Fun with the family

This week Marie had a baby shower, so my awesome brother drove all the way to Ohio after work to help us drive back to Maryland. I was not crazy enough to make the drive during the day, by myself, and too nervous to do it through the night. So Fred and I slept a good 2 hours, got the kiddos in the car, and made the 7-hour drive to surprise Marie. Little did we know that she had been suspicious for many weeks and eventually figured out what we were up to when Fred told her he had a meeting to go to in West Virginia. But at least I was able to make it to her shower and enjoy some time with her and my soon-to-be godson.

A few days were very warm and sunny...

A few others were cold and rainy...

But we had a wonderful time out here, as we always do. We enjoyed every moment we spent with Tonton Fred, Taty Marie, Bon-papa, and Bonne Maman.

We went to Baugher's again this year, a tradition we started with Logan and Taylor last year. They really enjoyed the hayride

They each picked a little pumpkin.

I know it doesn't look like it on the following pictures, but they had a BLAST! For some reason, Logan and Taylor always look miserable when I stage pictures. I guess they just wanted to run around and look at pumpkins instead of sit on hay and smile at the camera.

Eating snacks usually becomes the only way to get them to stay still long enough to snap a few pictures.

We then went to the apple orchard and sampled a few different apples. It's a good thing they ate plenty of apples because they both fell asleep in the car. They were so exhausted that I didn't want to wake them up for lunch and put them straight down for a nap.

I feel so blessed to have such a loving, selfless, caring family. They would do anything to help each other out. And we have needed A LOT of help these last 2 years

- when Logan and Taylor were born

- when Billy left on a rotation for 1 month

- when Billy left on a rotation for 2 months

- when Kendall was born

- when we moved from Iowa to Ohio

- and all those other times we just needed some company

I hope they feel the same way about us because I would do just about anything possible to help them and be there for them. That's what family is for, and we are the perfect example!

Our Home

Well, we've been here for 4 months, so I guess it's about time to share a few pictures of our new home in Columbus, Ohio. All the rooms are set up, except for Kendall's (because I still want to make a few changes to it).

I have to admit that there are a few other things I would like to change (wall paint, decoration, adding knobs, etc.), but I have a hard time putting much work into the house, knowing that we'll only be here for 4-5 years.

Other than that, the house feels like HOME and we love it!

The outside

The playroom/music room



Another view of the playroom/music room

 

The living room



Another view of the living room

The study/guest room

Logan and Taylor's bedroom

The kids' bathroom

The master closet

My woman's cave (craft room)

The master bathroom

Still the master bathroom

The kitchen

Another view of the kitchen

Science experiment

For our science experiment of the day, we were able to go out on the deck and observe a frog. This lesson kept Logan and Taylor busy for at least 30 minutes.

Of course, Taylor tried to stump on it a few times, but I was able to save the frog. Phew! That lucky frog!

Thumb-sucker

I guess this makes it official: our little girl is a thumb-sucker! No matter how hard we try to get her addicted to the binkie, she just keeps going back to her thumb. Oh well! Good for now, bad for later!

It's a "twin" thing!

Ever since Logan and Taylor have been really small, they have always held as many toys/food/whatever in their arms as they possibly could. I think they do it because they're afraid that if they let anything do, the other one will get it. They'll often hold 5 cars in their left hand/arm and play with one car using their right hand. Or they'll hold 2-3 pieces of fruit snacks in their left hand and ask for more to eat using their right hand. It's funny. It must be a "twin" thing...

Playing in the rain

The boys LOVE playing in the rain. Fortunately for them, we get plenty of opportunities to let them be outside, play, and get soaked.