June "about to lose my mind" June!

Wow...so happy for the month of June because we moved into our dream home, but so glad it is behind  us. We've been moved in for almost three weeks now and are finally starting to feel settled. Ryan literally worked from 6 AM until 1 AM for 10 days straight getting our house ready for us to move in to. The big project was having the ceilings scraped and recessed lighting installed. Ryan and his dad then primed and painted all of the ceilings, which is a ton of work! Ryan also got the entire upstairs painted with the gracious help of our parents. We couldn't have done it without them! So, the upstairs is now feeling like home again. The downstairs is a work in progress, but the play room is done and looks absolutely adorable! Ryan is so incredibly talented at painting and making our house pretty! Pictures will come next month. Ryan and I are both ready to sit down and enjoy our new home...hopefully that will come soon!

Clayton and Chloe adjusted seamlessly to their new rooms. Chloe's is pinked out to the max with splashes of bright aqua, lime green, and white trimmed in birds and butterflies. Clayton's room is all boy with lots of blue and red and sports balls everywhere! And Easton's nursery is turning out exactly how I imagined. It is adorable and so happy with bright aqua walls and splashes of orange and lime green and funky little trains. I'm busy with all my DIY projects for everyone's rooms, so when they are done, pictures will come! Easton is getting ready to transition from his bassinet, which he's nearly outgrown to his big boy crib. Both he and are are struggling with it. So far his naps have been a bit of a struggle and we haven't conquered night time yet. Tonight is supposed to be his first night in his own room...we will see!

The twins are busy, busy, busy with play dates, park days, swimming lessons, and dance for Chloe and soccer for Clayton (his first day is tomorrow). They are both progressing wonderfully at swimming. Clayton still jumps right in and basically directs Mrs. Cerra on what to do during his lesson. Chloe goes right in too, but has a melt down the last five minutes or so. She has had two Mommy and Me dance classes and is absolutely adorable! She twirls and runs around with the biggest smile on her face. She loves music, so I knew she'd love this class. I am definitely enjoying the special quality time with my girl since I don't get it too much. Easton continues to be "the best baby ever!" He is razzing up a storm, cooing like crazy, and melting our hearts with his infectious giggle.

Clayton's big news is that he is POTTY TRAINED! Clayton decided right after we moved in that he wanted to go potty in his big boy potty and more than anything wanted M & M's from his potty treat jar. He still has accidents every now and then but typically will stop himself and yell "potty" so we can run to the potty. He had trouble with poop for a few days, but is doing it now and is so very proud of himself when he does. Ice cream as a reward for poop works wonders for him! Chloe isn't quite ready yet, but says "potty" all of the time and truly tries.

And our princess, Roxi, is adjusting to her new home as well. She likes her huge backyard and likes sleeping in her own room, my closet!

Here's some pictures from our craziness!

Our little E is getting so big!

 

Yep, she has "trouble" written all over that sassy little face! 

 Father's Day at Daddy's station...Clayton was so happy!

Our last "dance" in our first home.

Chloe all ready for her first Mommy and Me dance class...

reason #392 I'm so happy God blessed me with a little girl!

Exploring the new Cars Land at Disneyland.

Clayton modeling his new big boy underwear. He's such a big boy!

May Mayhem!

The month of May was full of events. It all started with Clayton and Chloe's birthday party, which as the previous post shows, was so much fun. Then, all of the new house craziness began. Why a "short sale" is called a short sale, is beyond my comprehension. Buying our dream house, a short sale, proved to be the longest, up and down, encouraging, discouraging and finally exciting process. We officially closed escrow on May 29th, just 2 days before the first on the property was going to foreclose on it (after 8 months of extensions, so our offer could go through). I am so grateful for Ryan who made this dream possible for us with his hard work and commitment to the process. I am so thankful for my dad who worked tireless hours dealing with all of the challenges this purchase had. I am so grateful for my in laws and grams in law who provided the extra support we needed to make it all happen. I am so thankful for my mom who helped out with the children while we dealt with the sometimes spur of the moment things that happened throughout the process and the research she's continually doing on renovations for our new house. Making our dream possible was definitely a group effort.

Our new house is just minutes from our old house. Clayton, Chloe, and Easton will go to three of the best schools in the district, including the new high school (can't imagine them being that big!). It sits on top of a hill in a quiet, established, "woodsy" looking neighborhood. Our new house is just shy of 3,000 square feet (nearly double the size of our old house), has 5 bedrooms, so each child has his or her own room, we have a downstairs playroom (every mommy's dream!), and it sits on a 10,000 square foot lot, so needless to say our backyard is huge! Our new house needs major updating, but thankfully it is clean because it will be several years before we are able to do everything we hope to do to our forever house. The big project we are undertaking right now is having the ceilings scraped, recessed lighting installed, and fans installed in every bedroom. Ryan will begin painting the bedrooms next week. It's important to both of us to have the children's rooms as finished as possible before we move in, so the transition isn't too overwhelming, especially since Clayton and Chloe will now have there own rooms. I'm so excited to decorate my new house, but a little stressed about it. I just need to remind myself that it's okay to go slow and take the necessary time to do it right. Pictures of progress will come!

On to the babes...Clayton and Chloe are just getting bigger and more mature every day. It's bittersweet watching them grow. Their big news this past month is that they started swimming lessons with a private instructor. They each take a 30 minute lesson twice a week. Their progress over the course of the last 4 weeks is incredible. Clayton's gone from hyperventilating tears to jumping in on his tummy from the side. He can totally get out of the pool unassisted, jumps in and continues to swim, goes to the bottom to get a toy, kicks on a kickboard, and is reluctantly learning to float. He is such a stud! Poor Chloe starts crying the second we pull up to Miss Cerra's house, but she is doing so wonderfully too. She has great kicks and literally fights her way to the side with her kicks to get out. She loves doing "spiderman" along the side and is working on jumping in on her tummy. She can almost get out without assistance, but isn't quite strong enough yet. They have a few more weeks of lessons and then we will continue with brush up lessons a couple of times a month until next summer. There is nothing more important to me than pool safety! Clayton continues to be a little parakeet. He is so smart and knows and retains more than I ever imagined a two year old could. Chloe's language took off this month too. She is speaking in phrases now and has such an interest in learning what things are ("what's fis") is her infamous catch phrase! We are taking a break from My Gym this summer and replacing it with soccer for Clayton and Mommy and Me dance for Chloe. So busy, but truly the most memorable time of my life! Easton will have his own post, but gosh, we are so eternally thankful for our sweet little E! 

Easton is 2 months big!

Our sweet Easton James is 2 months big now! I know I'm a broken record, but I am so in love with him. How or why I ever doubted if I'd have enough of myself for him, I don't know. God truly blessed us with our baby E. He continues to be a rockstar sleeper. He goes to bed about 9:30 and gets up between 4 and 6. He eats, then sleeps for another 3 hours. Easton is definitely on a schedule now, which makes planning somewhat possible again. Thankfully Easton goes down for his big nap about an hour after Clayton and Chloe, so not only do I get some precious one on one time with him, but I also get an hour or two to myself! Easton's big blue eyes fully focus now and definitely follow Mommy. He's clearly going to be a Mommy's boy. He likes laying on his play mat, laying on a blanket and stretching, sitting in his bouncy chair and being held! He absolutely hates being in the car seat, but is doing a little better in the Chicco car seat we borrowed from our friends. Easton has a strong grasp. His big news is that he started smiling at exactly 6 weeks big. I LOVE Easton's smile. There is nothing better than your tiny baby greeting you with a big smile. He started cooing and making the various vowel sounds with his sweet little voice. Sadly, he got an upper respiratory infection from Clayton and Chloe so I had to take him to CHOC ER at just 7 weeks big. Hearing such a tiny baby cough, choke on flem, and vomit as a result of the flem is heartbreaking. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of days and Easton is back to his happy self again! Easton weighs 11 pounds and is 22 1/4 inches, which is 1/4 of an inch longer and 1 pound lighter than Clayton. He is filling out his 0-3 month clothes and is in size 1 diapers.

Easton's first camera caught smile! 

Easton James' Newborn Pictures