New Home

Sorry, I know it has been wayyyyy too long since I have written. We have been through a whirlwind of changes recently and I have been so busy that blog updates have fallen by the wayside.

For those of you that don't know already, the Kirkland Crew moved into a new home last month. We arrived home from Chris and Melanie's wedding (Ian's brother and new sister-in-law)--which was amazing by the way--and the next day packed up a U-Haul of our things. Ian and I were crazy enough to think we could pack up our household and move by ourselves with 2 kids in tow! That lasted till about 2pm when I called my parents, defeated, and admitted that we did in fact need help. (Man, moving with kids is an ENTIRELY different type of move than it is when you are kid-less and married. I had NO idea of the balancing act it requires!)

Anyway, the whole event was so sudden because when the people who wanted our old house finally signed the contract, they wanted to move in in 2 weeks. Luckily, we had an investment property about 10 min. away in the next town that we had just picked up and would be able to move into until we figured out what we wanted to do. This house needed a lot of rehab so we weren't super excited about it at the time, but after a month or so of rehabbing it, Ian and I are finally starting to enjoy living here. As I am sure anyone who has ever lived in a house while a renovation/rehab is going on knows, you just never quite feel settled in until it is all said and done. So I am happy to say, we are finally taking a deep breath, looking around the house and saying, "ahhh, yes, this is nice, now." Here are some photos of our new place.

living room

Master bedroom

kitchen

the boys upstairs playroom

looking down on the living room from the playroom balcony

The backyard backs to the greenbelt, so there is no one behind us, which is great. You can't really see it in the photo, but there is a nice sized covered back patio where we have a patio table and such

Entry way

Front of the house with our newly planted planter (thanks Ian!)

Joaquin's room

Elijah's room

The only 2 rooms I didn't take photos of are the office and the 4th bedroom that is designated as Ian's music room. The house itself is a little under 3000 sq. feet and has lots of things we love about it. Although, we just put it back on the market this week to see if we can flip it that quickly. Ha! Who knows, we will just see what happens.

Anyway, I knew a lot of you were wanting to see photos of our new place and hear a lot more about it, so I felt a new blog piece was in order. I send love to you all!

This made me laugh...sad vs. happy face

Elijah has the best bottom lip pucker when he is sad. I tried to catch it on video, but it didn't turn out as expected! :) He is just not a super sad guy I guess.

Happy Birthday Mommy

I had a wonderful 32nd Birthday this year! My mother had spoken with Ian ahead of time and set up a spa day extravaganza. Ian watched the boys all day while mom and I relaxed at the Lake Austin Spa and Resort. It was perfect weather outside and after our facials and massages we spent most of our time in a hammock, under an oak tree, down on the lake. My mother and father were so generous to plan the whole thing out for me! Mom and I hung out all day in the steam room and sauna and meddled around in our spa robes. When I got home late that evening, Elijah said he had something to tell me. I got the video camera out (having a sneaking suspicion that Daddy had prepped him with something to say...)

As most of you know, every birthday I make a point to ask the birthday boy or girl what lesson they have learned that year or piece of wisdom that they can pass on from that year of life. This year, when Ian asked me what I wanted to pass on from the wisdom of the year, I didn't hesitate to answer. I said it was the lesson of being at peace with your spiritual evolution. It is so easy for me to get down on myself for not "growing" fast enough spiritually or not "doing more" than I am currently. I am pretty sure most people are plagued with this same guilt because no matter how much you "do" there is always a thought that you could still do more. And, in all honesty, you could; I could. But, that isn't the point, in my opinion. In my opinion, the point is to be present where you are. In my experience, and a lot this year in particular, I have been reminded that to simply listen to the Holy Spirit within you in EACH MOMENT is the most you can "do". It means you are living in perfect timing with God's spirit within you and if you are doing that, you are following God in everything. There is no need to "force open the gates of heaven". Just as all nature reflects, our spiritual budding and evolution, occurs in God's perfect timing for our lives. If we live in a continual dance with the kingdom within, we are assured to get where God wants us to go...

Elijah turns 3 and Joaquin turns 2!

We decided to celebrate Joaquin's birthday a month early this year since we will be at Ian's brother, Chris's wedding on his birthday. And, since Elijah and Joaquin are exactly 13 months apart (April 26th and May 26th) we had a dual birthday party. We figured the boys are small enough to share a party now and soon enough when they get older they probably will want their own separate day of celebration, but for now, it was fun to do them together!

Birthday boy Elijah

He carefully licked all the icing off his #3 candle

Birthday boy Joaquin

This little one, on the other hand, watched his brother getting the icing off the candle, took a huge bite out of the wax #2 and swallowed it faster than we could all say "no"!

Clapping after the boys blew out their candle

This is what we look like when we actually say "cheese". Really a horrible face for a kid to give to the camera!

Me trying to teach him a big smile!

Mommy trying to tickle and make him laugh. His face in this photo makes me think this is what he is going to look like when he gets older and mommy embarrasses him! Ha!

Joaquin's bandit playdough masque daddy made

I have to admit that the playdough potato head set that Uncle John gave the boys was super fun! Mommy and Daddy played just as much as the boys did!

Ian's playdough mustache

Joaquin showing off his new train set

I can't believe Joaquin is already 2! Our boys are growing up so quickly!

He loved his Thomas the train choo-choo set

I've been trying to teach Elijah to "smile normal" when the camera comes out.

I swear, I hate whomever came up with the "cheese" thing for kids to say for the camera! It makes them all look horribly constipated and uncomfortable for pictures and they are scarred for life to not know how to act normal in front of a camera!

I finally got a normal 1/2 smile

"Thomasssss," he yelled!

Both boys were so happy to have their names put into the birthday song. It just makes your heart full to see a child genuinely happy because you know it is real. There is no filter at their age and what you see is truly what you get. That being said, when they are in a state of joy it simply magnetizes you into that same state of happiness! This is one reason why kids birthday parties are so much fun to be a part of!

The boys had a blast opening their presents!

Elijah's Birthday present from Gamma and Gampa!

Today Elijah turned 3! I can't believe my little man has already been here for 3 full years! Elijah went to Mother's Day Out today at the church so I brought cupcakes in during their lunch in his honor. He was so happy to have the day dedicated to him! Then, when we arrived home after school he got to open his box from Gamma and Gampa! This was the cutest thing ever! I have never seen one of these giggle boxes! What a great idea! Here is a video of Elijah opening his birthday box! He has started expressing his feelings lately and of course the first thing he says after getting to open his box is, "that makes me happy!" :)

Easter Weekend

It has been a while since I have posted about the family. We have been so busy with the boys and our businesses that I've gone from posting 1 blog a week to 1 a month! All that being said, I hope you and your family had a wonderful weekend celebrating Christ's resurrection! We were in Moody, at my parents house and took some photos of the weekend.

This hammock in the backyard is always a favorite when we visit MiMi and Papaw's house! It was such a beautiful weekend and perfect for all the outdoor activities!

The boys love to cuddle up in Uncle John's lap!

Balancing on the hammock and on daddy's foot! Joaquin loves to play!

Here is our best attempt at a family Easter photo before we headed off to church. The boys had on the cutest little seersucker suits!

Waking up and learning the the Easter Bunny had stopped by was a real treat for the boys!

They have a book that tells the story of the Easter Bunny so they were excited to see he had dropped by!

Blue ears, blue ring pop and blue teeth to boot!

Into the candy first thing in the morning! It started early!

Here are the only couple shots I took of Elijah at his school's Easter Egg Hunt Party.

He found soooo many eggs and had to show them all to mommy!

And here are a couple videos of the weekend as well:

practice makes perfect

I am always so amazed at the steady beats Elijah can keep with the foot pedal and both hands! He has Ian's musical talent for sure!