Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving. A day set aside to stop and reflect on our blessings, to express our thankfulness and show appreciation to our Creator for all our many blessings.

Highlight Reel: The Brown Chair

There is a brown bean bag chair in our home that has become very popular. It, discovered on a clearance shelf at Target following Christmas last year, found it’s way in to Everett’s bedroom. I’m not sure how they all get here but it has been a home for Everett’s steadily growing stuffed animal collection. In a small burst of inspiration, the stuffed animals most of which Everett is scared of anyway, were moved to his rocking chair. Everett, upon discovering this brown thing was actually not a scary stuffed animal holder, but in fact a kid size chair just for him, fell in love with it. And after his baby brother was briefly seated next to him, decided sharing is fun. Now the brown chair is often his seat of choice when he is watching shows, having a snack or his juice. And sometimes when he is in a generous mood, he reaches for his baby brother with an “uh, uh” which is code for “I want Reid to sit with me.” This goes fairly well but having a wiggle worm for a big brother makes parents nervous and Reid is normally transported to safety shortly thereafter. It’s cute while it lasts…

Highlight Reel: Back to Routine

With the exception of Harpers Ferry the past week or so things have finally slowed down and we are able to get back into routine. It is so nice knowing that this time we can stay in routine for longer than a week. The upcoming holidays actually seem stress free compared to how our life has been which just goes to show you that it’s been crazy.

With that being said crazy has a new meaning. Our boys are still keeping us on our toes. As Reid gets older we are trying to encourage their relationship and allow them to “play” together. I know it’ll progress on it’s own but since Everett is still a baby himself I really want him to feel included in the attention Reid needs from me. So when Reid wants to be held or needs tummy time I try to do things Everett can enjoy with him. Maybe that seems crazy but I think it’s helping as Everett’s response to his brother seems to get better. This activity mat is a huge help. Everett can play on one side and Reid on the other.

Insta Post: Blog on the Go

It’s been pretty obvious that I haven’t been the best at updating this blog but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been taking pictures. Instagram has become my blog on the go, a quick and easy way to share pictures of the boys and update family and friends. But I do want our blog to be the place where our memories are stored so from time to time I’ll do an “Insta post” of my favorite Instagram shots. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

Dustin went on a second work trip to Utah. Originally scheduled for twelve days we were very excited when they finished sooner then they had planned and he was able to come home two days early! Though this trip was a little easier than the last one it still was hard being away from each other. This picture was taken the night Dustin came home. Though our intent was to get a cute, loving picture of the four of us this one best represents our family life right now. This is our reality! Despite the chaos the boys and I are very excited to have our husband and dad back again. As it stands now he’ll be home for two or three months before he has to leave again.

Harpers Ferry

When Dustin came back from Utah he was able to take off a few days so that we could be together as a family. The first few days were laid back and relaxed but we knew that one of his days off we wanted to do something fun. The day before he was to go back to work was a beautiful day, weather wise, so we packed up the kids and headed to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Seeing Family

One of the things that has kept us busy the past two months has been spending time with family. First up was when two of my brothers and my sister stayed with us for five days while my parents were on vacation. It was a little wild with three teenagers in the house plus two babies but it was a lot of fun spending time with them. Everett loved having them here, especially his Uncle Marcus who he is a big fan of! Reid enjoyed all the time he was held. :)

Fun in the Fall

Fall is a favorite time of the year and there are always quite a few festivities around the area. One of the favorite things our family likes to do is to carve pumpkins. We loaded up the boys and headed over to a local farm market to pick out our pumpkins. We chose four, all various sizes, to represent each family member. A fellow pumpkin picker graciously took our picture. Everett is not too into strangers, which is a good thing, but because of this he looks miserable in this picture. He did seem to have fun though I think he was also unsure of what we were doing.

A Family Update

Updating this blog has proven to be more challenging than I thought it would be so I am behind on updates. Again. But hey, at least I am trying right?
 
Life with these two is proving to be fun, eventful and at times chaotic. We have, for the most part, adjusted and are taking each day as it comes. It’s funny how one moment you are stressing out about finding a new routine and the next moment you realize some how you created one. Thankfully we had a routine pretty much established with Everett and it was a matter of throwing Reid in and rearranging a little. This I think is what has helped us a lot, it has especially helped me while Dustin is away on work trips.