Getting Our Ducks in a Row

This week was a big week!

We bought our first home, and Michael signed his contract to join Fort Collins Oral Surgery.

Big changes are coming!

Shelley was so nice to watch Westin and Bennett in LA while Michael and I took a long weekend with Camden to head to Fort Collins and check out neighborhoods. Buying a home is a much more consuming process than I ever predicted. There's just a lot of fate involved in that process. I'll never forget the ups and downs of the first and second offers we put on houses, and then the way things came together for the third. And third time was the charm! We have a lot of painting ahead of us, but I can totally envision what our house can be. The location, the walk to school, the commute, the neighborhood, the backyard -- we are so excited. I'll never forget Ali and Becca helping me from afar as the process hit ups and downs we didn't expect, and all the heavy decisions that you just have to commit to or walk away from. The way we found our realtor (through a friend of a friend of a friend who had a rental but was also, we later found out, an amazing realtor) was an answer to prayers because she was incredibly helpful.

Also I always want to remember the dinner we spent with Michael's future partner. He and his wife were so incredibly kind, and personable, and I was so extremely impressed with their children. I just keep thinking about their family. The way their kids were truly good friends with each other, none of them looked at a phone the whole night, they were so fun to talk to, and it was just so nice to finally meet them. I have felt so much peace about our big changes coming up since meeting them.

Camden was a trooper on the trip -- last Sunday he went through 11 houses with us, never able to fall asleep on the drives between each one until we took a 90-minute break so that he could get a rest. Then we needed to stop for gas and it woke him up... oh little babies. He took a long nap in our hotel the next day before our dinner plans that night, and a long nap the next morning soon after he woke up. And he's been catching up on sleep ever since and sleeping quite well since our trip. He even slept his first 12-hour stretch with 0 wake ups! But has woken up once a few times, too. Which is way better than what we were dealing with just a couple weeks ago.

Westin and Bennett always have the best time with the Cannons. They went on fun walks, picked strawberries, ate a lot of sherbet, went swimming, played so much with cousins, drew pictures, hopped on Westin's preschool Zoom meeting for joke day, and they are just so happy with family. I'm so grateful for Shelley's help with the boys and Katie's help in Colorado. It was SOO fun to meet baby Finn and see Jack and Oliver. Our new house is 90 minutes away from them and we have never been so close to family before! 

The last few months have been putting together puzzle piece after puzzle piece, with so much thinking and prayer and stress and faith to figure out how this should all come together. All we've wanted was to go where we feel like we're supposed to, and make a good life for our little boys. Each step has been work. Then it comes together. Then it's the next step. I haven't even written a "We're moving to Fort Collins!" post because it has just felt like a process. Each step illuminated a little at a time, but no big bursts of light. But now we can see the final picture, and it's time to put in the work to make the transition happen. 

Oh, moving.

Making rock stacks like when Grandpa Miner was here!

Bingo time with his class

Camden getting into the car playing scene

We've been having picnics outside tonight and somehow this is our only "outdoor"ish blanket.
Didn't notice that our banana bread was keeping Ariel modest.
Also, banana bread and a parfait may not sound like dinner to you but we've reached the point in the COVID game where anything pretty much goes.

Empty LAX. So super strange.

Robbing a bank, or getting on a flight?
Felt so weird to be back in the world after weeks of being so strict about social distancing.

Cutie cousins

Cutie cousins again :)

We walked to and from the elementary school from two of our top choice houses just to get a feel for it.
This poor cutie was just exhausted.

Shelley said they flew through sherbet that weekend. Lucky boys.

Blurry but I was just so happy to see him sleeping well after all the go-go-go.

A little FoCo exploring and watching a crazy talented kayaker in the rapids.

Accurate depiction of how Camden felt most the trip.

Freezing water but he was in heaven,
Shelley said he swam until he was almost blue and was just so happy.

Sweet baby Finn!

"Bonk!"

No better view on an airplane... We even watched a movie!
Ford vs. Ferrari. We really liked it.

I love that he sleeps with his hat on.

LA Labor Day

Our weekend totally overshadowed our week! It was so much fun. We went down to LA for Labor Day weekend to go to Rachna's wedding, a coresident of Michael. She did her VA rotation during the same months that Michael did, so they had a good time working together for four months. Westin still remembers her well from the night we took pizza to the hospital and ate dinner with both of them. He was bummed to not go to her wedding :) But happy to play with cousins while Michael and I went to celebrate Rachna and Dylan on Sunday night!

We went down to Shelley's on Friday night, had a beach day on Saturday and pizza night with the cousins, church on Sunday, then the wedding on Sunday night, park time Monday morning and visiting with our Jerusalem friend Christian, then back home. It was seriously so fun. And there's something about the first big outing post-baby that reminds you that your life can still be what it was. Camden actually slept great all three nights we were down there, took two bottles from Shelley and Tony just fine during our wedding time, and pumping in a bathroom wasn't as miserable as I pictured it haha. Babies take planning and expectations-adjusting, but it's manageable. 

Michael wasn't able to come home before we left on Friday (we picked him up at work and went straight to LA), and had to go to work on Monday straight from our drive to work on some presentations for the week. Leaving with the boys on my own and coming back on my own, and all the prep that's involved in that, is just one of those things that feels like such a residency moment. I know I'll look back at how I felt at those times when I'm remembering how tiring residency was, but I'm also glad that we still made it out the door even though I thought it sounded so hard. Camden does not love his car seat and is my first baby to not just sleep so well in it and stay asleep in it when we get somewhere. But we spent the drive trying to get him used to the binky and I always feel like a boss when I nurse a baby while they're strapped in their carseat. And I always remember the time I almost flipped off our good friend when he yelled at me for getting out of my car in stand still traffic after Thunder Over Louisville to nurse Westin in the backseat, not knowing it was him. Good times.

Moments to remember from this week:

-Loving our first Indian wedding experience -- particularly their sweet vows, the promises they made to each other in the ceremony, the super touching toasts from Rachna's sister and dad, the hilarious toast from the best man, being with Michael all night, eating such delicious food, and feeling so grateful that Michael is in a program full of wonderful people.

-Catching up with Christian and remembering how much love we have for all our Jerusalem friends! I love that he is living close to Shelley so that we can see him sometimes.

-Accidentally getting rid of Bennett's binky when I remembered to pack it but didn't remember to put it in his pack n play at Shelley's. He asked for it the second night but since he didn't use it the first night I just said, oh we don't use that anymore. "Uh-Kay". I love how that sweet boy says ok. And I laugh thinking back to when I first tried to get rid of his binky and we had a miserable three days until I gave it back to him for naps/nights only. And compare that to how easy it was to get rid of it now. All kids are different, and expectations are the source of all stress!

-Westin always eating all the food on his plate in order from least favorite to most favorite item, and talking to us about food constantly while we eat. "Is this good for you? Do you like peaches more than raspberries mama? Does this have protein? Is a smoothie better for you than water? Is there butter on this toast if I can't see it?"

-Camden sleeping so many hours each night even though I'd prepared myself for awful babies-on-vacation sleep.

-Getting to know Shelley and Tony's cute new dog! And loving our time with their awesome kids. I love them all so, so much.

-Feeling so grateful to Shelley and Tony for putting our kids to bed Sunday night and watching our six-week old. That's kindness. We love them so much and we always leave their house feeling so grateful they're in California too! And wishing we could live by family.

-Watching Michael laugh and laugh with our nephews while boogie boarding. I was having flashbacks to when I first met Shelley's family and their kiddos were just little, and now Anthon is a tall 14-year-old who we just love. I can't believe how much our families are growing.

Bennett as a big brother. He was our baby for so long but he is still our Benny boy, and LOVES being a big bro!

Speech therapy in a little room with three kiddos!

Making new routines.
We don't have time to go home between speech and school on Tuesday mornings,
so I pack a picnic and we play outside the center for a little bit. This train went by and the boys were thrilled.
I'm so happy they have each other and that they are just so happy outside together.

New routines again.
Wednesday is early release from school, the only day that it matters that Bennett now naps in the boys' room.
So Westin chose a few things for quiet time in our guest room, and this is how I found him after an hour.
Sweet, tired boy!

Walking/biking to school with the crew. We're really looking forward to lower temps.

Looking so big

Westin has come home with these in his backpack on two different days and the pride he has when showing them to me is so, so sweet. And he wanted me to send a picture of them to daddy to show that he worked hard at school.
This sweet, sweet boy. He is so perceptive and smart and that can come with frustrating behavior,
but there is also a pure desire to please his parents in him. He loves knowing what's right and doing what's right.

Beach day! Westin loves running from waves with Shelley or Mama.
Bennett loves playing with sand toys the whole time.
Michael loves boogie boarding with nephews.
Camden loves nursing and sleeping. Which means Mama better love nursing and holding the baby.
Someday I'll have all my kiddos on the move again and I'll force myself to get back in the water!

That tired out drive home from the beach.

The boys love going up and down Shelley's driveway on scooters and little cars all day long.

Sweet Camden.

Beautiful Rachna! It was so fun to see her right before her wedding!

The groom getting ready for the procession

Dylan on the horse

Hype before the ceremony! It was so fun to see.

Rachna carried to her ceremony by her maternal uncles

Exchanging the sweetest vows

I love their hashtag so much :)

They met at Mammoth, and their cake is so cute!

Those chief resident studs

When at a wedding...

My forever wedding date!

Some of the UCFS Residents

Residents + Staff

You know this pic is going in the roast.

Those elephant name markers! This wedding made me miss my event planning job SO much.

I love Michael.

A lizard friend at the park!

Clayton was so good at catching lizards and sweet to share with Bennett.

Home through our regular LA-Fresno traffic. It's only bad for the first hour or so.
These sweet boys... Bennett woke up soon after this and so did Camden,
and I went back to binky training. We'll get there :)

They play together so well lately. They've been best friends since Camden was born.
I love them!!