Day 1: Multnomah Falls

Well our adventure began Thursday, June 30th – I believe we left within 30 minutes of my desired start time of 8:30am. I woke up feeling like I needed a morning in the bathroom praying to the porcelain god, so I was really looking forward to a day in the car (especially when I seem to have had a motion sickness problem ever since being pregnant). :P Dogs had been dropped off the night before (we always owe a big thanks to Rick - Loren's dad - when we travel) so after we picked my mom up in Star we hit the road. Made it to Durkee before we needed gas (hadn’t filled up) and then stopped in La Grande for lunch and played at the rest area. Made another pitstop in The Dalles for a playground and ice cream break. We were fortunate to catch a period of long naps for the kids, so we actually made pretty good time (I am still amazed at how well they did! Daytime driving is def the way to go for us.). After that was Multnomah Falls, a standard stop for us on the way to Portland. I was still feeling crummy, but hiking to the top was on my 30 Before 30 list – and Loren pushed me to check it off.

"You want to do what? I'm taking a nap."

My cheeseball.

That's where we were headed. Yes, I was sick to my stomach, had hardly eaten, and was carrying an extra 30 lbs on my back...

An absolutely adorable 30 lbs!

We decided we’d give it a shot and at least go as far as we could. I was packing Hayden when we got to the bridge, and we decided to move on. As long as I kept some momentum I did pretty good. However, once we made it to the ½ mile mark (which, btw, I thought was the halfway mark -- no, it's actually a 1.25 mile hike, not 1 -- false advertising!), I decided I just couldn’t do it while carrying him, so I passed him off to Loren (which was actually the first time Loren has ever packed either kid in a backpack). Addie walked with Ba ("Ba" has somehow become my mom’s name for the kids – I think Addie just couldn’t say Grandma, so she started saying Ba and it has stuck) behind us, catching some breaks while Ba packed her every so often (poor Ba!). We kept pushing forward and each time we thought of turning back, we’d see a sign to signal we were that much closer and forged on. I think Addie’s favorite part was the snail we found on our way up (that we of course had to find again on our way back down – to show Dad). I actually hadn’t felt like throwing up since that morning – until we got to about the ¾ mile mark. After many breaks and pleas to the toddler to walk, we finally made it up. We admired the view, took some pics, and then headed back down – which felt about as long as the hike up!

It's not very impressive here, but take a look at how tiny those cars are.

My little hiker.

Heading back down...

Petting her snail.

But by the time we got to the bottom it actually felt pretty darn good. I was so proud of Addie who actually walked almost the entire way down – and still had energy to play at the bottom! We got some popcorn to snack on and let Hayden out to cause some trouble before we loaded up and headed in to Portland.

Usually when we go to Portland we stay downtown, but I had procrastinated on getting a room long enough that many weren’t available, and it was less expensive to stay out towards the airport. It wasn’t the nicest area, but we got continental breakfast (had a pool too, but I never did make it there to enjoy it) and were just a few minutes away (walking) from the MAX lightrail. We were all exhausted from our day of travel and hiking, so we just grabbed some Chinese food and settled in for the night... until about 11:30pm when we were awoken to Addie puking. On the bed, the heater, the floor, herself, Loren – yay vacation! :) After cleaning up she laid down with Ba, but we were all so on edge, we all jumped at every move she made – in hopes of either catching the puke in the garbage can or saving her from falling off the bed. Sleeping in hotels can be a bit of a challenge with the kids. At home we all crash in our nice big king bed, that is on the ground and up against the wall – a decent amount of room (although we still get squished) and few places to fall off (and if they do, it’s a short fall). The hotel, on the other hand, was a queen bed with high edges and furniture to hit on the way down. Addie actually ended up sleeping through the rest of the night and I think I finally got some sleep around 3am. Not the best way to rest up for our day at the zoo…

Easter

Well Easter came and went and as usual, we crammed in way too many festivities. :) On the weekend before my mom and I took the kids to Eggstravaganza at the Boise Zoo. It, of course, was a madhouse and Addie was much too overwhelmed to participate in the egg hunt. But we had fun checking out the animals and (of course) the gift shop.

Surprise, surprise, Addie picked out a frog. Afterwards we grabbed some good ol' McDonald's and hit the park.

The next weekend (actual Easter weekend) my mom, Uncle Chris, the kids, and I headed out to Homedale for the annual Romriell get together. Every year my extended family on my maternal grandmother's side has a pretty sweet Easter bash. There is egg dying...

(and stickers)

(surprise, Bubby just wanted to eat the eggs)

(and spoon)

...lots of good food and things to play on...

...and in...

...and an awesome egg hunt.

And this one she got into (Hayden slept through it). Here is her haul. Also note the outfit. I took her to pick out an Easter dress and she of course passed up all the frilly pastel-y Easter-y dresses for this hot pink and black lace number. Silly girl.

After the eggs are collected, we empty them all out. Most have candy, but some have papers with points (and each egg counts for points) and then the kids get to go down to the "store" (basement) and pick out prizes with their points. Very cool! Addie picked out a frog (what!?!) and a little duck game.

Then we couldn't get her off the trampoline!

Leisa came to visit too, with Ben, Kyndell and Miss Sophia.

Kyndell had just woken up from a nap and was happy to just sit for a bit. She got some good playing in later though. :)

We pretty much spent the entire day out there and were all very exhausted!

On Easter Sunday it was time to head out to the farm. We started off with some pizza at Grandma Lola's with Pappy, Uncle Sean and Aunt Erin, and Erin's brother and friend. Then it was off for a stroll down to the barn for Addie to see cows and chickens.

She picked BSU attire for the day. ???

Somebody loves her Pappy.

Hayden was obviously excited.

Addie of course had to check out Uncle Gene's princess castle. We also attempted to check out the treehouse -- until we got up there and saw wasps swarming the window (eek!).

After our walk we headed back to Grandma's for what I thought would be an Easter egg hunt for 4-6 kids. Instead it was just Addie, so we had lots of eggs! I forgot what a great yard my grandma has for hiding eggs (that's where we always did our hunts as kids).

Bubby got in on the action a little bit.

Then it was off to check out the goods. I have to say, I thought it was a pretty cool hunt. I had some pretty sweet prizes (not only GOOD candy, but cool toys too).

Hayden's favorites were the jelly beans.

That ended our Easter adventures. So Addie got 3 egg hunts and WAY too much candy. :) Is there any other kind of Easter?

30 Before 30

Okay, here it is. I turn 30 in November and decided to make a bucket list. Not that I think life ends at 30 (as Cassie thought my list meant). I just thought it would be fun to set some goals. So I'm attempting to accomplish all of these in the next 6 months. And I hope to not be doing them alone, so if you'd like to join in or help, come along! :) (FYI - these are in no particular order and are purposefully not numbered -- I actually wanted to put them in a cool graphic, but haven't quite figure out how to do that...)

• Take a dance class. I’ve obviously done this before since I was on drill team in high school, but I’ve wanted to take one as an “adult” (no, I still haven’t fully embraced that term) and haven’t had the guts to do it. I was originally thinking a hip hop class or maybe ballet (since I’m signing Addie up), but I’m being told pole dancing. Now that would be something new!
• Go skydiving, bungee jumping, or ride in a hot air balloon. I will do all three someday, but I don’t think I’ll get to them all in six months, so I’ll settle for one. :)
• Drive a motorcycle. I’ve been on one, but never driven one. Problem is, I don’t have one. Hmm… Or maybe a jetski. I think either will work. But again, no jetski…
• Go on a zipline.
• Write an article and submit it to Perspectives in HIM. I’ve had articles published already, but never as first author and not to an HIM journal. My goal here is to actually have one published, but I don’t think my timeline will allow it. So hopefully I can get one submitted – then accepted and published by 31.
• Run a 5k. Training now and picked the race – the Chocolate and Champagne race with my girl Cassie. And outfitted in sweet 80s workout attire.
• Girl’s trip! I’m thinking Vegas baby! I’ve gone on trips with Leisa, but only one time was it just us (LA). Def not enough. And I’m hoping I have some more girls game to join. ;)
• Go backpacking. I was fine with a day trip, but Cassie said it doesn’t count if I don’t stay overnight. :P
• Visit a new (to me) Idaho destination. I’m thinking Bruneau Sand Dunes, Crystal Ice Caves, or Shoshone Falls.
• Spend an entire day at Lucky Peak (and rock a bikini bod). Hmm, better find me someone with a boat…
• Visit a new zoo with the kids. We’re planning a trip to the Portland zoo in July – I’ve been, but not with the kids.
• Take Bubby to see the ocean. Same trip up to Washington – Addie has seen the ocean in California.
• Hike to the top of Multnomah Falls. Or maybe any Falls.
• Create a kickass new Bachelor’s curriculum that is bound for RHIA accreditation (yes, I used kickass and curriculum in the same sentence – I am a TRUE nerd).
• Have a super fun adult Halloween (I’ll still have Halloween with the kiddos too, but have never been out) in a super sexy costume (as Cassie said, skank it up).
• See a drag show. (I actually already did this, but it’s been on my wishlist for a long time, and it was within the last month or so, so I’m counting it)
• Go to a roller derby bout. (Same as above – already did it, but just a couple weeks ago)
• Put together and give an ICD-10 training session that rocks (yes, rocks).
• Do something new (to us) with my girl Leisa.
• Decrap. This is a technical term given by my buddy Ron. I am being consumed by STUFF!
• Take a class with Loren. Maybe cooking?
• Go clamming. Ryan thinks this is ridiculous, but I’ve never gone and I love clams. Why not?
• Go on a boat in the ocean. I’ve actually only been on, I think, one boat (a totally hot pontoon boat) at the McCall Lake.
• Get a tattoo. Or at least get it scheduled. I know what I want to get, but I want the absolute best person to do it, so I’m guessing I might find them booked up for a bit.
• Go unplugged for a week. No TV, no computer, no phone (except for necessary phone calls). Problem is, I have to get Loren in on this one too. And it can't be while I'm in school or teaching. Looks like August.
• Start a compost. This has been on my list for a long time!
• Set aside some money for something on my next bucket list (I have lots of travel plans in the future). I’ll obviously have to get a bit more specific with this (once I update my recently neglected budget).
• Write thank you letters to at least three influential people in my life.
• Secret.
• Secret. Sorry, I have to keep some to myself! ;)

Quick Littles Update

It appears that once you have a second baby you just fall off the face of the earth. Or maybe I'm the only one that can't seem to cope. Obviously I haven't been very good about keeping this blog updated. And talk about a lack of pics. I seem to never have my camera, or if I do, the batteries are dead. I now understand why the second child never has as many pics. But there is definitely no lack of love. :) Anywho, I'm crazy busy and should be doing schoolwork, but just felt that I had to at least do a quick kiddo update.

Addie is definitely a little girl now. She is doing great at daycare and has really picked up her vocabulary. She talks quite a bit and asks questions now (not to the point of being annoying - yet). Her best friend in daycare is Mia, but she also plays with Stilson and Kimi (according to her). She picks out her own clothes, and yes, some days are pretty interesting. She is kind of potty training. We're being pretty casual about it. She has days where she wants to either be naked or wear panties, so she knows she has to go in the potty. But so far she'll only pee in the potty. She wants a diaper when she has to poop. ??? We'll get there soon I'm sure. I'm really hoping it will be before her 3rd birthday. Two kiddos in diapers is definitely starting to wear on me. The way we finally got her to even try? Promised her a big party. Great, this is apparently what motivates my little girl. What are we in for? We have had one successfully dry night, and today had our first successfully dry outing at the park. She has also become very good with her colors. Still working on the alphabet and counting. Can't believe how much she's grown up in the last few months. She loves to play games on my phone, which I'm beginning to regret a bit. Oh well, soon enough I'm sure it will be a Nintendo DS or something. She is already bugging me to use this laptop as I type this. Really - I have a 3 year old (almost) who uses my phone, the laptop, picks out her own clothes, loves lip gloss, talks back, and picks on her brother. Oh dear.

Bubby is just being as cute as can be. He has just in the last couple days began crawling. I use that loosely as he has only done it twice and not for much distance. But it shows that he's right there. He's 10 months - Addie was 8 when she crawled - so he's a little behind her, but I'm not sad about that. He loves to get into whatever you don't want him to, so the longer I can keep him immobile the better. We are going to have to do some serious baby proofing soon (really didn't have to worry about it with Addie). He is a tank - 22 pounds (Addie is about 24) and eats literally everything. If you have food, he better have some too or you're in trouble! He absolutely LOVES ice cream! He only has 6 teeth, but seems to be able to power down just about anything. He's still a total love -- loves to cuddle up close. We've been a little sick off and on for the past couple months (winter), so we've had some upset times, but overall he's pretty easy going and happy most of the time. He is a little more leery of strangers now, but still goes to just about anyone.

Speaking of upset times, I currently have a crying infant and demanding toddler (she "wants to type!"). And a mom that's kinda losing it (no, not because of the kiddos -- although I think anyone with small children is on the verge of losing it at any moment). Off to see if I can find my sanity...

My Sassafras

I know, I've been terrible about updating my blog. And I have SO many pics to go through! I haven't even posted anything about Christmas! But I have to start somewhere, so I decided to post these pics from Bald Eagle Days (late January) out at the Shakespeare Festival theater. I took Addie just for something to do. We didn't actually get to see the bald eagle (couldn't find the show, and by the time we did it was full), but we did see some owls and falcons, and Addie just had a good time running around. With winter weather we hadn't been outside much.

She did get to color an owl mask.

I was having fun watching her run around, wondering where this "child" (not "baby") came from.

Could she be any cuter??

She was trying to hide from me and thought she was rather clever.

Once it was almost time to go I finally convinced her to get her face painted. She chose an owl, and was the very last kid painted. She promptly destroyed it when she insisted on "feeling" it. Oh well.

Then we grabbed a hot chocolate on the way out.

Look at that sassy little thing. I was just asking Loren where we got a 2-year-old that insists on putting on make-up with mom, wants body spray, is already picky about what she wears, and demands Lady Gaga in the car?

I think the nickname Sassafras is quite appropriate.

What Have I Been Up To?

Most of what I write about on here pertains to what I've been up to at home, with the kids -- our outings and events. But I'm putting together some information for my annual evaluation and find myself overwhelmed at having to recant my accomplishments in the past year. I've put together what I can think of and must say I'm damn proud of myself. Especially when you add that I had a baby in the middle of this! Just as a little boasting, these are some highlights:

• Taught 9 classes, including one during the first winter intersession (medical terminology, which I had only taught online before that)
  
• Took the lead as clinical coordinator, and found some new sites -- and coordinated the processing of background checks
• Accepted into a PhD program and took 3 classes
• Published a book, a book chapter, and 3 journal articles (with a number of co-authors)
• Gave 4 professional presentations and 2 poster presentations
• Served on the IRB and 2 college committees
• Supervised an independent study and 3 internships
• Served on the IdHIMA board
• Peer reviewed a textbook and journal article

This is in addition to helping with orientation sessions, doing tons of advising, and attending random department and college meetings. Hmm, no wonder I'm always exhausted! Damn, if I can do this pregnant and with a newborn, how am I going to step it up this year? I mean, I only have a toddler and infant now... ;)