Good heavens, this has been a crazy week (and it’s only Thursday!). Husband had to return to school for some much-needed prep work, leaving me to experience my first days as a stay-at-home mom. It’s been kind of hit or miss so far…on some days the baby naps and is happy and we get a lot done together. On other days she fusses and won’t fall asleep and the dishes pile pretty high. Today is one of the latter. I am still learning what I perceive to be the golden rule of stay-at-homeness: do nothing while the baby sleeps that can be done while she is awake. Can I type with one hand while nursing? Then I should do so: those precious napping moments are not to be wasted. I should probably still be sleeping while the baby sleeps, but I find that I get this rush of adrenaline so I can run around and work on all the things I thought about while I was stuck in the chair nursing. Plus, my body seems to have decided that 6 is the new 8 when it comes to sleep (although I have noticed that my vocabulary and memory have been in decline).
Okay, back to the vacation — I really need to start posting some photos before I lose momentum. One of the first things we did when we arrived back in Washington was to go to my cousin Myron’s wedding. Unfortunately, the baby was fussy during the ceremony and I didn’t get to take any photos. I only got a few during the very lovely reception, mostly as an excuse to watch my brother and his fiance take what I think was their first dance together.
You can see Tim and Hilary in that bright patch of light in the back.
They looked so beautiful together, and it was somewhat poignant to think that the next time I see them will be at their own wedding in November. They asked me to take some of their wedding photos…I hope I’m up to the task.
After the wedding we drove to Port Angeles to see husband’s parents and his extended family. Aunty Esther drove from Portland to see her new niece.
Some of Josh’s aunts and his grandparents came as well.
Grandma Gibbs got to hold her first great-grandchild.
Aunt Marsha took a turn as well.
My father-in-law proved to be a genius at quieting a colicky baby, which was evidently something he and mom did a lot when my sister-in-law was small. You can tell when a person has had practice.
Grandpa Gibbs was also the pleased recipient of Camilla’s first this-is-definitely-not-an-accident smile. (This isn’t it, unfortunately…we weren’t that fast with the camera.)
While we were enjoying our stay in Port Angeles, Josh’s parents also took us to the very cute downtown. Had I not been carrying a baby I confess that I might have peeked into the Twilight paraphernalia shop just because (Forks is only an hour or so away!). More wholesomely, however, we decided to take a look at this year’s sand sculpture contest. I think they might call them ”sand castles,” but that seems sort of insufficient.
We were pretty impressed. I mean, that’s sand.
This one was my favorite.
All too soon, we had to leave for the east side of the state. One of the cruel things about living away from family is that you have to put an end to moments like this.
My mother-in-law stayed up for two nights with the baby so I could get some sleep (at least, that was the excuse…). She was so smitten with Camilla that I couldn’t say no.
See how unhappy the baby was to go?
It’s strange to look at our vacation photos because Camilla a) has a wide variety of amusing expressions on her face and b) doesn’t look exactly like that anymore. How can a baby change so much in just a few weeks?
Next up: our visit to Pullman and Moscow.
Wow, even more than she looks like Josh, she is the spitting image of his father!