February Photo A Day Continued

Here are days 11-20, they sure were fun!

day 11 makes you happy

this weekend we got to go see our friends the McCords.  I LOVED seeing these little buddies lined up in their jammies watching a movie as we were headed out for a double date.  the cute kids made me SO happy and the double date made me SO happy!

day 12 your closet

I love how it looks so full, but I can really only wear a few things, most are my regular winter clothes and a few are maternity.  :)  I always think I can make my regular clothes work, but that is happening less and less often.  

day 13 blue

 the navy blue stripes in the big brother room!

day 14 heart 

our night shift and nurse manager at work always do a great job of making our parents feel special at holidays.  for valentines day they got this little crafty heart and a rose from their tiny little ones!

day 15 phone

it cracks me up that our quirky old house came with a giant phone jack in the middle of the wall, so we embraced it.  it cracks me up even more that my friend sarah ALWAYS calls her husband from the bathroom when they come over.  

day 16 something new

hank graduated from the pack n play in linde's room to a pallet in papa and lou lou's room at the lake, big stuff!

day 17 time

time spent playing farkle with meme is pretty hilarious, she's fierce for a "widow lady" as she likes to call herself and her friends.

day 18 drink

diet dr pepper is my love language, thank goodness my husband knows that!

day 19 something you hate to do 

i HATE to pack up and go home.  you don't have the excitement of a trip, everything is dirty and has somehow grown while you were there, it is just no fun!

day 20 handwriting

i LOVE to make lists, to do lists, grocery lists, lists about lists they make me happy.  but they must be handwritten and preferably all in the same color ink, etc.  i have some OCD issues. 

February Photo A Day

I have had so much fun this month participating in the February Photo a Day Challenge. 

You should join in for March, here is the list.

It seems silly, but I like that it is a fun easy thing to do each day, that some days feels like the only thing I can cross of my to do list.  It also makes Instagram a very fun quick check on my phone, which I love since I am not really a facebook kind of girl.  It has also been fun to capture fun pictures of our lives, I might not otherwise take.  Here are the first 10 from February. 

day 1-your view. 
I was at work and got floated to the newborn nursery.  I figured this was a legal shot because it was far enough away you couldn't see any private info, but you could see a few of the little ones lined up waiting for their families to be ready for them!

day 2- words
The words of one of our favorite books Hank and I read before bed that night.  pretty much love the toddler toes, too!

day 3-hands
I melted when I looked down while we were waiting for our paint at the paint store and saw the buddies holding hands, I didn't even pose them but was happy to take advantage!

day 4-a stranger
This was Carley the day she came to meet us and the boys.  She was definitely not a stranger for long and is turning out to be the perfect babysitter for our family while I work one of my days each week!

day 5-10:00am
we were at church!

 day 6-dinner
Avery comes by his love of turkey and cheese honestly.  my favorite after work dinner is just a good old turkey and cheese sandwich with some baked cheetos of course!

day 7-button
The buttons that get me through my day and home at the end of the day. 

Another work day.  The top row of buttons are to our monitors at work, definitely a huge part of getting through a work day, and the bottom is the button start my car.

 day 8-sun
It was a rainy day here, so we played with sun glasses.  I love Avery's CHEESEtastic smile!

day 9-front door
I couldn't decide what I liked best, my Valentine's Day decorations (minus the welcome mat facing the wrong way,) the sassy door holder, or his Valentine's Day shirt peeking out with the Valentine decorations in back. 

day 10-self portrait
When you are pregnant you feel like you are just a giant belly (and booty in my case, but I wasn't about to share that.)

A Sad Day

Well, I have always known that someday the greatness would come to an end.  And if this week is any indication, my run of sleeping in is sadly, finally over. 

My children have decided to start getting up at 7 or shortly thereafter.  

I know a lot of people have it much earlier, and would do a back handspring to sleep until 7.  But for me, the queen of the non morning people this is a very, very sad realization.  I am hoping this is a phase somehow related to the transition to a big brother room and big boy bed, but I realize it may be the end of an era. 

Luckily, Avery takes awhile to wake up like his Mamma and is happy to chill in the bed for a few minutes while I find my happy face.  Hank would really like to jump start and play, but he is learning that Mamma needs a minute (or 20) to get it together.  It also makes me sad because it means we have to start putting these little buddies to bed earlier, boo we like to play after dinner not go straight to bed. 

This realization has lead to several others.  Mostly, these boys are growing up. 

Look what Ave can do

I realize this isn't perfect, but for my boy who couldn't have cared less about his letters even late this spring, this is a very BIG kid thing to do. 

And this is picture of his little brother doing a very BIG kid thing, too.

Our little non-talker is already improving by leaps and bounds thanks to his weekly visits from Miss Ho-Wee as he likes to call her.  Here is proudly singing the ABC's in his best high soprano voice.  A few weeks ago you would have no clue what he was saying, but now you can pretty much get most of the ABC's and even part of the next time won't you sing with me. 

Ugh, they have got to stop growing so fast.  It is killing their hormonal Mamma. 

It is beginning to feel like spring around here.  I hope it stays!  But, it has made me realize we are still the allergy /asthma house.  I am so very thankful for our allergy/asthma specialist who found the right daily medicines to keep my boys happy and healthy so far this year, but I don't know of anything that can beat the crazy weather and blooming that is going around here the past few days.  Poor Avery succumbed and was s-i-c-k the first part of this week.  He was so sick he barely even spoke to Dr. Y when we went to see him.  You know my boy always has something to say.

Thanks to the creators of Xopenex and a lot of TLC and inside time :( we are on the mend!  But, I realize that spring is here and we are going to have to be very diligent about our medicine and know that fun time outside might equal breathing treatment time inside.  But, more than anything I realize I am blessed!  I sure do love these little guys!

Most Productive Weekend Ever

Two weekends ago we had the most productive weekend ever.  I use the term we rather loosely.  I did provide some meals, sort of keep the kids entertained, and I did gather most of the materials ahead of time for Linde. 

But Aunt Linde did this all in one day. 

The big brother room went from drab to fab in no time flat.  Hopefully I will get my act together soon and get the stuff up on the walls and then I will try to show a few more pictures.  I LOVE the stripes.  I think they are just the right thing to give the room some spunk, but keep it manly and simple as well.  I am truly amazed at how she cranked out these stripes.  I would have taken a million times longer to tape and retape and measure again and again, much less be brave enough to do the actual painting.  And, while she was doing all this she chatted with the boys and gave them jobs to make them feel special. 

Michael and his dad also worked their tails off that weekend.  I may have mentioned/thrown them under the bus for the fact that the plaster job on Hank's walls didn't work so well....
So, they slaved and slaved to pull down all the plaster covered panels and put up brand new sheet rock.

They carefully took Hank's name off the wall to save for the big brother room.  Michael gets a gold star for also saving a panel.  He had the great idea of saving it and marking the boys' height on it, that way we will always have a piece of our first home with us wherever we go and we won't have to be sad to leave their growth chart.  I have to say it helped a lot with how much it broke my heart to take down one of the two cutest nurseries ever. 

Here are the walls before the new sheet rock, but after the paneling.  I forgot to get a sheet rock picture. 

Michael and his Dad for sure get a gold star because they let the boys help and watch a ton.  It meant the world to them both, they felt so grown up and loved being special helpers.  I am very glad they lived through the day and had a great time!

Happy Valentines Day!

We hope you are sharing today with someone you love!!

Aren't They Cute?

I think the boys have enjoyed the shaving kits and bubble bath they got in their stockings this year!

 Only real men can shave in a pink bathtub!

An update on all my nervousness....
-the big boy room is going pretty well.  Linde came and painted and it is AWESOME!  She will come back soon and help me put things on the wall and then I will show you the fabulousness.  
-sleeping in there isn't too bad either.  I did laugh really hard when Avery called out in a panic because Hank had climbed up in his bed Monday night.  Hank does require one spanking most afternoons to convince him to stay in bed for his nap.  He's a little stubborn. 
-I think we are closer to a boy name.  But, I'm still not ready to commit. 
-Hank started speech this week.  I am so relieved.  It was really nice to have someone honestly say he does need some help, not just tell me everything is fine when I knew it wasn't.  He doesn't have anything earth shatteringly wrong.  But, he couldn't hear for most of last spring, so it's time to make up for that.  
-We are blessed and I am remembering that every day!!!

We Survived!

Well, little Mr has given up his crib.  

 At first he said what????

 then he thought some freedom might be nice

and he was ready!  

Avery was an awesome biggest brother and pumped for the change.  The first night was rough.  Poor Michael, I left him alone and headed out to the movies.  I promise I didn't mean for it to work out that way.  

Several days later I got mine when Hank realized he could crawl out of his bed instead of taking a nap.  

But, overall I have to say the transition went pretty smoothly. 

Hanky is a wild sleeper, it must be a second born thing, my sister is, too. 

Avery sleeps pretty still, but sadly the fish at the corner of his bed had to go.  Hanky was not having the middle of the night music, and I can't say that I blame him.  

And because I am OCD I love how they ended up.  Left to right they are in both alphabetical and birth order.  :)

Aunt Linde is coming to make the big brother room fabulous this weekend, so I will show you pictures when it is not boring and white anymore!!!