A BIG Day for Our Family

Yesterday was a big day for our family in so many different ways.  The boys and I left the house at 8:30 am and drove into the garage at 5:40 pm.  Traffic was horrendous everywhere we went yesterday so that made for a big day of driving for me and we hit some pretty major milestones yesterday. 

But first, our park day was yesterday.  Both boys had appointments at Children's Hospital in the early afternoon, but they wanted all the paperwork from Swedish so we had to chase that down in the morning.  I had called a couple days ahead so Swedish had it all ready to go and I just had to sign for it, but the downtown traffic in Seattle was so crazy that we ended up waiting two or three traffic lights per light on most of the lights and with all the construction and go-slows on I-5 there were a lot of people taking "alternate" routes through the city. 

After finishing up at Swedish I called Bryan and asked if there was a way around going on I-5 to get to the park we wanted to go to, since I-5 was stop and go for several miles south of the bridge and we wouldn't have had any time at the park.  He gave me a great route around, but it went right through the University of Washington and let me tell you, those roads are CONFUSING!!  There are so many "Y's" in the road that it takes a bit to figure out which road you're really supposed to be on--especially when everyone seems to be using those roads as an alternate to I-5.  But we got there and had 45 minutes to eat lunch and play for a couple minutes before needing to be at Children's.  (To give you an idea, I had planned for an hour and half for lunch/playtime.)

We went to the Warren G. Magnuson Park, only about five minutes from Children's Hospital.  It is the second largest park in Seattle and used to be an active military base, but is now just a park, though it looked like there were still people living in the barracks.  It is a huge park and we didn't have nearly enough time to do it justice.  The playground was lots of fun, and one of the bigger playgrounds we've been to and the quick drive we did down to the beach looked like it would be a great walking place.  Some of the things I read about that we didn't have a chance to discover were the sculptures and the old military equipment.  Someday I'd love to go back and spend at least half a day exploring and playing around there.

It felt sooooo good to have a picnic lunch in the sunshine--one of my favorite things to do during the summer that we just haven't had much of a chance to do yet.

Because I have a picture of Micah in a swing at every playground we've been to.

Brandon was so proud of himself for being able to go down the fire pole by himself.

Brandon is starting to really enjoy "helping" Micah play--Micah still needs some convincing at times.

This is the biggest teeter-totter I've seen around here.  When we arrived there were probably close to 20 kids on it.

Being goofy and adventurous and trying to ride it backwards.  He does this with every teeter-totter.

Micah thought it was the best ride ever when I made them both go air-born a little bit.

This one just cracks me up!

 When we got home, since the boys had done so much sitting, we played outside for a while.  Another BIG accomplishment for Micah was that he got himself into a sitting position from laying on his tummy for the first time.  He wasn't quite sure what he had done at first, but was convinced it was a good thing with all the praising I gave him.

And the BIGGEST news of the day was for Brandon.

...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...



Brandon has officially graduated from wearing braces!!  I was completely astounded, shocked, and VERY trepidatious (is that a word?) when she told me.  I looked at her and said, "You know this is terrifying me right now, right?"  Bryan and I have our serious doubts, but are willing to give it a try.  Brandon needed some convincing at first.  Night-time for him means braces and teddy, so at first he correlated the two and was very worried that he wasn't allowed to sleep with teddy any more either.  Once we got through to him that he may still sleep with teddy, just his braces were going away, he calmed down considerably.  He was pretty excited about it last night, but still asked when he was going to get to wear them again.  I think it's going to be quite the transition for him. 

The doctor was very convinced that his feet are doing extremely well.  She watched him walk, run, played with his feet and said he could be finished with the braces and she didn't want to see him for a whole year!  In my mind, with someone who has already had to be recasted, this is jumping the gun a bit and then not to see him for a whole year after taking the braces away doesn't seem very prudent, but she said if we see anything we're not happy about then we should bring him back in.  She also said (NOT to be repeated to Brandon because of his obsessive nature these days) that if this doesn't work it is tendon surgery because we've already tried the recasting and braces won't do a whole lot at this point any more.

And that brings us to the end of our very busy, very exciting, and very emotional week.  We are exhausted.  I had a whole list of errands to run and things to get done today, but since both boys have colds, and between the two of them I was up most of the night (I lost count after 6 times by 1am) it might just turn into a stay at home and decompress kind of day.

Whatever our day turns into, may your day be sunny and blessed.

Happy Birthday, Micah!

Happy Birthday to our baby boy, "Micah Micah" or "Smiley" or "Micah Two" or "McDonalds" or "Miky D" or "Micah Donald".  It's hard to believe he's a year old today. 

He took his time deciding it was okay to join the world, and has continued to do things in his own time.  He didn't learn to role until seven months old, and just in the past week has started trying to crawl.  He started sitting up on his own at five months.  When he turned nine months old he started scooting himself around on his bum by turning himself in circles, but now becomes airborn while scooting.

His first teeth came in at five months and he has become a voracious eater--eating as much if not more then Brandon most nights and some nights even more then me.  He will snack on anything unhealthy and if it's healthy it better be soft. 

He loves to smile and has his own very pronounced sense of humor, sometimes sitting in one place and laughing at himself with whatever he is playing with.  His big brother, Brandon, is always good for some laughs if he's being crazy and silly.  Micah will often instigate the sillyness simply by starting to laugh at Brandon at random, or doing one thing that he knows Brandon will play along with.

Micah is a thinker.  He watches everything and processes it.  He is also extremely stubborn!  He will do something, knowing the punishment is coming, but finding it worth it anyway.  Case in point: The tub toys are off limits unless they are in the bathtub.  Micah goes to play with them every.single.day., and flinches when I come down the hallway.  During devotions time at the table, he is learning to be quiet.  He has started making noise, becoming quiet when I "shh" him, looking at his brother across the table, looking at me and if my head is turned slightly away (so I can still see him in the corner of my eye) he will look at his brother again and make noise, which makes Brandon giggle, and it goes downhill from there.  He is such a little brother!

Micah started out as a cuddler, and hasn't changed a bit that way.  In the hospital he refused to sleep in the bassinet, only falling asleep when I held him in bed.  He will cuddle with anyone, as long as I'm not around or he can't hear me.  But he's a mama's boy in that when he can hear or see me, I'm the one he wants to be with, no one else--not even daddy some times. 

On the other hand, he waits at the door at the end of the day many days, waiting for Daddy to get home.  If he's not at the door, he comes flying when he hears that Daddy is home and always has big smiles for him.

Micah you are so special and precious to us!  We have watched you grow into a little boy and are excited to see what you learn and discover this year.  Our prayer is that you will grow to be a boy who loves Jesus and others deeply, who values the gift of discovery God has given you and who wants to grow up to be a strong man of God.

Happy Birthday!

Uncle Bryan's Visit

It's always fun to have relatives come stay with us and the boys get oodles of attention.  Uncle Bryan coming to visit was no different and the boys LOVED it!

We picked him up Friday afternoon.  He right away went outside to play balls with Brandon.

Brandon thought diving for the ball was pretty fun.

Saturday morning after a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we headed out to Don and Sally's to ride Four-Wheeler and pick raspberries. 

In the afternoon, after nap time, we headed out to the lake house with a bunch of friends.

Bumpa got Brandon to swim once, but that was enough for him.  Mostly he played with that blue boat closer to shore where he could walk.

Uncle Bryan came up with a fun game that Brandon didn't enjoy so much, but it calmed Micah down when he started getting fussy.

MICAH LOVES DIRT AND BEING DIRTY!

 Sunday afternoon, since both Cheryl and Bryan were in town and we could all get together, we celebrated Micah's birthday.

He caught on to the whole tearing paper thing very quickly.

It was VERY difficult for Brandon to not jump in and "help" unwrap all the presents and play with them, but he did a very good job.  We did a lot of getting him ready for it and it paid off.

Being one I didn't think he'd care so much what kind of cake he had, so I decided to go with an Angel Food Cake which went much better with all the seasonal raspberries and blueberries.

 Sunday afternoon we relaxed and goofed off.  Uncle Bryan is always good for a fun ride, of course!

He also learned what it means to make a construction road with Brandon.  You fill up the dump truck and he dumps it exactly where you just scooped the dirt up from.  :)

And the final picture of the day...it took Micah about 30 minutes to get this dirty.  It was so bad I had to get the kids undressed outside so my house wouldn't be buried in sand.  Have I mentioned Micah loves dirt?  He's quite proud of himself.

Sadly, Uncle Bryan left early Monday morning.  It was such a fun visit.  We look forward to it happening again some day...

Last Week's Parks

Friday morning we had our park adventure.  Auntie Cheryl was in town so she and Grandma came with us and that made it oh so much more exciting and special!!

We started out at the Maritime Heritage Park behind the Bellingham Museum area.  It was a park I didn't know existed back there, but Sally had told me about.  The first half was beautiful, but at this time of year the other half was not so exciting for kiddos.  I think in the fall it will be exciting to go back and watch the Salmon swim up the ladders, which is what the whole park seemed to be centered around.  There was also hatchery there that wasn't functioning, but I wonder if they start it up again in the fall.  We'll have to go back and find out.

Auntie Cheryl understands Brandons love running fast and is always willing to join in!

The walkway around the park is very informative about different plants in the area.

I got a tiny start on my Fushia project for my kitchen.

This bell had salmon carved all around it and made a beautiful sound.

Brandon rang it so much...

...that the donger came out and Auntie Cheryl had to fix it.

The totem pole tells the story of the Salmon Mother giving humans her children, salmon,
after the flood when they were starving.

See the metal fish sculptures? 

Looking up at the falls.

"Hmmm.  How do I get over there?"

"Auntie Cheryl will help me!!"

Micah was fascinated with the falls and water sounds.

Standing on the bridge looking up at the falls.

The empty hatchery.

Auntie Cheryl taught Brandon how to blow his first Dandelion. 

The Salmon steps.

The map says there is supposed to be a playground there, but we're pretty sure they've taken it out and not changed the map.  See the bold green path?  That's the path to Elizabeth Park that we decided to go check out since it was only supposed to be 0.5 miles away.  My direction abilities??  Ha ha.  Let's just say we should have taken Sally's route.

There were several of these pillars with "fossils" in them.

We stopped for a snack and to watch the train on the walkway for a couple minutes.

After stopping in a store to ask where the park was and getting a map to follow, we found the Elizabeth Park and it was worth the walk.

Terribly blurry picture, but I love Auntie Cheryl's expression!

Brandon loves discovering new play equipment--especially if there is any kind of steering wheel he can pretend into a boat.

Micah enjoyed the whale ride that didn't ride very well. 
He also loved playing with the textures of the bark on the ground.

While Grandma stayed and played with the boys, Cheryl and I hoofed it back down to the Maritime park and brought the cars back up to the kids, instead of getting Brandon to walk all the way back.  We actually found the path we were supposed to take in the first place--right where Sally thought it would be.

Elizabeth Park was a real hit.  I didn't take pictures of it, but it has a nice green grassy area, a few picnic tables, a fun fountain to sit by and watch (not a kids play water foutain), a couple of tennis courts, and a gazebo.  It's a great place to go if you need to kill some time in Bellingham.  While at the first park, I got a text from my brother Bryan that he would be flying in to Bellingham earlier than originally expected, so it was a great place to hang out for a while before going to pick him up.

Our park this week will be in Seattle on Thursday as we have the kid's appendage doctor's appointments--thankfully they are both with the same doctor and we were able to get them in on the same day.  It will be an interesting day of transition, though, from their old doctor to a new doctor and a new hospital.  But I'm told Children's is a wonderful place to go so I'm not too worried.

Blessings on your day.