I blinked and a month went by...

Dex, at the MN zoo
We've had some great visits with family this summer. One such day was spent at the zoo with Uncle Chad and Jake and Henry. Despite the fact we were all too tired to walk back to the car when the day was done, it was a day well spent. :)
The five cousins
Jaxon
All the guys

And the gals


Mimi and Granddad got to enjoy part of the boys' last t-ball game of the season. What a treat to have them there. Shea particularly enjoyed beading necklaces with Mimi (despite her poker face).
Jax and Dex with their medals and trophies. They slept with those trophies and medals for a sold two weeks and have now created a permanent location to keep them in their room. Love seeing the pride and pleasure in their expressions when they talk about their trophies.

Dex-left, Jax-right. M had her 6th birthday party at Chuck.E.Cheese and it was thoroughly enjoyed by the boys. I loved watching them play games side by side, as they seemed to display near-identical expressions. What fun.

Deep in concentration...
Cowboy Jax. Jaxon ran out of his tokens first, and when he sadly informed us that they were all gone, Dex put his arm around him and said, "Don't worry, Jaxon. I still have some left. Let's split them between the two of us." They spent the last few minutes taking turns and it was one of the sweetest things I've seen. I am so thankful for the way they look out for each other.
Birthday girl!!
So hard for the kiddos to part with all our great moving boxes!!

The Big Move!

Scenes from our new backyard! This is by far the highlight of our new home! The kiddos are having so much fun enjoying the freedom of being able to run into the backyard and play nearly whenever they want. I am loving the fact that I can see them from almost every room in the house. We have discovered we have a giant raccoon, plenty of rabbits and squirrels, birds and chipmunks... even a fox. The trees are amazing, despite the fact that the two cottonwoods provide a bit of a challenge in keeping cotton from entering the house. The playset is out-of-this-world... I don't even know what to say. Most days, I just feel like this is all too good to be true. Maybe the novelty will wear off, but I hope not. :) We've also discovered just how welcoming the neighborhood is. The kids already have new playmates and pals from several houses around us. Yesterday, they played solid from 10 am until 6 pm, all with various neighborhood children. Sometimes, there would be kiddos in our yard, sometimes, the kids found their way to other yards. It's so nice to see the way so many of the neighbors welcome this. One of my biggest worries was that we would lose the sense of community we had at student housing and the great assortment of playmates for the children.

I could go on and on... but I'll save it. Let me just say that we're having a blast.
Shea and the boys enjoying the only toy we left unpacked during the last few days at student housing. They were so good about it!!


Daddy and Shea

Moving Out!

At the last minute, I opted to take a few photos of our old apartment. Now, a good week later, I'm glad I did. In some ways, it's heartwarming to see the photos, as some of our fondest memories will relate back to the years we were living there. In other ways, it made me all the more thankful for the home we moved into and the... drum-roll, please... SPACE!!
Our living space. No wonder I always felt like we were on top of each other all the time... we were! :)
Our nearest and dearest playground.

Entryway to our apartment

Avert your eyes if you don't want to be totally grossed out! Though we were at student housing for nine years, we were in this particular apartment for six. For those entire six years I asked to have this scary (and dangerous, disgusting, horrifying, etc.) radiator replaced. The rust and nearby stains on the wall were a daily eyesore and that is one thing I WILL NEVER MISS!!!



I am sure one day these photos will seem somehow inappropriate, but there is so much love between these youngsters. :) Watching my children develop relationships and friendships with this brother and sister (and becoming friends with their wonderful parents) is at the top of my "miss list." How will I make it without them as neighbors?
Our move crew... minus Todd, who ducked out shortly before the photo was taken.
Yes, we managed to fit all of that into our apartment. Yikes.
Shea, discovering more last-minute dress-up options.
Arrival at our new home found a television left by the previous owners. It took five grown men to get it into the basement and I suspect it will never leave that location!

1,000th post

1,000 posts ago.. and about six years... I was HUGE and awaiting the arrival of Dex and Jax. I knew my life would change, but I had no idea just how greatly that change would impact my life. D.R. and I had been living at student housing for several years already, but were preparing to move into a bigger 3-bedroom apartment, something that only families of four or more were able to do, at the time. I was accumulating things like car seats and baby clothes and I was just SO excited to meet these little boys who were already so loved.

Now, it's somehow appropriate that I can commemorate this post with another big move. Our family has grown even more and I can't imagine it any different than it is right now. We're saying good-bye to all the baby clothes and gear (except for one treasured box of my most cherished items) and we'll move into a house with (hold your breath) FOUR bedrooms. This time, not for an additional child, but so that we can finally welcome guests into our living space without asking them to sleep on our living room floor. :)

The boys are starting kindergarten in the fall, Shea will begin preschool and D.R., who has FINALLY completed 10 long years of medical training (I dare not include undergrad... as 14 years of post-high school education is just CRAZY), will begin his first real job in July. I think back to the person I was six years ago and I wonder what I would have thought if I could have glimpsed the family I would have in the future. I'm sure in some ways, I would have wanted to fast forward to this truly fun time in parenting and family life, but I'm glad I got to enjoy the sweetness of three young babies and the excitement of new parenthood, all the while surviving the very real and difficult challenges our family has faced over the last six years. For, if you told me we would have six months of no sleep, a year of colic, words like autism and all that entailed, speech delays, ARDS and the painful loss of a brother (brother-in-law)... not to mention the simple fact that we were also surviving the stress of medical school, residency and fellowship... I might have just thrown in the towel! But, here were are, unbelievably thankful for things like family time, understood sentences, playful interactions, health and well-being and all the things we probably took for granted, at one time. I don't care if I sound sappy (and I'm not denying the fact that there are still days that make me want to dig a little hole and climb in), but I truly do find myself wanting to capture most of these moments that pass-too-quickly... and my appreciation for the beauty in simpler things is growing everyday.

So there.

I'm done.

Totally ready for the boys to get home.

A few photos of our last few days at student housing...






Shea and Jonah... what great buds, they are!
Jax



Dex


Adventures on the playground
Maren and Dex, returning the caterpillars to their home.


Love seeing the boys create little spaces to play and spend time together.
Shea is letting me try more and more things with her hair! We'd done two french braids before, but this was the first time her hair was long enough to try one!

Shea and her pal, Abby, dressed up and silly as can be.
Seriously, this activity of t-shirt decorating lasted 60 seconds. New record for shortest art project EVER.

The early days of packing, I mean, watching the boys turn our liquor store boxes (yes, I love free boxes) into spaceships.


Keep away from Jax!
Shea asked Sylvie if they could pretend to be sisters. Love that the two of them play so sweetly together!

Sassy princess in shades

Shea, learning from her brothers and begging to be photographed with her lego creation.
This makes me giggle for so many reasons. Dex, with his goofy camera smile... but, mostly, Shea hiding behind him trying to make a cameo in the photo.

I asked D.R. to hold Shea while I typed this. Of course, they are now both asleep on the couch. See, just another sweet image for me to lock away in the treasure chest of my memory. Yes, I'm getting a bit dramatic.

The boys get back tomorrow. The only toys that haven't been packed are the legos and a few lightsabers. Let's hope the weather is nice!! :) I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see our little box-filled home. Mainly, I can't wait to see their faces!!