South Padre Island

One of the perks about living so close to Mexico is that we actually live about an hour away from the Gulf of Mexico so that means the beach is not far away. It's a place called South Padre Island which is a big tourist island. It's a major spring break destination but luckily we didn't have to worry about that. It's been so nicebecause in the few weeks we've lived here, we've been able to go twice. The kids have never experienced the beach before (B went when she was too little to remember.) so they had a BLAST! The older two couldn't stop running into the waves with Kyle. They kept wanting to go further and further out while Graham got to hang out with me on dry land. The only down side was a hurricane came in about an hour and a half after we got there so we had to make it a shorter trip than expected, but all in all it was a great family day.

Dad with his kids. It's some of the first authentic smiles I've seen from them (while taking pictures) in a while. They were in heaven.

They built a sandcastle with a moat and everything. The construction crew was very proud.

What beach trip would be complete without burying someone in the sand? Porter was a more-than-willing volunteer.

We were also lucky enough to go with some new friends from the ward the week before. The kids had fun but not nearly as much without dad.

It's a good thing we have another rotation by the shore (we're moving to Florida in a few months) otherwise I don't know what these beach bums would do!

Sea World & Week 31

I'm still playing catch up so excuse the lateness of the post. During our break and on our way to our new home, we went to SeaWorld to reward the kids for sticking it out this past month. Life has been rough with the packing and moving and Kyle finishing school and everything coming to a close in AZ so they've been real troopers throughout and we wanted to let them know that. Anyway, these pictures are from a few weeks back. Excuse the abundance and low quality of pictures, but I was too nervous to bring my nice camera to a place covered in water. These were all taken with Kyle's phone but I still wanted to share the experience because it was a memorable one. It was amazing. The kids loved it. They were the perfect age to go (minus the breastfeeding baby but he's so easygoing I can take him anywhere). We loved it. I can't really say much else other than the fact that it was awesome. Here was our day in pictures:

They had a whole splash park/amusement ride park themed with Sesame Street that the kids loved. We went on all the rides at least once and the lines were super short. It always makes me happy when I don't have to wait for things. Blame it on my impatience inherited by my dad.

We saw all the shows. This was right after we saw the Shamu show. The 3 of these guys wanted to sit in the splash zone so they got doused pretty good by Shamu's tail while Graham and I sat at a comfortable distance and had a laugh watching them get soaked.

B right next to the tank at the Shamu Show. Obviously it was pre-show due to her dryness.

The kids loved this show! They had a little story while the animals (sea lions, sea otters, and walruses) did tricks. This was the walrus actually doing sit ups! We were amazed because he was pretty chunky. Anyway, it was cool.

This was probably our favorite show. It had a beluga whale and dolphins and parrots and trapeze artists diving in the water. It was breath-taking. Brighton did her first book report in kindergarten at the end of the year and it was on dolphins. She has become so interested in them. If for nothing else, we went to see the look on her face when she saw the dolphins. I'll never forget it. She loved it so much she almost got teary-eyed. Such a sweet girl. And the beluga was majestic. Not too many pictures though because we were too enamored with the show to pull out the phone.

Pre-dolphin and beluga watching.

They had all sorts of animals along the paths to each stadium or ride. It was fun to see the alligators and flamingoes and penguins.

Porter was being his normal cool self. I think he was rapping or singing in this one while we waited for a turn on some ride.

They had a 4-D Elmo show which was entertaining. The only reason I put this picture up was to prove that yes, Graham was actually there with us.

After a long day of watching, playing, being amused, and just loving their lives, they posed for one more shot. And they were so good the whole day that daddy broke down and bought them a dolphin and whale to remember their special day. (And little G got a sting ray cause Kyle thought it was cool.)

Anyway, we seriously had a great day and couldn't have asked for better mems.

On another note, I've been kinda slacking in the weekly pic department so here is Graham @ 31 weeks. I thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone. 2 blogs posts in 1.

This is Graham. He is cute. We love him. Enough said.

Another Year Older and Wiser Too

It was Kyle's birthday on the 7th and I won't tell you how he is now because I don't want to embarrass him, but when he woke up that day, he looked at me and said, "I am definitely feeling my age." We're just so lucky that 32 years ago (oops!) this man came into the world! We love him and all he does for our little fam. Unfortunately, it was his 2nd week of clinicals so he got home late and we weren't really able to do much for him, but we did decorate the wall with a birthday sign Brighton made all by herself. And at work for his birthday they gave him a new nickname: Juno. Everyone there thinks he looks like Michael Cera from that movie. I don't see it but whatever. Anyway, we love him and can't wait to actually enjoy a birthday when we are out of school and have the time to celebrate. Happy B-day sweets!

Clippings

No I'm not talking about gross toenail clippings. Graham got his tongue clipped the other day at the doctor's office. Both our boys have gotten their tongue clipped when they were babies and I'm so glad they did. I wish I had pushed getting it done by B's doctor when she was little because I know she's probably going to need to get it done when she's older like my sister and I had to. Anyway, Graham did a great job and only cried for a bit after it was done. I had to hold some gauze under his tongue that got a little soaked with blood, which always makes me sad. To see your little one in pain or bleeding is never a happy thing, but I'm relieved that he got it done and now he can stick his tongue further than me (which isn't saying much)!

Week 30

Little Graham Cracker is growing by the minute and is such a sweet little boy. He's started eating solids and can't put them down. He hasn't tried anything he didn't like or want seconds of for that matter. His chunky thighs are the cutest and he is an angel. We'll see if I'm still saying that a year from now when he hits 18 months.

Squishy Stuff

The other day the kids and I were talking about the earth and how Jesus created everything here on the earth. Brighton said "And Jesus created us out of flesh and blood." I said that's right. Then Porter chimes in and says "And squishy stuff too. Right mom?" I couldn't help but giggle and say yes. So that's what this family is made of. Flesh. Blood. Squishy stuff.

*This picture was taken on our first trip to the Beach and clearly my kids have never gone to the beach before because the second we got there, Porter was completely covered in sand and couldn't figure out how to get it off. What a goober.

Week 29

We are in lovely McAllen, Texas now after a long week of driving and a fun trip to Seaworld. More on that later. Anyway, we're here and we're alive and G is 29 weeks old. End of story. We hope the next 12 weeks treat us well!

Kindergarten Graduation

It seems like whenever Brighton has a big day we always plan our adventures immediately after. Last year for her preschool graduation, we were in the car an hour after it ended to get to Arizona. This year we kept with tradition and left a few hours after she graduated from Kindergarten. It made for a very emotional trip. Rightafter saying goodbye to all her friends and teacher, we had to head out for new adventures. She has been pretty strong throughout this ordeal but I think it won't hit her fully until we're in Texas and she can't call her friends for a playdate. Anyway, graduation was great and I'm so glad we stayed for it instead of leaving early. I'm so proud of my little graduate. She has excelled and matured so much this year and I owe a lot of that to her amazing teacher Mrs. Brown.Wecouldn't have asked for a better school experience and I know that was one of the reasons we were supposed to be here in AZ. There were so many reasons for us to be in Arizona. We made great friends, our family was tested and strengthened,and Brighton needed to meet Mrs. Brown. She is an inspiring teacher and I found myself getting emotional when saying goodbye to her. Brighton lost it as well when saying goodbye. She turned to me, broke down, and said "Mom, I just love Mrs. Brown so much." After consoling and saying one last extra goodbye, Mrs. Brown promised to be pen pals, which eased Brighton's mind a little. Anyway, it was a long, emotionally and physically draining day (remember we had to finish packing our car up for our long journey) and I just can't believe Brighton is going to be a first grader next year. We love her and all she's accomplished. Here's to the next year of adventures!

The refreshments that followed the graduation ceremony. It was so sweet of Mrs. Brown to plan such an event.

The big girl walking up to receive her diploma.

The proud family (you can tell Porter's really proud).

Brighton and her 2 best friends in kindergarten, Susie and Madilyn. These 2 girls were so sweet and Brighton will really miss them.

I seriously couldn't have survived these past few months if it weren't for this girl. Amy(Susie's mom) has been such a great friend during these trying times. Packing and handling the kids has been a difficult task for me lately and she's the type of friend that will take your kids without question and bend over backwards for you in order to help out when she sees you struggling. Thanks so much Amy for everything!

Week 28

We are in the final stages of packing and moving. Graham is showing his continual love for the bubble wrap as we are getting everything in order on his 28th week. We ship out for Texas on Thursday so wish us luck!

Week 27

This is what our house looks like right now. Nothing but boxes and babies. Graham has been a trooper through it all and at week 27, his favorite toy is bubble wrap. Don't judge.

Mother's Day Love

As my kids have been getting older, I have loved Mother's Day more and more. They have actually started putting a little thought into things and I love getting the homemade gifts. This year (with the help of Dad) they made me candy necklaces with saran wrap and ribbon. They were so excited that they made me wear them to church. After about 10 minutes of my kids' constant begging to break open my necklace in the middle of sacrament and the fact that the chocolates were getting a little melted on my neck, I decided to slip them into my bag and save them for home. But it was the thought that counts and I enjoyed gobbling them up snuggled with my little ones next to me on the couch post-church. It made my Mother's Day. Sadly, I do have 3 kids but for the first 6 months of Graham's life, he won't be in any pictures due to nap time conflicts. Sorry little buddy. I'm still glad to be your mom too!

Adventure Awaits

So here's the skinny. I've been alluding to the fact that we're moving for quite sometime now. I'll fill everyone in with the details now. Kyle's in Nurse Anesthesia school. That much you should know by now. It's a 2 year program and he is finishing up his first year (woo too!) which the didactic part. Nothing but book work and test. Needless to say, we're a little relieved to be closing up that part of the process. The second year is his clinical rotation year. Then he gets to be a full-fledged CRNA (after passing his boards but one step at a time). We're about to start step 2: clinical rotations. If you didn't already gather from the word 'rotations' Kyle has to move around (or rotate) to new sites all over the country and we are joining him for the adventure. First, we're on to Edinburg, Texas which is a town about 10 miles north of the Mexican border. About as far south as America gets. So we've got that going for us. Oh and did I mention each rotation only lasts 3 months? Yeah, we'll be unpacking and packing quite a bit, but we only filled our 2 cars with the necessities. Oh right, that's another thing: we're living out of our cars. Although we rented an apartment, we only have air mattresses to sleep on and a card table to eat from. To say we are living the simple life would be a gross understatement. But I think it might help us to step back and reevaluate the important things in life. We have all our needs and that's all, but really the only things I truly need are sitting by me in the picture above.

Broken teeth

When I shared the good news with the kids this morning that Graham's first tooth had broken through, Porter was really concerned about it. He looked up with those big, brown eyes and said, "Mom! Graham has broken teeth!? How do we fix them?" I guess I need to work on my phrasing when we have such literal kids.

Week 26

He is 6 months. Half a year. I can't believe how quickly that went. 26 weeks down, 26 more to go. Here are his stats:

Height: 26.5 Inches- 46%

Weight: 15.1 lbs- 9 %

Head Circumference:42 cm-15%

I honestly feel like he should be bigger but the numbers don't lie. He's still my chunkiest little babe and I love every squishy bit of him!

More Fun Visitors

I think everyone wanted to fit in some time to see us before we leave so shortly after my mom left, Kyle's parents, brother, and sister all came to see us. It was a lot of fun and we appreciate that they traveled here to spend the time with us. They rented a house with a pool in Phoenix so we were able to stay at the house and spend as much time as possible hang in out, swimming, and playing games. Kyle's stepmom and dad absolutely love games so we got our fair share of game time in. They even started Brighton young and taught her Uno. Unfortunately, this is the only picture we got of Grandma and Grandpa with the kids, but it was a perfect one to show how much B loved spending time with them. She was Grandma's little shadow and wanted to do everything that Grandma did, including playing games.

Out back there was an open fireplace so one night we roasted marshmallows. My kids are still talking about it.

And for about 70% of the time they were in the pool. Luckily it was super heated so it wasn't too bad to get into in the Arizona spring weather. Kyle was even able to break away from school for a few hours to play with us.

It was fun to see Casey, Kohen, and Will as well. Kohen made my kids laugh and go crazy which is always a good thing.

Anyway, we had a great time with them and just wanted to say thanks so much for making the effort to come out and visit us! We love you guys!

Freckles

Brighton has been super interested in insects lately. I think it stemmed from when they got to pet worms during a science unit in school. Anywho, she has definitely gotten over her fear of bugs. In fact, whenever we go out to the pool, she loves 'investigating nature' as she puts it. This always ends with her collecting these ladybug-looking insects and letting them walk all over her. I must admit, I am not a fan of this new infatuation. One day she begged me to take one home with us and I told she could walk it to our house but had to let it go free after that. In my book, bugs are NOT indoor pets. So on our little walk home, her and Freckles (she decided to name her after seeing the two dots on her back that reminded Brighton of her own freckles) became best buds. When it was time to say goodbye, she let Freckles crawl around on our porch. This bug didn't have any wings and had nowhere else to be so Brighton and her played out there together for what seemed like hours. Disclaimer: Don't think I'm a bad mom for letting my kid play with bugs. We knew it wasn't poisonous and wouldn't bite long before Brighton became friends with Freckles. Finally when it was dinnertime, she had to come inside and leave Freckles to her own volition. She hoped that Freckles would be outside waiting for her in the morning but I told her not to count on it. The next morning, the first thing Brighton did was run outside to look for Freckles. The forlorn face that came back inside told me that Freckles didn't stick around. I told her that Freckles probably just wanted to find some of her friends again and go back to her home. Brighton seemed better after that and said, "I guess I would want to go home to if I were that far away, but she was my friend." After I reminded her that she had human friends too that she would see that day, all was right with the world again. Before she went off to play she said to me, "Maybe I can just look in the mirror and whenever I see my freckles on my face, I can think of my buggy friend." I thought that was a pretty okay idea.