House Update In Pictures

Entryway and master bedroom. Pre face plant.

Kitchen with countertops and backsplash.

Our nice big kitchen sink!

Living area.

Noella's "purple" room. This was the closest we could get and still match her bedding. 

Second bedroom.

Kid bathroom.

East facing window in the living area. Great views!

Fridge space.

Master bedroom.

From the master closet looking into shower.

Entryway/hallway to kitchen from master bedroom.

Another angle. Viewing hall from entry to kitchen, kitchen, then hallway to kid bedrooms.

Courtyard (garage on left, house on right).

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Well, we had high hopes for this weekend. Family fun, a plethora of outdoor activities, fun with friends, happy children, smiling, laughing..... you know all that stuff.

I should not lead you think that we didn't have any of those things. No, we had most of them. But we also had a huge dose of blood, tears, owies, panic attacks, sleepless nights.... the combination of those things can sometimes lead to crabby children..... We got up early, left Hood River with fresh coffee and the anticipation of a long, fun weekend. Once in Bend, we stopped by the house, took a few pictures and SPLAT! Noella face plants onto the freshly laid slate tile in the entry way.

She was running towards me asking me to take her coat off, while trying to get her arms out of her sleeves. Blood and screaming everywhere. I am not good at dealing with lots of blood, especially if it is coming out of my own child. Bloody lip, bloody teeth..... My first panic was that she was losing her front two teeth. That's something I'm really good at - panicking . Then, within minutes, her lips are the size of Joan Rivers'. Thank God for Adam - the calm in the eye of the storm (Noella and I). We finally get her calmed down with a loaner Groovy Girl doll from our builder's daughter and the promise of ice cream.

Please excuse the dried blueberry sorbet all around her mouth, as well as the dried boogers up her nose. I had to promise her the candy of her choice from the store to let me look in her mouth like this. Do you think she was going to let me clean her mouth and nose too? I'd have to start throwing in pink and purple cupcakes or something. 

The rest of the evening, she seemed fine. Adam and I were exhausted from the stress of the all the events, but she was excited to be in a hotel to swim and watch "football" (football. for real. and unfortunately it is not football season and baseball and soccer will not do for her). We loaded her up with some meds to help her endure the coming nightfall. The rest of that night is a huge blur of her waking up at 2 in the morning to "watch something", trying to crawl across the nightstand into our bed, kicking and prodding me endlessly after I moved to her bed.

Bleary-eyed and dazed, we headed to meet our friends from Bend for coffee and pastries. The rest of the day turned out great and Noella finally got to play with "Roof" (Ruth). The girls got to ride their bikes together on the trails, everyone got a much needed nap and we even managed a delightful dinner out. Adam didn't get to ride, but I think he enjoys watching and helping Noella learn almost as much :) Here are some action shots of the buddies acting silly in the yard.

As for my race, well "you can't always get what you want". I came in two seconds slower than my first year! Dirty Half 2012 - 1:54:54. I must be plateaued there until I can find the time to put in the many many miles I need to truly change my pace. That's what I'm telling myself :) But hey, I beat my time from last year by 4 minutes. That's something.

So, if this post has any message whatsoever, I think that it's you can't always get what you want, "but if you try sometimes.... you get what you need".  Aw, yeah.

Three Halfs..... (Three Halves? One and a Half?)

This weekend will mark the third year in a row my family has trucked down to Bend so I can run the Dirty Half Trail Marathon. Thank you, honey, for not only letting me take on this commitment, but giving me support and cheers all the way through. I feel very fortunate to have a husband who doesn't even bat an eye when I ask to do stuff like this. This race is always around his birthday every year!

So, three is usually my lucky number. I've trained harder this year and feel excited and ready. All I'm hoping to do is beat my previous times.

The first year: Noella was almost 6 months old. Traveling with an infant was still a novelty, and so that added a bit of complexity. However, it felt so freeing to do this after being attached (literally and figuratively) for so long.

The second year: The Bleckmans (Matt, Maggie and Lucy) join us for a weekend in Bend prior to the race. Good times were had by all (kids and grown ups)!

Third time's a charm! 

We will also be checking in on the house --- there should be some fun new photos to show some more details next week! Adam will be exploring the trails on his mountain bike (as will Noella and I, but in a different capacity). We may even see a few friends while we're there. Hooray for mini impromptu vacation! 

2010 - Race time: 1:54:52
2011 - Race time: 1:58:30. [Surprisingly, this race went much slower for me. I had a 5K (22:23) and a   10K (48:32) personal record prior to this race and was feeling faster. Some unwanted distractions (not the Bleckmans :) may have something to do with that, but c'est la vie (such is life).] Like I said earlier, third time's a charm!

Memorial Weekend: Gorge Style

First and foremost, respect is due to all the men and women who have and continue to protect and defend our country. Reflections like these are hard for me to remember and, more importantly, act out. So, there you are.

With that gratitude for all those brave Americans, comes gratitude for an extra day of the week to be a whole family. This weekend is also about being together. We took full advantage (we always do). Hikes, bike rides (Adam), trail runs (me), hot tubbing/swimming (all of us) microbrew sampling (the grown ups), playing in the park (the littles).... I don't know about you all, but there's really nothing else I'd rather do. That pretty much sums up a perfect weekend to me.

These days, most of Noella's interests lie in picking flowers. So, there was a lot of that going on. We no longer are able to put her 'beautiful wildflower bouquets' inside, because Daddy's allergies were out of control! 

Did I mention wildflowers?

Speaking of wildflowers, Daddy accompanied us on this little hike every single day this weekend (friday-monday). Allergies and all! This little trail is just across the street from where we live. It ends at Mosier Creek Falls. I used to take Noella in the Ergo Carrier EVERY day when she was little. We haven't been for months, until she realized all the flowers there were up there. Now, she's hiked the whole length everyday since she's discovered it. She loves and knows the names of all of them (well, the ones we actually know the names of, that is): lupine, bachelor buttons, poppies, wild irises, ivy.... she's OBSESSED

Noella's new friend, Khaki the Lizard. We found him in the same spot two days in a row on our wildflower hikes. 

Noella's other friend, Liam. These two were playing so cute together! 

I mean, come on! Adorable!

Sunday morning brunch. Noella gave Bert sunglasses. 

We all rrrrrreeaaalllly needed our coffee this morning. 

Weekend complete with yet another amazing sunset. We are going to miss this view, that's for sure! 

House Update:

You still need to use your imagination, but here are some more recent photos of the progress. They've probably made much more progress in some of these rooms, as the kitchen photos are a couple of weeks old.  Lots of decisions to be made. How do people build their own homes, designing and decorating every last detail? I have no idea how people have that much patience and skill. This was waaaay harder than I thought it would be and we had most decisions made for us!

Paint and cabinets on one side of the kitchen

Master bedroom color (pale gold)

Cabinet in master bath

Tiled master shower

Tiled shower again

Kids bathroom cabinet

Say It Isn't So!!!!

Noella has not been napping for..... 3 days now. Actually for at least 5 days I have been fighting with her about it. Today I have given in. She's been quietly singing to herself for the past hour and a half.

I'm not ready! Could this just be a phase? She's way too young! Just the week before she was taking 2.5-3 hour naps and me waking her up so she didn't sleep too late into the afternoon. Now, if she falls asleep at all, it's past 2:30.

If this is the beginning of the end, Lord, please give me the strength and endurance for this.

Happy Muh-erz Day!

From our house to yours. To mothers all around the world.

It's NO easy job, that's for sure. But it's the most rewarding.

We had a LOVELY weekend. Thanks to my amazing husband for all the wonderful food he cooked (and cleaned up, thankyouverymuch). He takes a LOT out of the hard part of being a mother. I couldn't have asked for a better baby daddy!

Today was a wonderful family hike on Eagle Creek to "Punch your balls" (Punchbowl Falls). Followed by a no-napping, bed-wetting ballerina, who, miraculously, made it through a potluck BBQ without any major meltdowns or irrationality. Success!

I mean it. Happy Mother's Day to all. This holiday has never meant so much to me. Until you are actually a mom, you really don't realize how important it is to honor them.