Balloons

     At work last week we had an awards banquet. Part of the decorations were a long string full of balloons. The perfect opportunity to take colorful photos. Haley wanted to hold them, but she didn't want me to help and she kept letting go. I tried tying the string to her shirt; she didn't like that. I ended up trading back and forth which end I was holding as she fought me for it. 

     While balloons are fun and bring a lot of joy, they also bring tears. It is a blast to watch them float away, but when a toddler realizes they can't have their cake and eat it too, beware the storm of tears. Balloons slip out of fingers, float away, and pop in the grass. So in light of the discovery that balloons are in fact evil. (hang with me here) 2 of my co-workers/ friends started creating an album full of songs about balloons. It is a hilarious undertaking involving Weird Al style lyrics with Jack Johnson style melodies. I think one of these pictures may be the perfect album cover. Enjoy.

Haley's Plant

  Haley and I took a trip to the tailgate market that is open on Saturday's all summer long. We bought a tomato plant and a few days later Haley used the gardening tools she got for easter to help me plant it next to her daddy's blueberry bushes. The next week we got a green pepper plant and we planted it with Ryann's help too. I'm hoping to get at least on pepper and one tomato and I will feel like we have an accomplished first garden. With these plants and the blueberries that are already producing fruit Haley will have a green thumb in no time. 

  

     A funny story: The market is a small gathering of vendors behind a local church. There are about 15-20 little tents set up selling organic local produce, homemade bread, plants, soaps, chocolate and small crafts. We live about 4 blocks away and love to walk to the market to see friends, neighbors, and puppies. especially the really big ones that look like teddy bears. As we walked around the market for the first time this summer Haley enjoyed sampling chocolates, strawberries, and other treats. Then when I turned my back on her to sample some chocolate she reached up to the neighboring table to take one of the treats they were selling, then took a big bite out of it. She looked up at me with a "mommy, this does not taste very good" look. and then I laughed as I pulled the goats milk soap out of her mouth. 

     Do not take things without asking: lesson learned. 

Sunday Afternoon Hike

     Last Sunday afternoon we decided to go on a hike with our friends who are staying with us for the summer. As we were leaving Zach's mom and brother showed up (they ended their backpacking trip a day early). Brennan decided to join us on our hike, and it was a good thing too since we forgot our hiking backpack in the excitement of the moment.  Haley's buddy Ryann was a champion hiker, backpack and all. Haley did pretty well on her own two feet, but was really slow and easily distracted (I have no idea where she got THAT from), so her dad and uncle took turns carrying her up to the summit. 

Th girls paused for some hugs at the halfway point.  

Haley was not feeling it. 

First family of four hike photo!

Liam rode up the mountain in the moby wrap. I was glad to have an excuse not to carry the squirmy, quickly growing, toddler. 

All the hiking really wore him out. 

After a short fight involving some large sticks the girls were happy to say sorry and give hugs. 

Haley had a delicious snack after it smashed open in the diaper bag and spilled all over the camera. 

Brennan was a bit nervous holding Liam over the jagged rocks. 

I got the girls to stop for a minute so they could stand in this fun hollowed out tree that I love.

The perfect hiding spot.

     Even though I am crazily out of shape it was a lot of fun to hit the trails with the kids. In the 4 years I have lived in the mountains I have not spent a lot of time outside. I am hoping that this summer will be a new beginning of hiking and playing outdoors. I hope to instill in Haley and Liam a love for the mountains and an appreciation for God's creation.

     As a kid I loved Pipi Longstocking. One of my favorite lines describing her was that the mountains please her more than toys do. I hope that this will be true of my kids, that they will find as much or more joy in bugs, flowers, rock walls, and sunsets as they do in blocks, dolls, cars, and TV shows. 

Liam - 1 month

My son is over a month old. Here are some observations from his first month. 

• He spits up- a lot. And when I say a lot I mean that I have no idea how he is growing at all because he seems to regurgitate his entire meal after every feeding. 
• He is very gassy. This is probably the only thing, other than hunger, that upsets him. But he kicks his legs and works it out... sometimes very loudly. 
• He is a bit of a nocturnal creature, usually having his last awake period of the day from around 11pm to 1am. I usually stay up late whit him; we're on a college kid schedule
• During the night he eats lying down and falls asleep in my arms. His gas and spitting up seem to be less of a problem at night. 
• He is a noisy sleeper. He breaths very heavily and snores a little. 
• He makes very sweet noises when he's awake. Especially when he's hungry. 
• He has a hard time latching on when he eats, he just gets so excited that it's almost time for food that he can't stop shaking his head. 
• He is content to sit in his bouncy seat for a long time, or even sleep there, but he would rather be in someone's arms. 
• He has not peed on his mom and dad too many times, but he did manage to get the wall of the midwife's office once when he pooped. 
• He holds his head up very well. I am amazed at how high he can lift himself off his tummy, especially if he's resting on someone's shoulder. 
• I adore the way his legs stay tucked up when he is moved from place to place. He managed to latch them around his car seat buckle the first few times I tried to get him out and almost lifted the seat with his grip. 
• All babies have a startle reflex but his seems to be easily triggered. He is a content but jumpy little guy. 
• He is not especially fussy and seems to be very well tempered. Is is very patient with his sister and all of her friends who like to bounce him, cover him with blankets, and shove his inky in his mouth
• He spent the first few days of his life resembling a turtle. Now I think he looks a little like a mouse. 
• He smiles often. Especially when he's dozing off and you lightly stroke his cheek.
• He only fit in his newborn clothes and diapers for about a week, and they were quite snug. 

We planned to hold off on giving Liam a pacifier until he was at least a month old lie we did with Haley, but he was constantly acting hungry and then spitting up his food, so we tried to hold him off with a pacifier so he could digest for a little while and keep some food in. If nothing else it gave me a little bit of a break from being a human pacifier.

I love almost nothing more than taking photos of my kids. They are precious to me and I love capturing little moment of their lives to be forever remembered. I love trying to turn everyday moment in to art. Sometimes my pictures seem to be sorely lacking. Other times, when I'm not even expecting it, I will get a picture that makes me smile over and over again, a picture that captures the essence of a moment, a day, a personality, a mood, or a time. With two kids it is a bit harder to set up photos like I did with Haley, but I have still tried to find the beauty in the mundane moments of life. I have never been great with words, so I hope I can tell our story through pictures. I will try to add more of these pictures soon, and hopefully I can set up a few more photos I really want to have in the next few weeks. As someone who would like to one day pursue photography, I hope to take advantage of the moment with my own children to try the ideas I have gathered from other more experienced photographers. 

The 1 month photoshoot. 

I am excited to see how Liam grows compared to a basketball. It will be neat to see him go from being the size of the ball, to being able to palm the ball in his hand. 

June is for Running!

Kelle Hampton from enjoying the small things talked about running every day this month in her post hello june. That was the motivation I needed to finally follow through on some goals.

Last January (a year and a half ago) I had a great idea for a new years resolution. I would pick a goal each month, and focus that month on following through with it. This way I would implement some lifestyle changes, one at a time, instead of committing to too many goals and sticking with none of them. But, I never actually started this brilliant idea of mine, even when the next new year that I was holding out for came and went.

So, I've decided that if I want to make changes, why wait until January first. So I am committing to run every day this month. It doesn't have to be far, it doesn't have to be pretty. If need be it can be a jog down the street and back in my flip flops, although hopefully I can be more thorough than that. It's day 2 and so far so good.

What I have realized so far is that I am incredibly out of shape. I guess not exercising for 9 months, plus recovery time after, will do that to you. Even after my morning sickness subsided I was pretty sedentary for the second trimester, and by the time the third rimester rolled around my belly was too big to do much more than stretch. Plus, it's not very fun to run around when it's cold outside, and I'm a wimp.

I have also realized something else. Running can be fun. I would still much rather be running after something (a soccer ball, a frisbee, and obstacle course etc.) but it feels good to get my legs moving and my heart pumping. I was doing a great job of getting in shape last summer before I found out about the peanut, and I think that as the weather gets warmer my motivation is slowly seeping back.



Megan Francis from The Happiest Mom also wrote a post about June. June: It's all about you. In it she says that in planning fun stuff for our families this summer, mom's should also consider how many hours there are and plan some fun stuff for themselves. She also has some good ideas, like taking a class to pursue a hobby. I would love to take a photography, pottery, or painting class. I would also love to join a soccer team or go climbing.

I think that as parents we are better able to serve our kids when we don't feel like we're losing ourselves. By spending time with the people we love, and doing adult based activities we enjoy we are able to still live our lives, which means we can be more committed to our kids when we are with them and we can model for them a healthy balance of serving our families and taking care of ourselves. One of my biggest struggles is filling unstructured time  surfing blogs, looking at facebook pictures, or watching reruns on hulu and netflix. I am with my kids but not giving them my attention. But when I  take time to do something I love, like going to lunch with friends, I come back ready to give my kids 100%. win win.

Here are some other goals I hope to pursue in the upcoming months.

• Drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I have never been a big water drinker so this is important. I also tend to act on my sweet tooth when I'm really just dehydrated. However, I must add that since I got my new camelbak water bottle I have been drinking a lot more. It has become my new fidgeting habit. 
• Read the bible every day. I did this for lent and it was great. I have been much better since, but can already tell I'm slipping again. 
• Read a book. I spend so much time reading magazines and blogs that i forget to read quality literature. I hope my kids will see me reading and learn to love it themselves. Part of this is also reading with them every day, patiently, talking about the pictures on each page, and without rushing to the end. 
• Play with my children each day. Make my daughter laugh and actually follow through on my plans for her week. I will try to write more about my plans for our weekly schedule that usually is forgotten. Play with and sing to my son more, it's easy to forget to when they are so unresponsive.
• Make out with my husband every day. This post from simple marriage gave me some extra inspiration for this idea. 10 second KISS. 
• Edit my pictures as they come. I can take over a thousand pictures in an afternoon if given the opportunity, so you can imagine why I get so behind on posting them. I would love to stay on top of this for a change and maybe even get in a better habit of deleting bad photos. I feel like his is easier to do when the photos are fresh, there is less of an attachment. Hopefully I can stick with this habit and even start making memory books or seasonal slideshows for my kids. 
• Stick to a budget and record each purchase. We have the best of intentions to d this each month, but I don't think we've followed through for a full month yet. 
• Become more passionate about prayer. Pray with my husband each night., and listen to the spirit. Pray for my friends when they have needs, right then and there.
• Spend time outside each day. This one becomes much more of a problem when it's cold. But even the burden of getting bundled in layers upon layers is worth it. 

I'm sure I will come up with more ideas, or find more ideas jotted down on sticky notes, buried in my backpack. But I would also love to hear from you. You can do just about anything for 31 days or less. What are some lifestyle changes you would like to commit to, even if only for a month. 

The Blog...

As anyone reading this knows, It's been a while.

Ever since I started working at the home it has been difficult to maintain my blog. In August morning sickness added to the difficulty and I have rarely posted since then.

I enjoy photographing my kids and sharing those photos with family and friends. I also enjoy sharing my experiences with other moms, in hopes that someone can lean from my ideas and my mistakes. I am not good at keeping up with baby books and I am very glad I have highlights from the first few months of Haley's life recorded . I hope that I will be able to devote the same amount of attention, if not time, to writing about my newest baby.

With these thoughts in mind I am attempting to revive my blog. There are many things I want to write about, but in attempt to catch up I often get overwhelmed and write nothing. I am going to try to stop being so hard on myself and just move on when I don't finish a post or if I skip an important milestone. I will try to keep the post coming even when I get discouraged, and occasionally I maygo back and finish a post I never finished, or never even started. So here is a list of things I may (or may not) post about.

But first, an introduction.

Liam Isaiah Washburn was born on April 27th at 5:04 am

10lbs. 7oz. 20 1/2 in.

He's a big "onion"

Haley is slowly adjusting to being a big sister. She misses her one on one attention, but seems to like having a baby around.

So, without further ado, some things to look forward to...

• Laim's birth story and 1 month update
• An update on Haley: she is a chatterbox who loves books, tutus, boots, and the sandbox
• Haley's favorite toys and my other favorite baby gear
• Summer plans for me and for the kids
• Liam's pictures from his time in the oven, and his attempted photo shoots since. 
• Some thoughts on motherhood, prayer, and whatever else keeps me awake until one in the morning.
• My latest crafting endeavors

So I hope you're still checking back and I hope you're excited for more. I make no guarantees but I will try to give you something to come back for at least once a week (but hopefully a lot more. If nothing else it seems like a good way to spend the time until Liam falls asleep.

Also, if you are still reading I let me know, maybe it's the inspiration I need to keep updating. Also, I have a challenge for you. My creative juices have been mommy brained, and I need a new name for my blog. Any suggestions would be much appreciated, as well as ideas for what you would like to read about or see pictures of. 

And I leave you with this for the night. The Washburn family at it's finest.

:p

Friday Favorites- May

I post these because I like them. (and now I have the links to read them again and again. You may like them too.

What I really want for mothers day @ Mama Notes

Family rules @ Little bit funky

How to love your kids when you don't really like them @ Steady Mom

The best way not to help a new mom @ The gypsy mama

suggestions for staying sane while traveling with kids @ the gypsy mama

journal jars @ made

how a dad really loves a daughter @ we are that family

A mothers day confession @ not just cute

hang up and parent  @ weird-bird

Encore @ Enjoying the small things (I love what she has to say about celebrating birthdays- also check out the previous post for an amazing birthday party)

How to encourage your child to be creative even when you're not @ Not just cute

My favorite things-s summer edition @ creative mama

80 inexpensive or free summer activities @ crystal and comp