Good Bye Lucy, Hello Red Sox!

Papa! My dad! He came to visit! Wooooooo hooooo!  It was so, SO good to see him!  I haven't seen him in 13 months and he finally was able to come visit New England on a business trip.  He got a new job back in April and supposedly will now have more of a chance to visit out here and that makes me a happy girl! 

Around the same time he was told he'd be visiting Maine, my Mom decided to come too but couldn't come the exact week he was coming.  So we hatched a plan:  Dad could fly Lucy to Boise and then 2 weeks later my Mom could fly Lucy back out when she comes to see me!  Lucy has become quite the little traveler so I knew she could handle it.  Did I know how much I'd ache for her? NO.  I knew I'd miss her, of course, but I didn't know I'd feel like this.  I am literally hurting for my baby girl.  It's a pot of emotions all mixed together because I am beyond happy for her that she gets to have so much fun in the Great North West seeing all of her cousins and grandparents, but my goodness, I miss her so badly.  After she left, I was folding up her pajamas that she had worn the night before and I just stopped and inhaled them because they smelled sweetly of her and I just cried......I'm extra emotional with all these pregnancy hormones, but seriously- I'm dying here!  My Mom has been SO good about sending me updates and pictures of that girl, but I still can't go a full day without talking to her.  She doesn't care about talking to me very much- I'm interrupting her fun!  Haha, but just a few sentences out of her each day is good enough for me.  As tough as that girl can be, she sure has a huge piece of my heart.  I love Lucy.  I miss her....I have 11 more days until I get to see her!  It's been 5 days already!

But, as I said, my Dad flew out to Portland and we drove out there to meet up.  We live just shy of 2 hours from there and Shawn has so much business out there that we get to go whenever we want.  It was fun to show my Dad some of our favorite spots, even though our time was extremely limited.  Then we all got to go through security with Lu to bid her and my Dad farewell on their LONG day of travel.  She was as busy as a bee on the flights with my Dad, but he said it was his favorite day ever:) She got the window seats and my Dad spoiled her rotten all day.  

The night before Lucy left the girls had some really cute goodbye hugs in bed :)

 BYE BYE LUCY! We will MISS you!

They flew into Spokane and spent a few days in CDA. My Dad and Jess got a chance to re-do their Ironman race on Sunday (when they did it in June {110 degrees, if you remember} they couldn't finish because the heat was too intense and their bodies crashed during the run).  It always bugged my brother that he didn't complete a full Ironman since he collapsed 4 miles from the finish line before, so they set out to do it again without the city cheering them on, without the push from it being an "official" race, and only with their own determination to finish.  My brother got a flat tire out by Spokane and didn't have a tube with him (no aid stations this time around) so he had to wait for my Mom to drive out to him and help him.  It almost cost him the race!  They were using the official Ironman timeline for their race and because that set him back an hour, he crossed the finish line with only 2 minutes left before the cutoff!  Talk about stressful!  I am SO beyond proud of them.  2 Ironman's in one summer?!  Yikes!  But sooooooo cool!

Anyway, Lucy had a blast in CDA listening to Nana's clock (her favorite thing when we lived there!) and being the center of attention for 4 days.  She had fun with all of Holly's kids too at their Sunday Dinner.  I loved getting pictures and hearing all about her adventures.  She is a social butterfly and keeps everyone laughing at her grownup words and phrases.  She's a cutie, and very much the entertainer :)

 

Lucy got to pick fruits and veggies with Ninny, fresh from the garden.  She loved it!

 Since Lu gets to have so much fun, we decided to give Piper a little extra lovin' too and took her to a Red Sox game!  As you know, I am a big Sox fan and Fenway Park is SERIOUSLY the coolest.  If you ever find yourself in New England- GO TO A RED SOX GAME.  Everyone there is your best friend; it is the coolest atmosphere.  The history in that stadium is felt in your bones.  It is so neat.  Plus, Boston is just the best.  We drove down in the morning and spent a couple hours walking around and doing a little shopping with Piper before we headed into the stadium to watch them kill the Blue Jays (11-4!) and we made it through 7 innings before Piper started to get cranky.  It was SO hot (95 degrees) with the sun blaring down on us and burning our skin (but since I'm pregnant they let us bring lots of our own water in) but it was still SO much fun.  Piper danced and everyone commented on how adorable she is!  She loved going to that baseball game and never complained about being hot even once!  That girl is so low maintenance that having her here all alone has been easy peasy!  As much as I miss Lucy, she is very high maintenance and requires every ounce of my attention, so it's been a big break fro me to only have 1 kid.  Seriously, I keep feeling like something is missing and I'm forgetting things when I go places with just Pi because life shouldn't be this easy, right??  Haha, Lucy can make things hard so when she isn't here, it's just simple..... It's nice actually.  I forgot how easy one child is!

I also took Piper to the Water Park one last time before they closed for the season and rode the tube rides with her that we can't ride when there are 3 of us, so that was extra fun for her as well.  Shawn and I took her on a little shopping/lunch date in Portland on the day Lucy left and let her pick out whatever she wanted at The Rack (under $20, haha) and she chose a sparkly purple dog purse and a new purple watch). We've been giving her extra attention and love because her BFF is gone and she really misses her.

One last thing: before Lucy left, I took the girls to Scarborough Beach in Maine and it was our last Beach day of the Summer.  It's sad to know we can't go to another beach until next year, but we really took advantage of living close to the Ocean and had lots of good times this Summer.  I have now been to all of the furthest corners of the U.S. and swam at their beaches (Seattle, San Diego, Maine, and the Florida Keys/Miami).  I feel pretty special :)

And finally, I am almost 17 weeks pregnant (in 2 days I will be) and my energy levels SHOULD be picking up soon (but I'm still waiting for that).  I'm starting to feel the achiness in my back and the heaviness in my belly and it's only just beginning!  I have only gained 2 pounds so far which didn't happen until this past weekend (which might seem normal to you, but I had already gained at least 15 pounds by now with Lucy and 10 with Piper, so I'm feeling good about myself this time around). I look extra big though....when strangers ask me how far along I am and I tell them I just hit the 4 month mark, they look at me confused as if they expected me to tell them I was at least 7 months along..... It stinks! But I have 16 days left until I find out the gender and I CAN'T WAIT! Ahhh!  It's just killing me!  My next post will most likely be then.  I'm feeling the baby move every day and he/she is another hyper baby!  I can't feel anything painful quite yet, but at my last appointment my doctor couldn't get a good heartbeat reading on the doppler for close to 10 minutes because the baby was "too wiggly."  Every time she would hear the heart and try to get a solid reading on it, she'd lose it a split second later because the baby rolled over or scooted away.  Ha! I always have the most wiggly babies!  It's fun listening to them dance around in my belly on the doppler though.  I love technology these days :)

Some belly pics from the last couple weeks, and now off I go!

Oh, and just some cuteness to leave you with!