Great Grandma

Matthias has met all three of his living great grandmothers within this month. From Southern California to Washington, he is becoming a pretty well traveled baby. Here is Lil' Beef meeting his great Grandma Guddat.

Whoops

I forgot to get a post in yesterday. Well, I did remember but I was already in bed just about to fall asleep. It was not important enough for me to get up and do it.

We arrived in Olympia safe and sound. The second leg went much better because most of it was driven during the day. We arrived about 6:30 and had dinner at Jason and Rachel's. The older boys were in bed by 8:15 and are getting back into their normal napping routine here.

Some photos from our day yesterday include breakfast at Black Bear Diner and two little boys taking a car nap.

First Leg

If you look up the definition of inefficient in the dictionary you will find one meaning as follows: road trip with two two-year olds and a newborn baby. We took a 6.5 hour drive and made it in a little over 9 hours. Nursing breaks did not always sync up with potty breaks and vice versa. We made it and I think our children will still love us tomorrow. Seriously though, while inefficient we had a good trip and the boys did well. Some pics from our day:

On the Road Again Part II

We are leaving for our road trip to Washington tomorrow after church. We had a funeral this morning in Reno and once we got home we have been doing some type of preparation ever since. I have come to appreciate how much more work it is to pack for myself and three little boys for a trip. Eric does his own packing but I have to make sure that all his clothes are laundered and ready to go. I am emotionally and physically spent. I am really looking forward to our trip but right now I am looking forward to sleep.

On the Road Again

We are heading home tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing my Eric. We have been apart for about three weeks which is our longest stretch yet. I am almost all packed up and the baby is down to sleep. This is my cue to hit the hay be horse that alarm clock goes off much too early. Good night!

Arrived!

We all made it to my dad and stepmom's home safe and sound. The trip went amazingly well with three young children. I expected the worst and definitely got the best. Feel blessed to be here with family and am looking forward to spending time with loved ones. I meant to take some pics today to post but I completely forgot. Matthias has been down for a while and that means I should too. Sleep, sweet blessed sleep. Good night all.

So Cal Visit

We are still getting back into the swing of things after returning earlier this week from visiting my family in Southern California.  It was a bit of an impromptu trip.  We typically rotate holidays between Eric's family here in Nevada and my family in California.  Due to a busy work schedule for Eric and (crazy!) gas prices, we decided to stay here for Thanksgiving.  My dad and stepmom really wanted to see the boys before the holidays and they started hatching a plan.  My dad flew up to Reno and the next day the four of us left for So Cal.  My dad paid for the fuel for my vehicle so basically the entire trip was free for us--a huge blessing!  Eric was out of town for work for several days so the timing was perfect in the sense that we were not spending unnecessary time apart as a family.  The boys and I had a great time in the warm weather playing outside, visiting with family and friends and getting to celebrate my grandma's birthday. 

The boys had started getting the sniffles on Halloween and the day following.  Their moods were good, they were eating fine and they seemed to be bouncing back quickly.  The first several days down in California everything was fine but then Abraham got really irritable and had a low grade fever.  He just looked miserable on the morning of our last day there so I brought him to urgent care and he had a double ear infection.  It put a slight damper on things having a sick little guy but we still had a good visit.   The main issue was that the boys have become very attached to me. I love that my boys love me so much but it can be physically and emotionally draining when I am the only one that they want to comfort them.  With them being in an unfamiliar environment, it was like they were super glued to me at times.  It definitely made me realize how much I miss having my family close by for various reasons.  The boys loved playing with their cousins and I know it means the world to my family to be able to see the boys and bond with them more.

We kept the visit a surprise for my grandma so it was sweet getting to see her reaction as she opened her door and she saw two little boys standing there.  Winston said "hi" and walked right in.  Abraham was much less sure and would not go in unless he was reassured by me going in as well.  My grandma also had a birthday when we were down there so it was special that we got to celebrate with her. My best friend also drove in from L.A. with her two little girls.  It was a little interesting trying to have an actual conversation with Kathy when we collectively had four kids two and under in the house but we made it work as best we could.  I am so thankful she made he drive to see me.  I loved seeing how her girls are changing and growing into such little women. 

Enjoy the pics from our week:

Boys and their shenanigans.

The boys have started calling my dad "Gee-pa"

Books with Grandma Ida

Winston LOVES his cousin Tyler.  I think the feeling is mutual.

Mama likes doing self-portraits.

Roxie is a natural looking athlete.

Kathy and me-- we have been friends since we were fourteen years old.

I tried to get Jane to hold still for a pic but this was the best I could do.

 

We loved the warmer weather and playing outside in the afternoon.

My sweet grandma and her birthday goodies.

The boys also turned twenty months old when we were down there so now I need to get going on that post!

Meeting up with Krystle from 3 Little Men & a Mommy

While we were on vacation, I got a chance to meet up with Krystle, a fellow blogger MoM.  Krystle and I first met through the Multiples and More blogging network when were both pregnant with twin boys.  Krystle's twin boys, Camden and Christian, are a month older than mine and she also has wonderful four year old named Jack.  Krystle writes about her life with her little guys and her pastor husband over at 3 Little Men & A Mommy.  Whenever I feel overwhelmed with A&W, I remind myself that I am not trying to deal with a very active four year old on top of it.

We met up with Krystle, her boys and her mom at a nice little spot close to Crater Lake.  There was this nice little area for all the kids to run around and a ice cream shop right around the corner--perfect!  This meet up was the first time I had a met a blogger friend in real life.  It is so funny to say but I was so nervous that Krystle would not like me in person.  She is such a warm and genuine person though that I felt comfortable with her right away. It is surreal reading about someone's life and feeling like you know them and then actually getting to meet them.  It was fun and I loved getting to see Krystle's gorgeous little guys.

Our little guys turned eighteen months old the day of our visit.

Amazing!  I got all four boys in one frame.

"Hey, check out these rocks!"

Christian letting us know that the fire ring was hot.  He obviously picked up on what he was told.

Jack showing off his jumping skills.

 

"Hey, check this out!"

Double the twin boys.

All the little guys.  Unfortunately Jack's face is partially covered.

Two mamas and all their little men.

Cuteness overload.  From left to right:  Winston, Abraham, Christian and Camden.

After hanging out for about an hour and a half, we had to head back to Sunriver because it was late afternoon and our boys had never napped. A&W did so well despite being so tired.  The boys were only in the car for a few minutes and then they conked out.  It was a short visit but very sweet and I was so happy to meet Krystle and her boys.

Sunriver Vacation

We got back last weekend from a wonderful vacation in Sunriver, Oregon. I have been working on writing about our trip this entire past week but one of my little guys was sick and that always changes everything around here. This is one of those posts where it is really hard to summarize a week in words and pictures... but I will try my best to capture the spirit of our time there.

Happy Bubbas at breakfast time

I posted that the night before we left for Sunriver that we had our first night away together from the kids.  Ideally we would have hit the road by 9:00 at the latest but we did not end up leaving until about 11:00.  Then we got the brilliant idea that we would change the boys' seats to facing forward so that they would be more well behaved.  Epic parenting fail.  The boys' morning nap was interrupted so that we could leave and the forward facing thing over-stimulated them to the point that they did not want to nap in the car at all.  I think I could write a whole post about what we learned from road tripping with toddlers.  Perhaps I will...if I ever get around to it.  We finally rolled into the driveway of the rental house at about 9:00 pm after surviving some major whining.  We got settled in and went straight to bed.  I was so tired that I fell asleep right away.  It was amazing and I slept better that week on vacation than I have in a really long time.

"Woo-hoo's" from Abraham.  It was great at first but not when we wanted them to nap.

Winston liked facing forward as well.

Last fall when Eric's brother Adam got married, we talked to his cousins about the potential of all of us spending a week in Sunriver for a cousins' reunion.  When Eric was growing up, members of his immediate and extended family would go to Sunriver for vacation.  Some families went every year and some more sporadically.  At the time when this all came up, I loved the idea of all of us going on vacation together but Eric had just lost his job the week before.  Our future was uncertain and I was trying to mentally prepare myself for continuing to work full time to support our family.  The idea of planning a vacation a year down the road seemed very unrealistic to me.  Fast forward a year later and Eric has almost been at his current job for a year.  I was even able to quit working a couple months after Eric started working again.  God was very, very gracious to us. It still amazes us to see what God has done in our lives in the last year and how He has been so faithful to provide for us. We had vacation time provided through Eric's job and started planning the trip with his cousins.  Eric's cousin Jason and his wife Rachel headed up the hunt for a house for all of us to rent together and they did a great job.  We ended up staying in a 5 bedroom/5 bathroom house and it had four suites.  This meant that all of us married couples had our own bathroom within our room.  The kitchen was huge and we were all able to cook at the same time and not get into each other's way too much.  Everyone was gracious enough to allow us to have the biggest bedroom, the one with the walk-in closet, so that we could have the boys sleep in there.  

Home sweet home for the week.

We would open the pocket door to the closet in the morning and this is what we would see.

What I loved about the week was that it was very relaxed and casual. There were no itineraries or schedules. We stayed in the same rental house all week so there was no driving here and there and everywhere. This trip was our first vacation for the sake of just having a vacation.  Every trip we have gone on has been tied to a holiday, wedding or a funeral so it has been busy and not always very relaxing.  The week was really what the doctor ordered.  The boys loved seeing Eric every day and getting to do lots of activities.  We went on bike rides, went to the swim center (SHARC), went for walks in the local outdoor mall and in general spent lots of quality time with family.

Winston running around at the SHARC.

Peekaboo

Our family of four

Abraham catching a little break.

Jason and Rachel--we love them lots.

Winston and Lorelai had lots of fun playing in the sand area.

Cousin love.  Winston goes in for a smooch.

Getting ready for a bike ride.  Rene with Abraham, Mama with Winston, Aunt Cindy and Jonathan.

The bubbas taking a stroll at The Village.

What is this bike trailer thing and why do we always have to wear our hats?

Before the long ride. We gave up on the hats.

After

One of the highlights of the week was that we had a big potluck with all the families.  There were cousins, great aunts and uncles, great great aunts and uncles and great grandparents.  The downstairs area of our rental house accommodated everyone quite nicely.

Like father, like son.

We learned that Abraham figured out how to get more dessert.  He would go around saying "bite" and Aunt Cindy was one of the people happy to oblige.  He is a smart little stinker.

The kiddos had fun doing laps around the pool table.

These kids were deliriously tired by this point.

Uncle Tracy and his little granddaughter Lorelai.

Tickle time!

Great Uncle Denny and Uncle Tracy with Winston checking out the TV.

Grandma Guddat and Grandma Holmes

Mama and Winston

We are already looking forward to going again and are hoping to make it a biennial event with all the cousins.  One thing I wish I had was group photo of all of us that were in the house but I was trying to be relaxed about the picture taking--being more in the moment rather than trying to orchestrate the perfect picture opportunities.  The blessing is that our family is rapidly expanding with additional family members getting married and having children of their own.  Doing this trip again is definitely an event to look forward to.

Getting ready for a bike ride!

Climbing hills at The Village

Winston and Great Grandma Guddat

Our drive home went much, much better.  We left at a decent hour and the boys took both a morning and afternoon nap.  We took a longer lunch break in Klamath Falls and then stopped again in Susanville.  We found a nice little park and let the boys run around for a while.  The boys played on the swings for the first time and they loved it.  We got home right a round dinner time and it was easy getting the guys back into their normal routine.

Eric was wearing his 'iDad 2.0' shirt--perfect!

Sweet Abraham

Precious Winston

Another of Mama and Winston

It was a great trip and I was so thankful to spend time with extended family and get a break from our everyday routine.  I am ready to go back already!