Grown-up talk

Hey there friends and family,

I just thought I'd take a moment and share something besides photos.  Just a quick update on me and Matt.

We've been in our "new house" for about 6 months now...the time has flown by!  We're adjusting to the drop in liquid spending cash (since our mortgage more than doubled!!!).  It's eye-opening to learn how much we DON'T actually need!  Just today we had Solar Panels installed as a way of saving some money.  If any of you know my husband you might be confused with the solar panel thing....but hey, if it saves us several hundred a month, with no initial investment then we're all for it!!! 

Matt likes his new job.  It keeps him much busier than either of us would prefer, but it sure beats having no job!  He likes what he does and who he works with, and he is very good at what he does.  He says it's the most mentally draining job he's ever had. 

I'm adjusting to more than I bargained for....I doubled the kid count and the square-footage to clean at the same time!  Even almost 6 months after giving birth I still feel like I have more hours in the day than I have energy for.  And I still find myself daydreaming about all the changes (mostly cosmetic) that I'd like to do to this house but I have neither the money nor the energy to complete. 

Speaking of changes, I did start a cabinet transformation in our downstairs bathroom using a leftover Rustoleum kit from a project in our last house. Nothing terribly exciting...but it'll freshen up that bathroom in a big way.  Plus it was Free!

Today I signed up to be a Thirty-One Gifts consultant.  I'm going to keep my Mary Kay business because I want to keep the discount, but I intend to make Thirty-One my money-making business.  I wanted something new and simple...and Thirty-One is where I ended up!!!  I'm very excited and a little nervous...just the right combination :-)

Sometimes it feels like we're just treading water trying to keep our heads above the surface so we can breathe.  Last week we were all sick so the house fell to complete dis-array and this week we're playing catch-up.  Yesterday's energy was spent grocery shopping and today I picked up the house.  Tomorrow will hopefully be spent cleaning the house, but i probably just jinxed myself and it'll never get clean.  I try to spend most of my energy on my kids...and I think I do a pretty good job raising them :-) I try to remind myself that a messy house and an empty fridge really aren't as important and as the mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and educational growth of my family. 

And that's about as deep as I get folks!  Thanks for tuning in!

Caleb at 5 months

Caleb is 5 months old!!!  I don't have any new measurement stats but he's still wearing 9 month clothes and doesn't seem much bigger than last month.  Developmentally he has changed a lot though!  He can sit up by himself, he can roll over (although the lazy bum still prefers to just lay on his back watching his busy sister), and he's started to eat solids (shhhhhh....don't tell the pediatrician!).  His face lights up when Daddy enters the room, he sucks on his hands non-stop, and today he went in the swing at the park!  He has a predictable sleep schedule and his smile and giggles just make my day!  I'm sure I'll be eating my words but I can't wait for you to be mobile and getting into all kids of trouble these next few months!

Caleb at 5 months

Sitting up, playing with toys

I put him down on his play mat....10 minutes and 4 rolls later he was next to the toy shelf

Sitting up, playing with toys

Watching sister nurse her babydoll

Don't bother me, I'm eating

On the swings

Tea party with sister and Grandma (2/16)

Merry Christmas!

FINALLY got the million photos my dad took at Christmas onto my computer so I can post them.  Here's my Christmas photo dump!

Our Christmas Card photo...which we never actually sent out.

Cousins, just 9 days apart in age, meeting for the first time!

Grandma doing her favorite activity: making cookies with the grand-toddlers

Decorating Baby Jesus' Happy Birthday cake!

Grandpa doing his favorite activity: taking the Grand-toddlers to the park...

...and taking lots of adorable photos along the way!

These two played SOOO well together all week.

Caleb got to meet the creepy Cabella's Santa

Christmas day brought lots of dress-up clothes, which just got layered one on top of another!

Family photo take 157...I'm very appreciative of my Dad's persistence to get this!

Stress release after an hour of smiling and posing for the camera!

And that concludes Christmas.  Phew, got that off my chest.  Now I just need to update my cover photos to include Caleb.  Don't hold your breath.

Snow Day

While most of the country would love to escape the snow and cold this year we sought it out and attempted to spend a weekend in the snow.  Key word...attempted.  It did snow while we were driving there on Friday night, but it warmed up overnight and rained the rest of the weekend.  After talking up the snow to Savannah all week she wanted to play regardless of the conditions.  So we went out twice on Saturday, for a few minutes each...just long enough to snap a few precious photos.  The poor girl is probably confused at what "snow" really is.  By the time we left on Sunday there was barely any snow left.

Oh funny story: the first time we dressed her up for outside I told her it was her pink "snow bunny" outfit.  The second time we dressed up she recalled it as her "snow rabbit" outfit.

The most beautiful snow bunny EVER!

Snow angel for Milo (her eyes are closed because it's raining in her face)

Snowman #1 for Miss Chris

Cutest Snow Rabbit EVER!

Sledding!

From the look on that crazy lady's face you'd think the sled-run was longer than 10ft!

Snowman #2

Benjamin and Savannah