Silas and Audrey

Following our time at the Bury house, Silas and I spent two nights at Hessel and Heather's house. Our time there was refreshing and relaxing. We were spoiled with delicious food and spectacular company. Most of activities included watching Silas and Audrey play together while Heather and I soaked up much needed conversation over banana bread and coffee. It is hard for me to even write about my experience there because I feel like attempting to describe it with words limits the true feelings of thankfulness and joy I had while I was there. Some people have the gift of making their company feel loved and wanted...Heather is one of those people. She serves while still being engaged, she spoils and gives treats without making it seem like it is out of the ordinary at all, she listens and connects effortlessly in an expression of love that is precious. I am so thankful that God made her my sister and that he gave us babies so close in age. This trip would not have been the same without this special peice.

The Arizona Sky

Now this is what we miss about Arizona when we are in Oregon. Sure, we love the feeling of the warm sun, we like playing outside all day in the month of March, we enjoy flip flops more than rain boots. There are days when the rain feels ending here, when we wonder if the sun forgot about Hillsboro, when wearing layers to go to the zoo gets a little old. But we love the summers here, and the long days make up for the rain and darkness of winter. But, no matter how great a day here...they never end quite like this.

Vacation begins at Grammy's house

Silas and I just returned from a 9 day trip to Arizona. Although we are of course glad to be home with Jordan, we had an awesome time with the family! Our trip started out with three days at Grammy and Pops' house. We enjoyed lots of playing outside, a trip to Sabino Canyon, hearing stories from Abbie, swimming in the hot tub, and of course the Bury tradition of making smores. Silas had so much fun with his cousins! It was a treat for me to see him with them. Since we saw everyone at Christmas, there was less time of needing to get reaquainted...and the playing started right away. The kids went camping in Grammy's closet, ran races from one side of the house to the other, the boys let Abbie decorate them with capes and glitter lip gloss, and there were endless hours of playing ball. Grammy and Pops wore themselves out with all the grandkids! We had a great time and were thankful to be able to spend as much time there as we did. We cannot wait to add Ellsie to the mix of kids. Then in September, Jordan and I are adding grandchild number six to the Bury bunch! Now THAT will be a party!

Valentine's Getaway

This was the view I woke up to last Monday morning.
For Valentine's Day this year Jordan surprised me with a night away for just the two of us at Cannon Beach. I was totally shocked, and a little nervous about being away from Silas for more than 24 hours...but also so excited for an opportunity to sleep without listening for potty calls on the monitor and to eat a meal of my own choosing at my own pace. So Sunday afternoon Devon came to our rescue again and took Silas over night and we took off. It was rainy when we got there, so we took a little Sunday afternoon snooze with the fire going in our room so that we could leave the sliding door open and listen to the waves as we rested. We spend the evening strolling through down town and eating a quiet dinner together. The hotel had a heated pool and spa so we soaked, talked and relaxed completely. After a late night walk on the beach we crashed hard and both slept much later than we ever remember being able to do. We left the door open with the heat cranked all night long to be able hear the waves and smell the ocean air. We ate breakfast on the beach in the morning, sipped our coffee to the sun covering the sand and sparkling on the water. I had a surprisingly easy time not worrying about how Silas was doing (mostly because I think he is as comfortable at Devon's house as he is at mine, and I trust her completely with his care...which is good since he had a non pee pee accident at her house...thank you so much Devon) and fully enjoying my time with my Valentine. We of course made the commitment to get away together more often. We talked without interruption about the convictions in our hearts and the thoughts on our minds. We laughed together about silly stories and memories. We grew together, even though sometimes that is hard, and not what we would expect. We challenged each other and prayed for each other. We were reminded why God chose us for one another.

Thank you Jordan for our weekend, thank you God for blessing our time.

A weekend road trip

This last weekend Silas and I drove the 6 hours north to go and
visit my cousins in Lynden. I was a little nervous about the drive, but Silas did outstanding! After the first hour he was saying "Momma, hold you! Momma, out!" which I knew was his way of saying I have been in here long enough. I debated turning around and ditching the whole trip, but instead decided to throw my time table out the window and just stop when he needed to even if it was every hour. So we took a break, got some coffee for me and snacks for him, went to the bathroom and stretched our legs. When we got back in the car he took a little nap, woke up refreshed, and the rest of the trip was filled with "What's that Momma? A CRANE! A DIGGER! A TRACTOR! A AIRPLANE! A TRUCK! Who's that Momma? Psalty on? More Psalty? A break from Psalty Momma? Crackers puleeeeze Momma! POTTY! POTTY! POTTY! I hold it...I tooting...HURRY MOMMA! A treat?" And many, many more
one liners to entertain me. Once we got there, Silas wasted no
time getting to know the six kids Shilo and Jasmine have between them. Soon he was calling them all by name, joining in their games, and even getting on the "stage" to sing our beloved Psalty tunes under the direction of Pearl and Darla. Sadly I don't have any pictures of the youngest two boys (James, 1 and Everett, 9 mos.) mostly because we were policing a zoo of 7 children for most of the time, and fitting in every conversation we have been dying to have in between. By the end of our visit, Silas was dreaming and talking about his cousins in his sleep, and hugging and kissing them all before we left.
This of course brought back so many memories for me of the visits my family made to Carnation, Washington when I was growing up. There are always those few moments at the
beginning that are a little awkward and where you feel a little shy, but family is family and it doesn't take long to realize that you want to connect with these cool kids! Before long you are inseparable and it is hard to believe you lived your life without them by your side. Although the awkward moments are gone now with my cousins, the rest remains the same. I never regret making the trip to reconnect with my girls. I am so blessed with such amazing family.

The Birthday Pictures

The long awaited tricycle

The tricycle and the dear football

Birthday bath with Grammy and tons of fun new bath toys

Birthday Best Friends, Aiden and Silas

Me and some of my pals; Erin, Emily and Devon

We rode the tricycle to the playground

My Two Year Old!

My Sweet Birthday Boy

So he is two. I still rock him to sleep many afternoon naps, and sing him into slumber after a midnight waking. I carry him on my hip as long as my arms will hold him. He is snuggling now with his baby blanket and pacifier in the same crib he has slept in since he was three months old. So what is it that is so remarkable about birthdays? Do they really change into a bigger kid in one magical night marking the start of another year? Mostly it is the opportunity to remember. It is taking the intentional time to recount the pregnancy, the day of his birth, his tiny little self that we brought home from the hospital. I knew that motherhood would be special, I knew that I would treasure my children. I did not know to the extent I know now, how your baby captures your heart.

So of course to make up for last year's tiny party, we did up #2 in all the birthday galore. The biggest treat was sharing this crazy weekend with Jordan's parents who joined us on Friday night. Saturday we filled our house with Silas' friends from church. The kids played until cheeks were rosy red and brows were sweaty. I enjoyed each minute of the wildness...I love when my house is busting at the seams, and Saturday was a true test of the handiwork. Jordan and I were reminded again how richly God has blessed us with incredible friends here in Oregon. And, Silas "got it" this year; the balloons, the presents, the singing...I think he fully enjoyed his birthday party. Everyone napped following the excitement, although Silas is like me in that he struggles to sleep when he knows there may be something he is missing. We got recharged enough to hit the town with Grammy and Pops and finish the night with a Wii bowling tournament.

Sunday was Silas' actual birthday. We did church, lunch, naps, and then hit party city all over again. This time presents from the family, Grammy's special cupcakes and a birthday bath before bed time. Silas' special gift was a tricycle with a handle that allows us to be able to push and help him steer until he gets the hang of it on his own. Although we are confident that this fabulous tricyle will provide us hours of outdoor fun, it was the last minute purchase of a $2 plastic football that stole the show, of course.

Monday we shared breakfast and a precious time of prayer with Grammy and Pops before taking them back to the airport. The visit wasn't long enough for any of us. Although we will see family again in 3 weeks, Grammy and Silas were both in tears as we said our goodbyes. The ache of being far from the rest of the family was certainly heightened as we listened to birthday messages and songs of celebration over speaker phone.

Today we brought Silas in for his 2 year check up and are greatfully reporting an extremely healthy and strong little boy. Well, not too little...he is 75% for height and 70% for wieght. The doctor was of course so impressed with his potty training (hard for me not to be a little proud of myself too :) but I remained humble in front of Silas), pleased with his vocabulary and physical stature. All things we knew, but it is always nice to hear them from a professional. So we rejoice and praise the Lord for Silas on this, his second birthday.