For Islabean

Jameson's "terrible two" phase lasted about a month. Right before he turned 3, I remember him being a little extra tantrumy, and mostly, being a misery at bed time. After dropping his nap and making some adjustments to our "schedule", he turned back into a functioning member of society. I mean, as much as a toddler can be. Jamie definitely has his own quirks, but I'm here today to discuss my middle child.

Andy calls Isla Uday. As in Uday Hussein. I call her my Sour Patch Kid, sour then sweet.

She's a love bug. When she's tired she will snuggle right up, and rub your arms and ears with such vigor that sometimes I'm afraid the friction may cause a fire. If anyone gets hurt, her little eyebrows will furrow and she'll lament, "awww you got a booboo? It's OK!" Her kisses are something magical, I wish I could bottle them and keep her little puckered baby lips with me always.

I spent the first two years of her life teaching her to walk and talk and now I spend most days telling her to sit and be quiet. I wish I more often had the grace and patience to realize her tantrums are her passion bubbling to the surface. Everything Isla does, she does BIG, a trait that would be admirable in any adult, but for some reason we try to squash in our children.

People the world over will call her bossy. A boss. A leader. Independent. I want her to be all these things, forever. I want to cultivate those traits now so she never compromises them.

My feisty spirited little girl, will some day be a feisty spirited woman, and I don't want anyone to stop that, myself included.

Dear Isla, I promise to spend more time working on myself instead of trying to dim your spirit because someone says you're too much of anything.
I know you're going to grow, even though I've tried to put a stop to that since I became mommy. So. Grow. Blossom. Learn and flourish. But never ever change.

Home

Crazy, but a cross country move with three toddlers was NOT the time to begin a new venture, even one as small as this little blog.

But here's an update on our lives, regardless. We made it to Oregon entirely unscathed. Really, things could not have gone smoother, given the ages and temperaments of my travel companions. We saw so much of this beautiful country and did it without killing each other or getting arrested.

Things haven't been as smooth since arriving in our new home. Still no murders or arrests, but hard times nonetheless. Andy, thankfully, was hired at a great job just a few days after we arrived and we figured, smooth sailing from there, right?

Not so much.

We had a god awful time finding a place to live. The rental market here in this part of Oregon is just a horror. Between application fees, wait lists, and scouring every ad on Craigslist ever, I was convinced we would be living in a hotel indefinitely.

Do you have toddlers? Have you ever spent any time in a hotel with them? It's basically the worst. After over a month in a hotel room with three toddlers, and many meltdowns, by children and adults, we finally moved into a little apartment over Memorial Day weekend. Emphasis on little. It isn't what we were hoping for, but after hotel hell it feels like a mansion.

So, we're settling in and the kids are..adjusting. I keep reminding myself that we've all experienced a year of chaos and hard life changes and all things considered, they're doing great. We've spent endless hours exploring and being outdoors relishing in the climate and nature that we never had in Florida. Really? Things could be worse.