Livin' the Vida Loca

So for those of you who still occasionally check in to see how Orton's in Montana are doing, it would appear that we have been suspended in time in 'Summer Lovin,' when in fact we have actually been living the "vida loca" and find every spare moment while the kids are sleeping taken up with my face in a textbook...hence the giant gap in blogging.
Life, although busy, has been great for us these past few months. The busy-ness is enjoyable, and the quality time we spend together makes it all worth it. The kids are both really enjoying their preschools, Sophie has lots of friends and is always laughing and playing with them when I pick her up. Noah seems to be blossoming in his own independence. He is saying more and more, and has long exact thoughts. He loves to count, sing, and play games and puzzles. He is potty training right now and has a new proud strut to his walk....I miss the lazy days around the house, but am so happy that everyone has transitioned so well into our new little routine. Weekends have become so special and relaxing. What was once a time when I was desperate to get out of the house and do something since we used to be home all the time- now it is so nice for all of us to just hang out and relax together, we are loving it!
My school keeps me very busy, I study a lot, and love my classes. I have managed to find a nice balance and am able to be 'present' at home without worrying too much about school. I try to get all my study out of the way before I pick up the munchkins so that we can just hang out at home and I can be mom. Matthew has been super dad and so helpful and supportive.

So what have we been up to? We made the 14 hour drive down to Denver in late August for my Mom's 60th birthday, Sam's baptism and to spend time with all the family reunited after several years. It was an awesome time and always so nice to be around family.

Fall has been really enjoyable, Missoula has it's usual majestic fall feeling of fresh air, nice light and great colors. Speaking of colors- we painted our house! Finally. We got rid of the blah and went for the bold and thankfully we love it.

Halloween was very cute- Noah and Sophie picked out their costumes - butterfly and bumble bee - Sophie decided her wings were too uncomfortable on Halloween so was a last minute princess. Her little friends from preschool and Colter came trick or treating with us. Noah wore his little bumblebee costume with Sophie's black leggings,and his skinny little black legs were so precious as he ran from house to house getting candy.



I am looking forward to some more free time over thanksgiving, and having grandma and grandpa in town - the vida loca could use a little breather...here are a couple pics of the munchkins...and don't be surprised if it is awhile before I update again - but I will keep you posted.

Summer Lovin'

There is nothing quite like summer in Missoula. We kinda wait all year long for summer in Missoula- and then it is an all-out summer fun extravaganza for as long as it will let us get away with it. We have been having a blast all summer long. And yes, the lack of updated posts definitely lends one to believe that we have indeed been busy. School lasted only the first 5 weeks (online class longer) - I had to devote most of my free time to studying, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves outdoors, hiking, swimming, camping and catching up with friends. Serious quality time these days. Some of the highlights so far have been: Holland Lake with Grandpa & Grandma, camping in Whitefish with the Anderson's, floating down the river in our new family raft, barbeques and firepits with friends, late nights outside, swimming and bike rides.



This summer Sophie and Noah have both become very confident in the water. Sophie can really 'swim' and loves to go underwater. Noah is learning fast and insists on doing things himself even if he is not quite ready! He learned how to ride a big boys bike in June and whizzes around the block on his shiny red bike. He is now in his big boy bed and is getting pretty good with potty training (especially now that he gets an m&m each time!) He started preschool in June and although it took a couple of weeks to adjust he is enjoying it. He is still as sweet and cute as can be, and loves to cuddle. Sophie loves the new swing that Daddy built her outside and can touch the trees she swings so high - enough to make Mommy and Daddy have to look away! She is always busy with one project or another, and has pretty much stopped napping in the afternoons. She loves her artwork and is getting interested in reading - exciting!

Floating has become a twice to three times a week occurrence for us lately and we can't get enough of it. Diego comes along sometimes and swims along with us. Sophie gets in and likes to swim in the rapids. All in all it has been an amazing summer - I can't believe how much we have done, and I can't believe fall is right around the corner. We will undoubtedly soak up any and all fun left to be had before those leaves start to fall (which is also a magical time of year, it is just the impending winter that looms beyond it that keeps me from wishing for fall...)

We still have more camping on the agenda as well as a first time family road trip down to Denver to hang out with the entire Beesley posse for a week! So to quote an old time fav...."summer lovin' had me a blast, summer lovin' happened so fast...."

Freeze Frame

So I apologize for the lapse in posts...life has been a fast moving river for me these past weeks and I am just about at the edge of the waterfall about to take the plunge. At this time next week, instead of being a full time stay-at-home mama, enjoying the days at home playing with my little munchkins and doing whatever our hearts desire on any given day....I will be sitting in a class on the UM campus learning about Organic Chemistry. In exactly one week I am going back to school to eventually get my PhD in Physical Therapy. The road ahead is long - I have about 2 years of pre-requisites before I start PT school (okay so I will also have to get in to PT school), and then it is 3 full-on years! This post has been a long time coming, there has been so much emotion, excitement, nostalgia, anxiety....etc., with this big decision that I have made, it has been hard to put a finger on what exactly to write about...but the one thing that drives all the emotion that I am experiencing is my love for my family and the realization that they are the reason I feel I am able to do this at all.
I feel like this is the end of a chapter for me, and the start of something new that is so different from the life we have been leading, kinda like you feel when you try to picture yourself in the future and it seems like it will be a different you somehow, but you always seem to remain present even when you reach that place in the future. It is very hard to picture myself with a PhD in my hand someday, but surely baby steps will get me there (or somewhere) in the end.
There has been a lot of soul searching in this decision, I have listened to my heart and my head. I remember growing up and going to church, it always amazed me how the priest would preach about something that would apply exactly to what I was going through in life at the time. I always wondered if everyone felt the same, or if it was somehow directed toward me. There have been several things that have 'spoken' to me recently to get me to the place I am now. 1.)The book Eat, Pray, Love which I really enjoyed and related to on so many levels. 2.)The Carrie Underwood song "So Small" which moves me to tears while I run to it on my treadmill. 3.)The book "I Knew You Could" which is a sequel to "The Little Engine That Could" 4.)A meditation I learned while staying at Kopan Monestary in Nepal in which you meditate on the end of your life looking back, and visualize what it is you want to see and 5.)lots of fair objective advice from pretty much everyone I know. All these 'signs' basically point at the same thing - take care of yourself so that you can be happy and enjoy others, live in the present and be present. And life is for living, so go for it. I don't want to have any regrets...so that made this decision actually easy. I am so insanely aware of how incredibly lucky I am to have the life that I have. I have everything I ever dreamed of, truly. There is nothing missing so far, but I feel like I am capable now of adding more things in my life to balance.
There is, however, a definite feeling of loss. It is the end of my being at home all the time. I am praying that it will not be so different. That life will be basically the same, just busier. That I will be the same person, same wife, same mama. I cherish this time that I have had at home all these years, I am so unbelievably grateful that I was able to do it, and although it was challenging at times (many times), it was beautiful. There is so much joy and heartache in watching my kids grow. I love every minute of it and in every perfect moment I never want that moment to pass. I love being a mama. As for school, I know I can't fail because I am happy with what I have already.
I put together a little show which brings all the nostalgia right to the surface for me. Noah is the star of this little video, since I have been wanting to put together a birthday show for him. This is our last week of our 'Mommy/Noah" days which have been so special to us both. Although life just keeps on flowing, it is nice to grab hold of a moment and take it all in. Freeze Frame.

Urban Chicks

Okay so I am not sure that Missoula can be catagorized as 'urban'...but it is not quite rural either....at any rate it somehow fits the profile for being rural enough to have chickens in your backyard but urban enough that it is kind of weird. Last weekend we decided to join in on the chicken craze and got ourselves 4 little yellow poof balls. Sophie is a highly experienced chicken care taker, having gained much experience looking after Nana's chickens in NZ last year. She promised me she would be their 'mommy' and that she is responsible for their well being. That said, they do require a little help from the grown ups when it comes to supervising Noah's interaction with them. For the most part the kids are very gentle with them. They really love them and get so excited to see them/hold them. Their favorite thing is when the chicken poops on someone or something. Yeah, that is my favorite part too...hmmm. I did not know chickens pooped so much! Sophie has very cleverly named them: Diego1, Diego2, Wuzzy1, and Wuzzy2. Not sure which is which at this point though.

The chickens had a wild first couple of days. They got to play in the sandbox, go for rides in Noah's little trucks and wagons, and cuddle under blankets when Sophie decided it was time to sleep. We have since toned down their allowed activity level and thought it best to just let them grow a bit before they try any more death defying acts. Diego (the original one, our dog) is very interested in the little chirpies and would love to see how well they play....
Honestly, I thought I would hate them and would have to devote lots of extra time that I don't have caring for them, but actually I really really like them. They are really cute and sweet and they are our pets. I hope they bring us lots of fun and lots of free eggs. Fingers crossed no roosters!

Easter Funday

I think the fact that there is so much anticipation that leads up to Christmas, Easter ends up getting overlooked as being a really GREAT holiday. I can count on 3 fingers the number of times I have spent Easter without any family around, and this year makes the 4th. Growing up I have such fond memories of Easter with my family, and in recent years we have spent many an Easter in New Zealand having a blast with the Orton whanau, usually near the sea. It wasn't until last week that I realized we would be spending Easter alone this year, and although I would not say I was 'panicking', I was feeling a little bummed about it come Saturday... However, without any planning at all, our little family unit ended up having an absolutely perfect Easter (except that we didn't make it to church, which secretly made the day more fun...sorry Mom).
The kiddos started the day by checking out their Easter baskets and eating Cadbury eggs before breakfast. Matthew made a fresh loaf of bread and a pot of tea. The sun was shining and warm, the air was clean and fresh. We sat on the deck in our sunnies and watched the kids hunt for all their Easter eggs in under 5 minutes. The sandbox made it's spring debut, as did tea time on the deck. We built sandcastles for awhile and then packed a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches and headed to our favorite little spot by the river "Fort Fizzle". Diego gave fetching a stick in the water a go, and eating our sandwiches when we weren't looking. Noah never left his Easter candy too far out of sight as it was apparently his goal to eat the whole thing that day. He pretty much left the planet and spent the afternoon hours in sugar-coated la-la land. Naptime, although short, brought me time to chat with family on the phone and read a few chapters in my book while admiring the big Montana sky and remembering just why we live here. Matthew caught a few zzzzz's. We went for a long evening walk in the country, ate barbecued lamb chops and cuddled around the fire until it was time to put the sugar-crazed children to bed. Matthew and I snuggled on the couch with a movie till 11:30pm. We definitely missed both of our families and the traditions, but all in all I'd say our Easter was perfect.

Balance

Although the saying goes 'everything in moderation, including moderation,' this is something that takes a bit of discipline for me. I have tried to move away from the all-or-nothing tendencies that once inhabited my life and have for many years been learning how to establish more balance. It is a learning process I plan to continue tackling for the rest of my life. Well, I bring this up because recently (finally) I got a job. It has really been a long time coming. It has been nearly 4 1/2 years since I have had a job apart from being full-time Mommy. And let me tell you....I am sooooo happy about it. So it isn't the most glamorous of jobs (hosting and waiting tables yet again), but it is fun, gets me out of the house doing something with new people, interacting with community folk and at the end of it all I get to come back to my cozy home surrounded by the most precious people in my life with a little extra cash in my pocket. It makes the tough days easier because I know there is relief in sight, and it makes the good days even better because I am refreshed, excited and relaxed. So, I am actually a better mom because I am now gone a little bit more. And the funniest thing about it is - the joke is on me. All this time I have felt that I didn't want to work because I didn't want to be away from my angels that long and assumed that they of course felt the same way and would somehow be better off because I was home with them all the time. Well, the kiddos are thriving these days. I guess they need a break from me from time to time too. They appreciate me more now that I am not always there and they get to spend lots more quality time with Daddy making up their own routines with him. So we all win. Yes it is hard to leave them when I walk out the door (except of course when they haven't napped and are all cranky...he he), but I feel so much more balanced when I am able to do something that is making a difference for all of us.
Here we are enjoying a wonderful family night at home - roasting marshmallows over the fire, enjoying the emerging spring weather and our amazing little family unit...

2 Years Ago Today...

On Sunday, March 22nd, Noah had his 2nd Birthday. As with any family event, we had been very much looking forward to the big day, organizing a little party for him, Grandma was coming up for a visit, I had grand plans to create a huge 'dump truck' cake using fondant. But on the days leading up to his big day Noah was not feeling too well. What started off as a simple cold steadily grew into a bad cough and a very high fever. So, Saturday morning we decided he probably wouldn't be 100% for his party so thought it best to post-pone. At this point we were just thinking he had a bad little bug that would run it's course while we administered Tylenol and the humidifyer. And just to throw a spanner in the works, our crazy dog Diego injured himself playing with some neighborhood dogs and was behaving a bit like Shay did just before she became permanently paralyzed...so we (I) was freaking out about that and sent Matthew to the emergency vet with Diego Saturday morning. Meanwhile Noah was becoming more and more listless, his fever was not going down and we noticed his breathing was very labored....so we decided once Matthew returned from the vet we would take Noah to the emergency care center to get checked out (kids always seem to get the sickest on the weekends when a simple doctor's visit is not an option.) Well, the situation was not good. Noah's oxygen levels were at 78% which is really low - they get really worried when the levels go beneath 90%. So, next thing we knew Noah was getting breathing treatments and oxygen and needed to stay at the hospital. It was so scary. As a mother you feel like you know pretty much what your child is going through, you know what they look like when they are sick and how they act....but I guess unless you are Tom Cruise with all the medical gears in your home you don't know whether they are getting enough O2 or not. Noah wasn't blue in the lips or anything, but his eyes were soo sick. The doctors and nurses in the Pediatric ICU took incredibly good care of Noah. We definitely felt we were in good hands and when I really realized how serious a situation this was and asked the dreaded question no parent ever wants to ask "is he going to be okay?" The nurse turned and looked at me straight in the eye and very reassuringly said "yes Mam." I think the fact that he was in such good hands helped me to be able to calmly and confidently care for him. I was very much a part of the care team in the hospital, and as strange as it may sound, it was a wonderful bonding experience for us. We slept in the same little bed all snuggled up together, just like we did exactly 2 years ago. And just like when he was a newborn, I was his everything. I was there for him watching him sleep, helping him eat, I was there when he woke up, when he cried, or when he just needed cuddling. This was a scary thing for him, he needed me constantly and I guess in a funny way it was good to be in a place where I could be there for him without interruption.


On his birthday Grandma brought in Noah's favorite pippa (pizza) and made a birthday cake. He opened a couple hospital friendly gifts and the nurses came in with another cake and sang him happy birthday. So even though it was definitely not the birthday we had been planning for, and probably not the one he wanted, it was actually very special.


After undergoing several tests and x-rays they concluded that Noah had RSV which is a common respiratory virus that can have devastating effects on very young children. Usually children 2 and older are not badly effected by it, but in Noah's case they are thinking he may have asthma as well (this they will be better to diagnose if he has a wheezing sickness in the summer months)which means he may be more susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Little Grace Anderson had the same thing in January and was hospitalized for 8 days. It is a really nasty virus, very contagious and something no kiddo should have to endure.
After 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital, Noah was able to breath without oxygen assistance and was able to go home. It took several days before he fully recovered, sleeping all the time. Now he is totally back to normal, apart from his pants which keep falling off his skinny little bum... and it is soooo nice and such a relief to have him back. Sophie was very concerned about her little brother, she did not like him to have oxygen tubes in his nose and although she doesn't come out and say it, she is glad to have him home too. AND I just have to say a big THANK YOU to my Mom, who came up for a long weekend to spend visiting, dining out and playing with the grandkids, but ended up staying an entire week helping us out in every way during this tough week. Hopefully the next visit will go without incident...