kids

Parker wants to move around SO bad. He just watches Colby and wants to be just like him.  Whenever I'm holding him, he's always trying to force himself to sit up, or when i try to get him to sit, he automatically stands, and when he's laying on his back, he's trying to roll over.  It's so cute to see his motivation, I can't wait for him to be moving!  He's rolled over from his stomach to his back about 6 times in the last couple days (yes, i've counted).  He doesn't quite know he can do it yet, but he's well on his way!  Parker needs to be constantly entertained, and he hates when I leave the room, so I'm very much looking forward to him being able to sit up and entertain himself with some toys around him.  I just love his smile! Even when he's trying to cry, I can get him to give me the one and only Parker smile. It's so precious, and I'm so glad he does it all the time! I'm in love with that kid!

Colby is so much fun these days too.  He's speaking so well, and loves helping out.  I love how honest and pure his heart is.  He truly wants to do the right thing and make us proud.  He's got a little mischevious side to him also, but that also makes me laugh (usually)

I've been wanting to let Colby paint for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to it, so last week I decided to give it a shot.  I kinda picked a bad time, because while Colby was painting, I was trying to get Parker down for a nap, and before I know it Colby starts crying.  I look over and he's just upset because he got paint on his foot.  This kid of mine, he doesn't mind getting dirty if he's outside and in the right environment, but he just KNEW that the paint wasn't supposed to be on his foot and he couldn't stand it.  So later i decide to make some paint for the bathtub, thinking he'd be okay getting dirty in there.  NOPE, again, he starts crying after 15 minutes or so because he was getting too dirty.  cracks me up.  Some days he's super sensitive about it, and others he doesn't care.

4 wonderful years

Andrew and I have been married for FOUR years! I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  I'm so happy and blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.  Andrew is so good to me, he's a wonderful husband and he is such a good daddy to Colby and Parker.

  

 Things have been pretty crazy around here, I got home from Hawaii on the 12th and our anniversary was on the 15th.  All I wanted for our anniversary (well besides a ford explorer) was for andrew to get home early enough from work so that we can hang out together, and he did that! He even brought home a Marie calenders pie :) it was a low key anniversary, but I got everything I wanted (besides that Explorer).  it's crazy to see where our life is now in just 4 years of marriage, and over 8 years of dating.

High School Graduation in 2004



Trip to Hawaii Summer 2004

Same spot on Maui 8 years later

Hawaii

At the end of July and beginning of August we had our family vacation.  There were good and bad things about it, but it was definitely a learning experience.  For example, a cheap house with a pool anywhere would be great for a vacation.  Going all the way to Hawaii for a beach is a bit of a stretch with little kids.

Pros: 
The first week Parker was AMAZING with the time change.  He'd sleep from 7:00 until 5:00-6:00.  That changed as he got used to the new time, but that first week was great!

Colby loved going in the ocean with daddy.  He would boogie board with him and had a blast.

I now know we did not waste our money buying a beach tent, I had to have it to keep Parker out of the sun, and it worked great.

I loved spending the entire first week with Andrew.  Too bad he had to go back to work, but it was fun having him around that first week.

Colby and Lea were so cute when they played together.  Lea would follow Colby around, and Colby would crawl around with Lea.

Colby loved seeing all the chicken on Kauai, and would call out "CHICKEN BIRD" whenever he saw any kind of bird.

I didn't get burnt, I was hardly in the sun so therefore, I didn't get burnt.

There was a great pool at both places we stayed, which ended up being way less stressful than heading to the beach.

There was a lot of family around to help me with Colby and Parker.


Cons:
A newborn can't be in the sun, therefore making a trip to Hawaii is VERY difficult. Someone had to be holding him all the time under an umbrella or in the tent.

Almost everyone ended up getting sick, kinda makes anything miserable. So sad watching Lea and Colby get sick though, they were up a lot at night coughing.

Colby would hardly eat or drink anything, that made tantrums pretty great....

Skipping naps all over the place is hard on little ones.

The time change back to California time has been a NIGHTMARE.  Parker didn't struggle the first couple nights, now he's wide awake until 10:30.  And wakes up multiple times at night.  NOT happy about that.

Colby was sleeping with Nana and Papa the last week, so now (on top of time change issues) he HATES sleeping by himself.  He used to chill in bed until he fell asleep and waited for me to get him in the morning.  When we got back, he started screaming bloody murder until Andrew finally ended up just sleeping in the room with him all night.  I've got high hopes for him though, he's already 80 times better.  I bought a lock for his door and he hasn't even tried to open the door yet since i got it.  He still cries, but at least he stays in bed.

Next year I'm not sure what we'll do.  I know this is only the first week since we got back, but we'll see how long it takes before Andrew and I start getting sleep again.  A 2 week vacation may be too much for the kids.

Now that our vacation is over....Andrew and I need a vacation.