Enchanted Island

A little amusment park nearby had a discounted day--$3 for unlimited rides!  I was all over it.  It was a Ben and Mommy date and we had a blast.  Here are some pictures!

He loved it!  He didn't figure out how to make the plane fly, so he was the only one not in the air. 

Easter

Here are some better late than never Easter pictures.  We went with the purple theme for all of us. 

Ben opens EVERY egg before going on to the next one.  Note to self:  don't put ANY candy in the eggs next year unless it is in a little baggie or individually wrapped.  Ashlyn didn't quite get the hang of it.

Mixed Emotions

Right now, I'm feeling...

...excited to be moving to a new place

...nervous to be moving to a new place

...sad to be leaving family

I can't wait to learn a new area, find new things to do, and be on our own again.  I wish that didn't also come with leaving old friends and family behind and paying bills.  Can't I have my cake and eat it, too?  I'm looking forward to making new friends (let's cross our fingers since I'm pretty shy at first, but let's face it--Alex is pretty social haha) and keeping the old ones.  I am definitely NOT looking forward to a 16 hour drive with my one and two year olds.  I've scouted out a bunch of parks to stop and play along the way.  I've never driven so much in my life.  My help with driving during road trips consists of an hour or two max after gently persuading my hubby that he needs a break or when I was younger it was trying to convince my parents that yes, I really can drive on the highway.  lol.  I thought I was doing pretty good with the whole packing thing, but now I'm growing a little nervous.  I keep finding more stuff that's ours.  haha.  I'm also nervous about the apartment we're renting since I've never seen it before in my life.  Here goes the adventure of a lifetime!

A Decision!

I'm trying to type this quickly because I have 2 screaming children who apparently are hungry because they didn't seem to care for the homemade pierogies tonight, a living room that desperately needs to be vacuumed, and a kitchen brimming with dirty dishes. 

Oh, and about 45 boxes to pack...

That's right, folks, we're moving to Texas!  We found an apartment (hopefully it's nice) and we've booked hotels and a moving truck.  Now all that's left to do is pack, which is becoming increasingly difficult with children and a primary class to teach and laundry, etc that still needs to be done.  UGH.  Wish me luck!

A Dum Dum

This is what it looks like when you give a girl her first dum dum and then try to take a picture of 2 young kids eating one together...

Ben: I wonder if there's something on my nose...

Ashlyn: Maybe he won't notice if I swipe his sucker cuz then I could eat TWO!

Ashlyn:  I know, I'll distract him!

Lots of smiles--just don't take their dum dums away.

My little toddlers

It's official--Ashlyn's walking! She took her very first steps on my last day of work, while I was at work. It's the first major milestone I've ever missed. I can't believe my baby is ONE! I think it's time for another one. ;) Her doctor's appointment went well. She's almost on the growth chart at 16 pounds 14 ounces!! She's a tiny little thing with a lot of spunk. She tries to keep up with Ben and he just adores playing with her. She says "dada," "yeah," "vroom vroom," and "that." She also barks like a dog when she sees one. She also says "mmmm..." when she's done eating. CUTE. She likes to climb the stairs at the playground and has no fear of heights. She eats constantly. Even if she just ate a meal, she will come over to you and munch on your food. If you mention that you're fixing lunch or a snack, she'll instantly be your friend.   

the classic wheelbarrow ride

first swim! she wouldn't sit still so I didn't get a good picture

Ben is "helping" her open her gifts

Her first cupcake!  She just ate the marshmallows on top, not the actual cake.  I'm so glad I did it from scratch...

Ben is doing great!  He is almost 2.5 and really starting to grow up...sometimes.  He still slaps Ashlyn around, but he's very helpful and he's talking more!  He even said, "I want this" today and he can count to three with a little help.  He can say maybe half his letters and is getting better at two syllable words.  I just love his speech therapist!  She's wonderful with him.  He loves trucks and cars and parks and bubbles and dirt and walks and snacks.  He would rather snack all day long and not sit down for a meal.  He's becoming a picky eater and I'm never sure what exactly he's going to want any given day.  He has absolutely NO interest in the potty.

My first attempt at letting him help me stir when making cookies.  It went surprisingly well and my kitchen did NOT look like it threw up flour, so I was happy.



Update on Texas

We are still up in the air about whether or not we'll be moving anytime soon for a new job.  They decided that flying out wasn't necessary and Alex went through 2 additional interviews here and they fingerprinted him again which we think is a great sign.  But that was last monday and I am dying for some news. 

Have you ever gone apartment hunting online and you have absolutely no idea what the area is like? 

It sucks. 

I'm trying to do as much as I can now, so if he gets the job, I'll be free to pack later.  I've even prepared an awesome spreadsheet (ok, alex made it awesome, I just put the data in) for practically every apartment in that area in our budget.  And I've called 90% of them.  I so desperately want to know if all that work was in vain or not before I go crazy!