Silas's big boy room

Silas' room is moving up in the cool factor. For his birthday this last year, we (ok... me) picked out this totally cute Pottery Barn kids duvet with the cargo pockets (which once again I should have had the stinking lights on...you'd think I would go back and retake these pictures, but you'd be kidding yourself since I am already up WAY too late doing this to go back and do more!). Now the whole camping theme is taking off. The only thing missing is his green camping chair which is still in the garage from our multiple day and camping trips this summer. The oars on the wall were another Pottery Barn idea, but I found these super cheap at a discount sporting goods store. And the lantern lamp is a great touch in the corner. Now I just need to get a head board going on to make the bed look more finished.

This is the opposite wall, and minus the crooked picture, I am pretty happy with my craig's list dresser, lantern clock, and the picture frames themselves (oh yeah, and one is still empty, I need to make a project list).

I picked camping as the "theme" for him because I feel like it is timeless. I think we will always be a camping/ fishing/ hiking kind of family, so I am looking forward to being able to display some cool pictures and treasures from our trips in his room.

This is him and Jordan at the lake this week examining the fish Silas caught AND reeled in. It was a huge highlight of the day!

Today marks the day that Silas decided he can now pray out loud. I had thought that the lunch incident would be isolated, but at dinner and bed time he asked to pray. He had both Jordan and I blinking back tears at the dinner table as he so genuinely thanked God for his Mom, Dad, and baby Jewel, praised him for our food, and said "Amen".

The praying and singing are delightful additions to the already exciting life of this kid. We are up to our eye balls in answering "why" for absolutely everything. It has become his automatic response to all things.

Silas, time to get in the car.
why?
Because we are going to the store.
why?
I have to get a few things for dinner.
why?
So that we can eat when Daddy gets home.
why?
Daddy will be hungry since he was working so hard all day.
why?
why, Mom?
why?
why, why, why?
Just because, that's the way God made us, to get hungry sometimes.
why?
Get in the car Silas.

He has also taken to phone talking (this is real, him talking to Grammy in the chair upstairs and telling me that it is not my turn), and wanting to call Jordan throughout the day to report on what is going on with us.

The other hysterical thing he does is memorize phrases from his books. He is totally in to Thomas the Train (that is a drastic understatement), and we read at least a couple Thomas stories a day. They are written by an English man, and use a lot of phrases that are uncommon in the modern English language. However, Silas has deducted the meanings and now uses them in conversation or while he is pretend playing on his own. We also read a lot of the Little Golden Books, which have an older language style in them as well. The combination of these things makes it a regular occurrence to hear some of the following quotes from our son.

"Dad, are you cross?"
"It was very queer, and the station master did not know what was going on."
"And sure enough, when they returned supper was waiting there for all of them."
"and the mother was very displeased"

Even Jordan has adopted some of this new speech pattern. He asked me last week if I felt like Silas has been more "cheeky" since Jewel was born.

It is all comic relief for me. When one is sleep starved and only functioning on 1/2 of their brain cells, all of these things bring laughter that is renewing.

Jewel's room

I am totally getting into the girl clothes and decorating! I did not see this coming. After having a boy, I thought for sure I was just not a huge fan of all the baby decor, coordinating room themes, accessories and such. Silas had tan walls, white bedding, and a few random items I put in there to classify it as a "camping room", I just could not get in the groove with his stuff.

Since we didn't know we would be having a little girl, I procrastinated with looking for bedding for either sex during my pregnancy. I think I was just planning on doing the white again because the creative juices were not flowing. Jewel shares her room as the guest room since we so frequently have family in town and we want them to be able to comfortably stay with us. While my mom was here over the summer, we picked a beautiful, cloudy blue to paint the room. Once Jewel arrived, I quickly discovered that it is hard to find girl bedding with blue in it. I had resigned myself to the neutral look, and then Grammy came. No grand daughter of hers would be without a completed room. She inspired me! Perhaps one day I will be crafty enough to make my own bedding...or have enough time to design something of my own...or at least get more creative with patterns and such...but this bedding set from Target captured the little girl in me and now that it is in the room I am soooo thrilled with it!

So, here are the results!

Looking into the room from the door (now wishing I had the lights on since the natural light looks much cooler NOT on camera)

The guest bed (open for visitors! especially since Jewel is still in the pac n play in our room and probably will be until Jordan forces me to move her out!)The changing table and totally cute shabby chic lamp that goes with the bedding set (and my house is not on a slant, I can't say why this picture is).

Looking at the room from the window side of the bed (this is a better idea of the color of the walls)

Looking to the right just when you walk in the door.

And...THE BEDDING!!! My sweet and already spoiled little girl in her adorable room.I LOVE this little pillow!
And, a shout out to Aunt Christine and Ellsie, rocking the flower head band. :)

A family trip to the beach on Jordan's day off...our favorite thing to do. It was Jewel's first time to the beach and although she slept through it, we are sure she will love the Oregon coast as much as we do.

We went to a state park near Astoria that was bursting with deer and had a beautiful lake right near the ocean. The guys fished (and played in the mud) while Jewel and I relaxed in the sand.

Note the cozy clothes...this is the northwest after all :)

Grammy and Pops

We have been blessed with visitors, and were able to steel away Jordan's mom for an entire week! She came and used her Grammy super powers to take care of us. She made dinners, read endless Thomas the Train books, followed Mr. Silly Squirrel all over the city of Hillsboro, and helped to keep me from sleep deprivation.

We also got to have Pops for a few days since he already had a conference in Portland last week. What a treat for us!

There was lots of snuggling,
daily back exercises,deep conversation over dinner,

special dates,

and Grammy even got in the giant apple jumping castle with Silas at the apple farm.

We hate being far away from our grandparents, but we LOVE getting to have them stay with us! Thank you Grammy and Pops for taking care of us and loving us so much...we miss you!

Big Brother

Check out the TOTALLY cute and cozy jammies I found for our big boy at Costco for $7.50!

He loves his baby sister so much. Today she was laying on the floor and he said "baby Jewel, here is a song for you." and then he sang, to no particular tune, all about her and what she was doing. "Jewel, you are laying down next to me, you are not sleeping Jewel. We are happy, Jewel." and on and on, most of which was hard to make out in song form.

This look of an adoring big brother is priceless to me. Not only does it say, "I love you, Sister. You are amazing. I am connected to you, " but it also says, "I am done wetting my bed because of you, I have accepted and embraced you." Well, at least that is what I see.

Silas prayed out loud by himself for the first time at lunch today. I pray with him a lot, he asks me to pray for certain things, and he will occassionally repeat a prayer after me. But today he prayed totally on his own. He said...
Dear God,
Thank you for my body. Thank you for my tummy and my fingers and my whole body. And thank you for our food.
Amen.

A date to remember

My sweet Silas. So much has happened for him in the last three weeks. His little life has changed in ways that are too difficult for a 2 year old to process. His emotions are strong but his vocabulary is not extensive enough.

How does a mother explain that the baby that was in her tummy is out, and here she is, and she is staying here forever now? How does she express her love hasn't changed, it has simply grown? Can he see the struggle in her heart, wanting to attend to his needs and wishes while tending to the newborn, torn between teaching him to grow and wrapping him a protective embrace of childhood? Will he remember the precious moments of just her and him the way she does? Change is just hard, even if it is good, it is hard.

He loves his baby sister. He coos over her, talking in hushed tones. He holds her tiny hand while she sleeps in her swing. In the car there are minute to minute reports on her well being, "Baby Jewel is crying, Mom. Does she have a little tummy ache? It's OK, Baby Jewel, we'll be home soon. Oh no, Mom! Baby Jewel has sunshine on her eyes. She's looking at me! Baby Jewel is sleeping, Mom? Does she like Psalty? Look at me, Jewel. I can tell her a joke, Mom. She will laugh at me." He doesn't waste any opportunity to examine her, delighted and relieved when her weird extension came off her belly button. He wonders where she is when he can't see her.

And yet, there have been the potty accidents. Yes, many of them. One wet night after another. Sleep deprived parents changing sheets while a confused little boy stands by and watches. How can they tell him that they understand? Where is the line between needing the comfort and needing the consistency? Why does God require these kinds of parental judgments to be made when a mother and father are already over extended? How can they make a plan, pray for him together, and focus on the issue when the work schedule is so full and the nights are so short? Is this what he will remember instead, the struggle and the battle? So much is required of this little mind.

God be gracious with us.

Be gracious with this transition for our Silas. Lead us graciously and gently as we navigate this road for the first time. Forgive us for our short sightedness. Cover us all with your love.

One morning I was able to take my precious boy out for a special date. We needed some "get back together" time. Jewel stayed with Grammy, and we took off on the Max train for a get-a-way. Each moment was special. To him perhaps it was just routine. After all we did go to the toy store and play with the train set that we play with all the time. We did sit in the reading corner and read all the books we have read before. We did walk down the street and ride on the train that have all been visited before. To me it was breathtaking. Yes, breathtaking. A few uninterrupted moments to watch him be so big, to laugh at his little antics and phrases, and to spoil him in attention. He has had a lot of special dates with Everett, Beppe, Daddy, Grammy and Pops, but just this one with me. I want to some how make up for the nights that he has cried when I can't lay with him until he falls asleep. I wish there was a way to count, minute for minute, and repay the delayed response to a request for milk and a snack. Somehow I am battling guilt for the moments when he says, "hug me, Mom. Snuggle me." I want to just overflow his little love tank. There is even a piece of me thinking that this special date will be the solution to the wet beds. It's only been two weeks and I am already missing "us" like we used to be. So, I captured a few shots, just glimpses into our world. But this date was one I will always remember.

A little treat to remember our date.

Yes Silas, your dad does rock...maybe that is where you got your rockin' style ;)

Showing off our watches.

Playing in the fountain, I didn't have dry clothes but this wasn't a trip about practicality.

This is also not about practicality...more about fun, and probably about some kind of rare disease.

Mom and Silas

On our way...too cool for words.

A tribute to the belly button

We lost the umbilical chord this afternoon... check out the cute belly :)

Our little Jewel

Getting cuter and more enjoyable by the day, which is hard to imagine since she's been a beautiful dream since her birth, but so true. Jewel had her 2 week check up yesterday, 9 pounds 5 ounces, 22 inches puts her in the 95% for height and 75% for weight. The doctor said she looks wonderful, I agreed :)

We are still enjoying the company and help of Jordan's parents. The kids and I will hit the ground running on Sunday when Grammy and Pops leave and Daddy has to work all day. I am sure to have some good story material for next week.

Love you all!

Getting to know our Jewel

Jewel happens to be the best name in the world for this little girl. She is just that...an absolute Jewel. Our first two weeks have been baby bliss. She eats like a champ, sleeps like a champ, cuddles like none other, and when she is awake she is bright eyed and engaging. My writing time is limited :) But I wanted to get these out so everyone could see a little more of her sweetness!

Early morning snuggles with Dad

We LOVE Beppe!!

After having my mom here for a week and a half, we have been suffering serious withdraws!

Check out those cheeks!! Kissable :)

All snuggled up with the blanket that I was wrapped in the day I came home from the hospital.