Well Easter happened. Scarlet was really sick the day before so we didn't even go to church. But it was a really nice low key day!

I didn't realize, until looking at these pics, that it was a Dora themed basked. Last year was Dora themed, as well.

 

 Scarlet loves painting her nails, but she also loves to scrape it off with her teeth and eat it the next day. So . . . I don't know what to do with that.

 The egg hunt!

"One more!"

We were sort of late in the game and didn't color the eggs, until later that day. It was Scarlet's first time. I was all pumped to make my first deviled eggs, but it didn't happen. What can I say, we've been busy and when we have a moment to breath, we lay on the couch and talk about how tired we are.

 You can see she's sportin' her new cloth diapers. I LOVE cloth diapers! I think they're awesome and am so glad we're doing it. Now if only our big shipment of them would arrive! We're using them on and off again, because we only ordered 6 to try them out, so we have to have those AND disposables out and I really just want to do one or the other and be done with it. My only complaint- and it's minor- is they're pretty bulky in the behind. When she wears leggings it looks so funny. Her bum is just so BIG! Ok, did  the Sir Mix a Lot song just start playing in anyone else's head? But other than that, I love it. It is way easier than I thought it would be. And not as gross. Not at all. I think it's rad. I love that I'm not filling the earth with waste and hey! I don't have to buy diapers or wipes anymore! Sweet!

 I finally figured out how to make quiet time work. Scarlet stopped taking naps many moons ago, and I tried quiet time and it failed. So then I made quiet time BAGS and made a REALLY BIG DEAL about the special quiet time bags with special quiet time toys and a quiet time snack and quiet time music. Well, it worked and she ASKS for quiet time now. Well, she did. Things have been crazy right now and everything is all over the place, schedule wise, now. And, this week she's suddenly taking naps again. I think it's cause she's not sick anymore and uses her body like a normal toddler now (running around and playing all day) so she needs more rest! By the way, we are finishing up antibiotics in two weeks. I am so ready to be done. As is Scarlet. I feel so grateful. It almost seems like she was never even sick or like it was a long time ago. When I stop and think about it, I can't believe how short she's been feeling good. I'm just so grateful it's over. We're really lucky.

The best part about quiet time bags is putting toys in there that are lots of pieces and get lost and never played with! Like the train above.

Brighton is so big. He just keeps growing. He is barely a baby, now. He's just barely hanging on. I don't want his babyness to go away. I want it to stay for awhile.

 He is still as fun as can be. Poor guy was teething for awhile and honestly it wasn't THAT BAD. But now that it's over he is SO HAPPY again! He seriously is such a sweet heart. We all just love him to pieces.

Greg wrapped Scarlet's blanket around her like a little toga.

I can't help but notice how exhausted Greg looks in this picture!

We went downtown to get some passport stuff done, before we leave. So we walked around. Even though the Washington Monument was under construction, the water was there! THAT was drained and being worked on, last time I was there. I was excited to see it, none the less. Greg and I kept joking that we should run in the water towards each other yelling "FORREST! JENNY!"

Despite how beautiful I was looking that day, I had to get a pic of my favorite museum! The Natural History Museum. It's rad! There are all these animals in the coolest positions. In a way, I suppose it's gross. I mean, we're hanging out among all these dead animals! But it's rad!

Ok. I'm gonna whine now. Living on the east coast is soooooooooo not as good as living on the west coast. The west coast holds a special place in my heart and in particular . . . OREGON. I LOOOOOOOOVE Oregon! I had no idea I loved it so much! I think it's the best place on earth. People on the east coast have no idea what wonderfulness they are missing.

Ok. Lets get down to business . . . 

WEATHER- weather here STINKS! Humidity makes everything worse. It makes the cold colder. It makes the hot hotter. It makes it so there's NO INBETWEEN. I have been SOOOO excited for spring. It was snowing 3 weeks ago, for goodness sake! And suddenly it's here- except wait! No, it's SUMMER. But wait! No, I guess it's NOT SUMMER because in summer time you actually think the oxygen has been sucked away from the planet. You leave your house and you feel like you can't BREATHE. I can still breathe . . . I'm just sweating buckets and getting a headache from dehydration. So this is the spring weather I've been waiting for? ARGH!!!!!

BUGS- mosquitos and gnats in the bagillions- hovering at your doorstep, waiting to get in. They are everywhere. You breathe them in, you probably eat them without knowing it. It's overwhelming. 

GIANT BUGS- the big bugs are so big you think it's a bird- but wait! No- it is infact an insect. Just a seriously huge one that looks like it could kill you because it looks so menacing. 

PEOPLE- customer service and smiling doesn't exist. When someone is really friendly and open it really throws me. Like a lot. PEOPLE WE MEET are nice, but at the same time- I've never felt so LOUD and freakish. People here are quiet and timid and PROPER. I don't know. That just doesn't feel natural to me. Not to mention I feel like I look nice until I walk out the door and ever woman is wearing heels or some kind of really nice attire. People aren't very casually dressed here.

TRAFFIC- Greg going back and forth in the car for 1 1/2 hrs+ a day pretty much stinks. That's a lot of time that could be spent with us. Not to mention the UNPREDICTABILITY of the traffic here. Sometimes it's 45 min. one way, sometimes it's over an hour. And you just don't know until you're on your way. 

FOOD- it's always going bad and molding within the week. No matter where you shop or how much you pay. Food here SUCKS. Oh yeah, and it's triple the price of Oregon, but I'm used to that now.

Point being, I am so excited to get out of here. I am so excited to leave our small apartment! I'm so excited to be in a house! With a yard! I'm so excited to not have to hear the laundry going from every corner of our living space! (Well I hope so, anyway) I'm excited to be in Oregon. 

I'm not excited for the flight. We are literally going to be on the OPPOSITE side of the planet. Probably as far away as we possibly could be, travel wise. Everyone keeps saying, when all is said and done- it takes two days to get there. But I just looked it up and depending on your flight, it's more like 24-30 hours. Stinky, but better than 48! I'm just not going to think about it. It's more than double what I've experienced and um . . . I thought I was going to die then. And it was just me and Greg. Not Greg and I and two kids. Not to mention I'll be doing all that with the kids, ALONE AND PREGNANT on the way back to the U.S. Well, probably anyway. That's just something we'll think about when the time comes!

Doesn't it seem like everything always hits the fan on Friday? Does that happen to anyone else? Well, it's friday and I have no motivation for showering, making dinner or doing anything at all. Well, I say that, but dinner will get made and I HAVE done some productive things. But I've yet to get out of my jammies and wait??? I just now realize I have yet to brush my teeth. Thank goodness the kiddos are napping TOGETHER. That hasn't happened in MONTHS.