I heard a quote that is so true to my life right now.  The days are long but the years are short.  Some days the time moves so slowly and other days I can't believe its dinner time.  I always have more planned for my days than time allows.  I've been struggling to document our everyday.  Those wonderful, special things the kids are doing that 10 years down the road, I will probably have forgotten even though I am willing myself not to. 

 

Gavin- he is the cutest. sweetest thing.  He is growing up so fast and wants to be a big boy. 

 If he watches it happen, he wants to try and do it himself.

 Legos are a part of our every afternoon (and most mornings and evenings). One of them will drag them out of their hiding place, Reegan dumps them and then they entertain themselves for an hour.  Gavin often can be found taking them to other rooms and leaving them there.  I found some in my bathroom yesterday and in his laundry hamper. 

Gavin has 14 teeth and every toy goes in his mouth.

Reegan is my mini-me.  Every word out of my mouth is repeated back to me when I am least expecting.  We were driving in the car and I was slower than Reegan would have liked when the light turned green.  Not only did she tell me it was green now, but she also told me I needed to pay attention.  3 going on 16... 

We've been spending time outdoors, I can't believe that the summer is almost over.  Fall is my favorite time of year, but wow.  This summer flew by.  I love that Gavin is now able to play outside.  He can walk around, ride with Reegan.  Chalk is not his thing, he thinks chalk is for eating not coloring.  It makes it harder for me, no more reading magazines while I watch Reegan play and Gavin naps like I did last summer :) 

Reegan starts preschool next week and I am happy because she is so excited, but also sad.  Those are 2 mornings every week I will not be able to see my girl.  I am so excited for some one-on-one time with my boy though.  He deserves it, he is so patient to do all her activities. 

Life

The last few weeks have been tough.  There is really no way to sugar coat this, we are in a valley.  We're optimistic and faithful in believing that things will turn around and our hearts will be healed.

 

On July 6 we placed our house on the market in order to search for a larger one.  We only had a few showings and we were feeling that it would take a few/many months to sell.  Fast forward 3 weeks, July 28, our hearts were broken when Jason's dad Stacey passed away unexpectedly.  August 2 we received an offer on our house that we accepted.  Aug 3 was the funeral for Stacey.  Aug 16, 2 weeks before we were supposed to close, the buyers backed out.  Not much of a reason, and it was the last day that the contract stated they could back out.  This weekend we have had 3 showings, so hopefully some good news will be quick to follow. 

 

It has been a time of true lows along with some high points.  We will miss Stacey dearly, he was a wonderful man and while I know Jason and I will never forget his love, I'm realistic in the thought that these children will never remember.  They will never completely understand how deeply he loved them and how proud of them he was.  We have great pictures and memories that we will pass on, but nothing will replace his presence. 

 

I hate the circumstance, but it was great seeing extended family that we have not been able to see for the past 2 years.  It was great being able to spend a week straight with Jason's mom, Jan, without distractions of work.   

 Reegan and Great-ma (Stacey's mom)

 The kids got so much attention and love

We are thankful for a family who loves us and blesses us and our children.  Stacey's brothers and sister took turns keeping our kids entertained with many walks around the house and many flights of stairs.

The turnout at the funeral was amazing, not surprising, Stacey was loved by many.  Our family was blessed by an outpouring of food during the following weeks as well as a reception that Jan hosted after the funeral.

We are more aware than ever the challenges and sadness that life throws at you.  We're struggling with understanding why, but we'll grow stronger because of it...in time, but it doesn't make the right now any easier.  We do know that we are thankful for our friends and family, we know we have so many people we can lean on for support and don't know how to repay them.   

Girls trip

The past few weeks have been pretty major, life changing.  I'm going to skip all the heavy stuff and come back to that another day, but today, its about a girls trip. 

Reegan and I spent a weekend in DC with my sisters.  It was a great trip, we walked all over and missing naps every afternoon lead to a tired girl. 

 We flew in Friday morning and Brittany, the sister that lives in DC, took us to the zoo.  Free zoo within walking distance.

Friday night Ashley joined us and we headed to Georgetown for dinner and then a river cruise of the monuments.

 There was a great big fountain that Reegan kept running along the edge of...

Until she suddenly became very brave and ran into it soaking herself.  Sorry, blurry pic but she was having so much fun and wouldn't stand still.

Saturday morning we headed to the monuments.  It was a gorgeous day, not too humid like the day before.

 Reegan took a little while to warm up and refused to participate in pictures for a little bit

 After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space museum.

Reegan thought it was the neatest thing, we traveled by cab, metro, bus, boat, and shuttle.  

 Sunday morning we went to a cute farmers market for breakfast and then to the zoo in the afternoon.

It was a much needed Girls weekend, we had a blast, are still recovering from the lack of sleep 3 days later, and have already started the discussion of the next weekend vacation.   

A Bear Hunt

Reegan loves to read books.  And she amazes us all the time with how much of them she can recall.  This was too cute not share.  :)