Peressini Clan Reunites in Bend

Waiting to board the airplane... Off the Bend we go! 

Family photo on the plane. Jake was pumped about all the airplanes & trucks this trip. 

Reading books with cousin Jack in their jammies

Riding in the golf cart everyday was a must!

Behind the wheel with Nana.

And with Daddy! 

At Mirror Pond with Mama. 

A date night for just Mom & Dad. It was waaay overdue! 

Batman eats some post pool snacks 

Titi & Jake are twinsies on the 4th

Pool time fun

Family photo at the pool! 

Jake photobombing the pic of Nana & Jack! Grouchy pants.

Nana & Jake playing on the slide at the park. 

Such a great vacation to Bend with my  family! It had almost been 7 months since we had all been together. Wish we could be with each other more often...it's never enough. At least this time we all left each other we had our plans set for the next visit...August! And better get here fast! This girl is ready to be done being pregnant. Just 4 weeks left til we meet our newest love....

Locked & Loaded

We are officially scheduled and in the books at the hospital to deliver the morning of August 9, 2013. Sounds like a perfect birthday!

T minus 30 days... I better start to get myself organized for baby boy #2. I haven't done a thing.

June Fun in the Sun

A Portland trip to see the Cresswell Family 

Jake driving with Captain Luke

Moms & their boys 

Family photo

My boy

Playing in the kitchen while mom cooks

Mini pool fun for summertime 

Wow!!

Good morning 

Afternoon at the park

Future basketball star 

Somera Family visits Seattle! 

About to go down the BIG slide together 

Ball pit

Little buns waiting for the bubble bath

Time out...but I had to get a photo

Fathers Day Weekend in Portland with Grammy & Papa

Bath time 

Neighborhood watch 

Playdate cafe fun on a rainy day 

Blissed out

Our weekly toddler time on the trampoline 

Slide!

Getting ready to cheer dad on

Watching the runners finish

Go Nick Go!

He finished! ...and was hurting. 

Reese & Jake at the Mariners Game

Baseball

Sunday Funday 

Crashed & hugging mom. Love.

May Photos of My Boys

The Month of May for the Montys

It's been just about a month since my last post....things have been busy around here, and I am feeling less overwhelmed that I may have sounded in my last posts (finally). 

A couple of updates:

- Nick and I have been putting a lot of time into the house. We still have plenty we would like to do, but all in due time. I am working on my before and after pics and plan on posting right before the baby comes to give me more time to finish things up! We have had the ground level painted, fixed the lawn so it's actually green (Nick has worked many hours on his grass!), dressed up the laundry room, painted Jake's room and our room. We are working on what will be the baby's room and the playroom/guest room as well as finishing up the backyard and organizing our garage. It feels more and more like our home everyday. Jim & Terri came up this last weekend and powered thru so many of our projects. It was awesome for Nick to have someone to help him other than his wife :)

- Jake is so much fun! I love, love, love being home with him and thank God everyday that I am so fortunate. He is full of personality and shows more and more of it all the time. Unfortunately, 'no' is a new favorite word... but we are working on 'yes' and other positives. He has his toddler 2 moments - sometimes several of them, and all day long - but overall he is a really happy, easy-going, good natured little boy. He is one chatty Cathy these days and seeing his language continue to develop as well as watching those wheels turn in his head as he learns new skills & tricks is really amazing.  Kids really do re-introduce the world to you. We spend a lot of time on the slides at the parks, playing with trucks, trains, cars & airplanes, and most recently we went to a trampoline gym for toddler time - it was a blast! He jumped and ran for the full 90 minutes with a huge smile on his face. He is all boy no doubt about it. And, a sweet boy at that... he says 'lo lo' (love you) and leans in for a kiss every night and minds his manners by saying 'pea' (please) and 'di do' (thank you) all the time - makes me so proud!

- Baby boy is growing, growing, growing! In the last ultrasound (28 weeks) baby boy is at about 80% percentile and very active... with another large head. We make big boys with big heads. The technician gave us a 3D picture, but the little guy obviously wants his face to be a surprise on his birthday (see next post for photo). His hands are covering his face, but the shape of his head and his cheeks are full like his big brother. We are so excited to meet him and are very anxious for his arrival. We say our prayers everyday for a healthy and safe delivery. Just 10 weeks left. We can schedule the C-section in 3 more weeks and are hoping for an August 8th delivery.

- I am making friends!!!! With the advice of Julie Kafoury, I invited my neighbor, Shantel and her husband Tom over for Cinco de Mayo celebration when Stephanie, Zach and Mia were up for a visit. It was a hit if I don't say so myself! Shantel was kind enough to start inviting me to join her and some other moms to parks and playdates for the kids shortly after we met. She is just wonderful and I really enjoying spending time with her and her 2 girls. Julie suggested I invite her and her husband over for dinner, drinks, desert... whatever. So, just like asking someone out on a date, I got super nervous and awkward, but went out on a limb and did it. We had a blast. It's so wonderful to have a new friend that is also my neighbor. Shantel was kind enough to send me her home phone line should something happen prior to our family getting here with the baby's arrival. I can breathe.... I also met a friend at church, Claire. Claire and her husband Zack moved to Bothell from Boston a few years ago and actually lived just blocks from where my parents are now. We hit it off immediately and exchanged phone numbers. Since then, Claire has been kind enough to also introduce me to other girlfriends and we have gotten together regularly. Claire has 2 boys and is also a new stay at home mom, so we have had lots in common. It truly is mom-dating. I am pretty cautious about putting myself out there because I have encountered more of the 'crazies' than the normal girls. I am very thankful for the new and the not so new friends of mine here. That too makes it feel more and more like home. 

Those are some of the updates in the Montgomery family. There are several more that I drafted in my mind for several other blog posts that obviously never saw the light of day, but hitting on the highlights here! 

24 week photo

Belly shot. Feeling biiiiiiiig.

15 Weeks Left...

With only 15 weeks left until we meet this next little stud, I am getting more and more anxious about having 2 kids under 2 years of age. I know we will survive and the most difficult days will be a blip in time (or a blur rather), but I have NO IDEA how I am going to manage no family and very few friends less than 3 hours away (ie. Portland). Seriously. There are also things that I hadn't counted on struggling with the 2nd pregnancy. Things like:

• The difficulty of carrying around one child/baby while pregnant with another. Given that he just truly started walking consistently 3 1/2 months ago, he is still carried around quite a bit as he learns to navigate safely.

• Changing diapers while dealing with morning sickness. Awful.

• Total exhaustion all the time. I don't know how moms cut caffeine out entirely with a toddler running around - it's my saving grace!

I know that after this baby is born I will basically be trapped at home all day, every day. Someone is always going to be sleeping, but I am going to try to have baby boy #2 sleeping on the go so Jake & I can get out and enjoy some fresh air. I also know I am going to be so tired, it's going to be hard to stay on top of it all and I know this will be a struggle for the perfectionist in me - but I have to let it go. Not so sure how I will get both kids in and out of the car, let alone do a big grocery shopping trip as the boys are likely going to take up the entire cart - but I am so blessed to have married an amazing man & partner that I know will help me get thru with with lots of laughs... and lots of wine. 

Some advice I have read & received: 

• Accept help whenever anyone offers. If anyone offers any help at all from making meals to babysitting to picking up a few things from the grocery store, take them up on it. This is hard for me to do, but I am committed to doing so! I really need it. 

• Find some “me” time. This is a must for me I know it. I cannot be a good mother if I don’t take care of myself. I am looking into gym memberships vs. Stroller Strides so I can put the kids in the childcare, while I workout & shower ALONE in that 2 hour window of time. And, if I am having a bad day, I can skip the workout, grab a magazine and flip thru it while sitting in the locker room. 

• Enjoy every small moment you can. It's going to go fast enough as it is, so do try to enjoy all the little moments. 

• Join a moms group before the second one arrives. This will provide a chance to meet neighborhood moms and possibly make new friends. Maybe I'll even find other area moms with children the same age and I can set-up play dates. I am desperately trying to make new friends. And as Nick jokes I am the 'neighborhood stalker'. I am always peeking outside the windows to see who is out and about, socializing with who, and most importantly who has young children. I am the creep that now will friend you on Facebook or get your number for a play date if you seem 'normal'. Jake, Lyla and I go for walks daily (sometimes twice daily) to potentially run into someone I saw outside, or strike up conversation. Really doesn't feel that different from college when the girls and I would get all dolled up to 'study' at the library (aka. run into the crush of the week). :)

However, all this said, we count our blessings every single day that we are fortunate enough to have each other, 1 healthy child and another on the way. Just last week I was reminded of how beautiful each day of our life truly is. And, I know that once our boys are grown, we are going to long for these days all over again (....and hopefully in the coming weeks, all my stalking will pay off and I will have a new friend to write about :))