Video Time

Random videos of the last month that I thought needed to be shared as these boys are too much fun.

Ben and Yared's way of boogie boarding when the waves are too big to really let a little one get in.

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Nati got a CD player for his birthday from us. Well really the boys got a CD player for their room to listen to music at night but he thinks it is his. This is them dancing when they first saw it.

I stopped by my favorite thrift store last week. I saw Halloween outfits and got two for $12. The kids are so excited for what they call Trick or Treat. Yes, I washed the outfits.

We went to the grocery store and as we were waiting in line, Nati stared making this obnoxious sound. I couldn't figure it out until he pointed to a figurine of a donkey. He was saying hehaw in his own way. This is an attempt to capture it on video. He doesn't like to perform without Yared. It isn't quite the same sound that I hear throughout the day, as he now loves to be a donkey but it is close:).

What I have been up to

CLEANING.... we are finishing up this addition and it is fun to see things happening but it has meant a lot of cleaning. These two pictures show the insulation and drywall going up. The day after that was the plaster. It looks great. However... since the drywall went in I have spent hours trying to keep the white powder from being ALL over the house. The white specks in this first picture show how much junk is in the air. Then it gets on little feet and in the house. I do have more interesting pictures and events to share with you, but I had to vent my frustration with the white powder. It needs to go away. This last weekend we finished painting all the upstairs so I will try to get pictures of that up soon. We even let the boys help for about 20 minutes, until Nati became more white than brown.

Good Question and Welcome Home

This last weekend we got to see our good friend Deanna. She has been in Afghanistan for about six months. We missed her and it is great to have her home. It was fun seeing her with her family again and watching them all interact. She hadn't met the boys yet so we were sitting talking and she asked me, "What do you like most about being a mom." I didn't have a answer right away but I have been thinking about it over the weekend.

What I love about being a mom

little hands holding on tightly to mine.

hugging their warm sleepy bodies as they wake up.

hearing them make each other laugh hysterically.

watching them jump into Ben's arms when he gets back from work.

Nati's arms wrapped around my neck when he is scared.

laying in bed and reading books to Yared.

sitting on the front porch eating popsicles with them.

little kisses on my face.

being called Mommy.

tickling them and watching them laugh.

joking with Yared and seeing him "get" it.

chasing them around the house and hearing them squeal.

giving them bubble baths.

laughing with Yared at something silly Nati is doing.

little brown eyes that look into mine with love and trust.

being the one they run to when hurt or scared.

making pasta and watching Yared do the happy dance about it.

blowing raspberries on Nati's round belly.

witnessing their amazing ability to learn and adapt

most of all I love being with them. I am often completely exhausted on a deep gut wrenching level but I had three hours away from them today and I missed them. I was sad to come home and find they were at the park. I was so happy to hold them tightly in my arms when they came running up the walk way.

Thanks Deanna for a good question and WELCOME HOME!!!

And since a post is never done without shots of our boys here they are Nati with his cheeky grin and Yared using his wild imagination to create something:).

Meeting Jordan at LAST

This time last year, Nati and Yared were still a dream and lived half the world apart from us. Also my sister was expecting her first baby, so I flew to CA to be there for the birth. But baby Jordan did not want to meet me at that time. I arrived on the due date but Jordan came 10 days late after I had already left. So it was with much excitement that we looked forward to having my sister and her new family come meet our new family. In a way it was a big adjustment for us. We have spent our previous times together reading books, shopping, getting pedicures and enjoying peace, quiet and a savoring a good glass of wine. This time it was all about nap time, legos, diapers changes, snacks, very little relaxation, and a gulping a glass of wine for sanity:). But it was wonderful to be in this parenting adventure together with my sister.

They arrived to awful weather. It rained non-stop so we had to come up with inside adventures. Then they went to DC for two days and the weather was great while they were gone. When they came back the weather went down hill so we got out of Dodge. We drove down to NC where we rented a beach house from our good friends and it was perfect. There was no construction happening like at our house so I was really able to relax. The beach was just a walk away so we wore the kids out every day. Our brother-in-law Tom did most of the cooking down there, so seriously it was as close to a vacation as a mom gets. It was wonderful. It was fun to watch the kids play and interact. Yared is loving all his extended family and must think CA is heaven as he keeps falling in love with new relatives and then we tell them they live in CA.

I know it was a long trip to do with an 11 month old so we are so grateful to Meg and Tom for making the effort to come over. Here are some shots of the great memories we made. I uploaded them in random order and am too bothered to organize so I'll to try caption them:).

Nait's new passion... wearing big people shoes. Uncle Tom's were his favorite.

Our zoo trip.. Jordan liked it and let out little squeals of joy.

On the way home from NC we stopped at a local BBQ restaruant. YUM!!! I had my first hush puppy and fried ochre.
At the beach... one blessed Mommy.
Jordan has a big personal space and the boys have none. Here she is pushing them away:).
Surfer boy.
Notice the nose scrunch. She is so cute when she does this.
My third child and I mean that as a compliment. This man can play hard and it is wonderful. He wears the boys out for me.

Seriously does it better than this?

You can see the ocean in his eyes if you zoom in.

Trying to get one of those cool family shots... instead got a good laugh.
But look how high Mommy got.

Love the smile... especially as she makes you work for it.
Yared took one look at this tub and was dying for a bath. We kept promising him one and finally came through on the deal. I was taking pictures and was laughing at how we looked like hillbillies with Ben bathing with his sister-in-law. Jordan is in there she is just behind Ben.

Jordan and Meg got out before the jets came on. The boys shampoo turned into bubbles so we had an accidental bubble bath too.

Pretty ladies.

Nati lucked out on the walks to the beach.
The rest of us were loaded down with all you could need for three kids.
We are so much trouble when he is older. He is too cute.
Daddy pulled him around on the boogie board and Yared thrilled.




One rainy day we made a fort with sheets. We thought the boys would love it. It didn't last long but the sheets were a huge hit.

Daddy and his boys

I was sorting through pictures and saw these two. They make me laugh so I thought I would throw them up on the blog. Here Ben is finding another use for overalls.

Yared is totally intrigued by the whole saluting thing of the military. When we go on base Ben is always saluted and often if it is me driving they will salute out of respect. They don't have to salute me at all. Yared loves this and calls it "going through the yes sir".

Birthday Party

It was so much fun planning for Nati's Birthday. He really had a great time. Honestly I think he would have been happy with one present but he was truly showered by family with fun gifts. We waited until my sister and her family joined us for a visit. We opened presents first and then had cake with party hats. Yared is seriously enthralled with party hats so having them made this Birthday a bit easier for him. He has a LONG wait until his party. We actually picked him up the day before his 4th Birthday but we didn't know it at the time. But don't worry we will make number 5 worth the wait. I was trying to go for a fire engine theme but couldn't find the hats so we went with Elmo... also known as La La in our house. I made a cake to match and Nati was thrilled.

Finding out what presents are all about.

One happy boy... this is the toy Yared has the hardest time not claiming as his own.

I would say having us sing to him was one of his favorite parts of his special day. He had many phone calls with people singing to him as well and every time his face would light up with a huge grin.

Not everyone liked party hats quite as much as Ben and Yared did...

Baby Jordan wasn't too thrilled with hers....
Uncle Tom just wore it to be nice and....
Nati screamed until it was removed.
However, cake he liked. Ben thought it was fun to encourage the icing covered fingers to go everywhere and this is the end result.

Actual Birthday

My third post in one day!!!! Last Thursday was Nati's 2nd Birthday. Ben was out of town so we chose to celebrate on Sunday when he was home and my sister was here with her family. I will put pictures of that up as well later. I couldn't just skip his birthday so my friend and I took the boys and her kids out for dinner. We ordered a piece of cake at the end and sang for Nati. He loved it. I know this video is dark but I love this face he gives me.

First Hair Cut

Ok so if you read the previous post you will know that last week was not a great one for me. The day I had to go to the eye doctor was a LONG one. Yared informed me that day that we hadn't done "anything".... which totally freaked me out that I had made him selfish. He isn't.... we were just having a bad day. In fact, since we were on base to see the eye doctor I decided to take the boys for their first real hair cuts. Not something I will do again anytime soon. I think Ben and I do as good a job as the barber but it was fun for them... sort of. Nati screamed bloody murder at first and then we let him sit on my lap and he kind of liked it. Yared had his nervous giggle on the whole time but loved getting a lollipop at the end. I loved that the sweet older barber gave them their haircuts for free saying they were their "first baby cut". Ahhh. What a nice man. If you zoom in on the picture of me you can get a look at my nasty eye allergy. Just what you want to see:).