This past month since Holden’s arrival has been one big adjustment period for us.  One kiddo?  Cakewalk.  Two kiddos?  Whole new ballgame!  I think we are finally settling into what is our new normal.  The first two weeks were incredibly challenging.  I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel and was certain I would never be able to watch both kiddos solo.  People actually do this?!  But with each day it got easier, and we all got more comfortable with being a family of four.

Now trying to work while taking care of a toddler and a newborn is pretty close to impossible (Blog?  What blog?) and the laundry has certainly piled up.  If one is asleep, the other is awake all the way from 6:00 am to 9:00pm.  My little Holden only sleeps for 45 minutes at a time and ends the day with a 2-3 hour crying fest.  As for Sawyer?  Well, let’s just say he has never been a fan of sleeping.  Ever.

We are learning to embrace the chaos, as my mom recently put it.

 

Our sweet, beautiful chaos.

 

Over the weekend, we went to go cut down our Christmas tree.  There is a place just south of us, Holloways Farm, where you can cut your own.  I went there a lot as a kid and was excited to share it with my boys for the first time.  Beau just could not believe that they would let everyone walk around with a saw and cut whichever tree they wanted.  But lo and behold, there were saws hanging up for the taking (ahem, just hand saws, not chain saws)

Frankly, Sawyer was not into it.  He was far more interested in sprinkling dirt on the small trees.  We wandered amongst the rows of trees until we finally settled on one.  Beau did the honors with his renegade saw and then insisted on carrying it all the way back.

Sawyer is chasing after Beau, who is carrying the tree

We have the tree all set up in the living room, where Sawyer continually pulls off the ornaments, tries to walk all the way around it nearly tripping over the lights, and leans into it on a constant basis.  It is placed right next to my baby grand piano, which is making me nervous.  I am really hoping the novelty wears off soon.  At this point, I am not even going to attempt to put a present under the tree!  Santa can bring them ALL at once.

Preschool has been such a wonderful new adventure for our whole family.  Sawyer is obviously having a great time and is learning a lot.  For Beau and I, it has been a new leap into letting someone new (pretty much a complete stranger) be in charge of our little guy’s well being.  Totally scary at first but has quickly became something we all look forward to.

Why yes, my son has two left feet

The one big side-effect that is a drag, however, is the new germ exposure.  Oh.my.goodness.  For the second time in a month, Sawyer came down this bronchitis-esque cold which makes breathing (and sleeping) more challenging.  He took me down with him this weekend.  Ugh.

Truly, my biggest challenge as a mother is to be sick myself and to take care of a sick kiddo. Oh man, is it rough.  I was up the entire night on Saturday taking care of Sawyer as he tossed and turned with his shallow breaths.  Beau was out of town that night hosting an event at Lagunitas Brewery in Northern California.  I was a total congested zombie on Sunday and yet had to take care of this little guy who still needs to be fed and wants to play outside.  Rough, indeed.

But here we are, both already on the road to recovery, just in time to head back to preschool again.  I am grateful that Sawyer is a pretty healthy kid and bounces back really quickly.  I just remind myself it comes with the territory.  The incredibly snot-filled territory.

 

 

For months, I have been trying to make my way to Rutiz Family Farms over in Arroyo Grande.  It’s a whopping twenty minutes away, so I am not sure what my excuse is.  They have an assortment of pesticide free fruits and vegetables they grow and sell at their own little stand.  They also have pick your own strawberries throughout the summer, which was the original draw.  We just couldn’t pull it together, until…

We had dinner at my parents’  house last weekend where my mom served THE most incredible sourdough bread.  She had picked it up the day before at Rutiz Family Farms.  I could not wait any longer – I NEEDED that bread.

My mom joined us for a trip out there.  It is the quaintest little farm stand filled with so many fresh fruits and vegetables including raspberries, avocados, tomatoes, corn, garlic, and onions.  I immediately snatched up a loaf of sourdough, while Sawyer filled his basket with raspberries.  I had my mom distract Sawyer for me as I bought a cookie from a girl selling her own treats from Sweet Pea Bakery.

I managed to polish off an entire basket in less than ten minutes, while Sawyer ate half of his own basket.  The were BEST raspberries I have ever had.  We are headed back again this week for more!

Socks took a backseat this week. It has been a pretty intense time for all three of us.  Parenthood has been incredibly challenging and Sawyer started preschool.  Correlation?  Nah.

I will spare you the parenting details, but will say that patience was tested and many time outs were given.  Ugh.

On Tuesday, Sawyer started the toddler program at his preschool.  Here is our – oh, right, first day of school, maybe we should take a picture?! – picture:

Sawyer did so great!  See, he has this obsession thing about water and his teacher had a water table set up in the classroom.  (Joy!)  He beelined straight for it and could not be bothered with to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, I managed to turn into a puddle once I got into work, fighting back tears on my walk there.  Up until that morning I thought it would be super easy to drop him off, knowing that he was going to be having a great time.  But I think it really set in that a woman I have met once for 5 minutes was going to be watching my sweet boy.  What if he gets thirsty?  Or gets cold?  Or needs his nose wiped?  Will he say anything?  Does he know he can ask for help?

When I picked him up after the longest three hours of my life, his teacher said he had a great day and didn’t shed a tear.  (::deep exhale::)  As soon as we got in the car, Sawyer asked if he could go back to pre-school.

Day two went fantastic as well.  For both of us.

I am really looking forward to all of the new things Sawyer will learn.  My heart is already melting with the art projects he has brought home and the songs he has started to sing.  Time to clear off the fridge!

Did you know that the sun sets later in Washington than in California?  I hadn’t really noticed until my can’t-sleep-when-it’s-remotely-light-out 2 year old couldn’t fall asleep nearly 10:00 every night. Ohhh boy.

The remainder of our trip was spent in little jaunts here and there between visits to crazy-town {thank you never ending daylight!}.  What I didn’t mention before is that my mom joined Sawyer and I on our trek.  What a life-saver she was, having an extra set of hands to wrangle Sawyer  – and an extra dose of patience.

I think my favorite part of our visit was checking out the Cougar Mountain Zoo.  It’s a small zoo that has a collection of Bengal Tigers {who were too busy eating their breakfast to say hi}, reindeer, baby cougars, lemurs, and lots of exotic birds.  One of the macaws said “bye bye” to Sawyer and that absolutely blew his mind.  He could not believe that this bird could talk.

Sawyer laughing about the talking bird

 

We had a great time visiting with my brother and his girlfriend {unfortunately no pics, too busy chasing}.

Caffeine and cupcakes were consumed.  New food was found.  Waterfalls were watched.  Parks were played {on}.

We also checked out two different farmers markets; the one in Issaquah always has the most stunning flower arrangements.   The other was a really tiny market in the small town of North Bend with the most amazing setting!

I am grateful for the opportunity to have this new adventure, but it sure does feel good to be home!

1. Bug socks in the rental car cruising around town {by Smartwool}

2. Striped knee-hi’s on a mossy step {by Smartwool}

3. Solid green crew socks by the creek {by Smartwool}

4. Striped orange socks on the railroad tracks {by Smartwool}

 

We love Smartwool in our family – especially when it comes to traveling!  Do you have a favorite travel sock brand?

There are blackberry bushes everywhere up here!  We took a stroll around the corner to go stock up some berries.  Yummy berry dish still to be determined {cobbler? sprinkled on ice cream?}

 

Meanwhile, a certain someone is having a bit of trouble getting to sleep at a decent hour {ahem, 4 hours late the past two nights}, so I am coping the best way I know how:

 

Thank goodness for nap time.

Greetings from Washington!  Sawyer and I took a trek up to the Seattle area to visit my brother who lives here.  We are staying in the cutest little town of Issaquah, a tad east of Seattle.

Sawyer and I visited a salmon hatchery right in downtown Issaquah, which is actually a really cool place.  {Brace yourself, science lesson ahead!}

 

Did you know that salmon return to their own birth place to reproduce?  Salmon born at the hatchery will swim down the Issaquah creek into Lake Washington.  From there they travel through the Puget Sound and into the Pacific Ocean and hang out for a few years.  When they are mature enough to reproduce, they will follow the reverse journey, up the exact same creek, back into the Hatchery to lay their eggs.  Incredible!

 

They have built a Fish Ladder to help the salmon swim upstream.  During salmon season, you can watch the salmon jump out of the water into the different “rungs”.

Our visit is a bit ahead of salmon season, so there aren’t any currently swimming up the creek just yet.  Instead, we got to see some resident adolescent salmon chowing away in one of the big pools.

 

 

Our next adventure, the Issaquah library!!  We’re pretty wild and crazy — look out!