At Last!

The longest month of my life is over, I have internet again! So much has happened in the past month, I don't even know where to start. Here's a little run-down of our life lately (in no particular order because Blogger always posts my pictures wrong):

*My loving husband surprised me when I returned from California by moving into the new apartment while I was gone. It was such a relief to not have to bother with packing and moving. And Anna was here for a week to watch the boys while Brandon and I unpacked. We are pretty much entirely moved in now, I will take some pictures of the new place this week... once it's clean ;-)

Auntie Anna with her boys

*Jackson and Cullen are much more aware of people, animals and objects. When we walk out of their line of sight, they will turn their heads and try to follow with their eyes us as far as they can. They also seem to understand the concept that if they cry for whatever reason, we will come to them. Thus they let out a lot more cries of boredom or irritation and seem instantly relieved the second they spot us coming toward them. This is both a perk and a potential problem.

Jack smiling

I think this picture is hilarious, Cullen is on the left looking bored and Jack is on the right scowling at me.

*The boys smile like crazy now as you can see from the pictures. Jack tends to smile more often and be much more interactive but Cullen is catching up. They tend to develop new skills and interests only a few days apart. Jack nearly always reciprocates smiles whereas Cullen is more hit and miss. Both boys love their rattles and their floor gym. Their attention span is only about 20 minutes (max) but they are mesmerized by their toys that entire time. They're also starting to enjoy their little "activity center" though they can't hold themselves up for long in it. We prop them up with a blanket behind their backs but they still eventually slump over and end up resting their faces on the top of the seat.



*Brandon's Great Aunt Marilyn, a missionary in Liberia, visited a few weeks ago. She was able to meet the boys before heading out for a cross-country roadtrip with her two sisters. That sounds like fun. Maybe I'll take a roadtrip with my sisters when we're in our 80's too :-)

Cullen with his Great-grandma Whitaker

Family naptime

I often sit them up on the couch if I need my hands free (they can't roll over or scoot anywhere yet) but they usually slowly slump over to the side. Here's Jack in the middle of his slide.

*Brandon's mom and my best friend Renee were here visiting for a long weekend too. It was during the Cherry Blossom Festival so we ventured into the swarm of tourists and snapped a few pictures. I also found out that Renee will most likely be moving here in August to attend grad school! There are no words to describe how excited and glad I am that we'll be living near each other again!

They are big enough now to ride in different seats in their stroller and they love going for walks.

Cullen

I don't know which one's which here... if I had to guess I'd say that Jack is in the light blue.

*My good friend Jessica who lives here in DC just had a baby last week. Here are Jack and Cullen meeting their new BFF Silas Grey. Brandon and I were stunned to see our boys next to little Silas who was 2 1/2 pounds larger than they were at birth. It's unbelievable how they've grown!
*And, speaking of babies, I also found out this month that Shauna is pregnant!! YIPPEE!! She won't find out for several more weeks, but I'm convinced she's having a girl. If I'm right, Shauna has already pledged her baby as a future wife to one of my boys. They're going to have to fight over her though.