oregon coast

i was born in portland & since we moved away when i was 8, i haven't been back more than once or twice. definitely not back to our houses & stomping grounds. aust, elles, & i drove the 10 hrs & met up with my fam to see old neighbors, friends, & extended family. i was shocked at how much i remembered! it was a blast to zip all over the portland area to go through old houses & drive by old schools & the infamous batman church, etc. we even got to hit up downtown portland. yay!

here's a fun tidbit: it's been 16 yrs since i've seen these neighbors & i was 8 1/2 months swollen with a baby. i really didn't think i cared about that until my 8 1/2 month swollen back end broke their lawn furniture. no, literally. awesome.

i love seeing my family & a wedding & a baby blessing were the perfect excuses. partay!

after the festivities we went with our 'immediate' family to lincoln city. we stayed in a big beach cottage & had a very laid back, relaxing few days doing puzzles, walking on the beach, tinkering on our iPhones (did i mention that austin had his new 4G overnighted straight to my aunt's house so that it would be waiting for us after our 10 hour road trip? insert judgments here.), playing baseball, building sand castles, flying kites, hot tubbing, seeing the new toy story movie, & playing card games til late at night. tx mom & dad!

yeah, it's cold beach weather but it makes for snuggly beach time. haha.

                                   

& one of my favorite pictures from the trip: i love when my dad & his trusty camera are around to catch these. :)

june, where did you go?

oops. i seem to have missed it...

grats graduates!

yay class of 2010!

both of our baby brothers are officially high school graduates.

both are off to college in utah.

both of our parents are officially empty nesters come august.

it's weird. it seems like the end of an era or something.

congratulations boys! we're proud of you & sure love ya!

panic-stricken

all you mothers with a brood of babies can laugh at me but i'll fully admit it: i am terrified.

i felt 100% ready to become a mama. not one reservation or moments hesitiation. & then on top of it i got this perfect/robot/alien baby that zonks out for 12 hours a night, sleeping in, & still taking two 2 hour naps, takes literally everything in stride, is super laid back & adaptable, loves people, her favorite thing on this planet is to sit in her room & read books to herself, loves eating the healthiest food, listens well & is pretty non bratty, is crazy sweet/funny/gentle, & while she's not perfect she's just generally... dare i say, easy?

but i'm no fool. lightning does not strike twice. i know kids. i have been in charge of all sorts of different kids from all sorts of different families. this is NOT normal. this is not how the human race was meant to have offspring. & despite any words of encouragement i know, in my heart, it is OVER. any lasting freedom ellery has let us hold on to, any down time in my day, any lingering sanity is gone. the hubs thinks i can take on the world, which is very sweet but overwhelmingly naive.

we will be inundated & defeated.

& while i'd like to think it will go over like this:

i'm much more confident it will look like this:

with elles we've been able to stay as active as we like & she just travels so well we've never had to wonder if we can go do whatever it is we want to do. that's one of my main concerns. portability, flexibility, ability to leave the house kind of flies out the window when you have 2 kids a year & a half apart.

before completely throwing in the towel, i started pouring the internet & did weeks of research before being sold on the perfect double stroller.

 doesn't look like a double, huh? that's probably because it can be a single or a double & i am in love.

okay i know some fancy pants stroller can't gaurantee me a non-colicky, sweet tempered, acid reflux free infant. but it can at least have me go into this feeling a bit more capable of handling it. 

& that's enough for me.

pic of the week

yep.

that's some turkey dog slices in her hair.

ocd

just because i'm ocd & need a total of 6 posts in june... thank you for your understanding.