not my WORDS wednesday

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will all disappear all too soon and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly.... find joy in the journey—now." -Thomas S. Monson

Getaway

I have been wanting to "getaway" for a while. I am having such a hard time with my job and being pregnant and life and cleaning and you know the drill.

So a few months ago, I started planning for Jared's birthday that we would "getaway" His birthday is during spring break, so it seemed like the most logical time to do so.

Also (and I am slightly ashamed to admit this) Kroten is almost TWO and he has never spent a night away from mom and dad. Seeing that in about 4 months, he will have to spend a few days without us while we are in the hospital, it was HIGH TIME that he try a few nights at grandma's house. So we did just that, shipped k-man to grandma's and "got away"

we went to Newport. It is on the coast and it was AWSOME. Our camp site was right on the beach and the weather was fantastic. I loved every single tiny minute of it.


It doesn't just look like he is moving out, it felt like he was. I may or may not have bawled when I said goodbye.


We were super excited that our name was posted on our campsite. How neat. Corney, I know, but it felt like they were waiting for us. :)


This was the trail to the beach, and it was literally right by our campsite. What a view.


We went to the yaquina head light house. We didn't go up because the line was really long and I was tired so it was just nice to see the outside.




And of course, we went crabbing. Jared is slightly obsessed with the sport now, so we will be going lots now.


Jared and his big catch. We were catching Red Rock Crabs. Apparently they are tastier than dungenous but a lot harder to eat, the shells are a lot harder and they shatter instead of crack. Jared didn't like it as much as the normal Oregon coast crab.


And this is what I did while Jared did all the stinky, hard work. I sat and ate my cadberry eggs. YUM. To make me sound a little less lazy, I am not allowed to pull up or throw in the crab pots cause I don't have a licence. So that is my excuse for not helping.

The sunset was very pretty. I really really liked Newport.




Highlights of the trip:
-Our airmatress going completely flat
-two trips to wal-mart. I LOVE WALMART
-crabbing
-sleeping in a tent
-waking up by ourselves, not to a baby yelling mommy
-talking to my little kman on the phone and hearing him say I love you after almost 5hours being apart
-eating lunch at the brewery and being carded only to tell them that we are not ordering alcohol, but the food was most excellent
-walking on the beach
-finding agates
-eating spaghetti by the fire
-being with my hubby, no distractions and no obligations
-walking a quarter mile to the bathroom while you are 6 months pregnant
-Shopping at the outlet malls
-spending too much money at the outlet malls
-maybe, just maybe, figuring out the new baby's name??
-celebrating Jared's birthday
-not carrying my camera around like a member of the paparazzi
-getting wind burnt on my cheeks
-seeing my kman after almost 3 days apart

growing like a weed

I read in one of my pregnancy books that if a baby were to continue to grow outside the womb at the rate that it grew inside the womb, by the time it was a year old it would weigh 100 lbs. That is amazing to me. That means that this baby is growing like a weed. And I know it is growing like a weed because today I was super hungry and sleepy all day long. I have been feeling her a lot more and a lot stronger. It is wonderful, AND...
Jared felt her kick for the first time today.
YAY. I saw his eyes beam and then he started talking about how excited he was to go to the hospital and hold her for the first time. It is nice for him to have some connection to the baby besides my growing belly, now he can feel her. This was a happy accomplishment in the pregnacy.

All is well on the prego front.

"I-keen"

Kroten LOVES hiking. Or as he said over and over the whole time, very excitedly, "I-keen ... I-keen".

Last time we went hiking he was little and could barely walk. He was a little to small for the back pack and could not see anything over daddy's shoulder. He got tired and cranky. But this time he walked till he couldnt walk anymore, and then pointing to his back said "pack" and we knew he was done and wanted to be in the back pack.We were proud of him, I estimate that he walked almost 2 miles of our four mile hike.

He loved the water and the trail, the trees, the flowers and hearing the birds. He used his words to tell us what each one was. It was wonderful to see him explore. I think his favorite thing was to step on all the stones, stumps and roots along the trail and try to keep his balance while walking. He is deffinitly our outdoorsy man, and we will deffinitly be doing a lot of hiking this summer, that is until the end of July.

I am truly amazed at how much he has grown. It is experiences as a family, like this one, that help me to slow down and take it all in. It was a beautiful and special day. I loved every minute of it.















Where did we go?
We went to Brice Creek. It is a beautiful drive and not too far from Eugene. There is even camping up there for 6 bucks a night. We will be taking advantage of this soon. The water was clear and there was lots of places to go swimming. It was a little swift but if your careful it could be fun. We used to go here as kids with my mom, and Sammy and I used to go hiking here all the time. It is easy to get to and kind of a fun drive.

-Take I5 to exit 174 (Cottage Grove Exit.)
-Go east on Row River Rd. (if you are driving south on I5, it will be a left turn off the exit)
-Folow Row River Rd, it will turn left and go up a hill, but if you miss the turn and the road turns into something else, that is ok, it will meet up with Row River RD at the covered bridge.
-Drive till you think you have gone far enough and keep driving. It is about 25 miles east of cottage Grove.
-The parking lot will be on your left the sign will say ceder creek camp ground. You will recognize it by the bridge in the first picture.
-Really, it is full proof, you cant get lost, it is a straight shot East from Cottage Grove.

wordless wednesday

21 weeks

5 months (and one week.) Were over half way there. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. It is probably because if I am not working or sleeping I am preoccupied with Kroten. There is just so much to do in a day.

I am FINALLY feeling better. WAHOO!! No more morning sickness. Because it lasted so long I feel like I skipped the whole second trimester. Although things are pretty good, I am starting to feel big and am starting to have some aches and pains. The worst is the heart burn, but I had that all the way through with k-man as well, so that is no surprise. Things are great and progressing. It can only get harder from here, and I am ready. Bring on the pregnancy. I am working on being more optimistic. (can you tell?)

I can feel the baby kick a lot more and I love it. Yesterday she was kicking and swimming like it was a party or something, but today I have hardly felt her. I love feeling the flutter and can't wait for Jared and Kroten to feel it. This stage of life is so fun and beautiful, I am trying to take it all in, I dont want it to end (except for my job of course.)


Oh and you can see in the picture that I got a haircut. Funny story to go along with that...
If you know me, you know that when it comes to my hair, I am kinda fickle. To grow it out or not to grow it out, that is ALWAYS the question. Well, I have now decided to grow it out. So I needed to cut off the A-line. Who better to have cut it off than my sweet husband, RIGHT? well I told him to just cut  off the A-line and make it all straight, the same length as the shortest part all the way around. We should have taken a picture, but when he finished (the first time) the left side was about an inch longer than the other side. Long story short, it ended up getting shorter and shorter (great for growing it out right?) but in the end, it does look really cute and it is a great starting point for growing it out. I love that he is willing to do that for me, and I must really really love him to let him do it.

dear diary

you all answered my poll (thanks a ton) and only 34% of you said that you use your blog as a journal. I was kind of surprised. I think everyone should think of there blog as a journal. It has helped me to be more consistant and more real in my posting, it is just a bonus to me that I can keep my family and friends up on our awsome life. I am not saying that it is bad to use it for this purpose, but maybe it is time to start journaling instead of blogging.

I asked this poll question becuase I was asked to talk at a church activity this past week on journal keeping. My part was "modern day journaling." I spoke with two other women who, I think, did a FANTASTIC job. They both motivated me to keep journaling and made me really realize how important it is. Becuase I was to follow these two wonderful speakers I was SUPER nervous. My face got really really flush and hot and I was talking a mile a minute. I had so much to say that I was hurrying to get it all in. I don't think anyone in that room learned a thing from me. Plus I was practically hyperventalating from nerves. They all told me I did great, but they are supposed to say that. Anyway, I am still so greatful for this experience because it taught me some very important things. Basically that I LOVE BLOGGING and that I LOVE JOURNALING. And ...get this... they go hand in hand, as in, they are ONE!!!! Can you beleive that... your blog is a journal. YES! Check that one off of my list.

As I was writing my speach for the activity, I had a lot of insights into blogging. None of these points were touched on becuase I focused more on journaling than blogging, but here are my insights for everyone and hopefully you can use them to your advantage.

 In order to create a better, more interesting and lasting blog...

1. Use your blog as a journal
duh kristen, isnt that what you just said? yes, but you dont' mind hearing it again, right? Before they even asked me to speak on the subject, I had already been thinking about my blog as a journal. I Love going back and reading my past posts. I love that my children will have records and pictures from when they were little. I love that I have recorded things that I would never ever have remembered had I not written them down. like this. I love that people have learned from my experiences and more importantly that I can learn from my past mistakes, failures and sucsesses and not repeat them by going back and reading my own past posts. My blog started out as a way to let people know what we were up to and show how awsome our lives are, but my journal/blog has become priceless to me.

2. DO NOT BLOG FOR COMMENTS
I still find myself in the habbit of posting something on the blog and checking five times a day to see if anyone left a comment, so don't feel bad if this is you too, you are not alone. But I personally think that if you leave it alone and forget about the comments, your posts will become a little more personal and your blogging will be more for you than for someone else. Plus, whenever I go back to read my old posts, I rarely click on the comments to see what people had to say. In the long run it is what you write that matters, not what others think about it.

3. Do not compare
Comparing your blog to other people blogs wil always leave you discouraged and frustrated. There will ALWAYS be a blog out there that is better than yours, even if you have the "cutest blog on the block." If your blog is not good enough for you, you will never post, and you will be left with a journal as dry and empty as the one on my night stand.

4. Be passionate
There are two points here. 1. write more passionatly. Make it personal, write your thoughts and feelings. Goals and asspirations. Be more passionate in your writing. and 2. Make blogging a passion. I am border line obssesed. "Hi my name is kristen and I am addicted to blogging." Allthough I go a little too far sometimes, it has been a blessing, blogging has become a passion and that is what makes it a habbit for me.

5.Go back and read
reading what I have written makes me SO greatful that I have kept such a good record of life for the past 3 years. it makes me want to keep going, and do better. I love reading about when kroten was a new born or what my pregnancy was like, dates with my husband, and trips we have taken. I LOVE IT!



In sharing this, I am in no way saying that I am the best blogger/journaler. I am just passionate about blogging and I hope that my passion can rub off on someone. that is why I felt like sharing my thoughts in this post. I think everyone should have a blog and I think everyone should journal, so join me in blogging. Lets start a bloggaholics anonymous.

My blogging might get a little more sparatic in the near future becuase I am quiting my job (YAY) which has allowed me to do a lot more blogging and I am going to have two kids. WOW!!! life is going to get a lot more hectic, but I hope that I can stay passionate about recording my own and my families story. I cannot wait for my great great great grandkids to read my journal/blog.

wordless wednesday

Here is a riddle for ya...

yep... its a girl

I wont say that I am disappointed, cause that isn't the right word. I guess I just had this image in my head of two little boys, best friends, playing ball, getting stitches and leaving mud tracks through the house. Constant wrestling and lots of blue stuff. I thought that I would be the princess of the house forever. I love my boys and I love that I am their only girl. But now I am forced to face the facts.. someone is moving in on my territory. someone that will be cuter than me, skinnier than me and someone to steal away daddy's affection. Maybe I was a little disappointed, maybe a little jealous or maybe just not prepared for the shocking news. But it is a girl and I am going to have to like that.

Now instead of a best friend, Kroten will have someone to protect, to care for and to love. Instead of blue I guess I will buy pink. I get to make onsies with ruffles on the butt and yes she will wear homemade headbands with BIG flowers on them. Jared is so excited to paint her little toe nails fire engine red and I can't wait to see the look in his eyes when he holds something so precious. I am going to the store first thing tomorrow and buying some little tiny leg warmers and some girly material. I guess I will have to make room and instead of enjoying my throne, I will have to share it. I will love her, I know I will, I already do, but I just need a second for it all to sink in. THINGS ARE REALLY ABOUT TO CHANGE!!!!

If I had a million dollars....

I would buy these in a heartbeat...




definitely NOT these...





oh, and one of these...


That is all.

twenty-four

Today I turned twenty-four. It is not quite a quarter of the way to 100, but it is deffinitly not twenty-three. I feel like this year has taught me so much and to be perfectly honest, I am glad that it is over. I am so ready to move on to tenty-four. This is going to be an EXCELENT year.

twenty-four, be ready for awsomeness.


This is how we spent the 03/05, the best day of the year.

















Then Jared gave me a foot massage. (I love him.)

And now it is almost 3 am and I am at work... SUCKY, I know, you dont have to tell me about it. And I am going to dig into an eclair from the sweet life, becuase Jared is awsome.

And because I have to work on my b-day which meant that I had to sleep through half of it, the party continues on tuesday night, a hot date with my hubby. SO excited. So stayed tuned for more.

wordless wednesday