Well, after 7 years of marriage and three kids later, Mike and I are finally off on our "honeymoon". We leave tomorrow morning for Hawaii. We are staying on the island of Oahu at the Hale Koa Hotel. Check back often for pictures and updates on how our vacation is going. Thanks Nana & Papa for watching the kids!!!!
Yesterday we got the privilege to have Shelley Decker take our family pictures. We used to live next door to her and her family when we were stationed at Edwards AFB last time. She has now taken up photography and is off to a wonderful start. If any of you are in the Colorado Springs area and have time for a shoot, I highly recommend her! We are so lucky to have had the opportunity to have her capture the beauty of our children!
On Thursday we went down to the children's museum in Lafayette, CO - WOW - World of Wonder. The museum was wonderful. The kids had a blast and played all through out the museum at the different exhibits. There was a pirate ship, music room, art room, wind room, bubble station, dance/dress-up area and much more! I know Elizabeth liked the bubble maker and the dancing the best while AJ took to driving the bank car.
Nana helped the kids figure out how to make giant bubbles.
Elizabeth enjoyed making the bubble appear around her body. Not many people can say they were in a bubble.
The kids driving the bank car.
AJ gets his chance at solo driving - I hope 16 doesn't come that soon - I'm not ready!
Elizabeth in all of her glory dressed up with tap shoes on. The video below is of her showing off her skills. If any of you get a chance to visit this museum it is pretty cool for little kids!
And the winner is . . . the Burns family. With the guess of 158 boxes, they were only off by 6 boxes. We had a total of 164 boxes. I guess those that move a lot get to know the box count quite well. Now we get to look forward to unpacking all 164 boxes - but hey, that is the way of the military, right? Anyway, just in case you were wondering, a gift certificate to Starbuck's is in the mail to the Burns family. Hopefully they (by that I mean Nicole) can sit down and enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee. Congratulations!
Our Monday consisted of watching the packers box up all of our stuff and making sure that the kids stayed out of the way. Nana and Papa did a great job of that as they took them to breakfast, to the park, for walks, car rides and any other activities that kept them busy. The movers were a great group and did a great job (as far as we can tell). The kids, Mary and I left for the airport in the afternoon for our flight to Denver. We left the boys in charge of wrapping things up in Dayton and pass the house off to our new renters. The flight was "interesting" to say the least. Let's just say that flying was not in AJ's plans for that day. But anyway, we made it to Denver and are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of Daddy and Papa. The rest of our move will continue after Mike and I take our long over due honeymoon to Hawaii next week.
Elizabeth thought it would be fun to take pictures of the boxes and movers.
The kids played out font while they waited for the packers to finish up.
Elizabeth and AJ thought the moving truck was the coolest truck they had ever seen - of course it was certainly the biggest they had ever seen up close.
Our last trip driving to the Dayton Airport for our departure to Denver.
Nana helped me wrangle the two mobile ones while we waited for our flight.
OK - to those of you that haven't put your guesses in for the box count - this is your last chance! I am posting this blog as I am sitting here watching the packers fill the boxes and I can tell you that one of you is already out of the running. Anyway, to be eligible for the "surprise winning gift" you must leave your guess for the number of boxes in the comments section. We will post the winner as soon as we know the final count! Thanks for playing.
Well, Mike made it home last night after 5 weeks away at SOS. Needless to say, the kids jumped on him like little leeches and I wasn't able to get a hug for a couple of hours. Anyway, it is great to have him home but now the moving stage begins. The packers come on Monday and the kids and I are heading out the same day to Colorado. Mike and his Dad are going to meet us out there after everything is wrapped up in Dayton. Even though things are stressful and we only get to see Mike for a couple of days before we are off again, it is good to have him back home!
Today was Elizabeth's last day of school. She seems to be doing much better than I am when it comes to saying good-byes. She has done an excellent job explaining to people that she is moving to California "to go surfing". She can't wait to move to California and is handling the bye-bye's really well right now - although we haven't said good bye to Katie yet.
What a big boy Jacob is becoming! He is now sitting up on his own (of course for small periods of time). His big downfall - literally - is when he sees his toes he is once again reminded of his fondness of them and decides he needs to attack them and that is just not conducive to sitting well. I'm sure he will get the hang of it though. Anyway, he will be 6 months old tomorrow and we have his well-baby on Thursday which means shots :( . Hopefully we don't get the crankies from it this time. Who knows?
Okay - so I know it is a little dated but two weeks ago when my sister-in-law and nephew were here, the kids got in A LOT of play time! One of their new found games was taking all of the pillows off of the couch and throwing them at AJ. I'm not sure if he knew he was being picked on but if he was having fun with it I guess oh well!
On another note, I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I spent the day with the kids and my mother-in-law, Mary. It was a quiet lazy day with not much accomplished but spending time outside and playing with the kids. I made Mary a nice dinner and then we settled in for an early night. I know it was just nice for me to have a restful day after the long weeks that I have had and the long weeks ahead. Thank goodness for wonderful mother-in-laws!!!!!
Now that I have taken down all of the pictures off the walls, the kids have thought it is fun to look at them up close. Of course the biggest hit has been the mirror. Jacob has been very intrigued with looking at what a handsome little dude he is. I got a chance to take a picture of him this morning and of course once the others heard the click of the camera, they had to get in on the action too. I can't believe I got a picture of all three of them and not one of them is crying or fussing. Ha!
Jacob has discovered the ability of blowing bubbles. Lately he has been spending a lot of time making silly faces while blowing bubbles. Of course most of this is done while he is eating and has a full mouth. I must say that I have gotten my fair share of baby food sprayed at me but he is so dang cute that I just can't help but encourage him. I'm sure I will come to regret that soon enough.
Well, here we go again! We are packing up to move to California. Edwards - here we come. As an incentive for everyone to leave comments on this blog, we are going to have a little moving game (idea stolen from Shelley :)). Whoever can guess the closet to the number of boxes that we end up with - we will have a little prize for you that you will receive once the move is complete. Please leave your guess in the comments area and keep checking back for the results! Good luck!
I was just waiting for the day when Elizabeth asked why I didn't have curly hair. Well, today was the day. I told her that I also had curly hair, I just used a blow dryer to straighten it. Well, of course that ended with "why can't I use a blow dryer and straighten mine?" So, needless to say, I ended up straightening her hair this morning while doing mine. I must admit it does look really cute but I love her curls so much more. I did make sure to say over and over again that this was just a special thing and it wasn't going to happen each day. I guess we will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings in the hair department. (Good thing I only have one girl to worry about!) ;)
We enjoyed a day at the park a few days ago. I needed to just get out of the house and stop staring at all of the things that need to get done before the move that having a broken ankle keeps you from doing. I swung through McDonald's for the kids and we had a picnic and then they played at the park for a while - and then it started to rain. At least we got to get out for a little while. I love the second picture - AJ looks so innocent in it!
Lately Jacob has taken up a new pose while sleeping. He likes to have his feet crossed at the ankles. I have also noticed him doing this when he is just relaxing in my arms. I think it is just so sweet!
OK - so I know that Jacob is almost 6 months old but we had a major milestone that should have occurred many months ago. He is finally sleeping on his back unswaddled!!!!! He has had so many colds that he had been sleeping in his carseat for all of these months. He is also a swaddling addict. After a few weeks of weaning from swaddling - we are finally free!!! I knew it was time for him to come out of the carseat when he could wiggle his way down to the bottom and almost get out - yikes -that would have been bad. Now - only to get him out of the cradle and into the crib out of our room! Anyway - the proof is below!
I thought I would throw in these cute pictures as well!
Well - today must have been the day for skinned knees. First Elizabeth skinned her knee on the driveway as we were helping load our couches into a truck (we sold them because they won't fit in Edwards base housing). I am pretty sure that the neighborhood heard the scream that came out of her. We went inside and she sat on the kitchen chair so that I could wash her knee off and put a Band Aide on it. She was still crying and I was desperate to make her feel better. After a lot of prying as to what would make her feel better - it was a call to Daddy who made things all better.Not but two hours later we were back outside playing nicely with neighbors when AJ decided he needed to do a face plant in the street. This of course resulted in two more skinned knees. The ritual started all over again with the scream that the whole neighborhood heard and a quick ushering into the house. Once again, he was sat on the kitchen chair where I proceeded to wash off his boo-boo and put a Band-Aide on it. Thankfully this one only resulted in the need for some special attention and a kiss and things were all better.
Sorry about the video being sideways but I can't figure out how to fix it...you get the point anyway!
I am only grateful that Jacob can't get skinned knees yet after our track record today.
On another "boo-boo" note - the ankle update: After a week of spending time in a good old fashioned plaster cast, the orthopedist put me in a removable cast that was a little more manageable. I suppose the sob story that I gave her about my husband being gone and having three very young kids at home to take care of might have helped the situation a little. She told me to come back in another week to see how things were going. Well, I saw her again on Friday and she did another MRI. She said the fracture is healing well and the tendons are okay. She said they take a long time to heal so she wasn't too surprised that they weren't all that much better. Because of where the fracture is and the way I tore the tendons I am able to move my foot up and down but not side to side so she said I could go into an air cast. Life has been even that much better and I am able to get much more done. I am still very sore by the time night rolls around but I figure as long as things are improving. It looks like I am going to be in this cast for 4 weeks and then I should be good to go.
So - this morning after getting up and dressed, AJ came straight downstairs and disappeared for a while as I was feeding Jacob. A little bit later he came running into the kitchen with a couple of kernels of dog food in a cup and proceeded to pour them into Molli's bowl. This went on and on until he filled the bowl completely. (This is normally Elizabeth's job but I'm sure she didn't mind sharing the task.) He was VERY proud of himself. When I told him to go put the cup away and that he was all done, he disappeared once again and I found him in the hallway with the Swiffer, dusting the floors. I am starting to think that he was trying to tell me that I needed to get to work. Anyway, I am very proud of my little helper!!
After a long sleepless night and an exhausting day of playing with cousins, Aunt Amy caught us all taking a nap in the afternoon. AJ is the only one that missed out in the family event but he was in the right frame of mind because he was taking a nap up in his room. It is hard to imagine that I could get all three kids to sleep at once and be able to take a nap as well. Yeah!!!
I have been asked many times, what I do during the day. Well, as most of you mothers know - your day consists of many jobs including that of maid, daycare teacher, hairdresser and many many more. But anyway, I decided to give a brief description of a typical day in the Marlin household. First thing, the kids get up around 7AM (all three of them) and the chaos begins. We try and get dressed and diapers changed before we come downstairs but that doesn't always happen. Then it is time for breakfast. Let me tell you - when you have three hungry kids yelling at you to feed them it can be quite overwhelming! At times it seems like managing three drunk men with Alzheimer's. Anyway - after breakfast we usually have some individual play time (actually it really is meant for me to get my self acceptable for the day.) This tends to drag on because by Mommy has to run up and down the stairs 20 times to break up fights or fulfill some request that just can't wait - it takes me FOREVER sometimes to just get dressed. Anyway, on days that we don't have some morning activity planned and the weather permits we make our way outside and try to soak up some sun and expend some energy. The kids love it outside and it seems that WWIII can be dodged while there is plenty of space for them to play in. Mealtime comes around once again and I find myself trying to come up with a creative menu that doesn't consist of hot dogs, mac n' cheese or PB & J (the standard menu of a young child). After lunch, AJ is off to nap and Elizabeth, Jacob and I lay down for some rest time of our own. My battle with rest time is that I tend not to get much rest myself because I spend the whole time trying to make sure that everyone else is resting. I guess it isn't too much of a sacrifice because as many of you know - a tired child is MUCH WORSE than a tired Mommy. When the kids are recharged it is time for some more play inside or out. This usually takes us to dinner time. Making dinner is another challenge in multi-tasking but hey - my kids have never missed a meal. Dinner time can be crazy. It seems that they get messier with each meal. It is a good thing that we save tubby time for the evening. Once dinner is over - the kids run around in there bare essentials until the baths are ready and the kitchen is basically cleaned up. Tubby time is a lot of fun - I don't know many kids that don't enjoy taking a bath. After that we have bedtime snack, brush teeth, stories and off to bed. You would then think this was when the adult decompression started but there is always a little body that manages to make their way downstairs and find something that they need. Despite all of the chaos and craziness that these kids cause me - I couldn't imagine having a different job. So that is my day in a nutshell. Below are some everyday pictures that have been taken over the past week. Enjoy! I wish you a happy and peaceful day!
The kids skillfully working on thank you notes after their birthdays.
I love when they work together!
Nap time for Jakey! Can you get any more peaceful?
Time for Tea! Elizabeth gets her one-on-one time during AJ's nap. She got to play tea party with Gamma while she was out helping me while Mike is gone.
Playtime in the Bumbo. Jacob is getting so good with his coordination and loves to make his toys move!
Playing outside in the backyard. I am going to miss the green when we make our way back to the desert.
The rollie-pollie that Elizabeth found and wanted to take a picture so that Daddy could see it.
Jacob loves to be outside! He finds hours of entertainment in his exersaucer.
Dinner time. I think we need a bath tonight!
I love gazing at Jacob after his bath - it puts him in such a happy mood. He is so much fun!
Well, after 7 years of marriage and three kids later, Mike and I are finally off on our "honeymoon". We leave tomorrow morning for Hawaii. We are staying on the island of Oahu at the Hale Koa Hotel. Check back often for pictures and updates on how our vacation is going. 
Thanks Nana & Papa for watching the kids!!!!
Nana helped the kids figure out how to make giant bubbles.
The kids driving the bank car.
AJ gets his chance at solo driving - I hope 16 doesn't come that soon - I'm not ready!
Elizabeth in all of her glory dressed up with tap shoes on. The video below is of her showing off her skills. If any of you get a chance to visit this museum it is pretty cool for little kids!
And the winner is . . . the Burns family. With the guess of 158 boxes, they were only off by 6 boxes. We had a total of 164 boxes. I guess those that move a lot get to know the box count quite well. Now we get to look forward to unpacking all 164 boxes - but hey, that is the way of the military, right? Anyway, just in case you were wondering, a gift certificate to Starbuck's is in the mail to the Burns family. Hopefully they (by that I mean Nicole) can sit down and enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee. Congratulations!
Elizabeth thought it would be fun to take pictures of the boxes and movers.
The kids played out font while they waited for the packers to finish up.
Our last trip driving to the Dayton Airport for our departure to Denver.
Nana helped me wrangle the two mobile ones while we waited for our flight. 
OK - to those of you that haven't put your guesses in for the box count - this is your last chance! I am posting this blog as I am sitting here watching the packers fill the boxes and I can tell you that one of you is already out of the running. Anyway, to be eligible for the "surprise winning gift" you must leave your guess for the number of boxes in the comments section. We will post the winner as soon as we know the final count! Thanks for playing.
Well, here we go again! We are packing up to move to California. Edwards - here we come. As an incentive for everyone to leave comments on this blog, we are going to have a little moving game (idea stolen from Shelley :)). Whoever can guess the closet to the number of boxes that we end up with - we will have a little prize for you that you will receive once the move is complete. Please leave your guess in the comments area and keep checking back for the results! Good luck!
Not but two hours later we were back outside playing nicely with neighbors when AJ decided he needed to do a face plant in the street. This of course resulted in two more skinned knees. The ritual started all over again with the scream that the whole neighborhood heard and a quick ushering into the house. Once again, he was sat on the kitchen chair where I proceeded to wash off his boo-boo and put a Band-Aide on it. Thankfully this one only resulted in the need for some special attention and a kiss and things were all better.
The kids skillfully working on thank you notes after their birthdays.
Nap time for Jakey! Can you get any more peaceful?
Time for Tea! Elizabeth gets her one-on-one time during AJ's nap.
Dinner time. I think we need a bath tonight!
I love gazing at Jacob after his bath - it puts him in such a happy mood. He is so much fun!