Almost There

No more of this kind of entertainment at our house:
After 8 weeks (8 VERY long weeks, if you ask Ben) we will be seeing our furniture today! The container is being hauled to our front door as we speak and should be completely unpacked today. We are one excited family! Not only does it mean we'll get to see all the things we've missed, we finally get to move out of the apartment and into the house we've been waiting to enjoy. The kids are with Grandma and Grandpa for several days so I can get ahead of the mess before they come and make an even bigger mess.

We have enjoyed a few things about our temporary apartment, like the king-sized bed. Every morning the kids would come pile in bed with me and we'd watch cartoons together before getting up. Some mornings they didn't leave.

With no other kids around to play with, these guys have been inseparable. Ben even started reading books to Alex!

Bedtime was always a challenge here because they boys will not go to sleep together in the same room. They just play and get in trouble until they finally pass out from exhaustion, so we'd split them up to fall asleep then move one from our bed back to his own bed. Only Alex always has to take things one step farther and he would usually sneak into our closet to sleep on the air mattress which was still there from the jetlag recovery days. This particular night he gave me an extra laugh because he also took all the pillows from our bed.

Ben is also good for a laugh at night because he insists on sleeping in his blinders now. Funny boys!

Ben also found Daddy's bluetooth headset and loved talking on it.

Alex prefers good ole cherry chapstick to all the technology. Think he got enough?

We've also had some fun times outside of the apartment, especially on the weekends because it was way too cramped to sit around inside. We got to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Kirkham's 40th anniversary with them. Congratulations on 4 decades of life and love together!

The kids and I have taken advantage of all kinds of summer activities for kids in the area. Every week there is a new $1 kids movie at the theater, Ben went to a VBS, I started a women's Bible study, we found a great free indoor playground at a nearby church, and a fun playtime in the middle of the shops. This would have probably been more fun if it wasn't 95 degrees in the shade, but the kids still had a good time.

The highlight was the little leis the guys made and got to tear up at home. We are loving our Texas summer!

This morning is the quiet before the storm...we won't have internet at the house for 10 more days so my next post will be a while and hopefully be from our new home!

Happy Fathers Day

Thank you, Matt, for being our rock during uncertain times.

Thank you for being there during the happiest times.

(and the, ahem, hardest times for some. No names will be disclosed)

Thank you for the fun and laughter.

Thank you for teaching us we can find adventures anywhere.

Thank you for enjoying the little moments together.

Thank you for making memories with us!

Thank you for being a loyal, hard-working, and loving father. We love you and celebrate you today and always.

And to my dad, thank you for always being there for me, either in the same house or across the world! I'm so blessed to have you for a father and a grandfather to my children. I love you!

Too Much Mary Poppins?

Happy Birthday Reid!

I guess the summers will always be busy with little boy birthdays from now on - Ben in May, Reid in June, Alex in July! We were so excited that cousin Reid came down from Dallas to celebrate his first birthday with all his grandparents.

We were all excited for the big moment - the eating of the cake.

Ummmm.....

....no thanks. We couldn't believe it but Reid had no interest in the cake or the icing, even by spoon.

These boys, on the other hand, were thrilled with the prospect of cake and helped celebrate with lots of enthusiasm.



After everyone's tummies were full, Ben said he was going to teach Reid how to crawl. (Reid has started crawling since last time we saw him, but let's let Ben think he did the teaching!)

Alex was just waiting impatiently behind the couch for the presents to come out.

Reid got to open his loot and scored some nice gifts for his birthday. He gave a wave of thanks to the paparazzi before he started playing with everything.

After the big celebration, we spent a couple days enjoying everyone's company. Alex always struggles not being the baby in the house and finds lots of things to do to get some attention. I think he's gotten a little big for the baby bath!

We tried (unsuccessfully) to get a picture of the cousins...guess who wasn't in the mood?

The kids and grandkids

Grammy and Grumpy and their grandsons. Oh, Alex, there is never a dull moment with you!

On The Home Front

We have closed on our lovely new house and have keys to go and visit, but have nothing practical inside yet to make it livable. Our shipment was supposed to make landfall in the US on the west coast over the weekend and still has to make its way to Houston by rail, clear customs, and get trucked to our house. We're hoping to be reunited with our beds and toys in another couple of weeks. In the meantime, when we're over at the house the kids have to find entertainment any way possible. How did I ever live without an iphone? Here they are watching a show together in an empty bedroom.

And here they are fighting over it. Naturally.

We did get our 54 boxes out of storage and it was fun seeing what I thought was worth saving four years ago. Let's just say that I should have parted with ALL the winter clothes I packed away! It was exciting but also pretty emotional for me to go through everything from a time in my life that is gone, even though where we are now is so much better. Even running the vacuum and smelling the familiar scent of our old house brought tears to my eyes. Our lives have changed SO much since then! Anyway, now we have a twin bed, one old TV, lots of old books and vases, a vacuum, a loveseat, and a fridge in the garage. Not enough to live on just yet. While the movers were unpacking I fed the kids in the only seating area in the house - the bench in the mud room between the garage and kitchen. How much do I love this room already?!

We did go out to meet some of our new neighbors at an ice cream party at the neighborhood pool, even though we're not residents just yet. It's a fairly new development so no one has lived there more than four years, which makes it nice for people like us who are looking to make new friends. After ice cream sundaes, the kids got their arms painted and each got a balloon animal.

Alex is still asking to get another Elmo.

Ben settled on a red guitar.

They each got balloon puppies to take home, only Ben's didn't make it too far inside the door. I forgot the trauma of popping a balloon as a kid!

Alex is such a character...he always keeps us laughing. He decided to drink apple juice and milk at the same time at dinner. Sounds gross to me but he loved it, or at least loved the attention it drew to him.

And in our latest drama - Ben took a fall in the bathroom on Sunday and got a big goose egg on his forehead. It looked bad but didn't seem out of the ordinary until he threw up an hour later, then fell asleep on the couch for the first time ever (not counting jetlag or fever). I woke him up for dinner and he ate a little then threw up several more times. By that time Matt and I knew it was more serious than a bump, so I took him to an urgent care clinic and was immediately sent to the ER.

Thank goodness there is a new Texas Children's campus on the west side of Houston because we trust them completely and we had a great experience, as far as after-hours weekend emergencies go. The doctor ordered a CT scan on Ben before he even examined him because of the head injury/vomiting combination. It took a while for the radiologist to look at the results so we hung out in a room and lucky Ben got to watch TV and play on my iphone (again - how did I live without that??) for a couple of hours while we waited to see the doctor. He perked up with all the excitement and attention at the hospital and I think really enjoyed the whole thing, except for the throwing up and headache.

Our prayers were answered and we were so glad to find out it was just a mild concussion and nothing more serious internally. Ben managed to survive his traumatic birth and four months in the hospital without damaging his brain so we would sure hate to see a simple fall harm him! Praise God for keeping him safe yet again. But let's not make any more unplanned visits to Texas Children's or my hair may go completely gray.

Ben at 5

I just had a little interview with Ben to remember his favorite things at five years old. As I asked him each of these questions his first response was "You know! You know what I like!" so his answers were a little short.

Color: yellow

Food: crackers, triangle cheese, strawberries, cookie cake, chocolate

Cartoon: Jake and the Neverland Pirates and everything else except Alex's shows

Drink: lemonade, orange juice

Movie: Mary Poppins

Animal: giraffes

Treat: skittles

Things: building blocks

Toy: my black truck

Activities: swimming

Story: A Wocket In My Pocket, Wacky Wednesday, and pretty much anything else by Dr. Suess

Song: supercalifragilsticexpialadocious (and he can really say it!)

Dislikes: watching Mickey Mouse because that's Alex's show. carrots.

The kids have figured out how to talk on the phone to one another in the apartment and don't seem bothered in the least by the dial tone. It's so much fun to watch!