To-do's

Tonight I was sitting down to write my to-do list for tomorrow. Afton asked what I was doing and decided she wanted to add a few things to my list. I wrote hers over on the side of the page. Here are our to-do's for tomorrow.

Mine:
Do all the laundry
Go to the gym
Go grocery shopping
Dinner prep
Research toilets
Research carseats
Make some baby pants

Afton's:
Go on a walk
Watch shows
Play
Take Sam to school
Wash hands
Take pictures
Write cards to friends
Pick food from the garden

Hers sounds more fun than mine.

And what's a post without a picture? 25 weeks.

Projects

Did I ever post about our entry way? I don't think I did. It's been done for a while now and now it seems like it's always been that way.

Some befores:

As you'll recall, I tried at least 9 different paint samples. (See some of those jars on the cabinet?) That wall was a patchwork quilt of various neutrals. One day we had a guy over who does a lot of painting (although he was there to give us a quote on our master bathroom) and I asked him for some help. I brought out this big sherwin-williams swatch I have and he looked at it and said, "Why don't you try this one?" The next day I went out and bought a sample of it and BOOM! Perfection.

Here's an after:

It's called Simply Tan (duh - how did that escape me?) and we got it color matched in Behr.

A few weeks ago I painted the upstairs hallway the same color.

Here's a way back "before" from when we first moved in:

A middle "before" post-carpet and mid-cutting in.

And the after:

It looks a lot more dark in these pictures, but I took them on a cloudy day. I like how it makes the molding stand out more and it just feels clean. I don't know why the old owners used flat paint everywhere. Glad I got that knocked off the list!

Labor Day and the start of School

We hadn't been to the beach all summer, so the Saturday before Labor Day we headed over to Virginia Beach. It started off cloudy and a little cold, but by the time we left, the weather was perfect. Sam tried boogie boarding for the first time. Afton thinks she likes the water, but then won't go near it and plays in the sand.

Going to the beach always makes me think of being little and going to the beach in California. I always looked forward to it because I knew we'd get soda and chips. Black cherry soda from Vons. So I try to bring lots of snacks I know our kids like, too.

We capped off the day with a stop at Dairy Queen. Delicious as always.

On Labor Day, Dan had to work for a few hours so I took the kids over to a local spot on the James called Pony Pasture. You can play on the rocks in the river but I didn't know that, so we were wearing regular clothes.

We also stopped by Home Depot so I could buy paint for the upstairs hallway. (Project pictures to come!)

The Tuesday after Labor Day, Sam started first grade.

 Our front door gets too much sun in the morning. (School doesn't start until after 9.)

His teacher is new to the school, so we don't know much about her, but I know Sam loves school, so that's good. Dan will meet her tomorrow at back to school night. Just last night Sam said he was looking forward to school today, which is a great sign! I miss him when he's gone, but I know he's loving it.

Baby #3!

Baby Durst #3 is on the way!

I am 23 weeks along with a boy and we are so excited!!!!! As you can probably guess from how old Afton is, we've been hoping for a baby for quite a while. I had a miscarriage almost two years ago when I was 14 weeks, and it was heartbreaking. Needless to say, this is a major blessing for our family and we are so grateful.

I found out I was pregnant the day before I left to visit Candice in Chicago back in May. Aside from being tired and sometimes a little nauseated, this has been my easiest pregnancy so far.

We waited to tell people (aside from our parents) until we were pretty far along. I told my brothers and their wives when I saw them in Tennessee and we told a few of Dan's siblings when we saw them a few weeks ago in Washington. Candice already knew since I'd seen her a bunch this summer. The day we got back from Washington, we had our 21-week ultrasound and once we were sure everything looked good, I was able to finally feel confident shouting it from the proverbial rooftops (aka facebook) and let people know.

First bump shot. I think I was 16 weeks.

 20 weeks and on our way to Kennewick, WA from Seattle. Stopped at a pretty overlook with Mount Rainier in the background. Rainier is now in the running for baby's name. Just kidding.

 22 weeks. Virginia Beach. Starting to feel big!

 I am due January 5. We call him Baby Blueberry. We told the kids around 16 weeks. They are really happy and talk about him all the time. (Although Afton was hoping for a girl and continues to refer to him as "she".)

17 weeks and counting!

Afton's Birthday

Last Sunday was Afton's fourth birthday. We had church from 9-12. Then we came home for lunch and naps (quiet time). Dan decorated and helped me decorate the cake. Afton wanted to decorate the bunny's bow.

That kind of cake is very hard to frost!

My parents, Candice, and baby Lincoln came over to celebrate that afternoon. (Charlotte and Millie headed off to Chicago with Craig a few days early.) Since our guests wanted to leave before it got dark, we took a nice walk around the neighborhood and then changed things up by having Afton open her presents before dinner.

She got a Belle dress, some cute Minnie Mouse PJs, a switch-n-go dino, Tangled, a few books, ring pops, a glow-in-the-dark wand, a balloon, and a fishing pole that broke the same day.

Afton requested mac n cheese for dinner, so that's what she and Sam had while the rest of us had chicken divan followed by dessert.

We love our Afton girl! She is such a fun, sweet, girly girl. She brings so much joy into our family.

And this was my last time seeing Candice before she headed back to Chicago. It was so much fun to see her a lot this summer. I'm going to miss her! She was suffering from a major cluster headache that day, but I still convinced her to pose with me.

Kennewick, Washington

One week after getting back from Tennessee, we all flew out to Washington to visit Dan's family.

We decided to book a direct flight from D.C. Not a great idea. A drive up that should have taken two hours ended up taking three. We were already having to take detours 30 minutes into the trip to avoid heavy traffic. Fortunately, we had added in extra time and we made it. The flight was fine. Dan sat with the kids on one side of the aisle while I was snuggled between two strangers on the other side. It made it awkward to try and talk to Dan about anything. I felt like I was screaming at the lady next to me.

We got into Seattle around 8:30 and after going through security, Dan realized he forgot his hat. We tried to track it down, but couldn't. Then the rental car took FOREVER. They said they didn't have the full-sized car we ordered. So they offered us an SUV. We were all settled in when Dan realized the tires were bald (and we were going to be driving through the mountains) so someone else working there offered us a different car. Which happened to be full-sized and for some reason they hadn't offered it to us before. Anyway, we finally got out of there and spent the night at Heather and Lael's house. It was so nice of them to let us stay there!

Sunday they gave us a delicious breakfast and then we hit the road to Kennewick. We took a scenic route through the mountains and stopped for a view of Mount Rainier. We stopped for sacrament meeting in a small town called Eatonville. Can you see the amazing view they have from the church?

 Let's get a close-up.

What?? Amazing.

On the drive.

 My first belly shot taken by someone other than me. 20 weeks!

We made it that afternoon to Dan's parents' house and Matt and Amy's family was there too.Heather's family came soon after. We had a delicious dinner and an impromptu arm wrestling session.

Monday we got to visit with Betsy! It was so great to see her and her kids were so kind to mine. I should have gotten a picture of the kids together. After we left Sam said that Ella (Betsy's oldest) was his best friend.

I can't wait until we can finally have a roommate reunion with all the girls! I tried to arrange something with Julie, but we missed her by a day!

Tuesday we headed to the Benton County fair.

Elephant ear.

 Sam was in heaven playing with his cousins. From left to right: Sam, Mack, Luke, and Hunter.

 Texana and Sam riding the Big Pink.

We also swam one of those days, plus a few more times.

I think Tuesday night Dan went shooting with Matt. Sam played Blokus with his cousins and Grandma.

Wednesday morning we hung out at home. The weather was gorgeous.

 Rolling around in the inflatable ball.

 Afton really loved it, too.

 Not.

 I just think she is gorgeous!

Later we headed to a park with Dan's mom.

 And got a shaved ice.

Thursday we went to the temple with Dan's dad.

After the temple we packed up and said our goodbyes. We had a great trip!