go ducks {catch up}

september 4th was the duck season and home opener against new mexico...the score - 72-0, making it the perfect game to bring the kiddos! this was kellen's third game - he has attended one each season and maya's first game - she'll likely be attending every game that i attend this year as she is the ultimate mama's girl!

kellen has become the ultimate football and duck fan! just like last year, he really got into the game experience - taking any opportunity to give everyone high fives, loving the duck doing push ups with each score and even sitting on the lap of the guy in front of us to "discuss" and watch the game! we went out to the car at half time with the ducks up A LOT to nothing prepared to go home, but kellen refused to go home...he wanted to go back to the game!

maya was great - wore her headphones the whole time, napped a bit and sat with either aa or me taking in all their was to see at autzen!

unfortunately no pictures from the tailgater, as we got there a little late and eating/drinking were priorities over the camera! but here are a few shots from the game.

sunriver {catch up}

with two little ones, we decided that our vacation this year should probably be low-key and close to home...so we went back to a favorite of ours - Sunriver. this is the perfect time of year to go because the weather is still really nice, there are less people and it's the low-season so there are lots of deals to be had on vacation rentals. we always find a great house that offers a 4 for 2 or 6 for 3 (stay for 4/6 nights, but pay for 2/3 nights). side note...the house we rented this time was the identical floor plan as the last time, which was pretty crazy!

Here is our trip in pictures:

we took lots of walks to the village and fort rock park.

A trip out to the stables to check out the horses and ponies.



we attempted a hike and picnic at benham falls, but as we laid out our blanket to have a picnic the mosquitoes started swarming so we ended up walking and eating to run from the bugs who got the best of AA and me.



Aa and K enjoyed daily sessions of peanuts in the shell and male bonding!

good food was enjoyed by all!

lots of love and kisses from our baby girl!

kellen "i'm a puzzle guy" and daddy (in the background) working on their puzzles.

There are over 32 miles of paths and lots of tree stumps, but we managed to find the same exact spot on the path where we took a picture of k on a tree stump last time. what a difference two years makes! we'll have to remember this spot the next time we go back and make it a sunriver tradition!

of course we had to get one of miss maya as well!

our two babies!

we had hoped to go biking as a family, but injuries prevented Aa from being able to ride and i wasn't up for going alone with two babies in a trailer! i did manage to get one bike ride in for the week. so thankful for the time we had together and can't wait for our next trip back - although i will say that i'm itching for a warm weather, tropical vacation next!

my promotion

i'm officially 17 days into my new job - full time mama to my babes...check that my big boy and my baby! what a crazy last few months it's been juggling work, kids, home, life, etc. i'm so excited to be able to focus on my number one priority - my family. i'm really hoping to find some peace, calm and simplicity in just enjoying this time while our kids are still young.

while i know this is the right thing for us right now...this decision was both the easiest and the hardest decision i've had to make. hard because i loved my job at nike - it gave me/us so much, both personally and professionally. i will miss the challenging work, the awesome friends and co-workers, the amazing opportunities, the employee discounts (!), the paycheck & benefits, the feeling of professional accomplishment and growth, the ability to grab coffee, lunch, run an errand, workout or just have a moment to myself and the opportunities it afforded our kids (friends, teachers, learning, bonding, experiences at Stringer). i won't miss the ~45 minutes it took to drop off and pick up both kids, the logging on for a few hours of work a couple of nights a week, the rushing into the Stringer at 5:55pm and feeling like the worst parent on the planet, the chaos of getting a decent dinner on the table before rushing the kids off to bed and the constant feeling of being just average at home and at work (whether it was true or not!).

i'm lucky, because i have many friends who have already made this decision and i thank them for giving me the courage to do the same! i'll be approaching my new "job" similar to how i would approach any new job. i have plans to meet with all my friends to learn their "best practices" and will be scheduling regular 1:1 and team meetings...make that playdates! today i started a spreadsheet of all the free/inexpensive activities to do during the week (library and bookstore story times, music peformances, art classes, gymboree classes, etc.). i need to figure out our routine for balancing fun with errands, cleaning, cooking etc. also, with a busy busy 2.5 (almost 3!) year old and a demanding, hates to sleep and eat almost 1 year old, i need to find some extreme patience. i'm going into this expecting that this job will actually be harder then my old job...but oh so much more fulfilling!

how lucky am i to be able to spend my days with these adorable babies? watching them grow, learn and love each other...i couldn't ask for a better gig!

i'm mostly thankful to Aa - for supporting this decision and working so hard so that we can do this. i <3>