive, we went over to my Aunt & Uncle’s place near Kingston. We road the ferry over, which Shaun loved. I kept trying to get him to look at the camera to take a picture, but he literally said to me, “I’m busy looking out the window!” We had a good time minus my sister, Renae. She was stuck at home in Issaquah. Her car was still at work from the Monday before. Since there is a big hill up to her house, she did not want to drive it, but a coworker had an SUV and took her part way home. She finally got her car back on Friday. So, we got together with my parents and Renae and had Thanksgiving dinner again on Saturday!

Shaun & Antonio on the go at Thanksgiving:

Pregnancy update-7.5 months!
I am now 7 months pregnant or 34 weeks; 6 weeks to go (or maybe less)!!!! I had another doctor appointment on last Monday; I am in the 2 week cycle now. I go back in again right before Christmas and then I am in the 1 week cycle for the last month. Things are still going well; a few new aches and pains, but nothing that I can’t handle or is harmful to either of us. Doc said the new aches and pains are due do the baby being lower because it is my second pregnancy, so my muscles are not as tight. I get physically tired pretty quickly. I try and lay on the couch each evening after work, to rest and take the pressure off and have gravity go a different direction.

We have completed the baby’s room! We finished clearing out the room, Bill painted, we put up a wall paper border, put the crib back together and purchased a new dresser. I should have taken a before picture of the room, but just imagine a stark white, messy room. Here is the finished product!

My next task is to get out the smallest baby clothes, wash them, and organize them in the dresser. Bill’s next task is to bring up the basinets and little baby stuff like bouncers, car seats, etc and get them all cleaned up and ready. Our next task together is to decide on a name; that is now the priority on the ‘to do’ list!!!!


Merry Christmas season!

Wiggles, Pumpkins, Halloween...

Wiggles!
We went to a Wiggles concert at the beginning of October. If you don’t have small children, you may be asking, “What are the Wiggles?” They are a singing/dancing group out of Australia that have a TV show, songs, DVDs, etc for toddlers/preschoolers. Shaun had a good time. He wasn’t outwardly singing/dancing like some kids, but he was still having a fun time. We even ended up having seats next to one of his friends. He kept asking for Wags The Dog to come out.



Pumpkin Patch
Shaun and Daddy’s Monday class went to the pumpkin patch again this year. I joined them. Shaun had a lot of fun seeing the animals, playing, riding the tractor and picking out a pumpkin.


Playgroup Halloween
We had our annual playgroup Halloween party so the kiddos could where their costumes. Here are the 4 that made it. Aren’t they cute?!

Pumpkin Carving
We carved our first family pumpkin this year. Shaun was too small to really know what was going on the previous 2 years, so we never ended up carving a pumpkin. This year, though he was so into pumpkins, candy and “trick or treat”. He carried around his plastic pumpkin basket for weeks leading up to Halloween.




Halloween
On Halloween we went to the church carnival. We had a chili dog dinner and then Shaun was off to “go play”. We had to wait for a bit before we ate since we got there slightly early, and Shaun was such a good boy watching some of the others that had already started to play. He waited patiently in his chair, but then was ready “to go play” as soon as we were done. There were a lot of the throwing kind of games and even a bouncy castle that he loved and of course candy. Shaun hadn’t experienced a bouncy house yet, but once he figured out to jump (there weren’t any other kids in there at the time), he was all happy and having tons of fun.









Then we went by Grandma & Grandpa’s to trick or treat and show off Shaun’s costume.

Baby Hunter #2 update!
I am 6 months along now; less than 3 months to go and now am in the 3rd trimester (28+ weeks). Everything is going well. I really couldn’t ask for better pregnancies. My last monthly appointment was routine plus a glucose test for gestational diabetes, which I passed since I didn’t get a phone call to say otherwise. I have 1 more monthly appointment in a few weeks, and then they go to every 2 weeks and then every week! I am getting into the uncomfortable stage. No position is comfortable to sit in or sleep in. However, I am still sleeping pretty well, so I can’t complain there. I got my first leg cramp last weekend. I was dreading when those were going to start. I had them with Shaun during the 3rd trimester. It is a really hard Charlie horse in my calf muscle. It takes a few minutes to go away and the muscles in that leg is sore for the next few days because it was synched so tight. It usually happens when I am lying down in bed, so I have to be careful with my leg movements to try and avoid the cramps.

We have begun to clean and clear out baby’s room. The 3rd room has been our guest/storage room. One little room can store a bunch of stuff, especially when it is all out of site and not in the way of anything. I emptied the old dresser (which will be tossed), cleared out some of Shaun’s old clothes which were sitting in piles on the floor (the rest are stored in the basement closet by size), tossed my old childhood mattresses and picked up paint swatches. I just have to clear out the closet now, which includes board games, sleeping bags and who knows what else. Then “we” are ready to paint (after I pick out the color) and bring in the baby furniture (crib and a new dresser that we have to pick out still). Then I can wash up all the smallest clothes and start organizing them in the new dresser. Hopefully we can get all of this done by January!!?!?!?! Oh, and we still have to pick out a name! It is really hard this time. For some reason, Shaun was easy for us and we had it basically picked out at the time we found out that he was a boy. We are nowhere close as of now on picking out a name. Keeping it a secret this time will be easy since we don’t know yet!

We are also in the middle of a 2 evening “refresher” birthing class. I felt that I needed a refresher so I can try and be up on all the techniques for labor. I found that last time, it was hard for me to actually think about what we had learned when in pain, so the fresher it is in my mind and Bill’s, maybe the easier it will be to bring the techniques to mind. Also, since I was induced after my water broke with Shaun, I didn’t experience any of the labor at home, the timing of contractions or figuring out when to go in to the hospital, so it would be good to learn that again.

During the last month or so, we have found out that 3 friends at church are also expecting babies in 2011, in about March, May & June or so. Baby Hunter #2 will have a lot of future playmates. I guess we all listened when they requested to fill up the empty nursery! It will be interesting to find out what the mix of boys and girls will be! So far, out of the 4 that are coming: 1 boy and 1 girl.

I have a feeling that these next few months are going to go by very quickly since we are now in November, which means the holidays are soon upon us!! I can’t believe it!!!!!!! (panic, panic)

Here I am at 6 months pregnant!

Potty Trained!!

Shaun is potty trained; well when he is awake anyway!! I am so happy at the success we have had in training him. We took the advice of a few friends and did the “naked” method. This is where he is naked from the waste down when at home. We started on a Sunday afternoon at the beginning of September. We laid out a bunch of towels in the living room, had a potty seat close by and started. Shaun had one accident that day, one small accident the next day, but then pretty much no accidents when at home and naked!! He goes over to the potty chair when he needs to go. The strategy also says to put loose fitting pants on with nothing underneath when venturing out. It says to do a small outing the 2nd day and a longer outing the 3rd. He did pretty well on outings, with a few accidents sometimes during the first couple of weeks.

The strategy calls for being naked at home for 3 months! This seemed a bit long given how well Shaun was doing. So, 2 weeks into it we tried putting underwear on when at home. Unfortunately, he had some accidents when in underwear so we had to take them off. During the next week he seemed to be doing better; we had put him in a pull up sometimes when going out if we didn’t want to have to deal with an accident. Since the pull up was staying dry, a week after trying underwear we tried it again and haven’t looked back!!! No accidents in underwear and pants. He has begun to tell us when he as to go if a potty is not readily accessible. He was even able to hold it on the drive to Auntie’s house last weekend (about a 45 minute drive). With about 10 minutes left before we got to Auntie’s, Shaun said he had to go potty. We told him we were almost there and then he could go potty. He was dry when we got there and then went a lot!!!!

He still wears a diaper when he is sleeping, but that will be stage 2 of potty training down the road sometime when he can control it in his sleep. I am happy with stage 1 only taking about 3 weeks (knock on wood)!! He still has an occasional accident, but they are few and far between.

We all 3 got our flu shots this week and the nurse was surprised to see Shaun already in “big boy underwear” when I pulled his pants down for the shot. That made us feel pretty good!

On the pregnancy note; all is going well!! I am feeling well and getting bigger! My appointment this month was boring and uneventful, which is good! Next month I get to do the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I am currently 23 weeks (about 5 months), so less than 4 months to go!

This week also is our birthday week; mine today and Bill’s tomorrow!! Happy Birthday to us!!!

August

On the last day of August, the weatherman referred to the month as “Augtober” meaning that it wasn’t very good weather (at least on that day). The last day poured all day and felt like fall. However, we did have some good and hot weather in August. One really hot day (90+), was on the 14th. We had back to back birthday parties to go to! First was cousin Antonio’s first birthday party in their backyard.


We left that party and went to Forest Park where friend, Spencer was having his 3rd birthday party. It was a good day for parties! And, it was our first time going to other little kid parties. I can see a ton more of those in the future, hopefully not too often back to back on the same day!

Shaun also had his first dental cleaning appointment. He did so well; I was so proud of him! He had his very first visit a year ago, but there was no cleaning involved then at 18 months; just a look and a fluoride treatment. We also found out on Friday that he won the monthly drawing for the no cavity club. He got a $25 gift card to Target that also came with some neat insect tattoos in a magnifying glass.

Shaun picked out a "Dinosaur Train" set with his winnings. He loves the show!

The next exciting thing we did in August was move Renae into her house! My sister is a homeowner now! Shaun and I did mostly supervising; however Shaun did move in her bathroom scale and garbage can. He loves being a “big helper”. Renae, Mom, Corinne, and the guys (Bill, Dad & Doug), did all of the moving. With 3 big vehicles (minivan, truck and SUV) it only took 2 trips each, plus a 3rd in the minivan. They did all but the last minivan load before lunch. Renae had done a bunch of the small stuff already, so that helped a lot. Then we helped Renae hook into her internet connection via her laptop and Wii on wireless. We were having trouble at first. It took all 3 of our brains, but we finally figured it out and now she can use her wireless on her laptop and Wii (for Netflix instant viewing on the TV). It is such a cute house!


As far as baby Hunter #2 goes; he is doing really well! I have really begun to feel him move. Bill even felt him move last Saturday. The report from the last doc visit was really good; it couldn’t get any better. I am half way to the estimated due date! I will post the next baby/pregnancy update and picture at 5 months on September 23.

Baby Hunter #2 is…….

A BOY!!!!!!!

We had the “big” ultrasound today. We got a bunch of pictures and they said everything looks good including his boy parts! Here are a few of the pictures. He was moving a lot so it was hard to get good pictures. This one seems to be very active because at the last doc appointment he was moving a bunch when the doc was listening for the heartbeat. The heartbeat today was still nice and strong at 153 beats.

I go in for my next monthly visit on Wednesday. I’ll post if there is anything to say, but hopefully not because it is just routine. 2 Weeks ago I also went in for a blood test to check for Downs Syndrome and Spina Bifada, among other things. I didn’t get a call so that means all is good and it will be discussed at the next appointment.

Today I am also 4 months along or 18 weeks; 5 months to go! Here is my monthly picture at 4 months!!

Soccer & Thomas!

Shaun started Daddy & Me soccer in July. It is 8 times, once a week, for 1/2 an hour for 2-3.5 year olds. He loves it! They run around dribbling the ball and have little activities to do. I went and watched and took pictures on the first day. That day they had colored flags to run to after pointing to the same color on their paper, put on a colored jersey and ran to the flag of the same color, put different body parts on the ball, and learned how to stand with their foot on the ball to listen to coach, among other things. At the end of each week they all line up and take turns kicking in a goal. Shaun did well! On the first day a lot of the kiddos carried it in, but Shaun kicked it! Each week has a different theme with different activity games. Shaun gets a lot of running and can't wait to go back.





We also went to see Thomas the Train! Shaun loves trains, or “choo choos” and especially Thomas and his friends. Thomas comes once a year over 2 weekends to Snoqualmie, WA. For the price of a ticket each you get a 25 minute train ride and access to all the fun activities they have there, like bouncy house, trains, tattoos, stories, music, food and of course souvenirs. We spent a total of about 2 hours there. Shaun had a blast. We got pictures with Thomas too. We were able to get right up next to Thomas when he was at the station between trips. We barely got our picture taken before he left again. Shaun was not happy to see him go. Luckily that made a good transition to leave since we were done. We invited Aunt Renae to come with us since Daddy had to work.




We also spent a few weekends at the lake. Shaun loves to play on the beach and throw rocks into the water. He even went in swimming and jumping (into Auntie’s arms). Antonio, Jess & Albert even came up one weekend. The boys had “fun” together! Shaun has also really been loving his swim lessons this year. Just last session he was even going under the water a little bit to be a “submarine” with daddy. We are going to continue swim lessons through September. Then, after Shaun’s birthday we will start up again at the preschool level (we won’t have to get in with him). He is growing up!


Bill also just finished up his 2 week duty. He was lucky and just had to go to the base in Everett, so got to come home after work every evening. Aunt Renae watched Shaun for the 3rd year in a row. We are so grateful for her willingness to watch Shaun and take 2 weeks out of her summer to do so! Auntie even took Shaun to 2 of his soccer "games". This year they had the new playhouse/swing set in the backyard so didn't have to go out to parks.





On the pregnancy note: the last doc visit on 7/28 went well. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Shaun and Bill came this time too, since they hadn’t come yet to hear/see baby and also the doc had said that he would like to see Shaun sometime. We also got the “big” ultrasound scheduled for August 23, so I’ll post the next pregnancy update late on that day!! I am currently 15 weeks. I am feeling better. Last week was totally fine. This week I had 1 rough morning, so the bad mornings are getting fewer and farther between!

Exciting News!!!!!!

We have some exciting news to share with the world! Shaun is going to be a BIG BROTHER because I’m PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God’s plan included granting our request to be parents again; this time with no fertility help!! We were both shocked and amazed when we found out. I didn’t fully believe it until I had proof from the doctor even though I was feeling sick.
Here’s the timeline:

Remember back at the beginning of May when we went to the “Weekend to Remember” marriage conference? This is where we regrouped as a couple, to God and maybe even conceived our baby!! They said at the conference that some of us would get pregnant here, and it looks like we might be one. When the speaker said that, it didn’t even cross my mind that it could be us because it had never happened before in the 6 years we have been in baby mode (minus the 9 months I was pregnant with Shaun and approximately the year following).

Fast forward to June 6: I was 3 weeks late. Do I dare take a test? In all the years before Shaun, I would take a test, it would be negative, and then the next day or soon thereafter I would have confirmation. I wasted a lot of tests. Plus every time I thought I might be pregnant (before taking a test), I would start to have symptoms, but then they would be dismissed. One of those symptoms I was currently having was feeling off a little while after eating. About half way through the week of feeling off, I said, “I’ll take a test on Sunday when I’m 3 weeks late.” My cycle is not always consistent, but that would be late even for me. Plus, I was seeing my parents on Saturday, so if I took the test on Sunday, the day after, I wouldn’t have to try and keep a secret from them all day if the news was good.

So on June 6 I used a test that had been sitting in my bathroom cupboard from before I got pregnant with Shaun. It came up positive! I silently took it over to Bill and he looked at it. He said, “Does that mean positive?” I said, “I think so!” But, it had to be expired (at least 3 years old), so I wasn’t too confident in the result. Later that day I went to the store and bought another test. Same result! Since I was 3 weeks late, I was technically already 7 weeks along!

The next day I called my prior OB and got the first 2 appointments set up. Even though this is our second pregnancy, the start is all new because this time everything started out the “normal” way. Since Shaun was conceived through IVF, we had at least 3 ultrasounds at the fertility clinic at about 6, 7 and 9 weeks, and then I went to the regular OB to start the prenatal visits.

The first appointment was on June 18 with the nurse, I was 8 weeks. This was just a preliminary appointment to discuss history, anything new since last baby, blood work, etc. She even asked if I wanted an ultrasound to see baby and get measurements to see how close the timeline is. “Of course!” I said. She called over to the ultrasound clinic and they were able to squeeze me in if I came right over!

Here is the ultrasound picture from June 18 (8 weeks): The lighter area inside the dark area is baby!

The doc later said that the measurements were right on for being 8 weeks, so my estimated due date of January 23, 2011 would not change at any later stage in the pregnancy. Measurements this early are more accurate than measurements later on. That date is 3 weeks before Shaun’s 3rd birthday. I’ll take it though!

The first appointment with the doc was on June 29. Nothing major to report from that other than that he thought we had a really good start! I even got an in office informal ultrasound to see baby’s heartbeat. At every appointment we either see or hear baby’s heartbeat. Since it is too early to hear, we get to see! It was right there blinking on the screen. We even saw him/her move! He/she is already active!

Here is the ultrasound picture from June 29 (10 weeks). It is not meant to show detail, but they gave me pictures anyway:

Starting at 7 weeks I didn’t feel too well. I have thrown up a bunch of times. For about a month I was nauseous for about 2/3rds of each day. It got better starting at 11 weeks, but I am still not feeling good. The bad mornings are now only a couple times a week instead of most mornings. I hope this is a trend in the right direction! Doc said that it typically gets better between 14-16 weeks. That is soon!

My next doc appointment is on July 28. I won’t post an update after that unless there is something significant to say since I’m saying pretty much everything right now.

I’m officially 3 months along, or 13 weeks; done with the first trimester!! Past the major danger zone! On to trimester 2!

We will probably have the ultrasound where we find out the sex in the last week or 2 of August. That will be my next pregnancy post.

So, that pretty much catches you up on all the excitement!

Me at 3 months!

Montana Trip!

In June we took a trip to Montana to visit Bill’s family. We left at 7am on a Saturday and got to Kalispell, MT at 5pm (6pm local time). That is about 8.5 hours of driving plus stops. We stopped in Ellensburg after 2 hours for breakfast. The bowl of cereal I had just wasn’t going to cut it until lunch. We ate at McDonald’s. Shaun loved eating some pancakes. Then we continued on for 3 hours to Spokane where we ate lunch and filled up the gas tank. Then it was on the road again for 3.5 more hours. Shaun was awake the whole trip to Spokane and mostly in a good mood except when we were nearing Spokane. We kept him busy with toys and books. We attempted the portable DVD player when we were nearing Spokane, but it did not like the car bumpiness, which got Shaun upset because he wanted to watch “Cars”. Shaun immediately fell asleep after leaving Spokane and slept for about 2 hours or so. He was awake for about the last hour of the trip and in a decent mood. We were all ready to be out of the car at that point though.

Daddies and their kiddos: Shaun (2), Kira (7.5), Kamron (4), & Kayla (5.5)

We checked into our hotel and then headed over to Bill’s mom’s place in Whitefish for dinner and the “reunion” and meeting. Grandma and Seth had come over here to meet Shaun when he was 1 month old, but hadn’t seen him since and all of the others hadn’t seen him at all (3 uncles, 1 aunt, and 3 cousins). We spent the week just hanging out with the family. Shaun got to spend some good playtime with his 3 cousins. One afternoon we went over to the nearby train station, or to see the “choo choos” as Shaun would say. There is a small train museum and the train depot to see all the cool “choo choos” going through.

3 Generations!

We were kind of nervous about how Shaun would do sleeping in a hotel room for the first time with us in the same room too. The first night was a nightmare getting him to sleep! Bill in his frustration was ready to pack up and go home in the heat of the moment. We got back from his mom’s place kind of late; around 10pm. Then it was a struggle until he finally fell asleep about 1:30 am! We think it was a combination of being in a strange place, getting his usually nap in the car ride over and then being up so late and over tired. He would not stay lying in his bed. He would do everything from sitting up to wondering the hotel room and jabbering the whole time. We tried everything from me lying next to him, Bill lying next to him, both of us lying next to him and even for the first time driving around and around town to put him to sleep! We had never done that before. He fell asleep in the car, but by the time they were back up to the room he was awake again! Ug! I think we spent another hour fighting with him until he FINALLY fell asleep; probably from sheer exhaustion. We were all SO tired. Shaun proved it too by sleeping very well after that, even until 9am!!!

The 4 brothers: Bill (32), Jeff (30), Seth (15), and Ethan (20).

Seth, the youngest is now the tallest!

I’m glad to report that the first night was the only one like that! Our strategy for the rest of the week was to tire him out and not get him to bed so late. So, with no nap and running around with his cousins all day he was good and ready for bed! We brought his jammies and toothbrush with us so he would be ready to just plop in bed as soon as we got back to the room. He would usually fall asleep within 5 minutes of the 20 minute drive back to the hotel. Bill would carry him up to the room and he would stay asleep; beautiful!! We could even putter around the room with the TV on low and it wouldn’t even disturb him until we were ready for bed.

We made the reverse journey home the next Saturday, stopping in Spokane for lunch and gas again and then at a rest stop just after the Columbia river gorge. It was a nice get away from our daily routine!

Sesame Street, Aquarium, Zoo & Swing Set!

The month of May was a busy one! It started out with our Sesame Street Live show. Shaun had a blast. He was such a good boy; sitting and watching intently the whole time. He wasn’t one of the little ones running up and down the aisle because he didn’t want to miss any of the show! At intermission we told him it was break time and then Elmo and the gang would be back, so that satisfied him during the break. However at the end, he said, “Break time!” and was bummed when we told him it was all over and time to go home. We bought him a few souvenirs of course: a t-shirt, the program which is like a big picture book, and an Elmo twirly toy.

We also took Shaun to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time. He wasn’t into it as much as I thought he would be, but he still had a lot of fun.

We also went to the Woodland Park Zoo on Memorial Day weekend. We went last year at the same time, so we thought it would be good to go again. We learned last year that the Navy sells discounted tickets at the base, so Bill went and bought 2 tickets ahead of time (Shaun is still free). Full price this time of year is $16.50 for adults, and the base sells them for $10 with no specific day required to go. We also saw you can buy $2 off tickets at Iver’s around the Sound. We had a good time even though the weather wasn’t that great. We were originally planning to go on Monday, but the weather forecast for Sunday was a little better, so we played hooky from church and went that day. We still got sprinkled on, but we didn’t even bring out the umbrellas we brought. Shaun had a good time and got a stuffed penguin as a souvenir. We are thinking of checking out the Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on my day off for the 4th of July because it sounds like they have different animals to see.

Shaun got his very own swing set/play house in the backyard! Grandma & Grandpa said they would get him one for his birthday back in February. We finally found one that we like. We knew we wanted one that had some climbing parts to it since Shaun is a boy and loves the climbing things at the parks. It is amazing how extravagant, big and expensive they can get! You can spend thousands of dollars! We were not looking for one anywhere near that expensive though. Luckily Lowe’s has one where you buy the parts separately and make it as extravagant or not as you wish for a reasonable price even if you were to buy the most extravagant setup. We have not had a lot of good weather, so putting it together has taken awhile and it is not totally done yet. Dad & Bill have spent several hours on 3 different days so far putting it together. There still will be a rock wall on the right hand side (with more siding), a few more handles and a steering wheel up in the play house when it is totally done. Shaun loves it already! Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!

We also started swim for the spring/summer and went with Antonio and Jess to Renae’s for a visit and day at the park since it was so nice that day.

Later this month we are looking forward to a trip to Montana to visit family. Shaun will get to meet his 3 cousins and 2 of his uncles for the first time and see Grandma and another uncle again (who he has only “seen” when he was 1 month old).

We are hoping for some better weather soon since this spring has been awfully rainy!

Easter, Ocean, Big Boy Bed & Weekend to Remember!

Easter
We went to the Easter Eggstravaganza at church on the Saturday before Easter. We had a pancake breakfast first, then there was a bunch of activities for the little ones. First was the egg hunt, then was craft and story time, and finally a puppet show. Shaun had a good time. Sunday, Easter, we went to church and then over to Grandma & Grandpa’s to have an Easter brunch with the family. Shaun & Antonio got to have another egg hunt in the basement and open a couple of gifts.

Ocean
We took our annual weekend trip to the ocean. The weather was okay, but could have been better because it rained much of the day on Saturday. However, we didn’t let that stop us from walking on the beach! Some of us took a pretty long walk in the rain on Saturday. It was still fun. Next year we are going to try out a new place just down the road at Pacific Beach that I heard about from a coworker. It is the Navy “resort” complex with “cottages” on the bluff above the beach. We stopped by on our way there and got to tour a cottage. They are really 4-5 bedroom rambler houses that are nicely updated! Plus, one of these “cottages” is much cheaper to rent than the 2 bedroom condo we currently rent in Moclips. Plus there is room for my Aunt & Uncle that rent a 1 bedroom condo also, so it makes it even cheaper! Nice Navy perk! Two bedrooms are just getting too small for 6 people!

Big Boy Bed
My baby is growing up! We had to break down Shaun’s crib and transfer him to a twin bed because he is falling out of the crib! It happened over a few weeks. We were hoping to make it past the time when Shaun was spending the weekend at Grandma & Grandpa’s, but that didn’t happen. First he started hiking his knee close to the top of the rail. It still really hadn’t totally crossed his mind that he could climb out. Then one day he did climb out onto the changer and then down. Then the next week or so it was directly to the floor with a loud “THUD”. We knew that was the end of the crib. He did that a week ago Sunday a few minutes after we put him in bed. So, we did an emergency fix by taking off the side of his crib (it is a convertible crib) and kind of rigging the bed rail we had bought for a twin bed on it for the night. Technically it isn’t supposed to go on a toddler bed and didn’t quite fit under, but it worked for one night. Then the next evening we broke apart the crib and brought in the twin bed from the guest room. It was a sad day. Hopefully we will get to put it back together sometime in the future. We will be getting him a new mattress and bed in the next month or two so we can still have this one as the guest bed and also because the mattress is really old; it was my first bed! We had been debating about whether to do a toddler bed, keep his crib in the converted position or just go to a twin bed. We decided against the toddler bed to avoid the intermediate cost of buying a bed and the bedding, and against the crib in the toddler bed position because it didn’t seem right and would just be another transition down the road to a twin. We didn’t buy the crib because it could convert; just most of the cribs out there do unless you buy the really flimsy ones. The weekend before we had actually bought all the bedding with Shaun’s help because we knew it was coming soon. He helped pick out the Cars theme!

Shaun has done great sleeping at night in his new bed. We tuck him in and he pretty much goes straight to sleep. The first night we heard a few minutes of jabbering, but that was it. The rest of the nights have been even less than that, even at Grandma & Grandpa’s for 2 nights! Naps, on the other hand, are another story. The first day he didn’t sleep at all. Instead he played in his room for 3 hours. The 2nd day he fell asleep for the last half hour that we would let him (so he would sleep at night). That meant he played for about 2-2 ½ hours. The third and fourth days he played for an hour and then got a 2 hour nap in. We have used the baby monitor more in the last week then we ever did when he was a baby. At Grandma & Grandpa’s he only napped for half an hour, but I’m just glad he slept well at night! Hopefully the napping gets better over time because he still needs one. He is a major grump in the afternoon/evenings if he doesn’t get a nap or gets a very short one. If he gets between 1-3 hours of sleep he is pretty good, depending on the day.

Weekend to Remember!
This past weekend we went to a “Weekend to Remember” marriage conference put on by Familylife. They do these all over the country and usually come to the Seattle area twice a year. There were some couples there from all over the country too. We met one couple from Ohio in the elevator. It was an amazing time! When we checked into our room, there were flowers waiting for me from Bill! He had sneakily ordered them to be waiting in the room when we arrived. I recommend the conference to every married couple out there no matter how long you have been married. They took a poll at the beginning to see who had been married the least amount of time and the longest. The shortest was 3 months, the longest 40+ years! There were also some engaged couples too. They said it started out as premarital counseling, but then so many married couples were interested in it because they hadn’t gotten the info or had forgotten it. At the very end on Sunday, we even had a mass renewal of our vows ceremony; it was very moving and tearful.

The conference is Jesus centered and shows how marriage is designed by God. The conference started Friday evening at 7 and was over at 12:30pm on Sunday. Each session was on a different aspect of marriage from what pushes a couple towards isolation, to what brings a couple together towards oneness, and everything in between. One session was even broken out and had the men and women in different rooms. There were application projects to do along the way to apply some of the things talked about. All Saturday evening, starting at 5pm was date night, open to do whatever each couple so desired. We had eaten a fairly big lunch at Red Robin with the other couples that came from our church, so we weren’t all that hungry at dinner time. So, instead we went on a nice romantic walk on the “River Walk” just a couple blocks away. The conference was in Redmond at the Town Center, which is a nice little shopping area I never had been to before. Then we decided we wanted ice cream instead of dinner so we got some Coldstone Creamery and went back to our room and watched Fireproof and then the soccer game.

It was so nice to have some couple time. We haven’t had time like this since before Shaun was born, over 2 years. We knew we needed to reconnect with each other, that is one of the reasons we decided to go to the conference. It doesn’t take much, and having a child is a lot, to push a couple towards isolation. We have been on the isolation road since Shaun was born. We both feel so much better and connected and on the road to oneness since this weekend. You don’t even realize that you are on the path towards isolation until you are brought back together in an intentional way or worse. Marriage requires work, hard work, but is so rewarding when you are on the road to oneness! We have also decided that we need to have some couple time like this more often, so we are going to try and go on a little weekend getaway twice a year or so; and maybe go back to the conference every 5 years or so. At a future conference, the material will probably be mainly the same (we may have forgotten some though), but the speakers will probably be different since there are so many of them, and each speaker brings their own experiences to the material and presents in their own style. The speakers were great! Two of them were a husband and wife and took turns speaking on the subject at hand. The husband was an ex Wall Street broker currently living in Pennsylvania. The third speaker was a pastor from the Portland, OR area. If you are reading this and are interested in going to a conference in the very near future; the next one around here is just around the corner the weekend of May 15th in Bellevue, or in Yakima in June. Otherwise; around here it will be another year probably before the next conference.