And then...

And then, we had been in the house for two weeks and Jordan got notified that he would be leaving town for work, for two weeks.

Thankfully, after braving the packing, moving, and unpacking with little extra help, both of our moms were more than willing to come lend a hand to this wiped out momma!

Before he left, Jordan took both kids out on a special date night.  First he took Silas for a bike ride, to the Maxx station, out to dinner, and then home again.  You only need to spend about 15 minutes with Silas to know that this is a combination of his favorite things.  Then he took Jewel to the dollar store to go shopping and then the pet store to look at pets.  Major score for major cheap.  The kids felt so special and so loved.  I appreciated his intentionality in having individual time with both of them before being gone for so long.  

First, Grammy came for a long weekend.  She was able to see Jordan before he left, and give he and I a date night, too.  On the day she arrived, she took trouble makers 1, 2, and 3 for a dinner and bed time combo that can easily knock out Jordan and I together.  While we were out enjoying an incredible dinner with amazing service, followed by a nice long walk, catching up with each other...she was feeding bottles, giving baths, reading books and tucking in.  That right there would have made it worth her trip, but she didn't stop at that!

After Jordan left, she let me sleep in, take naps, and get caught up on my severely depleted rest.  She took the kids on special outings, changed the oil in our car, brought us groceries, AND had a snow ball fight with Silas (in western Oregon, gathering the snow off the hood and making a smashed snow cake constitutes as a snow ball).

We packed a lot into her 3 days here, but the final afternoon and evening really took the cake.  She took Silas out to do some early birthday shopping while I stayed home and napped with Jewel and Trey.  They had also planned to get an oil change in our car while they were out.  I gave her directions to the closest oil changing station, but it was closed.  She was not deterred, Grammy busted out the GPS and found another one to go to.  Then they continued with their other stops, driving all around Hillsboro using the GPS to get from one place to the next.  After quite some time (and some disappointment with closed destinations), they were ready to come home, only to realize that Grammy did not have our home address in her GPS.  Neither did she have it in her phone, or did any of the other family members who could be reached by phone have our Hillsboro address (just the Beaverton one from a few weeks before).  She tried to call me, but I had turned my phone off so that I could sleep...and sleep we all did, for a couple hours at least.  When I got up I had a message from Silas and Grammy, well actually it was a message from the GPS.  The whole recording was Grammy trying to type something into the GPS.  I knew we had a problem.  After poor cell phone coverage and a bad connection, it was finally Silas who told Grammy the final turns to get back to our house.  The birthday shopping kept their spirits high and they were tired but still in good moods when they got home.  Needless to say, when we decided to get Chinese food for dinner, I though it would be best if Jewel and I went out to pick up the food and let Grammy have a break from her tour de Hillsboro.  We left Grammy and the boys happily playing trains.  The Chinese place was a little further than I thought, and it took longer for the food to get finished than they said, but we were home about 45 minutes later with hot food for dinner.  When we walked in the door, Silas was standing in his underwear outside the bathroom and the carpet was wet with water.  "We have a problem here, Mom."  I came down the hall to see Grammy with the lid off the toilet, up to her ankles in water, holding toilet parts in one hand to stop the water from flowing, while trying to shut off the water source with the other hand.  It took us an hour to call our friend Kyle to come over, have the toilet fixed, clean up the mess, and sit down to eat.  The food was cold, not as great as it could have been, and our good mood was fading.  Trey had started teething and was getting fussy, the kids had eaten dinner too late and were crabby, and we had already promised ice cream.  So, in the pouring rain we piled everyone into the Suburban and went to go find ice cream happiness.  We ended up at Target, combining a need for teething toys and tylenol with Target restaurant ice cream.  It worked.  I wanted to comfort our dear Grammy by saying it isn't always like this...but I could not in good conscience make the statement, since in reality it often is.  The next day we put Grammy on the airplane.  I dare say she was too tired to be very sad that she was leaving.  Thank you Grammy for braving the Bury house :)  We sure love you!

After Grammy left, my mom came to town.  We planned a trip to Spokane to see her sister and my cousin.  Right in line with Grammy's trip, we started off the vacation with a bang.  Snow and rain made the typical 6 hour drive into a 12 hour marathon.  Ice, snow, broken windshield wipers, frozen car parts, overturned semi trucks, and four wheel drive made the trip one to remember.  But, we made it to Spokane and it was totally worth it!  

My cousin has 4 kids ages 5 and under, combined with my 3, and several feet of snow...we had amazing adventures.  Her daughter, Macey, had her 4th birthday while we were there.  So while all of her friends came for nail polish and glittery make-up, I took Silas and the boys to my grandparent's house (where we were staying) for movies and a slumber party.  On top of that, my cousins' husband, Heath, took all the kids for rides on the sled...tied to the tractor.  When we got home, Silas said to me "Mom, I'll never forget these days.  The days of riding on the sled and playing in the snow with Colby...I'll just never forget these days."  Like I said, the trip was totally worth it.

 

My mom watched my kids several times so that Callie and I could escape away for coffee or shopping dates.  She also shared a bed with Jewel while we were there...forever sealing Jewel's affections for her Beppe.  They had a lot of fun together...super silly fun. 

 

Our drive home was magnificent.  The weather was pristine.  The kids were well behaved.  The conversation was rich and meaningful and delightful.  The coffee was full and steaming hot.  The treats were just right.  The company was easy and comfortable, but appreciated and treasured.  

 Of course Trey worked his sweet baby magic on Beppe and won her over right away.  There was a lot of snuggling, singing, cuddling and cooing that happened between these two.

 

We also got some extra time with Uncle Everett and Aunt Daniela while my mom was here.  Daniela is always so good at bringing treat for the kids...and this was no exception.  Take a look at Jewel enjoying this peanut butter, chocolate cupcake.  Wowza.  If you are going to indulge, this is the way to do it!

And so we survived.  My mom had two days back at my house with me before she left to go back to Tucson, Jordan came home the afternoon following her morning departure.  I was incredibly blessed to have my time shared with Jordan's mom and my mom.  We certainly treasure these opportunities to have special visits.