We celebrated Rolin's 2nd birthday the weekend before his actual birthday, once the Thompson grandparents arrived (more on that celebration later). We still didn't want to overlook the actual day of his birthday, so we had another mini-celebration at home with a few more presents and ice cream cake.
His favorite present of all has been his mini construction trucks and his rock box from the Chyterboks!
We brought him his cake with candles...
...which he quickly took a bite of as soon as we turned our back on him. I tried to fish out the wax....
...then daddy tried to get out the candle wax.
Then we gave up and took a family picture. This is how Rolin smiles for the camera.
Sugar crash commencing...
Here's a little clip from his birthday where he thinks the cake is ham...
Someone mentioned to me a couple weeks ago that they're anxiously awaiting blog posts. I told them I would totally update the blog more regularly if I wasn't busy binge-watching "Breaking Bad."
I wish I could say that was a joke, but it wasn't.
And I don't really wish it was a joke because "Breaking Bad" (BB) was awesome! Mom and I started watching it when she came to help after Emmett was born. I believe she has started the series over with dad so they can both watch it!
Yes, a big reason for my blog drought is because there are now two tiny terrors in my house, but the main reason is because I WAS binge watching BB. As soon as Rolin was down for his nap, I'd grab Emmett, the boppy, my water and my phone, then settle onto the couch for two to three hours of BB. As soon as Justin would whisk Rolin upstairs for bedtime and/or a bath, I'd grab Emmett, the boppy, my water and phone, then settle onto the couch for at least one episode of BB. Justin's gone on a trip? Whoa, Nelly...I grab Emmett, the boppy, my water and my phone, then settle onto the couch for hours of BB before bed.
The worst part? Justin didn't want to watch it. What???? I know, right!? I had no one with whom I could discuss BB, that is until I found out my neighbors had watched it. They were just as excited to check in on my progress through the series as I was to talk about what crazy, insane, oh-my-gosh situation Mr. White and Jesse had just realized was all their fault.
The second worst part? I finished the series and now I don't have anything to watch.
I'll leave you with this:
BB fans, wouldn't you agree that Angry Emmett looks a bit like Tio Hector Salamanca?
We're lucky that Rolin is a great sleeper in his new "big boy" bed. We moved him into it in April, about a week after we had started making over the guest room to be his new room. He slept in it the first night and hasn't looked back. He loves it! He's only rolled out once; I wish you could have seen how fast Justin and I ran up the stairs to find him pretty much still asleep on the floor.
Rolin wakes on occasion during the night, I'm assuming from a bad dream? If he woke while I was pregnant, I'd ask Justin to go check on him. If Rolin wakes now that I'm unpregnant, I ask Justin to go check on him (this is only fair, people). He's a good daddy, too, and is usually on his way to check on Rolin before I even hear that he has woken.
Anyway, when Rolin woke one night a couple weeks ago, Justin went in to check on him. After some time passed and Justin hadn't returned, I checked the monitor and found this:
I laugh so hard at this picture because Justin is clearly sound asleep, while Rolin is laying there wide awake. He's just staring at the back of Justin's head as if he's saying to himself, "I just know if I fall asleep, daddy will leave."
Hello, readers! Please forgive my nearly two-month hiatus. Things are happening around here. I'm working on a blog post about Emmett's arrival, but it's a long, detailed one, and I don't want to forget any of the details, so it's still in the editing room. The next few posts will be out of order, but I figure that's ok, you know, since this is my blog. I do what I want! JK.
Here are pictures of our sweet pea:
The lion is "ROARbert." Rolin's measuring buddy was Lenny the Lamb.
They're both Scentsy buddies from Mrs. Miller :)
And an outtake...well, it's actually a glimpse into how this weekly event unfolds:
A few more shots from our family vacation on the Oregon Coast:
"Makin' a cake!" with daddy.
Sandy boys.
Beach bum.
Never a dull moment with this kid!
Proposal Rock
Rolin wasn't much up for standing in the giant shark mouth. Can't say I blame him!
Breakfast at The Cafe on Hawk Creek.
Sea stars at the aquarium.
Magnet fishing at the aquarium.
Hurricane simulator at the aquarium. Rolin was...well...confused:
We had packed a picnic lunch, but, in true Oregon-Coast style, it was pouring rain during lunch time. We made the best of it in the car!
On our way back to Washington at the end of the week, we stopped at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Ore. It's a HUGE complex, made up of several buildings. The Spruce Goose is there, along with quite a bit of air and space exploration paraphernalia. It took us about three hours to get through what we could before they were closing up shop, but it would be easy to spend an entire day or two there, if you're really in to aviation and space (like any wife and mom of two boys should be, I (now) understand).
Rolin got to ride solo -- meaning by himself and as the only one on the ride -- in this neat airplane ride. They had the area roped off as there was a field trip happening, but upon seeing little Rolly, the older gentleman in charge of guarding the area offered to let Rolin in for a little fun. He was all smiles the whole time!
We ended our week at Justin's grandma's house for an early Mother's Day celebration. It was fun to finally see everyone all in one place!
When Justin's parents visited in April, we headed north to the Grand Canyon (you can read about that here). On the way home, we stopped at a wildlife park called Out of Africa. It is not similar to a zoo at all, except for the fact there are wild animals for your viewing enjoyment.
It's much more spread out and all animals are in an open space. Here are a few pics from our trip:
Rolin got to feed a giraffe!
Then the giraffe came on our bus!
"Yo, what's up?"
Rolin wanted to see this rhino up close, so I took him over there and lifted him swiftly up to pose for a pic on the rhino's nose (bridge?). That's when Rolin flipped out...it hadn't occurred to me he might think this statue was a real rhino. Oops! I felt like such a schmuck after I figured out why he was so upset. After some reassuring, he was ok with the rhino. Whew!
A highlight of the park is the tiger play area. Park workers get inside a huge cage with two live tigers to, you know, just play around with them as if they were house cats.
Tug-of-war with TIGERS.
Tigers in the pool:
A pretty white tiger enjoying some sun.
Grandpa was again a champ for carting Rolin around all day.
Me: Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and the sun, and all things hot!
Any Phoenician: Really? I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat?
Me: Nope! But sometimes, I like to close my eyes and imagine what it'd be like when summer does come...a drink in my hand...my snow (-colored skin) up against the burning sand, probably getting gorgeously tan in summer.
You may recognize this dialogue from the particularly popular children's movie Frozen.
It's the convo between a Christof, a Nordic ice gatherer, and Olaf the snowman. It's the snowman who hasn't ever experienced real heat.
Guys, I'm like the snowman! I thought growing up in eastern Washington, where temps would reach the low 100s on occasion, had prepared me. I thought spending some time in Australia, where summer had started to settle in by the time it was for me to leave, had prepared me even more.
Friends of mine will even tell you I've said, "I like it hot. I like to know my bones are warm!"
It's true. I prefer heat to cold.
However.
It's hot here. Like, really hot. All. The. Time. At 1 a.m. it's 90F. At 5 p.m. it's 109F. It's been this way for more than a month and it's only going to get hotter.
You know when you're outside and it's hot, but then you feel a breeze start up and you think, "Oh, good! A breeze!" You'll think the same here, but then you'll start crying when you realize the breeze is blowing hotter air.
I'm so grateful we live in a home with AC. There are also pools (aka luke warm community baths) in our neighborhood, which have helped to un-swell my feet a couple times.
Don't get me wrong, I really do like it here in Arizona, I'm just done telling myself it's not too hot. It's hot. And being pregnant makes me feel even hotter. We're also in monsoon season, which makes for significant and state-wide thunderstorms. These storms cause humidity, as well as dust storms, called haboobs. They're pretty intense!
Like I said, I'm glad we've found a few ways to (sorta) beat the heat!
This video is from more than a month ago, when I filled up an inflatable baby bathtub so Rolin could splash around outside:
Sharing the tub this time, and enjoying popsicles.
