In-Laws

So, my in-laws have been here from MI for a week now. They came last Friday and are staying until Sunday morning. I haven't posted on my blog much lately since we have been busy and have had company so I have quite a few updates to make for you all to see. The in-laws are at a casino today and the kids are sleeping so here goes.....

The visit with Omi and Opa has been wonderful. They fit right in. The kids love having them here and I love the company and extra help. I am hoping they plan on spending their winters here in AZ with us sooner than later.

We took them to IN-N-Out for the their first time the day they got here. They could see why it's one of my favorites.
Jamie loves ketchup. Or maybe she just likes to dip her food in sauces because it is fun, and messy. She holds her little ketchup cup right up to her chest and dips. She mostly just uses the fries as spoons to eat the ketchup but in the end ketchup and all her fries are gone.Picture Pete took of himself in In-N-Out. Sometimes when I upload pictures from my camera I find cute surprises of pictures Pete took of things, himself and accidental videos he recorded. Funny.

We Bought A House

We are official homeowners of the house we have been living in since the beginning of Jan. We signed all the papers yesterday and closed on our beautiful home. We are so excited. Here are some pics of the event. Yay us. And thanks to the Lord for blessings us, taking care of us and providing for us. But more than anything, thank you God for our family and these two beautiful kids we have to raise in our new home.

Forgot

I forgot a couple pics in my last post but they were too good to leave out.....

P. met a guy at work that he thought was really cool so we asked them, him and his family, if they wanted to hang out sometime. We met him, his wife, their 4 yr old son and their 3 mo. old twins at Chik-fil-A last Saturday. P. held one of the twins for a while and Pete sat right there holding the baby too for a long, long time. It was the cutest thing. You would think that would make me want another baby right? Seeing husband hold little baby, seeing Pete love and kiss on the little baby.....nope. Seeing those babies made me thankful I wasn't nauseous from morning sickness, tired from too little sleep, or needing to breastfeed in a public place instead of eating my own lunch. But here is the cute picture of my boys and someone else's baby.And a couple pictures of the cutest little girl in the whole world at church last Saturday night. Yes, it does get cold in AZ after the sun goes down! Our church is the best. Playgrounds for the kids, cafeteria for dinner, awesome services, amazing classes for the kids. It's such a blessing.

TGIF

This week was a little hard for me. I had little energy, little patience and Pete wasn't his normal well behaved self. I did a lot of yelling, a lot of eating and a lot of looking at the clock to see if P. was coming home yet. Let's just say I am glad tomorrow is Friday.

It may have been a tough week for me but the kids were still as cute as ever and we still had a lot of fun.
The carousel at the mall. It's a big hit.Sitting in more boxes.Duck pond on a Thursday night.The weather was beautiful today. Just beautiful. We spent all day outside. Hats are a necessity for the kids just as they were in MI but for a totally different reason. We bought our 3rd and 4th bottles of sunscreen last night since we have been here.

Pete has a couple cute names for things so I thought I would share. He calls our neighborhood a "neighborhome" and he calls the freeway a "freeroad". His favorite foods have become eggs and red & yellow peppers. His favorite past times are bugging his sister and washing windows with me. He loves to read books and they are both in reading programs at the library where they get prizes when they read a certain number of books.

Jamie had her 18 month doctors appt today. Everything was great except they told me she should weight more and that the mole on her back doesn't look good anymore. She was in the 75% of height and the 50% of weight so I wasn't sure what the problem was but the doctor said she should weight about 25-26 lbs right now and she weighs 23. We are not worried. But I will give her more milk, cheese and higher calorie foods like the doctor recommended. The doc said her mole has grown another cm and it was looking more irregular so at her 2 yr appt if it still doesn't look good she will refer us to a dermatologist. We have to keep it covered at all times when she is in the sun. Jamie only got a flu shot today and cried for about 1/4 of a second and was done. Overall she is happy, healthy, on track and on schedule. Please keep her mole in your prayers that it is nothing serious and nothing too painful for her to have removed in the future.

My in-laws come for a visit tomorrow from MI. We are looking forward to seeing them and sharing our new home, city and life with them. Off to get ready for bed. All this AZ sun and playing outside tires me out!

Super Bowl Sunday

No Super Bowl Sunday party at our old church this year. I kind of missed it. But instead we had fun with Uncle Bob and Aunt Edna. They came over around kick-off for some chili, cornbread and birthday cake. Uncle Bob was 77 yesterday and we were glad to be here with him to celebrate. Here are some pics.

First thing in the morning, kids wanted to dive into their popcorn tin from Nana and Grandpa. Pretzels and cheesy popcorn for breakfast!Ready for kick-off with 5 layer mexican dip and chips.Here is daddy helping Jamie up who flipped over in her Dora chair backwards while watching the game.Pete put the candle in UB's birthday cake. I didn't make a cake for him and I felt really bad about it but I blame the move and the fact that I don't have much in my bare cabinets and fridge just yet.Taking UB his cake.Pete blowing out his candle for him.Sharing cake together. After UB and AE left Pete said, "Uncle Bob old." I laughed and said, yup.And Aunt Edna trying to see and hear the game on our little TV. So funny! Hoping to have a big nice one by this time next year.

Present! Present!

The kids got a Valentine's present in the mail today from Nana and Grandpa. It arrived on the front porch when the kids were napping so I waited until they woke up to go get it. Pete woke up first and as we sat and talked in our comfy chair I said, "A present came for you and Jamie today." He was so excited and we went to look at it through our front window. I told him he had to wait until Jamie woke up to go get it. Jamie woke up a few minutes later and Pete grabbed it on the way back from her room. Here is the picture sequence of getting, opening and enjoying the treat.

Pete bringing the box in the house.Jamie, bed head hair and all, dug into a bag of Valentine's candy corns. How do you eat candy corns within a minute of waking up? Jamie can!
Can I have some of those Jamie?My handsome little boy who looks so grown up today with his new buzz cut.Now you see it!Now you don't.Enjoying their yummy treat.Thanks Nana and Grandpa. Not only did they love getting a present in the mail. They loved opening it. They loved eating it. And they loved showing daddy when he got home from work. And they will enjoy it for hopefully another few days before it's all gone! Love you and happy valentine's day!

Favorite Moments

Some of my favorite moments with the kids are when they wake up from a nap and we sit on our big comfy lazy-boy rocker and cuddle. We talk. We read. We joke and laugh. Sometimes I take pictures of the kids in their sweet, just up from a nap, still in our pajamas, state.Jamie, where is your hand?Where are your ears?Where is your nose?Pete, where is your mouth?

Ice-Cream

We are ALL big fans of ice-cream. Went to Baskin Robbins last night with a Buy One-Get One Free coupon last night. Yum.

Our Week

We found a Dora chair for Jamie at the Goodwill last weekend. She L-O-V-E-S it. I haven't taken much time trying to get a good pic of her in it but here is her the first morning she had it eating her breakfast.
Picture of Uncle Bob Pete took on Sunday. P. spent the day over at their house squeezing oranges for juice and then we all ate dinner with them that night.Duck pond by our house. Kids again L-O-V-E-D it! We ran out of bread so we gave them a whole box of Wheat Thins.

Our House

Some of you have asked for pics of the house to see how it looks now that we have been here for two weeks. Here you go. It's still messy and a lot of things still need to find their place but that will come with time, and more furniture. We need dressers, bookcases, toy storage, etc to really start to put things away.

Our family room and kitchen.Kitchen.
Kids play room.
View of the family room from kitchen.
Master bedroom, our new bedroom furniture and a lot of empty tupperware tubs. Our bedroom window looks out into the backyard.Our front entry way, rug from the Searls, chair, and two shoes baskets.
The view from our kitchen table.
Our pool and play garden from friend Andrea.
Abby soaking up the afternoon sun.