Summer what?

So, my mom and dad came home from their mission on July 2nd....

Lucy looks surprised at how strong she is...

Henry meeting Nanna. He was skeptical for about 30 seconds, and then fell in love.

Andrew and Monk greeting Nanna and Papa. Nanna was the original Monk giver. 

It was really just kind of chaos, but it has been delightful having them home.

And then I guess nothing else happened this summer, because I stopped taking pictures. Instagram is just so much easier...We actually did move from Folsom, CA to Centerville, UT. That was weird. But now we live here. We're still settling into the idea of living in Utah again, and there's a small part of our hearts that wants to be back in Folsom with the amazing running trails, having Mark and Jenny and the girls close, and the beach available for a day trip. Plus, there's a part of our hearts that would rather be in Texas with all the wonderful friends we had there (and the humidity...it's true, we love it). But, we know there is always something great wherever we live, and we have loved every single place we've lived for different reasons. We are definitely basking in being close to grandparents and the Utah cousins. 

 Since the day we moved into our new place, I've basically been on the couch with a little stomach bug that is growing into a bigger stomach bug and will likely become a very big stomach bug that will show his or her face in March. It's true, we have finally overcome our fear of the newborn stage (or forgotten it enough to commit to it again) and are expecting baby number 3 in the early spring.

If you're thinking, "Wow, that's a big belly for 14 weeks," feel free to keep that comment to yourself. I can't explain.

And the last of what is becoming a seasonal post (4 posts a year, can I do it?), our awesome back to school pictures. Both boys started at their respective preschools today. I went to Target. It was so fun. I love the boys being in school. They are both so smart and love to learn. This will be a great chance for them. Andrew has already learned the rules (he was extremely concerned that he not get on the bad list the first day like last year) and Henry only remembers that he played with cars and found two dead bugs outside. I call that success.

Brother love. These two...

Not sure what the feelings were at this point.

Henry suddenly got skeptical, then sad when we dropped Andrew off, and then happy as soon as we got to his school. 

Breaking News

This will come as no surprise, but WE'RE MOVING AGAIN!!!

Justin got an offer from a company he has been looking at for over a year. We are super grateful and feel like it is a good move for his career and for our family.

It's in Salt Lake.

Those who know me will probably guess that it has been a bit of a dilemma trying to come to terms with this move, but I am (now) genuinely looking forward to being in Utah again.

If you're counting, this makes 9 moves in 6 years. I guess when you have a skill (packing boxes) the Lord just doesn't want it to go to waste. :)

Summatime

We have had an awesome summer so far. Observe:

Henry's half birthday.

Splash pads.

Had to include this one of Andrew and Brooklyn. He thinks she is totally rad. Which she is.

Home cooked lettuce wraps. These are ridiculous.

Home assembled berry trifle with lemon whipped cream and homemade lemon pound cake. I can hear myself getting fatter.

Mucking it up at the cousins' house.

At the Air Force base. My cousin's husband is a doctor in the Air Force and they took us to the base. The kids were dying. It was so fun. And awesome that my cousin has twin boys who are Andrew's age. It was the best Saturday.

I wish this picture did justice to what was happening. Henry threw an epic fit and sat at the top of the stairs of our apartment building for no less than 45 minutes. With no pants on.

Andrew at the dentist. This was the last of three appointments getting fillings. It was less than fun for the both of us.

Bowling with our friends. Too bad they didn't make it into the picture. :)

In Utah. Grandpa has an arcade golf game that Andrew L-O-V-E-S. Sadly, we just broke the news that getting a high score doesn't actually help you win a round of golf. 

Andrew has decided he is a reader. He is doing super awesome with his reading and can read mostly by himself in level 1 and 2 readers. Smartypants.

On our way home from Utah, we got stuck in some major traffic near Lake Tahoe. 2 hours with crawling traffic. Luckily, the boys were AMAZING. This was all sans Daddy in the car, but we made it through . :)

The new babe

Probably only a handful of times in the past three years have I thought: "I'm glad my parents live in Argentina." This circumstance is one of them.

Since my mom wasn't home to help Katie when she had her new baby, and I felt a great older sister obligation to do for her what my mom did for me when I had my first baby, I was able to convince Justin that I had to go spend a week helping Kates make the adjustment to all the new things a baby brings. I have never been able to cuddle a new baby almost non-stop if I wasn't also trying to recuperate from giving birth to that baby myself. It was super awesome. And baby Jack is a sweet little baby who is a really good sleeper (also something I've never experienced firsthand) and a great eater (once again...not like my babies). I can't decide if I'm now very baby hungry (definitely would be if I knew I was going to have a baby like Jack) or just afraid that if we ever have another baby, I've seen what a good, non-colicky baby is like and will just be sad. :)

Love that milk-drunk smile that newborns get after they eat.

Sometimes he's not happy, but even then, he's really easy to soothe. 

Yawning babies. Is there anything cuter?

Jack trying to eat Katie's face. Maybe he's still hungry?

Trying to get a normal picture of Ryan...He was cracking me up.

Jack is very reverent. He totally sleeps with his arms folded if he's not swaddled.

At the MLK, Jr. memorial. Kates and Ryan were super brave and took him out for a little outing at 9 days old! He was totally perfect the whole time.

Living in the past

True, it's been a while since I have done anything this fun with the boys, but since I documented it, I'm going to pretend this is the kind of mom that I am all the time. February and March brought much jubilation and I got a little burned out with all the festivities. We haven't decorated or had a party since.

Cake batter rice crispy treats we made for Dr. Seuss's birthday

Henry's hat was not fitted to his head and was a little too small. But  he was still a good sport and tried to keep it on for a solid minute.

Andrew loved his hat and still has it on his shelf just in case there's a need. Because sometimes there is.

St. Patrick's Day was big around here. We planned a really awesome leprechaun trap that we were sure would work.

We were proud, as you can see...

But he totally outsmarted us. 

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder??

Life has seemed to speed up since we've been in California...I can't keep up with myself. But, we're all here, healthy and happy. Here's an update:

Justin in his awesome Scout shirt. He's working with the Webelos and loves it. He will not love that I put this photo on the bloggy, but I seriously think khaki is his color. :)

The boys playing "yard" in the front room. We're definitely getting to the age of  boys needing a yard to run off their energy. But, alas, the parents of this family are commitment-phobic, so 6 month leases seem to work.

Henry has really embraced his doggy alter-ego.  It's cute/weird.

This is me driving carpool. It's what I do.

Driving back from Utah, Andrew got this awesome pirate eye patch and since has been uber-fascinated with people who can only see out of one eye. And people who lose their teeth. He asks me all the time to tell him about how my Grandma Peterson had pretend teeth so she couldn't eat apples. Cute/weird.

Henry and I dropped Andrew at a playdate. Henry was DEVASTATED that  he wasn't invited, so to drown his sorrows, we went shopping. He LOVES shopping, even if we don't buy anything. Here he is pondering the doggy toys at REI.

I know this is the weirdest photo, but I just think Justin is the best husband for a million reasons. This is one. He has his pre-gym protein shake all set up in our closet, gym bag packed every morning so he doesn't have to wake up me or the kids when he leaves (at 5:15..he's insane). He's so thoughtful.

My most recent project. I was going to sew chair cushions with this laminated cotton. It was too advanced for my sewing skill level (which is none skill), so I bought myself a staple gun and jimmy-rigged it. Doesn't look amazing, but it's good enough for my tastes. 

Poop, pee and the happs

This boy is the trainee...The rest of us are all set. In case you were confused.

We are potty training. Oh my. I remember swearing when we potty trained Andrew that there would be no amount of money too great to pay someone to do this. Alas, our financial situation is definitely not much better than it was then. So, here I am. However, can I just say, it is about a million times easier potty training when you're not dealing with a newborn and post partum? Plus, Henry is doing {mostly} great.

Speaking of poop, I think I lost all pictures from leaving Texas until February. Yes, folks, that includes Christmas 2011. Kind of mad at myself, but I blame the fact that our computer essentially went up in flames before we could save much of it. In the crapper, as it were. 

Therefore, rather than going backwards, we'll just update from where we are. Just know that we're loving California, missing Texas and having the time of our lives. 

They're just cute. That's the context of these pictures..

Andrew's dimples are getting even cuter. If that's possible.

We were feeling lonely for our friends, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and throw a party to drown our sorrows. We invited 6 families thinking surely we'd have at least 25% attrition...Not so. We ended up with 27 very fun people in our very small apartment. It was super fun. We set up all the rooms for different activities and it was actually not too terribly squishy.

Kids got all hopped up on sugar and watched movies

Grown ups ate yummy pasta and had a Valentine's box-making contest. We did NOT win. The "french kiss" box won the grand prize (mustache baking mold...because we're into re-gifting)

My long-time blog readers (Katie, Mom) may remember our tradition we started last year...books from Cupid's Library. He TOTALLY came through for us again this year, and even left a little bit of candy. Thank you, Cupid/me.

I guess the father figure forgot about Cupid's Library and went straight for the awesomest gift ever. I'm not going to mention it. I'm pretty excited about my new cycle shoes.

Is this brother love, you ask? No, no. It's WWF time on Mom's bed.

 Recently, we celebrated President's Day at the park with some friends. It was great weather last week (I think we passed 70), which made me love California a little bit more.

Andrew's friend Brooklyn. She's sweet and loves to play Jake and the Neverland Pirates with Andrew, which pretty much fulfills every fantasy he's ever had.

Andrew is definitely having the hardest time adjusting to CA. He really misses his school and his friends. We recently found out he has been accepted into a junior kindergarten program next year (district-funded, every day school...yes, I'm doing cartwheels in my head). Andrew was super deflated when we told him it doesn't start until after the summer. Poor guy. But, in the meantime, he's picked up on reading super quickly and hopefully that tides him over...so we don't all drive each other completely insane.