Sleep progress.

Let it be known  Grace slept from 10:30pm-5:00am in her bed without waking up.  YIPPEE she hasn't done this since she was 6 months old.  The new bed arrangements are working.  I feel like I have so much energy today.  

camping

On Friday we went camping with our ward.  We have such a great ward family it's fun to do things together.

I forgot to take pictures but thankful we where tagged in these cute facebook pix.

Grace enjoying a yummy pumpkin muffin

On our way home from camping

10 seconds after the above picture

On our way home we found a fruit stand with some yummy nectarines James couldn't resist.

now we have 20lbs of nectarines that need to be eaten before they go bad.

with 3 days James, Gwenevere, Grace and I have ate almost 12 lbs of nectarines.

It was worth $11.00

The Secret to a better night's sleep

A little Hello Kitty and some musical chairs, I mean beds.

This little family has been suffering from slept deprivation and I'm determined to find a cure.

History:  Grace wakes up between 3-5 times a night, she won't go back to sleep unless she nurses, so not cool.  Usually I'm so exhausted I just bring Grace into our bed.  Then both James and I don't get a good night sleep.  then about a month ago Gwenevere started waking up in the night 1-2 times.   So between 11pm and 6 am James and I are awaken almost every 1 and a half hours.

 The cure:  We bought a new mattress for James and I (a queen) for more room and better support.   James is sleeping much better and isn't so tired at work.   Yippee.  We then moved our old mattress into the girls room so Grace has someone to sleep with.  We bought Gwenevere and Grace a cute Hello Kitty comforter and they LOVE their new sleeping arrangements.

The Outcome:
Grace still wakes up 3-4 times a night.  But I'm able to crawl into bed with them instead of bring Grace into our bed.  We cut down the nursing during the day to two times, which I think is helping.  I'm hoping to get a few good nights sleeping and then I'll ween Grace from night time nursing for good.  My goal is to nurse Grace til she's 14 months so we have one more month to decrease nursing opportunities but I don't want to cut cold turkey.

Having Grandma Sharolee spend the night really helped.  I was able to reduce my milk supply but not dry up.

The plan is to give Grandma Sharolee old squeaky ( the girls bed) back and at that point we'll purchase yet another bed for the girls to share.  I think they really enjoy sleeping together.


So no more of this

and yes to more of this:

7 years and a peaceful weekend to celebrate

Grandma Sharolee came up for the weekend so she could watch the girls while James and I had some time alone together.  It was PERFECT.  The girls went with Grandma to the zoo and were spoiled the whole weekend.  Ice Cream cones, a stuff animal of their choice, pizza and lots of love from Grandma.

Mean while, James prepared the most amazing backpacking over night trip a first time backpacker like me could ever want.  The main reason he picked this trail was because if along the way I decided I couldn't handle backpacking we could stop at the 2 mile camp ground instead of backpacking all 5 miles in.

The trip was exhilarating, challenging, and beautiful beyond belief.  Since the goal of this over night trip was to spend time together we decided to leave the camera behind.  So the following picture are from the world wide web.

We got to the Big Quincene trail head around 3:30 in the afternoon.  There were more cars in the parking lot then we expected.  We didn't realize how popular this trail was.  The camp ground we wanted to hike into was called Camp Mystery.  The hike to camp was 4.6miles.

The hike started out with a very easy climb following a nearby stream that had several little water falls. the picture below was of the first waterfall we came across.  It was breathtaking.  the greenery felt alive and breathing.  

Along the trail were huckle berry bushes and salmon berries we enjoyed eating along the way.  There were also a lot of fallen trees around the trail most of the trees where cleared from the path but this beauty (picture below) had not been touched and stood guard at the head of the trail warning hikers we where entering nature's land and that we were guests here on the mountain.  We had to stoup down low to pass representing the humility we needed in order to continue.

We hiked along with a steady pace enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful scenery.

after climbing a little bit over half away, the trees began to clear and we enter a few beautiful meadows along the way.  Most of the flowers where done blooming for the season but a few where left standing for our enjoyment.  

  

We got to camp about an hour before dusk.  We set up tent, refilled our water bottles (using our new water purifier, very cool) and James cooked dinner.  We ate couscous burritos, and they were delicious   After dinner it was almost dark and the air was COLD, so we climbed into our tent and played card games for a while.  Before going to bed we decided to brave the cold and go to the bathroom.  The stars were out and they where bright.  We stood in awe looking out at the big dipper, shining brighter than I've ever seen it before.  If I could have a high light of the trip star gazing might have been it.  

The next morning, after sleeping in, (sleep was another great benefit for us) we hiked the remaining .7mile to the summit.  the view was breath taking.  from one side you could see snow covered mountains claiming their right of being the legendary Olympics and in the opposite direction was the beautiful Puget Sound and the hood canal bridge.   

(view on our way up to summit)

Marmot Pass summit 

a zoomed in view of the sound from Marmot pass.

We ate our breakfast on the rocks next to the tail signs looking out at the view and enjoying the time we had just the two of us.  It was Heaven.

After breakfast we headed back to camp, packed up our stuff and slowly made our way back to our car.  White butterflies were everywhere, dancing down the trail as we made our decent.  We stopped along the way to pick more berries and to explore the waterfalls a little more.

After a wonderful weekend like this it's easy to say I can't wait to see what the next 7 years bring.

Happy Anniversary James

(Thanks Sharolee for volunteering to watch the girls so we could have this wonderful getaway.)

Gwenevere

God is gracious. What more can I say, I love 

this beautiful little girl. I watched her take 

her Papa's hand today as they walked into

he store. Her head measuring to his hip.

.
For a moment time stopped and my little 


girl stayed little forever. than I blinked and 


I realized this life is going to go by so fast.

You are a gift from God.  I know you where meant to be my first child because you have a unique gift of patients and understanding.  Thank you for your Christlike attribute of forgiveness.  I am humbled to be your Mother.  I love you and I always will.

Gratitude

Thank you Father in Heaven for sending me two beautiful little girls.

We talk of Christ we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, We prophesy of Christ... That our children may know to what source  they may look for a remission of their sins.  2 Nephi 25:26

DPT James

Today James had his 3 month evaluation at his work at the St Joseph inpatient Rehab center.  The evaluation we exceptionally well.

a few quotes from his review

Colleagues report: James "has a wonderful sense of humor and is very calm with patients, even the more difficult ones." James has a "positive attitude and asks questions (which I think is important). "James jumped right in when he started, and it was a hectic period of time. 

"He is an outstanding new therapist and patients love him. His calm demeanor and personality allow him to connect and challenge even our most difficult patients." 

We love you James.  Words can't describe how proud I am of you.  You are truly my better half. Not only do you bring out the best at the work place, but you a wonderful husband who makes me laugh when I want to cry and cry when I laugh to hard.  You stand supreme at a father and a super hero to our little girls.  We love you.