Smog-ust

One of the things that I love the most about summers in Oregon is all of the you-pick opportunities! We started August off right with a trip to an orchard to pick our own peaches with some friends. Peaches are a funny thing to pick yourself because it goes so quickly! You feel like you've just started and then you look down and realize your bucket is very full and very heavy! But oh my goodness so much deliciousness! The peaches we picked this year, in addition to being delightfully sweet were also ginormous. And we didn't get a chance to eat/bake with very many of them before the kids and I left for Utah. Thankfully I remembered to call Eric while we were gone and he got them chopped up and put in the freezer for us. Already used some today to make the most wonderful smoothie! 

Levi and his friend Liam

Levi showing off the peach cupcake that he decorated himself. For some reason when I asked him to look at me and smile this is what he did. Oh well. 

So two weeks ago Sunday began the epic week of traveling! Sunday afternoon after church, the kids and I took Eric up to the airport so he could go to a work conference in Las Vegas. Baby girl has decided she hates her carseat and subsequently typically screams in the car for the duration of any drive longer than about 5 minutes. It's awful. And what makes it more awful is that there is tons of construction going on on the freeways right now. I84 is closed so everyone who would take 84 is diverted onto 205 and unfortunately there is also construction on 205! So long story short driving to and from the airport takes even longer than usual right now. So it was a bit of a baptism by fire into single parenting that Sunday afternoon.

Anyway so I had the kids by myself Sunday afternoon through Tuesday night when Katie met up with us in the airport in Utah. That tiny stretch of time convinced me that I could never be a single parent! Daytime was fine and nights were fine but the evenings were so challenging! Particularly bedtime! Here Eric and I had felt so good about getting the kids on the same schedule so they go to bed at the same time, which works great when there's two of us but not at all when its just one person! Emery and Levi both ended up crying and it was just a disaster. I honestly just don't know how single parents survive. 

Tuesday night I paid a YSA to drive the kids and I to the airport and help us check our bags. Thank heaven I did because there was absolutely no way I would have been able to manage our checked bag, two carseats, Levi's carryon, and the diaper bag all while wearing baby girl and pushing Levi in the stroller! It was challenging enough with two people! Thankfully, Levi loves luggage and took full responsibility for his carryon the whole time in the airport both on the way there and on the way back. He pushed/dragged it totally independently which was super nice. But yeah, so after we checked our bags it was much easier because then I just had the kids and the diaper bag (and Levi had his carryon). But unfortunately, the night we were leaving the weather was really bad in Denver so all the flights that were supposed to be landing in Denver were getting re-routed to Salt Lake! Which meant our flight (and Katie's) kept getting delayed later and later. So I ended up being in the airport with my kids for four hours before we finally boarded our plane! It was daunting but thankfully our gate was right next to the kids play area, and some food and some bathrooms. And the kids did great! Levi was just so excited to be at an airport and baby girl was being worn so she was happy as a clam. But by the time we finally landed in Salt Lake at like 11:30 at night, I was EXHAUSTED and very, very grateful that Katie's flight had landed before ours so she was right there waiting for us at the gate. But it still took a while to get the rental car and drive down to the Hendersons house in Sandy so by the time we got the kiddos to bed and I went to bed, it was 1:30 in the morning! Crazy! Needless to say, we all slept in the next morning!

So yeah, Tuesday night through Sunday the kids and I got to spend in Utah! And it was awesome, we got to see Holly, Matt and Greta and their kids, Matthew and Valerie and Silva, Alyssa and her kiddos, Justin and Bri and their daughter, Kialei and Katalin and Emma and Spencer! It was a jampacked trip! I loved just getting to see and catch up with everyone and I think Levi's favorite days were when we went to the children's museum with Greta and her kids and the next day when we went to the dinosaur museum with Alyssa and her boys. Both museums were awesome and had a lot of fun things for Levi to do. We ended up doing a lot of inside things while we were there because the air quality was absolutely AWFUL! Apparently there was a big fire up the canyon by Spanish Fork so all of Utah valley and also somewhat Salt Lake Valley were blanketed in think, gross, brown smoke smog. I was really looking forward to coming home to nicer air but unfortunately there were fires here in Oregon and Washington when we got back too! So we've been dealing with gross air and adiversaries to stay inside here also. Global warming is really hitting home right now as I feel like the entire west is just on fire. 

Levi cheesing it up in a selfie with Holly. When we saw her we went to BYU which was a huge trip down memory lane! Some things have changed but it all just felt so comfortable and familiar still! And we scored free BYU brownies so that was a major win! Haha

I wore baby girl for most of the trip I feel like, which she loved. She's pretty much always content to be worn and usually ends up sleeping. It was great but also definitely a work out for my back muscles! Haha. 

Levi, Anson and Ben playing at the children's museum. This picture is totally deceptive because it looks deserted but there were actually TONS of other kids there that day. I actually don't know how I even got this picture without other kids in it! 

Greta helped the boys climb up the rope bridges to get to this cool old plane they got to "fly"

Anson and Levi touching bellies! Hahaha I'm not sure why this did this but it was hilarious! 

Such sweet cousins! Can't wait to see them again at Christmas time! We are all staying at Papi and Nona's house so it will definitely be a party! 

Levi's favorite part of the dinosaur museum was this hands-on exhibit where the kids could bury the dinos in sand and water. It was all about how fossils were often formed when dinosaurs were killed by flash floods and then their bodies quickly buried by sediment in the rivers. Pretty cool. I feel bad but we didn't get any pictures with Alyssa and her boys and I didn't actually get that much of a chance to chat with her because Levi just kept running off to get to the next thing (toddler attention span!) so we kept losing each other. 

The Hendersons were sooo nice to let us stay with them, especially since they have a new baby too! Their little baby girl is three weeks younger than Emmie although they look closer to the same age in this picture! But yeah, I felt like we actually barely saw the Hendersons while we were there since we were staying down in the basement and coming and going a lot and they were too. We always seemed to miss each other. But we did get a little bit of a chance to catch up. 

So yeah, that was our trip to Utah! On Sunday we flew home and Levi very nearly boarded a flight to London instead! When it was time for us to board our plane, he got so excited he just took off and got away from me and Katie and slipped through the crowds of people and almost boarded the plane at a different gate! He just slipped right under the barrier and was halfway down the gateway before the flight attendants managed to corral him! It gave everyone around a good laugh because he was just obviously so excited but it was so embarrassing! Haha. 

Our trip was fun but it has been nice to be back home with Eric. All of us missed him while we were gone. This past week was a lot of just catching up on laundry and grocery shopping and chores. We cleaned all the things haha. But there was some fun stuff this week too. On Tuesday night my friend Ashley hosted a Norwex party (she's a consultant). That gave Eric a chance to try a bottle again with baby girl. Unfortunately, it was totally a no-go. I'm starting to get really stressed about how she will do with daycare. She just downright refuses bottles! And they don't swaddle at daycare either so I'm worried about her naps. Basically I'm worried that she's going to have the worst time ever and it will totally ruin the good rhythm we have going with her! She is such a sweet chill baby most of the time and I am worried about what daycare will do to her routine and especially her sleeping at night if she isn't eating or sleeping well during the day there! Eric assures me that it will all work out but its definitely the biggest worry point for me right now. 

Also, last Wednesday I got a surprise call from my cousin Jen who told me she was in town and could we meet up? So I took Emery and went and met up with her and went to Ruby Jewel and got awesome icecream sandwiches :). It was really cool to get to catch up with her and hear how she and her family are doing. I'm glad she thought to reach out to me. However, there was the downside that Emery scream cried in the car all the way up there and all the way back (about 40-45 minutes each way!). That was not so fun.

Friday night, I went up to help Katie pack up her apartment because she moved yesterday and Eric took Levi camping with the Robinsons! Levi loved it and I liked getting the chance to help Katie a little bit, especially since she was like my savior on the Utah trip with helping out with the kids and especially with putting Levi to bed while I feed Emmie each night! 

Eric and Levi eating their McDonalds before paddle-boarding across the river to the island they were camping on. 

So yeah, that's been life lately! We are so blessed that our life is just so full! This is my last full week with the kiddos before I start work and I am kind of freaking out about it! I feel like I just need to make the most of each day! Here goes it! 

In other news, Levi has stopped taking a nap every day. He still will most days but some days he requests to do quiet time instead. This is always not very quiet and results in huge messes in his room like this one! And I can only get him to stay in his room for 30 minutes tops which is a serious downgrade from his typical 1.5 to 2 hour nap! It's been rough. And he still needs a nap really! Any day he skips it if we drive anywhere in the car that afternoon, he falls asleep.

Emery just looking adorable in one of my favorite outfits for her! 

We do a lot of this!

Emery still mostly hates tummytime but she is finally comfortable enough with it to give me a smile every once in a while! Yay!