A weekend in September

A Friday night cabin chat with good friends. Two pack and plays smashed into a tiny kitchen. Two little boys lasting without disturbing each other once the entire night. Sad mama with no memory card for the camera. Two couples tucked into cozy beds in the loft, a rustic cabin in the woods with only the crackling of a fire to be heard..(seriously, this place was warmed by a REAL fire, it was heavenly). A chilly Saturday morning hike, and two tired families heading home after the sleepover was deemed a success...

 A Saturday afternoon at City Creek, finally able to pull out sweaters. A miniature explorer splashing in the water, playing with trains, slurping a Jamba by the river. A tired baby going to bed exhausted, proud that he discovered a few new things in the world. Happy parents putting on sweats with a sleeping babe, listening to football and watching TV reruns, feeling content. Pumpkin muffins in the oven, banana oatmeal in the crock pot, the house smelling delicious. A little one on one time that never gets old.

A Sunday evening with family. Cousins learning to finally be friends. Feeding ducks at the park without sweating to death. A special new sweetie to cuddle. Warm pizza and cookies. Grown ups talking in a tiny kitchen. Flashbacks as the car drives away, gratitude for the many memories with the sweet family inside.

 

Sunday night cuddles before bedtime. Finally sharing cuddling skills after becoming slightly jealous of baby Tucker. Taking a moment to count blessings after family prayer. Warm home, full arms, grateful hearts, happy family..

Monday morning butterflies, waiting to sneak a peek at little Miss Allen. Laughing at our own jokes in the waiting room while waiting and waiting and waiting too long..a little profile shot that looks just like her brother, a little hair on the back of her head, little feet, little hands by the face, tiny nose, a little swallow. A special feeling that I will miss in less then two months. A tinge of excitement, my arms are ready..although nothing else is!

Why does September only have four weekends?? It just doesn't seem right..they go by too fast, and they stay gone for too long...Stay awhile September, ohhh how we love you every single year.

My Happy Place.

My happy place.
This is it, and these are them.

 After twenty four hours of hospital craziness seemed like a little too much for one nurse (who doesn't work much) in one weekend- these two were here waiting.  I woke up to pizza and cookies coming out of the oven, a diet coke, and a house freshly cleaned (you know, that special kind of cleaning that husbands do). We took a trip to Silver Lake, one of my most favorite places this time of year in Utah. We chatted about things that best friends can chat about while we walked around the entire lake. We drove home with the setting sun, and a sleepy baby. My heart felt completely full. 

And I realized, that my shifts seemed so far away, although I had just been charting at 7am. That's what going to a happy place can do for a person.

  

And so I decided while walking around the lake, that I have a great team--when four teeth are coming at once, when homework takes 2 hours too long, when life disappoints, when it's freezing outside, when it's 90 degrees, when you can't keep your eyes open for even one more second, when you get that letter that you have been waiting on for years, when you think that tomorrow couldn't be any worse then today, when it feels like everything you have ever wanted in life is finally happening, when we have extra money to dream about blowing, when the budget is tight and we can barely afford gas, when the leaves change, when the sun comes up on little Sugarhouse main, when the air smells like pumpkin, or cinnamon, or sunscreen--
When Sunday night calls for popcorn and brownies and a movie,
When Saturday is full of chores, when Monday seems depressing, when Friday night plans give butterflies..

 

Being together is our happy place. We are here together to make life just the best it can be for each other. We can block out the long days, and obsess over the good ones. We can lock the door and eat treats and not let anybody in. We can celebrate or survive, because we have each other. Thank goodness for family.

splish splash

My little Coop.
The first bubble bath. Not sure why we waited so long to try this. I wish I could have bottled the shreaks to listen to forever. Coop has a distinctive squeal when he gets excited, sometimes at the park people look at him like they wonder if he is hurt or just overly excited. Although I don't expect everyone to feel the same way, to me it is one of the world's greatest sounds. The camera just can't do it justice.

 Tonight I sat on the bathroom floor and couldn't take my eyes off the non stop moving going on in the tub. I really didn't care about the splashes on the floor this time. I watched the full on swimming around up to his neck, the standing on his tip toes to try to turn the water back on, to the leaning out of the tub trying to get the toilet to flush from the bathtub.

I just want to spend every second watching him that I can, since I know in a few months my attention will be shared. This boy could keep himself busy for hours on end, but he does look over about every 5 minutes to make sure I'm still there.



I was there the whole time my sweet boy. I saw every last splash, and I loved every second.

Moving up..

Remember once upon a time, when we strapped in a little teeny seven pounder and headed home from the hospital as a real life family?? Remember how I was too scared to drive to Jaimee's because I felt like something might happen to such a tiny piece of precious cargo (and I am not known to be an overly safe driver all the time). Remember when he couldn't even hold his head up in that carseat, and we tightened the straps about 500 times, and Shawn magically changed from the world's most laid back to the world's most paranoid? Remember last week on our roadtrip to AZ how the straps were completely loosened and somebody's fat rolls and long legs were still spilling over on every end!?

Remember how just exactly one year ago this month, we strapped in a tiny body and searched the pumpkin patch for a very first pumpkin, and so carefully placed it with him in his new little seat?

Suddenly it all seems soo good. Every road trip in the back seat with him cozily sleeping and facing me seems so extra wonderful...and consequently, this infant carseat seems like it has suddenly become my favorite possession at the moment. That's how I get when I say goodbye-it's not healthy..
Don't worry, thankfully for everyone in the family this carseat will not go empty, we are filling it up with new precious cargo in only a matter of weeks that can now be counted on two hands!

On a happier note, last night we took a trip to Costco. We have been stewing over carseats for way too long. We finally returned home with a toddler seat, read the safety manual and stressed over if we had it in securely enough that if we got hit by a semi Cooper would still be safe. We stayed up past bedtime, driving around the block. Cooper's face at first was hilarious, literally it's like he was not sure if he should smile or be terrified, "Mom are you sure I'm allowed to do this?!"

We pulled into the driveway with everybody happy, and we carried our little infant seat inside-to be washed and prepared for baby sister-and never to be used again by 'Baby Coop'. This morning I took a trip to the dentist and received Cooper's first toothbrush. Life is so exciting with someone new around to explore things with. Every change is bittersweet, as excited as I am-and Cooper is..I have just tried not to look at his little seat sitting by the door this morning. I'm giving myself just one day to say goodbye before re-saying Hello!
We are growing up over here..