he mocks me

What do you do when you know your wife hates trophies displayed in the home?

You set them up in the windowsill...

right next to the front door.

Since he must really want them out, I'll just find another less prominent place for them. Like around the toilet. Or the trash can.

what a difference 2 months makes

With all our shenanigans, we missed the 2 month picture. So enjoy the jump from 1 month to 3. Chub-a-licious!

3 months

PS- She turns 4 months old tomorrow. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!

settling in and starting over

We're starting to settle in to our new life here in Oregon. I feel like it's the first time life has felt normal since... mid-March? Beginning of March? Seriously. Even before Grace was born our world started going at warp speed. We've entertained visitors, lived with boxes, celebrated our new baby, celebrated our life in Virginia, worked hard, played hard, said a thousand good-byes, and changed our scene again... and again... and again.

Lest I sound like an ungrateful whiner, I have to say it's been exhausting. Full of high moments and gigantic blessings, but tiring still. I wouldn't say we've been our best selves. We've been sleep-deprived, sad, frustrated, impatient, and insecure (post-baby body in a swimsuit? not ideal). I look at pictures from the past few weeks and I see I'm wearing the same hide-my-body clothes and doing the same no-brainer hair styles. Not a huge deal, but more a symptom of a bigger problem.

As we drove cross-country, Doug and I laid it all out on the table and realized we just have to do better. We have to be better to each other and more engaged in our lives. And, probably like all of us, recent events have reminded us that life is precious and very short. Little kids don't stay little kids for long, and we want to make the most of every moment we have together.

Now that we're here we're anxious to have a fresh start. We miss our lives in Virginia dearly, but school was always meant to be temporary so I suppose we have to move on. Doug now has a great job, we live in a beautiful place, and we have family close by. Our girls are happy and healthy, and we have wonderfully supportive families. Our house doesn't have moldy bathrooms and I'm surrounded by hippies that love recycling and farmer's markets more than I do. What's not to love?

So have patience with us and don't judge us too harshly when we continue to be a hot mess for a few more weeks. Or months. We're aware we're a teensy bit crazy, and we're working on it.

old photo flashback

I just found this old picture of Doug riding a steer. Dressed as a rodeo clown, of course.

This is August 11, 2006. I know the date because it's the night before Doug proposed. Our Bishop ran the Alpine rodeo and he asked Doug to be one of the clowns for the kid's event. At the end of the night he let any sucker that was interested ride one of the steers. Doug lasted half a second, give or take.

I seriously love this picture. No wonder I said yes.

dental dad

This week Addy had her first visit with Dr. Shafer. She definitely took the cool kid approach and thought it was no big deal.

I also had my first visit with Doug since he became official, and all it did was remind me how much I hate going to the dentist. Gum cutting x-rays and sharp tools are not my kind of fun.

The only redeeming part of the visit was my totally hot dentist letting me use the spit sucker as much as I wanted (I LOVE the spit sucker). Oh, and I could complain freely to him without worrying that he'd think I was a wimp (Note: Doug found out I was a pansy on our second date).

So even though I've never liked going to the dentist, I think Dr. Shafer won Addy and I over. We'll be going back for sure... for, like, ever and always.

on the boat

Uncle Ben's boat, as Addy calls it, is a big hit with our family. 

Last weekend we went out while Grandma Joyce was in town. Doug loved the wakeboard, I loved the wind in my hair, Gracie loved sleeping with a life jacket squishing her cheeks, and Addy adored the tubing. So much so that it lulled her to sleep. And I was worried she wouldn't be comfortable out on it... as if!

Somehow she slept with that tortuous life jacket on

Shortly after she went limp and fell asleep in Doug's lap

Nursing on a boat is so hip. Oh wait, no... it's not.

the first day of the rest of his life

Today is Doug's first day at work. He's so excited to be a real dentist.

Want to start visiting the most charming dentist in town? Call Wolfe Family Dental at 503-844-6550 and make an appointment!

PS- You better believe he set out his clothes first-day-of-school style.

we're so glad he was born

It's not every day you turn 30 (or every year, for that matter), so I wanted to do something muy especial for Doug's birthday. 

I found this awesome idea online that involved emailing out PDFs of different puzzle pieces to friends and family. They then wrote notes on their piece and mailed them to Doug the week of his birthday, and then he got to put them together.

The pictures show the poster still in progress, but you get the idea. It was so awesome seeing his reaction to the different notes throughout the week. I'm so grateful to the people that helped him feel loved! 

dirty thirty

Doug is officially 30. Lucky for him, 30 is the new 20. And also lucky for him, he doesn't care about aging. Not one bit. He gets psyched every time he finds a new gray hair. Party on, Douglas.

We were up with his fam for his birthday, so the day was spent boating, playing tennis, and eating dirt.

It was a great day, and we all thanked Doug for being born.

the 4th

We spent the good ol' Farth of July up in Washington with Doug's fam. Addy enjoyed her first sparklers, and even got a kick out of the fireworks that night.

more gracie goodness

talky talk

Warning: This may make you melt. (Especially around 0:24. Oh MAN.)