Cousins at Yaya's

 I was feeling particularly brave and took both of my kids to visit my mom in University Place. She had already picked up my nephew Nolan in the hopes that Sissy would deliver this baby of hers already. (She didn't.) But Clementine loooooooooves Nolan and had a blast.

Clem shows off her muscles

 The whole time we were on the go on this mini-"vacation." The first night, we took the kids to the park Sissy and I used to visit as kids (although it looked nothing like this when we were kids).

 There was lots of rocking climbing,

 and swinging,

 and dancing a jig on the picnic tables.

 Meanwhile, Dutch watched the light through the trees far away from his crazy cousins.

 Then there was some piano playing

 while Dutch appreciated the tune from the couch.

 As per Sissy's request, we took the kiddos on a bike ride. Clem's had her balance bike almost two years while Nolan is just getting started. We were all hoping Clem would be able to show Nolan how very fun bike rides really are.

 There was some bike riding....

 sort of...

 mostly, there was bike stopping.

 But then this happened, and the bike ride was all over.

 Clementine found a "stage" on which to perform a hula/ballet. She tossed her helmet aside, threw the bike on the ground and danced her little heart out.

Berry Pickin'

 We made it just in time to Boxx Berry Farm to hit up the raspberries on their last day (last day for raspberry u-pick I should say).

 Clem's motto while picking was "one for me, one for the bucket."

 Technically, we picked a little over three pounds of berries, but if they'd weighed Clementine after I think our haul for the day would have been closer to nine pounds!

A Sailor's Life for Me

 Last week, we got to go on a little sail out in the bay off Semiahmoo. It was the perfect summer evening for a sail.

 Just over toward Canada I kept seeing a big spray so Cathy tried to find out what it could be.

 First mate Clementine loves to go sailing.

My heart just exploded

After having Clementine, I knew definitively that I would only have teensy, beautiful, bald-headed babies in my future. I stated this time and time again: the women in my family make teensy, beautiful, bald babies.

Dutch has blown that theory right out of the water. While gorgeous, he is neither teensy nor bald. He's huge and has a full head of hair (practically)! He rocks both a faux hawk AND a mullet!

This week was Dutch's two month Doctor's appointment. This giant boy was in the 98th percentile for almost everything! Head size and height (24 inches) were in the 98th percentile while his weight (14 lbs) was 95th!

It's hard not to draw comparisons between my babies but I will relate this fact here: Clementine was in the 5th percentile until she was almost 18 months old (except for her giant noggin). She didn't weigh 14 pounds until she was almost 5 months old! And she didn't get hair until her first birthday! Amazing!

Fragrance Lake

 It's too nice to hang about the  house in weather like this so last weekend my crew packed up the mini van (I still can't believe I have a mini van) and headed to Fragrance Lake for a little walk in the sunshine.

 Cam and Clem went to the top of the look out tower while I waited below with a sleeping Dutchie in the stroller. (I went to the top last time though!)

 Cam said he caught a bit of a breeze up at the top, but down below there wasn't a breath of air.

 Fragrance Lake's trail leads you through open field, over rickety wooden bridges,

 into shady spots with more rickety wooden bridges,

 and finally to an open field of lily pads as far as the eye can see!

Nooksack Falls

 It was the perfect day for a little outing so the four of us packed up the mini van (yes, minivan, don't judge me) and headed east.

 Dutch loved the ride in the Moby.

 Our first picture as a family of 4!

 Clem climbed to her heart's content.

 And Dutch started showing signs of imminent hunger.

Dutch's Room (it's finally finished!)

 Whew! It's finally finished We had set ourselves a goal of finishing this loooong before Dutch's arrival but we kept getting stuck (like all projects around here, starting one seemingly sets off a random string of events requiring our immediate attention!)

Anyway, we are finally done and the fact that Dutch is nearly 2 months old is neither here nor there. It's done AND best of all, we stuck to our budget (of under $100!) using mostly stuff we had around the house.

We decided to go with a nautical theme in here, after all, this handsome boy was named for Dutch Harbor in Daddy's home state of Alaska.

 Our biggest expense in the room was the paint, but I L*O*V*E the color so it was well worth it in my opinion! Cam painted for what seemed like months and then I set about decorating. Dutch's room was previously our guest room/catchall room. It had tons of random things in there, including, thankfully for me, the most comfortable bed in the entire universe. This was my bed back in my single days and it's so very comfortable. I threw an old quilt of Meg's on there and used the blue sheet set I already owned to dress it. These days I sleep up there (more on that later) right next to Dutch's crib.

We also purchased the anchor vinyl to put above the bed from Groupon! Regularly $30 (at DaliDecals.com; whom I highly recommend) we got it for $10!

 This is my favorite nook in his room. We had some little odds and ends that we hung on the wall above his crib. A seashell wreath I bought years ago, a frame that was in storage with a ship's wheel glued to it (a gift from my sister), a cute rowboat that my BFF Emma Underpants gave me ages ago and a canvas I made out of materials I had laying around the house (the canvas idea came from Pinterest). There was a funny little space there in the middle which I filled with a white letter D from JoAnn's.

 This beautiful oil painting was done by a friend of mine from high school. She's an amazing artist and I have had this hanging in every apartment I've lived in for the last 10 years. I love it. The frame was from my mom and it matches the nursery furniture perfectly! This picture is hanging above my glider that was also a gift from my homey Janna when Clementine was born. My mom recovered the white cushions with blue fabric.

 Right above Dutch's changing table is a shelf I had hanging in our office. It's been repurposed up here in Dutch's room as it too matches the nursery furniture too perfectly to pass up!

 On top of the shelf is a pair of real Alaskan Mukluks made by Cam's aunt Chris and Uncle Ron (thanks guys!), a vase full of seashells and a bottle from the shower Meg and Emma threw for me before Dutch was born. They had everyone write a little message in a bottle for Dutch; I consolidated them all into one bottle so I could put it on display. Also up there on display is this sweet little ceramic seal I bought on the day I found out I was pregnant with Dutch!

 And on his changing table is a lighthouse nightlight from my mom's garage (!) that gives the perfect warm glow we need at night and an organizer (can't get enough organizers) from our Nautica Zachary nursery collection (also a gift from my sister).

I tried my hand at doing a little painting on canvas inspired by one I saw on Pinterest. I added a sailboat to mine. I think I like the original better, frankly. I may still try tweaking it a bit.

That's it! A little tour of Dutch's thrifty nautical bedroom.