The Berg Family

Updates

2012-02-16T13:43:00.004-04:00

The latest and the greatest:

Paul: Currently doing his pediatric rotation with an AMAZING doctor. She is wonderful, the schedule she gives the students s wonderful, everything. Paul (and I) love her. Let me know if you want her information, if you are doing a rotation in Atlanta. Paul also finished building a HUGE play set for the kids in the backyard. It has 2 towers, 1 slide, 1 bridge, 3 swings, monkey bars, ladders, ropes, you name it. It is super fun and the kids are in love. He also helps a TON with the chores around the house because of all the extra time he has been given (and because he is a rockstar of a husband). Oh, and he is studying for STEP 2, which he has scheduled for next month.

Jessie: Trying to catch up on this blog, wash dry and fold the endless amounts of laundry, do all the grocery shopping, organize the playroom and all the other rooms in the house, clean the bathrooms, change dirty diapers, cook healthy meals for the family, teach 2 boys how to behave, listen, follow directions, numbers, colors, letters, writing, manners, etc. I am also trying to convince Lullaby to slow down on this whole growing up thing. She is going way too fast for me to keep up.

Matix: Has been testing his limits a lot lately. Saying no, talking back, and not responding when talked to. This drives me CRAZY, but he is learning and I am staying consistent, so I am sure he will outgrow it. On a good note, he can write his name without any prompts now, and is learning how to write Hawken name, so far "H" is the only letter in Hawken's name that he remembers and can do alone. He has also been into telling stories, about when Paul and I were little, or silly stories about everyone breaking their bones and getting casts, or about Jesus getting nails in his hands (he is very concerned about Jesus after we talk about this and always prays that night for "Jesus' hand ouchies to be all better" cute.)

Hawken: Is very into faking getting hurt, so he can ask for a blessing. At night he will say he can't sleep and really needs a special blessing because his head, or eyes, or armpits hurt. He has also been caught "giving blessings" to Sakina after he accidentally steps on her paw. He says "Be still Kina, I give you bwesswings now, and you feel all better!" He is such a sweetheart. He also likes to hear stories and will throw in his requests before you are allowed to start, "Tell about when I broke my eyes, and dis finger and dis finger and dis finger. Tell that story!" So then we have to be sure to incorporate that somehow into the story. After being asked to do something, he often responds like this, "Okay mommy, I will do it. I pomise!" Where he got the I promise thing from, I have no idea, but it's SO cute to hear.

Lullaby: Still spits up, but only occasionally, which is GREAT. That really is her only flaw. She is a dream baby. She takes three naps a day and sleeps at night from 6pm until 7 or 8am, only waking to nurse, then right back to sleep. She started wiggling around more when she is on her tummy, trying to get to a toy, but no real movement forward or backward. This was a nice surprise since at this age, Hawken was already on all fours and starting to crawl. Lullaby talks and coos when she wakes up from a nap. Such a pleasant, happy, smily little girl. I love her to pieces and really only have to give her a bath each night to wash off all the kisses she was covered in by all of us throughout the day.

busy Hawken

2012-02-16T13:31:00.004-04:00

This child never slows down. Upon looking through some pictures of a day at the park, I realized EVERY picture of Hawken was of the back of him. He was running or climbing or skipping or hopping in every direction except mine. :) He is so busy.

I love his little tiny waist that can never seem to keep his pants up, and his underpants peeking out. Adorable, for now... And this is his standard outfit: His "Cars" shoes and his "Cars" coat. He will not leave the house in anything else.

money

2012-02-15T15:51:00.003-04:00

Since we are trying to budget our family of 5 (plus 1 dog) on 1 student's loan money, it can get TIGHT. Money is always an issue. I have looked into several ways to make it work better with a little more wiggle room in case we would like to buy something frivolous, like, new shoes for Matix... I know, we live on the wild side! Well, it started with craigslist. There is a section on there for FREE things. Items people are just giving away. Because of that we got 2 backyard play sets (Paul has built a fortress, pictures to come), a little tykes slide, 2 plastic kid chairs, a little kid plastic picnic table, TONS of Thomas the train stuff, mega bloks, cars, a couch, a highchair, and more... crazy, I know. All the things we have received have been in good condition too. It has been wonderful.

My next biggest problem was our grocery bill. Although we hardly ever eat out, and I was shopping mostly sale items, our groceries were too high. So I looked into couponing, like real, is this lady serious with her 30 coupons?, couponing. I don't have all the lingo figured out yet, but I have been able to find a few great deals, not only on our groceries, which have been cut in almost half, but on other items too like toothpaste, dog food, dog treats, toys, and games. Who knew you could watch sales and match them with high dollar coupons for steals? This was my first FREE trip. Literally I paid NOTHING. I have done many trips since then, all with great results.

And now I am addicted. I watch the sales and match my coupons and I am in the process of making a binder with all the coupons. I love it. I really am addicted, but what better thing to be addicted to than saving money? Right? :)

experiment

2012-02-14T13:45:00.004-04:00

The boys have been really excited about science-y stuff lately. I found this experiment on pintrest. By the way, I hate pintrest. Well, really I love it, but I hate the crazy amount of time that is sucked out of me whenever I go on there. There are way too many cool things to see and try out. So here it is, our experiment. We started with milk, dish soap, food coloring, bowls and spoons. All things we already had in our house.

Pour milk into bowl, add drops of food coloring. Matix was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He thought this was the whole experiment. :)

Then put a drop of soap on the end of the spoon. You can use toothpicks if you want, or your finger maybe...? Then touch that soapy spoon on the color drops and watch them spread away from the soap. It is a really cool reaction.

Eventually both boys ended up just stirring it all up into a solid color. Hawken wanted to paint with it, so then I let them "paint" their paper towels. Simple fun.

We did it a couple times before I decided that we wasted enough milk for one day. Here is the end result of one of Matix's. Cool, right?

baby doll

2012-02-14T10:59:00.003-04:00

Lullaby got this baby doll for Christmas, and another baby doll just because, and she LOVES them. They are some of her favorite things to chew on. :) Lately, she chews on everything. These dollies though, she sometimes just snuggles. Adorable.

worms

2012-02-13T13:58:00.004-04:00

It's when we are outside that I see the boys' creativity and curiosity come to life. One day we spent HOURS digging up worms. Tiny little worms were hiding under the leaves, and the boys, especially Matix, were fascinated. After finding one, pulling it up, and laying it on the slide for closer inspection, Matix would talk to the worm, telling him all kinds of secrets. Those lucky worms. He watched them wriggle and move so carefully, like he was taking notes. He would gently put them back on the ground and start the search for another. I loved watching him this day.

Lullaby's book

2012-02-10T20:45:00.003-04:00

Lullaby's book is coming along nicely... Considering I only have to take 1 posed picture per month, it's the perfect project for me right now. I feel like I am so busy all day everyday, and have very little to show for it. :) I guess that's life with three wild kiddos. Here is the photo for 4 months (January 10th)... Even though it doesn't usually snow here, most places in January, it does, so I stuck to the norm. Which photo is better?

My new dilemma... my favorite editing site picnik.com is closing in another couple months, and I am super bummed. Supposedly they are linking up with google+, but not with all the features. Sigh.

river park

2012-02-09T12:50:00.004-04:00

We call this park, "river park" because it has a river than runs along one side. You actually have to cross the river to get to the play area from the parking lot. The boys thought that was pretty much the best part of the whole day. :) Plus, there are trees here in Georgia that drop these crazy looking seed pods. They are hard to walk on, but super fun to toss over the rails of the bridge to the fish below.

The boys enjoyed yet another really well kept and EMPTY play ground. As soon as the schools started letting out, a few more kids came, but until then, it was just us.

Also, they have a baseball diamond, tennis courts, basketball courts and there is this new (?) game. It is called "the NEOS wall" and it says it's a "light catching game"... What? Has anyone ever seen this before? Is it fun? After I took a picture of Matix in front of it, he asked to take my picture in front of it too. This is what Lullaby and I look like these days. You never see one without the other. :)

dress up

2012-02-08T09:42:00.003-04:00

These boys love to play dress up. The favorite costumes are Sully and Batman (or any of the other capes and masks). These boys are too fun. Sometimes they are in character all day (Batman only eats mac and cheese for lunch - for example), other times they want to wear their costumes just as their clothes...

Matix asked that I take a picture of him in this pose. Silly.

bath time baby

2012-02-07T12:45:00.004-04:00

Since Lullaby can sit up by herself now (fairly well), she thinks she needs to do it all the time. In the car seat she is always straining to sit up, and never lets her head rest back. In the tub, she does the same thing. She can't just have a relaxing bath, she is working those muscles the entire time. Silly girl. Can you tell from the pictures how much she is straining? :) And the rolls. I love how chunky she is.

Plus, check it out! She is getting some HAIR on her head (other than the little mullet thing she has going on in the back)... HOORAY!

So far it pops up right on the top like a Kewpie doll, adorable. I can hardly wait for the piggy tail days! I can't really tell what color it will be though. It looks like it might be a reddish-brown? But who knows really, Hawken came out with black hair and now he's a blondy...

Lullaby

2012-02-05T22:13:00.005-04:00

Little miss Lullaby Loo... Oh you are so sweet. You are the world's most perfect baby. I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have you. Lullaby is almost 5 months old already. She is growing by leaps and bounds and has been following in her brothers' footsteps in reaching many milestones on the early side. She is sitting alone, although still a bit wobbly. Lullaby smiles and coos and "talks" all the time. She is rediculously ticklish and her laugh is just edible.

She eats rice cereal now, even though I am pretty sure she hates the taste of it, smiles the whole time because she likes the social aspect of it all. She takes 3 naps a day, and the middle one coincides with the boys' nap (hooray!). She doesn't sleep through the night, but with all the growing she has been doing, it makes sense that she would need to refuel more often. :) When she gets upset, it is very easy to calm her down. Her brothers are always ready to help. They hold her hands and kiss her face and sing her songs.

Lullaby, you are the sweetest little thing. I love you like crazy and I am so proud to be your mommy.

Matix

2012-02-05T22:02:00.004-04:00

Matix, where do I start with this kid? He has such a BIG personality. He knows exactly what he wants and has his entire day planned out the minute his eyes pop open. He is more sensitive and emotional than any child I have ever met too. If things don't go his way, even if they slightly deviate from his plan, he loses it.

He has great ideas and will help anyone that needs it. He shares very well, even when we don't prompt him to (most of the time). He loves life and being the biggest brother. He loves to role play and will tell you exactly what you're supposed to say and do for your part. He says he is going to marry Anna when he grows up, and Emmy, and me. He loves to watch movies with bad guys in them, so he can fight them and save the princess (and usually ends up kissing them...).

Matix loves to watch over Lullaby, and takes such sweet care of her. I love you Matix man. You are one of a kind and I love every minute of being your mommy.

Hawken

2012-02-05T21:47:00.004-04:00

This little Hawken man has my heart wrapped up in his little fingers. He has been growing by leaps and bounds and is always amazing me.

I love that he still wants me to hold him and carry him, while Matix tells me, "Mommy, I'm hurting your muscles. I'm getting too bigger for you to hold me." Hawken comes in every morning and loves on me and tells me he missed me. When he goes to play outside in the yard, he tells me, "Don't be sad mommy, I'll be home soon. I love you mommy.", to which I answer, "No, I love you baby." and he says back "No, mommy, I love YOU." which we play back and forth and back and forth.

He is such a crazy little boy too. With a great imagination and no fear. He loves to climb up on anything and everything and jump off, just to do it all over again. He tells stories about lions and monsters and breaking all his bones and then tells me in a comforting voice, "It's okay mommy, I just pretending." I love you Hawkers. You are too much fun and I love being your mommy.

time out nap

2012-02-03T12:24:00.003-04:00

Matix has begun to question nap time... HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?! I am not ready for him to not nap, plus the 2 times he didn't nap, he was very cranky that afternoon and evening, so I know he still needs them, whether he wants them or not. The other day he kept talking in his bed, and since he shares his room with a very sleepy Hawken, I had to take him out. I told him he was on "time out nap" on the couch. He had to lay there and be quiet while I watched him, since he was being too naughty to sleep in the big boy room. Well, it took all of 10 minutes and he was SOUND asleep. Hooray! I knew he was tired. Such a stinker!

Since this time out nap incident, he has been really good about naps, although he stills tries to barter for 5 more minutes playing... Plus Matix is so smart, I can reason with him when he is cranky later on. "You're getting upset now because your body needed more sleep. You need to take nice long naps so you will feel happy when you play." I know he understands because he will tell me later on after a good nap, "mommy, my body feeling really good." Or after a shorter nap and he is cranky, "I didn't get enough nap. My body's feeling really bad. I should go lay down more."

new playground

2012-01-31T20:30:00.004-04:00

So we have been on the hunt for new playgrounds... Georgia, lately, has been pretty cold, so we don't play outside everyday. But on the nice days, we soak it up. The boys love finding new playgrounds, naming them, and telling me their favorite parts on the way home. This particular park is next to one of the libraries (there are a ton of libraries by the way, one is just down the street - we can walk there!). We call it "library park", I know, we're very creative. :) Anyway, this park has a few cool features. The boys favorite part, by FAR, is the built in musical instruments. These noisy bells are SUPER loud when you bang on them with a stick, and each color makes a different tone. Very cool.

There are also drums and chimes. I love it. We have been to only a handful of other parks so far, but I am very pleased with what we have found. They have all been kept up very nicely and have different areas to accommodate different ages of kids. Love it. Good job Georgia.

crazy Matix

2012-01-27T21:21:00.005-04:00

What is wrong with this picture?

Look closely...

It's barely 40 degrees outside and LOOK WHAT MATIX IS WEARING, or NOT wearing. :)

Shortly after waking up from naps, and changing from pull-ups into underpants, (yep, STILL in pull-ups when they sleep), I couldn't find Matix... Hmmm... He is so sneaky!! He got outside and was playing in the FREEZING cold weather in only a shirt and underpants. Crazy boy! He loves his backyard WAY too much! :) Caught ya!

Now that's better!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-26T21:25:00.006-04:00

Let's be honest. As far as Christmas morning went, it was all about these 2 little boys.

Paul, my dad, Lullaby and I were all there too, but the gross majority of the gifts were for Matix and Hawken... as it should be. I always remember Christmas being magical. Not just because of all the gifts but because of the family. This Christmas, my dad joined us, and it was wonderful to have him here.

Christmas 2011 came and went REALLY fast, but it was still really nice. This was Lullaby's first Christmas too, and our first being a family of 5. Crazy. :)

table

2012-01-26T19:43:00.003-04:00

Paul and Hawken built this little table for the playroom, we love IKEA. The room is really starting to take shape, although, I always get new ideas of how I want it...

I think these may be two out of three pictures that I have of Hawken when his leg was in that splint. Not a very happy time, maybe I was picture taking depressed. :) Anyway, the boys love their new playroom. Hopefully I will get it finished soon and take some pictures... maybe entice a few friends and family here to visit...?

no more swaddles

2012-01-25T23:39:00.004-04:00

Oh how I love this baby. She is absolutely perfect. Yesterday I decided she needed to learn to sleep without being swaddled. It made me a little sad to think that she is growing up so fast. But, she can roll over too well now to be swaddled safely. I am worried that she will roll into a position that she can't breathe well in, and with her arms pinned in place, she might not be able to get out of it. Lullaby has always been a good sleeper (not through the night yet though) until her cold and then teething started... then learning to roll both ways (tummy to back and back to tummy)... Anyway, I figured it would be better all around if she could sleep (and soothe herself back to sleep) un-swaddled. Well, since she is the perfect baby, of course she mastered it in less than 2 nights. Good job Lullers! I started a Bachelor marathon just in case, and now I am hooked, hence me still being awake at midnight... I could have had a good night's sleep too. Poop.

Proof that Lullaby can sleep un-swaddled. This is from a week or so ago, she passed out watching the boys run back and forth, laying on my tummy up and holding my hand in the playroom. I love her.

Paul update

2012-01-25T18:47:00.001-04:00

It's Wednesday evening... 6:47 to be exact. All three kiddos are SOUND asleep, thanks to a warm day and TONS of outside time and a long walk to the store down the street and apparently tryptophan in my milk for Lullers. :) Today is Paul's LAST (hooray hooray!) 24 hour shift for his OBGYN rotation. He has had four 24 hour shifts in the last seven days. Yeah, I know. Crazy, right? Not only has he had these, but also his regular office shifts. Fair warning to anyone coming for an OBGYN rotation in Georgia: don't let your medical student spouse come unless you like never seeing them, or you want to pretend you're a single mom. I have not liked this rotation as much as the ones Paul had in Miami. In 3 more days, Paul will be DONE with OBGYN though, and these 6 weeks have finally come and gone. :) It wasn't all bad though, he is rotating with a really nice student/friend which makes it better. Plus he has been able to participate in quite a few births (natural and c-section). I think that seeing new babies being born is special, even though I don't quite care for the guts and blood and stuff like that, Paul doesn't seem to mind. OBGYN is NOT on the list of what he wants to be though (thank goodness), mostly because of the hours and (understandable) crankiness that comes along with it. I am so proud of Paul and all his hard work and dedication. He works a lot harder than he needs to, because he really wants to gain experience out of each of these rotations. I love you hubby, and I'll see you in the morning!! Hooray!

my dad

2012-01-23T15:44:00.003-04:00

My dad came here for the weeks before and after Christmas. The boys were in heaven with their grandpa here. Thanks dad for coming out. We had so much fun.

Kisses for grandpa.

On your next visit dad, I challenge you to ANOTHER game of "darn" and I really think I might actually win... one of these times.

hats and mittens

2012-01-23T15:35:00.003-04:00

It's cold here. We have had a few days of less than 30 degrees. No thank you. The boys love to wear hats and mittens, but don't have anything that fits them really well. So I made a few things. Hats that won't fall off and mittens that go partway up their arms to keep their wrists covered too. No close ups because they are far from perfect, but they fit well and the boys like them. The pictures were just from when I made them, they didn't go outside in their jammies, I promise. :)

Lullaby got a hat too, I made it too small the first time around. :) I think she looks a little gangster...

Sakina

2012-01-23T15:29:00.001-04:00

Paul took the boys out the other day to run errands, and left Sakina at home. Poor Sakina sat like this, looking at the door the whole time they were gone. She really loves her boys. :)

simple

2012-01-21T21:07:00.005-04:00

Aren't kids good at pointing out the beauty and fun in the simplest things? I have been taking time lately to really watch these kiddos of mine. They are fascinating. Really watching them and trying to see what they see is amazing. The other day I found them here. On the stairs. Doing... nothing. Just existing and loving it. Matix had a broken necklace that he was dragging up and down the steps below him, listening to the sound of it.

Hawken put his pretzels in this big bowl and was sitting eating his snack. He likes to use big bowls whenever possible. Why? Who knows, but to him, it makes his snack time special.

Then later they watched... and I watched them watching. There was nothing really going on, just enjoying the view. It was too early in the morning and too cold to play outside, but they didn't mind. They talked about the bugs, and birds, and people they saw. They watched the neighbors leaving for work. Hawken stood on tip toes so he could see. Matix had his cars clutched tight in his fist.

They are completely entertained with the simplest things. Figuring out what life is all about, I guess. I love being able to watch them grow, and be a mom and really see this life from an entirely different perspective. I had a good day.

Hawk b-day again

2012-01-19T14:32:00.004-04:00

Hawken's last birthday surprise. Lee and Stacy saved their gift for Hawken until they got to see him in person. He was so excited for MORE presents. Thomas the train outfit (they still love dressing up) and hat, train whistles, a puzzle and book. His favorite part of the whole gift was the 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed book. He loves it. (I think that's one of the reasons they were inspired to make their video)

Thanks grandpa and grandma for the gifts. I love them. :) Love, Hawken!

fun

2012-01-18T13:32:00.004-04:00

Two of the things the boys love to do in their new big backyard... Digging holes and racing their bikes down the sloped driveway as fast as they can.

I really should get a video of the bike races, they go CRAZY fast, and giggle the whole way down. Too fun. Here they are making the long trek to the top.

Bradley

2012-01-18T13:29:00.002-04:00

I love this picture of Bradley. He makes the BEST faces, and smiles a lot too, although those are even harder to catch. :) But I caught this face, a classic Bradley face. He is VERY into his cars, and was making little noises (driving noises maybe?) I love it.

Lee and Stacy

2012-01-18T12:47:00.005-04:00

Lee and Stacy, being the rockstars that they are, drove all the way from Arizona to Texas to drop off Dale and Vanessa's things that were in storage (they just built a house and will hopefully get to stay in one place for a while), then continued on driving to Georgia with some of our things including our DOG! They actually got here first and unloaded everything and began cleaning the house before my dad, Jolie and Bradley got here (and WAY before we got here).

I wish I got a picture of Stacy Energizer Bunny Berg in the kitchen, arms held high to show off her amazing skills. She was unpacking and organizing things every moment of every day. I don't think I saw her sit down more than once, and that time she was dressing Lullaby, so I don't think it counts as resting. :)

Our kitchen is pretty big and she had everything put away and OCD organized before they left 3 days later. She also repacked the things that were to be in storage here, labeled boxes, played with kids, cooed at the baby, went shopping, cleaned the house, arranged the furniture, organized the boys clothes... the list goes on and on and on... :)

Lee was equally helpful, although I think he did end up sitting down for a few viewings of Speed Racer (thanks to Bradley). He built the boys beds back up, broke down boxes, hauled trash, pulled up posts, built a makeshift fence to close off the driveway, turned on the water for the house, played with the boys, got to meet his newest grand baby, built the play set, installed the washer and dryer, HIS list goes on and on too. Here he is NOT posing for the camera. I swear I have more pictures of the back, sides and top of his head than anything else. :)

They stayed until Tuesday morning and flew back to Arizona. It was a sad good bye, but since we have the room now to have guests... they can come back any time they want! :) Hooray!

Lee and Stacy, thank you both so much for making that ridiculously long drive out here, for all the WONDERFUL help, for the good company, and the huge sacrifice of time you gave to us, again. We love you guys!

Jolie

2012-01-18T12:37:00.004-04:00

It was so much fun having my little sister around here for the first week. Jolie has helped me at the front end of most of my moves (the packing and organizing mostly - she is CRAZY good at organizing). She was there when I moved at the end of each school year in college in Colorado, and once in Arizona too after Paul and I were married. This was the first time she got to do the unpacking when I had done the packing... Let's just say, she wasn't impressed. :) I have a different style of packing. It goes more like this: Put whatever will fit into this box as quickly as you can so we can be done with this! Not quite her style. :) While working hard one day she sliced open her finger. Yuck! And kept on working.

She was SUPER helpful and ran around organizing and unpacking. She almost finished the playroom while she was here. It was SO nice to have such a big head start on that project before I was left here to do it alone! (It still isn't done, by the way) Besides all the work she did, it was nice to have her company too. We talk on the phone, but it's so much nicer in person. Thank you Jolie for coming out, putting your life on hold right before a major holiday, and being so wonderful. I love you snotface. ;)

friends

2012-01-17T10:48:00.000-04:00

These three were so cute to watch. They all had different goals as to what should be done with their cars, but they played together so nicely even still. Bradley wanted to line all the cars up. Matix wanted to race them all down the slide. Hawken was more into collecting and hoarding them. We miss you Bradley man!

play set

2012-01-17T10:46:00.004-04:00

Lee, Jolie, Paul and my dad were all busy at work to finish the play set. The guy we got it from still had the original instructions to give to us, so that could have helped, but I am pretty sure they just eyeballed it. :)

The boys were very helpful as usual.

By the end of the daylight they got it all put up. It is perfect and the boys can't get enough of it! Hooray! Thank you all for all the help!

cold

2012-01-17T10:00:00.004-04:00

The first morning here, Jolie and my dad were outside cleaning up the yard, so naturally, the boys wanted to be outside too. There were a million leaves that my dad raked, and Jolie pulled up all the vines.

The boys were (and still are) both SUPER excited to have a real backyard. BUT... Being used to Miami and the 79 degree weather we left, they were frozen here in Georgia in the 50's (it's been down to 27 on other days, but up until this particular day, 53 was the coldest weather EVER).

Thank goodness for auntie Jolie coming to their rescue with hats and mittens. :) All is well.

choosing the tree

2012-01-16T21:01:00.003-04:00

Picking out the Christmas tree this year was fun. It made it feel a lot more Christmas-y in our house. Paul and I usually get real trees still in the pot (not chopped down). They're a tiny bit more expensive, but not by much, and then you can plant them afterward, hooray! :) I found a very pretty one, symmetrical, full, not falling to one side... but the boys found the one that they wanted and we decided to go with that one. It was tipping over and not as full, but they loved it. They were excited, but cold. Poor things were still used to Miami weather.

Bradley came with too. It was fun having three mobile kiddos (Lullaby stayed home with Jolie and my dad, she was already sleeping for the night). They were all very well behaved. I was really happy about that.

The next day, we decorated it. All three boys were very excited about that. Bradley had obviously done it before, and was a pro. Matix wanted to put all the ornaments on one side. Hawken wanted to play with each ornament before allowing us to force him to hang it on the tree. We stuck with the non-breakable ornaments this year... It may be like this for a long time.

When the kids were done, we had a little mini Christmas. Jolie and Bradley were going back to Wisconsin for the 25th, so we had a little celebration here with them before they left. The boys got Bradley a present and he got one for them. We also got Jolie a little something. It was nice, but I wish they could have been here for real Christmas. It's just more fun when there are more people. :)

cocoa

2012-01-15T22:32:00.001-04:00

Drinking hot cocoa with Paul and my dad after the kids went to sleep... telling stories and jokes... and enjoying the season. I miss you dad. :)

hair dyeing

2012-01-15T22:16:00.007-04:00

While Jolie was here, we dyed our hair one night. We both started with blond with roots of natural coming through. Yuck. She went even blonder, and I went dark brown-ish. Her hair is super long, and mine is super thick, so it took a long time. The before/during...

The waiting...

And I don't have any really good afters of me, but here are a ton of Jolie, refusing to pose with the mistletoe, but a smokin' hot blond, huh? Sorry, Jolie, you asked for it. :) Where are those Taco Bell pictures anyway? :)

moving to georgia

2012-01-14T14:52:00.000-04:00

2 nights before we left, we had the missionaries over for dinner and packing. :) They were so helpful and we got nearly everything packed. Hooray!

Then 1 night before we left, the boys helped Paul a little... He ended up giving them rides on the dolly around the parking lot. Very helpful. Hawken and Matix were both very excited to move to Georgia. At one point Hawken climbed in the trailer on top of the boxes and said, "Okay, me go to Georgia now!", like he was going to be riding back there with all the boxes.

The boys and Lullers were demoted from beds to the floor for bad behavior... :) We had already packed their bed frames. I love how Hawken and Matix ended up snuggling, so sweet. And check out those dirty feet. Yuck.

Early EARLY in the morning we set out on our long adventure. Lullers was happy and ready to go. The boys were cranky, but ready to go too.

In true Southern hillbilly style, we ran out of room in our trailer AND car, so we had to strap the mattresses and trash can any place we could find on the outside of our car an trailer. Lovely.

All three kids in the car, Georgia, here we come!

Along the way we drank a ton of Naked juices. The boys thought it was the FUNNIEST thing when they found out they were called "Naked" juices. Love this video!

The juice mustaches were hilarious!

We had to stop A LOT on our way. 2 potty trained toddlers with bladders the size of a peanut and 1 nursing 3 month old make for lots of extra pit stops. :) The boys always took advantage of the stops. Exploring and gathering/hoarding sticks. So fun. (Can you tell we were still in warm Florida weather?)

The way the trailer was weighted made it so that we could not go any faster that 51 miles per hour. Every time we tried to push it faster, the trailer would start wobbling back and forth and it would move the car, enough that we were not feeling safe about it. SOoooo, we went the ENTIRE 690 mile trip going rediculously slow. We left at 4am and got in at midnight. We were so happy to arrive to family. Paul's parents got to Georgia that afternoon and my sister, dad and nephew got here that evening. Everyone had already cleaned the house, and unpacked the things they had brought. It was SO nice.

Hawken's big day

2012-01-14T14:03:00.000-04:00

Hawken turned 2 on December 3rd. Paul put together his bike the night before, and when Hawken woke up he came into the living room to see it and a huge pile of presents. He was so excited!

Everything was a hit. He loved it all. :) Hawken is a very easy kid to please.

Matix was most excited about the gift from my dad, he sent one for Hawken AND Matix, so thoughtful.

The gift giving went on all week long. Hawken had cards and gifts trickling in from grandparents, friends, and great grandparents almost daily. He loved it. Thank you to everyone who thought about Hawken on his birthday. He had a very special WEEK! :)

Also on his birthday was his (and Matix's) friend Bruno's birthday party (another reason we had his party on the following Saturday). They had a bounce house in their backyard, and Hawken got in there with his cast and had a great time. Of course he did. :)

Matix and Bruno.

Matix tried out Hawken's new bike, and Hawken FINALLY got a turn on Matix's bike. :)

cold day

2012-01-14T13:44:00.005-04:00

So, we are here in Decatur, Georgia... It's a suburb of Atlanta, and we are looking for things to do. It has been pretty cold the past week or so, with a few days on nice weather in between. On these cold days, I want to know what to do. I have found a few magazines that tell about the area, parks, etc. I want to find some place like this: (these were from back in Miami in October)

The children's museum in Miami was WONDERFUL, and thanks to a few free days, we went there at least once a month, if not more. The boys loved it. Here in Georgia, there are a few museums I had been recommended to go to, and a zoo, and tons of parks... But what do we do in the cold? I can't go to the museum every day (especially with how much it costs)... Ideas?

2 little monkeys

2012-01-13T11:10:00.003-04:00

Another video. This was Matix's idea. The boys got a few animal hats for Christmas and the monkey one is just perfect for this version of "2 little monkeys jumping on the bed!" I love it. Enjoy.

We filmed it yesterday and I edited it this morning. The boys have watched it quite a few times already. So funny. They are so excited about watching themselves.

Hawken update

2012-01-12T22:37:00.003-04:00

So I realized, I never posted an update on Hawken and his forever broken leg. The short version is this: He is a faker and milks all injuries so as to be snuggled MORE by mommy, and mommy falls for it every time. His leg is not broken.

The longer version goes like this: At the end of November, Hawken DID break his leg. Click this link to read all about that horrible experience. After 3 and a half weeks in his cast, he got it off. 2 days after that we moved to Georgia, and he wasn't having any problems. No pain (I think he would have told us) and no real issues other than walking with his right foot turned out more than it should be (the doc said this would be normal for about 3 weeks until he retrained himself how to walk again)... ANYWAY, about a week after we were here, Hawken was running to get outside and slipped on a stuffed animal on the floor and slid/twisted while he fell. I wasn't there to see this one, but Paul and my dad were and they both said that it didn't look like a bad fall. But when he got up, he cried and refused to put any weight on it. CRAP! Not what I wanted to hear. Paul took him to the ER, and after seeing his x-ray (you will always be able to see where the break was), and seeing that he was favoring his right leg again, the doctor said he probably broke it AGAIN. This time they only put it in a splint though. Since it was in a splint, we took it off and gave him baths like normal. And because it was a "toddler fracture" there wasn't any worry of it getting any worse if he did decide to put weight on it. So during the nightly baths, Paul and I noticed that when he wasn't paying attention, he would put weight on it and stand up. Paul was pretty sure it wasn't broken, but I was nervous. Turns out he is a FAKER! I was so hoping that was the case, and after a week in the splint, we took it off and told him his leg was all better. He said, "Okay!" and walked right over to me. So, now we know that his leg was not broken, only hurting. He probably fell weird and it probably did really hurt at the time, but it's NOT broken, thank heavens! :)

And here are some pictures of Hawken lately. He is in LOVE with Sakina. He asks where she is 50 times a day. He lays on her and brushes her and feeds her treats all day long. His latest interest has been to dress her up. Poor Sakina is the most patient dog in the world. The face in Sakina is priceless. I love it!

perfection

2012-01-12T21:18:00.003-04:00

Okay, I DO plan on catching up on this blog... but probably not tonight. :) Soon though, I promise. In the meantime, I have to post these ADORABLE pictures of little miss Lullaby. She is getting over her cold, and although still working on the teething thing, is back to her normal happy, easy-going self. Hooray!

She is such a PERFECT baby. This is the kind of baby that people dream about before they have kids. The kind of baby that I thought really was only a dream, until I met her. Turns out perfection really does exist, and her name is Lullaby. :) I love LoVe LOVE her.

catch up!

2012-01-11T16:50:00.003-04:00

My goodness mom! Get this blog up to date already!! You still have pictures from Miami to post!! Hurry it up!

Sheep in a Jeep

2012-01-09T10:32:00.003-04:00

Well, I have had this idea in my head for a while... The boys love to watch their music video to "What I Am" by Will.I.Am and I wanted to make a new one, BUT, haven't decided on the song. So, in the mean time, I thought we could make a book video. It's kinda like a book on tape, but I also filmed them acting it out. The boys picked "Sheep in a Jeep" for their first one (we will probably be doing more). I think it turned out pretty cute, and we have already watched it a bunch of times too. :) The boys think it's great hearing their own voices. I love it. Enjoy.

It only took 20 minutes of playing, 30 minutes of editing video clips and adding script, 10 minutes (if that) of voice-overs and another 10 minutes of editing that. Easy. And oh so worth it. :)

Matix

2012-01-08T21:29:00.002-04:00

Mister Matix man is a SUNBEAM!

At first he was scared to death to go into the Primary room with the big kids instead of Nursery with Hawken (Hawken did fine without Matix, by the way). He cried and was really nervous. After a little while of sitting and whimpering, he told me he was sad because they didn't pick him to say the prayer. After that, I explained that he had to be quiet and reverent so that they would pick him. They picked him to point to pictures during singing time and then he loved it. He ended up sitting on his teachers lap, then going into his class giggling and singing. Today we only went to the first hour of church because all the kids have the sniffles and a cough, and Matix cried. I am so happy that he likes Sunbeams now. Hooray for my big boy going to Sunday school! Good job!

baby quilts

2012-01-08T21:01:00.005-04:00

Lullaby is a very lucky baby and received 4 baby quilts. The first one is from my mom. It has little butterflies with wings that move on the corners. So sweet. These pictures (and the pictures on my grandma's quilt) are from a few months ago, but cute huh?

The second quit was made by my grandma, Lullaby's great grandma Evie. The back has really soft fabric and is her favorite to snuggle with. She insists on sleeping with it. Can you tell she loves it?

The third quilt is from my friend Liz. (Liz is the future mother-in-law of Matix AND Hawken, they are betrothed to her 2 beautiful daughters) :) She was so sweet to make this for Lullaby. I love all the black, white and yellow fabrics she found for this. Gorgeous.

The last quilt was made for Lullaby by my friend Jill. Jill is part of my Colorado family. She also made quilts for the boys (post with pictures to come). Lullaby is mesmerized by the baby carriage prints on it.

I love all these quilts so much, especially because they came from such special people. Lullaby is very loved. Thank you 4 for these beautiful blankets.

catch up - Hawken's party

2012-01-06T13:19:00.000-04:00

On December 10th (our last Saturday before we moved), we had Hawken's 2nd birthday party!!!!

He requested a "cars and candy" themed party. Turns out, that is pretty easy to do. With "Cars 2" memorabilia everywhere, I got lots of fun things, my favorite find were these juicy juice boxes with different characters on the side. The kids noticed them right away. So fun. (Matix lined them all up for the picture)

We had it outside at Salvadore park in Coral Gables. It is the same park we had Matix's party in just a few months ago. Having a party at a park is GREAT. The built in entertainment was wonderful!

Hawken had tons of friends come. Lullaby stayed with Paul most of the time. Matix ran laps around the park with other Maddox. Hawken bounced from one thing to the next and was SO excited to finally have HIS party.

We played a few games. Racing the cars down the slide was one of the games. Race a car, then slide down, then get a prize. A very 2 year old appropriate game. :) Then Hawken wanted his friends to draw him pictures of cars, so we said for each of them to color a picture of a car for Hawken and in exchange, he would give them prizes. Perfect, right? Then the last game happened spontaneously because I had gone a little overboard on the prizes (more candy), so I scattered it all out on the ground and told the kids they all had to be speedy race car drivers and pick up all the candy. They each got extra loot bags and went for it. Each kid left with TONS of candy, which was the idea. I'm glad they had fun.

I think this is the only semi-decent picture I got of Matix the whole day. He was SO busy at the park, I couldn't keep up. But he was there, see? :)

We had cupcake decorating, as usual, and it perfectly fit the candy part of the candy and cars birthday party theme that Hawken had asked for. The kiddos were in heaven (all the parents had been forewarned that this was going to be a candy filled event, don't worry). I love this first picture. Can you tell how much this little guy loved it?

Paul made the fruit bouquet, didn't he do great?! I love it. It got devoured, despite the ridiculous amount of candy everywhere. :)

Then it was time to sing to Hawken. He was so excited. (Since then, I have posted the video to youtube, and he requests, "Mommy, me see happy bird-day to Hawken, happy bird-day to MEEEEEE! song?" He loves it.) For the cake, I made a race track in the shape of the number 2. Carla Velosa crashed, and Mater is towing her away, and Lightning McQueen is winning the race. Hawken thought it was great.

Saying good bye to his wonderful friends. In the first picture he is saying good bye to Alex, then in the second picture he is saying good bye to other Maddox.

Family picture, of course. Lullaby was there, I promise, she was just well hidden. :)

Hawken was completely spoiled by his friends. We didn't open them at the party, partly because I think it's awkward for the people who didn't bring anything (like I had asked them not to, but some people did anyway), and partly because there were plenty of kids at the park who were not part of our party and I didn't want them to feel bad, but MOSTLY, I wanted Hawken to take a nap first before the new toy hoarding began. :) He was so happy with all his gifts. His friends really thought about him and gave him things he really loves. Thank you to everyone who came to the party, and thank you to those of you who also brought gifts, it was so nice of you. :) Hawken had a great day.

tiny toilet

2012-01-05T13:16:00.002-04:00

While shopping one day, we discovered this TINY toilet in the "family bathroom" at Walmart. I love it. Keep in mind, Hawken is not even 3 feet tall. The toilet seat was only about a foot off the ground. Cute little bum shot too. :)

catch up - Other Maddox

2012-01-05T12:47:00.005-04:00

"Other Maddox" is the name for a little boy we met at the play ground one day. His real name is just "Maddox", but it sounds pretty similar to how we say "Matix". We heard his mom calling "Maddox, come here." and thought, no, she isn't calling her son Matix, is she?... Well, long story short, we became friends, she and her kids started coming to play group with us, and that's that. :) I don't have any really good pictures from this particular day. These 3 boys are trouble together. Matix started this little game of who can scare their mommy the most:

The other 2 followed of course. And even though Hawken was in his cast still, it didn't slow him down in the least, as you can see. He climbed everything just like he normally would.

We miss "other Maddox" (and his mom and baby brother too), it was nice to get to know them, even though it was just before we left Miami. Boo for bad timing. Hopefully they will move again to wherever we end up next. They are super fun.

Oh, and Lullaby was making some great faces that day. Here are a few.

catch up - good byes

2012-01-05T10:50:00.005-04:00

Our last day in our Miami ward was bitter sweet. Bitter because we had really grown to love our ward, our callings and the friends that we made there. Sweet because it meant we would soon be moving on to Georgia and another step closer to being finished with this whole 'up and move when Ross says move' thing. I got a few pictures, but missed even more. :( Hawken was pretty emotional about it. It was just before nap time, so that probably has a little to do with it. Matix was okay until we got home and explained that we probably wouldn't see those friends again.

This is Anna. Oh Anna, how these boys love her. She always came and found them and gave them kisses. They loved that and would search for her if church started before she got to them. She was sad that it was our last Sunday too.

This is Javi. He is Anna's little brother and just the right age to be a cool big kid, but still want to play little boy games. The boys loved him.

Megan is my friend and fellow play grouper. :) Andrew was one of the first friends the boys made in Miami. They are so fun, we will miss them a lot.

This is sister Garcia. She was the boys' nursery leader. She didn't speak very much English, but she loved the boys and took very good care of them. I'm sure they miss her.

Mara, the primary president. I love her. She is so sweet and is so enthusiastic about teaching the kids.

This is Lamat, one of the "big boys" Matix chased around with after church. They were always so sweet to play with the little kids.

I didn't get a picture of Lucas, but the boys have asked for him each Sunday here, and they wonder where their "best friend" is. There are tons more people that we love and will miss terribly from our Miami ward. I wish I had a picture of each of them. That church ward was amazing and we will miss it for sure.

catch up - Hawken getting his cast off

2012-01-04T14:36:00.005-04:00

Hawken broke his leg in the end of November. He had his cast on for just over 3 weeks, and he got it off 2 days before we left Miami (just in time). Before he got it off, he had gotten really good at walking, running, dancing, climbing, even jumping in it. He is very impressive.

The only thing he didn't really care for was having a sponge-ish bath. We tried to make it seem as fun as we could, but that only really convinced Matix that it would be fun. There were a few days of all three kids (one by one) taking a bath in this baby tub.

Last picture in his cast. They wouldn't let me take pictures while they were taking it off, but it's just as well, he just sat there and watched. Not very exciting, or scary like I thought it might be for him.

Right after he got it off, the doctor explained that he would probably favor his used to be broken leg, and not want to put any weight on it for a while, even though it was okay if he did. Well, Hawken jumped down from the table, walked over to the stroller, climbed up into it, turned around and said, "Me leg tickles. We going home now?" First post cast picture.

We went over to "other Maddox" 's house to pick up our Matix (thank you thank you Sarah for watching Matix and making that time at the hospital SO much better). We stayed and played for a little while and Hawken was using his leg just the same as he always had, except he kept it turned outward like it was in the cast. Show off. Here are Matix, Maddox and Hawken.

That night the boys had a bath in the REAL tub and had so much fun. It was a luxury we had taken for granted. Who knew that baths were so special and such a fun time of the day? :)

catch up - library in Miami

2012-01-04T14:12:00.003-04:00

Story time ended at the Coral Gables library branch in the beginning of November, so we started going to a new branch that had an ongoing story time for toddlers. We LOVED it. They did a coloring activity, books, songs, and movement activities, perfectly geared toward toddlers and preschoolers. Even Lullaby had fun listening to all the excitement.

My favorite part is always the singing. Not because I am a good singer (because actually, I am a really terrible singer), but because my boys think they are the BEST singers, and this day Hawken had all the people around us giggling from his rendition of "the wheels on the bus". He had actions that he made up, and always ended each verse with an overly emphasized "TOWNNNN!"

Lullaby's baby blessing

2012-01-04T12:18:00.004-04:00

Lullaby had her baby blessing on Sunday the 18th of December (a day and a few hours after moving here) in our new ward here in Decatur, Georgia. We were a little sad that we couldn't have it in Miami with our wonderful ward family there, but the timing just wouldn't work out for our real families to be there. Since everyone was coming to help us move in and unpack in Georgia anyway, it was perfect to just have her blessing here. There are some cute pictures of us getting Lullaby dressed, but those are on Stacy's camera (Stacy, you should send those to me if you get a chance). Stacy made this beautiful blessing dress, bonnet and slippers. It was so cute, and Lullaby looked adorable. Here she is getting her bonnet on, so sweet. To give you some idea of the detail that went into this outfit, Stacy padded the back of the bonnet so Lullaby would be more comfortable when she rested her head. I love it. Lullers loved all the attention.

Everyone took turns holding Lullers and snuggling her on her special day. It was so nice to have some family there with us (even if we wished everyone could have come). Paul's parents Lee and Stacy were there, my dad Chuck was there, and my sister Jolie and her son Bradley were there. Thanks for coming, it meant a lot to us. :)

Paul blessed his little girl with such sweet things. One of my favorites was for her "to be able to see all people as Heaven Father sees them and love them just the same".

Lullaby really is such a sweet little girl, and we are so happy that we get to have her in our family. We love you Lulla Baloo!

After church, she wanted to take a nap snuggled up with her daddy. Awww!

mistletoe

2012-01-03T17:45:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, kissing under the mistletoe. :) I love it, and I love HIM.

funny face

2012-01-02T16:58:00.002-04:00

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. There is nothing special about this moment, or some cute story to go along with it. Just Lullaby sitting with grandma Stacy, making this awesome face. :) Filling her diaper maybe? She is so expressive.

24 hour shift

2012-01-01T22:08:00.004-04:00

Well, I had a large dose of single mommy-ness today. I think I did alright, although there was a lot of thinking and calculating to be done on my part to make sure church wasn't a complete failure. Matix had his first day in the 3 year old class, called "Sunbeams", which he hated at first and then loved. Typical Matix. :) Lullaby is teething, so she was cranky. And Hawken was my shining star and loved going to Nursery, even though he had to go alone for the first time. Hooray! Naps after church were a success too, but by dinner I was too tired to do much of anything. So they had Spaghetti-O's and fruit for dinner. Not the best, but they were full and ready for bed. They all have the sniffles too, so I got called into the boys' room a few extra times tonight to help blow noses. I miss you Paul! :) Paul has been gone since 6am today for his second 24 hour shift in 2 weeks. Yuck. Last time he was able to deliver a baby and a placenta (a little gross, I know, sorry). Although I wish he didn't have to do as many of these 24 hour shifts, I am glad he is at least getting such a good experience out of it. He started his OBGYN rotation 2 weeks ago (has it been that long already?!). Here he is ready to go.

He is still a bike commuter, but the intense hills here, and the COLD weather may be slowing that down a bit. We will see if he gives in and takes the car sometimes. I love how his snowboard pants are over his regular pants and rolled up to keep off of the chain. :) Paul, you are awesome. So far he is really liking this rotation. Once he got to actually participate in a few things, he was happy. The first few days, no one wanted a MALE student to come into the room with the doctor he was following, so he basically sat and did nothing for his entire shift. Hopefully he will have more participatory days in his future. I think it's so exciting that he actually got to deliver a baby! :)

2011 in a nutshell

2011-12-31T22:47:00.004-04:00

2011 was a crazy fast year for us. We started it out in Miami Florida as a family of 4 and ended it in Decatur Georgia as a family of 5.

January: Found out we were pregnant. HOORAY!!

February: Bed rest for Jessie, help from both Grandmas.

March: Found out we were going to get our first GIRL!

April: Off bedrest, Paul finished 5th semester, and the boys loved hunting for eggs.

May: Paul passed the COMP, we headed to Wisconsin for the first step in our long summer trip.

June: We played in Wisconsin with Jessie's family and the Arnolds.

July: Got to Colorado to visit my Colorado family the Abbajays, then to Utah to visit Paul's extended family, then to Arizona to catch up with friends and visit more with Paul's parents and sister.

August: We drove through Texas and stopped to visit Laurel, and Paul's brother and his family, then on to Ocala Florida for a quick stop to see Phil and his family, then back to Miami, just in time to celebrate Jessie's birthday. :) Paul started his first clinical rotation, family medicine.

September: Lullaby was born, Matix turned 3, and Paul finished his family medicine rotation and started the internal medicine rotation.

October: Monsters Inc. trick-or-treating madness.

November: Paul's birthday, Thanksgiving with the Bowdens, house hunting for our next move, and Hawken broke his leg.

December: Hawken turned 2! Paul finished his internal medicine rotation, we packed and actually left EARLY to move to Georgia. Paul's parents and my dad, sister and nephew came to help us move in and unpack. Paul started his OBGYN rotation.

We have had a good, and challenging year. We are yet again so thankful and happy with everything that has happened. We love our life and our family and even (sometimes) the trials we have been given. 2011 was good to us overall and we can't wait to see what another year brings us.

backyard

2011-12-29T13:30:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite features of the new house. The window over the kitchen sink that peeks into the backyard.

Once it's warm enough to play outside more regularly, I foresee many meals being made inside while watching these busy boys run around outside. So nice. Sakina is a great watch dog too. She is huge and has a loud bark when she sees anyone walking by the fence. Just in case I need to stir... :) PS, see that big hole in the back fence? That's fixed now. Paul built it back up and now it's perfect. Hooray! :)

love

2011-12-28T22:17:00.002-04:00

Lullaby has been loving all the extra attention she is getting from her grandpa. I love these pictures. She is just in love... and I think he is too. :)

Jolie

2011-12-27T23:06:00.002-04:00

Little miss Lullaby has chosen her favorite auntie. It's Jolie. For those other (probably jealous now) aunties out there, it's your own fault for not being the first to meet her. :) Lullaby is completely smitten with Jolie and even took a snuggle nap with her, which she had previously only reserved for her daddy. :)

Any other aunties want to come visit and try to even the score? We would love some more visitors!! :) and now we even have an extra room and lots of space!! Hooray!

pictures

2011-12-27T22:43:00.005-04:00

We have had a few nice days to play outside (more nasty ones than nice, so we take advantage when we can) and the boys LOVE their new HUGE backyard. It is so so so so so nice to have a place for them to dig and explore and be kids all so close to home, so if Lullaby needs a nap I can put her in her bed, or if dinner needs to be stirred I can do that, WHILE they play. So nice. These are some pictures that Matix took while playing in the yard. Picture #1 = favorite cars all lined up. Picture #2 = Bradley's legs and collection of sticks in his fingers. Picture #3 = Sakina. I especially love the one of Sakina, because you can see Matix's little shadow. Cute.

There were a few more in this series, but not worth posting (Jolie's tummy, the back of Hawken's head, and lots of Matix's own finger covering most of the lens).

Bradley

2011-12-26T23:20:00.006-04:00

The kids cousin Bradley came to visit, and we were so happy he came. He is such a sweet boy. The boys spent a lot of time outside, digging and racing cars down the slide, and a lot of time inside watching movies. I love the 3 little blonde heads. :) Cute.

Bradley is 6 and doesn't talk very much yet. He knows how to communicate, but actually verbally talking is few and far between. I had only heard him say "up" once when he was much younger, and I knew of him saying a few other words other times from my sister, mom and dad. But, while he was here I caught him on film saying "ouch". You can read it on his lips both times he says it on camera too.

You can't hear it very well on the video, but read his lips at 0:13 and you can see he DID say it! Hooray! It was the most beautiful "ouch" I have ever heard. Perfectly articulated and lovely to hear. I am a proud auntie. Good job Bradley!

bath and books

2011-12-26T23:08:00.002-04:00

While we had so many visitors here, I actually got in on a few pictures. Hooray! :) Usually I am the one behind the camera. Anyway, while downloading the pictures, I found these. The first is of us giving the boys a bath. In our new house, we have 2 bathrooms, which is quite the luxury for us.

Lullaby is back on her schedule (finally) and goes down around 6pm while the boys are just finishing their dinners and getting ready for their bath. We bathe them and then we read books in one of my favorite new places in the house, the "book nook".

The whole upstairs of the house is one giant room, which we have turned into our playroom and the book nook is at one end. We love it. This house is amazing, and I am SO happy everything is fixed now. Paul rebuilt the fence today, the washer and dryer got fixed 2 days ago, and I was the one who figured out how to fix the dishwasher (go figure). Things are looking up. :)

Sakina is BACK!

2011-12-26T23:01:00.003-04:00

Paul's parents brought our dog, Sakina, out to Georgia. We are all SO excited to have her back. We all love her, but I think Hawken loves her the most. Wherever she is, he is and vise versa. Thankfully Sakina is a very patient and calm dog, because this is what she has to deal with everyday, multiple times a day:

Sakina is loving her big back yard too. She isn't used to the cold(-ish) weather here yet, but will go out when we do. I have yet to train her to poop in one area of the yard only, right now she goes wherever she wants to, and with the kids outside so much, it's hard to keep up. Anyway, other than that, I am done with the complaining. :) Back to being a happy blog now, I promise. :)

This Christmas

2011-12-25T21:24:00.006-04:00

Last night, we read the scriptures and told the story of Jesus' birth.

We snuggled up in warm Christmas jammies and we listened to Grandpa Chuck recite (as is tradition) "Twas The Night Before Christmas".

We wrapped the last of the presents and put them around the tree.

This morning we woke up EARLY, we opened presents and more presents and more presents.

We dressed in fancy Christmas clothes,

We went to church and sang Christmas songs. We came home to a delicious lunch and everyone took naps. Then we woke up and played some more.

This Christmas was a good one. The kids were completely spoiled by their grandparents. Paul and I are exhausted from all the holiday fun and the toddler crankiness that comes with that much excitement. We are so happy and feel so lucky for what we have been given. We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

alive and fairly well

2011-12-23T21:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, we made it to Georgia. There have been a few hiccups along the way. Here they are:

We could only drive 51 mph on the highway on our way here because of the way the trailer was weighted. Our trip went from the guesstimated 10 hours (via mapquest) to 14 hours (via stopping for hungry babies and toddlers) to the grand total of 20 hours!!! Yuck.
When we got here, we found out that the fence was not finished, the heat was not working, the dishwasher was not installed, and the washer and dryer area was for a stacking washer and dryer not the traditional side by side kind...
Once the dishwasher did get installed, it didn't drain.
Unpacking boxes from Arizona that we hadn't seen in over 2 years AND boxes from Miami was pretty challenging. Not every box was labeled, and "helpful" children complicated the matter.
Having house guests (my Dad, sister Jolie, and nephew Bradley came from Wisconsin and Paul's parents Lee and Stacy came from Arizona) in a freezing cold house, with no guest beds was... interesting. :)

It took a lot of work on everyone's part to get this place in order. Stacy ran around like the energizer bunny organizing the kitchen and all the bedrooms. Lee installed the washer and dryer with Paul. My Dad, Jolie, Paul and Lee built the playset in the yard. Jolie and my Dad cleaned up the yard of leaves and debris. I cooked the meals and played with the kids mostly. Bradley, Matix and Hawken played and watched movies and made lots of messes. Lullaby slept mostly (after hours and hours of screaming in the car). Jolie organized the playroom and ALL the toys. Stacy and Lee left on Tuesday. Jolie and Bradley left today. My Dad will stay here through Christmas. It was SOOOOooooooo wonderful having everyone here to help, unpack, install, fix and build things. We loved having everyone here and finally having a house big enough for everyone to fit! Hooray! :)

All in all though we are really very happy here. Most of the problems have been worked out already.

The title of the post is mostly because of today. Today, Jolie and Bradley left. They missed their flight so after 3 trips to the airport, they finally got to go home to Wisconsin. Then I came home (again) to a screaming baby (she is teething, of course). After calming her down, and falling asleep myself, I woke up to a crying Hawken. He was complaining of leg pain. He got his cast off a little over a week ago, and then today, he slipped and fell, and BROKE IT AGAIN. The next few days will be filled with doctor appointments, carrying around 2 babies instead of just 1, and fussiness. Oh Hawken, please please let your leg heal. :) What a day.

We plan to go see Arthur Christmas tomorrow, in hopes of making Hawken sit still. Wish us luck. Merry Christmas.

moving

2011-12-15T22:55:00.002-04:00

We are on our way! We leave early early early tomorrow morning to head to our new house in GEORGIA!! We couldn't be more excited! Hooray! Wish us luck. :)

Thank heavens for this guy. He is a master packer and we are all packed up and ready to go (which is shocking... we are usually packing right up until the last second). Ready or not here we come!

happy

2011-12-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

I love them I love them I love them. :) These 3 make my heart so full.

problem solving

2011-12-11T21:01:00.004-04:00

After discovering where all the books were disappearing to, I asked Matix to get the books out from under Hawken's bed and put them away. He was in the bedroom for a while, then came out, asked for the "hooky string thing" (bungee cord), hopped on his bike and went back in. I followed him and this is what I saw. First he hooked his bike, then he hooked the bed, then he pulled.

Voila! Problem solved. What a smarty pants, huh? I love to see him figure things out like this. He could be an engineer in the making... Looking for an apprentice grandpa Lee? :)

cookies

2011-12-11T20:59:00.001-04:00

Making cookies for daddy, just because he's a good daddy. We love him. :) and the boys loved taste testing the cookies before daddy got home.

free play set!

2011-12-10T15:15:00.002-04:00

For those of you who don't know, we're poor. :) We live on student loans but still want to be able to provide a fun experience for our kids... This can be tricky to do, but with a little work, we have found some great deals. Like this! Paul found this guy on craigslist who was giving away the play set in his backyard. His kids are too big for it now, and he was giving it away for free to whomever wanted to haul it away. That's us! Paul drove to his house, helped dismantle it, strapped it to the roof of our car, and drove it home.

We are sooooo excited to be moving into a house with a YARD so that we can have a play set for the boys! So fun! Thank you to this nice man for giving this away, instead of selling it. He just made 2 little boys SO happy! :) The silly part is, it is still on top of our car. We don't get the trailer until Wednesday, which is when we can pack it. :)

sleeping in the car

2011-12-10T15:12:00.001-04:00

Do they look like little grumpy old men or what? :)

sleep

2011-12-10T15:05:00.003-04:00

This is how the princess sleeps. Still swaddled, although she usually wiggles her hands free, but then fusses unless she is wrapped up tight again. Paci to fall asleep, but spits it out later on. Always on her side, and now that she is so rolly we put blankets in front and behind her to prop her there, which she likes. She likes Great Grandma Evie's blanket (thank you Grandma!) in front, she nuzzles her face on the soft fabric, and Grandma Kim's blanket (thanks Mom!) behind her (it stays put better). She won't sleep on just a sheet either. She prefers to sleep on Liz's blanket (thanks again Liz!). Like I said, she is quite the princess. :)

first trip to the dentist!

2011-12-10T14:46:00.004-04:00

On Thursday the boys had their FIRST ever dentist appointments! We read a book about going to the dentist and the boys, after being reassured there were going to be NO SHOTS, were pretty excited about it. I was... hopeful. :) Hawken was first, but this was his reaction to it. Not a fan.

Hawken hid like this for a minute and then we decided Matix should probably go first instead. Here was Matix at first... brave? Nope, he's a faker. Right after this picture was taken, he sobbed.

And by sobbed, I mean screaming, crying, hysterical sobbing. I held his hands, and tried to comfort him, but getting his teeth brushed was way too scary for him. See the tear stained cheeks? This was at the beginning of the brushing. By the end I had to hold his legs down so he wouldn't kick the dentist, yikes!

Hawken however, decided that he actually liked getting his teeth brushed and his biggest problem was that he kept trying to lick the tooth paste off his teeth while she was cleaning them. :) I love the dirty little cast in the picture.

Both boys got stickers, (even though Matix was horrible), and a few little toys.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these dentists. They made the whole experience so much better than it could have been. They showed the boys each of the tools before they used them, and the boys could touch them and ask what they were for. Really, it was a good experience. Matix continued to pout on the way home, and Hawken was all smiles, as usual.

Both boys were congratulated on their good tooth brushing skills and there were no cavities. Hooray! Hawken though has to go in again on Monday because he has very weak enamel on the top front two teeth, the dentist says it's hereditary and not the cause of poor eating or brushing (phew!). He is going to get them drilled smooth and a little layer of something... cement? put over them to make them stronger. He has to get laughing gas for this, so we will see how that goes. He is already excited to go back.

Hawk

2011-12-08T22:25:00.002-04:00

The first few days in his new cast, Hawken refused to walk, or crawl, or move around very much at all. I think the break was still pretty painful. Thank heavens for Sarge and all the loves he gave my lazy baby.

Now, however, is a different story. He is wild and tries to run. Today Hawken figured out how to JUMP with his cast on. Great. He is such an active boy, I was really hoping the cast would slow him down a bit, at least long enough for him to heal, but now I am worried he is going to break something else in the meantime... Yikes.

new love

2011-12-08T21:29:00.002-04:00

Lullaby's new favorite thing:

She would sit in this little chair and bat at the little toys all day if she could. She giggles and laughs and smiles forever in this seat. She is such a good baby. Really. I can't say it enough, she is perfect.

More of Sarge

2011-12-07T16:09:00.006-04:00

Matix finally found a dog busier than he is! Oh, Sarge, I miss how you would wear out our boys! :)

Even Hawken got tired watching Sarge run around his stroller.

These boys have been loving this sand box area in our complex. I think maybe when we get to Georgia, we might make one there. They spend so much time digging.

Sarge likes digging too. :) Matix and Hawken thought that was the FUNNIEST thing ever. They laughed so hard we had to literally run in before Hawken peed his pants.

Lullaby, of course was content to watch all the action from the stroller, she is such a good baby.

Updates

2011-12-05T22:34:00.002-04:00

Paul: Is currently working his 11th week (of 12 total) for his internal medicine rotation. He is really liking the doctor that he is working with, although he has later hours than a lot of the other doctors he worked with. He wakes up and studies for about an hour (prepping for the step 2 exam he wants to take in the spring), eats breakfast and leaves for the hospital, sometimes before we get up, sometimes after. He rides his bike still (thank you perfect Miami weather!), and comes home at 6pm at the earliest. Some nights he isn't home until 9 or 10pm, no thank you. In news other than school (can you believe he does things outside of it?), he found a guy on craigslist giving away his kid's backyard playset (I guess they are too big for it now). Right now it is strapped to our car... Hopefully it will remain there until we get our Uhaul trailer in a week and a half. :)

Jessie: I finally figuring out how to do the 2 immobile kid thing. How do people with multiples do it when they are babies?! Having Hawken casted up is soooo challenging. He wants so badly to be able to run and jump like he used to do, but now I have to carry him most places. To the bathroom, so he can make it there before having an accident. To the car so he won't step in puddles. Into the car because he can't manipulate his ankle to climb in himself... the list goes on. Meanwhile I have a little baby who needs even more from me. But I am grateful that we have health insurance that took care of my little guy when he needed it, even if it makes more work for me now.

Matix: Is becoming such a big boy right before my eyes. I can't believe all the things he can do and say and help with. He has his own little personality and can be quite feisty. :) I love him to pieces and am soooo happy he is mine.

Hawken: Has been doing little silly things, then laughing this fake laugh, and saying, "I'm really funny mom!" He cracks me up. He will repeat this little mantra until everyone else joins in and laughs too and agrees that, yes, Hawken is really funny.

Lullaby: Is almost 3 months old! Ahh! She is still the world's most perfect baby. (Well, Hawken was really good too). She cries only when she needs something and she is very predictable. She naps when the boys nap and makes my life a dream. I love these kiddos so much.

That's it for updates really. We are packing and will be in our new HOUSE (yes, a real house, with a yard even!!) in Georgia in less than 2 weeks! Hooray! Can't wait to get a tree and really feel like it's Christmas, so far we haven't really done many Christmas-y things and Paul and I are both missing that! :)

Mr. Matix Man

2011-12-05T16:31:00.003-04:00

My poor neglected big boy. Matix has really stepped up in the past few days. Between the packing for our move, Hawken's birthday, basic baby needs of Lullaby and the needs of Hawken because of his new cast, I haven't had a whole lot of time to spend on him. Well, it turns out he doesn't need me as much as I thought he did. I learned this week that he can undress himself completely (I thought he could only do pants and underwear), dress himself, pour his own cereal for breakfast, reach into the silverware drawer to set the table, and many many more things... Not that I was not feeding him or dressing him, just that when I asked if he could try to do it himself, he DID. Yay!

He is such a delight. Matix is so smart and sweet and wonderful. I love him so much. Thank you Matix for being the amazing little boy that you are and helping me with all this STUFF. :)

Hawk and Lullaby

2011-12-03T22:42:00.002-04:00

Sweet little Hawkers and his baby Lullaby. I love watching these 2 together. They are just edible. Hawken asked to snuggle Lullably when she was cranky. It worked and she calmed down. When snuggling got boring, he grabbed his ukulele to play her a song... (ignore the fact that he is half-nakey... it is easier with the cast and the frequent potty breaks to go bottomless sometimes)

Hawken is 2!!!

2011-12-02T23:51:00.004-04:00

In an hour, my little Hawken turns 2. For some reason, I am really sad about this. He is such a sweet baby, always in my shadow, always asking to be held and snuggled... I just never want that to end. I hope that with this new number, he will still be my little snuggle bug. He is soooo excited about his birthday, and getting a new number. He has been telling people he was 2 for about 6 months now, so finally it will be true.

Hawken can do everything. I know typically I would make a list of the words he can say, or the new milestones he has reached, but really, there is nothing this little boy can't do. He is quite the over-achiever. We are so proud of him and are impressed constantly. Really the only thing he hasn't quite mastered is counting. His numbers go like this: 1,2,3,4,6,9,10. He sings songs, "reads" his memorized books, jumps (or he did before he broke his leg), runs... everything.

We love you Hawken Man! Happy 2nd Birthday! :)

kids say...

2011-12-01T15:16:00.002-04:00

Sharing a graham cracker with Matix he said this:

M: "Let me go get some cheese."

J: "Oh, cheese is good on other crackers, but not on graham crackers. "

M: "I like cheese."

J: "Me too, but these don't taste good with cheese."

M: "Yes it do... Yes they does... Yes it doing... Yes it doose? Mommy, I don't like cheese anymore."

He totally gave up trying to figure out the right way to say it, and blamed it on the cheese itself. Ha ha ha! I love this little boy. :)

missing the tub

2011-12-01T10:19:00.003-04:00

With his cast, Hawken can't take a bath. :( He has to get little sponge baths in the baby tub. He is not a huge fan and every night asks, "Me take a BIG bath today? Peeeeeeeeeeease?" I feel so bad. I took these "big bath" pics the day before he broke his leg. We look at these a lot. :)

Poor little guy. We have his appointment to get his cast cut off on the 14th. So the countdown begins! :)

Sarge

2011-12-01T10:09:00.002-04:00

Our little almost puppy Sarge has moved into his new home with his new family. The boys really had a lot of fun with him while he was here though, which makes me all the more excited to be reunited with our Sakina in a few weeks!! Hooray! Puppy Matix:

Puppy Hawken:

Poor Sarge... he was very tolerant.

And ALWAYS underfoot. His new name is "Finn", another Cars lover named him.

Thanksgiving dinner

2011-11-29T21:19:00.004-04:00

For Thanksgiving we went over to our friend Joe's house. He and his two kiddos made the turkey and potatoes, and we brought the other stuff. :) It was a lot of fun. Ellie is a week younger than Hawken and in nursery with the boys. Kenny is a year older than Matix, but plays well with the boys. The kids had their own table, it was really cute and they were all very pleased.

Dinner was DELICIOUS and afterward (before dessert) we walked over to the park to play for a bit. The kids had a great time. Hawken figured out a new fun way to slide with his cast. You would think this thing would slow him down, but no. He keeps on going and going and going. His cast is FILTHY dirty and I want it off NOW. :)

Lullaby got some extra snuggles in with her daddy.

Family shot.

We got back to their house, ate some pie, the kids watched some Pixar shorts (we thought of you dad), Hawken and Lullaby crashed out on the couch, and the adults talked.

It was a very nice night and we left full as can be. Thanks Joe for a wonderful night. We have such good friends here in Miami, we will miss them.

story time

2011-11-28T16:25:00.004-04:00

One of our Thanksgiving-y activities was to go to story time at the library a few days before. The teacher read a few books about Thanksgiving and she even had a stuffed animal turkey who gobbled to all the kids. Matix and Hawken loved it.

Then the activity was gluing paper feathers onto a turkey, and coloring it. Matix, the perfectionist, was there for the second longest time of ALL the kids at story time. He colored every inch of it and glued the feathers, and then re-glued them in a better spot a few times... :) He also peeled his crayons furiously. I remember doing that too, when I was little, because I didn't like the feeling of the paper seam.

Hawken glued his feathers on, quickly scribbled a little something in the middle and called it good. :) We snuggled for a bit, while we were waiting. Love him.

Lullaby was very content to sit in her stroller and watch. Smiling and flirting with anyone who would make eye contact with her. She is such a sweet baby.

Lully Bully Boo-we love you!

2011-11-26T21:15:00.003-04:00

Yes, she is LOVED. But more importantly, she is TOLERANT. :) We love our new baby. The boys frequently ask to hold her and snuggle her and tell her how much they love her. It is oh soooo sweet to watch. This is the newest holding position, "just like daddy does it!" Paul snuggles her to sleep sometimes on his chest. Cute.

Everglades trip

2011-11-25T21:59:00.002-04:00

This is how our trip to the Everglades went... We got in the car and were very excited. It was free because we went on Veteran's Day (State parks and National parks offer free admission every year on Veteran's day and the weekend after, FYI).

After driving QUITE a while and seeing NOTHING... We stopped for a potty break at this place, "Skunk-Ape Research Headquarters". That was the name, for real. It was the beginning of a scary movie. :) Well, that's what it looked like anyway, although the people there were wonderful.

They let us tour their exhibits for free (thank goodness for cute kids). Very cool, and a little spooky. There were snakes that could eat medium sized dogs, alligators, and tons of other equally scary creatures. The boys loved it. There was also this HUGE statue.

We kept driving and went all the way to Naples. Ate dinner and returned home having seen ZERO alligators in the wild. Apparently they are only out in abundance in the summer months... Hmmm... Maybe next time. :) It was a fun road trip anyway. Lullers was good for the ride and the boys were happy to watch a movie on the way home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T21:48:00.003-04:00

What we are thankful for:

Paul:

1. my wonderful wifey (he said that himself, even though I am typing)

2. the family that's picking up our almost puppy tomorrow

3. fenced in parks

4. nephews named Goose "squooooooonky"

5. my brilliant children, I am so keen on them, NZ shout out holler!!!

-(I don't know why Paul's are so weird.)

Jessie:

1. our 3 perfect babies, I love them soooo much

2. my silly hubby

3. our families, even though we are so far away

4. thanksgiving dinner with friends

5. our church ward and the friends we have made here in Miami

Matix: (according to us)

1. puppies

2. sticks

3. anna

4. running

5. guns (although I disagree that this is one of his favorites...)

Hawken: (according to us)

1. candy

2. mommy

3. candy

4. daddy, matix and baby buh-bye

5. candy

Lullaby: (according to us)

1. kisses from brothers

2. cuddles from mommy

3. snugglers from daddy

4. walks in the stroller

5. getting held after a traumatic car ride (she hates her car seat)

We really are so grateful everyday, not just today. But, it's nice to have a whole day to talk about and really reflect on the wonderful, beautiful life that we have been given. We are so thankful.

Paul is 29!!!

2011-11-23T10:08:00.002-04:00

Who knew 29 looked like this?

Happy Birthday Hubby! I wish today you didn't have to leave before the rest of us woke up, and I wish you didn't have class after your rotation until 9pm tonight. :( Not the most fun way to spend your special day. But when you do come home, we can celebrate again. I love you soooooooo much. And the kids do too. You're the best.

We celebrated last night when Paul came home. We had birthday muffins for him (the boys insisted that he would prefer muffins over cupcakes), sang to him, he opened his cards and gifts, and then Paul and I enjoyed a fancy dinner and dessert. Yum. Birthdays on a budget (money and time) aren't always spectacular, but they are still fun. Happy Birthday PAUL!

worst.day.ever.

2011-11-21T21:53:00.002-04:00

As the title reads, today was the WORST DAY EVER. It was the worst in too many ways to count. It was bad in the morning when Paul and I argued over if he should take a shower (stupid fight, we made up after a couple minutes, don't worry). Then in the late morning, Lullaby got up early from her nap #1 (no fun), then we walked to the Goodwill store. Hawken threw a HUGE fit when we had to leave... Crying, limp noodle, tantrum... Lovely. I was already tired, so I opted to buy pizza for lunch. I was TRYING to make it easier on myself, but then their "hot and ready" pizzas weren't hot OR ready. We had to wait 10 minutes, which to toddlers may as well have been a few hours. The boys were cranky, and ready for bed. We finally got our pizza, got home and ate it. During that time the baby woke back up and needed to be held, and rocked, and diaper changed (twice), and fed AGAIN... During this time I was barking orders to the boys to get their under pants off and pull-ups on for naps and SOMEHOW, Hawken got out of his bed and fell weird on his leg. When he tried to stand up, he fell again because he couldn't put any weight on it. He still wanted to take his nap, so we all napped (this was the ONLY happy part of the day at this point). I was praying that when he woke up he would feel better and maybe it was just a sprain, but no. Of course not. Not today, the worst day ever. Today, it had to be something worse, and it was. We went to the ER at the children's hospital which thankfully is very close to our house. After being there just over 5 hours, we found out that in fact Hawken BROKE HIS LEG!! Crap. It is a small fracture on his right leg, they called it a "toddler fracture" and said it was a pretty common break for kids his age. It won't affect his growth and shouldn't re-break in the future.

He had x-rays done, picked the color for his cast (yellow) and got another x-ray after that to make sure it was set well. He can technically walk in it, but he is afraid to put pressure on it. When we were finally released and I told Matix to put down the Wii (apparently, he knows how to play the Wii, although we don't have one at home), he RAN FROM ME! What?! Lullaby was crying and wanting to be nursed in public (for what would have been the 3rd time that day) again, Hawken was in a general state of distress, but I had to run after Matix who was long gone and around a corner in a very busy and confusing hospital. FANTASTIC! I found him right away, some nurses had stopped him. He said he wanted to stay at the hospital, and at that point I thought about it... Hmmm.... Maybe only 2 kids would be better? :) Just kidding, but I was EXHAUSTED. I dragged him back to where my other 2 crying children were waiting ever so impatiently.

I somehow managed to get all 3 to the car. Then I got home, brought in our screaming baby, gave her to Paul to hold until I got the others. He of course, was in the SHOWER... (remember our fight this morning was about the shower...) Anyway, I got Hawken and Matix in from the car, and Matix informed me that HIS leg was now broken too. So Paul (having more energy and strength to deal with this and all the other ridiculousness that comes out of these situations with silly children), wrapped up his leg in a "cast" of toilet paper. Very clever, and it fooled Matix. This was the another of the good moments today.

The boys are now sleeping and I am basking in the silence and peace... FINALLY. I am soooooo tired. Today was the kind of day that I don't want to remember until I am MUCH older and wiser and have something good to get out of it. Right now, I just want to have my little pity party. Today was the worst day ever.

date night OUT

2011-11-20T20:50:00.003-04:00

Our ward had a fundraising activity for the boy scouts. It was a dinner and a dance. The dinner was surprisingly AMAZING. We were mostly going to support the boys, but ended up having a wonderful time. Hooray! Family picture!! :) So far, all the family of 5 pics we have are at or just outside our church building, funny.

Matix and Hawken showing off their mad dancing skills. They are so fun.

Hooray a date night OUT! (Even if we did have to bring along the kiddos!)

I think they had just as much fun as we did, well, except Lullaby, she slept pretty much the whole time. She could have cared less where she was.

Hawken found Anna right away and ran around with her the whole time. The boys call her "my Anna" when they see her. So sweet. I think they are really going to miss her.

12 month project

2011-11-18T17:09:00.003-04:00

So, with the initial idea from my friend Liz, I have started a 12 month picture project with little miss Lullaby... Each month I will take her picture with the coordinating number of objects. She was 1 month old in October, so I took her picture with 1 pumpkin.

Now it's November and she is 2 months old, so I want to take her picture with 2 of something Thanksgiving-y. This is where I need help. What 2 objects should I use for November? Turkeys? Leaves? Really, I want input. I am running out of November, so let me know soon. :) At the end of this project I am going to turn the series of pictures into a counting book for her 1st birthday present. So fun. What kid doesn't love looking at a book full of themselves? The actual page in the book will probably have words, like this maybe? Or maybe "one sleepy pumpkin"?I'm not quite sure what kind of layout I want yet. So anyway, leave a comment if you have a 2 month idea. Thanks!

Dress-up

2011-11-18T17:04:00.002-04:00

No, this is not an old picture. This is from this month. Costumes and other dress up items have become a favorite of the boys. Costumes of any sort would be great gift idea for crafty grandmas... hint hint hint! :)

it's mutual

2011-11-18T16:59:00.001-04:00

Some good old fashioned brotherly encouragement. Do you think they like each other yet? :)

playground tricks

2011-11-17T17:38:00.002-04:00

As much as I love Paul and all the wonderful things about him, sometimes I am frustrated that the daredevil side of him is something that the boys have somehow inherited.... :) Both boys have new "tricks" they like to try out at the playground, climbing on TOP of the slide, and hanging from the TOP of the ladder, not my favorite.

our ALMOST puppy...

2011-11-16T12:19:00.003-04:00

We already have a dog, Sakina, who will be rejoining us in Georgia in 5 weeks (the countdown begins!)... Soooo when we found this little guy, we decided it would probably be best to try to find him another home. He was tied up outside of the grocery store in the heat without any water with a sign that read "FREE". I waited as long as I could for someone else to take him, but no one did.

We got him some puppy food, a collar and leash, and kept him over night. He is very good, but not potty trained yet (YUCK). I posted an ad on craigslist and less than 10 minutes later I had a few replies. Apparently, he is a very desired puppy! We think he is super cute, and we would keep him if we couldn't find him a great home, but we did. So he is only our ALMOST puppy. :) The boys named him "Sarge" after the "Cars" character, and they both cried when I told them Sarge will be going to his new home soon. :( Even Hawken who spent the majority of last night terrified of him, has now warmed up and is devastated that I would take Sarge away from him. Good bye to our almost puppy.

Also, this is our 1,000th post!!! Cool huh? It took me a little over 3 years to do it, but I did it! So fun! Happy 1,000 posts to the Berg Family Blog!

copy cat

2011-11-15T14:18:00.002-04:00

This is how it goes in our house... Daddy is the coolest, and everything he does will be mimicked. I think Paul is very pleased with himself that he has his own little fan club here. Look in the background of these pictures, Matix is watching Paul. Great! :)

look-alike

2011-11-14T13:37:00.001-04:00

Hawken was trying on Paul's sunglasses and I said, "Hawken, look at me and make a face like Daddy!" This was his response... Any resemblance? :)

Sunday

2011-11-13T22:34:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite Sunday activities after church is over (and naps are over) is to go to the University of Miami campus. It is so pretty. It is nice to be able to go somewhere with just our family and hang out. This is Paul thinking take the picture already!

I love this baby, she is soooo sweet.

The boys of course found some great sticks. They were being Captain Hook, a new favorite bad guy.

I think Hawken is starting to look like Matix, especially in this picture.

Lullaby is still into swaddling, really tight on top and loose-ish on the bottom.

These pictures were from a different Sunday. This Sunday we went to spend some time with some of our friends from the ward. I didn't get any pictures this time, but I think we will do it again soon, our kids had a great time with their kids (Kenny-4 and Ellie-2). Very fun.

3 kids!

2011-11-12T11:29:00.003-04:00

I wanted a new picture of the 3 kids together, but it was way too hard to pose with all of them looking (forget smiling all at the same time!), so I just put them next to each other and started snapping away. I got some pretty funny pictures, and it turns out I like these better than the posed ones anyway. It shows their personalities.

And the look alike award goes to Lullaby and Matix. :) Even when they are not posing, Lullaby looks very similar to what Matix looked like as a newborn.