B&W

a tool I should play around with more often...

Sandy Diaper Beach Bum!

After one of the roughest nights in some time {read: up for 3 hours during the night. Ezra couldn't go back to sleep because he couldn't breathe all that well through his nose. After a drive to Walgreen's and some nasal spray, we all finally went back to sleep around 2am. }, we went to one of my favorite spots: HB. I have so many fond memories at this beach while I lived down here. 

We walked down Main Street and the Pier after a much needed Starbucks stop. We lost Flat Stanley while trying to take a picture. Thankfully, we hadn't walked far enough to be over the water. W had to walk all the way back to go get him. 

Finally got one a bit later.

W showed E the waves and seagulls.

We watched the surfers catch waves.

Then we headed down to the beach to play. This was E's first time to a sand beach.

He's definitely a fan!

Favorite part: wet sand & salty water. We got away with only minimal sand eating.

Future Beach Bum?

Although we were dragging our feet to get out of the car and him into the stroller, we felt so good after the sunshine and sea breeze.

Got back to the Jenkins just in time for a yummy taco dinner and to put E down before our date night!

{Oh, and yes, E has been wearing the same shirt in the past 3 posts. I only brought 2 short sleeves and its been warm down here. Not to worry though, we've done laundry here and the shirts are in rotation.}

Playing with Papa

This is one of the more hilarious recent things Ezra has been doing. This silly grin. He squints his eyes, lifts his chin, grins real big, all the while laughing through his grin. It cracks us up every.single.time. He's already a goof ball.

We've had a fabulous visit so far with friends and family. But Ezra's three teeth that are coming through with another close behind, have got all three Swensons exhausted! 

I'm grateful to have W around this week to help out with an irritated baby {when it comes to nap time.} And jury is still out on the clear runny snot that has developed since E's big front teeth have started to break through. Did the chompers cause this or is this E's first cold, albeit mild?? Either way, this and the drool are making breathing, nursing and sleeping pretty challenging. 

One morning during a typical nap boycott, we all went to the park to wear the bookie out. It seemed to distract him enough to mellow him out and bring back those smiles.

Gathering of The Family

That's us!

We spent an evening with lots of Swensons {we missed the McFarlands!}. Organized chaos really with so many kiddos. The big ones were running around the little ones. It will truly be interesting if/when one of our future kids is an introvert and can't handle large groups...

E's bumbo was a huge hit.

E played with a current favorite toy:

I remember when these two girls were so much younger, like here!! They grow so much each time I see them. Seriously, where does time go?!

 Sweet Siah

The Jenkins came along too. Seemed like there were babies everywhere!

Uncle Wesley pushing Ezra around.

A lovely informal gathering for dinner. Lots of laugh. Toys. Food. Talk. And love.

All Hallows Day

We got to spend Halloween with W's family! We were so looking forward to seeing everyone; the last time we had everyone together was back in January! We had a blast at the "Trunk-or-Treat" event hosted by Wes and Carolyn's church. Very cool idea. Families parked their cars on the grass and decorated their trunks with different themes. Kids could come up, take pictures, and get candy. 

Wes & Carolyn did the obvious: an owl trunk {complete with owl noises from an iphone app}...Josiah is obsessed with them!

Sweet Josiah

Adorable Charis

Ruth with  her cutie, Wyatt {4 days younger than E} & E

E was a little motorcycle dude. One of my dad's clients got him the faux-leather jacket and doo-rag before he was born. I remember opening it while in labor the night before he was born. Since both my parents are avid riders, it was such a thoughtful and apropos gift!

The biggest hit of the night was the baby bouncy house. E loved playing with his cousins, Allison and Shane. Oh, and Papa too.

{can you see the three top teeth that are coming in? Definitely have to get use to the new tooth-y grin.}

"You don't have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body."

-C.S. Lewis

Happy All Souls Day!

Give-Away Winner

So remember this give-away I blogged about a bit ago?

I actually won it! Yippie!

I won what the photographer, Tabitha Nicolle, calls a secret session. Basically it's a 30 minute session of her taking pictures of...me...with the mindset that they are a little something-something for W. I've never had professional pictures taken of just me before so I was nervous. But I kept reminding myself that it's just plain fun to win something. And W has mentioned on more than one occasion that he'd like to have some 'wifey' pictures of me. But let's just be honest: I still have a waaays to go still before getting back to pre-prego status. But with winning & W in mind, I tried my darndest to enjoy the session, not be self-deprecating, and attempt to bring my sexy back. 

I bought a mini 5x5 booklet of some of the more 'wifey' pictures from the session that only W gets to see. Along with winning the session, I received a complimentary 5x7 which will be framed & placed on W's future desk in his future office. 

So it's not a kilt just yet, but he definitely enjoyed his graduation present. 

Here's Tabitha's blog with a few of the pictures from the sessh.

Loved This...

And had to share:

This Lovely Place.

Goodies galore on this sweet little site.

Yup. Still that Kind of Week.

Like when your dog is whining because himself stranded while you are putting pjs on a Bookie upstairs.

Yeesh!

So Far This Week...

...an outrageous storm-fest on our apple hill day. sure is a long drive for three quick stops, no u-pick, and a picnic lunch in the car. we made the best of it and still brought home some yummy treats. what a bummer that this fits in with our slightly-turbulent traditions this year. hopefully this trend won't last.

...i misplaced my cellphone {because 'lost' is such a strong word}. W had to go out to At&t to get a new sim card to use in his pre-iphone phone. this one gets less service in our house than my old one. not to mention, all the lost contact information and cute pictures.

...our little man, who's currently working on 3 teeth, got his first official owie while over at some friends' house for dinner. he took a face-dive while crawling through their table and chairs. they have a extremely fearless boy a year older, so my girlfriend was quick with the ice and washcloth. after some crying, blood, snuggles and a big fat lip later, he picked up playing again.

...after 11 years of a clean record {ok, there was that one ticket in colorado}, i got into my first car accident. i was alone. and it was so my fault. a minor fender-bender but it sure got the adrenaline pumping and put me in a funk. not looking forward to the increase in premium payments for the next 3 years.

...our health insurance is expiring this weekend and i need to sign-up for a new plan ASAP. stress!!!

So it's only tuesday. and well, things aren't smooth sailing for the swensons. but here are some things that i'm thankful for:

-Linds birthday & family dinner celebration tonight

-That the rain made everything so colorful and beautiful as we drove around the orchards

-The man who snuck in two extra apple cider donuts for us

-Getting to meet, visit & hear stories from W's pastor growing up {who now lives close to apple hill}...just another reminder of what a great man I married!

-W being there for Bookie's wipe-out

-The wonderful family we had dinner with

-W cleaning & vacuuming the downstairs on his day off

-Learning to sew buttons on & how to iron at my new small group 'hidden art of home-making' {please don't judge: I didn't like to iron so I never learned how}

-Bookie's lip looking almost back to normal the next day

-The kind officer who helped everything get squared anyway.

-W being home after I got home from dealing with the accident

-The sim card being free

-W starting to interview for jobs

-We get to visit W's family so very soon

...it's good to see that the good outweighs the bad...

here's hoping for a better end of the week!