Jayna's first haircut!

Our week of rest

Well, our week with Travis and Jayna was, as expected, restful, productive, and refreshing! And by the end of the week, we both missed the kids and were so excited to go pick them up...which means that the week served it's purpose! The kids had a great time, though I was happy that by the end of the week they were glad to see us and ready to go home. Thank you to Gary and Paula for giving the kids such a great time!

Steve worked a few nights that week, but otherwise, he took things pretty easy (deservedly so). I actually accomplished quite a bit...besides the projects shown below, I also got quite a bit of cleaning and organizing done. I got a few good jogs in, read more than usual, took a nap or two, and went shopping for fall kids' clothes. It was that left me feeling..."on top of things", I guess would be a good way to describe it.

My biggest project was to finish up one that I had begun the week prior, and that was to finish painting the office/piano room and reorganize it. I created a specific place for everything (inboxes for each of us, place for bills, etc.) so that hopefully we can keep it looking this way! I love the color...almost exactly the color of masking tape.

Jayna's room has this one huge wall that has always been basically empty. I was so excited when I stumbled across these wall stickers a couple of weeks ago at Target...the whole set for just $15! It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but it turned out super-cute.
And in the boys' room...I've had these "wall art" cards since February that are seriously adorable and go perfectly with their camping theme. This week I finally got to put them up! Travis is really into the alphabet and sounding things out (and animals), so he thought these were pretty cool.
Evan was in heaven...he got tons of one-on-one attention this week! Such a sweet baby he is.

Oh yes...and we got a cat!!! We'd been talking about it before this and even went to the humane society with the kids a couple weeks ago, so last week we stopped in and I immediately fell in love with this little kitten. She's 2 months old, a calico, super-playful, loves to cuddle (she sleeps on my pillow), and I'm happy to say that I think she loves me the best. :) Travis kind of helped pick out the name...Ruby! (One of his favorite shows currently is Ruby & Max on Nickelodeon).

Kid talk

Every single day, the kids say things that make us laugh, smile, and wonder, and I'm so not good at writing these things down! But I should, because otherwise I know I'll forget them.

Jayna's vocabulary and conversational abilities have grown by leaps and bounds in the recent months. We're now to the point where we understand pretty much everything she says, though I'm not sure if others can or not. A few phrases that we have heard more than once:

"Weed a book a may": Read a book to me?
"Ont a watt a woogie?": Want to watch a movie?
"Doddit moke": chocolate milk
"Daddy deepin": Daddy sleeping

Travis as at the age where the things he says can be surprising, and/or can just be downright funny! It's so fun to see how his mind works. A few conversations fresh in my mind...

-I don't know how this came up, but Travis asked me what the word "wisdom" meant, and I gave him a basic definition. He said, "Ooooohhh. (as in "aha!") Mommy, I fink you are the wisdomest mommy on all the earf." I cracked up. I also love how his "th" still comes out "f".

-Travis' vocab has also been expanding to include some very adult words, and he almost always uses them in the right context. But sometimes he tries out words when he's only heard/noticed them once or twice, and he'll botch the pronunciation. As we were eating lunch one day, I asked Jayna if she was all done. She didn't answer, I asked again. Then Travis said, "Allparlently, she's not".

-One of Travis' best qualities is his compassion for others. I had a killer headache last week, and he came to me as I sat down to rest and rub my head, and asked "why I was sad". I told him I had a headache. After asking me all about headaches (seriously, like 50 "why" questions regarding headaches), he said "Here. I will kiss it. No, I will kiss it AND rub it." He did just that, then said, "There, you are all better". I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. :)

-Along the same lines....Travis recently had his 4-year check up with our pediactrician, whom Travis loves. After Dr. Reid left (telling us what a healthy boy Travis was), and before the nurses came in to give the dreaded shots, I told Travis about how we should thank God that he is healthy. I told him that there were kids all around the world who were not healthy, they were very sick and had no way of getting better. At this, Travis was visibly concerned, but then I thought he forgot about the conversation in the chaos of receiving shots. After the shots (not a fun experience), and after we returned to our car and we were driving home in a rare moment of silence, Travis said totally out of the blue, "Mommy, I fink those kids need to come see Dr. Reid." Sweet boy. If only it were that easy to solve the problems of this world.

Here's where we're at...

As great as a blog can be for keeping friends and family up-to-date, documenting our lives, and reflecting on things, I sometimes have a hard time with it. Specifically, I sometimes wonder if I am really portraying myself and our lives accurately. I love my life as it is - I truly do - and I'm pretty sure that that is reflected in this blog. But sometimes, life isn't so pretty and I don't feel so perky and I really want to strangle my kids. But these things are much more difficult to share, partly because I don't want to be whiny or make people think I'm unhappy....and largely because it's hard to admit that I really don't know what I'm doing as a parent! It's hard to be vulnerable, especially when there are other parents who seem to have all the answers and are raising little angels. But I'm guessing that there are way more people out there who can relate to feeling inadequate, as opposed to feeling absolutely confident. If only there was a parenting handbook...

Travis and Jayna have been driving me a little bit nuts lately. Okay, a lot bit. Travis is officially the whiniest child on earth, and his whining grates on my (and Steve's) nerves like nothing else. We have very little patience for it. And yet we can't figure out how to MAKE IT STOP!!! We've experimented, with ignoring it, giving him alternative ways of expressing himself, etc. And we're still experimenting. If anyone has been there with their own child and has any bright idea, let us know....please?! In the meantime, it's just really frustrating. Jayna, who can be SO sweet sometimes, can also be SO not sweet! She is going through this screaming phase...when she is unhappy about something, she screams. And it's no small scream, let me tell you. It's piercing. We do spankings and time-outs, which work on certain behaviors, but we're not really seeing a change in this one. So either we need to come up with plan C, or maybe it's just something that will pass, as long as we keep after her? On top of those things, the two of them have been fighting a lot lately. I would think that at 4 and 2 they'd be too young to go at it as they do, but nope. They know how to battle! These are issues we deal with daily, and it's really been wearing on me. I'm pooped, and not just physically.

I guess the part of all of this that is hardest for me is the fact that I feel like it's out of my control, and I do NOT like feeling helpless like that. It's not the behaviors that worry me, it's the fact that we do address them and feel like we're being consistent in addressing them, and yet we still don't see any progress. It kind of makes me think, "oh crap...I don't know what to do and my child will always be like this!" A bit of panic and frustration mixed together.

I will say that when I look at things objectively, I know there's hope. The kids aren't ALWAYS like this, and I'm pretty sure we're not the only parents who have ever felt this way, and yet their kids have turned out great. And I do have ideas on how we can make things better (greater consistency, having talks NOT in the heat of the moment, more prayer, letting go of too-high expectations, and I think preschool/schoolyear regular activities will help). It's just a frustrating and worrisome thing when you're in the midst of it.

With that said, Travis and Jayna are going to be gone next week (not because of these frustrations...this has been planned for awhile:) And I refuse to feel any guilt in admitting that not only am I REALLY looking foward to it, but I NEED it. They'll be gone Monday-Friday, down in Portland with grandparents. The protective part of me doesn't like the thought of them being gone that long, as they are only 4 and 2! But Portland is only a couple of hours away, so we could be there in a flash if we needed to be. And I know they'll be in good hands!

You may remember that we did this about a year ago, at the end of last September, and I took the opportunity to get a million things done on my to-do list. While I do have a to-do list for this time around, I plan on spending at least as much time just relaxing and doing things that fill me up...playing piano, reading, date night with Steve, going on a scenic walk or two. And I'm really looking foward to just enjoying Evan. I'm especially thankful for him right now...he is the child that makes me feel like I'm a good mother! I think I have a knack for infants, it's when they grow up that I'm apparently clueless! :) Anyway, stay tuned for a report on our relaxing week!

Camping at Mayfield Lake

Steve and I both LOVE to camp. We've often said that when we're old we're going to be campground hosts for a summer sometime...who knows! And even though camping with a 4yo, 2yo, and 4 month old sounded a bit risky (would we actually have any fun?), we couldn't really stand the thought of going a summer without camping. So, we decided to go for it! Steve had been wanting to check out Mayfield Lake near Mossyrock, so we made the reservation for just one night, knowing that that would probably be enough considering the kids' needs. And though it was a lot of work for just one night, we had SO MUCH FUN! The kids loved it, and even Evan was happier camping than he generally is at home. Steve slept in the tent with the older two and I slept in the back of the canopied truck with Evan.

I often question the wisdom of getting out and doing things with all three kids. Sometimes (4th of July, for example, when Steve was working and I took the kids by myself to a friends' house) it ends up a train wreck...Evan's fussy, Jayna's clingy, Travis is whiny, and I spend every second in triage mode - assessing which kids' needs are the greatest at any given moment - and no time just enjoying myself. And I end up feeling frustrated and incapable. Sometimes it's just better to stay home. But the thing is, you often don't know how it's going to go until you go ahead and try. In this case, I'm glad we didn't decide to stay home! We didn't necessarily have any time to relax, but just being in nature and witnessing our kids' excitment was so refreshing. As Steve and I sat by the fire after the kids were in bed, we agreed that we wanted camping to be a big part of the kids' summers (especially after they're a bit older:)

The lake was peaceful and beautiful.

Like I said, Evan was a happy camper!

This picture's for you, Sam.

You'd have thought it was fall, as leaves fell left and right. Travis is still getting the hang of his new bike, and this was a good time for him to practice. Jayna's first s'more!Steve took the kids out on the raft while I stayed back on the beach reading and watching my baby sleep. Jayna really did have more fun than she appears to be having here!And of course, Travis and his rock-throwing! He'd do that for hours if we let him.

And in the last few hours of the second day as we were packing things up, Jayna threw several tantrums...this confirmed the wisdom of our decision to only go for one night:)

I'm so thankful for my adventurous husband and my outdoor-loving children!

Random summer pictures

Shortly after our trip to KF, my mom and Becky came up and Mel and the kids came down. We visited my grandparents on day one and went to Stewart Heights pool on day two. I guess I forgot to take many pictures, but here's one of Evan and Hudson asleep at Stewart Heights. It was one of those super hot days, the pool was great, and the babies were very cooperative. :)

Evan's first night in his crib! (3 1/2 months) We moved the other kids into their rooms way earlier than we did with Evan...he was doing so well in our room that I didn't see the need. But it did need to happen sooner or later, and Travis kept asking when Evan would be sleeping with him, so we made the move. And I did not like it one bit! But it needed to happen. He looks a lot smaller in the crib than he did in the bassinet!

At the swings. Picking blackberries in the gulch by our house. They weren't really ready to be picked yet, but we had fun nonethless.

Just because. :)

Klamath Falls

I already wrote about the reunion part of our trip to Klamath Falls, but the best part of the week was the visit with family (my parents and youngest sister Becky) and the chance to have fun away from home. Highlights....

Loading up the car for the trip...no, the kids didn't ride back there:)

Who knew a squirt gun could keep a kid so happy?!

At the home/pool of a family friend. I'm a sucker for Jayna in a swimsuit...I just want to eat her up!

After all the reunion stuff was over and business was taken care of, we went to the lake for a day. How's this for a ladylike pose?The kids with my parents!