August

Matt and I were talking the other day about how quickly the summer passed by.  At first it seemed like we didn't really get to do too much.  But, thinking back it was packed full of major life events:

1. Matt went to San Diego for a work conference

2. I turned 30.

3. I had my 2nd cornea transplant.

4. We "celebrated" our 5th wedding anniversary ("celebrated" because it was 2 days after my surgery and I was tired and we were at his parents house for the weekend.  Oh well, there's always next year!)

5. Matt accepted a new job in Seattle.

6. We left Bellingham after 12 years.

7. We moved in with Matt's parents for a month.

8. Carter learned how to use the potty!

9. Lucy started crawling.

10. Lucy started standing and cruising on furniture.

11. Lucy learned how to climb the stairs.

12. Lucy gave us a little health scare.  

13. We moved to Bothell.

Hmmm....I'd say we had a pretty busy summer.  

To recap in pictures, here you go.  Some of my favorites from the month of August.

Sibling bath time silliness.  

 After 2 years Carter finally built up enough courage to ride Grandpa Vance's lawn mower.  It took getting Grandpa new headphones for his birthday that Carter could wear so the noise wasn't too scary.  The joy on his face was priceless!

 Lucy in her hospital gown.  Cutest little (healthy!) patient I've ever seen.

 Lots of time exploring the grass (and maybe eating a little too!)

 So much cuddle time.

 Smiles.

 Many trips to get frozen yogurt!

 Baths in the big bath tub!

 Getting the cutest little fat rolls.

 Learning how to climb the stairs.

 A new hair cut....just like Daddy.

 Sibling play time at Grandpa and Grandma Vance's house.

 2 big things - big boy undies and his new sword. Yep, still obsessed with Peter Pan and Captain Hook.  After a week of Carter using a stick to "fight" I was fed up and went to Toys R' Us to find a more suitable sword.

 Standing and exploring.  Always.

 Lots of digging in the dirt at the Vance's.

 Love her.

 Nothing says summer more than pool time with popsicles.

 A trip to the Pierce County Fair.

 Park time!

 A trip to Point Defiance Zoo.  Carter's favorite animal...the monkey!

 Our new house.  (We still need to do a lot of yard work to give it a little more curb appeal)

 Standing and smiling.

 More baby girl love.

 Mutual love for one another.  Carter just loved living with Grandma and Boppy for a month.

 His new bed.

 Her new favorite thing to do..."help" with laundry!

 Crazy boy at the new neighborhood park.

 Sweetness.

 Starting to take a few steps....so not ready for this yet.  Shouldn't she still be a tiny little newborn?

Self-portrait on my phone.

 It might have been a crazy summer but was filled with so many great memories.  And, someday, we'll look back and say, "Remember that insane summer of 2012?!?"  Whew, we survived!

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Infantile Spasms

Our life has been crazy this past month.  Between leaving Bellingham, moving in with Matt's parents, Matt starting a new job and me taking a month leave from work our family has seen more transition than we've ever seen before. We are finally in our new home in Bothell and trying to make this house seem like home again.  But, more on that later.

During my month of off work, which has been wonderful by the way, I've noticed many big changes in the kids.  Carter is now potty trained (woohoo!), Lucy started crawling, climbing stairs, pulling herself up and cruising on furniture and eating lots of yummy solid foods!  It's been so fun to be home and witness each new milestone.

But, along with those changes I also noticed something a little different with Lucy.  About 4 weeks ago she developed a facial and neck spasm.  At first I blew it off, thinking she was stretching a bit funny.  It was always random, lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to 4-5 minutes and she had 2-3 episodes a day.  I mentioned something to Matt and he finally saw it one night too.  After another few days I finally got it on video, started googling (worst decision ever!) and got a hold of her pediatrician.  After showing the video to the doctor, his concerns confirmed my fears.  Possible infantile spasms - a rare, infant form of epilepsy with not-so-great outcomes like autism and mental retardation along with awful side effects from treatment drugs like blindness, hormonal imbalances and high blood pressure.  We were immediately referred to Children's Hospital for an EEG to confirm the diagnosis and follow-up with a neurologist. 

Her appointment with her pediatrician was on Friday, Saturday and Sunday we moved into our house and Monday we found ourselves at Children's - the one place Matt and I never, ever wanted to be with our children. Needless to say it was a long weekend.

The staff at Children's is remarkable.  From the friendly greeter who met me at the door and pointed me in the right direction to the maintence man who personally walked us to the neurology department after we got lost; they all were so caring, kind and comforting....especially during a very emotional day.

Lucy was a champ during the EEG.  She screamed her little lungs out while they made markings all over her head, disinfected each site and then placed over 30 electrodes on her head with a gauze bandage holding it all in place.  Luckily I was able to hold and nurse her immediately which stopped the tears and she drifted off to sleep for a well-deserved nap.  The EEG was 90 minutes and I was the only one allowed in the room.  Poor Matt sat patiently (although his version of the story is probably different) in the waiting room next to the oncology unit, thanking God we weren't visiting that department instead. After a short nap, she played with toys and the test was over.

 We went immediately to meet with the pediatric neurologist, again, thanking God we didn't have to wait hours or even days to hear the results.  The very first thing she told us was.....the EEG was normal. Whew.  Huge sigh of relief and a few (happy) tears shed.  She told us with certainty Lucy did not have infantile spasms.

 But, the next question was, if not infantile spasms, then what?  Well, that is still to be determined.  2 other neurologists came in to meet with us and watch our video.  Unfortunately, they couldn't completely rule out a possible seizure disorder but said it was highly unlikely.  Instead, they think she has habit spasms.  Basically a quirky little thing she does for some unknown reason and will eventually grow out of.  It's hard to not have a true label on what she's been doing but we are so blessed that she is a very healthy baby girl.  Her development is right on track and the doctor's really didn't have any concerns, other than to just monitor her for any changes.

 So, we made it through our first very scary experience as parents.  Probably the most anxious/nervous/terrified we've ever been.  And Lucy, just kept on smiling, just like she always has.

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Marmie

We have about 2.5 days left in Bellingham.  The house is empty.  Boxes packed. Work is done (for Matt - 2 more days for me).  And goodbyes have begun.  It's funny though, because of the chaos of moving, 2 small kids, and a major eye surgery we really haven't had time to process it all.  There have been few tears but I realize this is silly because we really are only moving like an hour away.  And hello, we have Facebook to keep in touch every single second of the day.  But still, some goodbyes are definitely harder than others.

One of those is Marmie.  Marmie has been the kids' childcare provider since Carter was 4 months old.  It was a random February night about 6 weeks before my maternity leave was over and we realized we should probably figure out childcare for when I returned to work.  Trying to be funny, Matt suggested we look on Craigslist.  I said, "Are you nuts?!?  There are crazy people on there.  I'm not having some stranger watch our child!"  About 30 seconds later he read an ad for Marmie's Place - a gentle loving Grandma providing one-on-one in home care.  It sounded perfect.  We met with her 3 days later and never looked back. 

Over the last 2.5 years Marmie has become a part of our family.  She knows the kids better than anyone else (sometimes, I think, even better than me!).  She has become like a mother figure to me, a mentor and friend.  She has been my constant support during these first 2+ years of being a mother.  And, we love her. 

When I went into labor with Lucy, she was one of the first people we called.  She let Carter spend the night at her place so we didn't have to worry about him while I was at the hospital.  She graciously allowed us to take Lucy there when I went back to work again and has always just loved our kids.  

It'll be hard to not see Marmie and our friends each day.  

So, to say thank you, we decided to take some pictures.  It wasn't easy.  But we tried.

After Lucy got bonked in the head we decided to wait another day and try again.

And...they were done!

 Thank you, Marmie, for loving my children and providing a safe place for them to learn, grow and laugh.  You will always hold a special place in our hearts.

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the 'ham

12 years ago I was barely 18 years old and moved up to Bellingham to go to WWU.  Who would have thought I'd still be here today? As we pack up the house and get ready to leave Matt and I have created our B'ham Bucket List...basically all the places we want to go before we leave.  On the list, of course, was Western.  It's where we went to college, met some of our closest friends, grew up, discovered who we were, had some really fun times and discovered our love of Bellingham. 

So, we took the kids there the other day.  And, why haven't I taken Carter to campus more often?  It's miles of room to run, explore, discover and play! 

Like Father, like son.

Carter wanted to jump in the fountain SO much! 

Exploring the famous sculpture.  Hmmm....

The most gorgeous view.  I think I took this for granted every day when I would be eating at the dining hall.  I was even lucky enough to have the same view my last 3 years of college from our house.  So beautiful!

Climbing the stairs.

It was fun to go back and visit.  Even though we live in Bellingham, we hadn't been to the campus is over 3 years! 
Other fun things I'll miss about Bellingham:

The local food.  Oh gosh, do I even start a list?  Okay, sure, why not!
Bounday Bay, Mallards, LaFiamma, D'Annas, On Rice, Pure Bliss, Taco Lobo, Boomers, Skylarks, Guisseppi's, Grace Cafe, Bagelry, Avellinos, Harris Ave, LaFeens, Rocket Donuts, Farmer's Market, Rudys.  Okay, I'll stop there.

The parks - favorites are Boulevard, Cornwall, Marine, Fairhaven, Tot Lot, Elizabeth, Lake Padden, BloDel Donovan, Whatcom Falls and SO many more

The people - those friends who have known you for so long and still love you, drop anything to help you, and laugh with you.  I'm really going to miss our "group" and watching our kids all grow up together.  We'll be sure to come up for a few Wagner summer BBQ's each year!

The culture - the laid-back, wear jeans and a hoodie to "fancy" restaurants, appreciate the greatness of this city, friendly, happy people of Bellingham.

What I won't miss:  crazy Canadians.

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home sweet home.

In case anyone missed the big Facebook announcement, we are officially moving.  Matt was offered a new position at Salal Credit Union in Seattle and we'll be leaving Bellingham at the end of the month.  

To prepare we spent 7 hours today packing up boxes while the kids played at our nanny's house. Thank goodness we had the smarts to think ahead and get the kids out of the house!

Because of the craziness of life I haven't had a lot of time to just sit and refect on this move.  Today I knew we had a tight schedule and I wanted to get as much stuff packed before the kids came home so I never really sat and took in the memories.  Instead, I hurriedly loaded things up, marked the box and moved on to the next room.  But, as I sit here in a quiet house I realize just how hard it's going to be to leave this house.  Looking at the bare walls, empty bookshelves and cleaned off counters makes me very sad. 

For the first 6 months of our marriage we lived in a tiny 2 bedroom house about 2 blocks away from where we live now (obviously we loved the neighborhood enough to buy right down the street!).  Being naive young people we quickly house hunted and convinced ourselves a fixer-upper was the way to go.  After 2 long months of remodeling we finally moved in.  This house was awful when we bought it.  Green floral wallpaper covered the kitchen, glittered popcorn ceilings littered the entire house and a random built in ironing board stuck out of the wall in what is now Carter's room leaving quite the eye sore.  The bathroom needed to be gutted, hardwood floors redone, closets ripped out and pieced back together and new light fixtures needed to be hung.  It was a TON of work, but we (well, let's say Matt and his Dad) did it and made it our home. 

In the past 4 1/2 years we have built so many memories.  6 months after we bought the house we became even more naive and got a puppy.  A crazy, wild, loving, cuddly dog.  Our "practice" before having kids.  We thought it we could take care of a puppy, kids would be simple.  Little did we know!

We brought 2 babies to this home.

We spent countless hours fixing up not one, but 2 nurseries all the while imagining what life would be like with a baby.

We watched our big boy grow up.  He took his first steps right in front of the built-in bookshelf one night right after dinner.  And then, he did it again.  And then, never slowed down.

I'm probably making this much sappier than it really needs to be.  But, it's not really the structural house that I'll miss, it's the memories.  This house has issues.  Some I will not miss. Like when Matt had to go underneath the house dozens of times during the winter months to check on the sump pump in the middle of the night.  Like how it gets super hot in the summer and crazy cold in the winter.  How the hardwood floors creak in the just the wrong spots to wake up a sleeping baby.  The horrible lighting in the kitchen.  The tiny bathroom. 

But, it has memories.  Good ones.  Many that I hope to not forget.  So, just as a reminder for me to look back on years from now, here are some pictures of our house, just the way it always was (dirty floors and all!)

The kitchen.

Living room.

Carter's room.

Lucy's room (that she never even slept in other than a few naps!)

Our bedroom.

Bathroom.

Bathroom.

And our old gross backyard that the previous owners thought they could convert to some sort of garden.  As you can see, they didn't succeed.

Matt's hard work to make it so much better!

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sweet potatoes and monkeys.

Kind of a strange title for a post, but it's really what I'm going to talk about.  Let's start with sweet potatoes.  Yes, we started Lucy on solids and no, she doesn't like sweet potatoes. 

I'm not sure if it was a taste or a texture thing but after 4 days of trying, she still wasn't convinced.  So, we moved on.  Lucky for us (and her!) she is loving avocados, bananas and oatmeal.  We are doing baby-led weaning this time which just means no purees, moving straight to soft, whole foods and letting her feed herself.  It's super easy prep work for me and Lucy loves having the freedom to feed herself.  She has already mastered a spoon and even though it's a bit messier, it's so fun to watch her explore new tastes!

She finally fits in the backpack!  Now we just need to find a time to go hiking.  And...figure out what to do with a toddler who takes 10 minutes to walk from the front door to the driveway.  I'm not sure if we'd ever actually finish a hike with him walking next to us.

On to the monkeys (well, giraffes too).  Last year we took Carter to Point Defiance Zoo for Matt's 30th birthday family day.  So, this year we decided to visit Woodland Park Zoo for my 30th birthday family day.  I know it probably sounds a bit lame to visit a zoo for your 30th birthday but we all had fun, which is really all that matters.
We quickly found the giraffe, my favorite animal!

Carter loved petting the goats.  But, then he was a little confused why he couldn't pet every animal!

He could have stayed on this tractor all day.  Who needs an enormous zoo full of wild animals when you can drive a tractor?

Oh yes, and the carousel too.  Rode it 4 times in a row.

Patiently waiting for Carter to finish riding the carousel.

Finally, we found the monkeys.  Carter's favorite animal.  Funny thing is I think the monkeys liked him too. Each time he went up the glass the monkey (or orangoutang or gorilla) would walk over to him and just stare.  Other little kids would come by but the monkey would only focus on Carter.  So fun!

Uncle Adam spent the day with us too.  Carter was in heaven having his grandma and grandpa AND Uncle Adam to play with.

Such a fun day!  

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