Wine Country

What an adventure! Some long-time family friends have been in town staying with my parents, so yesterday my mom organized a whole day of wine tasting down in the Willamette Valley...via limo -- super swank :) There were ten of us altogether and we had so much fun! Mimi was kind enough to stay and play with Madelyn the whole day. Admittedly, not being able to actually taste the wine (that smelled so, so good) put a bit of a damper on my personal wine tasting experience, but the scenery was so gorgeous and the company was so delightful that it was a fabulous day all the same. Here are some highlights (although I'm still waiting for a few group photos and will post them when I get them):

Debbie at Torii Mor

Pinot Gris grapes...that might actually make it into a glass that I can drink someday.

My parents at Torri Mor

Kelsie and Ben at Four Graces

My mom, sister, and me at Anne Amie -- I could live there...

Kurt and me

Anne Amie

Pat and Maddie in the limo on the way from our house back up to my parents. Maddie couldn't quite believe how big the car was and that she could actually stand up and walk around and no one was telling her otherwise!

The Cat is Out of the Bag!

(This afternoon while helping Madelyn with a potty break in the bathroom):

MG: "Mommy, can I see your tummy?"

Me: "Sure babe." (I pull up my shirt so she can see my very round tummy.)

MG: (While patting my tummy gently with a pensive look on her face): "Mommy, is there a baby in there?"

Me: (BEAMING but totally bummed that Kurt wasn't there): "Well, that's a very good question! I think there might be a baby in there, but let's call Daddy and check with him. Maybe he'll know for sure..."

Maddie and I then called Kurt at work who laughed heartily and confirmed for Maddie that there is, in fact, a baby in Mommy's tummy. She seemed pretty chuffed that she had figured it out, although truthfully, I think she has suspected as much for awhile now and has been a bit sheepish about saying anything. We talked about how the baby was going to have to grow in Mommy's tummy for a long time before it would be big enough to come out and play with us, and she said "then we will bring it to our house and I will be a big sister!"

I am SUPER excited that our girl is now in the know. This will be a fun time of anticipation and excitement for all of us, and we'll be able to do lots of good processing before Baby arrives. It will also make it a whole lot easier to rationalize why she has to be gentle around Mommy's tummy; Maddie is not a mean girl, but she can be quite rough, and I've already taken a few kicks and jabs to the gut. Now there is a good reason why she'll have to be a bit more gentle around Mommy's tummy.

Anyway, we've had a fun day -- it was also my first day home with Maddie since going back to full-time five months ago! -- and we just wanted to share.

A July Pictoral Journal

Anyone who has seen the new Toy Story 3 movie will recognize Madelyn's new friend: Lots o' Huggin' Bear. He's the "villain" in the story, but that doesn't seem to bother Maddie...perhaps she chooses to see the good in all living creatures :) Anyway, Lotso was her reward for staying in her big girl bed (or at least in her room quietly) for ten nights in a row. Fortunately, our girl responds very well to incentive charts, so we've been keeping track with stickers and every ten no-put-back nights (until the problem has gone away) she gets a trip to the toy store. Who knows who will join us next time...

We are total blueberry snobs, and we ONLY pick the freshest, most organic blueberries at Olmsted Acres up in Vancouver :) Baba and Mimi have 7 gorgeous blueberry bushes, and Maddie loves to pick 'em and eat 'em. Baba was endlessly patient, as always!


Kari indulging Maddie in a game with her new Toy Story ball (sensing a theme?). We always have such fun with Kurt's family!

The wonderfully shady tree in our backyard. It's still not quite done (which is why we haven't done a full spread of photos yet), but nevertheless we still spend quite a bit of time back there and are so grateful to have the space.

It won't be long and I won't be able to bend over like that anymore!

Us!! (I told Maddie to give the camera a "toothy grin." She complied.

Silly faces :)

Love love love that we actually have grass to roll around on in our very own backyard! It's the simple things, really. We don't have a patio yet, but that hasn't stopped us from eating dinner outside almost every night. Then we roll around on the grass. Well, Kurt and Maddie roll. I get one roll and can't go any farther, so I just take photos :)

Rose Garden 2010

Each summer, we visit the Portland Rose Garden in Washington Park and eat a little picnic and take a little stroll through the overwhelming gorgeousness. It's been fun documenting Madelyn's growth next to rows and rows of roses:

Picnics have been a bit different for us this year because Maddie is old enough now to want to run around a bit on her own and interact with other children. There were three older girls (two in elementary and one in middle, I think) and one toddler boy playing together close to where we spread our blanket, and she asked right away if she could go over and play with the kids. We said yes, and she shot off immediately. We saw her run right up to them and heard her say "Hi! My name is Maddie! What is your name?" I prayed a Mother's prayer -- "Please play with her...please play with her..." and was genuinely touched to see these older girls kneel down on the grass to talk to her and tolerate her as she tried to copy their cartwheels and dance moves. About every six or seven minutes, she would return to us -- just elated -- as if to reassure herself that we were still there but also to relish in the fact that these girls were playing with her. She'd eat a few bites and would then be off to play some more. This went on for about a half hour until the older girls walked back to their family to eat their picnic. She returned to us, and when we were finished, Kurt walked over to the girls and their parents to tell them how much he appreciated them playing with Madelyn. The oldest girl smiled and said "No problem! She's just like me -- crazy!" Ha!!

S is for Swoosh!

Well we're just swimming in good news around here, folks. We were delighted to tell you about our second little blessing last week, and this week, we're super excited -- and oh-so-relieved! -- to tell you that Kurt was offered a job at Nike. We felt like we each lost about ten pounds when we heard the news. As far too many of you know, being unemployed really starts to wear on you after awhile, even if you adapt and life seems to just move along. We had lots of question marks hanging over our heads -- a few too many for an overly anxious Type A uber-planner like myself. I was grumpy a lot of the time and not always as trusting and optimistic as a girl who loves Jesus should be. Saying that it was all worth it now that's it's all over would be a bit too rosy and a lot too untruthful, so I'll simply say that it was what it was and we'll accept this new job with grateful hearts and generous spirits.

Kurt will have to tell you more about what he will be doing, but what he won't say (so I will tell you) is that his new boss was very complimentary of him when he called to offer him the job. Kurt has lots of good experience in this field but not necessarily exactly the level of experience this team was looking for...and they wanted him anyway...in the middle of a nasty recession. I am so proud of him and so excited to see how he flourishes in this new position and what opportunities come his way. And we are both very excited to be a part of the Nike community. They have quite a reputation around here for taking care of their employees (and their employees' families), and the possibilities for growth and movement and challenge and adventure are exciting. His first day will be July 26, so we'll keep you posted on how things go. I will be going back down to part-time hours that same week, so it will be a big transition for all of us for sure.

Now to rebuild the wardrobe... Removing all of the stripes and trefoils from our closets and drawers has left quite a dent, so it'll be fun to slowly let the swooshes take over!

Q: It's About Time We...

A: Updated this blog
B. Got some sunshine and warm(er) weather
C. Filled this house to capacity and added another baby
D. All of the above

Yes, my friends..."D" is the correct answer. We are, indeed, finally updating this blog and we are thrilled to finally have some summery weather that looks like it might actually stick around for awhile. But the big news, for those who might not yet know, is that we will be adding to our family by way of one tiny baby in January 2011. But Kurt is laid off! you might say. Your house is the size of most Americans' garages! It seems like lately you can barely manage the one child you've got! Yes. Yes, all these things are true, and we are thrilled nonetheless.

Given the impending arrival of said tiny baby, we've been doing a lot of prep work around here. Madelyn does not yet know that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, and we will hold off on telling her as long as possible (primarily because as soon as she finds out she'll want the baby to arrive immediately and we all know that pregnancy is anything but "immediate"). Nevertheless, we've been reading a lot of books about babies and becoming a Big Sister, and we talk frequently about what it might be like to have a baby live at our house. Perhaps every mom thinks this (or hopes it, at least), but I think Madelyn is going to be a fantastic Big Sister. She LOVES our friends' babies and has even lobbied to just have one of them come live at our house. She gets on the floor and coos and smiles at babies as soon as she sees one (even ones we don't know at the park), and her rough-and-tumble body can instantly become so sweetly gentle when she touches a baby. During our nightly prayer, if I happen to forget, she will say "Jesus, be with the baby that will one day come live at our house so I can be a Big Sister." Heart. Melting.

Adding a new baby to our lives does present some logistical challenges, however. We do, indeed, live in a very tiny house. We love it and are so grateful for it, but boy it's tiny. We're not exactly sure how we're going to fit both kiddos in Madelyn's room together, but for certain, they both can't sleep in the crib together. So. Last night, we ventured to Ikea (friend of all those with small rooms and small wallets) and picked out a Big Girl Bed. Kurt put it together this morning, and she loves it, to say the least. She played in there the rest of the morning and had no trouble at all falling asleep for nap today (she's cozied up in there fast asleep as I write). It's a bunk-bed, as you can see, which we figure will carry us several years into the future with two kiddos, but for now, it's just an open canopy for some of her friends to hang out. Super cute!

The Appalachian Trail with Uncle Kris

Hi all. Just a quick little note to highlight a fun adventure that my little brother Kris is on as I write. He and his buddy Joel embarked on the Appalachian Trail on Tuesday night. I don't know all of the statistics, but all you really need to know is that they will be hiking all day long every day for the next four and a half months. My goodness. We are all very proud of them for even giving it a go, 'cause it's certainly more than any of the rest of us are doing! Kurt has set up a nifty little way of tracking him from the GPS emails we get from him every couple of days. For those of you who might be interested, the map is over to the right. We're all so excited for him, but we're a little nervous too, so seeing those little dots pop up on the map will all help us sleep easier at night :) I'm sure he'll have some fabulous stories when he gets back! Maybe we'll have to see if he could do a guest spot on the blog...