Fun Family Outing

Yesterday was such a relaxing, fun day. I don't have to work this weekend, so it was nice to be able to come home from work yesterday morning, hang out in bed with my boys, and not feel pressured to fall asleep right away in order to get enough sleep for work that night. Instead, I stayed up until almost 9 am (I get off work at 7 am) and just enjoyed Nathan, Levi, and Asher's company. Then I got to sleep until 3:30, let Nathan take a nap, and after feeding the boys, we bundled them up for a trip to Barley's for dinner.

You see, we totally understand that this is the time to take the boys out and about, while they are still confined to the carseats and incapable of speech/shrieking. Or running through the restaurant. Or throwing food. Or crying because they're bored on account of their food taking longer than 5 minutes to arrive. Oh yes, we are definitely making sure to enjoy this time. Plus all the gals at Barley's love the chance to see the boys.

After dinner, we thought we'd go check our friend's new place. Mary, who use to work at Barley's and also happens to have twins (a boy and a girl, 6 years old), just opened an art gallery and wine tasting place on the corner of Washington and 1st in the old Pythian Castle. We've really wanted to go see it and support her, but honestly haven't had an evening free to do so until last night. Unfortunately, minors aren't allowed on the premesis after 5 pm, and we would hate to get her in trouble with the OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission). So either we'll have to go over there before 5 pm, or wait until we're comfortable leaving the boys with someone besides family for a couple of hours. Is it just me, or is that a big, scary step?

Anyway, as an alternative, we stopped off at the coffee shop to get peppermint hot chocolates and then drove around town looking at Christmas lights. (Gas is so cheap, why not?!) Oh! Did I mention that it snowed pretty much all day yesterday? So all the lights looked absolutely awesome! We even found a house that has those fancy lights that turn on and off in time to music...a little ridiculous, but entertaining none-the-less. Sorry if any of you have those! Since we were already out and about, we figured we might as well stop at dispatch and visit some of my co-workers who haven't seen the boys in a while.

After visiting for a while, the boys started doing their pre-hunger-shriek whimpering, so we headed home, but by the time we got home they were sleeping soundly again and we managed to get an hour nap in before they started crying in ernest! A couple of bottles, some homemade nachos, and a few episodes of The Office later, we managed to get the boys to go down in their crib, Nathan fell asleep...and here I am, wide awake, once again a victim of the "graveyard shift insomnia". But all in all, it was a great day, and I'm totally excited to have another day to just hang out with my family again today. And who knows, maybe we'll even be able to make it to Vespers (our annual Christmas music program that our high school puts on...it's awesome!) on Sunday.

In baby news, the boys are FINALLY starting to sleep more regularly through the night. Nathan actually managed to get a few hours of sleep between feedings while I was at work on Wednesday and Thursday, and it looks like more of the same for tonight! (insert happy dance here) Nathan is getting to know the boys better and better, including the best ways to get them to settle down and go to sleep...which makes me feel like I'm missing out, but also makes me thankful for having such an amazing partner in this. He did say, though, that they regularly scream for an hour or so after I leave for work. And this afternoon, Asher wouldn't be comforted by anyone but me. Maybe it's just because I have the milk, but it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Last night at Barley's, we also discussed the fact that the boys have forced us to really live in the moment, because if we think about the future, even just an hour in the future to their next feeding, it is so completely overwhelming. But if we just live for the current moment...well, I personally have never enjoyed life quite as much as I do right now.