I'm Baaaack

I was recently looking at this blog and reminiscing about Noah's younger days and wishing that I had a better record of all the kiddos.  If you're a mom with more than one child, you know how hard it is to give the same kind of attention to all the kids as they're growing up.  There were more pictures of Noah as a baby because I had more time to take pictures.  Then Asher came along, and we still took pictures, but there were times when Noah needed attention too so the pictures slowed down.  And then if you add a third baby to the mix, taking pictures and recording memories really falls by the wayside.  Sydney can be doing something so cute and in the two minutes it takes me to get the picture, there is inevitably screaming, crying, fighting, or pooping from one or both of the other two kids.  So being a full time working mom of three kids aged five and under leaves something to be desired for the memory keeping.  That being said, it is my goal to revive this blog and try to do better at recording our family happenings.  Hopefully I can do at least two posts a month.  I don't know exactly how I'm going to fit this in our already very busy schedule, but I'm going to try. 

The first item on the blog agenda is introducing our latest family member: 

Meet our precious Sydney Marie.  There's no doubt that this is one special girl!  She showed up on October 4, 2011, which was 3 1/2 weeks early.  She was technically preterm, but she weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was as feisty as they come!  When the first nurse came in saying Sydney had a good set of lungs on her, I shrugged it off thinking it was small talk.  After the the third nurse mentioned her strong lungs, I started thinking it might be true.  Sure enough, Sydney makes it very clear when she's upset.  Don't get me wrong, she was the easiest baby.  She started sleeping through the night at three months old after her first day of daycare, without any crying.  She was easy going and happy.  She got her first two teeth at 4 months and they all came in one right after the other so she had a mouth full of teeth early on.  She started walking around 11 months, which was a couple of months earlier than both boys.  She also weaned herself from nursing.  With her being the last baby, I was hoping she would take a little time growing up, but she seems to be doing growing faster than the other two.  She loves her brothers and wants to do everything they do.  She's already "wrestling" with them!  Now that she's entered toddlerhood, she's a little more spirited and a little more mischievous than I'm used to.  You can't take your eyes off of her!  And strong-willed is putting it mildly... it should be interesting to watch her grow up.  Speaking of growing, she recently had her 15 month well baby visit.  She weighed 22 lbs 6 oz and is 32 in tall which translates to the 42nd percentile for weight and 87th percentile for height.  Preterm...ha.  She's growing like a champ!

June 12th

June 12th fell on a Sunday, and we LOVE the weekends around here.  Once you're working, weekends take on so much more meaning.  There is always so much to do and catch up on, but we do our best to just hang out as much as we can.  We started the day off with church, and every morning the boys sit up on the counter to get their hair brushed.  After church, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the choice for lunch, but that seems to be the choice for lunch every weekend.  The boys were in a goofy mood today, and I was able to snap some good pictures of them goofing around.  Noah has been great from day one about potty training, and he's completely trained, except for cleaning his bottom.  Billy is giving him a lesson, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of that little butt.  I'm sure I'll hear about that one in the future!  For dinner, Billy fired up the grill.  We had steaks, corn on the cob, and grilled asparagus.  The boys don't eat many vegetables, and won't touch anything green, so Billy and I got to keep the asparagus to ourselves.  While Billy was grilling, the boys played around in the yard and watered the plants.  Noah can do a lot of things to help out and doesn't mind helping sometimes, but Asher is our big little helper.  He wants to do whatever you're doing.  If Billy is watering the plants, Asher has to water the plants too.  If I'm sweeping the floor, he has to sweep the floor too.  But don't try to help the little guy, even if it means getting himself or someone else soaking wet or making more of a mess than there was to begin with,  because you will get a chastising and a your hand will promptly be removed!  As trying as our days can be, they are the best!

Canyon Lake

We had a little adventure this past weekend.  We headed out to Canyon Lake on Friday evening and stayed through Sunday.  I was a little hesitant about going because Asher has been having some issues.  I was especially worried because we were staying in a 3 bedroom mobile home with another couple and their two children.  The last thing any of us needed after an exhausting day was a toddler screaming for hours in the middle of the night.  But I guess Asher was tired enough that he slept through the night so that disaster was averted.  Unfortunately for me, the 1st night there, I tossed and turned for hours before I finally went to sleep.  I think that might have been the most uncomfortable bed I've ever been on.  But the second night, I was also tired enough to pretty much sleep through the night. 

Saturday we rented a pontoon and spent most of the day on the boat.  That was the most fun I've had in a long time.  It was actually relaxing.  For never being on a boat, the boys really seemed to enjoy it.  They were both able to take a little nap, which always helps.  They liked the water.  Noah almost got in but decided against it and rode a jet ski with Billy instead.  Asher got in for a few minutes and wanted to stay longer, but it was tough to hold onto him in the choppy water.  When we weren't on the lake, the boys really enjoyed playing on the playground that was right in front of our cabin.  That was a definite lifesaver. 

Noah chilling on the boat

Billy and Asher

 Asher taking his nap

Billy and Noah splashing the water from the side of the boat

Billy and Noah on the jet ski - They had a blast!

The boys playing together

 Asher loved sitting in the big boy chair to eat

Here's Brian

His wife, Wendy 

And their kids: Austen is on the boat and Riley is riding in the tube with her friend

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

We are expecting a baby girl!  The new addition to our family is due October 28, 2011.  If you remember, Noah was born on November 8, 2007 and Asher was born on October 22, 2009.  You might see a trend going on.  So this little one is expected to arrive right in between her brothers' birthdays.  I have NO idea what it's going to be like to have a little girl in the house.  The first things that comes to mind are the color pink, frilly bows, princesses, barbies, and DRAMA, none of which I'm too thrilled about.  But then I think about painting her little piggy toes, adorable sundresses, sweet-smelling girl hugs, and having someone else  to help settle down the testosterone levels in our house, and I know that having this little girl is going to be more of a blessing than I could ever imagine.  We are so very blessed to have a little girl on the way and to have two boys that are going to be great big brothers to that very lucky little girl.

So now the question is, what am I going to do with my BLOG name???

Father's Day

First of all, I want to say Happy Father's Day to the best Dad in the world!  We are lucky to have a Super-Dad in our lives!  We wanted to show him how much we appreciate all he does so we decided to give him some supplements for all his Super Abilities.  I got the idea and the printables from this website.  When I saw it, I just knew the Super Dad in our life needed something just like it. 

Then I decided to play around with Microsoft Publisher and made him a Super Dad bookmark.

And here we have Noah and Asher, the adorable Super Kids produced in part by Super Dad!

Noah is Riding a Bike!

Last Sunday we decided to go to the pool, but when we realized we didn't have access to any pools near us, we decided to get the sprinkler out and just have a good time in the back yard.  While we were playing around, Asher wanted to go for a ride on Noah's bike.  This is a bike that was given to Noah from his good friend Austen when Austen got a bigger bike.  It's been sitting in our back yard a while not getting much attention.  He generally sticks with stuff he knows, so the tricycle was his ride of choice.  But after Asher went for a ride on the big bike with Billy pushing him, Noah had to take a turn.  The kid was riding the bike around like a pro.  It came out of nowhere and it was one of those bittersweet moments that made me so very proud of him because he tried something new and, as a bonus, did well at it, but sad, at the same time, because I realized how fast he's growing up.  It was just one of those moments that I'll always remember.

Speaking of those moments, I had another one this morning.  Asher was scared to walk near our cat because the cat's been pouncing on him lately.  It was time to get in the car so Noah grabbed Asher's hand and walked through the garage and out to the car with him.  I was behind them watching them walk hand in hand together.  I sooo wish I had the camera, but there was no way to grab it in time.  Instead, I just stood there and let my heart melt a little.

Jan 12th

Okay, so I'm doing this a little backward, but hey, better late than never, right?  I'm looking at these pictures now, and my babies already look so different!  It's amazing how much little ones can change in just a few short months.  Anyway, please excuse the confusion, but I'll be writing my little narrative as if it were still January and I just took these pictures.  It might be confusing for you, but it makes things a lot easier for me in the long run, trust me. 

Since I'm still not working, Asher and I get to hang out quite a bit.  He goes to Ms. Tina's house twice a week so he can have some social interaction and I get some sanity time.  Today was one of our days together.  Asher is on antibiotics again so he started off the day with some medicine.  It seems like that poor kid is always taking medicine.  It was a cold day, at least cold for San Antonio.  It was still in the 30's after noon. We bundled up and headed out to Target first thing in the morning.  What better place to hang out than Target on a cold day?  After Target, we headed home, and I spent some time clipping coupons.  I've become pretty resourceful at using coupons and finding good deals.  It's the least I can do since we still only have one income.  After nap time and a little more play time, Asher and I picked Noah up from school.  He was not a happy camper today and was not the least bit interested in having his picture taken. 

February 12th

I love Saturdays!  We took our time getting up in the morning.  Noah loves to stay in his pajamas on the weekends.  I guess he's finally figured out the value of not having to be anywhere and enjoying some leisure time.  We usually play for a bit and then they'll watch a show or two on television or the DVR.  Noah is as handsome as ever, but still doesn't like to take pictures.  I can barely ever catch him with a smile on his face, so I went ahead and got a cute shot with his "serious" look.  Asher, on the other hand, still hams it up all the time.  Unless the boys are screaming at each other, Asher usually has a big ol' grin on his face.  Fortunately, at this point, the boys are starting to play with each other a bit.  It's not long until some sort of bickering starts, but they can get a few good minutes in.  I'm praying that this is a good sign of things to come.  We were supposed to go the rodeo today, but after driving out there and seeing the line of cars, we decided to turn around and get some other things done.  McDonald's is Noah's favorite so we picked some up and they ate in their carseats.  Then Asher got his first haircut!  It was long overdue, but we finally did it, and he looks adorable!!!  We asked the lady to do some spikes in the front, and it was so cute. He did great too, no fussing, and just sat there driving the Lightning McQueen car.  After that we decided to get some groceries.  The boys always have to drive the car shopping cart at the Commissary.  And we can't forget how much the boys love playing with light sabers right now.  Nearly every day, we all have to get them out and have a good round of light saber wars!

Electric Personalities

December 12th

1. Oh, Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree... love the Christmas season
2. We're all up very early every morning, and Billy seems to be the popular parent in the a.m.!
3. Noah is playing outside in the back of Billy's truck. It was a beautiful day!
4. Asher eats frozen muffins every morning. He stands at the freezer and pulls on the handle until he gets one. Then he starts dancing!
5. Asher has been full of static lately. His hair is always standing up.
6. Billy and Noah.
7. Billy and Asher.
8. Me and Asher.
9. Asher loves to eat and is usually smiling, at least until he's done.
10. Jack, our elf. He comes to visit us every Christmas. He watches the kids and goes to the North Pole every night to report to Santa how the kids have behaved ; )
11. Me and Noah.
12. Our very loveable, but very much a pain in the neck kitty, Mo. He's getting big!

Happy 2011!

Okay, so I've slacked more than ever before on the blog in the last few months.  I can't believe it's been almost three months since my last post.  I had plans to share birthday pictures for both the boys and the 12 on the 12th for November and December, but I haven't even been taking the pictures like I should.  I think I might have taken three or four pictures on Christmas day.  I've been terrible.  But it's a new year.  And with the new year comes new changes.  Here is a list of the new changes that I'll be working on this year.

1. Eat better and eat less (and hopefully lose a few pounds!)
2. Make an effort to actually enjoy my time with Billy
3. Take more pictures, record more events in writing, and keep the blog updated
4. Run at least one half marathon

So there it is.  I could easily add ten more things to this list, but I'm trying to keep things realistic.  I think its definitely doable, I just need to stay motivated and focused.  And for you, the one person who reads this blog, the 3rd one is obviously the most important.

I hope you have a wonderful 2011!!!

12 on the 12th - double time

October 12th

I forgot it was the 12th until late in the afternoon, so we got some snapshots of a typical afternoon. Billy was out of town for a conference, so it was just me and the boys this time. There are a couple of pictures of the boys entertaining themselves while I cooked dinner. They like to crawl around the kitchen and rummage through the cabinets. Asher likes to crawl under the kitchen table, and if I don't watch carefully, Mo might get his tail (or ears or legs) yanked around. As you can see, I try to sneak in as many vegetables as possible where I can because Noah and Asher are both pretty picky when it comes to any veggie. While dinner was finishing up, we spent some time outside in the beautiful weather. After we ate, we spent some time wrestling on the floor and the boys had fun attacking me! Then it was bathtime and Asher is learning that he has more fun standing up than sitting down. The boys were wiped out and fell asleep looking like little angels!

November12th

Today was a Friday and we went on a road trip to visit Grandma on the farm.  Kari was able to come with us too.  So Asher and I started out with a yummy breakfast and then played for a bit.  He likes to make an Indian sound by moving his hand on and off his mouth quickly.  He also like to entertain himself with Mo, but Mo is getting bigger and  putting up more of a fight!  Then Kari arrived and made friends with him quickly with some snacks.  We loaded up the car, waited for Billy to get home, and then picked Noah up on the way out of San Antonio.  It was a long four hours, but we had some fun.  Noah watched a couple of videos, Asher got his carseat changed to forward facing for the first time, we saw a little rain with a rainbow, and Kari and I played scrabble on my Iphone.  Noah slept in my old room, and he saw a picture on the dresser of me, Kari, and my cousin Lee, when I graduated college.  He kept pointing at the picture and saying, "who is that?".  Then he got ready for bed and found one of our old books to read. 

Zoo Trip

The weather in San Antonio has been amazing!  It's perfect by my standards, so we've been trying to enjoy it as much as possible.  We took the boys out for a trip to the zoo this past Saturday.  Groupon had a great deal on Friday where a $65 year long membership to the zoo was selling for $30.  We were already planning on going anyway, so this just made it that much sweeter. Unfortunately, we had to stand in line a little longer because 8,000 other people took advantage of the same deal, but it was worth it.  The trip to that area of San Antonio reminded me more of why I like this place so much.  The boys seemed to like the zoo, but I know Asher will like it so much more when he can run around without the confines of the stroller.  Poor guy couldn't see a whole lot of animals, but he was watching the people, which I think he finds just as interesting.  And there was a train!  Of course that was the highlight of the day for Noah.  The train took us on a nice relaxing ride around Brackenridge Park.  Here are some of the highlights of the day.

Asher's Big Laugh

This is a video of Asher.  His laugh is so contagious, I just had to share it!



September 12th

1. 
   
   Asher took a mini nap on my lap before we headed out for church.
2. 
   
   Waking up on the weekend usually consists of playing around in our bed and bedroom.  Here, Noah is covering Billy with pillows
3. 
   
   We had to finish up putting a dresser together so Noah and Asher were playing in our bedroom.
4. 
   
   We went to Red Robin for lunch... yummy!
5. 
   
   Billy cooked his famous "stew".  This is what he lived on while he was in Turkey.  It has chicken and then pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.
6. 
   
   I was giving Noah a shoulder ride.
7. 
   
   The boys playing on the bed.
8. 
   
   We're still looking for a church and the one we visited this morning had a "train" to take us from the main sanctuary to the children's rooms.
9. 
   
   Noah and Billy having a good time at lunch.
10. 
    
    More playing in the bedroom while we were working.
11. 
    
    A family picture - those are hard to come by.
12. 
    
    Asher showing off his smile for the camera.  He is such a ham!

We're back!

I can't believe how overwhelming the last six weeks has been. I need to do a lot of backtracking to go through everything, but the short version of it all is that we're in San Antonio and we're alive. We have a house, but we're still living among quite a few boxes. Noah started day care yesterday, but I still don't have a job. I slacked a little on the 12th of July and August so I'm just going to have to throw something together pretty soon so I can catch up.

Since our house is still a wreck, I took some pictures of the backyard so I can at least share those. And the backyard was a significant factor in buying this house. If you haven't heard yet, there is a basketball court in our back yard. Yes, you read that right. A basketball court. And it's blue. If you go to Google Earth, you can actually see this big blue thing from pretty far away. 

Here is the view of our yard from our back door.

The basketball hoop

There is actually electricity hooked up and there is a light opposite the hoop

There are even hooks on both posts to set up volleyball nets.

Noah's basketball hoop

Asher enjoying his walker on the court

And last but not least, this is Noah and Billy right before they headed out for Noah's first day of school.

Noah wasn't exactly excited at 6:00 am to go to a new school, but he actually had a great day.  And today he just walked in like he owned the place.  He gave Billy a hug and kiss bye, and then walked away.  Our little guy is growing up!

Asher giving Noah a Ride

Almost There!

Today is Thursday, tomorrow is my last day of work, and Billy is coming home on Friday!! I am so excited to have him home, and even though the boys may not realize that they have something to be excited about, they will certainly be excited once he's here. Asher might finally have someone in the house to match his energy level, and Noah will finally have someone else to "tackle" on the living room floor! Beyond the excitement, I'm a little anxious and nervous. It's been quite a long time since I've moved, and even though the move is back to Texas, it's still anxiety provoking. Moving seems to be a little more intense this time around, and it probably has to do with having two kids. My previous years in San Antonio and San Marcos were during college and graduate school and therefore included staying up all hours of the night, waking up at 11:00 a.m., eating cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, jumping at the drop of a hat for a weekend away, and having very little responsibilities in general. Now Texas will be a whole new ballpark with the kiddos. Granted, I think it's going to be a great ballpark and I'm really looking forward to it, it's just going to be different. Plus we are so used to the teachers and the day care now, and I'm worried about schools, parks, activities, etc., and hoping that they'll be just as good, if not better than what we have now. Another reason the move is making me anxious is that we weren't able to sell our house here in Charleston, but thank heaven we at least have renters. On top of that, I still don't have a job. We have been a two income family since Billy and I got married, so it makes me nervous. I'm looking for work, but it seems to be taking a little longer than I expected. For now, I'm just trying to enjoy the fact that I'll be able to spend some time with my boys before I go back to work.

So I have to end on a good note and share an adorable picture of my littlest boy. this is what happens when older cousins come to visit!

June 12th

The12th fell on a Saturday this month and Saturdays are so much more fun!  This 12th was even better than most because we headed up to Spartanburg to go to Marley and Chloe's birthday party!  Marley turned 9 and Chloe turned 6.  They're growing up right before our eyes.  The girls were so excited to see Noah and Asher and the boys love getting so much attention from their cousins and aunt and uncle.  Of course since there was so much fun to be had , the days were long!  Noah was tired when he woke up and he was resting his chin on the table while he ate his breakfast.  We spent the morning hanging out and getting ready for the pool party.  We brought Asher's new walker with us because they have great wood floors for him to get around on and he loved chasing everyone around.  We got to the pool and the water felt great, but Noah and Asher weren't too thrilled with it.  Uncle David spent some time with both of them in the pool and they had a good time with him, but I was expecting them to have a blast because just last weekend they loved the pool.  I guess it's hit or miss these days.  The girls had an awesome Sponge Bob Squarepants cake!  Marley was so excited and surprised to get a cell phone!  After the party we chilled out for a bit.  Asher had a good time hanging out on the back deck.  Noah and Chloe laid around on the bed and watched some television.  They have a little garden with all kinds of fruits and vegetables so Noah was watching Uncle David water the garden.  After all the excitement of the day, Toy Story was on TV, and even though they were all exhausted beyond belief, Noah, Marley, Chloe all managed to keep their eyes open to watch the movie. 

Big Changes

Big changes are upon us.  Billy will be coming home one month from today.  It's hard to believe that 11 months have already passed, but they have.  We are so ready to have Billy back and get back into some sort of a normal life, but that's going to take a few months.  Not only do we all have to adjust to each other again, we have to adjust to an almost entirely new life.  Billy's next assignment is in San Antonio, so we're heading back to Texas.  This is a good thing, and we really are happy about it, but the process has been and will be very exhausting, especially having to do so many things while Billy isn't here.  He comes home on July 10th and has to report to the base in S.A. by July 31st.  That really doesn't leave us a whole lot of time to get things done.  The good thing is the military will take care of the move itself, so we don't have to do a whole lot of packing.  The bad thing is we have to pack enough for ourselves and our two very young boys to last probably about three weeks.  I'm not looking forward to living out of a suitcase with the little ones for that long.  At least we're minivan owners and I'm sure we'll be packing that thing to the brim.

So it's been a crazy year, and it's just about to get a little bit crazier!