Sudan Family Vacation - Cascade National Park

a couple of weeks ago we went with my family to the cascade national park in washington state. it was such a wonderful time of being together, hiking, and enjoying God's beautiful diverse creation. growing up our family trips always consisted of going to a national park and spending most of the days on day long hikes. it was such a fun thing to do together and we usually came away with many fun memories and some life threatening situations that we got ourselves in!

thankfully this time there were not any life threatening situations - but just a lot of fun and good work outs!

the first day we all went on a 7 mile hike (yes all 13 of us - 10 adults, 3 kids). it was so much fun and we had beautiful vistas the whole hike. it was quite a workout with jayden in a backpack on jordan's back and duncan in the bjorn on me. but i was so glad that we got to be together and all of us got to experience the hike together. the next day we went on shorter hikes that were not quite so strenuous. the third day everyone but my mom and i and the kids went whitewater rafting. my mom and i took the kids pick blueberries at cascadia farms show farm. i am sure a lot of you are familiar with that brand - i had no idea that it was made there in the cascade mountains. they had the BEST ice cream at this show farm!

the fourth day we left jayden and emery kate with our babysitter - sweet maria (who is awesome by the way - so glad that we brought her she was such a great addition to the fam!) and the rest of us went on a long, strenuous hike. it was such a good intense work out - but unfortunately because of the wildfires - once we got to the top there was no view to be seen. it was clouded by smoke. the last day was spent at bakers lake and hanging out.

it was a great time with everyone and i am so thankful for my sweet family! everyone is so unique and brings such different giftings and personalities to the group.

thanks mom and dad for such a wonderful trip!

we loved it!

Jayden's First Day of School (aka MDO)

Jayden started MDO this monday. He was SO excited whenever i asked him about it - but i was curious to see how he actually liked the whole "school" experience. he actually did great! i was thrilled because he sometimes has a hard time in new places and being left alone. it literally took us over a year and a half before he like going to the "Y" so that jordan and i could work out. so i was thinking this could be a long process. he ended up crying only for a few seconds when i left him there (with a quick get away i might add - i don't think it is good for either one of us to linger too long) and then the teacher said that he did great!

when we got home he insisted on carrying his backpack on his back the rest of the day. he has continually asked me for school the rest of the week. i think that is a good sign :)

another big milestone for my little guy! he is growing up so fast. but each stage is so fun so i am trying to treasure them all.

his little brother is growing up fast as well. sleeping in his own crib now and for the most part sleeping through the night - which makes this mommy very, very happy :)

Big Cedar Lodge - Kousin Kamp

this august we went with the ogdens to big cedar lodge in branson, missouri for a "kousin kamp" with the ogden and sligh families. it was a great time of being together and enjoying the beautiful ozark mountains. jayden really took to loving the pool and now he is continually asking me "mommy i want pool water" - so sweet! thank you ogdens for such a wonderful time! we loved it so much.

The "Big Boy" Bed

my little j is no longer a little baby anymore. he now is a "big boy" in a "big boy" bed. it was such a bitter sweet moment transitioning him from his crib to the bed. i was excited for him to have a new bed - and to allow his baby brother to sleep in his crib - but i wasn't sure how it was going to go.

i had been telling him for awhile that he was going to move into his new room and in that new room he would have a big boy bed. i don't know if he really got it or not. he would act really excited but i think that he just gets excited about most things i tell him about. (like you are going to school on monday, he is very excited about that - yet when we go to meet the teachers and walk into the classroom he starts crying :)). so we set up the bed and had one last night in the crib and told him he would go into the bed the next night.

well - he seemed excited about it. we did our normal routine - read his books, prayed, gave him the pacifier (yes he still takes one at night - you can judge me for that - but i felt that there have been too many transitions in his life right now to take away his little security!) and then were about to walk out the room - when he lost it. he was so scared and cried a very terrified cry.

i can imagine how scary it is to be in a brand new bed and a brand new room and think what is going on!

so we laid in bed with him until he fell asleep. meanwhile as i am laying there with him i am thinking to myself - why do we try to have them grow up so quickly? not that i didn't think it was time for him to be in a big bed - but why do i want him on the first night to be so independent that he just sleeps fine in the new bed. yes there is a time for that - and i do want him to grow up and become independent - but he is only two! so i realized that it is really mostly for my convienence - so i don't have to spend an hour or two of my time to help my child go to sleep. then i thought - this is what being a mom is all about. helping your child transition, being there for them when they are scared. loving them through changes and showing them that new things are okay and that they are going to make it through. there will be a time when he doesn't need me, or call for me or want me to lay next to him to help him fall asleep - but for right now - he does need me and that is sweet and good.

so as i come to terms with things in my mind - he actually does fall asleep (with jordan in the bed because i was getting myself ready for a long night of sleeping with a toddler). i was so excited and relieved that he fell asleep and went to sleep myself. well at about 1:30 am we hear jayden screaming in his room. yes - he fell out of the bed. the terrible thing is that i had bought a side rail for him at target that day - but thought he probably didn't need it because i didn't think he moved around that much in the crib. apparently i was wrong. so i actually did end of sleeping the night with my sweet 2 year old and we marked a big stage in toddler history - together.

sorry for the long story but just wanted to write down my thoughts of such a big transition.

i have so many things to post from our trips. i will try to do that soon - we just moved into our new addition so we have been busy with all of that!