Ache

In a gush of blood and a high fever, we lost the miracle baby growing in my belly today. The excitement and anticipation have been replaced with one big ache. My body aches from the trauma it's going through. My eyes ache from all the crying. My head aches from all the unanswered questions for today and the future. Somewhere inside I know it's for the best and that someday another baby will grow in my belly again, but today, I ache.

One Down, Not Too Many More to Go

Jason got a fire in his belly and decided to tackle one of our biggest remaining home improvement projects this Saturday. Between Sara's big nap, Jason's drive, and my parents watching the girls for a while for us, we got the entire thing completed. It looks great, don't you think?!
The to do list is shrinking. It's a good thing!

Crafting with Deb

One of my favorite times is when I get together with my friend Deb and we craft together. Recently we tried our hand at boy-ish binky straps. I think they turned out great!

Then she taught me how to make hair bows for my girls. I'm sure she will post step by step instructions on her Honey Mommy blog soon. And, Steph (the crafting queen) has also posted instructions here. So, I'll be lazy and just post a picture of the finished products. I'm planning on doing more later and my awesome mom is going to be crocheting me some flowers to adorn them with. Yep, my girls will be decked out!

Deb is great for my wallet. I find the beaded binky straps at stores for $10 - $20 each and I think we make them for about $2. I also find the hair clips for $4 - $8 and we make them for less than $1. But, she is even better for my mental state. Thanks for being such an awesome friend, girl!

Fireworks with the Folks

We had two occasions this past week to enjoy fireworks with my parents. The tradition we established last year to watch our city's fireworks on the lawn was kept and expanded. Karyn and her kids joined us this time. Despite it's late start time, the show was grand. Sara had a look of rapture on her face and would spontaneously burst into applause and leg kicking. It was worth the wait just for that.
Fortunately, my mom made it all better by bringing glow bracelets for the kids to play with. Yes, she is the coolest grandma ever. And this is a tradition we will definitely be keeping for years to come.
Then, since we didn't get to see fireworks on the 23rd (more about that later) we lit off fireworks at our house on the 24th. Laura adored this entire process. She loved throwing snaps.
She also loved having an audience for all her maneuvers - dancing shadows with the strobe lights on the garage, sword fights and spins with sparklers, and appreciation for her fireworks selections.
She loved spending the time watching the fountains on Grandma's lap. She loved the way Daddy threw the flowers. She loved Mommy's imagination with the fireworks. She loved Grandpa's pretending to be a dragon. We all loved that Sara slept through it all. It was a great time!

Seattle Trip

Finally, the write-up on our Seattle trip. We were excited that Dave, Mel and Family were cool with doing many touristy things with us. We saw the Space Needle, Rode the Ducks (probably our favorite, though ridiculously silly, part of the trip), went to Port Townsend, took a Ferry, shopped at Pike's Place Market and watched them toss the fish, and the Locks and Ladders.

We ate amazing food. First of all at Dave and Mel's house. They fed us steak and fresh sockeye salmon with piles of yummy fresh berries and a great macaroni salad. They also introduced us to homemade Italian Sodas and Jason introduced them to his homemade ice cream. The cake batter was a huge hit - recipe below. We also got some of the most amazing clam chowder ever at Pike Place Chowder and some fabulous fish and chips at The Public House.

We also had a great time at their home playing with the kids and spending time together. Yes, Laura and Tiffany cried when they had to be separated from the five day and night play-fest. Dave and Mel are the world's most gracious hosts! Sara fell madly in love with "LeeLee" or Natalie and developed quite the love/hate relationship with the dog Ruby. Laura got over her fear of boys (Mel's boys Nate and Mitch are wonderful) and dogs. We can't wait to go again. Check out the video of all we did there.

Cake Batter Ice Cream

2 Eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups cream

3/4 cup yellow cake mix

Beat eggs until frothy. Slowly add sugar until you have a "cake batter" consistency. Add milk and cake mix and stir/wisk until smooth. Gently stir in cream and freeze. Makes 1 1/3 quarts.

Party Time

I've been hosting quite a few parties this past week, but didn't take pictures of any of it. I hosted girls night on Friday. It was a grand night of laughing, chatting and crying. And yes, some of us were up until 4 am.

Then last night I hosted Bunco. It went, what I thought, was really well. I had a big salad bar with homemade breadsticks for dinner. And, Jason made amazing homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert. The house and beautiful red dishes worked out wonderfully. The prizes were all kitchen items and I think everyone liked them. And, naturally, people stayed chatting here at the house until 10 pm.

I just need to give a big shout out to my amazing husband who is so supportive of these girl things and helps make all my friends feel comfortable at our home. Love you, sweetie!

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little

We had such a fun day this past Saturday! Though we did not do a dang thing on the railing which we were planning on staining, we had ever so much more fun!

I got to watch Lisa's little boys while she had to run her baby to the hospital. We had a grand time playing and exploring. While exploring, the kids all discovered bird feathers in the mass of trees in the back. They were gathered, disinfected and then turned into Indian headbands for a grand time of pretend.

Then we got to have Ellie and Trevor over while Em and Brian tiled. So, more headbands were made and much fun was had by all. Sara thought Trevor was the coolest thing ever! Alas, she would not sit still for a picture with him.

Big Steps

Sara took her first real steps on the 4th of July while we were up in Seattle. She is now taking three or four steps all over the house. The key, Jason realized, to this progression, is making sure her pants aren't in the way. Hence, she is sporting only a diaper in this video and now exclusively wears shorts or capris. Check her out walking from Jason to my Sis-in-law, Mel.

Also, Sara stands on her own all over the place. Check this chick out!

Finally, we put away the enourmous high chair and put Sara into a booster. We love the space it gives us in our dining nook and Sara loves being a big kid at the table. Laura thinks it's pretty cool too and has taken to feeding Sara her Cheerios lately. Laura is awfully big when she asks me "Mommy, can I feed Sara?" In case you were wondering, Sara eats much better for Laura than for Jason or I.

Summertime Girl

We are back from our Seattle trip (post on that coming eventually) and Laura is loving the summer fun here at home. Today she had a friend, Emmaline, over and they have spent their time being kids. They got dressed in their play clothes and have been outside all day. They've dug in the dirt, colored with sidewalk chalk, explored the trees and had a picnic. It's good to be a kid in the summertime and spend all your time outside.