The Adventure of Becoming a Two Car Family

Last Wednesday we went to test drive a Honda Odyssey. We took the kids with us, but they ended up sitting the car the whole time because it started hailing. It was insane. Ben and I each took a turn test driving it, and really liked it. It was also in our price range, so we made an offer and put down some earnest money.

On Saturday, we went to finish the transaction. We had just about finished when I decided to have Ben move Gavin's car seat into the van, so he could ride home with me. Ben buckled Gavin in. I set the keys down in the van and checked for something in glove box. I got out and shut the door, wanting to ask one more question before we left. That's when Ben heard the doors lock. Come to find out... if one of the doors on the van is locked, the others automatically lock when all the doors are shut. And somehow I must have bumped the driver's door lock.

We laughed at first because we couldn't believe I had just locked Gavin into our brand new van that we had owned for maybe 5 minutes. It stopped being funny fast. We had to wait for the police to come and unlock the van. Luckily, if there is a child involved they don't charge you. But it took 15 or 20 minutes for him to show up and by that time Gavin was just sobbing. Needless to say... I felt absolutely awful. From now on I'm going to be so careful.

But even though we had a bumpy start, we are really grateful to have found a van in good condition within our budget. I feel like I have options now. I don't have be stuck at home if I don't want to. And we are also planning on putting our new van to good use in July when we drive out to Kentucky for my brother's wedding. Let the adventures continue... but hopefully only good ones!!

Just Because...

So this past weekend, Ben left to go practice organ. (He's our ward's organist.) When he returned he had a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers for me! It was such a nice surprise...
I love my husband!!

Aaar...

So lately Gavin has been looking like a pirate. A few weeks ago I noticed in some pictures that his right was crossing again even though he had his little "Harry Potter" glasses on. We had a check-up with the eye doctor a week ago and found out that yes his right was not as strong as it should be and was indeed back to crossing. SO Gavin's been stuck wearing an eye patch everyday for four hours a day to help correct the problem. Luckily, it's only for two weeks, and we've already made it through the first week. He has also been a good trooper about it. I haven't had to fight with him over it near as much as I thought I would. For the most part he's left it alone. So even though wearing an eye patch is no fun, I took some pictures of him with it on because it's kinda cute to see him with it on.

How Time Flies

Xander, who is now 5 months old, is getting so big. I just don't know where all the time goes! I finally got a small clip of him laughing, though he pretty much stopped as soon as I got out the camera... the toad!

I also managed to capture a picture of his two little bottom teeth.

That was about the best I could do. Then miracles of miracles... I captured this picture.

Don't you just love it when they cooperate. I couldn't have made him do this if I had tried!

Xander is just so busy all of the time. He watches his big brother run around and you can just see the desire to be running right behind him in his eyes. He loves his bouncy chair. That kid runs marathons in it! And with teeth still trying to come in (We all wish they'd just hurry up already) he chews on everything. Especially his fingers and hands. He usually has one finger stuck in the corner of his mouth gnawing away.

And I don't even mind wearing a swimsuit...

Recently, I've started attending a water aerobics class on Wednesday nights with some friends from church at the Aquatic Center here in Idaho Falls. The official name of this particular class is Hydro-Fit and here's their description of the class...

A deep water workout that uses buoyancy equipment on ankles and in hands to increase resistance. It’s emphasis is on muscle strength, toning, endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular training.

Here's the type of buoyancy equipment we use each week.

Can I just say that one: I'm glad no one can really see me since I'm underwater, and two: what a butt kicker! I always come home so tired afterward. But I have a lot of fun, and I look forward to getting out one night a week with the girls! Luckily, I have a hubby who's willing to watch the boys and put them to bed for me once a week.

Roll Over, Roll Over, I dare Xander over

For a couple of weeks now, Xander has gotten really good at rolling to his side, but doesn't quite make it all the way over. If I give him my finger or offer a little help, he can make it right over. Gavin has seen me help Xander and now thinks it's so funny to "help" Xander roll over and over and over. Luckily, Xander is good-natured and doesn't seem to mind (and some times even seems to like it) as long as his brother doesn't get too rough with him. What funny little boys I have!

A Creation Coming to Life

A few months ago, my mother-in-law Ann came to me with an idea. She wanted to make a jungle quilt for Gavin's toddler bed and that would match the colors of his room. She asked that I come up with a pattern for the quilt. I thought it was great idea and agreed. I like being creative when I get the chance, especially since it's so hard to find the time these days. And let's be honest... by coming up with the pattern I get exactly what I want.

Recently, Ann finished the top. She is part of a quilt group, and she took the top along with her to show her quilting friends. They all liked it so much they were wanting their own patterns and were telling Ann we should market our idea. So Ann and I have decided to give it a try. I've been redrawing the patterns to make them printable, and Ann is going to write up the directions since she did the quilting. She is also working on the handing quilting right now, so in a week and a half we can put the quilt in a local quilt show at a craft store and try to sell some patterns! Here is a picture of the quilt so far. We'll eventually choose one picture to put in the bag with the pattern.

If you are a quilter and would be interested in a pattern of this quilt let me know. Or if you don't quilt, but know a quilter feel free to pass on info to them or direct them my way! Thanks!

We are also probably going to need to come up some kind of name or identity to sell this pattern (and maybe more in the future!) under... any brilliant ideas? I need to start brainstorming.

Monkeying Around

Little Monkey

Now for little monkey's turn. Now 4 1/2 months old, I love seeing his little personality really coming to life. It's so fun. He loves to laugh and recently it's a hoarse little laugh that he just does all the time... it's so funny. Too bad I still haven't managed to catch his mighty cracking up on film yet. He now has his bottom front teeth and I think he's working on more... the cranky factor has increased again. Once they're all the way in I'll try for a picture, they're too hard to see right now. He loves to move and now loves the chance to splash and kick in the bathtub. You can tell he's just yearning to be chasing his big brother around. I'm going to be in big trouble when he finally learns to crawl. Oh the mischief... For now I love watching him grow and learn new things everyday.

Big Monkey

My big monkey will be two and half in two weeks. He's such a silly kid. He loves his blanket. He still struggles with speaking clearly, but it's slowly getting better. He now has a speech pathologist that should begin working with him this week, so hopefully we will continue to see improvement in his speech. He tries to say a lot more words, and two of my favorites right now are robot and blow bubbles. This kiddo is so active I have a hard time keeping him still for just about anything. He's a good big brother and loves to give hugs and kisses, though he practically smashes his brother in the process of trying to be nice. And like any good big brother he's already getting the pestering down to an art. For example, he loves to blow bubbles on brother's tummy any time I'm changing his diaper. It's pretty funny. He's actually quite good at it.