Thursday, May 29, 2014

Pioneer Park Splash Pad

Last Monday we took the kids to Pioneer Park Splashpad in Peoria. It was crazy packed but the kids still had fun. It seemed to attract some older kids which I was not a fan of (older kids run fast and run over little kids) and there wasn't a ton of shaded seating close (or if there was, it was taken). It is a cool park and very big and you can go fishing there too, but I am not sure it is a splashpad we will be visiting often. It wasn't far, but it is also not super close either. Regardless, the kids burned some energy off and had fun so it was worth it.

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He loves watching the big kids
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Solo Cups are one of the best toys to bring to a splashpad
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Best part of the morning: Cam's buttcrack showing almost the whole time, haha.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Moving, Moving, Moving

I have not posted recently because we have been busy with the move into our new house. We closed on May 15th. That weekend we spent almost the whole weekend painting thankfully with a lot of help from my family. We pretty much painted the entire upstairs along with the half bathroom downstairs. Painting is exhausting, haha. My hand hurt so bad that Monday after. We have also had a pool fence installed to keep the babies safe and replaced the old pool filter. Saturday was the big move day. We probably could have been more prepared, but it is just hard to manage living in a house while also needing to pack it up. We still need to clean up a lot at both houses, but we are mostly done. On Saturday we rented a truck and two of my brother in laws helped a ton along with my mom and sisters (one of the many reasons why I am grateful to live by family). On Sunday we spent most of the day unpacking things (while Wi-Fi got set up, yay!) and setting things up and made another trip back to the old house to get more stuff left behind. I went grocery shopping and we had our first dinner in the new house. It was nice to have a little bit of normal amid the chaos of moving. On Monday I went out for a run in the new neighborhood because although moving is physically exhausting, I needed a workout to feel good about myself and start off the day right. I only got just over a mile in before I found an old beagle sitting in some muddy water all by himself. I have lost a dog before (a beagle, too) so I couldn't just leave him. He didn't really warm up to me at first, but I caught up to him and an old couple that was walking let me use their phone to call my husband to come pick us up as the dog had no tags. I immediately posted an ad on craigslist for a found dog. My husband was in the middle of installing a doggy door so once he was done he took the beagle to Petsmart to see if he was chipped, which he wasn't. No shelter's were open because of the holiday so we figured we would just wait the day out and see how it went. He was not hungry or hurt and he got along well with our dogs. He was actually really sweet. Around 4 p.m. I got a response from the ad and we met up with the owner to bring him his dog. I am glad that it worked out because although he was good, we cannot handle another dog! Everly was asking us about the dog this morning. It was cute. Since Everly didn't get to do as much normal fun stuff this weekend, I wanted to take her to a splashpad which we did on Monday afternoon. I will post about that later but here are some moving related pictures...

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The new pool fence from Arizona Childproofers

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She would just point out at the pool and say, "You see it?" Thankfully her Auntie Tyss took her in.
 

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She did not sleep so well her first night. She was exhausted the next day.
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He has shocked us with how well he transitioned. He did not do as well from our apartment into the last house.
 

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So happy her bed was "fixed"
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Making marble cupcakes in the new kitchen!
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First family dinner in the new house (Cumin Chicken Recipe).
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Bruiser the beagle, our 1-day houseguest
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Husband's first successful DIY in the new house!

Friday, May 16, 2014

Mothers Day 2014

We had originally planned to have a little family breakfast at a new to us restaurant for Mother's Day, but when I realized the Schnepf Farms Peach Festival was also going on, we changed up our plans and decided to head there instead with my sister and her family. I had never been before and had been wanting to go. It is about an hour from us so it is no small trip. We packed up the car early and got to the farm before 8:00 a.m. There was already a line for the Peachy Pancake Breakfast so we decided to go pick some peaches before eating pancakes. We took a little hayride out to the orchards and all 3 kids actually did really great picking peaches and putting them in our box. Teddy was a monster peach eater. He had it all over his face. Everly actually liked it too. I am not a huge peach fan, but they were really good peaches. After we picked peaches we headed back and the kids took a little train ride while I saved our spot in line for breakfast. They pancakes were insane. The pictures don't do it justice. They were bigger in real life. After we ate the kids went on a carousel, checked out some animals, and did some bouncing on a giant air bubble thing (Kim's favorite part). It wasn't too hot out and the kids had a blast which is basically all I wanted for Mother's Day. I love being able to take Everly to do fun things and see new places. We got some pretty awesome pictures too...

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Teddy is crazy and apparently Everly has outgrown that dress.
 
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A good family photo (a.k.a. a miracle)
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She is the sweetest.
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Probably my favorite pic of the day
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Larger in real life.
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Belly!!!
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Waving to papa.
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He loves bouncing.
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That face.
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They don't care about the fact that I want a picture.
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Kim said she is putting one in her backyard...haha.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Zoo Day

On Saturday Justin had the day off from work and other than a morning hike, I had no other plans so we decided to make it a zoo morning. Usually my sister comes too with the boys because she is also a member but since she had to work we decided to take my oldest nephew Cam (Teddy was sick so he went to the doctor and stayed home with my brother-in-law). I know it sounds totally lame but I really like taking the kids to the zoo. I seriously feel like we have a different experience every time. For example, one time we went we saw the lions fighting with each other and growling and another time we got to throw food into the elephant enclosure. The Phoenix Zoo is really big as well so we never see everything in one trip anyways. Now that it is warm the splash pad is back open and we all know how much the kids love that. This trip the tiger was not out when we walked by but one of the employees said it would be right out so we checked out the lazy lion and then went back to the tiger to see it eating which I have never seen before. Everly couldn't really tell but it was eating some kind of mashed up meat--kind of gross, but also really cool. That day we also got to see the zebras who have a stream in their enclosure. Everly asked if we could put a boat in it...haha. We also got up close with the baboons and orangutans. We saw hippos, giraffes, camels, an elephant, birds and heard the monkeys fighting several times while at the splashpad. It was a great morning and I got some really cute pictures. We fed the kids lunch before eating and both of them fell asleep on the ride home...success!!!

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Giraffes in the background.
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Free dutch brothers made the morning even better!
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I have no idea what prompted this face, but I love it.
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Meat for breakfast
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Love her cheesy smile!
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Talking with their monkey buddy.
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She is kind of learning what stripes are.
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Still obsessed with carousels.
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All I see is belly!
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Masters of the carouselfie!
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Elephant in the background.
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Telling us the monkeys are stinky.
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Right before they started giggling and chasing each other around.
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As Everly says now at the end of stories...The End. Also, I love how even as they sleep, she is still so girly and he is 100% boy!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Pregnancy Update: 23 Weeks

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How far along: 23 weeks pregnant (last Friday). Due 9/5/2014.
Total weight gain: Not sure..it was 9lbs at my 20 week appointment I think.
Maternity clothes: Yes and no. I wear dresses and skirts to work almost every day and most are not maternity. I have a pair of maternity denim cropped jeans and shorts that I wear all of the time and some great tanks. Regular tops are not long enough so I have to go maternity there. Workout clothes has been tough...wearing a lot of Justin's shirts.
Stretch marks: I had them before. I don't think there is anything new. They don't bother me.
Sleep: Pretty good except for the peeing in the middle of the night. I was not as well hydrated during my last pregnancy so that started a lot earlier this time around. When I get up to pee my cat thinks I am feeding him which is really annoying.
Best moment of this week: Mother's day on Sunday was pretty great.
Miss anything: Just being comfortable in my own clothes...and clear skin. My skin does not like pregnancy hormones.
Movement: Lots. Justin has felt it but Everly hasn't yet.
Food cravings: Cinnamon rolls, donuts, ya know...stuff that is bad for me.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really queasy, but I am pretty sensitive to smells like people cooking fish at work.
Have you started to show yet: Oh there is no hiding this baby.
Gender: A girl, Aspen Ann Larkins.
Labor signs: None, that would be scary.
Belly button in or out: In. It never went out last time either.
Wedding rings on or off: On..but I can already notice the effects of the heat. Sometimes they feel tight and others they are sliding over.
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy...most of the time.
Looking forward to: Everly seeing the baby for the first time.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A preview of the future...

Last week we had to sign some mortgage documents at a title office. My nephew Teddy (16 months) was sick so he couldn't go to daycare and my sister/mom were already going to be watching Everly in the afternoon when we were done signing so I offered to take Teddy in the morning so my sister did not have to miss another day of work. Everly had actually gotten a fever two days before of 103 and Teddy's was up over 100 the night before. Everly seemed to be doing fine and just must have gotten a 1-day thing, but Teddy was nursing a double ear infection although we wouldn't find that out until the next day. When he came over in the morning he only wanted to be held, he didn't want my dogs anywhere near him and he was just uncomfortable. It was sad. We also had a showing of our house that morning, so I had to get both of my dogs out of my house and kenneled at my sister's before heading to the title office. Maybe to those moms with several littles, this doesn't seem like a lot but for me it took a lot of planning. First, I had to make sure I got up early enough to work out and be showered so that I was ready for when my sister dropped off Teddy. I had my husband fold up the kennels and put them in my car along with another car seat for Teddy before he left for work. Then I had to load up the babies, then load up the dogs, go to my sister's, unload the dogs, unload the kennels, and then get them all settled and her house all locked back up. Justin met me at the title office and we walked into their conference room and they had a bucket of toys and I knew it was a good sign. The entire signing process ended up taking about an hour and a half. Both babies decided to poop while we were in there which didn't speed up anything, however, I really feel like we lucked out. I don't know if it was because his medicine had kicked in or what but Teddy was an angel and he seemed to actually be having fun despite his double ear infections. Everly and him were playing and he was being his little flirty self. They were both really cute and while I am fully aware of how hard it will be to have 2 kids, I think we will do a pretty good job. Not the greatest iphone pics but here are a few:

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Weekend in Review

Summer is basically here and we are already in full on pool season. On Friday I had the day off so I spent some time with Aspen and took he...