Similarities

I wanted to capture my boys in their matching Thomas pj's...

what better time than right after a bath!

Colin did not think it was the perfect time for pictures, he thought it was time for bed!

But Alison's always ready for a photo op, so she jumped right in...

(don't you love how she coordinated her pj's with the boys'?)

And Bubby will do just about anything to extend bedtime...

As I was snapping shots of my cutie-patooties, I realized how much they don't really look alike.  It's so funny to look at your kids, know they came out of you, but don't really know how they turned out to look how they do.  It's boggling, yet absolutely amazing to see how God makes each child unique. 

"Are you guys done yet?"

Say "cheese"!

Colin-13 Months

It seems that our long road of health concerns with Colin only continues. 

 I took the boys in for "well checks" last week at our new doctor since Ben has switched jobs and on new insurance.  I'll spare the details of the worst appointment ever, but we were essentially told that Colin is in the 0% for weight.  However, I never saw them weigh him in the chaos of the appointment and for a startling discovery like that, you would think they would weigh him again...but they didn't.  Ben and I have been weighing him at home at 21 lbs, but they said he was only 18 lbs.  Anyway, the doctor simply told me to stop giving him dairy and see a GI specialist ASAP.  I tried and tried and tried to explain to him that we've been there, done that and we needed to see someone else.  He wouldn't listen, but just said we needed to find out answers today...that was a week ago and I've called the specialist every day since then and still don't have an appointment.  

But, take a deep breath.  

We are not panicking.  

Ben was quick to switch our doctor to a pediatrician and we are pursuing an appointment with another specialist as soon as possible.  

We know Colin is growing.  

We know he is healthy.  

We know we've had a long string of not stellar doctors and a lot of "something is very wrong, you need to find out now, but we can't help you".

It's very hard as a mother to hear, but I can say with full confidence that I am doing the best I can to find out answers and get Colin the calories and nutrition he needs.

And, I found it!

June 27th, 2013...Colin started walking

Confessions

What's a blog without some good ole', honest truth?

Well, there's some things I thought it was high time I came clean with.

*I'm running the Virginia Beach Rock N' Roll half marathon on September 1st.

For some reason, I feel very hesitant admitting this to anyone.

A half marathon is something that has been on my bucket list for 6 years...and each time I've started to train, the Lord has blessed us with a baby.  It's something I'm doing for myself and I'm loving the challenge, although I've found it difficult balancing running and teaching classes.

This is the beautiful trail I get to run every day:

*Colin started walking!

He's been walking for about 3 weeks,  but I couldn't tell you exactly because I forgot to write it down.  

 

~I'm sorry, Colin.  I love you to pieces and you are far more important that little details.  You started walking around 1 year and were by far our most mobile baby.

*I spent far too much money at Target this weekend, buying every water accessory on the shelves.

Goggles, caps, arm floaties and fun rafts...all to entice my munchkins to love swimming.

I didn't work, but Target sure did like my business.

My kids would much rather be eating a snack on the side of the pool than actually be in the pool.

 

*I was really nervous about this summer.

I was scared I wouldn't be able to keep up with the busy schedule Alison was used to and we would all be miserable.  I confess I was not really looking forward to it.

But I have been so excited to see the Lord answer my prayers for our family and bless our time together.  I have really loved and enjoyed our kids and fallen more in love with them.  I love hearing their little voices and watching them grow each day.

*I've spilled my coffee at least 4 times in the last month.  

It doesn't matter what time I get up or where I sit, as soon as that cup hits my hand, I'm swarmed by little people.  Ben keeps encouraging me to put my coffee in a travel mug, but I can't bring myself to do it.  It's kinda like a minivan...once you become that mom, there's no turning back.  

I refuse to be travel mug mom and will fight for my quiet cup of coffee in the morning!

But, if you too are in my boat, Oxiclean does wonders at getting coffee out of carpet.

Corn Pickin'

We have some great friends that live on a farm and they graciously invited us to come pick their sweet corn.  We thought it be a great family adventure...we loaded up the buckets and Alison pulled on her cowgirl boots.

 

Well, adventure it was.  

Eli is deathly afraid of dogs and like every good farm, this one has one. 

  He quickly became a crying leach.

Colin, on the other hand, felt right at home.  He crawled around that field like he owned it, eating every weed and pile of dirt he could find.

We picked 3 buckets of corn!

Once the dogs were gone, Eli loved helping with the corn extravaganza.

I shucked and he built castles with the corn that needed to be washed.

We've had corn on the cob at least 4 times and this is what went in the freezer:

looks like I won't be buying corn for a very.long.time.

We've moved!

Moving is stressful...and expensive.

Saying goodbye to our "old" house was much harder than I thought.  But thanks to a supportive, understanding husband, I was pried away and we began the process of settling into our new house.

We had friends take the kids for several chunk of time so we could work on some much needed projects.

First on the list was Colin's room.  The colors were so bright that it made us literally sick to our stomachs.  It had to go, and fast.

Colin's room before

Colin's room after

Sunday was moving day. 

 After church, 10 wonderful men came to help us move.  I'm not even sure I can say "help" because they pretty much did all of the work.  They were beyond amazing.

And what's moving day without a little drama?

Ben went to pick up the truck, only to find they lost our reservation and didn't have a single truck on the lot to give us.  So while Ben scurried to find a truck (which he miraculously did!), his friends started loading our stuff up onto their own trucks and trailers.  Ben made it to the old house just in time for the furniture to be loaded on.

Here are some snidbits of our new house:

 

Alison's pink princess room

The music room/library/Ben's office

The living room

There's a giant hole above the fireplace, that we could not figure out how to make pretty.  Pictures were too small and we didn't want to put the TV there.  A friend suggested hanging fabric on a tension rod and that's just what we did.  I think it gives the room a nice "pop".  

The kitchen

You can see into the carpeted dining room (why do people think this is smart?)...our table will venture there this week when our new "breakfast table" arrives.  We added the barstools and LOVE that the kids can eat there.  They climb up there when we're getting dinner ready and it helps them feel involved with the action, but at a safe distance.

Entryway

Ready to go the pool!

We upscaled a coffee table we weren't using to a bench.  We hope to add a coat rack above it with a few shelves.  Each kid has a basket underneath that they can throw shoes in or any toys that need to go back upstairs at the end of the day.

Master bedroom

The absolute best part of this house is the sitting room off our master.  I've claimed it as "Jen's room".  I hope to put a comfy chair and end table in there, but for now it just has a desk and all the million pictures that need to be hung up.  It's so refreshing to have a little space to escape to for a few moments.  

Eliot's room

We got Eliot some new Thomas sheets and a train rug (unfortunately the train table did not survive the move).  I have no idea how to decorate his walls, but I don't really think he minds...I love that about boys!

Settling in was hard.  It took me a week to find Alison's clothes.  Seriously.  

The kids were great, but juggling their needs and unpacking was no small feet.  

And the stairs?  They are kickin' my booty!

A couple days after we were in our new house, Irma (I'll do a post about her another day) asked me "So, was it worth it?".

Great question and I was thankful I could confidently say 'YES!'

I can tell a big difference in the kids.  While they miss having another person with them during the night, they love having their own space with their own toys.  They are calmer, sleeping better and playing better.

Even more worth it, is having this to go to every.single.day:

Just down our street is the most kid friendly pool ever.  It's perfect for my scared-of-water kids and is really helping them come out of their shell.

But that's not all.  Behind the pool is a park, tennis courts, mini golf course and a pond to fish in.

It doesn't feel like home quite yet, but it's getting there.  I definitely like it and am so thankful that we get to live here.