Hiking Date and Peninsula Weekender

Last Saturday, Will and I had the very rare pleasure of going on a hike ALONE without kids in tow.  I think this is probably the first time we've done this since having kids. We actually hired a babysitter for this and everything.

And it was also the first time we've left Riley with a teenage babysitter at our house. I was very impressed, she got him dressed, fed, and even down for a short nap while we were gone. That is really saying a lot for the short-napper baby. :)

Will took me the back way up to Rattlesnake Ledge, which is a hike I've been a little leery of doing because of the drop-off at the top.

Will's route was a bit steeper than the normal trail, but since it is a heavy-traffic hike, it was kind of nice to be off the trail alone where we could talk and not have to share the beautiful outdoors with hundreds of other hikers.

It is truly amazing how much we, as a married couple NEED alone time together.  Raising kids is no small feat and as much as we love it, we also need to take care of ourselves and get refreshers on our relationship every once in a while.

Just within the 3 hours we were gone together, we felt SO refreshed. And bonded. And in love again. Not that we weren't before, but it was just nice to concentrate on US and not the demanding needs of little children all of the time (sorry kids, we love you though!).

It was nice to talk about our lives, our dreams, things coming up, remember past memories together of "remember when...", and also yes we talked about the boys too.

One other thing, is it felt SO nice to be in better shape. I have been working hard at the gym 6 days a week and also watching my diet.  I have been slowly SLOWLY losing weight, but gaining muscle and toning up and it was great to hike up the mountain with Will and not cry my way up like I did 11 weeks postpartum last June (see here).

When we got home, we gathered the boys up and decided to take an impromptu weekend overnighter over to the Olympic Peninsula.  We talked so much on our hike about our dreams of living over there that we couldn't resist taking another little trip over there...

Our view coming back into Seattle moments after the Superbowl ended...

Riley 10 months old!

 Has it seriously been 10 month already? He has now officially been alive longer on the outside of the womb than on the inside.

Riley was born March 16th, 2014 and here we are Jan 16th, 2015. I wish the time would just go slower, but I have to say I'm so glad that I took such a long break last year with my music and everything just so that I could enjoy this sweet boy.

Things about Riley at 10 months:

- Not crawling yet, but rocks on his knees and will "army crawl" backwards on his belly. He ends up under a lot of beds and couches and whines to be rescued.

- He loves to stand on his toes and hold onto things - like looking out the front window, the stairs, etc.

- JUST got his 3rd little tooth poking through this week (upper right). He also has 2 bottom teeth.

- LOVES people food. If he sees you eating food and you're not sharing with him, he will STARE. YOU. DOWN.

- Still nursing about 3x a day - which I'm glad I can still do for him. Babies can have cow's milk when they turn 1, so I plan to start weaning then.

- Loves to say "Dadadada" when he is happy throughout the day, and "Mummmm, mummm, mummm" when it's getting near bedtime and wants his mommy.

- Enjoys playing with his brothers.

- STILL hates his carseat.

- Recently transitioned from his Rock 'n Play to a crib and I won't say he likes it, but he is enduring it and each night gets slightly easier. And by slightly, it's minimal. Pray that we'll all get some better sleep soon.

- SHORT napper.

- Sooooo beyond sweet, and a very happy baby and always getting compliments from people on how good natured he is. We can seriously take him anywhere.

- Very CHUBBY. Hehe.

Love his chunky thighs....and how he loves to hold onto us while we pull his pants up. It's his favorite part about getting dressed. :)

Riley and Taylor at the window

One of Riley's favorite things to do lately is to hold himself up at the front window, stare out, and bang on it. :)

And occasionally Taylor joins him too haha....

Still practicing his crawling...

2nd Christmas at Long Beach!

The day after Christmas - we went to Long Beach!

I don't care that it was overcast, or that it was slightly cold and windy  -it was BEEEAUTIFUL.

I lovvvve the beach!

And I also love this little chubby baby too.

So a little out of order here, but we did a family hike to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Got a little rained on.  And the kids were slightly cold....some were crying LOL.

(Grace and Elizabeth)

Somehow despite being rained on and cold, this guy is still happy. :) Hehe.

This guy....not so happy. In fact, he was screaming "I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE CAR!"

Christmas Onesies!!

Girls at the beach!

I sure hope he keeps his blue eyes...