Not so sure about the "Terrible Twos"

I'm pretty sure it happens around 18 months in our family. It's that age where you want so much to be independent, but you're not sure how to express yourself in words. So you throw a fit. A full on, arched back, throw yourself on the floor, kicking, screaming fit.

I fully admit to having the worst memory... ever. So I don't quite recall what Jacob was like at Gavin's age. But I do remember that 18 months was way more high maintenance than when he was two. At two, he was really sweet and compliant actually. So it worked out to our advantage that Gavin didn't join our family until Jacob was two and three months. I was more than grateful to have a sweet, compliant toddler around while getting used to life with a brand-new baby.

Gavin was a really good baby too. He slept through the night around 6-8 weeks (Babywise worked like a charm :) and was always happy and full of smiles. Gavin would coo and play when he was awake and sleep quietly for hours when he was not. Hmmm... I must be making up for it now.

Gavin can say a few words to express himself (like more, all done, please, thank you, love you) but what he can't yet say is, "Mommy I want to go outside!!" So he goes to the door, tries unsuccessfully to open it, and throws himself on the floor when I try to pull him away. Now Gavin is a big (in the 100% for everything), strong little guy. I can barely pick him up while he is throwing a fit, let alone contain him. So I just let him throw his fit until he's done.

Adam and I have always struggled with when to start spanking. Do they really understand at 18 months? Well, today I spanked Gavin... and he understood. So that answers my question. ;) He was throwing a major tantrum as I put him in his highchair for lunch. I could hardly get him in because he arched his back and was fighting me with all of his strength. I finally got him in and placed his sandwich on his tray. Which he picked up and threw as hard as he could. So I immediately picked him up, told him no, and spanked him. I sat him back in his highchair and gave him his sandwich again. Let's just say he didn't throw it this time. After sniffling submissively, he picked up his sandwich and ate it.

Gavin really does light up my life with joy everyday. He is full of smiles and giggles and sweet moments. It's just every now and then when he wants his way... and doesn't get it. I guess he'll learn soon enough, maybe even the hard way. Mommy does not give in. :)

Five Things...

My friend April sent this to me and I learned some fun things about her, so I thought I'd put it on my blog.

*_Five jobs I have had in my life_:*
1) Lifeguard
2) Swim Instructor
3) Camp Counselor (the most fun job by far!)
4) Receptionist at an Aquatic Center
5) First Grade Teacher

*_Five movies I've watched more than once_:*
1) The Sound of Music
2) The Princess Bride
3) 10 Things I Hate About You
4) The Family Man
5) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

*_Five places I have lived_:*
1) Mount Vernon, WA
2) Marysville, WA
3) Bellingham, WA
4) Federal Way, WA
5) Puyallup, WA

*_Five T.V. Shows that I watch_:*
1) Grey's Anatomy
2) Lost
3) How I Met Your Mother
4) So You Think You Can Dance
5) The Biggest Loser


*_Five Places I've been_:*
1) Jamaica
2) Mazatlan, Cabo, Puerta Vallarta (on our honeymoon cruise)
3) Maui and Oahu
4) Washington, D.C.
5) Tijuana on a mission trip

*_Five of my favorite foods_:*
1) Chicken Fettucini
2) Four Cheese Chicken Pizza at Casa Mia
3) Pollo A La Crema at Mazatlan
4) Blueberry Pancakes
5) Chips with Spinach/Artichoke Dip

*_Five places I would rather be right now_:*
1) On a beach... anywhere warm and beautiful
2) It's a Small World ride with Jacob
3) Having coffee and conversation with a good friend
4) Cuddling with my husband in our Family Fun Room, watching Grey's Anatomy
5) Getting a professional massage

*_Things I am looking forward to this year_:*
1) Taking our family to Florida for my brother-in-law's wedding
2) Spending time at my dad's condo in Maui
3) Watching Jacob and Gavin explode in excitement on Christmas
4) Good friends having babies
5) Watching my own babies grow and cherishing each pumpkin patch excursion, birthday party, Christmas tradition, Easter egg hunt, vacation, time together as a family

Some cute and funny moments

***When I sneezed the other day, Gavin smiled and said, "Ble you!" It was so cute that Adam and I pretended we were sneezing just to hear it again. Apparently, he also knows the difference between real and pretend sneezes. :)

***I opened our garbage can only to find that it was filled with shoes. As many shoes as Gavin could find and fit inside. Nice.

***Gavin and Adam were playing a few days ago when Jacob said in an exasperated voice, "Where's Gavin's own daddy?" Like he'd had enough of Gavin borrowing HIS daddy!

***Jacob had spent the evening jumping on the trampoline at a friend's house and said, "Mommy, they falled me down. They falled me down on that trampoline."

***Last night, Adam and I tucked Jacob into bed with a sheet of stickers in his hand. I checked on him a few hours later and he was asleep, still clutching onto the stickers. At 5 o'clock this morning, I checked on him again as Adam was leaving for a trip. Not only did he have every sticker stuck to every part of his body, but he was saying in his sleep, "Need tape. Tape to stick my stickers on." When did he put all of those stickers on? Sometime between 10 and 5 o'clock? In the dark? Amazing.

***Today, Jacob and Gavin were getting haircuts and Jacob just started this random conversation with the hair stylist. Which he has never done before... usually he just watches himself intently in the mirror.

"I have a puppy. His name is Sy. Can Sy have a haircut? He doesn't need a haircut? I have a motorcycle. I ride with my Daddy. I ride motorcycles at the fair too. And I ride the swings with Ashley." (It actually was pretty cute. This little girl saw Jacob at the fair and wanted to go on rides with him. So they held hands and ran from ride to ride together. At age 3, you're just so bold with the opposite sex...)

To all of which, the hairstylist responded with either, "Yeah, uh-uh, or really?" I guess he didn't find the conversation as stimulating as I did. ;)

Little Gym. Part II.

I took Gavin to Little Gym this week for the very first time. Although I was really excited to bring him, it was actually a little more bittersweet than I was expecting. I've just been so used to taking Jacob... since he was 21 months old. I had this sad pit in my stomach as I watched Jacob (preschool hadn't started yet) peer through the window with his sweet eyes. I felt as if I was betraying him somehow by being there with Gavin. Little Gym has always been a mommy and Jacob thing. We have so many memories and bonding moments there. How did he get too big for this class already? With all of these thoughts going through my head, I convinced myself that it's time to make those memories and have those moments with Gavin now.

The class starts in a circle, as each child is introduced and gets to bang on the drum. This was Jacob's favorite part, so I couldn't wait to watch Gavin run to the drum in excitement. Except he didn't. He clung to mommy with a scared little look. Seriously?! I thought he would be all over the drum! The air track came next, which he would only go on if I went with him. He did like the exploring time and tried the little activities his teacher modeled. He also loved playing with the balls and squealed in delight as we passed it back and forth. All was well actually, until it was time to clean up the balls. Gavin threw the biggest. fit. ever!! I guess we haven't practiced this skill at home so much. We just play until we are done, without a specific time to clean up. That's the great thing about Little Gym. They are learning so many things that I don't even realize! Anyway, he decided to finally calm down when the bubbles came out. Thank goodness.

Where is my Little Gym buddy who knows everything? I guess we have to start from scratch. Kind of like each beginning of the school year. I'm sure it won't be long before Gavin is doing forward rolls, monkey jumps, bear walks, and walking on the balance beam. He'll be a pro too someday... it just might take awhile. ;)

Time for Preschool!

Jacob will be starting preschool next Monday. It works out perfectly because I teach Thursday/Friday, and he goes to preschool on Monday/Tuesday. Plus, an added bonus is that I can have some Gavin bonding time at Little Gym while Jacob is in preschool. It will be a lot more busy than I'm used to, but I think they'll have a lot of fun. ;)

So yesterday, we got to meet Jacob's preschool teacher. She was really nice, extremely organized, and I am so excited for Jacob to begin this fun learning journey. They have three field trips (pumpkin patch, fire hall, spring picnic) and five classroom parties (Harvest, Happy Birthday Jesus, Valentine's Day, Jesus is Alive, and End of the Year celebration) He even has a special sharing and snack day. So cute and fun. Especially being a teacher, it was very surreal to be there for my son's first preschool experience. It's all happening so fast!

They had the opportunity to explore and play upon arriving. Jacob went straight to the trains.

Here is Jacob's preschool teacher reading the class a book. There are only ten students, mostly boys as you can see. :)
Having a snack while his teacher talked with the parents
Mommy's official preschool picture of her big boy. We couldn't find a sign, so I figured this window would have to do for now.

Doin' the Puyallup

So we did the Puyallup. It was a really fun day... beautiful weather, free admission with our military ID, virtually no lines, and $1 for all of the rides. Unbelievable! And, we decided (since my mom was here) to get tickets for the Chris Daughtry concert. Date night at a concert... how often do we get to do that?! It was awesome.







This was one of the only rides they would let Gavin go on since he wasn't two yet. (Some ride operators were more easy going than others :) He was fine with watching his big brother on all of them though. Pushing his own stoller was entertainment enough for him!

Back to School!

Today was my first day of school. SO many things have changed this year. Considering I'm not the biggest fan of change... it's going pretty well so far. My friend who was going to job share with me decided to stay home with her nine-month old son. I was really happy for her, but having only a few weeks to find a new job share partner was a little scary. A lot scary. Thankfully, God blessed me with an AMAZING new teaching partner, so we've been having fun setting up our classroom and getting ready for the first day.

Our school was remodeled over the summer, so it was really refreshing and exciting to come back. The bittersweet part is that many of my friends are teaching at one of the new schools, so familiar faces are few and far between. I love our school though and I love teaching first grade. Job sharing truly couldn't be more perfect for me. I get to be at home with my kids for the majority of the week, which is so important to me. Teaching though, works a different part of my brain and allows for adult social time (that I very much need). At the end of the day, I couldn't be more excited to see Jacob and Gavin. I love watching them run into my arms and soaking up every ounce of being with them. My first job share partner put it this way... just when you get burned out of being at home with your kids, it's your day to be at school. And just when you get burned out of being at school, you get to be at home with your kids again. Nice.

Back to my first day. It went well. My job share partner and I are both there this week so that definitely helps. It's pretty typical to have a honeymoon period for the first few days, so ask me in a few weeks how everything is. ;) So far, so good!

The red salmon

When we were at Costco the other day, Adam picked out some "orange" salmon and put it in our cart. Later, I happened to find some "red" salmon that looked yummier to me so I exchanged it. As we were checking out, Adam noticed that I had switched the salmon.

A: Did you switch the salmon?
K: (Sheepishly) Yes. This kind looked better.
A: It's not. I've had it before. It's gross.
K: Let's just try it... if it's not good, I'll never get it again.

So tonight, we tried the salmon. Keep in mind that whenever Adam barbecues the salmon he picks out, it's soooo good. He prepped and cooked this salmon exactly the way he usually does and took the first bite. (I was hoping it was the best salmon ever... to prove him wrong of course :) He immediately grimaced and told me that it was terrible. So I was fully ready to try my piece and tell him how good it was... except that it wasn't. It was disgusting. So I apologized for switching the salmon and told him I would never get the "red kind" again.

The funniest part of the whole experience? Jacob LOVED the salmon. He couldn't eat it fast enough. In fact, after a few bites, he dropped the fork and started shoveling it into his mouth with both hands. Adam smiled and gave his big chunk of salmon to Jacob as well. Which he ate. He started eating mine next, until I stopped him... should he really be eating THAT MUCH salmon? We usually can't get him to eat more than two bites of anything we make (unless it's peanut butter and jelly, macaroni, hot dogs, or pizza). I guess now we can add red salmon to the list. Too bad we're never buying it again. ;)

Should we stay or should we go?

Here we are on Lopez Island with Adam's side of the family. Since this was a yearly tradition when he was younger, we all decided it would be fun to start it up again with a new generation. The biggest dilemma was that it started raining on Saturday afternoon. We briefly debated packing up... but Grampa got a fire going, so we built a shelter and decided to make the best of it. I'm really glad we did... because that evening was full of laughter, music, dancing, and all that fun campfire stuff.

Peeking out at the beautiful view on the ferry boat
Can you believe our car?! Adam fit a motorcycle back there!

We were really grateful that our neighbors had extra poles and tarp
Grampa lifted our spirits with some beautiful music on his harmonica
Jacob was laughing and dancing, so Grampa took a break and danced too
Then it was Gavin's turn to dance with Grampa
Here is Gavin with his cousin Evan and Aunt Marlys
Gavin and Evan are buddies and especially love to feed each other
This is Daddy's latest model airplane...
Jacob and Gavin love watching and track every movement in awe
We bought these crabs for $1 each from a boy who caught them that day... is that a good deal or what?

Bear Hugs

These aren't just any bears. Oh no. They were made by Mommy and Daddy uniquely for our two boys. When I was nine months pregnant with Jacob, we were walking in the mall and passed by a Build A Bear store. All of a sudden, we got this great idea to build a bear together for our newborn baby. We taped our voices so Mommy and Daddy each had a turn saying, "I love you Jacob!" We both kissed a heart and placed it inside the bear before he was stuffed. Here was the outcome.

We waited toward the end of my second pregnancy to make one for Gavin as well. Mostly because we didn't know for sure what his name would be until just days before he was born. It was even more special this time because Jacob was there to help us. He kissed the little heart and taped his voice alongside us. Gavin's bear sounds like this... "Love you Gavin (Daddy), Love you Gavin (Mommy), Wuv u Gaabin (Jacob). They love to walk around the house squeezing their bear and his paw. (The funny thing is, Jacob prefers Gavin's bear because it has his voice on it. ;)

Learning about God

I volunteer in Tiny Town 2 at my church. Gavin is in Tiny Town 1, just a door away from where I am. I love peeking in and watching him at play, eating snacks, and learning about God. Today, when I peeked in, I think my heart melted a little. There were the one year olds, sitting in chairs around a table, holding hands in prayer. One year olds. How adorable is that?! God must love looking down on these babies praying, to the best of their ability anyway. Seriously precious. :)

Jacob is really starting to understand and apply the bible stories he hears. Today, they learned about Jonah and the whale. He came running out to me with his craft, a giant whale with little Jonah in his mouth. Jacob remembered Jonah's name and told me that Jonah was sad in the whale's tummy. (Jonah even had a sad crayon face.) A few weeks ago, they were learning about how God will take care of them. At home, Jacob started saying, "God will take care of me, mommy." Then, just the other day, Gavin was screaming in his car seat. Jacob yelled over this curdling scream, "Mommy!! God will take care of him?!?!" Application. Gotta love it.

I also learned something thought-provoking in service today. Up on the screen were words about worship. How important it is. How so many people base their opinion about worship on whether their favorite songs were played. How if they weren't, they felt that worship wasn't good that day. The words continued. What if your focus wasn't on how worship makes YOU feel. What if it was focused on the OBJECT of worship. It's not about us. It's about what we offer up to God.

Wow. I get really caught up in that sometimes. Basing worship on whether or not I like the songs. Singing words without feeling them from my heart. Thinking that hymns are boring, when the words can be so meaningful and give us incredible insight. If our mind is solely focused on Him, we can use any song being played to worship. And let me tell you, once I wrapped my mind around that... worship was good today. Because it wasn't about me.

They really ARE listening!

I am constanting changing the radio station in my car. There are five or six pre-programmed stations that I listen to, but most of my time is spent searching for whichever one is playing a song that I like. I usually start with 105.3, but immediately push a different button once advertisements take over. Little did I know, Jacob and Gavin were in the back seat listening intently...

We were walking in the door one day when Jacob starting singing, "No way, no way, I don't like your giiirlfriend. Hey you, hey you, I don't like your giiirlfriend." I stopped and thought... wait a second. Is he singing what I think he's singing?

The real shocker came when Gavin played a role as well. This is what happened when the song "Umbrella" came on the radio. You can be my Cinderella, ella, ella, (and Gavin chimed in with) EH, EH, EH! Under my umbrella, ella, ella, (EH, EH, EH)! It was pretty funny, but maybe I should stick with Christian radio... I hear satellite doesn't have ads. :)

Betcha you haven't done this!

The story begins at a gas station yesterday, while I was vacuuming my car. I usually set my keys down in the center console, but for some reason I decided to hold them while vacuuming this time. Not a good idea. The vacuum had a super strong suction and once the tip of one key touched it, they were gone in the blink of an eye!

I sat there for a few seconds, processing what had happened. Adam was on a flight, with my spare key is on his keychain. I know, I know... a pilot's keychain is definitely NOT the best place for my spare key to be. Luckily, I have a garage door opener in my car, so I knew I could at least get into my house. I just had to find a ride there... The funniest part was, after processing it all, I continued to vacuum my car. I thought that I might as well finish what I came there to do!

Trying to be as calm as possible, I walked my kids inside the gas station and waited in line. Feeling completely ridiculous, I said, "So you've probably never heard this story before... " She said she had heard it all. :) I felt a little better when she told me that another customer had recently done the same thing. She wasn't sure if she knew how to get them out, but THANKFULLY, she found the right key pretty quickly. And there they were, at the very bottom of all of the dust and used cigarettes. Seriously, people vacuum cigarettes from their car floor?

Anyway, the moral of this story is... don't put your keys anywhere remotely close to where you are vacuuming. The end. :)

Tradition

My family has made camping in Leavenworth each summer a tradition for years. This year was especially exciting for me because Adam was able to go. (He has always had to work!) The camping spot we go to has a river, pool, playground, espresso/ice cream stand... what more could you ask for?! Oh, maybe the air conditioned cabin we rented this year. It was THE BEST. It made us realize that the simple life just may be better. There was nothing that Gavin could get into... no toilet paper rolls to undo, cupboards to open, toys to fight over, stairs to climb. Pure relaxation.

One of the highlights of Leavenworth are the outdoor plays they have each summer. The Sound of Music is presented every year in the crisp, cool air with actual mountains in the background. Being there, in the ambiance of it all, takes your breath away. This year we saw Camelot and you can imagine our surprise when we discovered my mom had gotten us front row, center seats! (If you knew how much I LOVE musicals, you would know how excited I was.) We felt like we were literally on stage and I had chills through the entire production. It was priceless.

Here are some pictures of our family in Leavenworth.
Wrestling cousins
Here, I'll hold the wand and you blow
Running in circles together
The only way we'll sit still long enough to get a picture
See mommy? I can ride Jacob's bike too!
Until Travis wants a turn...
Daddy made me go all the way in the river with him

Sy found some friends at the river

You gotta help me roast this marshmallow Daddy
Sharing a s'more with Grammy

SO BIG!

Gavin is all about being a "big boy". It is very important to him that he proves this to us in a variety of ways. If I give him a snack, he sets it on our little toddler table, pulls himself into the chair (which usually takes a few attempts ;), and finally enjoys his snack with pride. He is also insistent on using a fork for whatever he is eating.

The most exciting development is all of the words Gavin is starting to say. It seemed to happen out of nowhere! One day, he could only say a few words... now he is picking up new ones daily. Some of the latest new words are: baba (I want something to drink), dipuh (which he says with a smile when I am changing him), chee (whenever I get the camera out), plee (for please, usually when he wants something to eat), bebe (when he sees a baby or sometimes referring to himself), ookee (cookie, a "must have" word for any toddler :), uh oo (thank you and love you), ahgee (doggie). Even more exciting, he can put two words together like baba plee (milk please), up plee, bebe diapuh, hi dada. This age can be so high maintenance, but this cuteness makes it all worth it!

Gavin's rocking chair is by far the biggest feat he has obtained. It took him awhile, but his big muscles prevailed and he was able to pull himself up. He was so happy to once again prove what a big boy he is to mommy. Tadaa!

A family adventure

On Thursday, we took the boys to Wild Waves. The weather was beautiful, Adam had the day off... time for a family adventure! Since the boys are still so young, we weren't sure if it would be worth the money. However, Costco had pretty cheap tickets so we decided to go for it. It was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting!

Wild Waves does have a huge water play structure for little ones. The only problem was, Jacob wasn't the biggest fan of water bursting out of random places at unexpected times. He finally braved climbing into this crazy fort, when I saw several employees holding buckets of water up above everyone. I gave one a "please don't dump that on my son" look, but he took it as a "please don't dump that on me" look and drenched both of us. So Jacob and Gavin played their hearts out on the mini waterslides outside of the big fort. These simple waterslides entertained them for a LONG time. We could also take them in the wave pool and the innertube river ride. Since it was so hot, there wasn't even shivering between activities! ;)

The funniest thing was that when we were in line for the innertube river ride, Gavin ran right up to a stranger and wrapped his little arms around his leg. This man picked Gavin up and Gavin nuzzled into him. Knowing full well he thought it was his daddy, I nudged Adam and motioned to this display of affection. Adam was cracking up and said, "Gavin, did you get the wrong Daddy?" You could actually see Gavin's little brain working. He looked at Adam and was like, wait a second. If you're my Daddy... then. who. is. holding. me?! He took a double-take, his eyes widened, and his arms immediately burst out toward Adam. It was funny... I guess men in swim trunks all sort of look alike to a one-year old. :)

Jacob was even more excited when we got dressed and headed for Enchanted village. There were tons of cute little kid rides that both Jacob and Gavin could go on. From kangaroos to spaceships, boats, cars, and roller coasters... they loved it. The best part was that there were no lines for any of the rides, so they could get right on as many times as they (or the parents) could handle. Sorry I don't have pictures! We didn't bring the camera inside. :)

Up at night with Daddy

Adam and I were watching a movie upstairs when we heard Jacob calling for us. I gave Adam the "it's your turn" look with a smile so he went in to check on him. They had a cute conversation so I thought I'd share it.

J: I want Sy to go bye-bye. (Apparently our pug had snuck into his dark room and scared him)
A: Oh, did Sy come in here?
J: Why does he want to wake me up Daddy?
A: He just wants to give you kisses...
J: He wants to give me hugs?
A: Well, he can't give hugs because he doesn't have any arms. Sy just has four legs.
J: Sy only has legs? Where are Sy's shoes?
A: He doesn't have shoes.
J: Put Sy down the stairs.
A: Come here Sy! It's OK... Sy wants to give you some kisses.
J: No! No doggie kisses. They're too scary! Sy gives Daddy kisses!
A: Don't worry buddy, I'll make sure Sy goes downstairs. Love you, ni-night.

A typical afternoon

It all began with Jacob getting out his leap pad to read a story. Gavin toddled over, swiped the leap pad, and swirled the reading pen around in circles.

M: "Jacob, if you don't want Gavin to bother you, just bring your leap pad to the table." (It's really tall so Gavin can't reach :)
J: "Mommy, he's going to wrap it!!" (Which he had great reason to say, since Gavin did tear a page out of his leap pad book yesterday)
M: "I will watch Gavin closely to make sure he doesn't rip it."
J: "He's going to rip it like a present Mommy!"

It wasn't long before Jacob decided to play with a shape puzzle, knowing full well that Gavin would want that toy next.

J: "That's a rectangle. That's a diamond. Is that a exagon Mommy?" (Being a first grade teacher, I teach him some crazy shape names...)

Just as he planned, Gavin heads over to the shape puzzle and Jacob runs to retrieve the leap pad. This time, he carries it promptly to the table.

J: "Gavin wants to play outside mommy."
J: After investigating his leap pad... "He ripped it! Do you not member?!"
J: Tries to turn it on... "This needs new batteries! Mommy, you have to go to the store. You need to buy circle batteries."

He runs to the battery drawer and pulls out every package of battery he can find. Unfortunately, we had everything but the double A's that he needed. I tried to explain to him (as he showed me each one) that it was either too big or too little.

Since it was naptime, I convinced him to head upstairs to bed by saying...

M: "Would you like to help Mommy clean up or would you like to rest upstairs?"
J: "I'll be upstairs Mommy!"

Shortly afterward, I hear him yelling for me in an extremely upset voice. After going up to check on him, he sniffled a few times, took a deep breath, and said, "Mommy I want to say a prayer with you." Awww...

Step Girl at Heart

I started working out at the Y last summer when my friend asked if I wanted to get a personal trainer with her. I'd never done anything like this before, but it was really good for me. First of all, because I had just had a baby. Also, I really need accountability when it comes to working out. I am not one of those people who can get up early out of pure motivation. I have to know that there is someone at the gym waiting for me (who has to work out with the personal trainer by herself if I don't make it). Finally, there is the fact that it is pretty expensive, so missing a workout is like throwing away money. I loved working out together though... we challenged each other, sweat blood and tears, and worked our tails off. This same friend has now moved on to competing in triathlons! All because of me. :)

Once our personal training came to an end, my motivation to work out started to dwindle. I think it's because I am very picky about how I work out. I don't really like to run, the eliptical... not so much, spinning... no, kickboxing... no. I tried the circuit class, which I actually did really like. There are always a few friends in that class too, which is fun. I have always been a competitive swimmer, since I was six years old. It does feel incredible to be in the water, but I can't get myself to go through the process of changing, swimming, showering... probably because I'd gone through this monotonous routine everyday for almost my entire life. (Not to mention that I was a lifeguard and taught swim lessons at this same pool. I seriously lived there!)

I always wanted to try the step class, because I had taken step in high school and really loved it. All of my friends who have a membership weren't as interested though. So finally, I tried it by myself. The first time (kind of like snowboarding ;) was really bad. I guess I shouldn't have started in the 103 class, huh?! I tried hard to pretend I knew what I was doing, but mostly just stepped around in complete confusion. The instructor would call out the next step, but by the time I remembered what it was, everyone was onto the next step. It seemed like everyone else was on cue all of the time, in rhythmic perfection. I left overwhelmed and was pretty sure I wouldn't be back.

I eventually decided to give it one more try and amazingly, started figuring this thing out! The steps became more familiar and once you catch on, it's really really fun. Now I have to say, I'm officially addicted. This is the only workout that I am truly motivated by and enjoy. Not only have I been going consistently, but I actually look forward to it. Unbelievable. Even my husband is in shock. So hooray for step. Anyone want to be my step buddy? :)

Seaside

We just got back from Seaside with my dad, stepmom, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, niece, stepbrother, his wife, and their five month old baby. All in one four bedroom house! Not so much sleeping went on, but hey, who needs sleep? ;) Gavin especially loved waking up super early, so we would go on a walk down the beach each morning. There's nothing like seeing the beauty of the ocean and being immersed in God's amazing creation. Each crash of the waves takes my breath away and reminds me of how big and how real He is.

It was overcast the first few days, but that didn't stop us! I packed up the boys and we dove right into that beach. Even though both Jacob and Gavin lost their footing and fell into the water, they got back up and played in their soaking wet clothes. Luckily, it was warm and muggy outside so I let them play in the "mud" for a little while. Gavin became one with the mud and loved every minute. Despite being a little upset about falling into the water, Jacob shook it off and even built a little volcano. :)

The next day was sunny, but pretty windy. We took the boys to Cannon Beach and walked against the wind right up to Haystack Rock. As I carried Gavin, I caught a glimpse of his face that I will always remember. The wind was practically blowing him away, but the smile on his face was the biggest I've ever seen. I wish I had a picture for you.

Gavin and Grandpa... it just doesn't get any more precious :)
Gavin with Grandma Kathy
Jacob and Maddie... and a whole lot of cousin love
Experiencing the ocean together
Gavin and his mudfest
Jacob's mud volcano
How did Maddie come out SO clean? Gavin embracing his wet and muddy self... Jacob, a little distraught about it :)