Sunday, April 29, 2012

Pool time


Well, summer is officially here in Phoenix. And by that I mean the temperatures have been soaring into the 90's and even hit the low 100's last week. We are in for another hot summer, but for now we are enjoying the nice weather. This is probably my favorite time of year in Phoenix. While a lot of part of the country are still bundled in sweaters and getting the occasional snow storm, we are pulling of pool covers, stocking up on sun screen and getting the BBQ;s ready. The days are hot enough for splash pads and Popsicles and pool trips, but not so hot that you don't want to leave the house (that happens in July), and the nights cool down enough so that it is perfect weather to sit on the back porch with a glass of wine and a good book.

In four months I will be craving fall. I will be ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will be lighting pumpkin spice candles and making pots of chili and pairing boots with skinny jeans while I look longingly at heavy winter pea coats that we have no need for in Phoenix. It happens every year, by the end of September i will be over the summer heat and will be vowing to move away from Phoenix as soon as possible.

But for now I am relishing in the smell of sun screen, I am loving opening all the windows in the morning and enjoying the warm, fresh air. I am ready for hot dogs and cold beers and the fourth of July.

We hit the pool today, and even though we played a bit in it when the cousins were here, I consider today our first official pool day. We even took L2 in, and it seems like he is going to be as much of a water baby as L is.

I didn't last in the pool as long as S and L did. What can I say, I'm kind of a wuss when the water is even a little cold. But I did go in with L2 and got a chance to work on my tan (much needed!). It was also that first dreaded moment of donning a swimsuit. Never a fun time for any women, but after two kids it's especially terrifying!

So this marks the beginning of our summer season! Bring on the sun and pool, we are ready!!

Happy Anniversary!


Happy four year anniversary to S and me! Well, actually is was a few days ago on the 26th, but as usual this post is coming a bit late. Four years. Wow. It is amazing how little time that is in the grand scheme of things, but it is even more amazing how much has changed in four years. Four years ago we were fresh out of college. We both had full time jobs and therefore a fair amount of disposable income. We often ate dinner at eight o'clock or later and then would sit down with some wine and watch a movie well past midnight. We went out on weekend night and slept in late. We took spontaneous trips and ate our more then we stayed in. Life was good, but it has gotten even better!

Now we have two beautiful baby boys. We watch every penny so I can stay home with them. Dinner is by five thirty and staying up late now means we are up until eleven. Sleeping in is seven o'clock. When we eat out we have to make sure there is kids menus and crayons. Everything has to be planned to make sure we have diapers and wipes and bottles and toys......

I wouldn't change it for anything.

The best thing about marrying your best friend and the man of your dreams is realizing how much more you can fall in love with him once you realize what an amazing Daddy he is. And S is the best daddy I have ever seen.

Anyway, back to our anniversary, I woke up on Thursday (early, as the kiddos are now up by six everyday) to a brewed pot of coffee, a sweet card and a box full of pastries. It defiantly brightened my morning!


As I said before, we are pinching pennies these days so we didn't do anything too big. But we did exchange small gifts, I picked up some yummy munchies for dinner as well as some champagne,  and of course there had to be cake! We gave L2 a bottle and set him down for a little nap and put on a movie for L and we sat around and ate and drank champagne and chatted about our day.... all while keeping an eye on the kids!



I tried to get a picture of all of us, but with a six month old and a toddler it was pretty much impossible. Here is a mash up of the best pictures I could manage of my lovely little family. I love them so much!



And, as luck would have it, my Dad ended up coming into town this weekend to teach a class so we called on him to babysit for a few hours and actually went out just the two of us. That's right, a dinner with no need for crayons or juice cups or bibs. I even wore high heels! We went to a yummy sushi dinner and then went to a near by bar to sit on the patio and have beer. We talked and laughed and had grown up time, and it was much needed. It really made me realize that we needed to find a good babysitter and do this more often. It was good for us to remember who we are without the kids. 


And to  top of our lovely, grown up, sophisticated, romantic evening? To follow our sushi dinner and our adult convo and our ice cold beers..... what did we do?

We remembered that we had a Kohl's coupon that expired that night and L needed new socks. So we left the bar, hit our local Kohl's, got L two packs of socks, debated on a cute pair of overalls for L2 and then headed home by eight thirty to kiss our kids good night.

I was laughing the whole time we were in Kohl's, but I think it's a pretty good representation of where we are in life right now. Yeah, it's nice to revisit what we were like before kids and go to a bar and leave the kids at home.... but I love this man so much that even a shopping trip to Kohl's is a perfect ending to a prefect evening for me.

And we were both ready to get home to the boys. It was nice to get away for a few hours, but by the end of the night we missed them.

Happy anniversary, S! I love you more each day and each year. Thank you for our beautiful boys and I can't wait to see what the rest of our years together bring us!

I love you!



Monday, April 23, 2012

Family Visit 2012- Childrens Museum, Fishing and Easter

OK, I'm finally back to finish up the last installment of my family's visit. Sorry this last one is a bit delayed, but I got layed up by a nasty sinus infection last week. I've never had a sinus infection before and I kind of always thought it was just a stuffy nose and people who complained about them were being a little wimpy...... um, I was wrong. I felt like total crap for like five days, it was miserable. And seriously, I have been sick more in the last five months then I ever was when I worked at a freaking school! What is that about?

Anyone, I'm healthy now and I'm hoping it stays this way! Back to the family visit:

For those of you who live in Phoenix, you probably know how awesome the Children's Museum here is. And if your not from here and you ever visit, you should check it out. It is seriously cool. With all the being said we NEVER go. I think we've taken L a total of three times. It's just so far away (as it seems all things in Phoenix are) and it is always just packed. School groups running rampant with 30 kids per 1 chaperon, bigger kids playing to rough for the little kids, pushing and shoving and crying and...... ugh, you get the point. The Children's Museum is awesome, I just wish we could go there when no one else is around!

But my nephews adore it and it is always on the list when they come to visit. And we got super lucky this time, the museum was having a big Free even on the night of the day we went and there were no school groups at the time we went..... it was as close to empty as you could ever hope for. It was really great, we got to stand back and let the kids play without worrying to much about losing them in the crowd. And L2 hung out with me in the Ergo the whole time and he was great, never fussed or anything. I pulled him out a few times to let him "play" in the baby rooms.... but he's just to young to get it right now.

L and has cousins however, are not. They were in heaven.



Serving all the adults ice cream!

 
I think L was trying to catch this bird.... he's pretty into bird right now.

 


I'm glad I got to be there with both my boys. It was nice to get L2 out and about and exposed to some new stuff even if he had no idea what was going on, and it was so fun to watch how happy L was.

My baby boy, just taking it all in!

Hanging out in the baby room!

After a full day in downtown Phoenix at the museum we decided to stick closer to home and take the kids fishing. My oldest nephew was all about fishing ever since we went camping and had been pretty bummed that he didn't catch anything. Luckily we have a huge park/library/fishing pond/ swimming pool/ dog park/everything recreation area within in walking distance from our house. And the fish pretty much just hang out in the pond, hoping someone will catch them so it was perfect.


My mama, sister and nephew!

 
A very serious fisherman

 



L wanted nothing to do with posing for picture with me!

 


It was nice to stick close to home for the day, especially since we had been so all over town for the last few days. Plus once the kids were done with the park my sister, mom and I snuck off to see a movie (Hunger Games: awesome. Totally recommend it, but I would read the books first!) and then we had to go a big shopping trip for our big Easter celebration. We're not really Church-goers in my family, but we are celebrate in our own way with lots of yummy food and family and the sounds of little ones squealing in delight when they discover the "Easter Bunny" has left them presents and chocolates and eggs!

And really? Any excuse that I can put L in a button down and a tie? I'm in... he looks so darn cute!



We might of gone a little overboard on the food.... we had pastries and eggs Benedict and brie and bread and fruit and deviled eggs and bacon and sausage..... we could have fed an army!

And when everyone had eaten their fill, and before the kids got too dirty we set them all up in front of the pool so my incredibly talented brother-in-law could get some good photos of them.

Pretty hard to get three kids and two babies all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time, but they still came out pretty darn cute. And these are just the ones S took with our camera... my BIL came out much better!

 
My boys.... sigh.... love them so much!

It was a great end to a great visit. My Dad ended up having to leave later that day to drive back to Reno and my sister and her family flew out early the next morning. My mom stayed for a few extra days which was nice.... it was hard to get used to the quite after such a busy week! Hopefully we will be seeing everyone again soon!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Family Visit 2012- Camping Trip

I love camping. Like love it. We went all the time when I was a kid and S and I used to go quite a bit in college (Two totally different types of camping.... but that's another story.) But when someone says to you, "Hey, let's go camping for two days. With three little boys between the ages of two and seven. And the two year old is potty training. Oh, and let's add two five month old babies into the mix." you tend to think they may have lost their mind.

But camp we did, with the babies and the boys and the potty training and three day without a shower. And it ended up being pretty freaking fun. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. I saw myself up at three in the morning, in the middle of nowhere, trying to warm up a bottle for a screaming infant. Luckily it didn't happened. My parents brought their camper down with them from Reno and my sister and I slept in there with the two babies. And I think the babies loved the opportunity to cuddle with their mama's all night. And L2 slept through the night no problem. It was like all the stars aligned, it was awesome.




(Napping in the Ergo carrier while Mama enjoyed the lake)

We were smart enough to bring the Pack and Play and it was the perfect place for the babies to play and sleep while we tended to campfires and fished and chased the little boys around.

 

(Cousins holding hands..... so cute!)
(We finally had to turn them like this because my niece was getting all cage fighty on L2)





My Parents also brought their Kayaks down from Reno, and right of the shore of our campsite was a strip of sandbar that the boys quickly dubbed the "Pirate Island" and the grownups spent most of the time ferrying them back and forth.





 


Oh, and did I mention we fished? Yes that's me casting out a line (despite the fact that I didn't have a fishing license..... I'm such a rebel!) 


And this was my catch! I totally screamed like a girl when I got him and made S get the hook out for me.... but hey, I still caught a fish!


So despite my initial misgivings that maybe camping would end up being more work then fun.... it ended up being a blast! And I think we have definite future campers in both L and L2!