Kansas City

While Grant was at the Austin Magic Auction last weekend the kids and I headed to visit my family in Kansas City. It was awesome because Eric and Anna are still living there (they are likely moving back to Seattle late-summer/early-fall), and my sister Bethany and nephew Samuel were in town from California. I worked on Thursday and Friday and my parents and brother watched the kiddos. My Dad and brother run a business out of my parent's basement and the kids had WAY too much fun in the packing area. I don't think my brother realized how much of a mess could be made with the packing peanuts. After about an hour of jumping around in the peanuts there was so much static electricity that all the peanut bits were sticking to the kids! The kids had to change out of their clothes and then my mom wiped them down with a damp washcloth. The next day my Dad was surprised when he went to get a box to pack and ship a product to a client and there was a pair of princess panties tucked away in the box. Guess all the clothes didn't make it back upstairs - good thing he checked before a client got an interesting surprise in their shipment.

On Friday morning my mom and I took the three kids to visit my grandmother and we were able to have lunch and visit with her and it was great! The kids behaved really well and they made up a funny game with a pair of duck book-ends that took place mostly under my grandmother's small dining room table.

On Saturday we took a trip to the Farmstead and even though it was cold we had a great time, as always, feeding goats, playing on the barn slides, and listening to stories in the Indian earth house.

It was a wonderful trip and I am thankful every day for my amazing and supportive family. On Saturday night Bethany, my mom and I stayed up past midnight just talking and while I wish we had more times like that it makes me treasure the times we do have together.

Having fun with packing peanuts.

All 3 wanted to ride in the wagon!

Cadie could have listened to stories in the Indian earth house all day! Saturday's story was about how the horse got his light feet.

  

On Thursday evening the brave Uncle Eric and Aunt Anna had my parents, me and the 3 kids over for homemade pizza. We picked up playdough on the way to help entertain the kids, and while that did work for a while, the kids had a better time inventing their own "secret meeting" game. The game consisted of the kids going out to the garage through Luna's doggie door and then out to the backyard through another doggie door at the back of the garage. It was freezing and all of a sudden we saw the kids running around the backyard in their socks! They said they were having "secret meetings."

Eric had to hold Jack Ranger down during tug-of-war because Luna is so strong she would have whipped JR around like a toy.

Happy 30th CJ!

We had the most wonderful trip to Pensacola, Florida for my littlest sister Courtney's 30th birthday. It was rainy the day we arrived and rainy the day we departed, but our two full days were gorgeous with temps in the 70s, sunshine and lite breezes. A few trip highlights:
- Meaningful champagne toasts on our last evening together
- A ladies-only trip which means lots of talking and relaxing
- Beautiful views from our 20th floor condo (I recommend Portofino resort)
- Rest! I slept in every day and also took a short afternoon nap

I am so thankful for my sister Courtney. I always call her my favorite blond sister - and she definitely is! She is loyal, funny, stubborn, super hard-working, organized, beautiful, smart (she is a nurse), adventurous, opinionated and an incredible aunt. She has a tough exterior but the softest, most sensitive heart. I love you little CJ!!!

Birthday dinner at Boardwalk Wine Bar.

Me and my two amazing sisters: Courtney Joyce and Bethany Anne.

Our whole group! Anna Gullickson, Erin Walsh, Nicki Gullickson, Courtney Gallet, Bethany Chapman, Shanna Keller, Kathy Keller.

We made it to the sand bar!

Ambush Baby Shower

We went on a destination trip to Pensacola, Florida for my sister Courtney's 30th birthday and while we were there I was ambushed with a baby shower! I had to work one morning and while I was working they set up gifts and decorations and when I walked out of my bedroom I was so surprised. So surprised that I didn't have on any makeup or even my hair brushed. It was so sweet and thoughtful!

Since we aren't finding out the gender, I got some neutral gifts but also some for a boy and some for a girl. I wonder which ones I will be using! We chatted about potential names during the weekend and here were the top names per gender:
- Boy: Dean Foster Walsh (aka baby DFW)
- Girl: Claire Dawna Walsh

It was definitely the best shower view ever from the 20th floor of our condo out onto the beach! Thank you Mom, Courtney, Bethany, Anna, Shanna and Aunt Kathy! I love you ladies so much and it was wonderful to celebrate the new life joining our family.

20 weeks - WHAT?!

I realized last week that I am halfway done with this pregnancy! The two little ones on the outside take much more of my attention than the littlest one on the inside and the distractions have made the time fly. August feels around the corner and I am going to try to take moments to savor this experience and anticipate our newest family member.

This has been my most difficult pregnancy, not because of the pregnancy itself, but because of life. With Cadence I had no other little ones at home so while I was working long hours and traveling, I could still plant myself on the couch when I got home - that is not an option anymore. With Jack Ranger, I had a less rigorous work schedule, was working from home and Cadence was at Mimi's house during the day which was about 2 minutes drive. This meant I could take breaks during the day to rest and didn't have to commute or even spend much time in the car at all. With this pregnancy, I am a bit older, have a long work commute, have been traveling domestically and internationally and I have two little ones at home that need and deserve my attention when I get home from work. The combination has made for a tired mama.

Last night I was putting the kids to bed and they were whiny, I was tired and I finally got everyone in their jammies and their teeth brushed and when I put JR in his bed he said, "Mom! My bed is sandy!" He was right, he must have had pockets full of sand the last time he was in his bed so I started stripping off the sheets and as I tried to put the fresh sheet on, it wasn't cooperating and I just sat down beside the bed and started crying. Cadence and Ranger were both trying to comfort me and eventually they went on got cat masks and put on a little kitty cat show that did make me smile. I told them I was tired and the sheet was frustrating me and sometimes it is ok to cry and then you have to pray, take some deep breaths, think about things you are thankful for and get back up and move on. During prayers later that evening Cadie prayed, "God, please help mom to get rest and feel better and please help peanut to grow big and strong." They both have sweet hearts and I do have so much to be thankful for.

Pregnancy is miraculous and emotional. It is amazing to feel that little sweet new life kicking in my stomach. At the same time, it makes me want to crawl in my bed and stay there. My God is great, I have so much help and support, I have a husband who loves me and is willing to help with the daily tasks and while part of me knows I need to relish this time, the other part of me hopes the second half goes as quickly and the first.

Scarborough Fair - Annual Trip

Today we went on our annual outing to Scarborough Fair with DD and Big John. The weather was amazing and it felt awesome to soak up the sun. We got off to a slow start because we thought we could fit everything in the Priuse, but turns out we were wrong and so we had to transfer to the Tahoe before hitting the road. Taking less stuff or a smaller stroller wasn't an option :)

Cadie gets her face painted every year at the fair! This year she picked a purple horse. We tried to get JR to get his face painted but he was more interested in poking around in a nearby ditch.

It is so sad to have a big sister and have to wear her hand-me-downs. Luckily he rocks the flowers.

The important thing in this picture is the dunking booth in the back. Both kids LOVED the dunking booth and the kind operaters let them throw the balls at the target and when they failed to hit the target (of course), they let the kids just walk up and hit it to make the lady fall in the water. They thought it was the best.

We got home at about 4:30 and both kids were exhausted and went to bed. It is now just after 8pm and I am debating whether to wake them up for a few hours or let them keep sleep. I am leaning towards letting them sleep, but it could be an early and hungry morning since they have gone to bed with no dinner.