Road Trip...

Yes, yes, I realize I have been slacking on the ol'-blog. I was just going through some of our pictures too and noticing how many things I had hoped to post, but still haven't gotten to... such is life! We're trying to keep up with the speed of life and enjoy every ounce of this summer and I suppose it hasn't allowed for me to be at the computer much. Or I've just been lazy - take your pick!

Anyway, this weekend was Hoopla - for all of you valley-ites that's probably old news, but for those of you who don't live around here it's a giant 3-on-3 basketball tourney that is held in downtown Salem. Apparently they had a record amount of teams enter this year (somewhere around 670?!?) and the weather was awesome! All that to say, Matt was committed to volunteering at Hoopla all weekend (Thur night-ish - Sunday) and although Madi and I would have gone for a bit to see some of the excitement, we really didn't have much plans to hang out on 90 degree black top all day long!

As such, we decided to plan an impromptu road trip to see "the" sista with Nana! It was perfect! Thankfully the sun decided to shine in Tacoma, as well (a very rare-occassion, I know)!

Jess just got discharged from the Army and started a new job a few weeks ago. She's a prison nurse - Pierce County Jail welcomed her with open arms. Apparently that's what the Army does for you - hooks you up with one tough job after another... ;) She's been waiting for her new place to be ready for her and she got the keys on Wednesday - just in time for us to come cozy the place up for the weekend.

... or jump in the pool on Friday night.

The pool on the roof of the complex overlooks Commencement Bay In Tacoma

Unfortunately I pretty much sucked at taking pictures after Friday night. Maybe because we were pretty much slave-driven the rest of the weekend.

Kidding.

Well, sort of. Saturday was spent with the plumber fixing the faucets/shower/garbage disposal, etc. and then with about five different stops at stores like Target, Wal Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Furniture Outlet, IKEA, World Market... you name it! I do have one picture of Madi on Saturday night (taken on my phone) after an afternoon/evening of shopping. Let's just say she had pretty much dropped and I was smart enough to have brought along the binki (props to me)....

Here she is smashed between two pillows and a new rug. Who knew BB&B could be so comfy?!?

Our final evening of play was on Sunday when we went up to Josh & Krista's house for a birthday BBQ for Josh! We had some time to snuggle baby Jude and enjoy some good food!

Evidently the belly works as a nice little pillow (38 weeks). Jude is getting big fast, but what's new, right?!?! :(

As for the condo, it looked MUCH better when we left than when we got there... so much organizing, and furniture to actually sit on! I didn't take any before and after pics, but I'll have Jess send some once the couch finally arrives! My favorite was probably the cubicle bookshelf from ikea (although it sort of stresses me out because the boxes on the shelf aren't fully organized yet - she promised me they would be shortly)! We can't wait to go back in September and enjoy Jess' bed again with everything in its place!

As Matt put it, I was sort of in heaven spending someone else's money and organizing all weekend. Hey, it never hurts to live vicariously through other people every now and then, right?!?!

I have no desire to be a prison nurse, however; so the fun stopped on Monday morning when Jess had to go back to work and we drove back to reality...

Anybody else need my assistance spending their money and organizing their life? You have my contact info.

37 Weeks...

Well, this summer is flying by and before we know it August is going to be here (and so will our little boy)! I had a doctor's appointment today and I will officially be heading in every week from now on out. Matt and Madi decided to tag along and we made a morning of it by heading down to the carousel and playing at the park for a little while. I even remembered to bring our camera, which I was so excited about... until I pulled it out and it wouldn't work!

**Note to self: Digital cameras are useless without SD cards inserted in them...**

I've sort of always been paranoid that I would do that, but I've never actually gone somewhere and then realized I didn't have my memory card. I suppose I can blame it on the preggo-brain, right?!?

Oh well, I guess our phones came in handy... it just sort of stinks when I'm used to taking "real" pictures...

Madelyn was in heaven! We went to the park first while we waited for the carousel to open. She's very into being a big girl and is always saying things like:

"Dada, watch this!"

"Haha, look at me!"

"This is SO fun!"

It's pretty cute... And so is she...

She rode the carousel twice, once with each of us. Although, I think if she had it her way she would have ridden it enough times to ride on every horse there... We distracted her by saying it was time to go look at the boats down by the river.

We then discovered the "splash park", which neither of us realized was there... Madi was a little disappointed that we didn't bring her "pin-sess towel" (AKA "Princess Towel") and that we wouldn't let her get naked, but she quickly got over it...

She was pretty wet by the end (this wasn't quite the end), but enjoyed every minute of it! We walked around a little bit longer to dry off and then headed home for some lunch (and shut-eye!!!)...

It was a perfect Friday morning, really.

On a baby note: everything is a-okay... Emmitt was head down (hopefully for good), but he is still VERY active. You can always get him to give you a good kick, or punch or head bang if you push on him in the slightest. Apparently he's gonna be a fighter, and chances are his arms and legs are about twice as long as the normal sized baby... he's sort of doomed.

Noodle arms?

What?

I've never heard of such a thing...

Chicken legs?

Anway...

No family pic from today, but I did steal one from last weekend (at Matt's 10 year HS reunion)...

Hello, fat-face, I can't wait to say goodbye to you!

=)

Backyard Camping...

It's true... we ventured into the backyard for what I hope is the last overnight stay on an air mattress during this pregnancy. I suppose only time will tell. It was my brother and sister-in-law's 11th anniversary and we got to have the boys overnight for a little slumber party and we had recently promised them a camping trip in the backyard complete with a fire and s'mores....

Let's just say they hadn't forgotten!

Unfortunately for us Matt was gone most (okay, pretty much ALL) of the day so Seven and I were left assembling a giant dome tent with Madi, Michael and the wind as our competitors. We finally won, but for obvious reasons there was no time to document the event... we, ahem I, chose safety over pictures.

Finally, however, after the tent was raised, the floor had gotten fairly dirty, energy had been wasted running around in circles inside of it, dinner had been eaten, Veggie Tales had been turned on to momentarily zone out the three monsters I was able to snap a few pictures of our final event...

Burnt S'mores!

And just in case you wondered, baby Croz survived the day too! He slept through most of it and then rode comfortably on my back during the campfire activity... This picture is incredibly blurry due to the fact that it was taken in the reflection of the sliding glass door with the flash being held down, but you get the picture...

Crosby went home to sleep peacefully in his own bed and we took the rest of these tired eyes to the tent and read some spooky stories like The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm and The Dark, Dark Night.

Hey, they picked the books out, not me!

Uncle Matt came home just in time to dog-pile on the air mattress and say some goodnight prayers and then the flashlights went out.

...until 5:40 in the morning.

Not to worry, I more than made up for my lack of sleep the next night, so don't feel too bad for me! ;)

Happy Saturday!!! =)

Independence Day!

Well, the favorite holiday of the year has come and gone and once again, we Staytonians did a great job of celebrating! We really never seem to have a problem with it...

Our tradition started off with a BBQ at the Pynchs' house, followed by the annual parade (which, yes, is rather lame, but there's still free candy so can you really complain?), the authentic softball game, and of course a wonderful firework show! My favorite part is that we never have to get in a car the whole day - sometimes it's just too convenient to live in a small town! ;)

I pretty much just took pictures at the parade. It would have been just a little too much effort to get the camera out when we were eating, and truth be told I may have lost my spot in the buffet line...

There's proof that Matt was able to play softball this year, which was a little different than last year's sideline seat. It was fun to watch him once again, although it might be a little disappointing that the days of endless home-runs are over, but as we often say to each other, it is what it is... and it was certainly better than sitting in a wheel chair!

Our sweet baby girl was slightly afraid of the giant firetrucks at the beginning, which made her awfully snuggly and she kept asking to go back to "Abbie's house"...

She quickly made a new best friend though when Robin pulled out her bag of treats...

Did someone say bubbles?!?

Don't mind the gimpy arm in the far right... that's just Mary trying to keep all of the blood from running to the end of her arm. ;)

Let's just say that it was either a bad year, or we really are all getting older... I like to think of it as the first excuse!

Typical...

Sort of typical again...

And sweet Michael was also afraid of something... I caught him sprinting between people to get as far away from the parade as possible. He finally ran into a brick wall and decided hiding his face was the best option for protection?!?!

I don't know. He's sort of a weird kid. ;)

We had to document Jon's first presence at the parade! (And Blake's too, of course) Too cute!

My Faves.

A comfortable outfield position.

Hope you enjoyed celebrating the greatest American holiday out there! We won't put our red, white and blue away for good, we'll just simmer down for a while! =)

Just Practicing...

We've had a wonderful weekend thus far, and we get to continue enjoying it with family and friends through tomorrow! Ah! How wonderful! My brother and his wife and of course, baby Jude came to town on Thursday night, along with my sister and a couple of her friends! Grandma Missy was in town this week as well and yesterday I was SO blessed with a wonderful baby shower given by my sweet sisters and Mama... what fun!!! ;)

In the meantime we were able to sneak in a few snuggles with this little guy, but as you can see Uncle Matt was sort of a hog...

Big surprise!

He's always been a baby stealer.

We got to snuggle baby Jude all to ourselves until our groggy two year old came stumbling out of her big-girl-bed with her classic I've just had the best sleep in my life bee-hive hair!

She rocks it well.

She loves babies, and even among her sleepiness she was still ready to climb up in her Daddy's arms to check out the littlest human to be in our house in a long time!

Matt asked if we could borrow him for a month and then give him back when Emmitt arrives. Krista wasn't too into it.

I'm pretty sure every Daddy deserves a little girl and a little boy in each arm though

But once again, I may be a little bit biased.

I'm sure you'll see many more pictures with this guy and cute babies in the future, and a lot of them will probably involve him staring at the back of his eyelids...

I'm telling you. He really is a baby stealer!