new playground

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!