Last few weeks of maternity leave...

So we've crammed a lot of fun times into the last few weeks of my maternity leave (yes I went back to work yesterday :(...but I have to admit, I LOVE my job and the friends I work with so it's ok, besides the time away from the kids only makes time spent together that much more special right :) )...so here's a recap on the last month or so...

We made a trip to Spokane in early June to visit family and prepare for Elijah's dedication. I drove up with the two kids by myself (not doing that again, what's usually a nine hour drive turned into a twelve hour one thanks to my lil man who didn't want to stop crying for the majority of the last four hours there, but I love him anyways ;) ) then Michael flew in after he got off work just a few days before the dedication.

Before Michael got up there the my mom, Makayla, Joey, Sam, Eli and myself enjoyed a super fun day at Riverfront Park where we rode the carousel, fed the ducks, played on the big red wagon, rode a few carnival rides and played in the water fountain. Sam had a blast and talked about going to ride the horsies and play in the "wa wa" for days after! We spent the rest of our time just hanging out with family and friends, It was great!

After the dedication on Saturday we packed up and headed to Seattle the following morning for a mini vacation. While we were there we got to have dinner and visit with one of my good friends that I haven't seen in years, visit the Woodland Zoo, see two lighthouses (Brown's Point and West Point), and go to a Mariner's baseball game! We all had a blast and Eli was on his best behavior during the many hours spent traveling in the car...it was great!!

Elijah's dedication

We dedicated Elijah on June 11th, we did it in my parent's back yard and had my childhood youth pastor and good family friend perform the dedication, Walter Maxwell. We did it in a very nontraditional manner for the modern church...usually you dedicate your child in a Sunday morning service, but for us this was not practical as we live so far away from our family and getting them all here at the same time would not happen. To us it was important to do it with the support of our family and close friends...a dedication is simply committing to raise your child in the ways of the Lord and asking God to bless him along the way, so really why couldn't it be done in a backyard we figured...

Here's a few pics of the occasion...

Sam's Kindermusik

This spring we had heard about a class called Kindermusik and decided to enroll Samantha in it. The timing worked out perfect, as the class began just a few weeks before I was due to deliver Eli and I would be off for all the sessions to take Sam. Not only that but we figured it would give Sam some individual attention during the time when Elijah was due to enter into the world.

This class was GREAT!!! The first week of class my quiet, shy little girl was out in the middle of the classroom telling all the other kids to "dance" with her. She didn't want to have anything to do with her mom!! This was such a change from what I was used to, my little girl who clung to my leg whenever we were in a crowd! Throughout the two month class Sam continued to be just as outgoing...one week one of the other moms told me that "Sam must be going to be a cheerleader or something, she's always so peppy and trying to get everyone to do what she's doing!" :) Who knows maybe she will be one someday....

Each week the kids got to explore various things that made noise or things they could interact with such as rice-filled eggs, jingle bells, wood sticks (that they all banged on the floor in unison!!), see through scarfs, dry sponges, etc. They also learned bonding games with their moms...many of which Sam still loves to play at random!

This class was so great for her development of skills, both social and physical! Sam always looked forward to going to class to play "wishy washy"!!

(Wishy washy was a game that they played with sponges where they rubbed the sponges together and sang "wishy washy wishy washy wishy washy wee" and when they said wee they raised their hands up in the air...it went along with the book they all got to take home called Pete and PJ)

Graduation...HORRAY!!

Well...I graduated!! Yay!!! Back in 2005 I graduated with my ADN (Associate Degree-Nursing). Since then I've been working as a registered nurse in labor and delivery. In 2009 I received my advanced certification in my field, which changed my title to RNC. So, to add one more thing to my plate I decided to go back to school online back in 2009 for my bachelor's degree in nursing through Boise State University. This month I completed it along with a really good friend, of who I'm not sure I would've made it through without ;o) Thanks Andrea! At this point my bachelor's degree isn't going to do much in my current position...it is however the next step if I do decide to go on for my master's degree...it also opens opportunities to teach the clinical aspect of nursing to students (which I think I may enjoy doing at some point!!). To celebrate our graduation, our little family and my good friends Andrea and Amber along with their families, all went to Boise and stayed in a hotel for two nights. There we enjoyed spending time in the pool with the kids, shopping and going out for some good food! It was a lot of fun and I feel really blessed to have such supportive family and friends!

Even without school I still find a whole lot to occupy my time between the two kiddos, Michael, housework, yardwork, laundry and friends! I have not spent as much time as I would've thought I would on things like blogging and scrapbooking :( I did however take back up couponing...which'll be good to save the family a few bucks! Did my first big deal today and got 18 bottles of BBQ sauce, 2 bottles of Gatorade, 3 big bottles of Heinz ketchup and a donut for just under seven dollars! Man that felt good!

Elijah had his two month checkup this last week and is a far cry from where Sam was at this point!! He falls in the 75th percentile for both height and weight!! (Sam always fell in the 10-15th percentile for each!!)...Eli weighed 12lbs 15oz and had grown to 23 1/4in long! He's a tank!! He's smiling a lot and cooing...I love it! We're still working on sleeping through the night and the whole self-soothing thing (this lil guy enjoys company and doesn't think he should have to sleep alone)...other than that he's a pretty alright kid...I think we'll keep him :oD

Sam is growing like a weed! Both in height (finally) and in vocabulary. She's able to repeat anything you tell her to say and is working on putting words together into sentences. She does however never stop chattering in her own little jibbrish language with a recognizable word in here and there.

Our little family :o)

Andrea and I after graduation

Me, Amber and Andrea

Me and my girl

Sam and Daddy swimming

Eli chillin by the pool

Sam flying...she really didn't like it!

Cheesy girl!

First smile caught on film...stubborn lil guy :)