Our first visitors! Discovery Center with James and MeieliE

Experimenting with Uncle James

Meieli and Baby taking a ride

Brooklyn and Declan

The kids got a kick out of posing in the shadow room!  It was hilarious to watch them.

Maddy was watching to see how much she weighs.

Talking into the Echo tunnel.  Rowan thought it was great to hear himself!

Playing Grocery Store with Brady

Laying on a bed of nails!

Blowing bubbles

Rowan did everything he could to touch anything round.  He kept saying, "Ball" and "Woah"

James, Meieli, Brady and Gibson came to visit us this week!  It was so fun to have our first visitors and we did lots of fun things.  We celebrated Brady's birthday on Monday with Lunch at Red Robin, swimming and a pinata!  On Tuesday we went to the Discovery Science Center which was super fun.  We spent over 2 hours there and could have stayed a few more if we all weren't so hungry!  The kids had a good time learning and playing with all of the cool exhibits.  It is so nice to live in Boise with all of these fun things to do!  The kids learned how to play poker with Uncles James and Meieli and they loved his magic tricks of course!  Meieli and I had a funny experience at Winco.  This is seriously my third disasterous Winco experience.  Declan was in the front carrier and he exploded poop out the side of the carrier and it was dripping on my leg and into my shoe!  I yelled for Meieli who responded, "Is that S**T?"  Haha!  Since he had a poop blowout the day before, I forgot to restock my extra clothes in the car.  In the middle of the produce department, Meieli and I had to change Declan, completely wipe him down and put Rowan's 2T shirt on him to get him out of the store.  It was so disgusting but I was so glad that I had some adult hands to help me!  It was so fun to have them come visit and hopefully they will come back again :)

All Together in Boise!

I haven't posted in awhile because we were moving into our house over the past couple of weeks! We are all in and settled, with just a few things to do to make it "home".  Our house is so pretty on the inside, and we have a beautiful view of a pond right in our backyard on the other side of the fence.  Our neighborhood is so pretty, with lots of paths, playgrounds and a huge pool.  The best part about the past few weeks is that the KIDS arrived on Thursday.  Our home finally feels complete!  Rowan had a rough time adjusting at first, but now he has got them eating out of the palm of his hand and loving every minute of it!

We have had so much fun since they got here, although it has been more costly to feed and clothe everyone!  We spent the first day buying new clothes, shoes and suits for the kids, as they had outgrown most of their summer clothes from last year.  Today we went hiking at Camel's back park with Rowan and Declan in the baby carriers.  Everyone loved it.  I still can't believe how tough Maddy is.  She was even beating Mason around the trail as they raced.  Rowan said, "Ohhh" a lot and pointed out birds while Declan laughed, cooed and eventually fell asleep.  In the afternoon, we went swimming in our neighborhood pool.  I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time there this summer.  Rowan loved the water, especially the fountains where he could touch, but he also learned to jump in to Dad and thought it was great fun.  He fell asleep on the way home and I don't know if he has ever slept that soundly before.  Poor little guy, keeping up with the big kids is hard work!

Rowan and Declan have really changed in the past few weeks.  Here is an update:

Rowan
- weighs 28 pounds
- is the BEST sleeper ever.  Easy to put down for naps and bed, doesn't wake up in the night, just perfect
- has lots of new mischief to get into at our house:  can play with the blinds, pick up Dad's speakers in the living room, reach all of the doorknobs, turn on the water in the master bathtub and play with the washer/dryer buttons
- says: ball, mom, dad, hi, night, dog,  bird, no, hot and "Butt" (but he thinks he is saying light), and "Deh" for Dex, makes sounds for: thank you, sorry, I love you, out
- signs: please, more, eat, sorry.  He will do something wrong on purpose just to sign sorry and say it
- obsessed with basketball.  He has to hold one, tries to dribble it, and claps when it is on TV.  He loves to run to his little tikes hoop, shoot it and then clap for himself when I say, "he shoots, he scores."
- he thinks that if he can't touch something that it is because it is hot, which isn't the case.  Because of this, when I change his diaper and dont' want him to touch his private parts, he asks, "Hot?"  No, Rowan, just gross!
-  He has SIXTEEN, sharp, pointy teeth.
- He loves Declan and has to get him up with me in the morning and give him a kiss

Declan

- 15 pounds (50th %)
- smiles all of the time
- laughs now
- sleeps from 9-6:30 without eating (woohoo!)  then he likes to snack and go back to bed until 9 or 10am
- rarely takes a pacifier but sucks on his fingers sometimes
- much more finicky sleeper than Rowan.  If he falls asleep in the car, he wakes up as soon as the engine is off.
- hardly every cries
- loves his bouncy seat
- can roll over 90% of the way from back to front but is totally content with not going all the way over.  I don't know if he will ever roll belly to back because he always tries to swim to China on his belly!
- hates rice cereal/oatmeal with all three attempts so far
- not nearly as cuddly as Rowan but super happy.  He starts smiling and kicking every morning when he hears me say good morning even if he can't see me yet

Trips to Grandma and Grandpa's

Grandma and Grandpa with Declan and Cousin Nathan

Dawson in his shark play

Gibson is so sweet with Declan

Loving the bumbo!

Doing puzzles with Grandma

taking a ride on Uncle Trever's bike

Fancy Maddy!

Since moving to Boise we have taken two trips back to Rexburg already.  The first one was a week long for me and the boys!  We spent the weekend with the kids and then played with Grandma, Grandpa and Trever for a few days.  We got to see Dawson's first grade play and he did an excellent job as a great white shark.  I was super spoiled because I got sick and Grandma was there to rescue me!  She pretty much did EVERYTHING except feed Declan for me.  She even got me Dairy Queen which is my favorite thing to eat when I am sick.  It was so nice and I was so grateful to be there and not stuck in Boise by myself and the babies.  We also went shopping, saw Meieli and the boys and had lunch with some friends!

Rowan is 15 months!

Rowan is 15 months old now and he has grown up so much in the past few weeks!  All about Rowan:

* Sleeps 12 hours every night without a peep as long as he has Cow and sleep blankie, which he has to put in his mouth.  Naps 2-3 hours every day.

* Says "Hi", "this", "What's that?" "Dad", "Don't" , "uh oh" and a noise that is supposed to mean thank you
* Can sign "more please", "all done", and "thank you"  I love it when he is signing more please in the car while I am driving.  He will do it forever and I can't see him and then he just yells.
* Has experienced his first 3 timeouts for hitting or hurting his brother.  He does this thing where he yells at me with a serious face and points, so he has been in time out for yelling at me too, although I secretly find it funny!
*  Loves to ride his Mater truck around the driveway and play on the playgrounds and slide
*Says "Hi" and waves to EVERYONE!
* Hates to hear Declan cry.  I found him playing peek a boo with him one morning and it melted my heart.  If he is annoyed by the crying, he will cover his ears.
* Likes to watch the Letter Factory
* Has a fetish with biting feet
* Loves balls and cars!  He can sort of say Vroom Vroom.  Loves to read "Brown Bear" and says Ahhh, when you turn to the page with the sheep.
* Knows where his head and nose are!  Is able to recognize when someone "toots" thanks to Uncle Trever and he will crack up when he hears one!
* All done with a bottle thanks to Dad's new job dealing with 2 year olds that have to have all of their teeth pulled.  Rowan now has 10 shiny white teeth that he loves to get brushed every morning and night.

He is such a sweetheart and such a fun age!

Declan at 3-4 months!

Sitting up (with help of course!)

Declan is already almost 4 months old! I can't believe he is that old already! He still seems so little to me!  Both he and Rowan have grown up a lot in the past few weeks, or at least I finally have some time to relax and notice their developments!  Declan is very alert and always looking around.  He is a pretty content kid, always smiling and observing.  Here is some info on our sweetheart:

* never takes a pacifier
* LOVES his swing
* has started sitting up and likes his new Bumbo seat
* smiles all the time and makes cooing sounds.  He will even stop nursing to smile at me
* Easily falls asleep in his swing or car seat but is IMPOSSIBLE to get to sleep at a normal hour at night.   He loves to be up until 11pm and it is getting very old for Mom
* kicks his legs a lot and has started grabbing at things with his hands
* likes to keep his hands closed in a tight fist
*Loves the bath (except when Rowan tries to pull him under the water)
* Has at least 2 major poop explosions every day (up the back, ruins the clothes, etc.)
*Loves to sleep on his belly but hates active tummy time

I have major Mom guilt because I feel like I don't "know" Declan as well as I knew Rowan at this age.  There has been so much going on, but now I am dedicated to giving him a schedule, sleep training him in a couple of weeks, and just spending time with him!

Our last few nights in our house!

This is why we need another bathroom in our new house!

last family picture in our Rexburg home

Ready for the trip

It was so sad to leave our house in Rexburg.  We will always love that home, the layout of the house, our neighbors, and the memories we have made there!  It was our first real house as a family together, so I will always remember it.  Moving and packing was quite an experience!  We were so blessed to sell our house, but everything else in the process has been such bad luck!  It has kind of been humorous!  Dave left on March 26th to start work, while I stayed home to pack and play with friends :)  We used 50 bins (those big garage ones), 80 potato boxes (the 50lb kind) and then all of the other stuff!  When we went to fill the truck, we were definitely too full!  We had to borrow Grandma and Grandpa's trailer to pull on the back of the suburban as well as fill both cars to the max and leave some things behind!  We had a TON of help all week with packing, babysitting and loading the truck.  Thanks to all of our great family and friends for their help!  We left for Boise on Saturday, but the funny part is, we were homeless!  We had no real place to go.  Luckily, a nice dentist that Dave works for let us live in their "Guest House" until we figured it out.  We got to Boise on Saturday night, around 8pm with the intent of putting our stuff in storage.  With both boys screaming and the weather being cold and rainy, we realized that wasn't going to happen.  We went to our "guest house", gave the boys a bath, and went to Chili's for my birthday dinner.  I cried.  It was really funny to go to bed with Rowan in the same room.  He would just stand in his portacrib and talk and wave at us until he eventually fell over from exhaustion!  Sunday, Dave and a few helpers emptied the truck while I stayed with the babies.  On Monday, Dave's car wouldn't start, so the babies and I sat in a room all day long.  I cried again.  We went to look at an apartment to rent and 5 minutes before we got there, they rented it to someone else (still crying).  Tuesday, same kind of luck.  ( I continue to cry).  Wednesday, Dave had the day off and we found ourselves a place to rent! YEA!  It was totally by accident that we found this place and I know that Heavenly Father knew I couldn't take any more!  It is a brand new town home, so I don't have to worry about the kids crawling around on the floor after someone else lived here! Woo hooO!  We moved our stuff in and slept in our own beds!  Rowan was so excited to see his crib and he didn't make a sound for 12 hours straight in the night!  It was the first day I didn't cry in a week!

Now the plan is to build a house in Meridian in this great neighborhood that we found as long as we get approved for a home loan, which we are waiting to hear about!  Everyone pray for us!  It is super complicated because no one will give us a loan because Dave is getting paid 1099 instead of W2, which they usually make you wait 2 years.  We have given them TONS of paperwork to try to show that we can pay our mortgage, so we will see.

The boys are adjusting so well and we have started to get back into our routine!  What an adventure.  Glad I have my true love to help me have a positive attitude!

Dawson's week as Starfish of the Week

Explaining about his family

So proud of our starfish

Family Friday

teaching his class to dance

Dawson was the starfish of the week a few weeks ago at school.  He got to bring in show and tell things about himself, fill out an information packet and bring a snack.  He said that his favorite place to be is "at church with my family", Dad was his hero, he likes himself because he is "funny and a good big brother", he likes Kung Fu Panda 2, Yertle the Turtle, drawing, swimming and gymnastics.  We made a special treat for the class (robots made with raisin boxes, apple sauce and a juice box courtesy of pinterest :) )  We also got to be the family for Family Friday.  During this time, we got to teach the class something that we like to do as a family and Dawson chose dancing on the Kinect.  Soooo, Dave and I hauled our flat screen TV and the Kinect to the school to spend 45 minutes dancing with his first grade class.  He LOVED it and was so proud, so it was definitely worth it!