life lately

swim lessons // Lachlyn's busted chin due to experimental walking

Rhone's 1st professional hair cut // bad idea

KC thought it would be a great idea for the both of them to get a hair cut, I was hesitant about Rhone's because I personally love a little boy with long hair, and his was just getting long enough to tuck behind his ears... but I thought a little trim wouldn't hurt.  Well it did cause she chopped it off!! I cried a little inside, but put a brave face on for Rhone because well he cried a little too. I think I'll be cutting his hair from now on.

ice cream //  birthday party's

picnic at the park // good friends  // gettin dirty 

 Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. With all this gorgeous weather we have had, the web has just taken a backseat.  KC has been doing great at his job, still loves it and is solving lots of problems that experienced engineers haven't seen, so that has been pretty exciting for him.  As for the kids and I, we are doing lots of swim lessons, play dates, and experiencing some new firsts with ms. Lachlyn.  Rhone is doing so great in swim lessons... I am still kinda bumbed that I am not able to teach him myself, but with the lack of public pools and a 1 year old, it just wasn't gonna happen.  He is loving it and just to brag a little, he is doing way better than the 4 & 5 year olds in his class.  Must have a little Burdett in him I guess. 

Other exciting news: 

Lachlyn is walking now!  She took her time with this milestone, and I am glad she did.  She very well could be my last, and I am trying to soak up every baby stage out of her.  They just grow so fast, and soon she will be running and playing with her big bro. 

Our first camping trip is in planning stages, and with that KC and I's 10 year anniversary is coming in August!  Can't believe it's been 10 years... a whale watching tour, and a potential trip to Italy might just be the perfect way to celebrate.

As for me, I am getting ready for some major changes around here.  Starting the end of August I am signed up to take a couple of online classes through NAU. Today I went for an interview for a Per Diem/On-call job at a hospital in Renton, WA.   

This job would be ideal for me in that it isn't a everyday commitment, but a chance to get my foot in the door here in WA, keep my skills up, and earn some much needed extra cash.  I also am in the process of my favorite new venture which will consist of a online shop where I hope to make and sell some items along with some vintage finds.  More details coming soon on this.

I will leave you all with this little video of our little girl...

-sorry about the poor video editing, still saving up for a video editing program that will help a struggling wanta-be movie maker out-

My Movie from Lynn Fletcher on Vimeo.

Chicago, how we love you

So good to be back in Chicago! It has been way to long.  About 6 years to be exact.  I always thought after we moved back to AZ, that we would vacation here yearly.  But life happened and well it took awhile for us to be ok with leaving our kiddos behind.  We love this city.  Full of life.  Full of character.  Unfortunately I was unable to see some of my old friends from work, because of timing but it was good to rehash the fun times KC and I had on our little adventure here.  Because it had been so long, we really wanted to go to alot of the same places that we called our regulars.  Argo Tea was first on the list.  I was dying for some iced caffeine and it was fun for KC to see his old work place.  We stayed at a awesome hotel and was with in walking distance of most everything we wanted to do.  We took trains everywhere and it was pretty amazing how that all comes back to you.  We seriously didn't have to look at any maps, we remembered exactly how to get to our favorite places.  

We got in Friday morning and headed straight to Wrigley field to get some drinks and wait in the lines to pick up our tickets to Pearl Jam and to get a t-shirt for KC.  Which ended up being a 2 hour wait in the 95 degree heat wave!  Kinda crazy for just a shirt, but really this was a once in a lifetime concert, and those shirts are priceless. The show started around 8:00pm.  But in the distance was a thunderstorm brewing and around 9:00 they decided they needed to clear the thousands and thousands of people off the field for safety reasons and wait until the storm clears.  Well 3 hours later it finally resumed.  Those 3 hours were quite a experience.  There was probably 100,000 people in the stadium all trying to go to the bathroom, get more beer and hotdogs, meanwhile it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning right above us.  It just goes to show how much this concert meant to everyone who were lucky enough to get tickets, because I'm pretty sure nobody left.  Everyone stuck it out, made the best of it, and had great attitudes.  So around midnight Pearl Jam came back on, and played until 2:00am.  It was one of the best concerts I've been to, and definitely one I will never forget.  The best part for me was looking over at my hubby and seeing his heart exploding song after song. Especially when Ernie Banks came out... who's kinda a big deal for Cubs fans.  He had goosebumps more than half the time, and it was a dream come true for him.  After the concert, you could just image the chaos that happened as 100,000 people tried to get home, most on the trains.  We went for a couple drinks after and ended up going to bed around 4am.

The next morning afternoon we headed straight for the West Egg, a breakfast diner that we went to almost weekly.  Oh how I missed this place.  It is heavenly.

can you find us?

 2 new stores that I would have LOVED to have had when I lived here...

 and then there's the Wabash Tap... the owner seriously remembered KC when we walked in

We had so much fun on our little getaway.  It was nice to just have to worry about ourselves and to have the freedom to do what we wanted when we wanted.  We held hands, snuck in kisses every chance we had, and just enjoyed each other away from our kids.   It was kinda funny though... as we walked around the city, just like we have so many other times, this trip was different.  It just didn't seem complete. We saw so many new kid friendly attractions that we had never noticed and caught ourselves saying "Rhone would love this".  It is our dream to one day be fortunate enough to bring the kids next time we go to the windy city.  To see their eyes pop out of their head with amazement at all the buildings, the art, the play areas, and all gorgeous parks.  

It's funny how kids do that to you, right?  As much as you try to disconnect, you can't.  Rhone and Lachlyn, you will always be on my mind. Always.  The love for you two is so incredible that it surprises me everyday when I see it grow, as if there's still more room.  I did learn however on this trip that 2.5 days is my limit.  I really did quite well up until Sunday.  But that last day, I just couldn't wait to get home to see you two!  And then when we didn't make our first flight on stand by, I thought my world had ended.  There were tears, anger, and bitterness.  It was my breaking point.  However the reality was that they were completely fine with out us.  They were on vacation too.  Beach, swimming, playing in the yard, watering plants, picking blueberries are just some of the activities that they were able to do with my parents.  Mom, Dad we can't thank you enough for taking Rhone, Lachlyn and Wabash for 4 days so we could do this for ourselves!!  Not only did you give this to us, but you gave our kids some amazing memories.  Rhone is still asking when he can go back to Grandma & Grandpas to go camping...

We are already looking forward to our next getaway... maybe September... maybe Italy...

Preparation

So as I'm typing this my house is eerily quiet, peaceful, and the biggest worry I had tonight was this post.  Today we drove to meet up with my parents and to hand over the kids and Wabash.  This day has been on my mind for about 3 months.  This is the first time we have ever left Lachlyn with someone over night.  Rhone has stayed the night with grandparents before, but never for 3 days!  Needless to say I've been a wreck.  Emotionally drained and just tired from packing.  Good thing it's vacation time right!  So KC and I are headed to our old stomping ground in Chicago, IL.  It's been over 5 years since we moved away and I am super excited to see old friends and the city again.  Chicago is so special to the both of us, and to make it even more special we are going to see Pearl Jam play at Wrigley field.  If you know KC, you know that Pearl Jam is his all time favorite band and has been stocking them for over 15 years.  Just so happens the Chicago Cubs are his favorite baseball team, so when they got paired together it was a dream come true and truly a once in lifetime event.  So we got tickets months ago, and I have been preparing mentally ever since.  Thankfully my prayer were answered and Lachlyn as of a couple weeks ago is sleeping through the night (mainly because I have officially weened her off the breast... still sad about that one, but after 13 months, it was time) and she also isn't sick or teething.  So... I'm hoping that all goes well. 

I have never been a fan of leaving our kids to do anything really.  Before our new life here in Washington, I worked full time, so literally every moment outside of work I wanted to spend with the kids.  So we decided that we would take vacations and still get out and do things all the time, but we would do them with the kids.  It worked for us.  So when I made the decision to take a year off of work and stay home, the urgency of spending every minute with them, became more relaxed and because of that KC and I have gone on more dates, and now our first trip away.  In my crazy mama fashion, I made myself feel better about the situation by preparing my parents with a 3 page novel on our day to day schedule, followed with all other important info they would ever need.  Because they will be driving them across the border, we had to get a letter giving permission and have it notarized, along with passports, health cards, the list goes on and on.  I labeled everything, organized everything per kid and talked the trip up to Rhone like he was going to Disneyland.  And after all that prep work, I still managed to forget a key item! ugh

The reality is, my parents are smart.  They've had 4 kids.  They have 7 grand kids, they know what they're doing.  I trust them over anyone to handle and take care of my little angels.  But for me, it is nice to know that if they need any info, it is readily available.  I want give a huge -Thank You- to them and hopefully you all have a great time and at the end of this weekend, I hope they are willing to do it again. 

You can of course count on me taking a ton of pictures while were there, and I will try to post as soon as we get settled back in here.  My goal is to try to limit the tears, limit my anxiety, and try not to call my parents every hour for an update.  So here's to time alone for KC and I and to getting away to a relaxing and fun weekend.

Hair & Wear

Seriously could she get prettier?  I get teary eyed seeing how gorgeous she is, not just on the outside, but her heart, her soul they are just perfection.  God has blessed her in so many ways! Her little rosy cheeks on milky pale skin... sorry I could go on for days.  So about the hair... I have tried these 3 buns (ha) so many times and I either need 20 bobby pins or I just forget the whole thing and put it up in a pony.  But here comes the confession... with no-poo hair it is the easiest thing ever!  I seriously only have 1 pin in each bun (sounds cool, but read on). 

No- Poo Hair  (No Shampoo Hair)

So while pinteresting I came upon this new hair trend that basically is supposed to transform your hair into long beautiful locks.  In depth: shampoos and conditioners strip and add tons of chemicals to help your scalp, frizz, color, split ends you name it.  For me, my hair has always been dry and frizzy.  So I went with the super thick and moisturizing conditioners to put back the moisture that the shampoo stripped out.  It's like a never ending cycle.  So while reading about this here... I said "well it's worth a try".  So I'm about 2 weeks in and (here comes the truth) I'm not sold... It's been hard, really hard.  So to give you a little more insight, if you haven't heard already, you wash your hair with watered down baking soda, and conditioner your hair with watered down apple cider vinegar.  It is supposed to strip your hair of all the unwanted chemicals and after the transition period everyone says it has changed their life.  It smooths, strengthens, and heals broken hair.  Not to mention way cheaper than buying bottle after bottle of expensive poos.  So this 'transition' they say can be anywhere from 1- 8 weeks.  I'm in week 2 and let me tell you it is super weird.  I don't know if it's just me, but there has always  been this stage in a hair washing cycle where it is in between clean and dirty.  It's moldable, it's easy to style, but in a couple of hours it could turn greasy in a second... well that's how my hair feels right after I shower.  So needless to say I have noticed that I need to "wash" it more often then before and then I just throw it up in a messy bun (or 3) so that I don't have touch it.  (ewww) I have been tempted everyday to just give it up, but I am still hopeful that it might work if I give it a little more time.  So I will keep you posted on how it goes and if you would like more info on this crazy idea... just Google it or see the above link.  

It 'might' be worth a try...

4th of July

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th of July everyone! We had such a fun day.  It was quite different from past years because in Arizona in July you either party inside or in a pool.  So this year, the weather turned out to be perfect and so we headed out to the Kirkland parade.  We met up with friends, explored the firetruck, and ate hot dogs.  I was just so glad that KC's trip was delayed so we could enjoy this holiday together.  So we made the most of it.  

After naps, KC barbequed some steak, corn, zucchini, and mashed potatoes.  It was quite an all American meal.  So because the sun is up from 4am -10pm here in WA the 10:15 showing of fireworks was way to late for the kiddos, so we waited till 8pm and we headed out to find a place to light fireworks and like father like son, Rhone had WAY to much fun lighting each one.  And Lachlyn was just as happy as could be watching the men in her life, and practicing her walk.  She is soo close to walking (cue the tears), although not till daddy gets home ok Lach?!   I hope you all had a great 4th of July, and God Bless America.