Garage Sale Score!

During the week I was in Flagstaff while Cam was driving all over the country, my dad watched the boys so my mom and I could hit a few garage sales. One boasted a bunch of baby toys so we went out with high hopes. That one turned out to be a bust. BUT, there were signs all over the neighborhood for other garage sales so away we went.

We pulled onto a pretty deserted road and after a quick pep talk to my mother about how if there is satan music, we are not getting out of the car [once upon a time, her and I stumbled into a bad craigslist situation with potentially stolen leather couches, satan music, and wannabe pro-wrestler salesmen...perhaps I should tell that story sometime...lol] we pulled into a storage complex. The "garage sale" was in a couple units on the front row. We drove by the unit, decided there were no toys and started to pull a U-ey. My mom had driven by the unit again on the way out and I made her back up. I couldn't tell if it was a camping chair or a stroller, but I jumped out to give it a better look. Folded up in the corner was a double umbrella stroller!

We bought it for $25 before we realized we couldn't get it to open. A half hour of working on it with my dad and we had ourselves a darn near perfect umbrella stroller for the boys. And so we went on a walk. And it rocked.

This is my ticket out of the house. It is so much easier to pick up and go when I don't have to haul the carseats and that massive stroller. And the boys get to hold hands if they want. Win-win. We have fully enjoyed it so far.

AND last major perk, we were pretty calculated as to what we could take on the flight for free and the ONLY other thing we could possibly bring was another stroller. Two babies, two strollers. Boom.

Wedding Design: Brie + Beau

A major congratulations to Brie and Beau. I cannot wait to see the pictures from this classy bride. She and I played softball together all through high school. She is a beautiful and talented and incredibly inspiring woman. I love her very much and am so grateful I had the chance to help with her wedding celebration! My favorite part of this project was the calligraphy. It took us a bit to get it just right, but I really feel that the effort paid off in a major way. I am in love.

Happy Birthday Cam!

[True to form, we'll be spending our birthdays on Lake Powell again this year, so you probably won't read this for a good long while.] Regardless, I love you babe. For real. You make life so awesome. The 3 of us are so dang lucky to have you. Happy 26th! Let's celebrate with tons of food, wakeboarding, and annihilating everyone else in the family at water baseball, 3-legged swimming, and beach volleyball. You know how we do. Team lanky-lank4eva.

p.s. i'll bring the swimcaps.

English Muffin Bread

YOU GUYS. Stop whatever you are doing and go make this bread right now. For real. It is the easiest, yummiest thing you will ever make. [Besides putting chocolate chips on a scoop of peanut butter and horking it down.] I made the entire recipe with Gray on my hip. [poor babe is teething.] AND, we have eaten half the muffins and half a loaf already. And Cam is currently toasting two more slices for immediate consumption.

Recipe found on Pinterest; originally from: One Good Thing by Jillee

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD

• 5.5 cups warm water


• 11 cups flour


• 3 packages rapid rise yeast


• 2 tablespoons salt


• 3 tablespoons sugar

Mix it all together. Spoon into 4 greased loaf pans. Let rise to the top of the pans and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

 



I admit I was skeptical that the batter/dough would reach the top of the pans, but it totally did. And it baked up beautifully. I didn't have 4 loaf pans. In fact I have 3 loaf pans that don't even match. All turned out perfect. I put the remaining batter in 12 muffin cups. And those turned out perfectly too. [I baked them all at the same time and pulled the muffins out about 8 minutes before the loaf pans.] They make incredible toast. I put homemade mango raspberry jam on top and man oh man it is GOOD.

The crannies my friends. The crannies. [Those blessed little air pockets that hug the butter & jam...oh boy.]

And there are 2 more loaves in my freezer.

I can hardly handle it. We'll be making this a hundred times over.

5 Months Old

I always thought my boys would be in this middle part of babyhood and I would get all weepy and miss them being as little as they once were. I was very wrong. They are a total riot. I get stronger crushes on them every minute. They are surely sick of all my kisses and squeezes and tickling. I love hearing their little laughs. Gray will get in laugh wars with you. I laugh and then he laughs and then we repeat that over and over again. It cracks me up. And without fail, he gets the hiccups. And then he laughs and hiccups until he can't handle it any more and he's all out of energy.


I took the boys on their first "big boy" walk. [a.k.a. a walk without the car seats.] Their facial expressions make me so happy.



Much of their fifth month of life was spent in the great move of 2012. We spent a week in Flagstaff. For the first 2 days we were there, my family was in Idaho. I don't like being alone much, so I let the boys stay up past their bedtime and we watched the women's gymnastics competition. We also learned what a flash on the camera was. It was craaaazayy!



We were pretty hard up for entertainment in Flagstaff because I had to pack light for the week. I didn't pack any toys for the boys. And thus we discovered the back of the couch. Oh it became our favorite, and fast! Gray loved it especially. They would both get so excited their arms and legs would flail and they would end up on their backs on the couch cushions just squealing away.



It was also in Flagstaff during that week that we discovered the high chair. We put Gray in the high chair during dinner one night with a set of keys and some other toys on the tray. He looked so absolutely grown up. And it broke my heart a little bit, but he was also so darn cute that I couldn't help but love it. And then that smart little boy picked up the keys and shook them all on his own and I got so excited about the entire thing that I interrupted JT's story about something that happened that day. I can't believe how quick they go from being completely uninterested in their surroundings to being totally interactive and curious about everything around them. In their blessings Cam blessed Nash with a love of learning and Gray with a natural curiosity. I love being able to see those traits become an inherent part of them. I really feel like all the technology and "progress" of this century squelches imagination, curiosity and creativity. I hope I can combat that at least a little bit in the way we're raising these boys.



Oh, the smiles! Nash. Is. A. Flirt. He can turn on the charm at a moment's notice. He definitely has a thing for the ladies. He is such a blessing in my life. He is probably my harder baby, but he makes it so easy to teach him with love as the motivation because he shows me he knows who I am and that he loves me. And I know it frustrates Cam sometimes because he's such a mama's boy right now, but I love being needed. It feels wonderful.



Speaking of being a charmer. Nash charmed Grammy right into giving him a Nilla Wafer for his first "real" food while I was in the shower. Grammy tried to blame Uncle Rick. Yeah right. However, he was so happy! Judge all you want. I believe in real food. I believe in having a healthy relationship with food. And I believe you get cookies at Grammy's house.



Oh these two. This is Grandpa. Him and Nash hit it off in a major way. If Nash is the flirt. Grandpa was his wingman. They were joined at the hip the entire week. Nash wouldn't go to sleep unless Grandpa was holding him. Nash wanted Grandpa during dinner, the olympics, church, etc. I love seeing two men in my life getting along so well. And it shocked me a bit at how little my dad minded being needed by Nash so often. I was grateful for the help [Cam was making the long drive to TX.] And it made my heart so happy to see them together.



And before we even had the house unpacked in Texas, we went to a thrift store and bought this exersaucer for $13. I attribute us being able to get the house set up completely to this little wonderful piece of plastic. I also get so excited when either of the boys figures out one of the toys attached to it. Gray talks to the dragon hand puppet. He also eats him. Same - same. Nash likes the animal buttons that make animal noises. His favorite is the duck. He also figured out that if you hit it 3 times in a row it plays an entire song. It took Cam and I much longer to figure out how he was getting the toy to play songs. Nash also like the clicky wheels. He rolls them and once he makes noise with them, he squeals so loud. In fact, he got so excited about it he is now hoarse. Too much fun.



We have introduced oatmeal, green beans, and couscous to the boys. Gray has just been waiting for this day his entire life. His whole world has changed. And he is stoked. "You mean there is more food?! MORE. FOOD?!"



Augh. Be still my heart. I love them so much. Shortly after this, we had to talk about kneeing each other in the mouth and how that is not nice. I am so grateful for little boys. Oh I just can't believe they are mine.



Gray likes new food. Nash has a hard time with spoons. We are slowly but surely learning. Most of the time we wait until he freaks out. And then he wails with his mouth wide open, I sneak a bite inside and he calms down while tasting the goodness that suddenly appeared there.

I love getting to know my boys more and more. They continue to light up my life. Cam and I truly are the luckiest. There have been a few nights where we just hand the baby back and forth because we are all out of ideas, but honestly I love it. Sure, we get tired but it is the best tired in the world. I wish everyone could feel what this feels like. It's impossible to explain. It's so much better than I ever imagined and it is absolutely worth fighting for. I am so grateful for the many miracles that brought our boys home. They are so needed. They are so loved.

Moving Day

Our move from Arizona to Texas was pretty carefully orchestrated. Because we were in such a hurry to get down to Arizona earlier in the summer, we left 90% of our stuff in a storage unit in Utah. So, we had a load of stuff in Arizona, a truck full of stuff to load up in Utah and two babes who really didn't want to spend 37 hours in the car, much less a mom who wanted to brave that drive.

So, we decided Cam would drive up to Utah and rent a Penske - load up all our stuff and tow the Honda to Dallas. Meanwhile, Wayne and Jared would drive our Arizona stuff out to Dallas. 4 days later, my mom and me and the boys would take the red-eye flight to complete the move. A little nuts.  Add in two little boys who really were NOT excited to move away from their grandparents, and a mama spending a week on her own for the first time and we had quite the mix.

I still don't know how all of this worked out, but somehow we actually got all packed up and on the road. We sure are going to miss everyone, but can't wait to experience this new adventure!
On an unrelated note, we just found out that Amberlee [total babe in the purple] made the VARSITY SWIM TEAM as a FRESHMAN. Woot woo! We are so dang excited for her. And proud. Boo yah! We got to go to her swim meets over the summer, and I completely fell in love with the sport. She is up to break some school records for sure. Good luck Amber!

Perks of living in your husband's high school bedroom

When we moved to Queen Creek, our little family of four slept in Cam's old high school bedroom. With the same furniture that he had during his glory days. Every morning, I opened the armoire to this little gem.

Oh sweet angst.

That's the man I married ladies and gentlemen.