Better Late Than Never

Here are our California pictures! We had sooo much fun! The weather was absolutely perfect, couldn't have been any better if it tried! My parents and sisters were over the moon about seeing the boys again. The boys got waaayyy too much attention and playtime, they loved every second of it! We went to Disneyland (where we saw Kobe Bryant! and the beach and mostly spent the rest of the time chilling by the pool. It was my kind of vacation! Here's pictures of everything we did:

Lots of swimming in the pool. My mom's apartment has a kiddie pool that's just 1 1/2 feet deep. I would put a chair into it and sit there all day reading. Ahhhh, it was the most relaxed I've been all summer. The boys had so much fun with their floats. They LOVE the water!!

Jack

Cullen liked drinking the water more than anything. He kept sneaking his head down for a gulp and then we'd yell "Cullen!" and pull his head out of the water and he'd just smirk at us.

Jack figured out that he could touch the bottom and pushed himself around the pool all day. He was so proud of his newfound independence.

They got nightly baths with Nana.

Here they are at Disneyland, apparently sitting inside a fishing net full of stinky fish.

One happy Nana

I guess they really liked the Merry-Go-Round because Cullen screamed when it stopped.

All the kids - minus Brandon, wish you could have come babe!

At the beach with Auntie Rachel

I went a little trigger happy at the beach but I just couldn't resist, they were just so stinking cute all covered in sand!

This is pre-discovery of sand

The waves scared them at first, I guess I don't blame them since they're big and loud and rushing right at you. But eventually Cullen and I were sitting at the shore and letting the waves come up and wash over our legs. After he got used to it, he was fascinated!

Naptime!

Jack

Cullen

Jack

Everybody has cell phones in California, they just wanted to fit in.

Playing with Uncle Jon's hat

Cullen's playing Superman

We rode our bikes over to the park near my mom's apartment and they went down the slide. They weren't too sure what to think of it and kept putting their feet out in front of them and stopping themselves. I think Nana and Auntie Rachel enjoyed it more than they did ;-)

I slept in every single morning. What did my kids do? I guess they helped Nana make breakfast.

We went back to Disneyland for a few hours to take the boys on Dumbo. It was so hot that day and they were a little cranky... until the ride started going. From that point on, they were happy campers!

Me and Cullen

Jack and his aunties

A super cute picture of Cullen

Me and my boys

At the Angels game

What Have We Been Up To Lately?

We....

*celebrated Brandon's 25th birthday last weekend. I took him out to eat and told him to order whatever he wanted, I got the check ;-) He got a filet mignon and I got some delicious crab cakes with huge chunks of crab in them. That was our 'blow the budget' meal for the summer, we'll have to wait a while before having another one of those. Afterward, we went to Starbucks and played cribbage and walked around Old Town a little bit. It was a great date night!

*both went to the dentist this week and have zero cavities! Yippee! We're getting rid of our dental insurance (which only covers preventive care anyways) so we're very glad to not have to pay for any fillings or dental work.

*have otherwise just been plugging along. Brandon is still enjoying his classes although I don't enjoy having him gone every night, at least he's home in the afternoons. I've been trying to keep up with the housework which gets so much harder after you've been gone. I was only gone a week but I think it will take me 3 weeks before I've finished unpacking, cleaning, paying the bills and re-organizing.

*are super excited because it's Triple Coupon Week!!! My grocery store runs this about once a season and I look forward to it for a long time. I've got my lists and coupons all ready and should get about 20 free things if everything works out according to plan! Plus I'll get a whole bunch of other stuff for next to nothing! I remember I used to get embarrassed when I was little because my mom always had like 50 coupons and held up the line. But now, I've really been getting into 'couponing' lately- I look at it like a game to see how much I can get for free/dirt cheap. I don't use the Grocery Game or any particular method because I found that I didn't have nearly enough storage space to stock up and store everything for months. So instead, I try to cut and use coupons for only what I know I'll actually use and I always wait until those things are on sale before using my coupons. I also look at the Coupon Mom's website and a few other blogs where they do a lot of the work for you and tell you what you can get for free that week. Last week I saved so much the checker had to call the manager over to approve my savings! The bagger said "Way to go miss, you're a pro!" I left with the biggest smile on my face! I sure am my mother's daughter!

*I read Total Money Makeover the other morning and now I'm on a big kick to get our finances in order. (If you'd ask my husband, he'd say this is nothing short of a miracle and he's praising the Lord for my change of heart towards budgeting) We had some money sitting around in savings (presumably for a down payment one day) but we realized we were paying more interest on my student loans than we were making on the money we had saved. We're also hoping that as a result of going to law school, Brandon will land a good job afterwards and that without much other debt we'll be able to save up another down payment quickly. So we decided to use some of that money to pay off a big chunk of my student loans and we kept the rest as our 3-6 month emergency fund. We've now paid off about 80% of my loans, we're so close! Brandon is accumulating some student loans of course since he can only work part-time but most of those are interest free until he graduates and because it's a state school his tuition is fairly inexpensive. With determination and strict budgeting we just might be able to get through these 3 years living on his part-time salary and only taking out loans to cover the cost of his in-state tuition. Plus after reading the book, I was motivated to find some way to earn money for this family so I advertised myself on Craigslist as a dog-walker and housecleaner (go ahead, laugh if you want girls). Now that Brandon's home in the afternoons, he can stay with the boys and study while I spend a few hours working. So far I haven't gotten any responses but I'll keep re-posting myself until I do. Cross your fingers that I can get a few jobs a week and bring in the grocery/gas money!

*I have also set the goal of doing a 'No Spend Month' in October. Just the basics! That means no eating out, no clothes shopping (for me and Brandon, we'll still buy the boys some clothes if they need them), no random $100 Target trips with nothing really to show for it, no movies, etc. We do have a wedding and two baby showers to attend, but I'm hoping to get those gifts before October starts. I'm posting this here so I have some reason to stay accountable when I'm in Target doing some grocery shopping and I stray over to the Home Goods section. Brandon refers to my Target runs as "wandering around aimlessly, brainstorming for ways to spend money on things we don't need." He's very happy (although pretty skeptical) about No Spend Month. We'll see how it goes- Wish me luck!

Ok, enough time wasted. My goal today was to get my bedroom tidied up. Brandon says he can't concentrate on studying with my clothes flung all over the place and papers/baby toys littering the floor. He'll be home from work in 3 hours, I better get working!

Picky Eater

I swear, they don't always do this or else I wouldn't make him eat peas anymore. Some days they chow them down (like yesterday) other days they act like I'm feeding them poop.

8 Months

I have a picture post from California coming soon, but I wanted to let you all know what the boys are up to first:

*I have no idea how tall they are now but I'd guess they weigh about 19 to 19 1/2 pounds each. They definitely have thunder thighs and some extremely chubby cheeks that I can't resist kissing about a hundred times a day!

*Not crawling yet, but VERY close. Cullen can get up on his hands and knees and rock himself back and forth. He usually pushes himself backward while doing this and gets really frustrated since it's the opposite direction from where he wanted to go. I think that very soon here, that frustration will help him figure out how to crawl forward.

*Both boys roll all over the place! Neither of them have ever been big on rolling over, until they realized that they can move across the room by rolling. About a month ago they figured this out and have been rolling everywhere ever since. So, even though they're not crawling yet, they can still cross the room within seconds and wreak havoc if they want to. I have to keep an extra close eye on them nowadays. I learned this the hard way a few weeks ago when Jack rolled over to our floor lamp and pulled it down. The lamp itself is metal and plastic, but the lightbulb wasn't and it shattered everywhere. I am just so thankful that Cullen was in his bouncer at the time and wasn't hit by the falling lamp or glass shards. I had semi-babyproofed the room a few days earlier, but had never thought they could pull the lamp down. I have a babyproofing booklet now that lists out the bazillions of ways that kids could hurt themselves and I'm using that as a checklist in case anything else slips my mind.

*They're learning how to chew lately. I started giving them chunkier foods about a month ago and now they've moved onto small pieces of torn up bread and mushy fruits. My sister even bought them these baby cereal puffs that are like cheerios but break down and dissolve a little easier. At first they hated chewing and would spit out any big chunks, but now they're doing much better at it. They even figured out how to feed themselves the cereal pieces and they were so proud! The other night I put them both on the floor with a small pile of cereal and they ate the whole thing within 5 minutes!

*They are getting much better with their sippy cups too, they think they're toys and love drinking out of them. They haven't quite figured out that they have to tip their heads back and the cup up to drink so they still need help, but they have finally stopped gulping and choking on the liquid that comes out.

*Both boys babble alot but Cullen has really stepped it up. He now says 'baba' and 'dada' all the time. I told Brandon he must have missed him alot while we were in California because he kept shouting 'dadadada' the whole time!

*Still no signs of teeth! However they have been ultra fussy lately and I may be wrong but I think their teeth will be coming very soon. They gnaw on everything in sight too and their bites are getting harder and harder. I've got the Orajel and a few teething toys all ready for them whenever the time comes.

*They are getting so angry lately at being left alone even if I'm just across the room feeding their brother. They throw their heads back and start these long, pitiful, wailing cries. Then they instantaneously stop the second I come back and pick them up. I think it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

*They are soooo wiggly lately! Often, we'll be standing there talking to people and they'll throw themselves around in our arms. They're so hard to hang on to!

*They like to bounce in your arms too. They'll push off from your body and bounce themselves around no matter if you're standing or sitting or walking, they just want to be moving constantly. Jack loves to rock himself while he's sitting on the ground too.

*They're developing favorite toys. It used to be the Baby Einstein rattle and they fought over it so I had to go out and buy another "cool" toy: a set of very realistic looking keys. These keys even light up and make car sounds. This is the new favorite toy and they fight over it now. I decided it was a lost cause to go buy another toy only to have them fight over it instead and forget about the rattle and keys.

*They give "hugs" whenever I pick them up. They grab on so tightly and cuddle with me, I just love it!

*Still no separation anxiety. They don't mind a bit if we leave them with babysitters or in the church nursery. We've never had to be paged during the service, they usually love being in there with all the other babies.

*They're still super happy babies. They smile and laugh constantly. My favorite thing in the whole world is when they laugh at each other.

So Busy!

I still need to do an 8 month post for the boys but that will have to wait. We've been super busy lately, Brandon started law school last week and so far he's actually enjoying it! It's sure to get busier and more demanding as the year wears on, but right now it seems manageable. I hope it stays that way! After much eye-rolling, I forced my handsome husband to take a picture on his first day of school.

Juli and Renee are here visiting now, they road-tripped across the country since Renee's moving here for school. It's been so great to spend time with two of my favorite girls this weekend! And I'm sooooo happy that Renee's here to stay! And wonderful Juli offered to fly with me and the boys to California before heading back to Seattle and she even got us buddy passes so we saved a lot of money on the way out there. Yippee for friends with flight benefits, thanks Jules!! We leave tomorrow morning for a week in hot, sunny California. I can't wait! That's all for now, I'll be sure to post lots of pictures of the boys while we're in California!

Big Changes

I just realized that I completely forgot to mention something really, really big that's going to be happening in our lives very soon. I didn't say anything because, honestly, we weren't 100% sure until very recently. We had been talking about it since the boys were born, decided for and then against it several times, told our families about a month ago and I think we've finally decided to go through with it.

Brandon's going to law school!

He starts tomorrow night, so I guess we're past the point of no return now. He will be going to school part-time at George Mason University and still working part-time as well. We're very fortunate that his job is so flexible because they'll allow him to adjust his schedule as needed with the demands of class and family. The goal (which I'm pretty adamant about) is for him to take summer classes or eventually switch to full-time law school so that he can still finish in 3 years.

Like deciding to stay here on the East Coast for the first year of the boys' lives, this was an extremely hard decision for us and for me especially. There aren't many things in the world I want more than to move back home, but for now I've accepted that this is where God has us and where it makes the most sense to live for the time being. (Of course, I plan on subtly encouraging Brandon to transfer to UW, as unlikely as that may be ;-) ). We've discussed this a lot over the past few months and I really believe that this is what's best for our family. If that changes at all in either of our minds, then we'll re-evaluate law school. That makes the decision much easier to cope with, knowing that Brandon wants to do what's best for our entire family and not just himself. We both need each other to be fully on-board with the decision the whole time. It just wouldn't work if we didn't both support it.

There's no denying that the next few years will be pretty hard. I can't imagine there are a lot of law students out there with jobs and a family of four to support. Brandon has a lot on his plate as he'll be juggling 3 huge roles at the same time. I don't envy him at all, but I'll do my best to support him and encourage him. If it ever gets too hard for either of us, then he'll simply quit, regardless of debt. We'll try to avoid that obviously, but it's not worth destroying our family for. As difficult as it may be, I can support this decision because I know we're on the same page and that we love each other and will support each other through this. Please pray for us, though, it certainly won't be easy!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Yesterday was our second anniversary and we celebrated by taking the boys to their first baseball game! The Angels were here playing the Orioles so we made the drive out to Baltimore to see the game. In my opinion, Orioles games are much more fun than Nationals games because there's actually a fan base in Baltimore and the Orioles aren't embarrassingly bad. Plus it's fun just to be at Camden Yards. Anyways, the Angels won (8-5) which I was doubly glad for because Brandon cheered for the Orioles the entire time. I thought he'd be rooting for the Angels but he informed me when he arrived that the Orioles are 'his third favorite team' (behind the Mariners and Red Sox) and that the Angels are 'only his fourth favorite team.' Apparently, he has a strict ranking system for his favorite baseball teams that I never knew about. So we cheered for opposing teams, but I got the last laugh in the end because my team won. It's always more fun to be in the minority fan base when your team actually wins!

Jack and Cullen didn't seem too interested in the game despite Brandon's play-by-play description of the game for them. They were so hot, extremely wiggly and difficult to contain in the seats. Plus they kept grabbing for the armrests (gross!) or putting their toys that had fallen onto the ground into their mouths (doubly gross!). *Sigh* Oh well, I keep reminding myself that the odds are pretty miniscule that they'll catch a disease and die from common germs or dirt. Still, though, I came home and washed all their toys today.

Here's a family photo from their first game. If it looks like we're all sweaty messes it's because we are. It was 90 degrees but felt well over 100 with the high humidity and lack of any breeze at all. Plus, those babies might as well be little balls of fire when you're holding them on your lap for 3 hours.

On the drive home, we each got a Frosty from Wendy's, cranked up the air conditioning, and reminisced about old memories from high school and college. The path God used to bring us together was certainly funny in every sense of the word. We laughed and laughed the whole way home remembering how silly we used to be. I remember meeting Brandon 10 years ago this summer and thinking to myself, "I wonder who that new kid is?" Then I promptly turned back to giggling with my girlfriends about who-knows-what. It never crossed my mind that I had just met my future husband (though I did develop a crush on him a few months later). It's hard to believe that I've known him for 10 years now and we've been married for 2 years and been parents together for almost 8 months. Time seems to go faster and faster these days but at the same time I can still vividly remember moments together from high school as if they just happened yesterday.

And 2 years of marriage may not seem like alot, but when I consider how much Brandon and I have changed in that time, it seems incredible. We started out so shaky- we'd already known each other/been dating off and on for several years and we got thrust into such big life changes so suddenly that we didn't have much of a 'honeymoon period.' I got severely homesick within the first month, Brandon switched jobs, we had bills piling up, plus all of the normal problems that most new marriages encounter once both of you start realizing you haven't married a perfect person after all. It's so easy to hide sin when you can go home to your separate houses at the end of the night. But once you're married, it all comes out pretty quickly. I started to see myself in a whole new light. I had always thought I was a pretty good and godly girl, Ha! Boy was I wrong!

But being married to Brandon has been sooo good for me! It's taught me so much about my sinful heart, my tendency to criticize and harbor bitterness, my tendency to rush to judgment and blame, my stubborness and refusal to admit fault, my quick temper that I wouldn't dare take out on anyone else, my reluctance to truly forgive, my extreme self-centeredness, I could go on and on and on. But God paired me with good, patient, faithful, stubborn, honest Brandon who points out my faults (gently) and encourages me with Scripture and prays for me and refuses to just "drop it" whenever there's an issue. He doesn't let me run away from problems or react hysterically or give the silent treatment or storm out and go to bed angry- all of which I much prefer to actually talking about and resolving the problem. I shudder to think of what life would be like had I married somebody who reacts as badly to problems as I do. We complement each other so well in every way. I'm so grateful God blessed me with Brandon as a husband, I really should tell him so more often. He tells me so every day- which is just more evidence of how wonderful he is. If the past two years have been this hard and turned out so great, I look forward to the next 50 with him by my side, growing together in godliness.

I love you Brandon, Happy Anniversary!

We're Back!

Where have we been? Here:

We went to Stanley, Idaho for 2 weeks to visit the O'Malleys. We couldn't do as much as we normally do since we had two little boys who needed 2 naps and 6 meals a day, but we still had a lot of fun. We played a lot of games while we were at the house. I also jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon (about 7 years too late, but oh well) and read the first 3 books in Stanley and enjoyed them. It was so good to see everybody, and they all loved seeing the boys of course! I know you all come here to see pictures of the boys so I'll just get on with those!

Right before bed on our first night in Stanley

Cullen LOVED the water! This water was actually fairly cold, but he didn't mind a bit. He loved the feeling of the water flowing past his feet. Jack was a different story, he screamed the second his feet touched the water and started up again every time we started to lower him toward it.

Touching their first froggy!

Daddy and Jack

I tried my hand at fly fishing and it was an epic fail! I didn't catch a single thing! It's harder than it looks! I'll try again next year though, I'm determined to catch a fish before Jack and Cullen do!

Gary caught one though and let me reel it in for him, that was the highlight of my fly fishing experience.

Here's Cullen again in the Salmon River, pretty cold but he loved it!

We also went shooting the last day we were there. I didn't get any pictures of Brandon shooting, but he did the best. Way better than me, but I hit a few targets.

Here's Brandon fly-fishing, he caught 2 fish. No fair!

We also rafted the river. I spent most of the trip reclining and reading, this is the life!

I did paddle for a few minutes though when we went over the rapids part.

We went with Scott and his girlfriend Ashlee

And here's a bunch of cute pictures of the boys in their blow-up pool their grandparents bought for them. They loved it!

Well, we got back on Friday and we've been recovering. The boys were completely spoiled while they were there and have been extra fussy and needy ever since we got back. They must have gotten used to the constant attention and holding. *Sigh* It could be a long week alone with them.

And I'm not even going to mention the process of getting to and from the airport. Suffice it to say that it was a very difficult experience and not my finest moment when it comes to complaining. Good thing I love Brandon for more than his ability to pick family-friendly flights and he loves me for more than my complaining spirit. Anyways, we got through it together, learned our lesson and will make better flight choices in the future :-)

Pray for me though as I'm traveling to California in 2 weeks all alone with the boys!

7 Months

That's right, Jackson and Cullen are 7 months old today! We just got an email from church telling us that they're going to be moved up to the 'Crawlers' room for 7-11 month olds. I teared up when I read that! They're not actually that close to crawling yet but it reminded me of how quickly they're growing up. Here's a rundown of what they're up to lately:

*I'm guessing that Cullen weighs about 17 or 17 1/2 pounds and Jack is probably around 16. That's the best I can tell from stepping on the scale with them and then subtracting my weight.

*They're still mostly wearing 3-6 month clothing but in certain brands can wear 6-9 month clothes. Actually, I've discovered that baby sizes are sometimes a joke. For instance, they still fit into their Gap pants that are size 0-3 months. Please tell me what newborn baby weighs 17 pounds and is 26 inches long??? I'm sure there are some out there that grow really quickly and pack on the pounds but that can't be the average kid!

*They are FANTASTIC sleepers. They typically go to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 and wake up around 7:30 but they usually just lay there and talk to themselves until 8:00 or so. I get plenty of sleep!

*They also still take two 2-hour naps each day. One around 10 am and one around 3 pm.

*I think they're growing more hair in, maybe I'm just seeing things though...

*Still no sign of teeth!

*They typically eat veggies without too much complaining nowadays. Even peas and green beans as long as they're mixed in with carrots or sweet potatoes. And of course they love their fruits! Can't get enough of those! I'm only breastfeeding them when they first wake up and right before bed now. They also still get a bottle before bedtime.

*Cullen really, really loves to blow spit bubbles. That's pretty much all he likes to do anymore. He drenches his shirts.

*Cullen also still pulls out his fake cough every now and then.

*Both boys grab for faces and sometimes reach out for us, but Jack does this more often than Cullen.

*Jack likes to grab at anything really, he's constantly stealing Cullen's toys. He could have a whole pile around him but he'll want the one toy that's in Cullen's hands.

*This morning Jack started bouncing/rocking himself while sitting on the couch, he must have liked it because he kept doing it all morning.

*They love to play with toys, their attention span is still about 20 minutes but if they're fed and have just woken up from a nap they'll play on the floor or in their bouncers for half an hour. I'm loving these days when they're so independent and can play by themselves but can't yet move around. Still dreading the day when they start crawling in different directions...

*They love to bounce! I'm so glad we bought that thing!

*They love to be outside so we take lots of walks, usually to the park down the street or to the grocery store. Walking there is much, much easier than driving.

*They love being read to and will even help me turn the pages!

*They still adore their Daddy, he's their favorite person in the world! (I tell myself this is only because they're with me all day and their Dad is special because they don't see him as often)

*We've started giving them baths in the real bathtub. They love splashing in the water! I have to wait til Brandon's home, though, because I couldn't give both of them a bath by myself until they get a little older and a little better at sitting up. Right now, we have to keep one hand on Jack nearly the entire time because he tries to suck on his feet... while they're underwater.

*They interact with each other all the time now. It just kills me when they smile or laugh at each other. Whenever Brandon's throwing one up in the air the other one will laugh the whole time.


Ok, and now I better get going because I have so much to do before we leave for Idaho tomorrow morning! So much cleaning and packing left, plus I still have a few errands to run and laundry to do! I'm really looking forward to 2 weeks of relaxing at the O'Malley's cabin! And getting out of DC now that the humidity has really set in and we're experiencing daily thunderstorms. I just have to make it through the next 24 hours. If you think of it, please pray that our boys will be really well-behaved on the plane! We have about 12 hours of flights, layovers, and driving ahead of us tomorrow. And we get to do it all with two wiggly little boys- it might take me two weeks just to recover from the trip there!

Twice the work, but twice the fun!

I just re-read this post and realized that I made it sound like mothers with one baby have it super easy. Believe me, I know that's not the case. Taking care of a baby is hard work, no matter how many you have. And in many ways, our boys are so easy-going and on the same schedule that I often joke that they're easier than one fussy baby. And I'm sure that getting out of the house with one baby can be extremely difficult as well, I was just expressing my jealousy of mothers who have it a little easier than me in this one area. Kind of like the way a mother of triplets might think how much easier it would be to have twins! At least I have enough arms to hold all of my kids ;-) Anyways, I understand the challenges presented when taking any kid(s) anywhere. Can I just say, though, that I CANNOT WAIT for the day when they can walk themselves to the car and sit in one shopping cart and carry their own belongings around?!

I have to admit, the only time I'm jealous of mothers with only one kid is when I see them traveling or running errands with such ease. Sometimes twins are only twice the work/time commitment. But other times, being a twin mom is literally more like 10 times the work. And then whatever I was planning to do just doesn't seem worth it after all.

Mothers of one baby don't have to lug the mother-of-all diaper bags with them everywhere they go, they don't have to use a stroller the size of a small car every single time they leave their own front door, they don't have anxiety attacks about getting that stroller out the heavy, double front doors of their apartment building. They simply pick up the child, throw their purse/small diaper bag over their shoulder and walk out (what a concept!). When they get to their car, they strap the child in, get in the driver seat and take off (Amazing! So quick!). If they need to run into Trader Joe's and the kid is sleeping in the car seat, it isn't a 15 minute process just to get out of the car. They simply pop the car seat out, place it in the cart and go! What I wouldn't give to be able to run an errand or go to the pool for a few hours instead of being cooped up in our tiny apartment. Sometimes I just seethe with jealousy.


But that usually only lasts for a few seconds. Then I see my boys laughing at each other or snuggling together in their crib and my heart melts. They're totally worth any inconvenience! I mean, come on, how cute are these guys?!?!

Eat Your Veggies, Part 2

The Weekend

We had another busy, but fun weekend. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and hit up some yard sales. We took the boys along and they ended up getting a nice little nap in the car along the way. I got some great deals too! I got several new outfits for them for only $1 each, including a Janie and Jack sweater!! I also got a ton of baby-proofing stuff for only a few dollars, it might be enough to do our entire house. They still can't move around yet, but I think that's coming soon! And I got a Diaper Genie for only $5 which I'm super excited about since the boys' room always stinks like poop! (You're probably wondering why in the world I did not have a proper diaper pail before this. Well, remember when I was on that cloth-diapers kick? I tried that for about 3 weeks, decided it was waaaayy too big of a hassle, and gave up but was too embarrassed to say so. So now I'm admitting it- I'm throwing hundreds of diapers each week into a landfill somewhere, sorry Earth.) Yard sales are my new favorite Saturday morning activity, I want to go every week now!

On Saturday night, Brandon and I went on a really fun date to Applebees and then a movie. It was a very 'high school' date and I loved every minute of it! The only thing missing was making out in one of our beater cars at Redondo ;-) In all seriousness though, it was a really fun night. Some friends from church graciously babysat our kids, we had yummy burgers for dinner, and we saw The Proposal which was much funnier and cuter than I had expected. Even Brandon liked it! We laughed through the whole thing and I didn't feel like we completely wasted 22 bucks. The next movie we see in theaters will probably be New Moon and I know that won't be a waste of money!

On Sunday, we went to church as usual and in between services we had some friends over for lunch. They have a daughter who's just over a year old and she loved our cats! Cullen tried to impress her by blowing spit bubbles but she was more interested in chasing Huck around! :-)

Here are some pictures of our big boys in their Sunday best:

Jack

Cullen

Laughing at their daddy

Cullen Copying Mommy

This weekend, I was eating some pasta and I looked over to see Cullen doing this:

Cullen's New Trick

Amazing!!

THIS is just about the coolest thing I have ever seen! Coming from somebody who performed a little dance at the reception with her bridesmaids, I just LOVE it!

I wish I was a guest at that wedding! Who do I know that I can talk into doing something like that? Hmmm......

Brandon and The Bachelorette

On Monday night after the Bachelorette.


Me: "Who do you think Jillian will choose next week?"

Brandon: "Ed"

Me: "Really? I think she's going to pick Kiptyn. Want to bet?"

Brandon: "No, actually I think you're right, she's going to pick Kiptyn."

Me: "Then why did you say Ed?"

Brandon: "Because I forgot the other guy's name and I didn't want to talk about this any longer than I have to."


After seeing a preview for the Bachelorette about one of the eliminated guys coming back this week.


Me: "(Gasp) Who do you think is coming back?!?!?!?"

Brandon: "Jesus Christ."

Sippy Cups

I've heard that it's good to let your kids get used to sippy cups by letting them play with and hold them first. So last week, I spread a towel on the floor and filled the cups with a little bit of water and let them play. Jack really enjoyed his and even got the spout into his mouth. Cullen, however, got frustrated with his. Last week, Cullen was really into what I deemed the "fake- cough cry" that he's doing in the video. He would force himself to cough/cry whenever he was the slightest bit upset. At first I thought maybe he was actually a little sick, but no, after a week of that I'm convinced he just thought it was fun to cough and that it got him more attention than merely fussing.

He got tired of that pretty quickly though. Nowadays, his favorite thing to do is blow spit bubbles. I'll try to get this on video before he moves onto another new trick because it's HILARIOUS, but for now here's a video of them with their sippy cups.

The Weekend

Whew, I'm so glad the weekend is over, it was soooo busy!! On Friday night, we joined a group from church at the park to play whiffle ball. Brandon was looking forward to this all week, he was so excited for the chance to play some variant of baseball again! Me and the boys cheered him on from a blanket in the outfield with some other moms. We had fun too, though not nearly as much fun as Brandon :-)

Jackson

The Whiffle Ball game

All the ladies (and Cullen)

On Saturday, we woke up early to help our friends the Lugbills move out of their apartment. (Well ok, Brandon helped- I stood around holding babies and chatting with the girls). They moved to Kentucky and we are all very sad to see them go. Jessica was one of my closest friends here and my boys have been best friends with Silas Lugbill since all three of them were still in utero. Jack and Cullen are pretty bummed that they don't get to have any more play dates with Silas. We are already looking forward to visiting them sometime soon, though!

After saying goodbye, we came home and took the boys swimming in the pool! We haven't done that yet at our own apartment. People on the east coast treat pools like they're made of gold, they have the strictest rules for using them, even if it's your own community's pool. Every single person has to have a pool pass, you can't bring in guests unless you pay for them, and they sent around a newsletter at the beginning of the summer saying that any children in diapers wouldn't be allowed in the pool. I was really bummed for a while because I had been looking forward to swimming with the boys this summer but we decided to test our luck with the rules and see how strictly they actually followed them. Turns out, not that strictly. We did have to have our 4 pool passes but nobody said anything to us about the babies. I'm so glad we went, the boys loved splashing around and kicking. They love the water so much more than they did in California in May. They liked it then, but sort of just floated around. Now they get so excited to touch the water that they start shaking and kicking. After the pool, the boys took naps and then we went straight over to a BBQ for another couple we know that will be leaving next month. Amazingly, at this BBQ, there were 3 sets of twins! Ours were the youngest, but we love being around other older sets and watching them interact. We are excited for our boys to play together and talk to each other! After the BBQ, we came home and were so worn out that all 4 of us went to bed before 9:00.

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and evening as usual and Brandon stayed late for a member's meeting. I took the boys home so they could get to bed on time. And now, we're all still recovering from the busy weekend. The boys are extra, extra grumpy today. And last night, Jack kept waking up every 2 hours or so moaning and crying. It was very strange, but I checked his temperature and it was normal. He doesn't seem sick, and he's not constipated anymore (the previous two nights, both boys had woken up early screaming in pain because they were so constipated) so I'm not sure what's going on with him. Today, he's been really clingy and has had a really hard time eating. He started crying so hard during his dinner that he choked on the food that was in his mouth. It's really strange, he'd scream for food and then scream harder once it was in his mouth. Finally, I just picked him up, rocked him for a few minutes, and then switched the peas/carrot mixture for applesauce. He eventually ate that although he had the most pitiful look on his face while doing so. Maybe he's coming down with a cold? I have no idea, but whatever it is, I hope he gets better soon.

Anyways, that's what we've been up to lately. Now I have to go get the boys ready for bed, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll sleep soundly tonight!

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