Adventurous

 I always laugh when I see like five articles per day on Facebook about parenting/marriage/motherhood. Everyone out there is trying to justify their methods and get some validation for the way they do things. Some of the articles are decent, even good, but so many are terrible. Why do so many people feel the need to force their opinions on me? 

Perhaps the most common theme is how parenthood/motherhood isn't as lame or dull as the world thinks it is. I will agree that parenthood is anything but lame, but there are some moments of monotony. (IE: changing diapers, feeding children, cleaning up messes) I think being a mom is the most adventurous thing I've ever done, but its my life, my cup of tea, so that's probably why I feel that way. I know lots of wonderful parents who aren't adventurous, so I don't necessarily think that audacity equals perfect parenting.

And while there are many good things to say about bold, courageous parents willing to do pretty much anything with their kids, there are also straight up crazy parents.

That would be us.

I feel like our last Christmas Vacation from school turned us into Mad Hatters. Having over a month off from school always makes us want to flee Eugene and play, play, play. And since it was our last big break before real life begins (JK, we are living real lives, but you know what I mean) we really wanted to make it count.

We:

1. Drove to and from California (it took us two days both ways)

2. Drove to and from Yakima

3. Drove to and from Utah

4. Drove to and from Portland three times.

If traveling with a 10 week old and a 2 1/2 year old on a month long road trip might sound a little like Hades barfed on your sandwich and made you eat it, then you would be partially right.

There were moments of pure parental stress and anxiety, but there were also moments of serenity and bliss. I'll be honest, I mostly sat in the back between two carseats, but overall, I'd say it was worth it. 

Occasionally both girls would sleep at the same time and Nick and I would actually get to talk about worthwhile and interesting topics like who had more #1 hits - NSYNC or Backstreet Boys. 

(BSB, if you're wondering)

We got to see tons of family, which was great. I also never want to eat Subway/Quiznos again in my lifetime. Interestingly enough though, Oreo Blizzards never get old...

People thought we were crazy for disappearing for a month on an insane road trip and at first I was like, "Psshhh! It won't be that bad." And it wasn't. But the last few hours before we got home I was desperate to get out of the car and never get back in! (Although three days later I drove my kids up to the Portland Children's Museum because I am a masochistic psycho)

Anyway, here's a photo dump from our trip.

WE MISS YOU SISTER SMART!!!!!

Cole literally watched movies with his Darth Vader mask on.

Highlights included attending Rhett/Jen's wedding, seeing long lost friends/family in Utah, and talking to Sister Smart via Skype. (It was so hard to say goodbye and I'm now counting down the days until November when she gets home!)

Nadia Comaneci

People often, and I mean often, comment on how much energy Evelyn has. From the moment she gets up each day until the moment she goes down each night she is going, going, going. Sometimes I'm not sure why exactly, that I can barely keep my eyes open after 7 PM, but then I realize that I have spent the majority of my day with the Energizer Bunny.
I've mentioned (quite frequently) that Evie NEVER stops talking. This is still true. She talks constantly and she is currently quite the conversationalist. She often speaks in a stream-of-conscious sort of way and I feel like each day she opens up her brain and lets me peak inside when we talk about things. She is curious, inquisitive and unbelievably creative, making our discussions interesting and usually quite hilarious.
And on top of all that, she is like a parkour toddler in our family room. She loves to run, race, jump, climb, hang and her current favorite - "stretch." (yoga)

She is, in a word, exhausting.

But we simply adore her.

I can't wait to get all caught up on the blog so I can really elaborate on the little girl she has become recently. Its definitely been a challenging 4 months on the Evie Scale, but I've so enjoyed watching her become more of her own person each day. She has grown tenfold these past few months and my two year-old has all but disappeared. She is clearly closer to three and doesn't seem to mind reminding me of that with her behavior and sudden growth spurt.

Her energy is best revealed in her adventurous demeanor. She is stubborn, but almost never afraid. If she doesn't want to try something, its usually because its not on her terms or because she simply doesn't want to, not because she is fearful. And that brings me to gymnastics. This girl is a titan on those stinky mats. So much so, that the owner has asked me several times when I'm going to enroll her in a class. He's commented twice recently that her petite frame and willingness to jump off and onto any structure is perfect for a budding Olympic gymnast. (Don't worry, I'm not going to sell my child to the slavery that is female Olympic gymnastics.) But I can't lie, she is pretty good. I can't necessarily say that she is coordinated, but she is wild about a building with no boundaries and plenty of springy surfaces.

Here's our lil' Nadia:


Clearly she's no Kerri Strug and the toughness factor could be improved  (there is no crying in the Jordan family) but we've got plenty of time to teach her to stick a perfect landing on a broken ankle.