Test

Alternate pic

Responsibility

As an aunt, I feel a responsibility to teach the kids about priorities...so we went to Starbucks.


Sent from Stacia's iPhone

A puzzle

I have the kids for the day so we're playing 'educational games'. You can never start them too young, like caffeine.


Sent from Stacia's iPhone

Proud Parents!

Tristan decided after his haircut and bath tonight that he wanted to color. So, Jay and i got him all set up with some crayons and a coloring book and watched him go to work. Then we started to ask him to pick up certain colors of crayons, we would say, "Tristan, where's the green one?" and he would pick it up and say the name of the color. We did it with all the colors we had and he mostly identified them all by himself. Then Jay wrote TRISTAN and he told us each letter (which isn't surprising since he knows all his letters and most of the sounds). A few nights ago we went through a color and shapes book and he surprised us by knowing what a triangle, square, and circle were. I had never even gone over those! Oh yeah, and he can also count to 13, I know odd number, right? Oh yes, he is a smart one.. we are so thrilled! Seriously, is he supposed to know all of this at barely 2 1/2?? Anyway, we just had to tell ya how proud we are of our boy... I really love this age!
** Had to throw that picture of my man looking handsome! I am so lucky!**

Earthquake!

Glad our family in California is ok after the earthquake today! Also glad i wasn't there to experience it! Nicole said it was really big in Huntington Beach and made her patio furniture move to the other side of her deck. My mom said she hardly felt in Long Beach (but she was driving) and Muriel said it was crazy because she was on the 6th floor by the beach and was scared all the other buildings were going to fall on her!! Chris was the closest to the epicenter and he said it was no big deal.. funny. Glad everyone is ok!!

Meanwhile, we are having a crazy thunderstorm here. For some reason i decided to take a shower right in the middle of it and the power went out! What was i thinking?!? Taking a shower in the dark is not so fun. Luckily it came back on pretty quickly. Good times.

Cutie

Eating cheerios.. Her fav!

Update

So, this week has been a little crazy. The kids started with a new daycare lady on Wednesday and so far she has been GREAT! We are so happy to have found someone who will only watch our kids and her little 6 month old son. The kids have taken to her really well, which was such a relief to us!! We also found out this week that Jay got a promotion and will no longer have to work in the field! We have been praying for this for awhile so we are really happy. God has blessed him with the job he has and we are excited to see what this new position will bring. (besides a decent raise.. yippee!) He officially starts on July 30th but we are on vacation the week after that so his real training starts on August 10th. Speaking of vacation, Jay and I will celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary on August 2nd!! We are going to spend 2 nights and three days all to ourselves while my mom watches the kids at home. Then we will come back and do all the fun touristy things in Atlanta that we haven't done yet (we have been here 4 years!) We will be sure to post a lot of pictures after that! Anyway, that is the latest with us. And for those of you wondering, Rylie is doing much better. The bump on her head is a lot smaller but still there. Seriously, it makes me cringe to think of how she fell...
Post comments so we know you are out there!

Water Babies!

We got Rylie this awesome pool for her birthday. It is just WAY too hot to be outside in Georgia and not be in some water! Here are a few pictures from her birthday (just over a month ago!) when they were in the new pool. Fun Times..

My Hippie Child

Stacia took this picture of Rylie a few days ago. Soon after she was covered in dirt from crawling all over the grass.. which she loves!! She looks so different when her hair is all the way down. Still beautiful, of course.

Thinking...

It is really hard for me to be away from my kids during the week. I especially feel it on Mondays and Tuesdays when they get to be home with Dad all day. (Jealous!!) I will say that i look forward to coming home every night to be greeted by the kids running up to me with their arms open yelling "Mommy!!" all ready to give me a hug and kisses! (well, Ry doesn't talk yet but that's what Tristan says) Melts my heart every time! It really helps that i have such a wonderful husband who is a great Dad.. I never worry what they are doing with him, it is always fun!! (Though today he said all they did was trample him all over the floor, poor guy.. maybe that's why the living room was such a mess!) I don't think i tell him near enough how much i appreciate all he does for us, so Jay.. I love you and thanks.. you are the best! Have fun at your basketball game! Hope you guys win!

Mess!

Oh the joys of young children!

Wild Thang

This is proof that our sweet girl doesn't always look so adorable.
This is what her hair looks like every time she gets up after a nap..
Trust me the back is even worse!

Just like you

Jay and Stacia are both on computers in the office. Tristan
apparently felt left out so he ran to the toy box and grabbed his
laptop and said "look! I got one too".

Stacia's newest eBay find

Ooops, I did it again...

Stacia went with me yesterday to pick the kids up from the home daycare they are in 3 days a week. Here is a story from Stacia's perspective:

Daycare Lady: Hi, Julie. We had a little accident.
(Rylie is laying on daycare lady's chest with a baggie of ice on her forehead. Rylie sits up and Mount Everest is revealed on her forehead.)

Julie:What happened?

Daycare Lady: Well, she was sitting on the couch (aka rocking chair) and Tristan was sitting on the other end and she fell off. It just happened.
Translation: Blah, blah, blah. I was hoping if I put ice on it, it would go down enough where I wouldn't have to tell you that I wasn't watching her and she fell of the rocking chair, face first onto my hardwood floors. I mean, I know I watch about 8 kids at a time, so your 2 kids at the end of the day should be no problem. But I just get tired and want to take a quick nappy-poo. I figured Tristan had everything under control with Rylie on his lap in the rocking chair couch.

Julie: (no response). Tristan, say goodbye.

So, it's good that Julie and Jay had already researched another daycare provider that won't feel like she's getting a workout just lifting up the kids. Needless to say, they won't be going back to daycare lady #1. We'll see about daycare lady #2

Update: So you Grandparents don't freak out when you see this picture... Rylie is alright, we put more ice on last night and we have plenty of hats! :)

Tristan Update

Tristan is 2 1/2 now and all boy. He loves to be outside to play golf or baseball.. or swim. We recently finished (fingers crossed) potty training him which actually went better than we expected. He says new words all the time and Jay and I always look at each other and laugh at the new things he says. He is our snuggler. I love it. He would much rather hang out on your lap or lay with you than be anywhere else.

Rylie Update

A little update about our Ry Ry. Rylie just turned 1 on June 15th. Hard to believe that much time has actually gone by! She just started walking confidently and is seriously adorable. She loves her brother and gets a kick out of taking things from him then running (quite stiffly) away and laughing hysterically when he tries to take it back from her. So funny. She is on the chunky side, but we like her that way. Here is a new pic. Her hair is long enough to do cute little pig tails! I love having a girl!

First Post!

Ok, so we have decided to enter the blogging world. Have patience with us, we are new to this! My boss bought me one of the new Iphone 3G's so i thought it was the perfect time to start. The thing is pretty cool actually. I never thought i would jump on that bandwagon, but hey it was free and i am thankful! Anyway, we are hoping this will help us keep more in contact with our friends and families. Check back!