Reflections

I am writing this in my pajamas, ready for bed, on our last night in our much loved home on Rua De Matta. Randy and I have lived in this sweet home for just over 8 years. I remember the day we moved in. The excitement, joy, and pride we had moving into our first home as a newly married couple. For the last 8 years, we put only love, respect, and sheer joy into our home. We painted and re-painted, refurbished, built, remodeled, and loved this home as much as our hearts could pour out. And as we I reflect back on our 8 years in this home, I have only happiness shining back at me. This is the home I brought my babies home to. This is the home of many sleepless nights with sick children. This is the only home my precious puppy has known. And this is the home that hosted many parties and family gatherings. This is the home that has hosted our tears on the news of death of loved ones. This is the home that knows every scrape and bruise my children have endured. And this is the home that has nurtured my children with security. This is the home of so many happy memories with my loving husband and beautiful children. So many that I cannot remember them all. So as I close this post, I say "Sweet Dreams Sweet Home" and only hope that the couple who are anxiously awaiting our departure will respect and love you as much as we have.
Until next time, from our new home...

Logan's 1st Ear Infection

I took both boys to the doctor today because they both came down with a cough this week, and after a few days, Ben told me his throat hurt too. The coughing really hasn't been bad, only a few coughing spells when they are sleeping (nap and night time), but the coughing has woken up both boys from their sleep at least once this week. So, to be on the safe side, and being the over-cautious mom that I am, I took them in to see the pediatrician.

Ben is okay. Probably just got a cold from a friend that was over a few days ago; no signs of infection but his throat is red from drainage (thus, the coughing when asleep).

Logan, however, has his 1st ear infection. :-( I had no idea! I took him into the doctor a couple of weeks ago, because he kept pulling on his ears and was fussy and quite clingy. I was sure he had an ear infection 2 weeks ago, but alas, no. Just teething. His front 2 teeth are really swollen and should be popping out any day. So in the last 2 weeks, I have attributed all ear-pulling to him teething. In hindsight, he has been a bit more fussy and clingy the last few days, but really nothing major! He is sleeping through the night; no fever; no irritability...none of the regular signs of infection we always saw with Ben. I felt so bad when the doctor said, "Well, Logan has a raging ear infection...I am surprised he is not more uncomfortable!" My poor baby! So, we start our 1st round of antibiotics, hopefully the amoxicillin will work. After his 1st dose of the medicine at lunch, he had a great nap (2 1/2 hours!) and actually woke up happy. (I guess I hadn't paid enough attention to the fact that he was waking up crying all the time until now!) In retrospect, sometimes these little things make me, as a Mommy, feel so bad. :-(

Just Playing with Friends

Just hanging out at the park...

with my girlfriend Piper....

...and my silly brother Ben with his accomplice, Cooper.

Mom always says, "boys will be boys"...well, this is especially true when these boys get together.

Their 1st Campout

Ever since we went to Aunt Kara and Uncle Paul's house, Ben has been wanting another "campout". And while we were packing, Ben re-discovered his Thomas the Train tent. He has been playing in it ever since. This morning he got it out and put his brother in it (yes, pulled him by the legs through the hole to get in), and they had a "campout" until Logan got tired of it.

Funny Toddler Quotes

Scene 1: (Randy and Kristen packing boxes; Ben playing with cars in garage, Logan is in his walker)

Randy pulls out some old stuff from attic in garage that prompts a quick response from Kristen,

Kristen: "Oh my gosh, what the heck is that!?"

Ben: "Daddy, what the hiccup is that?"

The rest of the day, as we continue to pack boxes, Ben is continually asking,

"What the hiccup is that Daddy/Mommy?"

Scene 2: Kristen and Ben, just talking, having conversations about random toddler stuff.

Ben: pointing to his head, "Mommy is this my noggin?"

Kristen: "Yes Ben, that is your noggin."

Ben: now pointing to his forehead, "So Mommy, this is my fore-noggin?"

Kristen: smiling, trying hard to control laughing, "Yes Ben, if this (pointing to head) is your noggin, then that (pointing to forehead) must be your fore-noggin"

Logan is 7 months old!

Logan turned 7 months old last week! And since then, he has started pulling up and crawling! Yes! He is mobile! Mom is not quite ready for this phase yet! Anyways, Logan and Ben have really been enjoying each other and playing even more together in the last few weeks. It has been very fun to watch how they interact. Here is a video of Logan playing with Ben. He squeals with delight, laughs, and even crawls during the video. (I hope you don't get a crick in your neck watching it---so sorry that blogger won't let me change the direction of the video!) Despite the direction, it's just too cute to not post and share!

"In Your Face" video

We set up a pool at the end of Ben's playground slide on Sunday. He thought it was so fun---was out there playing forever! (Which was nice, because Randy and I were busy packing boxes for our big move!) Here is a cute and "in-your-face" video of Ben playing. (Sorry for the positioning of the video. Blogger won't let me turn the video...so you have to turn your head instead...annoying, I know!)

Summer fun with friends

Ben and Logan started off the summer with friends last week. Logan and Piper are 6 weeks apart in age (Piper is older)---and so far, they get along great! Here they are enjoying the toys together on a shaded blanket.

Cooper and Ben had a great time on the slip and slide! It was Cooper's first time on the slip and slide---but he did it like a champ! Ben and Cooper always have sooo much fun together! They are best buds!

Galveston Bound!

The Hood family invaded Kara and Paul's home in Galveston over Memorial Day weekend. We had such a good time and really didn't even want to leave Monday---but we had to. (sigh) The kids had a great time. Aunt Kara set up a tent (yes! a real tent!) in her living room every night for Ben to have "camp outs" with Daddy---he loved it! And of course, Ben LOVED the beach! He got very comfortable playing in the waves and didn't even flinch when the salt water would go over his head! He loved every minute! Logan also had a good time. We took him to the beach for the first time. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes of him getting there, a huge thunderstorm was approaching with a lot of lightning, so his beach visit wasn't as long as we had hoped. He still had fun. Logan sat with Aunt Kara and Uncle Paul in the waves and even got a few fist fulls of sand into his mouth before his Aunt and Uncle noticed. (oops!) We had a great time and can't wait to go back. Logan touching the ocean for the 1st time!

All that wave action made him quite hungry! :-)

Ben and Daddy eating a picnic next to the sea wall.

Mommy and Logan enjoying the wind and waves.

Ben showing off his sand castle!

Thanks Kara and Paul for a great weekend! We love you! Can't wait to invade your home again soon!

It's Been Awhile...

For all of our blog followers, so sorry we haven't posted cute pics of our kiddos lately! We have been a little preoccupied! For starters, we are proud to announce that we are in the process of purchasing a new home! We have been in our lovely Hollywood Park home for exactly 8 years (to the date!), and with 2 kids and 1 dog, we are quickly outgrowing this beautiful place we call home. We have put so much love, hard work, and equity (sweat and financial!) into this home, that our move is quite bittersweet. So, we started looking in the area for a home that would better suit our growing family---and finally found one that is gorgeous, beautiful, and everything we want in a home! Randy and I are so excited about our big move---and can't wait to welcome everyone very soon. More details to come soon...

So if that wasn't enough... after securing the new home, we quickly put our house on the market and in less than 3 weeks, we have sold our home---for full asking price too! To much relief and happiness, the couple that is buying our home is perfect. They are sweet and are so excited about moving into our home. They appreciate the beautiful yard we have and adore my much-loved kitchen remodel. We had the opportunity to meet them this last weekend and we felt very comfortable at the end of our visit with them. We know our loved "Gramma June" will have new wonderful neighbors. This is such a relief to us. We have often said that we don't know what will be harder on us, leaving our home or leaving our "Gramma June" next door.

So, in a nut shell...that is why my blog posts have been absent lately!