Fiona Dorothy

Introducing the newest little love in my life, Fiona Dorothy. In early October I got to spend three days with my two best friends and this sweet baby. It doesn't get much better than that. I loved seeing Beth as a mama, getting lots of snuggles and spending time with Robby for the first time in many years. Having one baby is such an accessory. I remember these early days with Owen so fondly. You can pick them up and take them anywhere. Lunch, shopping, walks around town, they're along for a the ride. 

The Westermann's are living in Cleveland for the year so I got a glimpse of the city and attended a Cleveland clam bake at their neighbors house. I am learning more and more about photography and she was the world's best subject to practice some of my new skills. 

There is so much to love about this sweet face. I can't wait to watch you grow, support your dreams and see how you change the world, Fiona. 

xo 

Lake Chelan 2016

Our time in Lake Chelan was the perfect way to end the summer.  A few days with sunshine, swimming and lounging by the pool were exactly what we needed. We went with my friends from work who I'm not able to see as often now that we're living outside the city. They are an amazing crew and I'm so thankful for them in our lives. Seven kids and eight adults made for a long weekend with chaotic perfection. I love traveling with friends, it makes the parenting struggles that come along with vacations so much more bearable. I don't think any of the adults got more than four hours of sleep the first night, at least one kid from each family didn't sleep well, but we had the solidarity of being in it together. There were lots of meltdowns, lots of laughs and a great time was had by all.

The Gig

Our first six months in the Gig Harbor house are officially in the books. I'm pleasantly surprised by how little I miss the city. We love it here. Having space for our boys to roam is amazing. They love playing in the yard, picking blackberries at the Stonebridge, riding bikes down the street and seeing their grandparents every week. I love working out at the YMCA, being a five minute drive from Costco and Target and having my lifelong best friend within reach. I'm not sure how long it will last but since we've recently moved we've had a ton of visitors. It's amazing actually being able to put a guest up in a bedroom (with a bathroom at that!) and have a kitchen space that seats more than 4. Since I still work at Children's my connection with my Seattle life still exists and I don't feel nearly as isolated as I feared I would.

I am extrovert at heart and my relationships are what give me life. The move has been both wonderful and difficult in that regard. One of the most important friendship I've developed over the past few years is Danielle. I was worried about how the move would effect our relationship, and still am. I know it was hard for her that I moved away and she felt a little betrayed. I would have felt the same way if the roles were reversed. Though things are certainly a little different, we're still close and with a little effort I'm hopeful we will continue to be. In my book there is always a way to make it work when a real and meaningful friendship is at stake. Even if we don't see each other as often, when we do things pick up where they left off. When I think about the friendships I'm no longer able to maintain I feel thankful for the time I spent with those girls, the ideas they shared with me and the way they supported me during a period in my life. 

At the same time, I am able to invest more time into some really special relationships down here, Rachel, Katie, Steve and Paula. Being close to Rachel after living an hour apart for the last eight years is amazing. The two of us have been through so much together that I always feel more complete when we're closely connected. Having Katie just down the road and a text message away when I need to get out of the house saves my sanity. I've met a few new people and just joined a MOPS group to help build more community.  Being close to Steve and Paula is another wonderful gift. They are such kind and loving people, I enjoy the time we're able to spend with them and the way they're able to be involved in our boys lives.

Commuting to work is actually not that bad at all. I vanpool with a group of people from work which breaks up the drive. We meet in Federal Way, which is about half way for me. So I get some time in the car by myself, which I generally enjoy, and some time in the van to sleep, chat or relax. To be at work by 7 am I have to get up around 4:30, which is definitely the hardest part. It's doable since it's only a few days a week but adding the commute to a 12 hour shift certainly makes for a long, exhausting day. I am committed to the work we do at Seattle Children's and love working there so I don't see myself making a career move anytime soon.

I will say that living in a larger house comes with it's share of first world problems. The cleaning and yard work are difficult to maintain and my boys are hard at work destroying the walls and carpet. My iroomba vacuum cleaner scratched the shit out of the hardwood floors in every room of the house. It's infuriating but I know that it's not something worth getting upset over when I think about the bigger picture. Living in a gated community without a ton of diversity is something I'll need to be continually conscious of as we raise the boys. I want them to know that this isn't exactly normal and to instill in them a deep respect for all people.

I think my favorite thing about Gig Harbor is that it has the small town feel. You run into people you know at the grocery store and people talk to each other when they're waiting in line. When people are walking in our neighborhood they wave at the people driving by. It's nice feeling open and connected to the people around me. And I love that nowhere you go is crowded. I took the boys to the farmers Market one day and it really hit me how much I like being away from mass amounts of people. We parked right across from where we wanted to go and could take our time looking around the market. The Ballard farmers market was so chaotic that I stopped going. Tons of people and no room for a stroller, it was too much. The Gig Harbor one is right on the water and a lovely way to spend an afternoon wether you need produce or not. Turns out I'm kind of a small town girl at heart.

I loved living in Seattle and there are certainly things I miss, notably Greenlake, my girlfriends and being 20 minutes from work but Gig Harbor is pretty great. I love our new home and the community we are apart of. It's a wonderful place for our boys to grow up and I'm looking forward to the many memories our family will create here.

Inaugural Family Camping

This summer we vowed to stay home. We have a beautiful new house with eight thousand projects and we wanted to focus on getting to know Gig Harbor and the south sound. We pretty much stuck to that commitment with the expception of two weekend trips at the end of August and early September. For my birthday we ventured out on our first family camping trip and we went to Lake Chelan with some friends the weekend after Labor Day.

We've been talking about camping with the boys since Owen was born but hadn't quite made it happen. The thought of making sure we have everything we need and packing it all up felt overwhelming, but once we did it we realized it wasn't nearly as difficult as we made it out to be in our heads. The boys loved it and being in nature with nothing to do is an incredible feeling. We only stayed one night and even with that the set up and take down didn't feel like it consumed all our time. The four of us bunked up in a tiny tent and much to our surprise, everyone slept well. We camped at Squim in the Olympic Peninsula. The boys had their first s'mores and Owen thought that walking around with a lantern was the most amazing thing ever.

Now that our first trip in the books we totally have the hang of it and are inspired to make it an annual summer vacation. There are lots of camping locations on our bucket list and I'm hoping this is the first of many camping adventures for the Rallos.

Almost 4

My Owen is almost four. There has been quite a few developmental leaps in the recent months and my sweet boy is turning into a little kid. His imagination is super vivid and he comes up with all sorts of stories and ideas. He had a magic house, it was yellow and had a room with a crib for Lily. She's a good baby and doesn't cry when he puts her down for naps. We often have to keep quiet so we don't wake her up. He also had a magic car. Jake rides in the front and the rest of the family rides in the back. After we moved to Gig Harbor he had to move out of his magic house. He refers to the new house as town. His magic car was also in an accident so he traded in it for a van. The van didn't last long and now he drives a red tow truck.

It feels like years ago since Owen stopped napping but I haven't written a blog post since. It was a rough transition for everybody. Those two hours of peace in the afternoon were the saving grace that helped me survive life with two littles. I cherished that time; I took a nap at least once a week, worked out, blogged and checked things off the to-do list. Yet, the day that Owen stopped napping he started falling asleep within 15 minutes at night. After multiple months of the two hour bedtime it felt like a fair trade. We have both boys in bed no later than 8 and the evenings to ourselves again. As with all things in these early childhood years, the sorrow of one loss is coupled with the celebration of a win. Owen is getting so much more independent that he does play by himself for a while during Weston's nap. I also get some special "Owen and mommy" time, which we both love. There are a lot of hard things about having kids close in age but one of the best things about it was that Owen took a long, consistent nap for the first 16 months of Weston's life. It was amazing. Was. I'm thankful for that time and now that I've moved through the five stages of grief, I'm making the best of our new normal.

Owen has been in swimming lessons all summer and just started playing soccer. He's really coordinated and quite the little athlete. He has also been in speech therapy since shortly after his 3rd birthday. He has trouble with the sounds "g, l, s and k." After the initial adjustment period (in which it takes him a month or two to get comfortable with anything) he loves teacher Dean and his time at 'speech school.' Like most boys his age he's discovered legos and loves playing with them. He's also into doing art projects, baking, pretend camping, puzzles, play dough, matchbox cars, reading and riding his bike. He upgraded from the Strider to a small peddle bike with training wheels. One of my favorite things about Owen is that he can easily entertain himself. He'll spend hours in the backyard collecting leaves and doing imaginative play. Give the boy a stick and a pail and he's occupied for the afternoon.

Owen and Wes have a typical brother relationship in that they love each other dearly and get extremely frustrated with each other often. There is a lot of shoving, toy stealing and crying but also a lot of sweet moments, snuggles and cooperative play. I feel like Owen's personality is very typical of a first born. He's sweet, cooperative, organized and slow to warm up. He's my little buddy. I love his imagination, desire to help and all the adventures we share together.