July...July...Finally Settling in to Our New Home!

For the first time in a long time, I'm grateful time flew this past month. July was a very stressful and busy time for us as we completed our move in and worked on several big projects. Ryan worked a lot and worked a lot at home. I know he's looking forward to relaxing with and enjoying his children once again. I'm grateful for Ryan's handiness, but am glad we are moved in enough that he come home and play rather than work! The big project completed were:
-Ryan and his dad painted all of the ceilings in the entire house! Oh my gosh, that's nearly 3,000 square feet of tall ceilings. Thank goodness for the hard work, patience, and dedication because our ceilings look beautiful!
-Ryan and an electrician friend installed fans in all of the bedrooms and replaced all of the bathroom light fixtures.
-We had the grass reseeded and it is looking amazing! The babes haven't been able to play in the backyard for a couple of weeks, but it's just about ready for them to trample again!
-Ryan had an epiphany and hired painters to finish painting the entire downstairs and it looks INCREDIBLE! I'm so excited to hang our family pictures and do all of the little things that make a house feel like a home.
-Ryan replaced all of the electrical outlets with new, white outlets. What a difference!
-I painted stripes with help from both Grammie and Nonnie in Clayton and Easton's rooms. Chloe's is next.
-We hung a lot of decorative stuff upstairs, which is pretty time consuming.
-Ryan painted the babies' bathroom and we hung a new mirror, medicine cabinet, and put up the decor.
-I've been busy working on little decor projects for Clayton, Chloe, and Easton's rooms inspired by my Pinterest and Etsy obsession.
We've done a lot, but are thrilled to finally have the settled feeling. Now we can enjoy our new home and hopefully resume a social life again!

Clayton, Chloe and Easton's news...

Despite the craziness, our children are settling in a lot better than I expected. Clayton and Chloe are both doing fantastic at swim lessons. We still go once a week so that they don't lose the skills they've learned. Chloe has been doing Mommy and Me dance, but Mommy isn't happy with the program so she joined Clayton at his soccer "practice" yesterday. Both of their language is incredible. It's amazing how they just start talking and don't stop! We officially have to watch what we say because our little parakeets will repeat what we say. Our favorite word of Clayton's is "nectarine" which he concentrates so hard so say each syllable and Chloe's is "mone" or "more." Clayton is totally potty trained, which is awesome and Chloe is just about there. I can't trust her completely yet, but as long as I stay on top of her she doesn't have any accidents. It's amazing how she just followed Clayton's lead on it. What the girl will do for M & M's! We've had some park and house play dates with some of their little friends, which has been nice. Easton is such a trooper. He goes with the flow and adjusts his napping to the busy lives of his brother and sister. Clayton still loves everything "ball related" and is now a big Jake and the Neverland Pirates fan. Mommy does a really silly dance at the beginning, which he thinks is hysterical. Chloe recently developed a true love for her dollies, which I'm excited about. She enjoys coloring too and is so focused on her artwork. They both know most of their shapes and most of the words to all the songs I've been playing in the car since they were about 6 months old (it's so adorable!). Clayton and Chloe can both count to ten with a little bit of help from Mommy. I'm so honored to be Clayton, Chloe and Easton's mommy and look forward to the adventures that await us each day!

Here's some pictures of our summer fun...

Chloe has a newfound obsession with her snow hat...I think she didn't get the memo that it's HOT!

Yep, I know who my mommy is...she's the one with the stinkin' black robot in my face constantly taking pictures of me!

Clayton dressed himself...fashion definitely isn't in his future! 

 Oh so proud of his big boy "Mater" undies!

Daddy dancing with his little princess at dance class. Who says Daddy's can't do Mommy and Me dance?!

Very focused on stretching...

Daddy and his mini mi warming up for soccer.

Future All Star! Yep, I'm that mom already!

"Coach Daddy" teaching his little boy how to dribble.

Breaking in Mommy's new big bathtub! 

One happy and clean boy!

Who do I look like? Verdict is still out, but Mommy is convinced I look like her!

Chloe's first time at the beach this summer...she LOVED it! No fear at all. 

Clayton was a little unsure of the waves at first, but became a little daredevil almost immediately.

Priceless Joy.

Oh Wow! 

So blessed.

Sandy boy loving the beach!

Little E enjoyed the beach too!

Easton is a big boy...3 months old!

Our little E is the definite missing piece to our little family puzzle. It's been almost a year since finding out we were expecting him. While our initial reaction was disbelief and fear, we are so incredibly happy he is ours. Easton is truly "the best baby ever." He still naps great and sleeps so soundly through the night. Little man is getting so big, wearing size 3-6 months or 6 month clothes and weighs about 14 pounds. His beautiful blue eyes get bluer every day and his dark newborn hair is lightning up. He's starting to look like his big brother Clayton. Little E started giggling this month, which truly is so precious. His giggle transforms any bad day to incredibly good! Easton is razzing like crazy now too and does it back at you when you do it to him. He's also cooing and experimenting with his voice and sounds. I love listening to him fall asleep at night. He just lays in his now too small bassinet razzing, cooing and talking until his adorable blue eyes close. Easton loves his play mat and bouncer, but is definitely not a fan of tummy time, though he's got "superman" perfected and is close to rolling over. He still likes to be swaddled, but now we just swaddle him from the waist down, so he can sleep with his arms up by his head, which he loves. Here's some pictures from our perfect little man's month...

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!