countdown.

It's been a fun few weeks, and here's a countdown to catch the old journal up... :)

12. The number of family members who have come to visit in the last 3 weeks.  We have had more company in the last three weeks than in the last three years, and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! The last month Elijah has been pushing hard to finish his big project, and I filled my days and late nights with him gone with lots of house guests. PARTY!! First Louisa and Kate drove up from Idaho to spend a week, eat lots of ice cream, do hair, and hang out. It was great, and I need Louisa to live a little closer because who's gonna blow out and curl my hair every day!? :(  Side note: Kate introduced me to Haagen dazs Peanut Butter Brittle ice cream, and with every bite I can see my "pregnancy with very little weight gain" slipping through my fingers. Lucky for me it's a limited flavor only until August!!

Then my Aunt Carolyn, Cousin Hilary, and her cutie pie boy Landon came to stay. From the first moment Landon got out of the car and said "Play with Friends?" that's exactly what we did. It's always so nice to just sit and chat with these Smith girls. I love them. We did make a whirlwind trip up and back to Seattle in one day to see the city and pike placemkt , but otherwise we just spent our time relaxing and chatting. I wish I had a free pass to hop to Utah any time I wanted to go sit and talk with them for hours on end...I love them tons!

...and finally we had the chance to visit with my brother Trevor, his wife Sheri, and their 5 little kiddies on their way back from Seattle...so much fun! We haven't been able to spend any quality time with them since we've been raising our families on opposite sides of the country, so it was great to get to know their kids and enjoy their company. We swam, ate, swam, and had some great laughs. The kids played together wonderfully (with the exception of Jude on the last day...TOTAL PILL!), and it was a really good time. We hope they stop back the next time they're passing through!

11...pm, the average time I've been going to bed the last month. For a girl who's gotten used to Elijah's crazy 9PM bedtimes the loss of two hours has made a big difference. Or maybe it's just the extra baby I'm carrying around coupled with three digit temperatures? Either way, I'm super beat at the end of the day! Time to start getting to bed early again. I feel like I'm dragging by dinner time!

10...Days and counting until our trip to the coast. Our family LOVES the Oregon coast and we've wanted to go back for the last few years and we've not been able to pull it off for one reason or another. Thanks to some great friends we'll be splitting the cost of a beach house and spending three days there to relax and unwind. We're turning off the cell phones and spending our days on the beach finding shells and splashing in the water. Oregon is one of the most relaxing, wonderful places I've ever been and I'm so excited to go back. It'll be nice this year without a tiny baby to worry about, and I am excited for the getaway with my boys. We're hitting Camp 18 for some plate sized cinnamon rolls and great food on our way down, want to do a little crabbing...and hoping to go to the Tillamook cheese factory for some fun, but mostly we'll just be hanging out at the beach. YAY!

9...loads of laundry I need to do. Why does it keep piling up? I thought with all the swimwear we've been wearing the last few months that surely the laundry would slow down. Guess it's the towels...piles of wet pool towels everywhere. I don't mind though...the pool has been a lifesaver this summer. I can take the boys and it keeps them busy for 3-4 hours with little or no work on my part and lots of snacks. :)

8...days since Jude decided to potty train. He put on his "big boys", and hasn't looked back. The only 1-2 accidents he's had since then were my fault because I was somewhere he couldn't go. He even is making it all the way though the night...so crazy seeing as though my other boys didn't even start thinking about the toilet until after 3. I'm so excited that it's been so easy for him, and it's fun to see how proud he is of himself.

7...months pregnant last week. This pregnancy is flying by, and thankfully so. I am starting to get that last trimester itch to get him out of my stomach and into my arms. He's a pretty quiet guy until I decide to lay on my left side at night and then he'll punch and squirm and kick until I move. Once I turn he's immediately quiet. As of this last week's ultrasound he's still comfortably breech and I can sure feel that when he kicks. He gets startled now when the kids yell or I move suddenly, the Jude thinks it's hysterical to put his hand on my belly to feel him move. The crib is up, most of my baby things washed and sorted, and now I need to get busy finding and collecting the things I'm in need of before the boys go back to school and life gets nuts again next month. I'm going to hit up the sales racks and track down newonesies and preemie/newborn sized things since the ones I've got are looking pretty tired after my first three boys. I splurged today and bought him a tiny outfit to be his VERY OWN, and I'd like to find a blanket for him too that is just for him. No name yet...we're working on it. :)

6...years last month since we moved to Washington. It's still really hard for me to believe. The time has passed so very fast!! I'm very happy here, and as much as I miss the east coast I know this is the place to be right now.

5...people in my house that cannot seem to keep our little place straight. No more needs to be said on this topic except...methinks I need to get my chore charts printed!! STAT!!

4...weeks until school starts. Can you believe it!? Didn't school just end? The boys are so excited to go back to MCP this year and we will be doing all our back to school supply shopping in the next few weeks to get it out of the way!

3...years old TOMORROW. Jude has been waiting and WAITING for his birthday. He's talked about it for MONTHS, and had the plans all decided easily before Christmas. He is very specific about what we're doing, and tomorrowwe'll be partying with all of Elijah's family at the pool for a "spiderman/speedracer" birthday party. We're taking him to breakfast at his favorite place in the morning and it should be a lot of fun. :) Happy Birthday to our sweet Jude!

2...whole weeks! Amount of time Elijah has off starting TOMORROW. He's been so insanely busy since early April and the project will be finished as of tonight. I cannot wait to have him around to talk to, and even better...he has a HUGE list of Honey-do's that he will be knocking out one by one in the next few days. I'm so glad to get some of these projects done before the baby comes...and it will be so much fun to spend lots of good time with him.YAY!

1...minute until I shut off this laptop and hit the pillows. Big day tomorrow!