our time away

Tim and I got away for a few days in honor of my birthday and the new baby coming.   Samantha and faith dog stayed with Nana and Papa and had a great time!  

Here is the view from our deck outside of our room.  We stayed at this great bed and breakfast just outside of Leavenworth (about a 3 hour drive south-east from Bellingham, in the mountains).  

i loved both mornings waking up and sitting outside, watching the river.

here we are - we made a trip down to the river to check it out.

tim went for a swim...

i did not.

this was a few weeks ago - i think i would be about 34 weeks pregnant.  (I am 36 weeks today).

here i am at 36 weeks pregnant with sam.  looking just about the same...

Leavenworth is known for being very-German.  You feel like you have entered a german disneyland for adults.  We tried to immerse ourselves in the experience as much as possible, which translated into eating pork 5 or 6 meals in a row :)  More than anything Tim and I appreciated the chance to get away and be together.  We laughed a lot and had some good conversations.

We are still working on little girl's name - so say a prayer if you think of it for wisdom and clarity.  I have an idea about impressions of her personality but we have yet to find a name that feels like the right one.  My guess is we will go to the hospital with a few names and wait until we meet her.

finley's birthday

Samantha's good friend Finley celebrated his second birthday a few weeks ago and we all went to a farm to celebrate.  

Sam was a little unsure at first of the tractor ride - hence holding baby close and sucking her thumb.  (we have been trying to leave baby at home more in an effort to enter more fully into 'big-girl-hood').  

birthday boy

this is fun!

checking out the rabbits

i think sam's favorite part was the huge slide.  here she is with Fin and his dad, Calum.

we finished the celebration at Red Robin, which was Sam's first experience.  i think it is safe to say she had a good time - who wouldn't love dipping french fries in mac n'cheese :)

does it count as potty training if...

all i have done is buy pull-ups and sam has been wearing them?...

:)

potty training is around the corner for samantha jean.  we will see if we/she is ready.  not this weekend but next we are going to go for it.  hunker down at home.  fill her with fluids and ask her again and again if she is keeping her undies dry.  i hear drew and bekah's voices in my head when i picture what we will do, as being a witness to isa being potty trained and them asking those magical words over and over and over again.  they are our inspiration.

i have hope seeing that she can identify when she is going in her pull-up :)  and when i put her on the potty she realizes what it is all about.  the one thing - one major thing- that could get in the way is her deciding she doesn't want to.  the girl is as stubborn as her parents.  so pray for a willing spirit.

i would do a post on tim and my time away together this last week but i don't know where the external hard drive is with the pictures on it... probably with tim... i guess it will have to wait.

pictures from my birthday

I had a great 30th birthday.  I felt very loved.  

these are pictures from the day :)

being 30 has felt very normal.  i think it helps tim has been 30 for awhile.  i remember reflecting on the day about the Lord's faithfulness this last year and the upcoming new things i will experience as a 30 year old (new baby and staying at home full time with the girls being the two biggest things).

hopefully more posts to come in the next few days, as i slowly get re-connected to the online world  :)

not a great way to meet your neighbors...

Well I think I have now experienced one of the top ten most awkward ways to meet your neighbors...  have them come out in concern because you are yelling about their cat being a mean cat and your daughter is crying at the top of her lungs...

Today has been one of those days filled with highs and lows.  I won't go into all of the details, but a definite high was our friends joyce, finley and conner coming to visit.  as joyce was loading up her car to go samantha decided to go say hi to the neighborhood cats.  (I have been having trouble convincing Sam to give the cats space - this is seriously a nearly daily struggle/conversation.  She loves animals and can't imagine why they wouldn't love her.  And it is frustrating to her when I try to interrupt her "playing" with them).

So yes, as Joyce was loading up the car Sam decided to say hello to two of the cats, each one now scared under two separate cars.  She was running from car to car saying hi to them.  When the big black cat began to slowly come out from under the car in full attack mode.  Back up.  Hair up.  Mouth open. Hissing. Sam ran away and the cat proceeded to follow after her at a close distance.  At this point I begin to scream at the cat and at Sam to come to me.  The cat backed off and Sam began to cry.  I then began to explain to her that the cat is a mean cat and she must never get close to the cat again.  (I think I was talking in a loader tone at this point).

As I am trying to calm Sam down one of the neighbors, and I later find out the "owner" of said cat, comes out to see what is happening.  I think she may have heard my "mean cat" comments and heard the small child crying... Then her roommate also comes out.  I am not exactly sure what to expect at this point.

They both were really nice about it.  I think more concerned for Sam than anything else.  And explained their cat isn't super nice and they adopted him as a teen and think he may have been a wild cat at some point.... great.

I think it is fair to say I felt awkward.  I may drop off some cookies tomorrow...  I think my blood pressure has just recently returned to normal.  Thankfully Tim came home during the middle of it all (lucky him).  and Joyce managed to pack up her two boys and we said good-bye.

Lets just say it has been one of those days.

Janae's visit

I realize these pictures are from July - but that's about where we are at with the current nature of this blog...  

Janae came to visit before we moved from Vancouver and we had a great time.  We LOVE her!!!  Here are some pictures we took during our visit to a park in the north shore.  

Sam could throw rocks into water of any kind for hours - no exaggeration.

 She loves being outside - it makes our hearts sing.  If Sam had her way she would spend most days outside exploring the world.

Thanks again and again Janae for coming to visit.  Come again soon!  We love you!!