A Little Organizing

We went through all of our stuff (yet again) now that we're going overseas to weed out anything we don't want to hang on to.

Here's a picture of the mayhem:

Hannah having fun while helping us:

Sofia as well:

After an hour or two the girls were no longer as enthusiastic.  They wanted to dress up as princesses....so I happily got down some dresses.  Then they requested a movie.  I'm a pretty big stickler about avoiding the tv, but I was happy to oblige them so we could finish up sorting/cleaning/organizing.

I forgot to take an after shot, but we have less stuff, and it's more organized!!

Stylin

The girls are becoming more and more opinionated on their clothes.  Lately, I haven't really cared too much so long as they are wearing clothes.  Here's what their outfits tend to look like.

 

Hannah tends to go with a theme.  Today's is blue!

 

Sofia rarely has any reasoning behind her clothes, but this day she did go with stripes.

Love it!!  Let's be honest, did they really have much hope for any sense of style with me as their mom?!  Not a chance!!

Blessing Day

A couple of weeks ago TJ was given a name and blessing at church.   We named him after his Grandpa (Thomas) and his Dad (James).  It was a neat blessing (really, can there be a bad one?) and I just hope that TJ ends up something like either of his grandpas or his father.  Here he is right before church.  He was pretty sleepy, but I knew we would never get any photos after church.

 

Notice...they match, and I didn't even pick out James' tie for him!!  Way to go hon!

Here he is trying to keep his eyes open.

Sleep finally won, but the girls couldn't resist getting in a picture with him.

My only regret of the day was that I didn't get a photo of him with his dad and both Grandpa's.  Other than that it was a great day!

All Smiles

These are a few of the faces he was making for us this morning!

Bike Washing

There's nothing like playing in the water when it's hot outside.  So we decided to do something somewhat productive:

bike washing!!  The girls had lots of fun, they cooled off, the bikes are a little cleaner, and the lawn got a little extra water on it.  An overall win.

Help

I am at that post pregnancy part where my tummy isn't getting any smaller on its own and I still have a couple of extra inches around the waist.  I can't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes and that isn't going to change unless I do something about it.  Bummer!!  Too bad you can't eat for two without paying for it, huh?!
Anyway, I don't really want to diet because, well...who does?  But, I want to be more careful about what I'm eating and maybe actually fit into some clothes.  I came across a website that has an 8 week challenge. It's supposed to be a competition among a group of people, but I'm just going to do it on my own.  The problem is....I need someone that I can text/email every day to report on how I did eating/exercising for the day.  Is there anyone out there that can help me?!!!

1 Month

Hard to believe this little guy has been around for a month (well, over a month now that I'm finally posting about it...but the picture was actually taken on the 1 month mark).  At 1 month he is:
* still spitting up like a champ
*sleeping a little more some nights, a lot less other nights

 Despite Hannah and Sofia's helping hands he is still alive - and for that I am grateful!

Fashion Show

We have bought some clothes for Hannah to grow into over the next few months.  With all those clothes piled high on our bed Hannah got pretty excited and wanted to do a fashion show.  Here's the audience:

Here are some of Hannah's outfits:

She started off a little timid, but then got more daring.

Sofia even joined in on the fun:

Hannah's giving us a wave while Sofia is blowing a kiss.

Then out came the sillies:

and here's the audience by the end of it:

1 Year of Clothes

1 year of clothes with 3 kids = huge mess

In case you were wondering, this is what 1 year of clothes for 3 kids looks like. Considering TJ will grow through 4 different sizes of clothes while we are gone...he wins for taking the most with us.  

It looks pretty chaotic, but I have spent lots of time debating what we need versus what we really need and trying to minimize what we have to take.  After much thinking, we fit all of it into one large suitcase.  Excluding the winter coats and everything else I've forgotten....so most likely it will end up being 2 big suitcases.  

Our Next Big Adventure....

After graduation we moved here hoping James would find a permanent job sometime during the summer.  You know, one of those long-term jobs that actually has benefits and a 401k. Somewhere where we could buy a home and settle down for a while.  

Well, we have decided that is over-rated (I think we might be afraid of commitment) and instead James just accepted a fellowship to spend a year teaching/working in Turkey.  Not the animal...the country located in between Europe and Asia.  :D

I have a few reservations about it (like what to do with 3 kids in a small apartment for 6 months of winter where no one speaks English :D), but for the most part we are excited about it.  I'm realizing each day that 'real life' isn't around the corner...this is it.  And it's okay if it's just one adventure after another.