{Easter 2014}

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend and I am trying to recover at the moment, but had to share the adorable pictures of the boys and their cousins!  I absolutely love how Ben loves holding his baby cousin Jack.  He was in hog heaven!

 

Luke (4), Molly (2), Ben (2) and Jack (6 months) 

 

We had three birthday parties back to back yesterday and were gone from about 10:00 am to 7:00 pm so we started the weekend with a bang. The boys were completely sugared out which made me rethink the candy eggs for their baskets. It was a fun day, but we were so happy to be home last night.  The boys went to bed and then we had a few finishing touches on their Easter surprises. 

Today we woke up and had the boys get their Easter baskets, then did a little egg hunt in the backyard before going to church.  All before 9:00 am!  We then headed to my parent's house and did a hunt there and had lunch. We headed home for a quick nap for Ben and then we had Chat's mom come over for dinner.  We finished off the day with confetti eggs which the boys loved.  That will have to be a tradition for years to come.  All in all it was a great Easter with amazing weather!

These boys make holidays so fun!

{Life Lately...A Month Of Change}

Life has been pretty busy lately with some big changes. Chat is still in MBA school and has just recently started a new job.  It is with a wonderful opportunity and we are so thankful he has it! But it has changed things around here.  We see a lot less of him and there is a lot more one on one time with me and the boys. Sometimes that is good and sometimes not-so-good!  But we are managing and know this time won't last forever.  Chat has about a year left in school and being done will free up some of his nights so the boys can see him more. I can tell they really miss him...as do I.

 

But we are managing to have lots of fun still even though the days tend to be long!  I realized I have documented ZERO about just normal day-to-day life, so I wanted to get caught up...

 

We visited a fun new park in the Heights that had a wooden train.  You know who loved it...LUKE!!  He had an absolute ball on this thing. Apparently a man built this with his own hands and donated it.  It was amazing!

 

Since the train park was near Chat's brother's restaurant, we had to stop by and say hello and eat a hotdog or two!  Luke looks so much like Chat.  Love these two!

The warm weather has arrived!  Which means my children try to get naked every chance they get.  And play in the hose...(Nope Ben is not potty trained, but he loves underwear.  He peed in this pair at least 4 times outside that day!).

We got working on planting new flowers in the flower bed.  We let Luke pick them out.  Since his favorite color is red, guess what color flowers we got????

Again, more nakedness.  I think about 5 minutes after this picture, they took the underwear off. 

Ben started soccer!  He has loved watching Luke play soccer over the past year and begs to get on the field.  So I decided it was his turn!  Well, it was good for the first 5 minutes or so.  Then he just wants to hang out on the sidelines with Luke.  Then we go to Luke's practice an hour later and he begs to be on the field.  I don't think it is soccer that he loves...it is his brother.  Oh well!

We got to Target a lot....and Ben always finds something to accessorize himself with.  I am thinking he will look good if he ever has to wear glasses.  Love this boy!

We went to the first Kite Festival in Houston. It was fun, but nothing too amazing for the boys.  The weather was gorgeous though and since the boys love being outside it was worth it!  They really liked running down the hills until they got caught up in kite string.  So it was time to head out...

The boys really enjoyed their snow cone treats afterwards much better than the festival!  Luke picked the 'rainbow' flavor.

Ben picked purple.  They were both delicious!

Ben has been doing a bit better with his sleeping, however we do have some nights where he struggles going down.  One night Chat went and laid in his room to get him to lay down (so he would realize that he is in fact tired).  After 30 minutes I realized I hadn't heard or seen anything in forever, I go in to check on them and they are all asleep...including the dog!

The boys and I randomly will go ride the train at the zoo.  It is one of our favorite things to do when the weather is nice!  This day the train was packed.  We have only about a month left before the horrific heat arrives so we are trying to enjoy it while we can.

We randomly take selfies of ourselves and send them to daddy throughout the week too.  Example A...

Fridays is the day where I just have Ben.  Luke goes to school and I take Ben to a Little Gym class.  After class we sometimes run errands or go home and hang out together.  Last week, Ben really wanted to go to the park.  So off we went!

Then he wanted a hotdog, so as a treat I brought him to James Coney Island for the first time.  He ate every single bite of this plate.  He was in hotdog heaven!

And then there are the terrible twos :).  Ben is getting better as he talks more and more, but there are times where he just can't get a handle on his emotions.  And then this happens...

I have no idea why he was upset.  Something set him off and...well...this is the result.  I just have to laugh it off and give him some space when this happens.  Sometimes I deal with it better than others, but overall we are chugging along through the twos.  If he is anything like Luke, three will be a much better year for this squirt.

Well that is us the past month or so.  A month of change but such good things as well!

{Bluebonnets 2014}

I hate when the boys get sick.  Last fall/winter, someone in our family was sick for what seemed like five months straight.  It was awful!  No one prepares you for the endless sickness once you have more than one child.  Whatever one gets, the other one gets and then you end up getting and then it is time for the first one to get sick again. So I was expecting the worst this year. But surprisingly we got through the fall and all the holidays without a big sickness. Actually barely even a cold. But as soon as the seasons started to change and we felt that spring air, both boys ended up sick at home for almost a week with a fever and some sniffles. Actually it was only about two to three days for each of them, but they staggered it, so I was home with at least one of them for a week.

I could only watch one more episode of Peppa Pig, so on the Thursday of that week, I decided we were going to get out. Luke was better and Ben was about 70%.  We were probably okay to be out in public, but I figured we still needed a bit more time to recover before going somewhere with a bunch of other children. But I just had to get out of the house. So I loaded up the boys and we headed out 290 to find some bluebonnets. We ended up driving almost an hour close to Chappel Hill and Brenham, but I finally found some that would make a good place for pictures. 

It took me bribing them with a Bucee's icee for them to cooperate for pictures, but I was really happy we went!

 

I love these next three and how it played out.  These brothers are so freakin' cute!  Well, when they are not fighting like crazy.  Let's be honest. 

Luke was a bit more eager to accept my bribes of sugar and let me take a few more pictures of him. I think at this point Ben was getting tired since he was still not feeling well. So I didn't fight it and just got a few of Luke. Next year, Ben watch out! I will take a roll of just you!

Although it was a bit of a drive, I am so happy to get these pictures!  It was a cloudy day, but we still managed to get some really good ones. I know I will treasure these forever. But I can't resist tell the story behind the pictures so I remember that too --- sickness, sugar bribery, a few tantrums.  The reality of motherhood are these beautiful pictures, but also the not-so-perfect stories to go with it. And I love them both.

{The Beginning of Baseball}

I knew when I married Chat over seven years ago that baseball was going to be a big part of our lives.  So four and a half years ago when I was laying on that ultrasound bed and I found out that Luke was going to be a boy, I instantly imagined the day when my little boy would be on the field with his hat and glove with his dad.  And a few weeks ago, it became a reality!  It was actually a really cold morning and so many of us were shivering and uncomfortable, but I couldn't help LOVE every minute of that first practice/game.  It will be one of those days I will always remember!

 

One of Luke's friends dad is the coach and he asks many of the dads to help. It is such a group effort since it truly is corralling cats with 12 four year olds. Chat is loving being on the field with Luke!  Such a cute father/son if you ask me...

Luke's best friend is on the team and that just adds to fun of the game.  These two boys love each other. And so I love that they get to experience all these firsts together! Now keeping them from goofing off and messing with each other throughout the hour is a whole different story...

Luke is on a team with lots of his friends which makes it so much fun for the boys. They are all such different personalities so it is so fun to see how they all play the game. And goof off. It is hysterical to watch these guys learn the game and have a lot of fun together!  I personally love the dog pile that happens every time as they all run to try to field the ball when someone hits it.  It is quite comical!

Luke giving me the thumbs up!  He is one happy boy on the baseball field! I secretly was a bit worried that our boys wouldn't like baseball -- Chat's true love (beside me!). Chat always told me it would be okay if they didn't like it, but I wanted at least one of our sons to enjoy the game.  To be able to have that bond with their father. So I was so happy to see the joy that baseball brings Luke. It may not last forever, but it sure is nice for the moment.  Which is all I could ever ask for.

I know one day I may lose all the men in my life to this game, so I am embracing it and going to be the best baseball mom I can be!  Oh and if you were wondering what Ben was doing on the sidelines as Luke was playing, this picture will tell you....

Ben was doing what he does best...EATING!  Here is to a wonderful first t-ball season with my baseball buddy Luke!