Going Back Home to the West Coast

My time in Tacoma is broken up into two portions. The first two weeks living in a tiny hotel room with Ben and the baby, and the last two weeks living large with Mel and family.

So, after a month in DC we got up EARLY on a Saturday morning and took a taxi to the airport. (A taxi that was actually allowed on base this time.) Once we got to the airport we had to wrangle all our bags again and get through security. That went fine and we found our way to our gate. Once we were at the gate we were on the lookout for the airline people to make an appearance. See, Ben could only know what flight he'd be booked on after he got his orders and although we got the orders to go to DC about 2 months in advance the ones to Tacoma only got to use a month before the flight! So when Ben booked his ticket he could only get a middle seat and so I just got the middle seat right in front of him. Oh and this is a 6 hr flight. Across the country. With a baby. Who will need to be nursed during the flight. In a tiny space. Between two strangers. To say I was anxious about it is an understatement. I'd called the airline a few times to check if there was anything that opened up, but they told me I'd just have to try day of. So when we saw the lady get to the desk we rushed her and were third in line. When we got up there we found out there were basically no free seat to move to. There was an aisle seat I could get, but there was no guarantee I would keep it because that person just hadn't checked in yet and might show up. Thank goodness the lady told us the first person in line had a bunch of tickets she was trying to get together and they were around our seats. So it ended up just telling her she could sit in Ben's seat and we took one of hers that was next to me! SUCH a blessing. I was able to feed Riley without and issue and she slept long enough for Ben and I to get through two movies so fun was had by all!

Getting to our hotel was a little smoother this time around because we had a rental car, but to get the rental you had to take a shuttle a little ways from the airport so I hunkered down with our bags at the airport and Ben went to collect the car. So by the time we were actually driving down to Tacoma from Seattle Riley was not feeling it, but we made it alright. As we drove to Tacoma Ben and I both expressed feeling like Washington was a breath of fresh air compared to DC. It just felt more like home.

Pretty much the only adventuring around Tacoma we did was walking by this little lake.

When we walked in our hotel room our fears were confirmed...this was a typical Motel 6 type of room...alright maybe a little higher quality, but not much more space! We didn't have anywhere we could put Riley's pack-n-play that would give her her own space. So, we got ready for a rough month. Luckily, as I said I basically stayed with Mel half our time in Tacoma so we ended up only having to get through 2 weeks like that...which was plenty!

Oh I almost forgot to mention. Obviously during our time in Tacoma we wanted to see Mel and fam and Britty. Mel was definitely going to happen, but Britt was telling me she wasn't actually going to be around much and we probably wouldn't see each other. Then Mel tells me that Britt does actually have one weekend where she will be in Portland...the weekend we arrive. So. After getting up SUPER early and traveling on a plane 6 hrs, driving 2 hrs, we got to the hotel, unpacked a few nonessentials, and got back in the car to drive 2.5 hrs to Portland just to drive back 24 hrs later! It was a little crazy, but that was going to be our only chance to see Britty (or so we thought). I'm so glad we decided to go down, it's always fun to get the sisters together. So having 3 of the 4 together was pretty close to perfect! We took pictures, stole Mel's clothes, played the monkey game, ate yummy Hawaiian food. It was fabulous.

This video is evidence that if we drive to see you we must really love you! She was really done with traveling at this point.

So we got to Portland Saturday night and then headed back on Sunday night because Ben was starting his rotation bright and early Monday morning! Tacoma is obviously more spread out than DC so Riley and I didn't get to have very exciting days. We were pretty much at the hotel all day with an occasional trip to the grocery store that was a 5 minute walk. We did venture to the splash pad on base a few times, but this is Washington, it wasn't always swimming weather. So after two weeks stuck with a baby in a hotel room I was SO ready to get some more space!

Mel and I had a mutual agreement during my time there. I helped out with some child care here and there and she gave me a room for my child to sleep in where she could cry it out if necessary. Riley's sleep habits had hit an all time low after a month and a half in a hotel room. Trying to be considerate I was probably over careful about not letting Riley cry. By the time we arrived at Mel's I was rocking Riley to sleep for every nap and at bedtime we had to try 3 or 4 times putting her down before it stuck. Within a few days at Mel's and letting Riley cry it out for 5 or 10 minutes it was a LOT easier to put her down.

Ben was only there on the weekends that he didn't work, but it didn't take long for him to win over Ty and Brady. He played catch in the back yard with them which was pretty adorable. Once, when Brady made a good catch Mel and I tapped on the window to show him that we were cheering for them. Of course that made them both very aware that we were watching. So every time Ty and Brady would do something impressive they'd look back to get confirmation that we were very impressed.

On one Saturday Ty had a soccer game right during Cal and Riley's naps. Ben and I were planning to stay at the house with the sleeping babies but Ty really wanted Ben to be at his game, so Ben went and cheered him on even though he was running on no sleep.

Of course probably the funnest thing about visiting was seeing how the boys reacted to Riley. Brady enjoyed playing with her during church, but at the house usually had other more pressing matters to attend to. Ty seemed to really enjoy playing with Riley and had some really sweet moments. He was intrigued by breast feeding asking insightful questions like, "What does it feel like? Does it hurt?!" He also was surprised by her strength saying causing my own little overheard at the Thompson's moment :
Ty: Oh my gosh! She can hold that?? But her hands are so tiny!
Brady: Of course she can! She has been drinking milk that makes her bones strong.

Ty was so cute with Riley, but he always stopped whenever he saw me recording!

Cal was definitely the most affected by Riley's presence. Giving up his crib to her occasionally if her nap came at a time when the boys would want the play room. Also giving up his nickname of baby to her. Since we were referring to Riley as baby if anyone called Cal baby he'd reply, "No, not baby. I Calvin!" Throughout the day Cal didn't seem to mind Riley, but every morning Kip reported that Cal would say, "No baby," when he woke up. If she ever touch him he would say, "Oops," in the cutest little voice, which is why this picture is the way it is:

I couldn't get him to sit any closer than this.

Although I did capture an adorable candid moment:

We were visiting right at the end of summer right before their school started so we tagged along to a bunch of potluck/parties. We went to their ward potluck where we stationed ourselves close enough to the table to spot any new, desirable dishes arriving. We went to the boy scouts activity where we lamented as the woman in charge of busting out the dessert seemed to talk endlessly with other ward members. We attended a neighbor hood party with snow cones where I chose a pina colada flavored syrup which happened to be white so Brady and Ty thought I just missed the whole you add your own syrup thing and was just eating ice.

Yes, we had a great time in Washington/Oregon. Sadly, while we were there we determined that we wouldn't be ranking that program number 1 which means we probably won't end up there for residency. There are a few reasons we made that decision, but overall it was just the feeling we both had that DC was supposed to be our number 1 that finalized that decision.

It's so crazy doing this blog 6 months later...she is such a different baby!!

Saying goodbye to the cousins, one of my favorite pictures of Riley.