Bunk Beds

Guess what my two BIG BOYS got this weekend?

BUNK BEDS!

Ian and I had been debating for a while about whether or not to move the boys into one room because they kept saying that they wanted to and we would constantly find Joaquin sleeping under Elijah's bed in the morning, having secretly snuck into Elijah's room in the middle of the night.

So, we finally decided to look around for some bunk beds!  The boys were sooooo excited to sleep "on the treetop" and "in the cave" of their new beds with their new big boy twin mattress bedding.

It was a big day, Saturday, when Papaw and Uncle John drove down with the truck to help us go pick up the bed and put them all together.  Thanks to their help, the beds were picked up and all put together in their room within one hour!

I have to admit we haven't had a solid nap time since they moved into the same room, but they do fall asleep after about an hour of "quiet time in their room" at night.  I think we are in for a fun adventure with these two!

Ant Kellye's B-day Box and Joaquin Eating Rocks

 My Aunt Kellye (my father's sister) has always been a great gift giver!  When I was a kiddo I always remember looking forward to her gifts because they were always the coolest and most unique things we had ever seen!

Well, Ant Kellye (as we now call her), continues to spread the gift giving cheer even from California.  We received a big birthday box with all sorts of goodies for everyone.  Since my birthday, Elijah's, Joaquin's and Ian's all are within a month of one another - we each found something special for us in the box!

The boys ripped into their presents to find these pogo jumping sticks made of foam!  They are so precious on these things they call their "squeekers".

Another item in the box was a glass jar full of colorful rocks.  I wasn't sure who these went to and what they were for so I put them with the craft supplies, next to the jar of extra buttons and felt.
Later the next day we were painting with the boys on the kitchen table and I pulled out all their craft supplies.  Joaquin was looking at the rocks Ant Kellye sent and asking questions about them.  I told him he could glue some on his painting if he wanted to, so he proceeded to twist the jar open.  Just then they spilled all over the floor, table and chairs.  I told him he needed to get down from the table and clean up the rocks and put them back in the jar.

Soon after that I went into the laundry room to fold some laundry when suddenly I heard Ian scream.  He said that Joaquin had swallowed some of the rocks!  I ran into the kitchen expecting to see Joaquin choking, but he wasn't - he had swallowed them whole!

Ian, being the good parent that he is, explained to Joaquin how those rocks are going to hurt his digestion and tummy and how bad it was that he swallowed them and how we aren't supposed to put rocks in our mouth - just like the lecture he had given him previously about not putting coins into his mouth.

Joaquin kept saying they tasted like chocolate.  I bent down to pick all of them off the floor that Joaquin hadn't put back into the jar and noticed that some of them had split into and did look brown on the inside.
 One thing led to another and we realized - they were in fact one of Ant Kellye's famous cool kid gifts of chocolate rocks!  Boy did we feel like silly parents!

Fun filled weekend and welcome home Papaw!

 

 

Our little family had a great weekend full of family time!  Saturday was a nice, lazy morning, followed by an afternoon on the playground and in the pool. 

Then on Sunday we got together with MiMi, Papaw and Uncle John at the Domain up in Austin.  We shopped around and had dinner at Maggiano's Italian eatery.  It was so great to see my dad, Papaw, because he had been in China for over almost 2 months on business with Adam, my brother and his family.

Papaw brought a host of toys and special gifts from China and the boys had a blast joking around with their Uncle John.  Another highlight of the evening was the kid train at the Domain.  Since our dinner table was outside, the boys watched and watched the kid train go around the shopping area and were dying to get on as soon as they had been excused from the table.

So, MiMi and Papaw bought them a ticket on the mini train and we all watched them ride in style - making yet another wonderful family memory.

Box from Beverly

We came home to find a special box on our doorstep today!  Elijah's God-mother, Beverly Thompson, sent a box loaded with goodies for the boys and Ian and I.  We were so grateful and the boys had such a blast going through all their new toys and clothes!  We love you, Beverly!  Thank you!

Saying Goodbye to Baby #3

Just a few days after my wonderful birthday weekend Ian and I received challenging news during my regular baby check-up.  The doctor couldn't find the baby's heartbeat on the monitor and so further tests were done and it turned out that baby Kirkland #3's heart had stopped and she had stopped growing at 13 weeks old. 

We were shocked, hurt, and severely disappointed to loose the baby, but at the same time we knew there must have been something wrong with the way the body was developing or it just wasn't meant to be.

Meanwhile, a few weeks before we found out about loosing baby #3, a female cardinal bird had strangely been trying to get into our house every time we walked by or near a window.  At first she just started knocking her beak at the bathroom window when we were in the bath.  But, soon after that she would come knock her beak against the kitchen window when we were having breakfast, lunch and dinner!  Ian kept remarking that it was like she was trying to tell us something.

After we came home from our doctor appointment the knocking just got worse.  The bird was EVERYWHERE - ALL THE TIME!  Ian and I were having a heart to heart about loosing the baby and he mentioned that in a strange way he felt like the baby's spirit had been using the bird to try to communicate with us that it was ok and that all is how it is supposed to be.  As soon as he said that, it was like my heart fell into deep calm water, and I just knew he was right.

The bird stayed with us all through my healing process and about 2 weeks later, when our spirits felt strong, she left.  We reallized then, that the bird had shown up exactly when the baby's heart had stopped beating - and left when our hearts were stronger.  We felt the physical presence of God and the baby's spirit constantly reminding us that she was ok, and that it was a part of the plan, and that all is well.

As strange as it all sounds, I have always tried to be open to any and all ways God chooses to speak to me - nothing is silent if you truly listen.

My Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful birthday weekend with my girls!  Ian took the boys to my mothers house for the weekend, so my best girl friends, Melissa and Sally and I had the house to ourselves. 

Sally drove down from Waco on Friday afternoon and greeted me with all sorts of treats she had put together for the girls weekend.  She made Melissa and I special bags with all our favorite candy, veg out food, bottled water and lazy magazines to read.  She was so thoughtful with each of her choices - picking out my favorite magazines and all my favorite trail mixes and such!  She even made labels on everything just for the weekend!

After Sally and I leisurely got all dressed up for dinner, we drove to the airport to pick up the last member of the gang.  Melissa flew in all the way from Little Rock, AR and we grabbed her on the airport curb and headed straight to the Iron Cactus on 6th street downtown.  (It just so happened to be Cinco de Mayo weekend, so a Mexican restaurant was a must!)

On Saturday we spent a long day at Lake Austin Spa and Resort getting pampered with massages, steam room, sauna, outdoor and indoor pools and soaking in the relaxing environment!  We all needed the break from the business of being moms, wives and CEO's of the household!

At the end of our spa day we had reservations to get all dressed up and go out to eat Sushi at this great restaurant downtown.  However, after an entire day of getting ourselves uterly relaxed, we didn't want to get all dressed up!  So, we made a change of game plan and got Chinese food to go and had a picnic on the floor while we watched movies and stand up comedy on Netflix!  It was the perfect way to end a lazy day!

I am so grateful to everyone who helped my birthday weekend happen!  It takes a lot of planning and preparation and willingness on the part of supportive husbands and parents when mommy goes away.  So THANK YOU!  The time with my best girlfriends is so few and far between now, that I cherish every moment of it! 

Uncle Stu's Visit!

We had a great weekend with Uncle Stu!  The boys were counting down the days till his visit and they were not disappointed when he arrived!  The boys trampled him, of course, but Uncle Stu was an awesome sport and everyone had a blast during his visit.

When Stu first arrived, we had dinner at Hula Hut.  The next day was spent at the pool swimming, and out to dinner at NXNW Brewery.  Then the following morning we had breakfast at Monument Cafe in Georgetown and hung around the festival downtown for a while.  In the evenings, Ian and Stu would stay up late working/playing on computer stuff and watching funny videos on-line.  (They had some well-overdue brother time when the rest of us were sleeping!)

It was such a special gift to have Stu for the weekend!  We cherish our time with family and are so thankful that our boys got to spend special time with their Uncle!  We love you STU!

Brothers...

The boys with Uncle Stu

 All the boys hanging out at the downtown festival 

Outside the NXNW Brewery; in front of the Beer Vat

:)

The Air Show

We found out at the last minute that Camp Mabry, an army base in Austin, was having an air show.  So, we toted the boys up there and had a blast!  I've never felt so much testosterone in one place as an army base!  There were guns, tanks, trucks, planes with bombers and helicopters with misles.  The boys were in hog heaven! 

It was a huge event!  I had NO IDEA how many people came to these things!  We had to take a shuttle from the parking lot to the field and there were so many kiosks selling any type of army, navy, air force thing you could think of.  The boys got to pick out pop guns as their souvenir, which they absolutely loved until Elijah's gun backfired a bit and a spark singed the end of his nose.  Then, he didn't want to put the "bullets" in any longer.

They had a kids area with all sorts of things they could climb on and they put on lots of demonstrations and reenactments.  It was super cool dude stuff!  :)

Here are some pics of the day.

 The boys standing in front of one of the planes.  (Ian is going to be mad that I didn't write the correct name of the plane, but I have no idea what it is.)

 The boys got to climb around on this huge gun!

 Elijah and Joaquin sitting in the helicopter

The boys also rode in the barrel train for kids.  It was cute.