Life lately - all the haps'

See, the problem is I am busy with a lot of things, so I don't blog. But then I realize that I am not keeping up with all the changes in our lives and I really need to write them down somewhere. So then I write these huge long blog posts that no one but me needs to read, and then I try to condense it all down, and then I never post it. So. In an effort to avoid the vortex of doom I work myself into, here's a start.

August was CRAZY. It felt like we were going going gone all month long. It was our last month before Tim started up with school again, so I/we wanted to pack in as much fun as possible. We did a bunch of fun family things like going to the Bean Museum (Georgie LOVES the "a-mals"), going to the aquarium with my family (Georgie loves fishies), going to the Springville splash pad one last time (Georgie loves the water), and going to the MOA to see the movie costumes exhibit (I completely swooned over the clothes; Georgie tolerated it). We also started the month off with a two-day Herrick family vacation (no naps for two days=torture for babies and mamas), and then sadly ended the month with the passing of Tim's Grammy and a trip to California (for Tim) for the funeral. Plus we squeezed in my 28th birthday, a girls' night, a date night for Tim and me before school started, our niece's birthday party, and my cousin Jacob's wedding. Oh, and the girls and I got super sick the week before school started. Whew! We were racing summer to its finish.

And then school started on the 25th, and we haven't seen Tim since. I kid, I kid...but seriously. School and that whole situation gets its own post but suffice it to say that he is working (probably down to 20 hours a week once the homework ramps up) and taking 5 classes (15 credits) this semester, all in the evenings, so our face time with him is pretty much limited to weekends. Twice a week he comes home in time for bedtime and twice a week he misses bedtime altogether, and he is generally gone all the day so...yeah...we don't see much of him during the week. But this is just how it goes, right? At least we have the weekends at all?

[On a related note, I've been racking my brain to come up with activities Georgie and I can do together and activities Georgie can do on her own that will keep her entertained while I make dinner. I'd love any feedback or suggestions - I have some ideas but I don't think there's such a thing as too many at this point! So far we have a day where I do a lot of music-related stuff (we pull out my keyboard, turn on music and dance, sing songs, etc.) and a day for artsy stuff (coloring with markers and paint in addition to the usual crayons and pencils), but I still need things she can do that don't require constant monitoring on my part.]

In all my "spare" time, I am working a little. I recently acquired three freelance writing/editing jobs , and though they are all extremely part-time , it's really nice (and also necessary) to be bringing in a little money again. The story of getting those jobs is actually part of the other post, but it's been a huge blessing while keeping me very busy.

And then all day, every day, are my girls. Georgie is almost 2 and talking. She amazes me every other day with what she is internalizing, remembering, noticing, and expressing. She also uses her resourcefulness to take all the patience I am able muster on a daily basis and do a Mexican hat dance on it. So, in other words, she's almost 2. I just wrote about Rosie but she's just wonderfully happy and growing and hitting milestones left and right. I forgot how much fun 5 months old can be!

And now for the photo dump in no particular order:

Finally got a picture of both them looking at the camera AND smiling! It's a dream come true for me!

From our Herrick Family Vacation - Tim's mom with all the cousins (except Baby Charlotte who was born three weeks later).

Georgie at the aquarium

The aquarium completely wore her out. She doesn't normally sleep in the car but it happened three or four times this month with all the busyness we packed in.

Splash pad time!

Even Rosie enjoyed getting in the water (for the most part).

At our girls' night, we finally got a picture of our three babes, all born within six weeks of each other.

My cousin Anna, who was in town for her brother Jacob's wedding. I miss her! I am crossing my fingers she and her husband get to move to Utah once he's done with med school next year.

Summer catch-up

We had a crazy summer and I did a terrible job of recording it in any form. So quickly, a rundown of the last few months...

We kicked off the summer with a trip to Capitol Reef. It was Georgie's first time in Torrey and I think she liked it? It was her first trip anywhere and she didn't sleep well, so that made her super cranky. But it was still gorgeous and fun!

This is where Georige took her first crawling steps.

June was full of the usual craziness - Father's Day, Tim's birthday, our anniversary, birthdays for cousins, and this year, weddings for two of my cousins. These pics were from Addy's 3rd birthday - it's so fun to see all the little cousins together!

Tim wanted to do something fun for the 4th of July so he planned, organized, and put together a huge bbq party at our house with a swimming excursion at our community pool. It was so much fun! We had a ton of food and lots of great people. And at the end of the night, we went to an overlook and watched fireworks from up here and holy cow, people. All the fireworks were little but there were dozens going off all over the valley at the same time and it looked so cool!

Georgie loved having all her cousins to play/destroy her room with.

The only problem with the pool is that it's windy and therefore chilly sometimes. All the littles were freezing!

The rest of July was pretty normal - another birthday celebration for Tim's brother, the 24th of July, etc. Then at the end of July, we found out Tim's Grams had passed away in California after six months of battling cancer. Tim really wanted to go out for the memorial service so we packed up, rented a car, and went the next day! I took zero pictures from this trip but it was great to see all the California folks and really nice to be there for Tim's Grandpa. We had some wonderful friends in St. George who let us stay there on our way back to break up the trip and the rental car, though expensive, was soooo nice! Georgie was teething and didn't sleep at. all. during the trip, so we ended up coming home a day early. (Plus we found out I was pregnant and I wanted to be home.)

August was full of my birthday, adjusting to the idea of being pregnant, feeling sick and exhausted, a major landscaping event at the house (that gets its own post), and finally, a Herrick family trip to Bear Lake for a week. This vacation was planned back in January so it seem surreal that it was finally time to go. It was super fun to be with everyone and the lake was incredible! It was also super stressful because we blew a tire on the way there (in my mom's car) and had to drive on the spare, Georgie didn't sleep well, and I felt sick at least half of the time. So we were really really glad we went and really really glad to go home. Hopefully next year's family vacation will be a little less crazy for us.

We watched the three littles while everyone went to the Minnetonka Caves - Georgie (11 mo), Lillian (9 mo), and Cora (1 yr 2 1/2 mo). Please note that Georgie is in motion while the other girls are sitting fairly still and that will tell you a lot.

Happy to sit with Daddy!

Gorgeous gorgeous water!

Georgie hated - and I mean HATED - being on the boat and having a life jacket on. This was her face for most of the 3 1/2 hours spent on the water - suffering. Just suffering. Luckily she fell asleep for the last bit and that helped!

We coaxed a smile out of her while we stopped for lunch.

Rob made t-shirts for all the girls and we took many many pictures in an attempt to get a good one of them all together.

The one thing we didn't get to do this summer was game night. We went down to Orem twice for it and then scheduling got crazy and it just was too hard to go down with a little one who essentially spent the summer sleep training. We also didn't go to any parades or concerts, but we did go swimming a lot. On the hot hot days, Georgie and I just ran over to our community pool for 45 minutes or so and chilled in the shallow end - perfect. We got to see our families a lot, which was fantastic, and we also had a lot of lazy time. I am thoroughly ready for fall but I definitely enjoyed our busy summer.

So long, sweet summer

Somehow we're already done with summer - it went so fast! I took a look at my summer to-do list and was mostly pleased and only a little disappointed at what we did/did not manage to do.

- Summerfest fireworks: Didn't go - the pregnant woman opted out of walking from the car and sitting on the ground.
- Timpanogos Storytelling Festival: We have our tickets and are going this Saturday!
- Game nights: The last one was yesterday and it was really fun to get to play so many of our games all summer!
- Visit the BYU Museum of Art: Hmm, maybe we'll still make this one happen...
- Picnic at Bridal Veil Falls: Ditto that.
- Outdoor movies at the Scera Shell: Again, the pregnant woman opted out of staying up super late.
- Miniature golf: Cost money and we're saving up for the baby.
- Trip to Capitol Reef: We went for our anniversary
- Timpanogos Caves: We didn't end up going because we realized me hiking was not realistic.
- Stadium of Fire fireworks: Check!
- Go to the library, find some new books, and read in the park: Check!
- Swimming/7 Peaks: 7Peaks was too expensive for us but we ended up swimming at our hotel for my birthday and it was divine.
- Antelope Island
- Make ice cream, popsicles, slushies, etc.: Check!
- Provo Farmer's Market
- Rooftop Concert Series: We only went to one but it was fun and we were very glad we got to go.
- Thanksgiving Point Gardens: Sadly not something we made it to.

In spite of all the things we didn't do, we had a really busy summer! Tim's class took up lots of time, plus we had birthdays and bbqs and family in town and lots to keep us on the go. It was a great summer, in spite of all the things we didn't get to do. I almost wish we had a few more weeks to enjoy, but then again, I'm a tad anxious to have this baby. Bring on the fall!

Lately

Summer is going way too fast and I haven't been keeping up with the pictures very well, but I have a small sampling of the bits and pieces we've been up to lately.

More apricot jam - I made it mostly by myself this time!

Lots of baby stuff piling up in the crib and on the lower rung of our makeshift closet:

 Lots of this going on...

And of course, every week we roll out our huge quilt at "our" beautiful park and  play lots and lots of games.

And other than Tim's homework (no pictures of that - sorry, I know you're disappointed), that about sums it up. We're trying to get lots of little things done before we've got a new baby to take care of and trying to keep our heads above water with balancing everything. And of course, trying to stay cool which just isn't happening for me. Only a few more weeks of summer left!

Summer bucket list

At the beginning of the month, Tim and I started to come up with a list of must-dos for this summer. Some of them might become less possible as I become more pregnant, but I think having a list of fun things to do is an excellent way to start the summer out!


In no particular order...


- Summerfest fireworks (2nd week of June)
- Timpanogos Storytelling Festival (end of August)
- Game nights (every Tuesday!)
- Visit the BYU Museum of Art
- Picnic at Bridal Veil Falls
- Outdoor movies at the Scera Shell
- Outdoor (hopefully free) concerts
- Miniature golf
- Trip to Capitol Reef (at least one)
- Timpanogos Caves
- Stadium of Fire fireworks (4th of July)
- Go to the library, find some new books, and read in the park
- Swimming/7 Peaks
- Antelope Island
- Make ice cream, popsicles, slushies, etc.
- Provo Farmer's Market
- Rooftop Concert Series (1st Friday of every month)
- Thanksgiving Point Gardens


Shoot, I think I'm forgetting some now... Anything you'd add? I'm getting more excited for summer just looking at all of this!

Come play games!

Quick announcement for everyone: every Tuesday night through August we're having a "Game Night in the Park" at the Orem City Center park (100 North 300 East, on the side with the playground) starting at 6:30 pm. Bring your card games, board games, outdoor games, pretty much anything you want to play and bring everyone you know. This is open to anyone who wants to have fun and enjoy the beautiful summer weather. So come and play!

Summer storms

I love the summer storms that have been rolling in almost every day this week. The days start with crisp sunshine and clear blue skies, but by mid-afternoon, the clouds have not only flown in, they've turned a little gray underneath. Then the breeze starts to pick up, and I watch from my office window as the tree branches start to dance. At first it's just a little shuffle-and-sway, but soon they're jumping and jiving to a rhythm I can feel through the glass. The drops start to slide down the window and the pavement produces a splattered pattern, until with a quick flash and booming roll, the thunderstorm starts up in earnest. The world is shaded, but it's not like January, gray and grim. The leaves, grass, flowers, and buildings are just as colored as when the sky is tranquil, just slick with rain. Usually the storms have moved on by the time I leave work in the evenings, but I can't get enough of the warm dampness and sweet smells that surround me when I walk to my car. I even relish the humidity hanging in the air. Sometimes I could swear that the rain has brought the woodsy smells of the mountain forests all the way down to the valley.

When I was growing up, I remember my mom gathering us up to sit on our front porch during thunderstorms, wrapped in our old brown blanket and counting between flashes and claps. Sometimes we'd run outside, my dad leading the way, when the rain came down in sheets and the sun was still glowing, jumping in puddles and watching the curb overflow with a torrential river. The storms usually moved on quickly, and the torrential rain never lasted more than ten minutes, but maybe that's why we celebrated them. My parents knew the joy of summer storms, and it's something I've carried with me. Summer isn't complete without a few crackling, drenching, sudden and swift downpours.

And of course, the full clouds at the end of the day make for the most amazing sunsets.



I can't get enough of this kind of summer.

Summer time

Summer means lots of things... Like carnival rides and blue skies




Parades


Fireworks


1st birthdays


Adorable nieces



Beautiful sunsets


Roses in full bloom



Green mountains



Gotta love the month of June. Happy summer everyone!