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>

busy mama, lazy blogger!

the life of a full time work outside the home mom of 2 kids, wife to 1 husband has kept me very busy...this blog (amongst many other things!) keeps getting neglected. i have great intentions, but they just don't always happen - sleep or just catching up on other blogs seems to always win out!

we just got back from a road trip to northern california - first to attend aaron's cousin in the mount shasta area, then on to sacramento to visit our great friends, mike and mel and two of their kids, macen and shea, finally landing in san francisco for a few fun days as a family! i'm not sure i'd recommend a road trip with a 2.5 year old and an 8 month old, but we did manage to have lots of fun between the long stretches of driving that maya especially grew to detest! oh and check it out!!! i submitted our adventure on one of my favorite sites, Ohdeedoh and they featured it today! that cement slide was super fun - grab a piece of cardboard that are scattered around the bottom, climb up the stairs and you whiz down! i highly recommend.

quick update on the kids:
maya is just about 9 months and really getting personality. she babbles about, has just started to scoot (army crawl) and is FINALLY starting to eat some solids (just today she took down a half of a banana mixed in with 1/4 avocado!). oh and she also is FINALLY taking a bottle from her teachers at school...yahoo! her hair is getting thicker and longer. she is loves to be held, especially by her mama and daddy and lights up with joy at the sight and sound of her brother! kellen is the only one who can make her laugh easily! it's super cute!

kellen...my big boy! he's 2 1/2 and it's just amazing to us how we can carry on full conversations with him now. his language is just exploding and he's becoming such an independent little guy. he keeps himself entertained, whether with his sesame street guys or playing in his kitchen...and the whole time he's singing songs (which i just love!). itsy bitsy spider is probably his favorite, but he's not afraid to bust out, bringing home a baby bumblebee, slippery fish, you are my sunshine or the abc's. some of his funny sayings - "sounds like a plan", "oh my goodness!", "not quite yet". i'm sure there are more, which is why i should be better at keeping this blog up!

bubble bath for two!

oh sh*&!!!

a recent (within the last couple of months!) conversation with my boy

kellen: oh sit (as he drops something on the floor)

me: what did you just say?

kellen: oh shit (a little more clearer, with a big grin on his face)

me: kellen, that's not a nice thing to say. why don't you say, oh, man!

kellen: oh shit, man! (with an even bigger grin on his face)

me, thinking to myself: oh shit!!!

fruit salad

last month kellen's classroom held a fruit salad party. each child brought in a different fruit and then for the afternoon activity and snack, they made and ate the salad. kellen's fruit was banana and he had a hard time giving up all of his banana's to the fruit salad. he scarfed down a whole banana before giving the rest of the bunch over to be cut up!

everyone took a turn dumping and mixing. kellen loved serving up bowls of fruit to all the parents. he served himself a giant bowl and then of course just picked out the mandarin oranges and pineapple.

as much as it's a near daily struggle for me to be away from my babes all day while i'm at work, i am sure thankful that they are able to go to the school right on campus. it's so nice to be able to easily drop in and say hello or participate in the variety of activities they have available. i keep telling myself this, because as much as i know that it's a great place, i still really struggled this last week now that maya has started going to "school'. she is in kellen's old infant class, little torch. it's right across the playyard from kellen's classroom, toggler...so on nice days when both classes are outside playing the kids can see each other.