.summer vacation- washington part 1.

.flying home to washington was hell. 

.and it wasnt because of my kids. they were SO good. 

.it was all the stupid delays. 

.our flight out of san antonio was delayed by 1.5 hours....and our connecting flight was suppose to leave 40 minutes after we got to arizona. 

.i called southwest and asked what would happen, if i should change my flight right than, if i would be put up in a hotel, etc. he said it completely depends on what would happen in arizona at my connecting flight...but more than likely i would not be put up in a hotel. i told him all hell would break loose, if they thought i was going to stay in a airport overnight with 3 kids. no way.

.we killed time at the airport. i knew a high fat/high calorie snack would make me feel better...and a cinnabon was just the answer. i walked the airport, i let the kids run. we finally boarded the airplane and was on our way to arizona. the kids were SO good. i was SO uncomfortable with holly on one side, and brooklynn on the other and parker on my lap. but i could not complain with how well they were. this water coloring book is AMAZING. it made the flight. i got new ones for the kids, just for the trip. you fill the little pen with water, and they color and than drys back to white so you can recolor it again and again. amazing. b colored almost the entire first flight. as we flew into arizona we had lightening on both sides of the plane just lighting up the sky.

.we arrived in arizona and hurried off to our next gate to see what was going to happen. DELAY. only 30-40 minutes....and than it moved to 1 hour....than 1.5. it was awful. i laid the stroller back and tucked in the kids in and pushed them around the airport. it was late. for us we were 2 hours later, and they were so tired. all 3 kids fell asleep for almost an full hour before i had to disturb them while we boarded on the plane. i was quite a sight. 2 backpacks, 2 blankets, and 2 kids as i walked onto the plane. they slept the entire plane ride. we finally made it into portland close to 1am. by the time i got home, got the kids in bed, and myself in bed it was almost 2:30am (4:30 my time)...i had been up over 24 hours! i was SOOOOO tired. my poor pregnant self was so tired. but we made it to washington and were excited to spend time at gma/gpas house and we had cousins too!

 (this trip made me totally fall in love with my phil & teds stroller. i got MANY compliments on it, and it was just SO nice....and than they both fell asleep and i fell in love with it again)

.my sister's both were already to my house..with another one arriving friday. ronnie was due any minute, so she couldnt make it...but it was chaos. we had 9 kids ages 9 and under all at my mom's house. the kids had a total blast. they had someone to play with all the time. kristina and her hubby and 4 kids drove from arizona. and natatlie and her 2 days drove from spokane area. my kids LOVED seeing their cousins....its sad it only happens once a year if we are lucky.  

.anyways- wednesday we hung out at home. i was SUPER tired, but my kids were happy reuniting with their kids....well brooklynn was. parker was ATTACHED to me at the hip. he wouldnt let anyone touch him, anyone help him, etc. IT WAS AWFUL. it was hard enough without my hubby to help...but when parker literally would not let ANYONE help him with ANYTHING...it was so hard. we hung at home...and the kids experienced "country life" they ran outside in the grass, they climbed trees, played in the dirt, swung in a tree swing...brooklynn did one of her favorite things when we go to grandma mcdonald's house...mowed the lawn with me on the riding lawn mower. it is one of my favorite things as well. (we use to fight over who would do it when we were younger). later that evening my sister natalie, needed to run to home depot/lowes for a few things. we left our 2 oldest at home, and took the 2 youngers with us. my kids also came **sick**. they each had one oral medicine they were to take once a day, plus breathing treatments once a day and allergy medicine in the morning, it was crazy. i had to fight them starting off, but they finally both ended up doing the breathing treatment on their own.

(driving the lawn mower) 

 (grayson and parker- 3 months apart)

.thursday- my dad made arrangements with a family friend to go to his house and ride a pony. we did this last year, and my kids LOVED it. we took turns leading the horse with a kid on the back. my sister kristina, HATES animals....her face totally shows when she had to touch the horse while leading it. while the kids waited their turn, they got filthy, watched goats poop, chased goats, fought over little trikes, and experienced "farm life." we had an absolute blast, and we look forward to "going to a farm" when we visit gpa mcdonald (yes, i meant to connect old mcdonald and having a farm). afterwards my dad, sister and her hubby took the older 4 kids blueberry picking. b had never been, so i warned them, it may be a nightmare.....they came home and said she was one of the best blueberry pickers! i was impressed and proud...looks like berry picking will be happening next year for us, for sure. later that night we lit fireworks...the youngest 2 (adi and parker) wanted to be held the entire time, and didnt like how loud it was. my dad had some pretty awesome fireworks. than sparklers for the kids....where my daughter almost took a few different kids eyes out, or close to burning their arm or hands, etc. it was hilarious seeing all the grandkids all together and the sparklers all flying. 

 (snuggling gma during the fireworks)

(sending pictures to daddy) 

(how we did it...i dont know. my pregnant self, parker and b on a full bed.)

.friday my baby sister flew in for the weekend (we threw her a baby shower...she never had one). i FINALLY got to meet her son maverick. he was 3 months old when i finally met him. he was adorable, and she would bring him into my room in the mornings or whenever she needs a quick shower, or to do something. i loved it. he is adorable. anyways- we picked her up from the airport, made a quick ikea run, ran a couple other errands, than headed home to clean the house and prep for her baby shower that next morning. my kids adored maverick. b has ALWAYS been a big helper....she has changed parker's diaper multiple times, and just loves to help. parker LOVES to hold babies. maverick got plenty of attention with 8 other cousins, 1 grandma, and 3 aunts. 

.stay tuned for bre's baby shower, parker's birthday, visits with friends, and more cousin time. 

.summer vacation-holly visits.

.our summer began the beginning of July when the Kirby family flew in holly to visit Texas.

.holly was a little girl I nannyed for when i was still living in Washington and was single. Tammy was actually my Spanish teacher in high school and i got to be hollys nanny until I married Andrew and he moved me to rexburg Idaho. I was buckling her into her car seat and dropping her off at preschool and now she is buckling my kids in and turning 10 in a couple of weeks!! Crazy.

.tammy had texted me earlier in the year to see if they could fly holly to me in the summer, and it worked out perfectly that she spent 6 days here and flew back to Washington with me and the kids. It was perfect.

.i picked up holly from the airport, and headed back home to get the kids and drop off the babysitter. We grabbed a pizza for dinner and waited for Andrew to get home to decide what we wanted to do that evening. we settled on subzero ice cream.

.subzero ice cream is a cute little shop you can find mostly in Utah. It was on shark tank...and the experience is the coolest part. You start by picking your cream (skim milk, whole milk, etc) ...than picking your flavor (vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, etc) and than your mix ins (chocolate chips, peanut butter cups, graham cracker, etc)... It's all in a big bowl in liquid....than they turn on liquid nitrogen and stir it up and make the ice cream right in front of you. The kids loved watching it, and eating it. It was pretty pricey, but was soon much fun and really good.

.the following day, andrew had to work. so we decided to meet him at work and get lunch and show holly just a LITTLE part of the ridiculously large building he works in. holly and i got subway and andrew and the kids got chick fli a. it was fun to meet daddy for lunch, eat outside, and walk around and meet people Andrew works with.

.afterwards to ran to costco and than off to seaworld. andrew met us there after work. holly wanted to see all the shows. she LOVED it. and had to go to the stores to get a souvenir. she lit up just like my little kids... even with the heat outside. it was HOT for sure. but we still had a fun time. and GUESS what....HOLLY RODE A ROLLERCOASTER. it may have been a kid one. but she was determined to NOT RIDE any rollercoaster. and so andrew of course took the opportunity to tease her, and said he would take brooklynn....and b was FINALLY TALL ENOUGH. b was BEYOND herself. holly and her went on the rollercoasters over and over and over again. b LOVED it and asks to go every time we are back at seaworld.

.on the way home i stopped and grabbed some things for our beach trip the following day, and andrew stopped at the bbq place and grabbed cream corn for holly to try. she said it "tasted weird" but that didnt stop her from having a second helping. that evening we bathed kids, and i prepared food and packed for our beach trip the next day.

.friday- 4th of july we slept in. which was NOT in the plans. it still worked out fine. we grabbed some breakfast on the way and started our 4.5 hour trek to south padre beach. about 3.5 hours in, we stopped for ice cream....hello what better way to start a beach trip and 4th of july than with ice cream. blizzards from d.q. totally hit the stop. delicious. we got crossed the bridge onto the island, and slowly made our way down the island along with the rest of the world it seemed like. finally after driving around for 15-20 munutes, we found a parking spot. we loaded up the stroller with all of our junk and the kids and headed to the beach.

(i was so embarrassed when i realized what andrew was wearing....he said it "matched"...poor boy)

.OH MY GOODNESS. the beach was 2-3 families deep from the water to the back part of the beach, for as far as i could see. it was beyond crazy. thankfully, right as we arrived, another family front row was leaving and said we could have their spot. the kids were beyond themselves. warm weather, warm water. sand and our blanket laid 7-10 feet from the water. we played and played until the sun was almost down. grabbed some dinner on the way home, and drove the LONG drive home. i think we finally pulled into the garage at 1:30 or 2am. thankfully andrew had energy and drove the entire time. we LOVED south padre beach, and when people come to visit, its definitely a place we want to take them.

.saturday-we slept in. once we finally got up and cleaned up the house a bit, we loaded up to grab lunch and drive 40 minutes north to a waterpark to meet up with our friends. we got there and all 3 kids were asleep and there was a long long line out of the waterpark waiting to get in. come to find out it was an 1-2 hour wait. phew. we decided to try seaworld. BAD idea. crazy crowded and a line even longer. so i texted my good friend and asked if we could use her pool key and swim at their neighborhood pool. (why didnt we do this in the first place)....kids played until sunset and had a blast. we left a little earlier because Andrew started to not feel well. he got the head cold that was going around the family. poor guy. he was out cold by 10pm and slept the following day.

.sunday- me, holly and brooklynn went to church. andrew and parker stayed home... parker ended up with the head cold as well, and was not doing so well. he had high fever, didnt each much, and was just pretty miserable. him and andrew slept almost the entire day.

.monday- i took parker to the doctor, and got him some medicine. andrew felt much better and went back to work. later that afternoon we headed back to seaworld for holly to watch more shows....than headed to downtown san antonio once andrew was off work to see the alamo, walk the riverwalk, and experience "downtown"...it was hot. holly stopped at many little shops and shopped away. we got ice cream at the end of the night, and than headed home. we planned to go to seaworld's waterpark all day tuesday and wednesday i had 2 appointments (hair and doctor) and we were leaving to fly back to washington wednesday night.

.i barely slept. i was wide awake at 4 am and just laid there, something wasnt right. i finally got out of bed and went to the bathroom. i figured i could just double check my flight, what could it hurt. when i realized i had erased the NEW email with our conformation, and kept the OLD one...i realized we were leaving THAT NIGHT. i hadnt started ANY of our packing, i hadnt started ANY laundry, i was going to have to miss both my doctor and my hair apt for the next day. things were INSANE that day. poor holly and the kids were stuck at home, playing and packing while i was running laundry through and packing me and the kiddos. i also had told our good friends we would pick them up from the airport.....so we left the house at 4 (with all our luggage packed in the back of the van) i dropped andrew and the kids and holly off at mcdonalds to play and eat dinner. picked up our friends and all their luggage (yes, my van fit 3 strollers, and i think 8-9 suitcases/duffel bags, as well as 2 carseats as one point....anyways. dropped them off at their house, picked andrew and the kids from mcdonalds. 

.on our way to the airport. and the trip from hell began. i got a phone call saying our flight had already been delayed flying out of san antonio 1.5 hours....however, our connecting flight was suppose to leave 40 minutes after we landed. agh. yea- stay tuned for summer vacation-washington to read more about our flight home.

.we loved having holly. it was so crazy to have her help with the kids, play with the kids, sit in the front seat, etc. when it seemed like not too long ago i was buckling her in a carseat, picking her up from preschool, and playing with her. it was funny to watch b and holly butt heads because they are both extremely strong willed girls. hilarious. come visit again holly....bring your whole family next time. we miss the kirby clan. seeing you guys once a year just isnt awesome. we love you guys, thanks for trusting us with your daughter. we had a blast. 

.BOY, oh BOY.

.i have been MIA because i have been on a month vacation. i sat down to start blogging about it last night, however, our iPhoto won't open for whatever reason. luckily, all our pictures are backed  up, but ill have to wait until andrew isn't so busy with work to help me get my pictures. I'm also hoping to get pictures from my family members too. so stay tuned for our vacation blog post(s)....we had an absolute blast. 

.as for now, i guess i can update you on the most recent news from the Westensee family.

.thats right. we are expecting baby #3. 

.b was REALLY wanting a sister (and secretly, so was mom) but we will be welcoming baby BOY at the end of the year. b's reaction was better than i was expecting. i was honestly expecting tears and 

crying because she was SO set on a sister...but, she was extremely happy and excited to have another brother. (I'm sure to boss around, and to love, and to dress up).

.everything with baby looks great. he was SO calm, and i sure hope he stays that way. he was sleeping away, with his hands up at his face. when she went to find the gender...she said, it's hands are down in between it's legs...i said, "oh no, its a boy!" and he moved his hand and there it was.... a boy.

.after the ultrasound we waited a ridiculous long time to see the doctor for the normal check-up. i was SO grumpy by the end of the visit. it wasn't with my usual doctor, she is on maternity leave, but ill see her next visit....anyways, so it was with a doctor i don't know, with a SLOW office/staff. anyways, during our visit she proceeds to tell me that everything looks great, except one thing.

.im not going to go into detail, because things can still change....and it wasn't my actual doctor, but I'm just going to ask for prayers to be sent my way. I'm trying not to stress/be negative about anything.... but if things don't change than ill be having a c-section. possibly be put on bed rest, etc.

.so please send prayers our way, and thank you. its still early, and again things can change....i know the power of prayer is strong and important. it may not change our circumstances but it can bring our family comfort if anything else. as time goes along, and we know whats going to happen, ill update the blog....until than, I'm not going to get myself and everyone worked up about it. thanks again!

.thats it for our family...andrew is having surgery is 2 weeks (another blog post to come)...so we are going to get through that and the 3 weeks of recovery and than take on the holidays and getting ready for another addition to our family.