March in the New House

The first holiday we got to celebrate in our new home was St. Patrick's Day.  Since we were still living out of boxes, everything was just low key.  Pistachio muffins and Fruit Loops for breakfast...

 and clover-shaped cheese ravioli for dinner.  That's how we roll.

I just L.O.V.E. this sweet face.  He is so smiley, tongue and all, and chipper.  Look at those poor teething cheeks.  Because Ashton is so fair, it really shows when he's teething.

 O.k., just a few more.  He is just too sweet to not share these.

 And, you guessed it, Carter wanted his picture taken, too!  :)

 Ethan wanted in on the action as well.

 We did as much unpacking as quickly as we could, but it's a slow process with a baby in the house!  The boys love having a flat driveway now so they can ride their bikes on it while I work in the garage.

 Ashton came out and hung out in his walker, too!

 Sometimes the sweetest moments happen when the boys think no one is watching.  It was so sweet that they chose to cuddle up together in the same chair.

 O.k., just a few more of Ashton.

 There was a really pretty rainbow one afternoon and we had a great view of it from our backyard.

Moving in is always a long process, but we are grateful for a beautiful, newer home to live in and for the time we have together to enjoy it!

Wrapping Up February

These are just some funny pictures of Ashton adapting to solid foods...

 Followed by the, "I'm really fine" look.

 Over President's Day weekend I spent my first night(s) away from Ashton.  My friend, Jenn, flew in from Utah for the weekend and Jaci, Kelly, Jenn and I went to Portland for a few nights to shop, eat, laugh and pamper ourselves in our hotel room.  It's always hard to do that first time away, but it was really nice to recharge.  Plus, it's a lot easier to leave when I know they are with Tristan.  I had a great time, but was very excited to come home to my sweet boys.

 The first news I got after I walked in the door was that our landlord had decided to sell the rental we were living in.  It wasn't totally unexpected.  He had sent us a letter in January offering to sell the home to us, so we thought something might be up.  So that left us with a little over a month to find a house, pack and move--half of which time Tristan would be gone.  We were blessed to find a new rental practically across the street from our old neighborhood.  The kitchen is my favorite part!

 I did as much packing as I could while Tristan was at work and we had about a week to do more when Tristan got back home.  I was able to get quite a bit moved on my own while he was gone.  I would make small trips in our car and drop stuff off at the house and then every few days bring the boys to the new house and put a DVD on the computer for them.  Then I could unpack what I had moved while Ashton napped or played on the floor with the boys.  They loved coming over to the empty house and playing.  But as always, not matter how early you start, a move is always crazy.  We were so grateful for the help from our friends from church who made it happen, despite some rain.  I was also grateful for the help I had getting the old house cleaned up for move out.  We are very blessed to have the support we have!

 Ashton playing at the new house

 We kept busy at our old house as well.  Ashton learned how to roll over amidst all the packing and juggling.

 And he continued to explore solid foods.  One of his favorites was bananas in the mesh feeder.

 Every time I take a picture of Ashton, Carter wants me to take on of him as well, so here's Carter's picture!

 Messy boy!

 And the obligatory picture of Carter to follow.  LOL!

February definitely had some twists and turns in it, but I guess that's what keeps life interesting, isn't it?

Valentine's Day--2014

It was so fun having a new valentine to add to my picture of my boys this year!  It was even more fun that Tristan was home to celebrate with us this year.  I love the progression of these pictures.  It truly goes to show that if you don't click fast enough, your going to get nothing but goofiness!  :)

 Here's Ashton at a few days short of 5 months old.  Right about this time he started being very interested in his tongue (still is).  I was laughing because he kept sticking his tongue out.

 Such a smiley, social baby at such a young age.  I'm hoping this personality trait sticks around.

Tristan flew in the day before Valentine's Day, so I had a few groceries to pick up and errands to run that morning.  While I was out, he set the boys up to paint in the garage and got some cute pictures, too.

 I love this one of Carter.  He is really growing up and I love getting to know his teddy bear personality.  He is such a lover.  :)

 One of Ethan's themes at preschool that month was restaurants and he had been really into the idea of waiters and ordering food.  So we decided to set up our own Valentine's Cafe.  The boys got a menu to order from and Tristan acted as waiter.  I was chef.  ;)

Yummy pear and blue cheese salad for starters,

 Heart-shaped pizza.  Half pepperoni and half Hawaiian on one...

 Cheese bread and fresh strawberries...

 and a supreme pizza (and regular salad for the boys).

 We even had heart-shaped cut-outs on our supreme pizza, too.

 We had Sparkling cider (the boys always call it "apple pop", lol)

 and Cupid's Floats for dessert.

 I think that is the face of approval!

 Once we got the boys down, I had this candy-gram for Tristan and a scavenger hunt waiting for him.  We also had yummy fondue for dessert in a quiet house.  So nice!

We really enjoyed our special day together as a family.  And I really enjoyed having FOUR special valentines this year!

Beginning of February

One morning Tristan took the boys out to burn some energy and when they came back I found out what they were up to...I'm surprised we haven't had more trips to the ER with these crazy boys!

 Going to McDonald's and playing on the toys has become one of our go-to inside playdates.  I kept trying to get a good angle on them, but my boys and the Marlatt boys were undercover in their makeshift treehouse!

 Ashton turned 4 months old at the end of January, so he was probably about 4 1/2 months in this picture.  Such a sweet boy.

 I introduced him to his light up play gym and he really liked watching the lights and the music.

 At this point he was still getting up 3 or 4 times a night to eat and tended to be pretty needy during the day.  I'm sure glad he's cute!  That makes it worth it! :)

 He wasn't letting me get too far out of his sight!

 One afternoon I was making some cookies and Carter was "patiently" waiting for them--with his nose almost on the glass.

 This was funny.  I was cleaning the kitchen and Ashton was starting to get fussy, but I wanted to finish so I was just letting him tough it out for a few minutes.  When I came out of the kitchen I found that Ethan had spread the newspaper ads out for him to look at.  He even used the bin to lay them over so Ashton could see them from a laying position.  Ethan is such a good big brother.  He is always willing to try to entertain Ashton if I'm busy.  And Ashton really loves Ethan.  Ethan doesn't have to do much to get a smile out of him.

 We got more snow one evening.  I had a baby shower but when I got home and picked up the boys I decided to let them go out and play in it in their jammies even though it was kind of late.  I just wasn't sure it would be there in the morning.  They only stayed out for a few minutes before they got cold.  But we accumulated a couple of inches!

 Luckily, it was still there in the morning.  So I bundled them up and sent them out to play.  They had a blast!

 And Ethan got a chance to REALLY demonstrate a snow angel to Carter.  Carter wasn't interested in laying in the snow and trying it.  :)

 At about 5 months we decided to introduce Ashton to cereal.  He watched us like a hawk whenever we ate and kept grabbing at our food and silverware so we decided to just go with it.  Here he is all strapped in and ready to go in his high chair!

 First bite.  Not sure about that texture.

 After a few bites, he gobbled it down.  He is not scared to try pretty much any food we will let him.  And I think he wishes we would give him more!

 We also pulled out his excersaucer.  By this time he already was trying to wiggle out of his Bumbo and it just wasn't working well for him anymore.  He loves standing in it and being able to have a good view of those crazy brothers running around!

 Ethan got to prepare for his first Valentine's Day celebration at school.  He wanted to sign his name on each one--he was so focused!

 Another funny example of Ethan trying to entertain Ashton.  So I got them these toothbrushes that had suction cups on the end and they flashed when you pushed on it to let you know how long you needed to brush for.  So when I was getting the boys ready for their bath and Ashton was fussing, Ethan turned the flashing on and stuck it to the arm of Ashton's bouncy chair!  I cracked up when I turned around and saw what he had done.  Such a creative solution!  I'm grateful for my helper.