Summer 2014

As I said in my last post, we've had a pretty busy summer since Nathaniel was born. Audrey graduated from preschool the week after he was born, so that was our first family outing. They sang a couple of songs and the teacher said a few words about each child and their special or defining qualities. She called Audrey "Ms. Giggles" because she is always smiling and giggling. She said Audrey brings a light and happiness to the classroom. What a wonderful thing to hear about our little girl.

Look at that side by side photo of her first day of preschool and her last day of preschool. She grew so much! You can even see the maturity in her posture and her smile. She is so much more confident and sure of herself.

Maria, Jason, and Marcelo came that weekend for a big family birthday party. We haven't seen Jason in a few years and we haven't seen Marcelo since last summer, so it was really fun to have them here. Audrey loves her big cousin and had a great time dancing the night away with him at the party! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that because I stayed home with Nathaniel.

I had about a week home with the kids after Josh went back to work and before Lexi and Tiernan came. We spent that week mostly at home, had some friends over, running some errands, and mostly just trying to figure out how to handle three kids. We played in the pool and I bought them a sprinkler so they were able to enjoy some time cooling off on those hot days!

  We spent the 4th of July weekend getting out and about. We watched the fireworks with some friends from Audrey's preschool. It was fun to do together, but our poor kids go to bed so early that they were exhausted by the time the fireworks started and so they weren't really that excited. haha! Maybe next year...

The following night we met up with some more friends for Manassas Park's movie in the park night. The movie was Monsters University. The kids were super excited but since they were up so late the night before, and the movie not starting until long after their bed time, they were super tired. We tried to relax and have a good time but Audrey and JJ were both running around crazy and wild, and then the baby started fussing so we knew it was time to head home. 

Lexi and Tiernan got here a couple of days later and we had such a wonderful time with them. It was so nice for me to have my sister here to talk to and laugh with, and watching the cousins play and have fun was great for us. Lexi was incredibly helpful with the kids and cleaning. She even cooked a bunch of freezer meals that I can pop in the oven for dinner on those days when I don't have the time to cook. She's amazing!

We had some fun outings including a trip to the farm and a day trip to the beach with Grandma, Grandpa, and Ian. We went to a beach on the bayside which was perfect because the waves were nothing and the water was shallow enough that the kids could play and swim. I think we are going to make another trip there this summer with the family since I doubt we will fit in a real family vacation considering the newborn and all!

We spent a day with the whole family over at dad's. The kids had fun swimming and running around together and I had fun eating all the food, as I usually do. :)

Lexi and Tiernan headed home on Tuesday, and David and Debbie came in on Friday. We mostly took it easy while they were here - eating out, shopping, spoiling the kids. They loved all the extra attention! It was nice to just have an easy, quiet weekend with some extra helping hands.

They left Tuesday and then Saturday the kids and I drove up to meet Maria so they could spend a week with her. And that brings us to now! Its been Josh, me, and Nathaniel all week and boy has it been nice! The kitchen stays clean when I clean it. Although I still don't get to sleep in (Nathaniel wakes at 6am) its different when I get up and don't actually have to talk to anyone or do anything for anyone. I can get up, have my coffee while holding him and watching the Today show. We've been really lazy this week and haven't gotten much done around the house, but I have been able to get a bunch of errands done that I've been avoiding since I don't want to do them with all three kids. Audrey and Joshua have been having a ton of fun with their grandma, too. They have been going to the pool, chuck-e-cheese, and yesterday got to spend the day at Sesame Place (think Disney World but for Sesame Street)! The first day they were gone, Josh and were like, "OMG WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT!". So we did. We had our morning coffee while reading the paper (the coffee wasn't spilled! The paper wasn't ripped/colored on/or thrown onto the floor!). Then we decided to put on some Netflix and binge-watch a new show - Breaking Bad. We watched like 5 episodes. Of course it wasn't like the old days where we could just sit there...we were basically watching it while also handing the baby back and forth while he fussed/cried/napped on us. But still we got to watch TV during the day and neither of us fell asleep 10 minutes into it. We also took a break to go to Home Depot where we were able to buy some stuff, but more importantly, we were able to walk at a normal pace and just look and roam rather than running through as fast as we can before a kid disappears or starts crying or has to use the bathroom or otherwise melts down. Another nice thing about the kids being away? Dinner. A couple of nights I just didn't eat. One night we ate at 8:30 pm. Quite different from the normal dinner time of 5:30!

The first few days I didn't really miss them. Of course I thought of them all day long and wondered what they were doing, but I was enjoying the quiet. Now its been almost a week and I'm ready for them to come home. I miss Audrey's sweet voice and JJ's loving cuddles. 

{I do not miss nonstop laundry and dishes}

{{This post was written while they were still gone. They are back now and laundry and dishes have resumed, but I love the craziness, I can't deny it!}}