Rainy Days

"I love getting soaked with my clothes on!!!"

He was shivering the whole time but stayed out there for about 15 minutes, what a silly boy.  He took a nice warm bath when he was done so he didn't get hypothermic :)

The vent for the dryer goes outside right there... 

that's why there is steam in the air, and lint all over the ground.

Fun with highlighters... 

there is a reason he doesn't have a shirt on when learning to color :)

23 WEEKS!

We are making good progress on our move! Last weekend we got to see some rental homes in Chewelah and one of them stood out to us far above the rest... and we got approved to rent it!  So thankful for that, it made it feel like the last piece of the puzzle was finally in place for us.  It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home that has a nice big backyard for the kiddos to play in, and it's on the road to the ski resort!  The location will also eliminate any commute I would have to work... as we can see the hospital where i'll be working from across the field from the home :)  We'll be moving in on Saturday!  The movers are coming this Thursday to take our stuff, and then we'll be cleaning the apartment all day on Friday.  Grandma Judy is coming to help us with the move, we're very excited to see her!!!

Good bye for now!

Here you go Shelby!

Swimming with Dad

Erik was going to be gone for five nights this week, so on the third night Bennett and I decided to surprise him by showing up in Spokane to stay with him in his hotel room!  Erik was very surprised and very happy to see us :)

It was an easy trip because we didn't have to lug the car seat along, since the hotel is a 5 minute walk from the airport.  And there were enough open seats on both of the flights that Bennett & I got a row to ourselves each way so we didn't have to worry about him touching all the stuff that the stranger sitting next to us had (ex: iPads, cellphones, beverages, etc...).  Bennett loves flying, he laughs at the prop when it starts and stops, and he makes friends with every person sitting around us.  Since I took him on his first flight in October last year (when he was 4 months old), he has now been on 36 flights in his short little life!!!

Luckily, I thought ahead and packed Erik and Bennett's swimsuits because I knew the hotel had a pool.  They had a BLAST swimming together, and then the best part (the part that always comes after swimming)... Bennett took an awesome nap after spending all that energy in the water :) :) :)  

Then we ordered Pizza Hut pizza (the Aaron Rodgers deal I might add!) and all got to watch a great Monday Night Football game together.

Bennett has always loved being in the water.

SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

"Dad you rock! Thanks for taking me swimming!"

He loved jumping off the steps into Daddy's arms... or... as you'll see in the video at the end of this post... NOT into Daddy's arms! lol.

He swallowed quite a bit of water because he was always laughing!

Daddy teaching Bennett how to float. 

This might be one of my all-time favorite pictures of the two of them together :)

Right at the beginning of this video you'll see how brave Bennett is when he's in the water... he jumped in without Erik being ready to catch him!!!

The next step in our journey toward Eastern Washington is to fly back to Spokane this Saturday and spend a few days up in Chewelah looking for a home to rent!  Wish us luck!!!!

Hulk Baby update

Not a whole lot of change in the last few weeks I guess!

(Other than looking more pale all of a sudden?!)

The picture on the left is 19 weeks, the picture on the right is 21 weeks (today).

20 week Ultrasound Pictures:

This baby knows how good life is already!

Well hello to you too little one!

Our baby was squirming and moving around so much during the ultrasound that the tech had a hard time getting a profile view of the face.  

I like this picture of its spinal cord though!

She's gonna get tired of this REAL soon!

Bennett's new favorite toy... his fat cat, Nina!

The greatest thing about this activity is that it might help Nina lose some weight!

Oh, and the laughter that comes from Bennett while he's chasing her around is pretty great too :)

Bennett's first trip to the Zoo

I'm not sure why, but we've never been to the zoo that is right in Portland.  It's the Oregon Zoo, and it's only $4 to get in on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.  So yesterday Bennett and I decided to get in on the deal and see some cool animals!

This was the first animal he got to see up close, this friendly sea lion was swimming around in circles much to the delight of the many children standing in front of the glass!

Checking out the monkeys.

Up close and personal with a cheetah!!!

He was barking at every single animal he saw... it was so cute!  I tried to get a video of it, you'll hear him making his barking noise once at the lions at the beginning of this video...  

Then you'll get a fake cough, followed by a real cough, followed by a real sneeze :)

The last thing we did before we left was play by this miniature geyser.  It scared him the first time, but then he loved it and was babbling at it and didn't want to leave!

We had a really great time at the zoo together,
 Bennett's favorite animal turned out to be the giraffes.  

And on a different note... reflecting back on 10/10/10, two years ago today we found out we were going to have a baby!  That baby turned out to be a little baby boy, and he is an incredible blessing in our lives.  We are so excited for him to become a big brother now too!!!

Fall Fun

It was so beautiful yesterday that Bennett and I decided to take a drive up the Columbia River Gorge and pay a visit to our favorite place in the Hood River Valley... 

the Packer Orchard in Parkdale, Oregon!!!  

Bennett was dressed appropriately for the day, being that the Packers were playing, 

and that we were at the Packer Orchard.  

Unfortunately the orchard is not named after the Green Bay Packers.. 

and the Green Bay Packers lost on Sunday :(  

Despite all that, we still enjoyed our HUGE cookies that we got there!

Trying to multi-task!  

It's hard to eat & walk at the same time when you are only 15 months old ;)

Officially official

We're moving!!!

Erik has been commuting (by plane) out of Spokane since the end of August and we are so excited to finally be moving closer to his base so he can come home after work instead of staying in a lonely hotel room.  Our destination: Chewelah, Washington.  It's a cute small town, about six hours from where we live now and one hour north of Spokane, so Erik will still have a bit of a drive to get to work but it's worth it for us to be able to live further away from the city.  The town has a 27-hole golf course and is only a 15 minute drive to the ski resort 49 Degrees North... talk about PERFECT for our little family!!!  

It's all so bittersweet at the same time, we have made so many wonderful, amazing, supportive, awesome, and loving friends since we've been living out here.  Erik has lived in Vancouver for 5 years now, and me a little over 4 years... it will be sad and hard to say goodbye, but we are ready and excited for this next chapter in our lives together.  

And you will all come visit us, right?!!!!

My interview last week went great, it was 2 1/2 hours long! Wow I sure wasn't expecting that!  I am fortunate to have over 4 years of experience now on a busy med-surg floor, so needless to say, I had a LOT of experiences to draw from for examples during the long interview.  The manager offered me the job on Monday and after Erik and I did some deliberation and got some answers on some deciding factors, this morning I called and accepted the job!  It is a part-time day shift R.N. position at Providence St. Joseph Hospital - Long Term Care Center in Chewelah.  I will be starting as soon as I can after my two weeks are done at the VA and after my nursing license gets transfered over to Washington from Oregon.  Oh, and after we find a place to live too!  Ready, set, go!!! Wish us luck!

Here is a cute video of Bennett from this morning, 

please disregard the odd state of affairs in our apartment... 

I was getting ready to vacuum the living room 

so I had everything moved around!

It's a blustery fall day here in the Pacific Northwest, 

but actually quite warm.  

I heard its been snowing in North Dakota!!!  

Wow I hope it doesn't snow in Wisconsin tomorrow... 

my cousin Jason is getting married.  Well I take that back, 

I think snow could make a wedding very beautiful and memorable... 

Congrats to Jason & Jenny!!!! 

Talk to ya'll later :)