Phoebe's First Camping Trip

Last week we took Phoebe camping for the first time. We tried making this happen two weeks earlier, but when we tried to leave and Phoebe was screaming and Jon and I were grumpy and traffic was horrible, we decided to put the trip on hold. We're so glad we did! Two weeks later, my mom was able to come out with us, bringing a bigger tent for us to use and being super helpful with Phoebe, and Jon was able to get a Friday off so we had more time to have fun. It was meant to be.

We went camping in the Olympic National Forest at Big Creek Campground. We picked this place because it was first come, first serve and because it's an area we haven't explored before. The campground also had several hikes that one could do straight from the site, which we liked.

Mom, Phoebe, and I left Thursday around noon without Jon to go and get things set-up. After popping up the tents we decided to do the 4 mile hike around Big Creek while we waited for Jon to show up. It was a beautiful hike with some fun quirks, including a troll under one of the bridges. Phoebe was great and slept the whole time in the carrier.

When we got back Jon had arrived and it started raining. The rain stuck around for the rest of our two night stay on and off. We didn't let it bother us, though, and spent the rest of the evening feeling a little bit soggy around the campfire.

The next day we woke up and made breakfast in my mom's van's trunk to keep out of the rain. By the time we finished the rain died down and we left to do the same 4 mile hike around Big Creek, this time Jon carrying Phoebe.

In the middle of the hike we took a 2 mile detour and hiked to an overlook near Mt. Eleanor. We got to the outlook and couldn't see anything because of all the fog, but our lunch was still yummy!

When we got back from the hike we spent the rest of the day driving to look at nearby Lake Cushman and burning logs in the fire pit. The next morning we woke up, packed up, and left.

This camping trip was one of the best things I've done all year! Sometimes you don't realize how much you love something until you don't have it, and with being pregnant and taking care of a newborn, I haven't had my fill of the outdoors this year like I have in years past. Hiking and camping and tall trees and fresh air and tall mountains are such a big part of who I am. I feel closer to God and a calm peace when I'm out there which rejuvenates me. Luckily, it seems like Phoebe is a happy camper and we'll be able to go waltzing out around in the woods next year a whole lot!

Phoebe's Second Month

Month two with Phoebe was so much fun! She's figuring out this whole being a human thing slowly but surely...she now knows how to smile, likes it when you play with her, and "talks" when she's in a good mood (all of which are making figuring out this whole being a mommy thing a lot more fun!)

Her most striking feature has to be her eyes. They're a beautiful indigo blue and seem to always be twinkling. People comment on them all the time! As for her hair, it looks to be brownish, unless you hold her in the light, and then suddenly it looks very red. So we're thinking it might come in as auburn?

No matter the colors of her features, we love this little squish!

We're Buying a House!

Yup--we're doing big people things up here in Tacoma! If everything goes as planned, we should be moving into our new home by the end of the month. What's there to know about our new house?

• It was built in the 1940's.
• It is very small and intended to be a starter home.
• It has two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen, a laundry room, and a living room.
• The bathroom has a door to the backyard (awkward!).
• It has a detached garage that is falling apart.
• It has a shed and a fire pit in the backyard.
• It has a huge yard (awesome!).
• It is in a great location that feels safer to us than many of the other homes within our price range (something that was a big deal for us since Phoebe and I spend most of our time at home).
• It needs some TLC, but we're excited and ready for the challenge and opportunity to learn.

We'll keep you posted as the adventure continues!

Doing Less

I love accomplishing things. For me, the perfect day includes waking up early, studying my scriptures, exercising, showering, eating breakfast, and cleaning the house all before 8:30. And that's just the beginning. There's so many other good things I would love to be filling my days with! Visiting the lonely, calling family, organizing the house, writing something meaningful, family history work, making a note to leave in my husband's lunch, preparing dinner, and my list goes on.

When I first had Phoebe I realized that I was going to have to scale down my daily list, and so I did. I could manage taking care of a baby and accomplishing just one or two things a day, I told myself, and I did. But as the days and weeks melted by, I began to realize something...

I was still doing too much! Yes, I could manage waking up early and getting my few things done amid taking care of a newborn and taking care of the rest of life, but it exhausted me! I was doing a lot of doing, but I couldn't enjoy it. My brain was too fuzzy and my limbs too weak to feel any of the joy that I know is associated with motherhood. 

So this week I've slowed down. It's been a challenge. There's a part of me--a big part of me--that says to myself: it's 8:30 and you're just now waking up?!!! Just think of all the productive things you could have gotten done by now! But I'm learning to talk back to that part of me and to say: "Cool it. It's okay. Yes, it's 8:30 and I haven't studied my scriptures, exercied, showered, eaten breakfast, or cleaned the house yet. So what?" Because there are more important things in life than being "productive." There are more important things in life than checking items off a to-do list. 

A prophet of the Lord put it best when he said: "No success can compensate for failure in the home." Raising Phoebe is one thing I definitely don't want to be too tired to enjoy, and it's definitely something I don't want to fail at. So now I'm a new me: no longer the woman who's ready to take on the world by 8:30, but the woman who's just waking up at 8:30 so that I can enjoy holding the world in my arms.