5 weeks of island life

As you all know, our first home is Bingen Washington and our second home is Maui.  This past year, we decided to take our time.  We spent 5 weeks on the island and it was fantastic!  Josie went from being a beginner toddler to an advanced stair-stepper, sand dune climber, surfer jumper, and pool lounger.  Eric had some great days of sailing and surfing.  I loved my mornings on the paddle board and got a killer tan.  Enjoy the slide show and we hope you all can come visit us next winter when we are on the island even longer.  There are soooo many more photos, but I don't want to rub it in that much.

Insert cheesy (but totally adorable) fall photos here

October...the abridged version

Josie turned one...seriously.  Where did the year go!  Great birthday party, LOTS of guests.  Grandpa Bob and Mimi came, so did Aunt Sophie and Grandpa Mickey.  She was a lucky girl.

Jace is full swing into his new full-time college student life.

Took a trip to the central Oregon coast.  Amazing weather with friends and my dad.

Halloween is coming.  I am keeping tradition alive by making Josie's costume.  Stay tuned for completed photos.

Let the packing begin!  We depart on the 31st for an entire month in Maui.  We are beside ourselves with excitement and to-do lists. O how I wish we were leaving tomorrow...I am not ready to put away my flip flops yet.

 

And away she goes!

My little baby is walking! 11 months old and she has places to be, apparently. Go go baby go!

September is one of my favorite things

September is one of my favorite months.  The weather is wonderful, it's when I met Eric, the Huckleberry Festival happens, it's when our apple tree and walnut trees are ready, and it's when I got married.  Here are some photos of the festival and how we celebrated our 3rd anniversary.  I love you, sweetie!

You're never fully dressed without a smile

My dear friend and blogger, Michele, recently wrote a post that I couldn't help but love.  The question that she shared asked, "Aside from your kids, pets, your husband, your coffee and your wine…what makes you smile?"   Those 5 things constantly make me smile, but here are a few more:

• flip flops
• the smell of BBQ
• summer dresses
• the woods
• long showers
• swimming in a lake
• guacamole
• paddling on my board
• pedicures
• live music
• my girlfriends
• going out to dinner
• living in scenery
• sea otters
• hawaii
• my sunroof
• crisp mornings
• picking my own fruit
• the ocean

Sleep Training Update

It's been almost a week since we started our new night time procedures (as I like to call them).  The first 3 nights, I was sleeping on the sofa, while Eric was attending to her constant awakenings.  He did sooooo great.  He was able to calm her down as she yelled and cried out for me.  I went in only twice to nurse her.  I am happy to report that she is no longer seeking out my "nums nums" to soothe her to sleep.  She is still waking up a gazillion times, but a simple hand on her back and some reassuring that everything-is-ok-we-are-there-and-its-ok-to-go-back-to-sleep, is all it takes.  She still isn't able to stay asleep for more than an hour or two, but I am very  hopeful that we will reach that milestone in the next 6 months.  We did successfully can the night nursings.  Hooray for baby steps. 

In other news, she is going to be turning 1 in a month!  I wasn't too interested in doing a big birthday, but as the time gets closer, I am all ABOUT throwing a big party.  Let the planning begin!