To all you single parents and parents who are the main “childcare providers” for your children: I SALUTE YOU!

This past weekend Jayden and I went on a “Tour de West Coast” and we both came back exhausted! Here is our journey filled with fun turns, potholes, and the typical peaks and valleys:

On Friday, Jayden and I awoke at 5am and began packing for our journey. With several breaks for feeding, fussing, and playing, we were finally all packed up around noon with two weeks’ worth of clothes and diapers for her and three outfits for me; the play-n-pack for her to sleep in; a small cooler full of emergency milk, pumping supplies, bottles, and the like; two blankets and several teething toys; a diaper bag full of day to day essentials; a smaller bag with 10 reserve pacifiers, infant Tylenol, thermometer, and etc.; baby jogger; AND my suitcase of a purse. With all of that, wouldn’t you know, I forgot the wedding gift for one of the stops on our tour!

Upon leaving, we were going to make a quick stop at Goin’ Postal to mail a package to our favorite relatives in Alaska ;). BUT, upon arriving, we learned that daddy was going to be stopping by on his way out of town for his own hunting adventure. So, we were easily talked into a quick visit with Trisha, Ruth, and Trisha’s mother-in-law. It was definitely a nice visit.

We finally started our voyage again at 1pm and things were going great. Jayden was sleeping peacefully and there was hardly any traffic. It wasn’t until I hit Vantage that I realized that I need to go to the bathroom and that there was no way I was going to be able to hold it until we got to the wedding. I used the next half hour until we reached Ellensburg to fret about trying to figure out how to use the restroom with Missy J. Finally, I just decided to stop at the Pita Pit because they had a huge single bathroom and just bring her in with me. The restroom was only slightly stinky, but it was enough to cause her to make the funniest faces. I wish I had brought the camera in with me… but who really brings a camera into the bathroom with them???

Since I felt bad about using the Pita Pit’s bathroom, I ordered something to eat and shoved it down into my already full stomach (which made a nauseous car ride) before we headed back on our way.

Now that Jayden was fully awake, she was not pleased about being put back in the car and made herself known. She began to fuss loudly and I couldn’t seem to do anything to appease her. I tried passing toys back to her and refilling her mouth with pacifier after pacifier (I did bring 10 after all). Finally, after an hour of unappeased fussing, I decided to take an off ramp to find a place to get out and stretch our legs and take a nice long break from the car ride.

Much to our delight, we found a friendly church parking lot easily off of the exit we chose. After several minutes stretching our legs, Jayden was ready resume the journey. I was feeling fortunate when she immediately fell asleep. I was feeling decidedly unfortunate when I realized that the off ramp that we used did not have a corresponding on ramp (!!!). It took us 45 minutes to find another on ramp!

Just as we found the on ramp and continued on our way, Jayden woke up. (Insert ominous music). Luckily she was almost content to play with her toys as we maneuvered our way into West Side rush hour traffic (that we would have missed if we hadn’t gotten lost for 45 minutes). Slowly we creeped along until we made it to Puyallup and arrived just in time for me to change Jayden and feed her before the wedding began.

I was SO delighted when friends Kat and James arrived at the reception and immediately passed Jayden into their open arms so that I could take just 15 minutes to myself to gather myself from the draining journey. It was brilliant. Meanwhile, Jayden, thankfully, seemed completely oblivious to the stress that her mommy had just undergone. She was even happier when I found a spot in the back, on the floor, to layout her blanket so that she could stretch her legs a bit and roll a bit. (I know, classy).

The reception was beautifully decorated with fall colors and they served really delicious sugary cupcakes. The bride was also beautiful and it was such fun to take a picture with all three of us girls. We now have “identical” pictures of for all three of our weddings. How cool is that?

After the reception, Jayden and I journey up to Seattle to spend some time with Karla and Phil. Karla was so sweet and gave me her parking spot so that I would have a place to unload all of the “essential crap” that I had brought with us. Karla is one of those friends that always thinks of everything and makes sure that you are always taken care of. She is definitely the “hostess with the mostess.”

Jayden was exhausted when we arrived and she immediately went to sleep, which allowed Phil, Karla, and I to spend the next couple of hours talking. Finally, I had to say goodnight because I knew that Jayden would be up in 5 hours at 5am and wanting to play, but I could have stayed up longer visiting.

As it turns out, Jayden actually got up at 3am and wanted to get up for good. After feeding her several times and trying to put her back down, I finally gave up when she started giggling at my efforts. Somehow she thought that my haggard look was funny. Great. So, we stayed up until I could get her to peacefully fall asleep at 4:30am. Since she had fallen asleep in the bed with me, and I so desperately wanted to sleep, I broke my cardinal rule and I allowed her to sleep in the bed with me. (I am terrified of suffocating her with the blankets). BUT, praise be, we then both slept in until 8am!! It was awesome. Equally as awesome, Karla and Phil made a DELICIOUS French toast breakfast and accompanied it with fresh farm eggs and fruit. I ate until I was STUFFED. I couldn’t believe how much I ate, but this was truly a high end restaurant quality breakfast that I got to eat in my PJs.

After breakfast, Karla, Jayden, and I hunted down several venues that Phil and she were considering for their upcoming nuptials. We found some very cool and rustic spots and we actually may have discovered the “winner.” The only thing that she needs to find out now is whether the venue will allow them to bring in Phil’s excellent batch of hoppy brew.

The whole time we were out and about in Seattle, Jayden was wonderfully behaved. She was such a good sport as I loaded and unloaded her out of the car/car seat/and stroller. Meanwhile, I was secretly cursing how much stuff I had to lug around with us. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just bring the baby and yourself? Yet, thoughts of the poo assembly line and outfit blowouts were swirling in my head and made me be practical and bring the abundance of baby stuff. I have to admit, that much of that stuff did come in handy… we definitely used the variety of pacifiers, toys, and diapers. Luckily, we didn’t need any outfit changes.

We wrapped up our wedding adventures at around 3pm. After saying our goodbyes, Jayden and I headed to Tacoma to spend time with GG. We arrived just in time. Jayden was really excited to get out of the confounds of the car seat and roll around and scoot on the ground for a while. She was actually delightful to watch, and gave GG and I entertainment for the rest of the evening.

Luckily, Jayden decided to stick to her 8:30 bedtime and I joined her. We were both exhausted. Still, Jayden decided to wake up at 3am to eat. She also seemed a little cold, so I again broke my cardinal rule and allowed her to sleep with me in bed again. Still, that meant that we both were able to sleep until 7am.

After we awoke, we packed up the entire house of things we brought with us, and it in several trips to the car with us as we headed out to meet my Aunty Jan for breakfast. On our way to breakfast, GG insisted that she treat me to a carwash because my car was “just that dirty.” As it turns out, she was right. It was so dirty that the attendants at the carwash sent my car through the system twice because the first time didn’t get it clean enough (!!!). I have to admit, it does feel good to have a sparkling clean car on the outside (now for the inside…).

When we pulled up to the restaurant we discovered “Cousin” Maddy waiting for us in Aunty Jan’s car. She was SO excited and kept wagging her tail in eager anticipation of attention. Maddy is really a pretty dog.

In the restaurant, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and debated the use of ketchup on good food. I have to say that we ended in a draw. Aunty Jan and I do not believe in ketchup while Granny wouldn’t go anywhere without it… and quoted several other people not in attendance that would take her side.

Also, Aunty Jan was really excited to meet Jayden for the first time and Jayden couldn’t help but smile back at her. We will definitely need to make a trip back sometime soon so that Jayden can spend more time with both GG and Aunty Jan.

After breakfast, Jayden and I headed home. Learning from our past trip, we did make one long stop along the way so that I could get her out of the car seat for a while. It made a world of a difference. She was great the whole way home.

That being said, I am DEFINITELY not going to make this trip by myself again. It was so overwhelming to be solely responsible for little Jayden. She was actually pretty good the whole time, I just became WAY TOO exhausted with her feeding schedule, traveling fussiness, and having to lug around tons of stuff. I am now SO impressed with parents who have multiple children who travel and single parents! You guys rock! As for me, I am now going to be a hermit.

I secretly caught this moment in time and had to share.

This week, Jayden and I are staying with my parents while I attend a Learning and Development Conference in Wenatchee. I am actually pretty stoked about the great set up that I have here :). While the rest of my colleagues are staying in hotels and eating fast food, I get to stay in my old bedroom and eat homemade meals that I didn't have to make :). PLUS, Jayden is getting unbelievably spoiled :)

All of that leads me up to the FUNNIEST insight that my mom had about Jayden's diapers. After I got home yesterday from the conference, my mom said to me "I think that I finally figured out these diapers. They put a '2' on the back so that you know which side is the back." (!!!) Holding in my laughter, I informed her that the '2' was to inform her that she was putting a "size 2" diaper on Jayden... not to tell her that Jayden's "Number 2" should go in side "2." HEHE!

For the last couple of months Shaun and I have been pinching our pennies in hopes of being able to buy ourselves a brand new Dyson vacuum cleaner. On Friday, we were able to! (You know you are getting old when you celebrate the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner).

While we were in town picking out our new vacuum, we also made it a point to stop by and see Great Grandma Elliott, Gma Debbie, Papa Tim, Meera and Great Aunt Brenda at Great Grandma Elliott's house. Even though we were only there for just under two hours, it was nice to be able to see everyone.

On Saturday, Jayden and I went on lovely walk with Trisha and Ruth. At this point in time it wasn't raining, so we were able to meander through the Ephrata Farmer's Market and buy some bakery items.

After our walk, Jayden and I returned home and helped daddy use our new vacuum cleaner. I think that all three of us were in awe in how much dirt we vacuumed up! Yea for clean floors... especially now that we have a semi-mobile baby.

Just on cue, right after we finished vacuuming, Jayden learned how to scoot herself backwards. So, she can now pretty much get anywhere she wants to on the floor at her whim.

Later on that afternoon, Kat arrived! She came to visit us all the way from Tumwater! We were so excited to have her come. As a treat, she brought two of her favorite recipes that we cooked up for dinner. Trisha and Ruth also came to dinner and brought fresh cookie dough to cook up for dessert!

After some mingling, and canceling our plans to go to the Ephrata Fall Festival due to the rain, Trisha, Ruth, and Jayden called it a night. So, Shaun, Kat and I dove into a game of Dominion. I would definitely say that I became addicted to this game. We definitely had fun.

The next morning our best laid plans for attending church went astray. So, everyone besides myself slept in :). This is definitely a concept that I am getting used to. Jayden gets up to eat at 5am, goes back to sleep, and I am left awake while everyone else sleeps. I guess that just means that there will be more blog posts :).

The rest of Sunday was spent in a leisurely manner until Kat left mid afternoon. Then, we all started working on projects of our own. Shaun began building a dog house for the boys, I started sorting through all of Jayden's clothes to see what she can't fit into anymore, and Jayden learned how to perfect her shrieks. She now screams just to see what sort of screams she can make. Shaun and I agree that this is probably not one of our favorite new tricks that she has learned. Although, it does keep her entertained for a while.

All in all it was a very busy, but very productive weekend that was filled with friends. Just the kind of weekend we like.

Heads up! This is a post that you may not want to read if you don't want to a) hear the pains of nursing or b) don't want to think of me that way :).

I have been thinking about writing this post for a while now, especially after Betsy posted her adventures of nursing on her blog. Also, I wanted to post it for several of my friends who are expecting (because when I was expecting I desperately loved to read about the personal stories that mothers were encountering or encountered).

So here it goes, here is my horrible, at times humorous because it was so horrible, and somewhat fulfilling story about nursing:

Immediately after Jayden was born I nursed her. Unfortunately (get used to that word), I immediately latched her on improperly and let her nurse for a long time... which resulted in really injuring me. By the time the lactation specialist had the time to come help, the damage had already been done.

So, I bit the bullet and continued to nurse in excruciating pain for the next month. I was in so much pain that I would literally cry while nursing Jayden. After reading every book about nursing that I owned (2 to 3), spending hours on the Internet, and using all sorts of strange sticky-heated-alien looking products that I had bought... I finally sought out an appointment with a lactation specialist.

The lactation specialist said that Jayden looked great, which meant that she was eating well. She also said that Jayden's latch looked great, which meant that I shouldn't be in pain any more. Finally, she decided that I probably just had some sort of topical infection and told me to buy neosporin, monistat, and preparation H; mix it all together and rub it on me after each feeding. I was immediately concerned that Jayden shouldn't be consuming those ingredients. She told me that it would be just fine in such small doses, but I didn't believe her :).

SO, I went about trying to look for another solution and went and saw a more natural path lactation specialist whose primary career is as a midwife. She took one look at Jayden and me, said the same things as the previous lacation specialist, but this time suggested that I use essential oils to fix the infection that she called "thrush." I was okay with using the essential oils and decided to give it a try.

A couple of weeks later the pain was still horrible, but some of the sores that I had were healed. Still, because the pain was still there and Jayden was fussy, we went to see her doctor to ask about the thrush. Her doctor looked at her and told us that she definitely didn't have thrush. He said that thrush is really obvious because her mouth would look like she was eating cottage cheese... and Jayden's mouth really didn't look like that. So, he sent us off to my doctor. My doctor didn't think that we had it either, but gave me a prescription just in case.

When I went to fulfill my prescription, my insurance wouldn't allow it to be filled unless the prescription was accompanied by a form filled out by the doctor due to the significant side effects that my liver could encounter after taking the drug (delightful... emphasis on the sarcasm). SO, after sharing everything with Shaun, we decided that it would be best to not take the drug.

From that point on, I just decided to deal with the pain. Once I went back to work and started predominantly expressing my milk, the pain really started to subside. I kept thinking that I should have started expressing my milk earlier. Jayden would nursing in the morning and evenings and would take a bottle of expressed milk the rest of the day.

THEN, it was last Monday. I started feeling sick with the shakes, a fever, and loss of appetite. All of these symptoms appeared with a lovely red welt on my right chest. Right away I knew it was mastitis. So, I tried every at home remedy that I had researched but it just kept getting worse and worse. Finally, when I couldn't even go to work for two days (they sent me home one of those days), I called the doctor. They heard my symptoms over the phone, confirmed it was mastitis, and sent me a prescription to pick up at my pharmacy.

Unfortunately, the prescription that they had sent me had a big warning label on it that said "do not take if you are allergic to penicillin" which I definitely am. So, after a discussion with my doctor and the pharmacist, they told me to take the drug because there was only a "slight" chance that I could have another allergic reaction. With my track record of being lucky enough to always fulfill the "slight chance" area, I was more than a little concerned about taking the drug. BUT, they talked me into it and I started taking it. It was definitely a miracle drug because I felt SO much better in just a couple of hours of taking the drug.

Even though the antibiotic was supposed to be okay to nurse with, I was still a little concerned and did my own research. As I was doing my research, I decided to bottle feed Jayden some saved up expressed milk. She was okay with the change but not thrilled with it.

After I figured out the best way to nurse where she would only be ingesting trace amounts of the antibiotic, I resumed nursing. That first time nursing again was eye opening, Jayden kept sighing in contentment. She was SO happy. I wish that I could find a way to better describe it. It was then that I knew that everything that I had gone through to keep nursing was well worth it. Besides the obvious health benefits from nursing, Jayden still emotionally relies on nursing and I am definitely not ready to take that away from her yet.

So, that's my story, and I truly feel like it probably isn't even over yet. BUT, I do feel rejuvenated in my commitment towards nursing her until she is at least 6 months.

On a complete side note, there are some other health issues that I have also been dealing with (that I am not ready to share in my blog) and prayers about that would be nice.

Again, no picture... because I only lost two pounds this last month. That means that I have 6 more pounds left to lose :(

On a postive, I am wearing all of my prepregnancy clothes again!

What do you think, should I be able to lose the last 6 pounds this month???

Shaun, Jayden and I were going nonstop this past weekend. We began our weekend adventures by going to Jayden's 4 month appointment, followed by a delicious prawn and fettuccine dinner at my parents house.

The next day, my parents and grandma came over to our house to celebrate my dad's birthday. We had lots of fun watching Jayden show her "Nana," "Papa D," and "GG" all of her new tricks. It was awesome that Jayden was willing to show off too :).

One of the fun things about having GG come over, is that she always buys Jayden something cute to wear! This time, she bought a cute sleeper that came with a hat. Jayden didn't know what to think of the hat... but Elby sure did.

For some reason, probably because we were already playing dress up, we decided to put Jayden in her Halloween costume that my friend Andrea had bought her. My dad took that amazing picture of her in her monkey outfit!

Then, yesterday, Jayden and I went to our friend Courtney's baby shower. Courtney looks just amazing, stunning really, for being due in 3 weeks! Courtney and I have already decided that Jadyen and her little boy, William, are going to definitely date :).

After the shower, Jayden and I headed over to Grandpa Bryant's house to meet up with Shaun and the rest of the "Bryant" crew. It was a really good day to go to Grandpa's because nearly everyone was there!

It was a pretty darn good weekend... but it definitely left us exhausted....

Yesterday, Shaun and I both went to Jayden's 4 month checkup. Here are her stats:

25 inches long

14 pounds 5 ounces

That means that she is pretty much in the 60th-75th percentile. The doctor said that we have a very healthy, well proportioned, big baby :)

Shaun and "Papa Tim" were lucky enough to be invited to go Sturgeon fishing with Matt and his step dad this past Sunday. They literally spent the entire day on Sunday out fishing the "Mighty Columbia" and has some good luck.They were able to hook 8 sturgeon, but only land 4. One of the sturgeon that they hooked, but didn't land, was HUGE. It was so large that it almost snapped the sturgeon pole before breaking the line off. Shaun said that he got shivers when he saw the huge fish emerging from the deep.The largest one that they landed was just under 8 feet long!Aren't Sturgeon's the most interesting looking fish?? They definitely show their prehistoric roots!

While the boys were out battling the "Monsters of the Deep," Trisha, Ruth, Jayden, and I were enjoying a gorgeous Sunday in Ephrata. .Trisha invited us over after church for some "rabbit food" (i.e. salad, cheese, and crackers) lunch. I absolutely LOVE that kind of lunch! When Jayden and I arrived, Jayden was beside herself with delight at seeing Ruth. She couldn't stop smiling and giggling at Ruth (definitely a good sign :)...). Ruth, on the other hand, has learned the word "baby" and obsessed with anything that looks like a baby (i.e. baby dolls, pictures... and Jayden). So, there interactions definitely provided us with some lunchtime entertainment. .After lunch, we decided to make the most of the 85 degree weather by walking our girls to DK's for dessert. Once we finished our delicious DK treats, we continued our walk... and ended up walking about 4 miles! It was brilliant and felt wonderful! Both of the kiddos seemed to really enjoy the fresh air as well..I think it is very safe to say that we all had a pretty good Sunday.

Yesterday we drove to The Dalles, Oregon for Heidi and Dwight's wedding! It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Shaun and I couldn't help but make a stop at a park along the way in order to fully enjoy some of the weather. The wedding location was also stunning. The Summers were married at the Riverenza, which was a beautifully remodeled stone church. Out of all of the wedding ceremonies that Shaun and I have attended, this was probably the most memorable. The officiant truly made the ceremony very personal and the bride and groom were incredibly authentic. It was humourous and touching. Because the weather was so perfect, most of the reception was held outdoors on the beautifully rustic patio. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful wedding. .

Jayden has gained so many new skills and "tricks" between three months and four months! It was really incredible to watch! She went from being immobile to being able to roll across the room at her whim. She went from barely being able to understand that her hands were hers to grabbing anything put in front of her face (whether she should or shouldn't).

Here is a list of her skills and tricks that Shaun and I compiled over the last month:

She can lift her head and chest when she is lying on her stomach. She loves to push herself up as far as she can go before rolling back onto her back.

She talks CONSTANTLY. Apparently, she has a lot to share... and she has figured out that Shaun and I are willing listeners.

She anticipates being picked up. In fact, she will now raise her arms towards us when she wants to be picked up.

She still deserves the nickname "Smiles" because she smiles all of the time. Although, people most commonly refer to her as "Baby J."

She thinks that "Peek-a-boo" is the most ridiculous game and definitely not worth her time to play.

She can pull herself up to a sitting position quite easily, and sit by herself only for a few seconds. I tend to call these her "sit-ups."

She continually surprises us by reaching and grabbing for things AND trying to stick it ALL in her mouth... like food off of our plates, my long hair.... and a newly acquired... yet gross trick... that she has learned is to put her toes in her mouth.

At daycare, she is determined to feed herself with her bottle. She wants to be the one to hold the bottle and be in control of it.

She has also started to realize that she has two hands and can grab multiple different items at once and swap them between hands. Shaun and I are still debating on whether she is right-handed or left-handed.

She loves to look at the baby in the mirror. We don't think that she knows that it is her yet, but she loves to look at it nonetheless.

Jayden gets so excited at seeing the familiar faces of loved ones, that she becomes "bashful" and turns her head and hides her smiling face in a bashful manner when she sees the loved one. In unfamiliar situations, she become very stoic looking... and it is almost impossible to squeeze a smile out of her. This especially occurs when lots of people are trying to get her to smile for a picture.

Jayden loves and relies on her routines. Every morning, she wakes up at 5am to eat before spending one-on-one daddy time. During "daddy time," daddy dresses her in a cute outfit, gives her "sugary sweet stuff" (i.e. what we call her disgusting tasting vitamins), and then he sings songs that he made up just for her until Mommy is ready to take her to daycare. Every evening, she gets to play with mom and dad on the floor until 8pm. At 8pm, we all start getting ready for bedtime. By 9pm she is asleep every night.

Every month, we are astounded by how much she grows and changes. We can't wait to see how many other things she will learn in this upcoming month!

Jayden got sick :(

On Friday, I got a call from Miss Keli saying that she was running a temperature, acting unusually fussy, and kept tugging on her ear.

We all thought that there was a possibility of an ear infection. So, I called her doctor who recommended some Tylenol and to see her the following morning.

Shaun and I immediately gave her some Tylenol, which immediately brought her temperature down and also made her sleepy. BUT, she kept waking up throughout the night because she had a ridiculously stuffy-green-goopy-runny nose. Poor thing.

Saturday morning, we took her to the doctor who took one look at her and told us that she just had a "nasty cold."

So, we followed the doctor's advice with giving her Tylenol for the fever, rest, and continually utilizing the "snot sucker."

By Saturday evening, she was definitely on the up and up and she was basically all better by Sunday.

She still has a persistent runny nose... but at least it isn't green-goopy-runny.

Jayden absolutely LOVES going to daycare and both Shaun and I feel wonderful about her daycare... in fact I have a whole post that I am planning dedicated to her awesome daycare.

Part of the daycare awesomeness is the fact that Keli will send us videos and pictures throughout the day to our cell phones. Here is one that we thought was just too cute not to share (disclaimer: it is a fairly long video... that only parents may think is adorable):

Several friends that are currently beginning to think about having kids asked me to give them a rough estimate of the costs. That got me thinking... so I sat down and put together a list of "necessities" and medical needs. My list included everything from a crib to ultrasounds, nursing needs to delivery room expenditures, maternity leave to maternity clothes. Yet, I left out anything that wasn't "needed" such as baby books and medical things that I didn't use such as an epidural and genetic testing.

After I added all of these things together (and I thought about making you guess the number), I discovered that Jayden cost just about $33,000 (!!!).

It was at this point that I posted the comment "Holy Crap Kids are Expensive!" on facebook and elicited the following responses (I really did think that the comments were funny... and I just had to share them here):

Rebecca: HAHAHAHA

Brittany: Did you get your hospital bills?

Debbie: In what way this time?

Rebecca: I honestly do not even remember a time without kids costs...

Keli: Just wait until you get my bill ;)

Denaye: Wait until you get an ER bill... :) It's a good thing we love them so much more than money. They are priceless.

Dustin: But tax deductable

Chris: Wait til Christmas

In all actuality, we ended up only spending about $5,000 on Jayden overall (which included a trip to the ER for me about a week after she was born and the cost of taking 5 weeks of unpaid maternity leave) because we were incredibly blessed by friends, family, our employers and two good medical insurance plans. We received so many great gifts and "hand-me-downs." We are eternally grateful to our friends, family, and employers!

So, I guess my answer to "How much does a baby cost?" is: "How good are your family and friends" AND "Are you humble enough to take, appreciate, and use 'Hand-me-downs?'" Truly, there is no possible way to be ready for the expenses of a baby without friends and family.

Alright, so this video doesn't deserve a Politzer prize... but we finally caught her in the act! (Although, she was nearly there by the time we grabbed the video camera and started recording)

Yesterday evening, two of my good friends (one recently engaged) drove over to join Jayden and me at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Quincy. It was REALLY great to see them again and we had such a great time catching up on everything as well as enjoying the festival. Above is a picture of Jayden when she saw the huge balloons! Check out that look of awe and delight! Another neat perk of the evening is that they had wine tasting. Karla and Heidi enjoyed trying the different flavors of Eastern Washington. Jayden, also, wanted to get her hands on a glass... Unfortunately, we weren't able to watch any of the Hot Air Balloons take flight, but we did watch these crazy Go Karts with attached plantoon boat fans take flight (I am sure there is actually a technical term for the devices that they were flying...). All of us agreed that it looked WAY to scarey to try and ride one of those! While we were waiting for nightfall and for the Hot Air Balloons to be reengaged, we enjoyed live music that sang familiar "oldies" songs. The Hot Air Balloons were absolutely amazing to watch at night! Their beautiful colors stood out brilliantly in the crisp night air. The evening ended with a huge, close, and stunning fireworks display. We all agreed that the fireworks we witnessed were a lot better than some 4 of July fireworks that we have seen! It was a great way to conclude our day. Thanks Heidi and Karla for coming over for such a fun time! I truly hope that we can do it again next year!!!

I just have two funny (in my opinion) stories to share.

A couple of days ago, I got into my car and placed my fairly new purse filled with mommy essentials in the seat next to me. Immediately, I get a warning notice from my Jeep that stated that the airbags had been disabled on the passenger side due to the person sitting in the front seat being under the weight limit for airbag safety (!!!). Holy Cow! My purse was heavy enough that it tricked the Jeep computer system into thinking that there was a small person sitting in the passenger seat!

Last night, Jayden discovered how to roll from back to front and then from front to back continuously. She was rolling in a way that resembles the way you would roll if you were log rolling down a hill. The funny part is that she only rolls to the right. So, she would roll herself along until she would get stuck against a barrier like a couch or wall. Then, she would get disgruntled about getting stuck. Poor girl. This rolling also marks a new stage of mobility for her... and life will never be the same for Shaun and me... or Elby. I have a feeling that she will be chasing that cat in no time at all.

What an exciting weekend! Not only, did we get to spend several days with friends and family, Jayden crossed some huge milestones!

We started our adventures by heading over to Dusty’s house on Friday after work to enjoy an evening of ribs. Our little family arrived and found the party already full in swing. It was great to see some friends that we hadn’t seen in months and catch up with what is going on in everyone’s lives. Shaun and I can’t believe how fast time is flying by and how many of our high school friends are getting married, full swing into their careers, and starting families. In a way, it definitely makes us feel older. Yet, the crazy debauchery that was beginning to take place as we departed Dusty’s house made us realize that we may seem old… but it is just a façade.

On Saturday, Tristan came over to our house to meet Missy J and for a day of games. He taught us how to play the game Dominion and we became completely addicted. It is a glorified card game full of logic puzzles. Even though I was completely addicted to playing the game, I came in dead last many times. I swear, I really don’t seem to have brain power I used to after Jayden came along. In a way, it is very irritating. Yet, we all had a good time. Jayden even enjoyed watching us play the game for a while. She was intrigued by the colorful cards and the back and forth discussion among us.

We did take an opportunity to get out of the house for a bit and went down to the creek with the pups. Shaun wanted to show us how Trooper would be an excellent “dock dog.” Dock dogs are dogs that compete for prizes by being the furthest to jump into the water off of a dock. I think it is fair to say that we were all impressed with Troopers height and distance. Yet, he only does it when he thinks that it will give him an advantage over General. True sibling rivalry.

Sunday was also a delightful day. After church, Tristan’s parents came over to see Miss J and take a tour of the fish hatchery. Jayden was so excited to see her new visitors that she actually rolled over, back to front, for the first time! Of course, I failed to catch it on the wonderful new video camera that my parents gave us. Still, I will keep trying to catch the roll over and put it on my blog. She has only rolled over a hand full of times since Sunday.

Besides that huge milestone, Shaun really enjoyed giving the Ford’s the tour. He appreciated their enthusiasm and plethora of questions. It is rare that he finds people to share his fishy knowledge with that are as enthusiastic about fish as he is.

All too soon, the Ford’s left. Fortunately, we had a friendly phone call from the Nelson’s asking us to come over and enjoy some Teriyaki dinner and huckleberry pie. Dinner was SO good. In fact, I am craving some more as I type this post. Yum. Since we all stuffed ourselves during dinner, we decided we needed some intermediary activities before dessert. Shaun and Matt decided to go deer scouting while the rest of us went for a late walk. That is when we took that cute picture of Jayden in the Dr. Seuss hat. After the activities, we finished the evening by gorging ourselves on wonderful pie.

Then, it was Monday. On Monday, my parents came over to spend a little time with Jayden while Shaun went to work and I cleaned and organized our house. They ended up taking Missy J for a walk that she really enjoyed. Dad also cooked us lunch! What a deal! We enjoyed tasty chicken wings. I, also, got a lot done. I am trying to wash and pack up all of my maternity clothes and find a place to store them for a couple of years. That’s right, a couple of years.

Monday afternoon included a fantastic, previously blogged about, long walk with Trisha and Ruth. This was followed by a nice dinner with my hubby. Jayden was so tired from all the weekend events that she was content to snuggle with daddy and fall asleep. Shaun and I were, then, able to enjoy a movie from start to finish. It was a wonderful way for us to wrap up the last couple of days.

This weekend was crazy busy and filled with friends and family. There will definitely be a larger post at some point sharing all of the fun we had... but I just couldn't wait to share one of the highlights from our three day weekend. I have been meaning to post about the fun that we all have on our walks for such a long time now... that I did include an older picture from a couple of weeks ago below.

Jayden, Trisha, Ruth, and I were able to take 2 (!!!) walks this weekend! One was fairly late in the evening, so we had to bundle our babies up. Trisha found this "Dr Seuss Hat" for Jayden to wear. How funny/cute is that? Then, we were able to take a really nice long walk yesterday in the afternoon. Our walk was so long, that we even felt justified stopping for ice cream along the way at Ephrata's new ice cream parlor. Yum. I absolutely LOVE fall, but I am sad that it is getting so cold in the evenings because it is definitely is going to limit our walkability... I guess we will just have to take extra advantage of it now :)

It was so bad, that I thought that I should add something positive to the post and decided to add a cute picture of Miss J that Shaun recently took.

All right, here is my story of last night's horrible very bad no good night... that probably shares WAY too much information.

The evening actually began in a positive way. I had a happy, but sleepy Jayden peacefully talking to herself as we drove home from a long day at work and daycare. When I was almost home, my car phone rang and I was delighted to see that it was my recently engaged friend calling. I hadn't been really able to talk to her since the engagement and was excited to hear about everything.

We had just barely started talking about wedding plans, when I arrived home. Promptly upon arriving home, Jayden wanted to get out of the car seat and go inside. Unfortunately, I am not sure how to transfer my car phone unit back to my cell. So, I decided to sit in the car for a bit and try to talk through an increasingly fussy baby in order to talk to my friend that I literally hadn't talk to since her engagement... and I am her maid of honor! About five minutes after sitting in the car, I was reminded that I severely needed to pump by starting to lactate down my front. Joy. Just at that time, my cell phone battery also went dead mid conversation.

Taking it all in stride, Jayden and I then ventured inside. We were greeted by 95 degree sauna heat oozing from indoors. Shaun had forgotten to turn the air-conditioning on. So, our house became like a greenhouse and trapped all the heat.

While trying to breathe through the stale and sweltering heat, I was also debating on whether to pump or change Jayden's slightly dirty diaper. I decided that pumping was more eminent and placed Jayden in front of the fish tank still in her car seat. She loves watching the fish and I knew that would keep her satisfied for a while.

After quickly plugging my cell in, turning on the air conditioning and pumping, I noticed that Jayden was still doing well. So, I decided to throw a quick Healthy Choice pizza in the oven. At that point, I went to go grab Jayden and change her. When I bent down to pick her up, I realized that she had just created a poo explosion. There was poo everywhere... it had smashed onto her car seat, was on her hands, up her back, on her toes, and soon to be all over me.

I picked her up gingerly and tried to keep her hands away from her face AND keep her poo off me. I was mostly successful... but it was definitely an entire wipes pack cleaning experience. While I was elbow deep in cleaning poo off of Miss J, the smoke alarm in the kitchen starts to go off. My oven pizza was burning.

Now, I had an almost clean baby who was distressed by the noise, a screeching fire alarm and a burnt pizza to take care of. After several too stressful moments that caused sweat to drip down my face and back due to the still extreme heat, I was eventually able to resolve everything. BUT, at this point I also began to resent the fact that Shaun was out hunting again and not being there to help. I was extremely tired from work and nothing seemed to be going right. So, now I was grumpy.

By the time the poo was cleaned, the smoke dispersed, the pizza out of the oven, and the temperature in the house down to a warm 85 degrees, Missy J was hungry and it was 7:30pm. Unfortunately, Jayden has been going through somewhat of a nursing strike... so nursing has been a battle. This evening was no different. Even though she was extremely hungry, she was so distracted by touching my hair, touching my clothes, and looking around that she would fail to latch on properly and eat. There was a good 15 minute struggle before I was able to get her to settle down enough to eat. At that point, I had several minutes to gnaw down the cold charcoal pizza.

Once she was fed, she began to fuss. She was really tired because she had missed nap times today at daycare. Usually, Jayden goes to bed at 9pm sharp and has really done well with that schedule. BUT, I decided to try to put her down at 8pm last night because she seemed to be really tired. Wrong move.

In an effort to put her down, I caused her to throw a mini tantrum. She was really upset about being put down early. I then had to rock her for 40 minutes to get her to calm down and go to sleep. Once I put her in her crib and left the room, the dogs started barking loudly outside. This woke her right back up.

After several more fussy minutes, she finally went back to sleep. The time was now 9:45pm and I was utterly exhausted and beaten. Goodness gracious. TGIF!

This morning, my thoughtful husband gave me money to go to Starbucks on my way to work... and somehow that makes everything that happened yesterday all better.

After last months disappointing results, I am excited to say that this month went MUCH better! I only lost 5 more pounds, but I dropped two pant sizes! In order to show you the difference, I posted my 6-weeks-after picture to compare with my current picture below. I only have 8 more pounds to lose! Wish me luck!

Matt and Shaun still haven't had any luck finding bears. Instead they have had luck finding enough huckleberries for a delicious pie... and were attacked.... by the vicious creature in the picture above :). The adventures are never ending... :)

On Saturday, Jayden and I went to Heidi's Bridal Shower in Moses Lake. We even arrived a little early to help set up and spend some time chatting with the Bride-to-Be, her mother, and her grandmother. .When we arrived, Jayden was quite tired. Thankfully, I was able to put her down for an hour or so nap in Heidi's bedroom. While she was sleeping peacefully, I attempted to help by cutting some melons for a fruit dish. As it turns out, I let a watermelon slip off the counter top and smash all over Heidi's clean floor. Watermelon was splattered on the floor, up her cupboards, and on the wall. Luckily, what could have been an extremely uncomfortable moment, was brushed aside by Heidi and her family. Thank goodness. .After the watermelon fall (as opposed to the watermelon crawl), I decided that I was better suited for asking questions about the wedding. It was fun to see Heidi's wedding band, look through her engagement pictures, and adore her beautiful wedding shoes. She had the great idea of wearing her wedding shoes at the shower in order to wear them in a little..Just as we were finishing getting everything ready, Jayden awoke and the guests started coming. Many of our fellow coworkers came to Heidi's shower and it was great to be able to spend time getting to know people outside of work!.Jayden did very well at the shower, but was fairly picky about who she would let hold her. She mostly just wanted me. I think that she was a little intimidated by the flock of adoring woman :)..Overall, it was a really good shower. I think that Heidi had a great time and I know that everyone is really excited for her upcoming wedding!(As a side note, Jayden is sitting on the blanket that Heidi made for her).

Today Jayden is 3 months young!!!

For the last month, I have been noticing and trying to remember all of the new things that she has been learning and doing. Yet, she seems to change so fast everyday that it is hard to remember everything.

The biggest thing that has changed over the last three months is her facial expressions. When she first was born, she often sported a whistling expression on her face. This signaled an explosion coming... think back to the tour of "doo-ty" post. Then, she held a look of concentration as she continually kicked and pumped her legs as fast as she could. Now, we call her "smiles." She loves to return people's smiles with a huge gaping one of her own.

Other nicknames that she has acquired are "JJ," "Miss J," "Baby Girl," and my personal favorite "Frog Princess." She came about the "Frog Princess" nickname because she always curls up into a frog like pose when you pick her up and she is tired or she is exploring something new for the first time.

Her personality is also really starting to come out. She is very independent. Jayden never liked to be swaddled and continues to like to make sure that she is stretched out as far as she can most of the time. (I know, that does sound contrary to the "Frog Princess." But, she truly is either stretched out or looks like a frog :) ). Jayden is also very self assured. She has never experienced anything that would scare her and, thus, trusts everything and everybody. Keli has also noticed how self assured she acts while at daycare. She is also very inquisitive. She enjoys spending time looking and studying things with her eyes. Jayden especially likes staring at people's faces.

She has reached quite a few milestones. Jayden has a very strong neck and can sit for long periods of time without having her head supported. She also just recently discovered her hands and how she can use them to grab, pick up, and rotate things for better inspection with her eyes and mouth. Her favorite toy is a ladybug. Jayden has continued to become more vocal everyday. She used to coo in soft responses to Shaun and me. Now, she enjoys talking and sometimes squawking over Shaun and my talking. Jayden's movements have definitely become more focused now. So, she no longer rolls over by accident. Instead she rolls from side to side looking for a better vantage point to discover something new to look at.

It has also been fun to notice some of Jayden's favorite things. She absolutely loves listening to our church's worship team. She could listen all day if we let her without getting fussy. Jayden also prefers to have her feet covered by footed sleepers, socks, or shoes. (You couldn't believe how many hours it took to figure out this simple preference... I do believe that we could have saved ourselves hours of fussing if we had figured it out sooner). Jayden would rather lay on the floor and play on her back than be held. She also likes to sit in her bouncy chair and watch the fish in the fish tank. (On a side note, Shaun and I call that her "poo chair." Every time we put her in it, she tends to have a blowout. It is really too funny... oh the stories that we could tell about the messes made in that chair...). Jayden also likes to ride in Shaun's truck because she can actually see out the window. Lastly, she is just as eager to explore things with her feet as with her hands. We find that very interesting.

Jayden is an exceptional eater... and always has been. She was one of those rare babies that didn't lose any weight ever... she has just kept gaining and gaining. With all of that eating, she has developed a very impressive "manly burp." One of our friend's kids came up to me and told me that Jayden burps even louder than his dad! I found that comment just hilarious! Way to go Jayden... I think :)

We love you Baby J and can't wait to see what you will learn in this next month!

Shaun and Matt have been bear hunting several times already this season. They are so excited to even see bears that they left Matt's trail camera at their secret spot for a week to see what would venture by. Here is what they saw:

Definitely something to get their hearts pumping!

On Friday, we took Jayden for her first time to the FAIR! She actually loved it. She really enjoyed smelling all of the fair food, hearing the noises from the animals, and watching the plethora of people. .Shaun and I truly enjoyed watching her take in all of the new sights and sounds. It is amazing how adults can truly see something for the first time again when seen for the first time through an infant’s eyes.

On Wednesday, I went back to work. I know that this has been an event that I have been counting down to throughout the last few weeks and I also know that several of you are curious to find out how it went. .I was a little worried about the getting ready and getting out the door and making it to work on time. Yet, everyone’s prayers seemed to work because everything went really smoothly. I think that we have discovered a great routine in the morning. I wake up at 5am and then wake her up to feed her. THEN, I put her back down. The wonderful catch is that she actually falls back asleep until we leave the house at 7am! From 5:30 to departure, I am able to go around the house and get ready at my leisure. It is absolutely divine. I am kind of wondering why I didn’t do this while I was on maternity leave. I would have LOVED and hour and half to feel like a “human” again while I was staying at home..Although, on Wednesday, the funniest thing happened. As I was putting Jayden in her carseat to leave the house, she woke up. She gave me the strangest "what the heck did you do to yourself" look. That is when I realized that I must have REALLY let myself go over my leave. She thought that I looked ridiculous in my work clothes and with makeup on and kept staring at me with the weirdest look on her face. Leave it to an unaffected child to give you the heads up :). .Dropping Jayden off at Keli’s was also super easy. Jayden had already been there a couple of times and, thus, was very comfortable being dropped off. Also, arriving back at work was absolutely seamless. Since, I had kept in contact with work throughout my leave, I was aware of all the big changes and nothing small had seemed to change. It was actually kind of a weird feeling returning to work and having it seem like nothing had changed. Actually, the biggest change was the students. I have a completely new class and am looking forward to getting to know all of my new students. .Yet, because nothing had really changed, I was able to jump in with two feet and became extremely busy right away. I already have two to three new big projects that I am taking on. In all honesty, it really felt good to return to work. To me, it felt like a piece of me was missing when I was at home all of the time and that piece of me returned when I went back to work. It feels good to be whole again. .Picking Jayden up was also easy and a great way to end my day. Although, she didn’t look or act like she had missed me at all, I was really excited to see her and end my day with “Jayden time.” She, on the other hand, was happy and exhausted and didn’t seem to mind my desire to “snuggle” throughout every evening time. .SO, that is how my time back at work as gone. I sincerely hope that all of the great routines that we have uncovered will continue throughout the time to come.

This post is a mishmash of all the things that we have been squeezing into the last few days before I return to work... and I return tomorrow! Yikes!.On Friday, Shaun and I went on a really great adventure after he got off work. Our adventure began when he spotted the butterfly moths in our lilac bushes as seen in the picture above. There were about a dozen or so and they were really beautiful to watch..Then, we ventured to Basin Street Pizza with Jayden and had a lovely dinner. She was really great the whole time and was fascinated and content watching all the people in the restaurant. After eating, we enjoyed a nice leisurely walk in downtown Ephrata. It was just the perfect temperature and such a relaxing way to end a busy week and start a busy weekend..On Saturday, we drove to Wenatchee to celebrate Grandma Elliott's 80th birthday! On the way to the celebration, we stopped at my parents house so that I could feed Jayden before heading to the restaurant. After Jayden was done eating, she was just enamored with her "papa." She couldn't stop smiling the biggest smiles just for him..Once we left my parent's house, we headed to Smittys III for the big birthday celebration. We were so excited to see Grandma Elliott because we literally hadn't seen her since Jayden was born. We, also, were really looking forward to seeing a bunch of family members that we also hadn't seen in quite a while. Specifically, it was amazing to see how much Seth has grown since we last saw him! Also, it was fun to see a variety of Grandma Elliott's friends that we haven't seen in a while. We forgot to bring our camera and, thus, didn't get any pictures. BUT, there are some really good ones on Brenda's blog..Jayden did really well for about two and a half hours. At the two and a half hour mark, she started to get pretty fussy. That in combination with the cold that I have been trying to fight off was enough to have us bow out a little early. .As it turns out, my cold ended up being bad enough that I decided to sleep for pretty much the rest of the day. Of course, I did have to wake up and periodically feed Jayden :). BUT, I took as much rest as I could get..On Sunday, we had the family over for fishing... which is depicted in the pictures in the previous post. Then, on Monday, we had Annie, Mark, and Isabel over for an even BBQ and some minor fishing fun. We were just SO excited to spend some quality time with them. It seems like forever since we had last seen them. Isabel has grown so much and was absolutely delightful to watch. Also, it was fun to see Annie's babybelly and hear about their plans for their new little one... and it's a boy!.On a side note, I am so excited that people are starting to have boys! It seemed that everyone was having girls for a while and I was getting worried that there wouldn't be any boys in Jayden's age group... even though Shaun says she is going to be a nun and so boys dont matter :)All in all, we have had a really great last couple of days. I can't believe that my maternity leave is over today! Crazy! Back to work tomorrow!