Randy and Chris came to visit!!!! Pat was supposed to come too, but stayed behind to help Shannon with her new baby. They stayed in town for a week. This was the night they arrived.

They brought Scarlet some late birthday gifts. They were perfect!!! An apron and a muffin tin with cooking spoons.

Brushin' those teeth.

 She's gotten a lot better at doing it on her own.

Handsome

I think Scarlet looks so beautiful in this picture.

The second night Greg, Randy and Chris went downtown to see the sights. They had a great time.

 Greg was good and called me to chat for a bit.

They rented bikes to ride around. Greg said it was great and they got to see so much more.

They wandered into China Town, on accident, and ate at a dive that had incredible barbecue, but also had cockroaches. One wandered by Greg's leg during the feast.

 

Then there was the blessing. This is a better pic, than the last.

I documented everything so fast last time. The blessing was really nice. We were going to have Brighton blessed sometime around 2 months after his birth, but since Chris and Randy were coming out, we decided to do it then. And then our friend Adam, happened to be in town for work that very week! It was so great to have them all there. We originally thought we wouldn't have anyone there except a few friends that we've made, but no one we're especially close to. It was nice to have this, instead!

Just like with Scarlet's blessing, I was freaking out the whole time that they would have a major blowout and ruin their blessing outfit. It seems I remember taking off Scarlet's dress, right after the blessing to save it from her possible poo, and then later regretting her not wearing it very long. I was panicky this time around too, but lo and behold- during this very picture I was holding Brighton and said, "Oh, no. He's pooping. It's going to leak out. I just know it. Oh no. Oh no." And I pulled my hand out and it had orange slime on in. It leaked all the way through within seconds. It was our own fault. The diapers had been pretty tight for awhile, but we had a big box to go through and I didn't want to waste them. I also didn't feel like driving to Target to get more. I think if he was in a diaper that fit better, it wouldn't have happened. After having blowouts every stinkin' day, I finally bought a new size of diapers and will just give away the others. And what do you know? No more leaks since the new size. 

I was so worried the outfit was ruined, but it all washed out just great! You'd never know it happened. I need to get a good pic of him in it. He looked so cute in it!

We've had incredible weather lately. No humidity, it's even been a little chilly sometimes. It was really funny, when Chris and Randy got here they mentioned how warm and humid it was, and we've been feeling the opposite lately. I guess we've gotten used to the weather here. It's funny, too, because with the nice weather we keep saying how it feels like home.

I really like this picture. I love our expressions.

Having a great time, riding in the rain. Greg found this wagon at the dumpster. It looks brand new, so we kept it. It's great for hauling trash and recycling to the dumpster. It makes me feel funny pulling Scarlet around in it too. I guess it's just good for all kinds of things!

When they came inside they were all drenched and smiling.

Brighton loves sucking on Greg's finger.

 He has been so smiley lately! And talking more and more! It's really cute! It makes us happy he's happy! And it's just darn cute.

Scarlet looks way too old in this picture. I can hardly bear it.

I went over her birthday too quickly in the last post. Time was just passing and I wanted to get something down before I forgot. As I said before, we decided to splurge and get her a sweet kitchen. We all love it. She played with it nonstop for days and she absolutely loves it. It's fun to watch her play with it. Come to think of it, I think she's left our pots and pans alone now. I was hoping that would happen. She was even carrying our huge stockpot with the lid on all over the house. She'd try to lift it up on the table and struggle and say, "help, help". I was always so afraid she'd drop it on her foot. Just the last few weeks Scarlet has seemed SO MUCH OLDER. I truly can say- I want her to stop growing. I want her to stay like this forever. I want time to stand still. We just think she is the sweetest girl and we love her so much. So we started the morning with the kitchen and she pretty much played with it all day long, except for a few breaks resting in front of the tv. Later in the day we made gluten free/sugar free brownies. We used to make sweets and bread every week together and I loved it. But since her diet, we can't. It's actually bummed me out quite a bit. I was really excited to do it again, for a special occasion. I made this peanut butter frosting that she wouldn't try. I saved my WW points all day and was  so excited to eat brownies and was disappointed. They weren't HORRIBLE, but I thought they'd be better. Oh well.

Scarlet has made a MAJOR turn the last week. She had a pretty horrible month, last month. It wasn't HORRIBLE, it was just more like before she got treatment. Her energy went way low and she seemed to be in a lot more pain. Waking in the night almost everyday, as well as her naps- complaining of her knees hurting. Well, in one sudden swoosh- LOTS OF ENERGY!!! Playing again!!! There's literally a sparkle in her eye that I pretty much haven't seen since we left Oregon. It's been so wonderful! She's just different and it's so much better. I know we'll have hard months again, but I'm loving this for now. I always love her and think she's wonderful, but when she has moments like this I'm like, "Oh my gosh- you're SO wonderful!" I don't even realize what we're missing, because we've forgotten what she's normally like! As great as this all is, I have come to realize that her knees hurt every single day and pretty much all day long. I had no idea. I've been making a point to ask her on a regular basis. I'll ask her how her body feels and if she's tired then I'll get more specific and say, "Do your knees hurt? Do your elbows hurt? Your shoulders? Feet? Eyebrows?" I'll really get creative to make sure she's not saying yes to everything- because she has before. But no matter what, ALWAYS her knees hurt. And it makes me sad. But even with this, it doesn't keep her from playing and being happy. Last month it was me begging her to play with me in her room or go outside and now I can't finish breakfast before she's tugging on my hand saying, "Play. Play." So things have been good.

Chris and Randy were great and took Scarlet to the zoo for a day. They had a great time. Before they came I was worried about sending her away alone, but she started feeling so much better a few days before they came, by they time they actually went- I wasn't worried at all.

Scarlet was SO SAD when Uncle Chris left. Right when they shut the door to go to the airport she turned around and started crying, "uncle chris! uncle chris!" And then we'd do it again a minute or two later. And then the next day. She really loved having him here. Chris is really good with kids, he reminds me of Greg. He's about to have his own little girl in a few months!

Pretending to have a picnic.

I almost didn't know what to do with myself when they left. Honestly. Taking care of one baby was a breeze. It's nuts to think when Scarlet was a baby it was so overwhelming, but man- going from 2 to 1, I honestly got bored and wished Scarlet came home to talk to me and give me more activity in the day. It was nice to have the house stay clean and not get stressed at all! That was a nice change. And it was nice not to have to share any of my time with Brighton. I got to just hang with him, uninterrupted!

They also took her to a little Farm nearby.

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It was such a nice visit! Scarlet and Brighton got to spend a lot of time with them and they got to go play a lot in DC as well. I think everyone had a good time. After family and vacations it's always good for things to go back to normal. Last night we put Scarlet down and suddenly it was quiet and Greg and I were alone! It had been awhile! It was nice.

We ordered a nice camera and are sooooo excited. We have gone back and forth about getting one for a long time now, but always decided it was too big of an expense. Well, suddenly we felt right about it and we're SO EXCITED!!!!