One HUNDRED

CHEERS!  This is my 100th post.  Wow!

Lots of things happening around here and we are busy running here and there and everywhere!!!!  It's amazing to be close to friends and family now.  I'm happy the boys are such great car passengers.  This past week we've been on a few playdates, fed the fish with GG and PopPop, took a wagon ride to visit my Dad's cigar shop, got to sing Happy Birthday to my Aunt and visit with my beautiful Grandmother!

The boys with the Thomas bunch and JD

Thanks again for the bubbles Auntie Meg!

Toyland at Rowens!

Daily pillow forts in our tiny rental

Oh how Aiden looooves his GG!

I finally got some old pictures uploaded from our last Texas BBQ (thank you again to all our friends who came to visit and say goodbye), as well as a few other boating shots.  Additional thanks to friends and family around town who are opening your homes to say hello!

We have a fun weekend planned and I hope the boys do well with all the action.  Our 4th of July festivities begin at my Aunts annual spread then we're going to give fireworks a shot.  I think Aiden will loooove them and Kaleb will most likely scream in terror and bury his sweet face in my arms.  

Hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day!!  Happy Birthday America!

Road Tripping

We are having a crazy difficult time setting up internet at our current rental home.
Just apologizing for delayed blog posts :)  The road trip went well.  Below are my four travel companions.  Keith stayed ahead of us trailing his mustang with two turtles in the front seat.  We left the morning of Friday the 13th and showed the boys their first double rainbow from the front porch.  Keith kissed me for the last time in our first home, so bittersweet.  Kaleb and Aiden loved being forward facing, which was a game changer for me, and saw 12 hot air balloons from the window of our hotel near Arkansas.

We are knee deep in a house hunt and SO crammed in this tiny rental, but it serves it's purpose well.

The boys slept through the night...FINALLY...last night, so we celebrated with blueberry and sprinkle waffles!  We have wonderful rolling thunder storms every day, and I still haven't had the opportunity to take the boys 18month photos.  We did get the boys out on the boat for the first time and tomorrow we are off to see GG and PopPop.  Pittsburgh the end of the week!

Lots of love to our Texas family.  We miss you all!

Moving House

Taking a small painting break to give a quick update.

This week has FLOWN by.....faster than I ever imagined.  I never had the opportunity to take the boys 18month photos.  I'll have to do that in Ohio.  Plus my camera cords got packed away for STORAGE....ugh, so I won't be able to update any photos from my SLR for awhile.  We threw a final Texas BBQ to say thanks to our friends here, then took the boys to Sea World while we had the opportunity.  K&A had one last play date with our multiple friends too, which was hilarious...and exhausting!  Nine babies to four mamas, yikes!  The rest of the week has been full of packing, loading, painting, cleaning and errands galore.  I'll have to post a belated Texas post from my camera once I'm able to upload pictures again.

Tomorrow (Friday the 13th, ahhhh) we leave early to begin our long car ride home.  Everyone fingers crossed for happy passengers (humans and animals), good weather and trouble free days ahead!

Friends and family back home....open your arms, we're coming in for hugs!!!!  Can't wait to see you all!!!  SOON!!!

A Year 1/2

18 Months Old.  Seriously?
I'm happy to introduce you to my favorite pediatrician of all time!

The boys with Dr. Madson

I had a crazy frustrating process scheduling our last appointment with Dr. Madson, who is also leaving San Antonio, but I'm SO happy it worked out and we got to see him for the last time.  

Although we were a little ahead of 18 months at the appointment the boys current stats are:  Kaleb weighs 21 pounds 8 ounces (6th percentile).  He's 31.1 inches tall (20th percentile) and head circumference is 35% percentile at 47.2cm.  That blue cap he's wearing on the playground fits Aiden perfectly.  I ran to Target and got the next size up for president Kaboom a couple days ago.

The most loving little boy ever.  Has kisses for everyone, especially Jordan the bear!

Aiden weighs 23 pounds 7 ounces and his height puts him in the 48th percentile (our highest percentile so far) at 32.1 inches.  His head circumference is 46.1cm (11th percentile).

The most dramatic little boy ever!  Keith asked him if he wanted us to roast him for dinner....

Kaleb and Aiden got a little crafty last week, wanting to give Dr. Madson a little going away thank you.  Aiden is so fun to paint with.  I say "hi-five" and he slaps the paper.  So easy!  Kman is pure knuckles and prefers to wave with his hands.

We are VERY busy with appointments and preparing for our trip home.  I'm going to blink and before I know it we'll be sleeping in an empty house and saying goodbye to some amazing friends who have become family.

BIG plans for an 18month photo shoot this week.  I miss doing monthly shots of them, and 1 1/2 is something to celebrate.  Until then I'll leave you with a little video clip of Aiden running around being SOOO silly!!!  Keith, Kaleb and I were house hunting online and Aiden started running laps stopping only to catch his breath.  These boys fill my life with so much joy!  Every.Single.Day

The Plague

We are on day 6 of "the plague".

It slowly crept in early last week and reared it's ugly head on Friday afternoon.  The boys and I are miserable.  No sleep, no food, just lot of tears....from all 6 eyes.  My heart aches for them.

Being a mother is the best thing on the planet.  Watching your children suffer from sickness is the worst thing on the planet.  They keep me young and age me all at once.  I have tried everything to comfort these poor little guys, and it's just not enough.  It doesn't help this is the first "real" occurrence the boys need me at exactly the same time...and it's just not possible, I'm outnumbered.  I constantly joke around about being an octopus....at this point a spider will do!  Not even the doctors are able to help us...so we sit in quarantine, because I refuse to pass these germs like they were so graciously passed to us...

Thank goodness it's summer and we're able to spend our days outside in our private swimming pool (thanks to wonderful Aunt Julia).  And thank goodness for our continued Citrus Lane subscription.  Both have saved my sanity and I think today was our final sick day!  Enjoy some iPhone photos from the past week.

Visiting a new Library (obviously this is before we got sick!)

Kaleb is such a climber!  He loves these walls, and with a little help dominates!

Getting ready to go splash in puddles.

New to our food store....and to us.  Yum!!  It's fun to teach the boys their letters too

 

The boys LOVE their new bath duckies from Inga.  Quack Quack (but really sounds like Kaak Kaak)

Citrus Lane saves the day!

Obsessed with the yellow school bus.  Lots of fighting going on over this guy.

Aiden is my water baby!

Mother's Day

Can you even believe how much these boys have grown?  

Mother's Day 2013

They have become the most miraculous little people I've ever encountered, and they surprise me everyday with something new.  I treasure them and love them with all of my heart!

Our lives are a bit hectic at the moment and I'm glad K&A are young enough that I'm able to shelter them from the truth.....in 4-6 weeks life is going to flip upside-down.  Since Keith and I welcomed the boys to our world we have talked seriously about leaving the military. The opportunity came at a wonderful time and I cannot express my excitement to move back "home".  Behind the excitement lies the stress of moving, but all will be fine.  I'm a little sad to leave our first house.  I hold the dearest memories of bringing my sweet boys home from the hospital here.  I cry thinking about touching up the paint on the walls where Kaleb drives his cars, and where they bang their cribs against the floor boards.  But as I clean their little face prints off the backdoor windows everyday I CAN DO THIS.  I look forward to all the new memories we'll build on this new adventure that I'll undoubtably treasure for the rest of time.

To my friends and family members; a very sweet and happy mother's day to you all!  I'm so thankful to have never lost hope and to have always had the encouragement, love and support of everyone who brought me into motherhood.  The journey was not an easy one, but the boys are worth it ALL in every way possible.  I'm just SO, so thankful!

Not sure what is more delicious....those lips or those eyes!!!  Aiden, give mama a kiss!!!

The video above is from today.  I bought the boys puddle jumpers, and we all LOVE them! They allow front and back floats and Aiden runs and dives....life jacket or not!  He is such a fish and if the pool is nearby he simply must be in the water.  Yikes!