life, love and leaving cashmere

I am officially overwhelmed by life. Our house is now listed on the market with a Real Estate Agent. I couldn't put enough energy into it, and I think this was a good choice. However now this requires that the house be spic and span at all times.... not so easy with an infant and two dogs, while trying to pack up everything I'll need to live in Plain in the 5th wheel. I sometimes wonder why we do this to ourselves - never allowing time to just relax and live life. It always seems to be elusive, just around the corner, but never quite here yet. Looming over my head is my impending return to work on September 15th... and I am completely and totally bummed about it. Not that I don't like my job, because I do. And I enjoy the friends that I have there as well. And it's not that I don't have a great person to watch Olaf - quite the opposite - she's awesome. It's just the fact that my baby boy won't be with me all day... Someone else gets to experience the joy that is hanging out with him. Oh boy I better not talk much more about this because it's going to make me cry. Who knew you could love someone so much, that you hate to leave them for more than a few hours?

Mommy and Olaf - an actual picture of me holding him! (I had to take it though)

Olaf is now showing so much personality! He babbles all the time, and smiles at just about everyone, which makes everyone pretty happy. He is learning to put himself to sleep without crying which is AWESOME. I think we have this schedule thing figured out! (Watch me eat my words...)

Look out ladies!

His new favorite activities include laying on his back, and kicking his legs like he is running a sprint race, while pumping his fists above his head. I keep trying to catch it on video but every time I bring out the camera he just stares at me like, "seriously mom, I don't want this published on the web" :) Ah well.

Chelan is a fantastic doggie to sleep on.

He has also moved past shoving his whole fist into his mouth, and prefers just his thumb, usually with the rest of his hand wrapping up around his nose. I am determined to catch a photo of this cuteness as well. I don't know if letting him suck his thumb will come back to bite us in the future... but it is so darn cute (and effective at soothing) that I don't want to stop him. So I don't plan to!

Also keeping us busy... Gravity Environmental (AKA Steve) has sponsored a stretch of highway to collect litter on twice a year. Last weekend we did our duty for the environment and did litter pick up on Hwy 2. 23 bags full of nasty trash was collected! (and that was only one side of the highway - this Friday we'll do the rest. Any volunteers?) Zachary and Cassie Miller helped us, then we all went for milkshakes at the 59'er afterwards - much fun! Olaf was in the capable hands of Aunty Kendra in Plain. Though we missed him, I don't think the side of the road and dirty trash is where you want your infant to be. Agreed?

Victorious Volunteers!

2 months already?

beautiful beautiful beautiful boy...

Today is little Oly's 2 month birthday. Happy birthday kiddo! I should hardly call him "little", as he is quite the bruiser. He weighed in today at:

23 3/4 inches long (over 2" of growth, nice work!)
13 lbs 11oz (holy cow kid, what have you been eating?)
16.5" head circumference (he has no hats that fit any more)

This picture shows why Josh just calls him "Head"

love this kiddo.

He is healthy and growing strong and is such a blessing in our lives daily! It's hard to believe that he's been here 2 months already... yet when I think of how much he's grown and changed it is easier to believe. This week Olaf has discovered his hands. His favorite pastimes with his hands include: trying to shove his entire fist into his mouth, batting at his toy ducky attached to his carseat, and reaching for the crab in his crib. Mommy's necklace and Chelan's soft fur are close seconds. Chelan tolerates him quite well - I think she enjoys when I just set him up between her head and her paws, and he just smiles and smiles, especially when Rosie comes over and licks both of their faces and toes.

Life is good.

summer days

Our time lately has been filled with a multitude of activities. Last week we finally got out on the boat again and met Jenn and Chris Foreman at Crescent Bar for some surfing. It was a BEAUTIFUL day - no wind even - and we enjoyed our time on the water. So I had to put on a swimsuit for the first time since having Olaf... not my greatest experience of the summer. But it was worth it to be in the water! Also, Olaf got to meet the Foreman's daughter, Makenna, for the first time. We joked that perhaps one day we would be at their wedding... then tried to catch a picture of them holding hands - and nearly succeeded! Not that we would ever really match-make with our son, but I don't mind keeping him around little gals who's families I love.

Makenna and Oly. He's so big... she's two months older!

Holding hands... :)

We've been continuously cleaning the house, in hopes of prospective buyers. We finally had one couple walk through the house last week, and they seemed mighty interested. But we didn't hear back from them so apparently this house wasn't for them... I am pretty bummed about this whole situation since we can't start on the Plain remodel until the house sells... and worried. and stressed... and trying to trust God that he'll bring us the right buyer. However we are not sure if we have time to wait too long, so we are considering using an agent to help us sell. There goes much of the profit... but if it sells that would be wonderful so we'll see. Please join us in praying for a buyer!

When not in Cashmere cleaning (or being glued to the Olympics) we have been in Plain enjoying friends and family. We had a chance to share a meal with the Rumann family, along with the Saugens (Dave, Christie, Serenity and Micah) and the Krenz's (Nick and Jaimi). It was wonderful to feel at home in Plain, and Rebecca and her mom made a FABULOUS meal. Also, Rumann Construction has agreed to be our contractor in Plain, and help us figure out what we are doing, and we are really excited about this! We finally finished our floor plans (will try to post later). The basics anyway. That's all we need to figure out for now since it's a remodel, not new construction. I also got to catch up with my friend Anne last night for dinner in Leavenworth. It is just nice to be able to be mobile with Oly, and we enjoyed it very much.

Olaf continues to grow and exceed my expectations for cuteness :) His dimples get deeper and deeper as his face gets chunkier and chunkier. I just love watching him! I don't get nearly enough done because he is so fun to hang out with!

Oly was all bundled up for our morning walk in the cool rain.

We are looking forward to our weekend on Whidbey Island, and introducing Olaf to Great Grandma and Grandpa Riley, and getting to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa Saugen. Olaf is still quite the traveler (it helps that we spend our time spread between the house and 5th wheel) so this trip should be fun!

dixie - home away from home

Regarding the title of this post -- For any of you that don't know, Dixie is Steve's work truck. Recently it feels like we have been away from home more than we have actually been here. (I have learned to feed and change diapers in Dixie's passenger seat.) Luckily while we have been away, my sister has been house-sitting and keeping our lawn and flowers from dying in the HEAT. (thanks!)

Oly is all set to travel in his new carseat -- the Chicco KeyFit 30 - the Cadillac of carseats.

Last weekend was a whirlwind it seemed. Steve had to work in Seattle on Thursday and Friday, so we left Wednesday evening and headed to stay with Josh in West Seattle. We got to see he and MacKenzie's new house and he got to meet Olaf for the first time. Sadly, Mac was away for work so we didn't get to see her :( We had a great time distracting Josh from his work though! Olaf even got in on the action, trying on Josh's bunny ears which had arrived in preparation for their trip to Burning Man.

OlyBunny!

Little Olaf has been doing well with all the moving around. Unfortunately for me though, his schedule has been thrown out of whack. Probably because he was barely on a schedule, and then we started moving around all the time and constantly being with people... Ah well, we are home now and doing pretty good, so hopefully one of these days I can get him to sleep through the night!

Back to our time in Seattle -- I got to visit with a good friend and former roommate, Annie Hendrickson, on Friday. We met at UVillage for a little time to chat, have coffee, and let our little guys meet! Ann and Kyle are new parents as well. Little Daniel is 3 weeks younger than Olaf, so they are sure to be fast friends. Most likely they will be Tall Timber buddies like Ann and I started out as! At UVillage we got to share the experience of trying to find a place to feed the kiddos in a overly crowded shopping area... luckily Barnes and Noble provides comfy chairs, and with "hooter hiders" maybe no one even knew what we were doing :) Pretty sure the chairs were supposed to be for reading... but ah well! We enjoyed relaxing in them.

Annie and Daniel... such a cute new mommy!

Saturday evening was spent with good friends at the wedding of Rene and Julee in Lakewood. She looked more like Cinderella than any other bride I have ever seen!

Julee, Rene and Corey, who officiated the wedding

All the little girls at the wedding just couldn't get enough of her - it was very cute to watch. I am posting a few pictures of the wedding - it was GORGEOUS. Lots of green and orange - two colors that I would have never put together but they sure looked great in that setting.The wedding setting...

Ethan and Jenny

We had a lot of fun introducing Olaf to a new crowd of friends from Stevens Pass. He was a hit with all the ladies, as usual!With Kylene

Sunday was spent with family at Tara and Randy's house. Sue and Ron came over for a BBQ, bringing Serenity with them, who was visiting Grandma and Grandpa for a week. Mother T even stopped by for a visit and to meet Olaf, which was fun. Tara's special burgers were a hit and the sun came out for some warm time out on the deck. A very nice way to cap off the weekend!

Sue and Olaf

Such a big boy!

Little Miss Serenity

T and Mother T