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!
*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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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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!
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.
