Our Home Sweet Home

Happy Valentine's Day!

The boys and I went to MOPS today and Andrew and I are going to have some filets tonight to celebrate. Things sure change for holidays like this when you have kids. So I will post some photos of where we will be spending our Valentine's Day.

I am sure you can tell the before and the after. The prospective is a little different becuase Andrew did not want the windows to be the focus this time. We finally have a room finished! Andrew would say that it is not finished becuase we do not have our audio/visual stuff completed yet, but he is not sure how he wants to do it all yet. I am not sure how much money we want to use to do it, so we are not getting very far with that. So for now, it is a finished room. This next picture is of a wall I am pretty proud of. I saw a picture similiar in a magazine and I kind of used it and added some of my own flair with the help of the Uppercase Living wall transfer.

You may be asking what is Uppercase Living? Well, those of you that scrapbook and know what a rub-on transfer is. . . well it is kind of like that for your wall. If you want to know more or see a catalog, let me know becuase ASAP because I just so happen to be having a party and would be glad to tell and show you about it. Just email me or let me know on the blog comments and I will give you the website and other info so you can look at it. If you can't read the words it says "Family is one of God's masterpieces." They have some really neat stuff and some great quotes and sayings. I think my favorite part is the way it highlights the boys. I guess we still have some end tables and maybe lamps to get for our little couch but we are going to see what we are going to do with the audio equipment (and we come to that point again). We spend the majority of our time in this room so it is nice to have what was in my head acutally in the room now.

This is the room you walk into when you walk in the front door although you can't see the front door in any of these pictures. We pretty much just moved our front room in TN and put all that furniture in the front room here. I didn't have a before or after from the same prospective but I am sure you can piece it together.

That is all I had Andrew take pictures of. I guess I could clean our bedroom and have him take a picture of that becuase it is finished. Unless I add some Uppercase Living stuff. I still have some things I want to paint in the kitchen and I hope to paint to boys' room this weekend so I will keep you updated on that. What is a post without a picture of at least one of the boys?

Sorry it is a little blury but can you guess what I am doing? This is my poop face. Daddy gets on Mommy's case for laughing at me becuase I am struggling but can you blame her? Even though she knows she has some diaper duty ahead you can't help but laugh.

These are the Days of Our Lives

The boys are 8 months old today! Time flies when you are having fun! I am going to explain our schedule for a typical day. Those of you that know me know I am a pretty routine kind of person and the boys are following my lead. They like their schedule and can get pretty grouchy if we get off of it. So here is a typical day in our life.

6:00 Mom gets up and runs with Harp on Mon. and Wed. and now Thurs. Does yoga on Tues. and Fri. (It is for both of us he needs the exercise and so do I). And we are training for a half marathon. Am I crazy-the verdict is still out on that one but I will talk more about the half in another blog entry.

6:30 Andrew gets up and gets ready for work and hopefully the boys are still sleeping.

6:45-7 Mom gets home, feeds Harp, showers, and hopefully the boys are still asleep. Daddy kisses the boys goodbye and usually the garage door wakes them up as he heads out for work since they sleep right over it.

7:15-7:30 diaper changes and feeding

7:45 play time for the boys -devotional and breakfast for mom.

8:00 cereal for the boys

8:30 -10:00after clean up the boys play on their own for as long as possible while I do household chores, read my email, or whatever needs to be done. (Usually there is a call to or from Aunt Darcy in here too.)

10:00 the boys get another diaper change and go down for a nap. Gavin is always ready at this time and sometimes Drew talks himself to sleep. While they are sleeping I am currently writing this blog (it is hard to do with them awake) or fixing their lunch.

On a good day they will sleep until 11:30 usually it is about 11:00 or 11:15 and they get up ready for some Mommy time. Most of the time it is Gavin up first because he went to sleep first and he doesn't require as much sleep as his brother (he is just like his dad). As you can see from the picture Drew is still awake and Gavin is already out cold.

11:30 feeding time (again) and diaper change.

12:00 Mommy eats and they play a little bit.

12:30ish-1:00 the boys eat their solids and by the time they are cleaned up it is time for Days of our Lives (yes, I am hooked and I know it is a bad sign when the boys stop whatever it is they are doing when the familiar intro comes on). This is also the time where they get dressed. yes, I know it is 1:00 but why get another outfit dirty? We also try to fit tummy time and crawling time in here.

2:00 -2:30 story time and naptime also another diaper change

3:30 sometimes 3 the goal is 4 Mommy time when they wake up. While they are sleeping I get stuff ready for dinner, make phone calls, take Harper outside, laundry, or do whatever needs to be done.

between 4:00 and 4:30 feeding time (again) starting yesterday we are trying a bottle it didn't go so well but hopefully today will be better.

5:00 solids

5:30-6:00 Daddy comes home. Harp cries, the boys laugh, and mommy gets some relief.

The rest of the evening is play time with Daddy and we try to eat somewhere in there too.

8:00 PJ time and diaper change and eating again.

8:30 they are out gearing up for another day! Then Mommy and Daddy get some time together and we usually fall asleep watching TV.

These are the days of our lives. . . . Except for Tues. (Joy in the Morning Bible study) and one Thurs. a month (MOPS) and any time we have to run errands and of course the weekends. Which by the way, this weekend was their first trip sitting like big boys in a shopping cart. They thought they were pretty cool and they loved it although they were so sleepy becuase they are used to sleeping while we are out. I wish Wal-mart had the double carts like Costco does. Any suggestions? I am going to try to make a double cart thing and see if it works at Wal-mart too until their legs get too big to fit in the sigle leg hole. The bucket seats although heavy where nice for shopping. (Unless I was buying a lot and then there just isn't a whole lot of room in the cart for anything.) I guess I am going to have to shop without them for a while.

This was taken while I was reading my email and Gavin began to cry. What is wrong with this picture? I am sure this is just the begining. So these are the days of our lives . . . .

They are Growing so Fast!

Thought I would post some random pictures. They are just growing too fast!

The boys are playing in their room while Mommy and Daddy finish getting ready for church. Don't they look cute in their new sweaters and cords from Grandpa and Grandma Susie? This picture was taken last Sunday the 20th.

They may be hard to see since they are in their camouflage, but they are trying out the new couch. Gavin is not to sure about it but Drew knows he is cute and "Macho like Daddy".

The boys saying thank you to Mommy for not putting them in matching outfits for a couple of hours and thank you to Grandma Susie and Grandpa for the bath toys.

And last but not least, ready to head to the mall.

All Work and No Play?

Grandpa Bean and Grandma Susie are here spoiling us! As grandpa says they are not spoiled they all smell that way. We hung out around the house a lot because the boys have some pretty nasty colds. On top of that I have felt a front tooth trying to come through in Drew's mouth. So needless to say they were not our normal cheerful, happy little boys. In fact, we have had some lost sleep the last couple of night and it has been a couple of months since that had happened. I had forgotten how lucky we were to have such good sleepers.

The boys took a lot of naps with Grandpa and Grandma and they played a lot with them. In fact, they just started sitting up right before they arrived. They also show cased their musical talents. It is true that no matter how many toys a child can have pots and pans are always fun!

Gavin winces every time he hits the pot, but he is very talented if I may say so myself. Drew, being the clown that he is, loves to smile for the camera. The boy looks good in hats doesn't he?

One of the biggest things they did while they were here is they painted 3 rooms in our house. The white walls were just not homey. (Is that a word?) So we now have some accent walls and I will post more pictures later. As you can see the painting was no easy feat.

We are so glad they came to see us at our new home and play with us. The next time they see us we will be almost 1. We appreciate them spending their vacation with us and I hope we didn't work you too hard so you will come back very soon. We love you and miss you already!

Happy New Year!

I am sorry I have been a slacker. Andrew had a lot of time off of work and we just could not get into a routine with him home. We had a wonderful time with him home though. The boys love playing with Daddy and he really makes them work. We had a very relaxing Christmas and a pretty calm New Years. We really just hung out at home except for our excursion to Sand Point, Idaho. We just went for the day (Saturday) and we drove through Spokane and had a very enjoyable day. It was very cold and very snowy. Harper went with us and once he settled down we had a good drive. The boys did really well also. As I said it was very cold so we did not get out of the van much except for this picture and some food stops. The boys had their first dining out experience and they did very well. They love their baby food. It seems they are growing so fast. They have also gotten spoiled since Daddy was home. They are in bed crying right now. A half and hour nap is just not enough and they won't seem to go back to sleep without being held. I wonder why that is, Daddy?

The whole point and shoot just is not the same now with two little ones. This used to be how we got our best pictures. It is a little difficult now for some reason. So here is another picture.

Gavin would not keep his hands in the blanket. Drew liked to be all cuddled up so you can just see the back of his head. It was a very pretty lake and we will probably go back on a warmer day when we can get out and enjoy it.

The boys are back to sleep (I am glad it only took about 5 minutes so I guess they were still tired.) So I will leave you with some pictures we took yesterday!

4 years!

and the 2 became 1.

It is hard to believe it has been 4 years.

As I sit hear typing with one hand because I am holding our little one, I knew I was happy that day,but I had no idea how happy I would become. I just keep loving you more and more. Now to see you as a loving father, I just can't wait to see what else God has in store for us.

Happy anniversary, my love.

6 Months Old!

We have had the pleasure of getting to know two little boys that God has blessed us with. It has been a wild 6 months. We moved across the country without having a house to move to, we

found a house and we moved in. We have been adjusting to becoming parents and they have adjusted to being out of the warm cozy place where they spent 9 months. The boys pose pretty well individually, don't you think?
Drew is rolling over and we can't keep him on his tummy. He is also sitting up with just a little help. Gavin is probably going to walk before he does anything else. He loves to be on his tummy for a while but seems to have forgotten how to get off of it. He still loves to stand and is very vocal. They are finally napping well which makes everyone happier. They go to the doctor tomorrow so we are anxious to see what they weigh and how they are progressing.
Speaking of napping well, it seems they are up. We took a walk this morning and they slept. We went to Costco and they slept so I was prepared for them to wake up a little early. It is like 60 degrees and sunny but very windy here. I thought the weather was crazy in TN. We had snow on the ground Sunday. I have to admit is is weird to see tumble weed blow by with snow on the ground. I guess they went back to sleep because they are quiet now. I better work on Christmas gifts while I have the chance.
I can't believe I have been a mom for 6 months. I have to say it has been some of the best months of my life. God has doubly blessed us with two adorable, lovable, kissable, and funny boys. I look forward to spending many more months getting to know them. Thank you Brian and Beth for the wonderful blankets. I know you are ready to have one of your own any day. I know you will see what I am talking about when you think how in the world did God give us something so wonferful that is part me and part daddy, but still his own little person? How can any parent not believe in God? I know I am not creative enough to think of all that we are blessed with.