fancy dinner party

Last night, Dale and Vanessa and their kids came to watch our kids while Paul and I went to a fancy party at his work. The kids apparently had a blast, because our once clean house was trashed upstairs and the kids slept in later than usual this morning. Thanks guys!  Paul and I had fun too, once we got over the initial shock of how underdressed we were. Paul wore a nice shirt and jeans, and I wore a summer dress and heels.  When we arrived, every single man was wearing a suit, tie and jacket.  The women were in ball gowns, pearls, and other fancy things... Really, we were way off.  The few people you can see in the background wearing only white shirts had their jackets on the back of the chair...

They read a little bio of the incoming residents (Paul) and had them stand on stage to welcome them. It was very nice. They also gave out some awards to the outstanding faculty members for this past year, and also had a little goodbye for all of the 3rd year residents who will be going on to other places for their new jobs. It was fun to hear all the different places they were all going to. Only one was staying in Houston, the rest were going elsewhere.  The dinner was wonderful and we got to know quite a few people (colleagues if Paul's and their spouses).  It was so nice to be able to put some faces with names and a few of the wives and I hit it off and exchanged numbers. I am excited to get to know them better.

In other exciting news, Paul got his loooooong white coat! Name embroidered on it and everything. I love his 70's collar poking out over it. Very Paul and oh so handsome.

Hooray hooray for new and exciting times. Next year though, I will be buying a new dress. One I currently can't afford. :)

happy

Today, I am feeling happy. I usually feel happy, but today especially. My husband has a job that will take care of us, even with the ridiculous amount of debt we have to pay back from his schooling. He will be doing what he has always wanted to do for a profession. He is a helper, a problem solver, and a kind friend to anyone he sees. Being a doctor comes easy to him. His patients are lucky to have him. Even on his days being just a dad, he is that compassionate person through and through. On our way to a busy morning of errands before his job started, and we were already running late. Paul made a U-turn and went back to check to see that this older woman who had two flat tires was okay, and that someone was coming to help. What a good example to show the kids. Even when we are busy, there is always time to help others, always.

I am a stay at home mom. Not something I thought I would love as much as I do. I thought I would be bored. I thought I would mess them up (which still might happen). I thought I wouldn't be able to have all the answers they needed, but it turns out, I love it, and I think I'm doing just fine. It isn't easy, it takes a lot of work, and patience, and energy, and pretending like I have energy even when I don't. I have three healthy kids. They are happy and wild and sweet and curious and so much fun. They tell me they love me, even when I don't say it first. They repeat the rules to each other when they don't think I am listening. They certainly push my buttons sometimes, but for the most part, I feel like the luckiest person.  Paul and I usually spend the evenings talking about little things they said and did, wondering how we made such amazing little people.

We all work hard in our family to make this life good.  To recognize and appreciate the blessings we have been given. We love our lives together, and even our trials and hard times because they make us grow closer. Life is beautiful, and stressful, and crazy, and wonderful... I am happy.

new friends

We met another family in our ward in practically the exact same situation as us. The husband, Carl, just finished podiatry school and is starting a residency program here for three years. The mom, Jessica (of course), does the stay at home mommy thing with her 4 kiddies. Sound familiar? Her oldest twin girls are in Matix's CTR class and Matix and Hawken love them. They also have an almost 3 year old and a new baby. They invited us over to have dinner one evening before Paul started work. They have a really nice pool in their complex and we all had such a nice time.

They were so sweet, dinner was good, company was better. Perfect. I can foresee many hangouts in the future, although I'm not too sure how many of them will include the dads... They seem to have lots of busyness ahead of them. :(

Lulli

Little miss Lullaby has been making us laugh extra hard lately... This is how she eats apples. She doesn't even have all of her front teeth yet, but she can do apples. Shoves them into her face, sometimes smashing the other parts of her face in the process, and breaks off a bite that is clearly too big for her mouth, drool and apple juice dripping down her chin and neck and arms. Lovely.

This is how to play dress-up. First, she pulls out every piece of dress-up worthy stuff from the box, examines it, declares something "Pretty!" or "Mine!" and puts it on. She can get dressed mostly by herself already, but needs help with some tricky dress-up items. Like capes on top of the Sully costume.  No combination surprises us anymore.

pool days

We have been to the pool at least once a week since we have moved in and the kids are loving it. Hawken always starts out nervous, and then ends up begging for one more minute by the time we need to go home. Matix knows the routine of putting on sunscreen before getting in the water, and he is always the first to get his trunks on, pick out which sunscreen he wants to use, and holds it waiting. Lulli usually has a snack while I get the boys ready to go in, and then thoroughly enjoys her lotion time. I sometimes give her really lotion massages and she loves it, so why not soak it up at the pool too.  The playgroup here is SO wonderful. We are loving all the new friends we are making.

I love these little fish!

dress-up

I found what little jewelry I have while unpacking. I hardly ever wear jewelry so all the "dress-up" jewelry I have is also mixed in with the actual nice jewelry.  As soon and Lullaby saw it, of course, she was excited. We had just been outside in the garage sweating up a storm and organizing out there, so her little cheeks are bright red. I love when she looks like that, what a doll.

She had the best time trying everything on. She's such a little lady sometimes, I can hardly stand it. How did Paul and I make such a perfect little girl? We love her too much.

Then later on, the boys found all the jewelry, and tried it on just like Lulli had, except in their play they were kings and warriors. Such boys, even while wearing pearls and crowns...

I love these little boys who haven't yet been tainted by things not being "cool" yet. They just like what they like and play what they play without regard to what others might think, and I love that innocence in them. They are the best boys ever.

(Lulli insisted on being in these last two pictures with her brothers. She loves them so much.)

package!

Auntie Robin is at it again! She sent us a package and it may have been our favorite one yet! Thanks Rob! The boys especially LOVED what she wrote about them on their gifts. "Speedy and daring Hawken!" and "Strong and smart Matix!"

The boys each got superhero capes with their 2 favorite superhero's logos. The capes are reversible and really well made. A friend of Robin's makes them on ETSY. I wish I had a link to her site to share, but if you're interested, I can get her name, just email me.  Matix got the Incredible Hulk on one side, and Batman on the other. Hawken got Spiderman on one side and Batman on the other. Watching them open their capes was hilarious. I should have filmed it. They were screaming and jumping and play fighting all the bad guys in our house that I didn't even know were there. Seriously fun to watch.

Lullaby was already asleep when we got the package, so she had to wait to the morning to open hers. She was THRILLED, to say the least. She got dressed up right away in her new little cowgirl boots and skirt. There is also a leotard and little shorts, but she didn't want to take off the clothes she was already wearing.

Paul and I also got a beautiful house warming gift, that I don't have a picture of just yet. It's a turquoise blue upholstered picture frame with some metallic details, but I don't know which photo to put in it just yet. Once I figure that out I will take a picture and post it. So cute. Thanks so much Robin. The kids LOVE their gifts and knew right away which auntie they were from ("Auntie Robin with the black train?!" - they remembered from 2 summers ago!). You are too sweet to us. We love you!

Paul's day

The Father's Day love notes Matix wanted to write happened the day before Father's Day. Paul was still in Florida taking his STEP 3 test.  The kids drew a picture on the front and back of his cards and I wrote what they had to say. On one side of Hawken's note, he drew Paul, with a big heart in the middle as the distinguishing feature. Very appropriate.

Matix wrote:
"Daddy, I wish that you had a really good test for your work and I want to hug and wrestle you when you get home. If you were a superhero, you would be Batman, because you're so strong! I love to ride the scooter with you. You're the silliest and happiest and strongest daddy. I love you because you're my favorite dad in the whole world ever! Love, Dewds"

Hawken wrote:
"Daddy, I love you. I'm going to kiss you. I want to hug you. I love to tickle you and call you on the phone and ride the scooter with you. You're the best dad. I love you Dad! Love, Bros"

I wrote this for Lullaby:
"Daddy, You'll always be my favorite guy. Thank you for loving me and taking good care of me, even when I'm cranky. I love you! Love, Sweets."

Paul was supposed to get in really late and stay the night with Dale and Vanessa. We were going to wake up early on Sunday, color pictures, hang them on the wall and go pick him up... BUT, he got on some earlier flights, so he actually got in here to the house late Saturday night. When everyone woke up, Paul had to stay in our room while the kids colored pictures for Paul, like Hawken had wanted to do.

We hung everything up on the wall, along with the words "We love Dad" - per Matix's request, and some "bright decorations, like a party" - per Hawken's request.  Paul loved it.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever!

Paul got to read his love notes and open a card (addressed to Dr. Berg - love it!) from my mom and Louie.

After breakfast, we went to church and the primary kiddies and all the daddies sang a song together. It was so sweet. I don't know the words, but the kids would sing something like, "watch over me, love me..." and the dads would echo it "I'll watch over you, I will love you..." It was very touching.  Then we came home and after some playing, made Paul "Happy Father's Day nachos"... I cut up everything and separated it out, like they do on a cooking show. The kids all helped putting the ingredients together on the plate. This was actually a lot of fun and it turned out REALLY good.  We made too much, but even as leftovers the next day, we loved it.

We ended the night with root beer floats. Perfect end to a perfect day to celebrate our favorite guy. Happy Father's Day Paul!!!