Crazy Kids : )

Aiden is into everything he can be. I can't count how many times he has pinched his finger in the fireplace doors, attempted to pull over the plants, the DVD's and the cabinets in the kitchen. Aiden did finally win a battle. Aiden-1, Pyrex measuring cup-0. He was sitting on the kitchen floor and in the extremely short amount of time it took me to open the back door to let Molly outside. He had crawled to the cabinet, opened the door and pulled out the glass measuring cups and that was the end. He wasn't hurt thankfully, but he had quite a terrified look on his face! We didn't even have to baby proof with Isla and I'm a firm believer in children learning what they can and can't play with but for his safety, I may have to rethink our approach on this!

And it just happened to be the 4 cup measuring cup :(

And Daddy styled his hair during bath time...first mohawk! And bath toy in his mouth...

Until recently Isla didn't consistently finish her meals. But when she did, she was rewarded with a treat afterwards. For Christmas we had a bowl full of little round chocolates wrapped in holiday foil. She has been working on these since then and only has a few left. Over the last couple weeks she has been eating a TON! She must be growing because I can't recall a time that she has eaten so well. Every night when she finishes her meal, I roll her a chocolate across the table and she is on her way. She carries this chocolate around until it is her turn to get into the bath tub. At that point she puts the chocolate in the sink. She saves this chocolate until the perfect moment to eat it which is after bath and clean PJ's and laying on the couch with her blanket and teddy bear. One of the little things I don't want to forget because it's precious just like her.

Getting So Big

In the last week I feel like the kids have grown up so much! Isla no longer has a rail to keep her in bed and she hasn't fallen out, well not that she has admitted anyway. I do think I heard her fall out of bed and as I waited to hear her call for me, she never did. When I asked her the next morning, she smiled and said "did you hear someone fall out of bed?" I think she may be afraid that if she falls out we will put the safety rail back on! She is also such a big help around the house and with Aiden. Although, it doesn't seem like it sometimes, she really is and I want to document it. 

Aiden has accomplished quite a few big boy things in the last week. Until last Tuesday, we rocked him to sleep for nap time and bed time. Most of the time it was like wrestling a wild bear! And then you would get him to sleep and gently walk him back to his room and as soon as you laid him down, up he was! So last week we started teaching him to go to sleep on his own. I was terrified because he has such a temper. The first night, he cried for 2 hours!!!!!!! And when he finally went to sleep at almost 11:30pm I thought this is going to be tough. Much to my surprise it only took 25 minutes the following night, 10 minutes the night after that and last night he laid down and went to sleep without a peep! 

And this is how he looks---and he sleeps better!

He has started talking a little, in his own language of course :) He will point to Molly and say "dog" and he will wave his hand and say "hi". 

AND he took his very first steps last night! 

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. We did decide to get out of the house and have dinner and spend our Saturday night looking at fish at Bass Pro. Josh had his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday and was craving something meaty to eat so we went to Red Robin for some hamburgers which were delicious! 

Week #2

Well I must say this week is off to a much better start! The house is clean and laundry is done. I've been able to have dinner ready when Josh gets home and he now has more time to play with the kids before bath and bedtime. This is exactly what we were hoping for when we made this decision. I'm sure we will have our ups and downs (last week for example) but our biggest goal was to reduce a little stress and have more time with the kids. I do feel a little lost at times as far as a routine goes and how to make sure the kids are still learning at home and well balanced meals etc. I know that will come with time though so I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in it and just take it day by day.

We did re-list our house to hopefully sell it this spring/summer. Rumor has it the housing market is looking up a little so we thought we would just see what happens. The beauty is that we don't HAVE to move or sell and we have no form of deadline so there isn't any pressure on us. Here is the link to our listing

http://www.mlsfinder.com/moks_hl/kw_595/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=1800419&searchkey=654f7c94-c250-06c2-e088-e877a27bf66b

This past weekend my mom watched the kids and Josh and I had a much overdue date night! It was nice to relax and not worry too much about the little ones. They love going to Grammy's :) After we picked them up we drove around and looked at some land in Oak Grove. We are considering all options once we sell our house but I think we have ruled out building for the time being.

Here are a few pics to brighten your day!

 Aiden is a pro at sticking out his tongue now

 We took the safety rail off of Isla's bed this morning!

Master of destruction! If you even turn your head for a minute while in the play room, he crawls as fast as he can over to the DVD's and just starts ripping them off the shelf. I may give in and actually just move this thing!

Week #1 on the New "Job"

This week has been challenging to say the least. Here is a breakdown to give you a better idea...

Monday: We were off to an awesome start. We all got up and had breakfast, even Josh had a waffle before he left. Both kids had check-ups so we made a trip to Babies R Us and then to the doctor's office. Isla's 3 year check-up went well. She is weighing in at 28 pounds and 36 inches tall. Her blood pressure is good and she jumped right up for everything which was such a relief. She has a tendency to be timid about things like that but she was such a big girl. Aiden's 9 month (although he is 10 months) went well too. We aren't too worried about his HSP anymore. The rash has cleared up and his urine test came back clear.... and yes I had to collect the urine sample....tricky tricky! He weighed in at 23 pounds and 29 1/4 tall. Not much difference between them! Then Josh came home to a clean house and dinner made and we both sighed in relief for a much more relaxed Monday.

I had to use the little jump seat in the bathroom for the 1st time. Using the bathroom in public with 2 kids...not so easy!

Tuesday: We were all up again and saw Josh off to work. Then Aiden and I dropped Isla off at school. She goes part-time on Tues and Thur from 9-3. We came home and he went down for his morning nap. I made my grocery list and after lunch Aiden and I went shopping. By the time we got home I was feeling not so good. By the time we picked up Isla, I was feeling worse. Josh told me to call my mom but I thought I would be ok. WRONG! By 6pm I was sitting on the kitchen floor in sweatpants, sweatshirt and a robe, shivering from my fever. I managed to get the kids fed but we skipped bath time and naturally Aiden didn't want to go to sleep but he finally did around 9pm. My fever at that point was 101.7. Aiden woke up at 12:30am and again at 4:20am. Ughhh....

Wednesday: I woke up and had Josh call my Nana to come watch the kids because I was dying slowly! Luckily she found someone to take her spot at work and she was here by 10am. THANK GOODNESS! I immediately went to the Walk-In clinic and my strep test was positive. I picked up my antibiotics and came home to try to get some sleep.

Thursday: Here I sit while Aiden naps and Isla is at school, catching up on the blog that I have neglected. The house is a mess, Aiden is out of clean clothes and the house needs to be in tip-top shape because we are re-listing on Monday. And luckily Monday starts a new and hopefully better week :)

Harper turns 2!

On Saturday we traveled up to St. Joe to celebrate Harper's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe she is already 2 and she has grown so much! We started off the celebration at Mandy's house for the infamous Lois Downing birthday cake and presents. Then we went to Monkey Cove which is an indoor water park at the Ramada Inn. The kids really enjoyed it but Josh said the water was sooo cold. We expected it to be warmer, especially in the winter time but they did have fun. Aiden went in the water for just a little bit but he wasn't such a fan. That was his first time in a pool of any sort and it was loud and busy so I'm hoping a calmer intro this summer will be better.

We also had the pleasure of meeting baby Kennedy Osborne! My college friend Tabby had her on March 1st and she is so precious. We were so excited to be in town so we could stop by :)

Here are some pictures from the party!

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, Snow---you get the point :)

It snowed and snowed and snowed on Thursday and so much so that my office was closed and we got to spend a nice day at home---snowed in!Not really but there was a LOT of snow. Josh decided we would make snow ice cream... I term it as "snowcream" because we couldn't go out to get the real thing. It turned out ok... a little sweet for Isla and I and a little cold for Aiden, but Josh ate all of his!  I did end up going to work on Friday and Josh stayed home with the kids because daycare was closed. Papa (Josh's Dad) came to visit us for the weekend and it was nice to just relax. Anymore it seems when we have an opportunity to visit family, there is always an agenda so it was nice to just hang out and go with the flow.We did do a little birthday shopping for Miss Harper (our niece) who will be 2 next week and I think she's going to like what Papa picked out! Josh and Isla attempted to go sledding in the midst of the storm on Thursday and lets just say that didn't turn out too well. They actually got stuck in the parking lot so Josh decided they would try to brave the storm and try to go sledding but the snow was too deep and Isla wanted nothing to do with it! She has always been timid when it comes to things of that nature. Luckily there was someone that was able to pull them out of the parking lot and they came home shortly after they left. Today, they decided to try again. It was sunny and calm outside and it went much better this time! Turns out Isla loves sledding and playing in the snow after all. Even Aiden got to help(watch) Josh and Isla build a snowman. It was a nice end to a nice weekend. 

So much snow

This is the first attempt at sledding 

Snowcream

 Everything is just a little too small but we made it work

Round 2!

I'm Bringing Blogging Back

Hello All!

Anybody who knows how much I like Justin Timberlake should get the reference with this posts' title :) If you don't know already but most of you do, my last day of work for a University of Phoenix and any corporate setting will be March 1st 2013. After much contemplation, Josh and I made the decision for me to stay home with our babies. Being a working mom is a constant battle of emotions and I'm blessed to have a supporting husband who is willing to take on the responsibility of the sole breadwinner for our family. Josh is busy busy busy with school and work right now and that just adds to the chaos that already exists when both parents work full time. Our typical day now consists of us out of the house by 7:15-7:20, kids dropped off by 7:30am, work all day, leave work at 5:15 and pick the kids up at the earliest if 5:50. We walk through the door at 6:00 and then spend the next 2 hours making dinner, eating dinner, bath time and then bed time. At best we get to spend 2.5 hours with the kids which pretty much stinks.

I have been working since I was 15 years old and the thought of just walking out next Friday is a strange one! Anyone that knew me in my younger years would say they would NEVER have thought I would want to become a homemaker, that just wasn't my thing. Quite frankly, there was a time in my life when I didn't even think I wanted to have children. Of course that was way before I was married too. Now having children, I can think of nothing else I want to do more. I know it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows every day and I know it will be the most challenging job I've had but it will also be the most rewarding. Our family is my life and I want nothing more than for it to be my only priority.

So, now, I should have a little more time to keep everyone updated on the happenings of our family! At least I'm going to make a strong effort to :)

Nicolle