Beach trip

I have been wanting to go to the beach for about 3 years now because when we have come to visit Oregon it is always around Christmas, so naturally that is one of the first things I wanted to do when we moved here.
Travis parents, my mom and Travis and me and the kids all went down to Tillamook for the day.
It was supposed to be a nice day at the beach or so we thought, but when we got there it was pretty chilly, typical Oregon weather I should have known. :)
We still had a lot of fun though despite the cold. It was McKenna's firt time to the beach so it was so fun to see her reaction and to play in the sand and the waves.
Grandma Allen brought some beach toys to play with in the sand which were a big hit! She loved playing in the sand with the toys.
Grandma Marshall and Grandpa Allen built sand castles which she just liked to stomp on, it was great. She and grandma Marshall got wet sand and dripped it on top of itself so that it made large towers, she thought that was so cool!
We tried to get her to go by the water, but she wasn't having it, that is of course until she saw another little girl go into the water and she decided it looked like fun, grabbed grandpa and ran into the water. Grandpa said it was so cold but Kenna just kept running out and then running back in, she loved it!
It was really enjoyable watching the joy she got out of the beach. We will have to go there when it is nicer weather.
We had a nice bbq there though with the best hot dogs! It was nice to be together with the fam. Graysen just slept in his car seat with a blanket over him and didn't really get to experience the beach, not that he would have really cared much but for pictures sake I wish I could have gotten some but it was too cold.
We went to the cheese factory afterwords which was fun since I haven't been there forever! I love the squeaky cheese! We got some yummy ice cream which McKenna loved! We looked in the gift shop and then called it quits for the day.

We had a really good time and I loved going and just seeing how beautiful the area was even if was cold I can never be sick of the beach! I love just looking out at the water and rocks and trees, it is such a pretty coast and I am grateful I get to experience such beauty. I love Oregon!

The move

So a lot of things have happened all at once and I am just now finding the time to write them all down.

We are finally in Oregon after waiting forever to move out of Utah, and we are so happy! Oregon is beautiful and I love being here. The journey to get here however was not so fun.
Just having Graysen 5 days before made the trip a little strenuous for me but surprisingly I survived and it wasn't terrible. We packed up our van, it was literally loaded to the max with all of our stuff we had been using for the past couple of months. Travis had already moved most of our stuff to Oregon a few months before so thankfully we didn't have to deal with that. Looking from the outside into the van you would wonder how we all fit in the van comfortably let alone at all, but we did and we were all comfy for the most part.
It was really hard for me to sit for that long and what was supposed to be a 12 hour trip relatively took us like 16 hours or so because of all the potty trips we had to make and no not for McKenna, for me! After a second child I cannot hold it worth anything. I also had to stop and breast feed a lot as well so you can imagine how many stops we had to make between all those things. It was also not enjoyable having to walk into public restrooms with my little cleansing bottle and all the other wonderful things I had to use to take care of myself; not to mention it was time consuming having to do it all....those of you with kids know what I am talking about. :)
Travis was so nice and went out and bought me a nice soft pad to put on my chair to sit on as well as a back support thing that hooked onto the back of the seat. It made the drive so much better. My feet got huge though from sitting that long, but they eventually went down.
I was so sad to leave my sisters and their husbands. We did a lot together and it was so nice to have them so close and be able to see them all the time. Now when we see them it will be few and far between. I love my sisters and loved living by them and that is probably the only thing I will miss about Utah, and maybe the mountains.
The kids actually did really great on the trip, Graysen slept most of the time and McKenna just played with toys and watched movies and ate snacks. It was really nice to have my mom there with us so that we could have help with the kids and all.
I was so happy to get out of the car and actually stretch out, it was heaven. After that I didn't want to be in a car for a while. All in all though it wasn't too bad and now it is over with and i don't have to do it again for a while hopefully.
We stayed at Travis parents house for a few days until we could get all of our stuff moved in, the place cleaned and set up which was nice. Grandma and Grandpa Allen were so excited to have us in Oregon finally and to see their new grandson for the first time.
Our new house is in Salem which is about an hour away from his parents house so we took many trips from Beaverton to Salem working on the house and getting moved in. It took a while but we finally got all moved in and I absolutely love our place! It is in a nice quiet neighborhood,(minus the dogs,) and there is a little park across the street and we are really close to everything! There are so many things here in Salem, it is crazy! We just rented a house and it has 3 bedrooms and a two car garage and a big back yard.. There is also a little park across the street so we have been taking daily trips there. Here are a few pictures of the kids rooms. Graysen's is still a work in progress
Our ward is really great and welcomed us right away and we have gotten situated pretty fast. My mom stayed with us for a couple of weeks and it was so nice to be able to get some needed rest and help with McKenna while we got situated with our new lifestyle.
Travis started Law school the day after we moved in and is loving it! I had to take him to school and pick him up for the first couple of weeks and let me tell you down town Salem is really confusing. I got lost quite a few times, but I think I am starting to get the jist of the area now. I don't see Travis a lot because he is at school or studying, so sometimes I feel like a single mom, but it is realy nice to have his parents close because they have been a big help and I don't feel like I am so alone and know I can call on them if I need anything.
We finally have a schedule down as far as Travis school/studying goes and with the kids so it has made things a little easier to deal with. Sometimes I feel like I am going to go crazy between my energetic child who always wants me to play with her and my son who always wants to be held.....it's a wonder I get anything done, oh wait if you have seen my house you are thinking you don't...haha.
Graysen is a good baby but I feel bad that I am not able to spend as much quality time with McKenna as I would like because Graysen always needs something or wants to be held and so it is really hard trying to balance the two, but McKenna has been a trooper. She loves her brother so much and always wants to help. I am really working on developing patience with her but she is so forgiving and patient with me. I think she knows that I am working on trying to be a mother of two and that Graysen needs a lot of attention but that I still love her and try to do things with her. She is such a good little girl and I love her so much!
Well, as far as moving and starting school and what not that about sums it up. I have other things I need to catch up on but will do it in another post since this one is already so long.

Graysen Allen Harris

I have been crazy busy the last few weeks and have not had time to post anything, but I thought I would do the most important event, the birth of our son!
Graysen Allen Harris was born on Friday August 6th at 12:21pm, weighing 7lbs 12oz. He was the cutest little boy ever and are so grateful we were able to welcome him to the world.
I was enduced because we were moving to Oregon the very next week so we couldn't wait for nature to take its course unfortunately. I had to go in at 5 in the morning, but it was definately worth it. I had a relatively easy labor, the only part that sucked was that my blood pressure dropped really low and so I was nausiated and throwing up pretty much the whole time, but at least I didn't feel any pain; thank you epideral!
I delivered at Orem Community Hospital which is just a maternity hospital, so it was super nice! I absoulutely loved my experience there and would recommend it to anyone who lives in Utah! :) The nurses were fabulous and the room was huge and very nice. I didn't want to leave the hospital because the food was soooo good! Travis was so great and stayed with me in the hospital the full 48 hours.

We were kind of worried when Graysen was born because his heart rate was super high, and he wasn't really breathing that great so they had to take him to the nursery right away to evaluate him before I got to hold him. They said everything was fine though and that he was okay so they brought him to me and I got to hold him. He was so precious and I just fell in love with his big cheeks and double chin. He had a full head of blonde hair which is weird because McKenna was bald. Travis was so sweet with him and it was so wonderful to see father and son together.
We had lots of family come to visit which was really nice and they brought Graysen so many cute things. I wish all our family could have been there, but we will take what we got! :)

Graysen latched on right away and hasn't stopped since then. He slept really good and it was really nice to be able to get some rest in the hospital. My mom was there from Illinois and she watched Kenna while we were in the hospital which was such a big help.
McKenna is aboslutely in love and obsessed with her baby brother. She just wanted to hold him and touch him and love on him, it was the cutest thing! She is such a great big sister and I know will be a big help with the baby even if she might mawl him to death.
Having a boy is definately a different experience especially when it comes to changing diapers. The first time we changed the diaper he peed all over....I have to learn how to do it pretty fast so that he doesn't do that. I definately didn't watch when they circumsized him because just the thought of it makes me so sad. He did really good though and just wanted to be held afterwords.
We went home on Sunday and it was nice to be out of the hospital even though it wasn't really our "home" persay since we were moving the next week. My mom cooked dinner and my sisters and their husbands came over which was really nice.


We are so happy we have another addition to our family and are looking forward to see Graysen grow and to see his personality. This is just one big change in a long list of them to come, but it is definately the best one! We love him so much and are grateful that we have to beautiful healthy children and can't wait to see them grow up together.