Snow Days

Spring is officially here so, it is probably time that I update on a few things we did to make it through the winter. 

We went to Winterfest in Chelan. Before hand the Sanderson hosted a potluck and we got some quality time in with Gwyndolyn and Lydia.

I don't recall the temperature that night, but it was cold! Cold enough that we questioned our parenting when we let our 4 month old (at the time) out in the freezing weather. Quinnie was not a happy camper. We were just about to pack up and head back to the car when Uncle Jason pulled through. Quinn was fussy and he decided he might as well give soothing her a try. He was the baby whisperer. 

 Branson had a good time watching people on the ice slide, but wasn't too sure about trying it out himself.

Uncle Joel and Sarah came one day to play in the snow with B. 

We went to Spokane a couple times with Josh for work and all came back with colds. I came down with mine while the rest of the family was on the mend, which meant play time outside with daddy so  mommy could rest. 

We love it when daddy has business trips, we usually get to tag along, which means hotels and swimming pools.

Lots of indoor activities mean that B is ready for action the minute he wakes up. Can you tell by his tired eyes that he insisted on painting first thing in the morning.

Also, in an effort to get out of the house and get Branson in some structured activities we started him in tumbling. It has been one of the best things for him, he is learning to sit and wait for instructions then waiting his turn before going and also learning to respond to other adults. Hopefully, it will make the transition to preschool a little easier next year. I love it too, nothing is better than watching my boy have so much fun.

Nashville

Here are some pictures of our time in Nashville. I am happy to report that the flights went well, with only a little bribing we survived and I am pretty sure we didn't disturb too many people around us. Lots of new apps, toy cars and not as much candy I had anticipated we arrived safe in Nashville.

Now remember, there were 4 kids 2 and under in a small house and the two boys are very busy, so I didn't even get my camera out of the suitcase the whole time we were there. But, here is what we captured on our phones.

I flew in Sunday night. A little weary and my sister, who I was supposed to help, took pity on me and comforted my baby while feeding hers.

We lucked out on the weather, one of the days it was in the 70s. It felt amazing.

During nap time everyday Branson played outside.

Trips to the park were a good way for the boys to burn some energy.

Indoor activities were a bit more challenging.

This was our attempt at water color.

It didn't keep the boy's attention very long.

So...the next day we tried finger painting. Charlie wasn't too sure.

Branson had a heyday! He kept telling me that it was "like lotion!"

Story time. I was hoping that Charlie's love for books would rub off on my son, no such luck. 

Quinn still continues to amaze me. She might be the most laid back baby ever and this is what she did most of the week. Just hang out and chew on whatever toys were in her reach.

The one picture we got of all the kids. 

The boys had just got out of the bath and ran in to terrorize the girls.

Quinnie studying with Uncle Ben

We only ventured out as a group once, our last night to get frozen yogurt.

I am sure I am repeating myself here, but I love the relationships forming between my kiddos and their cousins. 

B kept asking to "Hold two babies." 

He also loved to lay by Ruby

And Charlie loved to sit by Quinn. Whenever we sat her in a chair he would climb up and sit down beside her.

No pictures of the boys together, they were too busy jumping on beds, running around the house as fast ask they could and fighting like they love each other.

All in all a great trip. I am not sure how much of a help we were but it was so good to all be together. Branson is still talking about "Ruby, Charlie, Bethany and Ben." We mostly hear about "Charlie's house" and Ben is now in the list of people that we talk about who go to work.

Siblings

This hasn't been the best year for us. Here is just a taste of what we have been going through. 

I realized the other night that I hadn't taken Quinn's 5 month picture. The reason for that is that we were traveling for my grandpa's funeral the day she turned 5 months old.  So, the next day I got her all situated went to grab the camera and dead battery. I went to get the other battery, dead. Grabbed my phone and noticed a text from my sister. She was being admitted to the hospital. 

I told her that she needed to call mom, it doesn't matter how old we are us girls always call mom. After I got off the phone with her I called mom. We discussed it for a few minutes and between Ruby being born and Grandpa passing away mom has been off of work four out of the last six weeks. "Could I go?" "Yes!"

Here are the 5 month pictures I finally took.

Remember my last post?! Josh and I were never traveling without help?! Well...here goes nothing. I am taking two kids by myself on an airplane.

So, off we go. Josh is dropping us at the airport early in the morning and we will see how this goes. I do have a plan though...I am going to cry. If anyone says anything to me I will cry. Branson realizes now when "mommy is sad" so maybe the crying will work to get him to behave too.

Today my Uncle Mahlon, Auntie Patty and Grandma stopped by. We love having visitors and I got the best advice from him "This too shall pass." I know this is true and in 24 hours I will be in Nashville, snuggling my kiddos and their cousins and visiting with my sister and brother in law. Can't wait!

Just want to leave you with one last picture because I can't get enough of these two.
I love the love developing between these two. It wasn't very long ago that the first thing that happened when Branson woke up was for him to yell "MOMMY!!!" It melts my heart now to hear "QUINNIE! Where are you?!"

On the go

 I counted last week. Since Christmas we have been away from home 21 nights. That explains my lack of posts. I will try to catch up on what we have been up to lately, but until then this is what we do.

Packing, Unpacking, Packing...

And just cause I can' t resist here are a couple peaks at my cuties

Charlie's House

 Eek! My goal was to upload pictures every night while we were in Nashville and update the blog every couple days so that I wouldn't have to do this huge post. Obviously that didn't happen so here I am puttering through a massive post.

My sister and her family moved to Nashville a few months ago after my brother in law started a surgical residency at Vanderbilt. Josh and I are on a rotating schedule for the holidays and this year it was Christmas with my family so we decided to invade Ben, Bethany and Charlie's new city.

Quinn's first solids: Papa's sandwich. Just kidding.

 We are bad parents. We don't buy our kids presents on holidays. This year we decided our family Christmas present would be an iPad. Our plan was to introduce it to B on the airplane, to entertain him on the flight. It worked like a charm. Our flights went as well as can be expected. Not a peep out of either child on the flight from Sea to Chicago. Quinnie was a little fussy while taking off on the other flights, but really both kids were troopers.

B fell asleep as the plane touched down in Chicago. Which meant he wanted to be carried from one gate to the other, only by me. Josh and I have decided that we can't fly anywhere without help. And if we do we are going to have to buck up and pay the fee to check our luggage. My parents were on both flights with us and helped so much lugging our bags, carrying our kids or fetching us food.

As we were descending into Nasville Branson was excitedly looking out the window and starting yelling "There it is! There it is" I asked him "what?!" And he replied "Charlie's house!" Love that boy!

 Quinnie getting acquainted with Uncle Ben.

B catching up with Uncle Forrest. Our kids seriously have the best Uncles and Aunties in the world. We don't get to see them often enough (that goes for the Uncles and Aunties that live near by too) but I love how my kids warm up to them quickly every time we do get to see them.

EEK! I totally see my life in this picture, and while I love my nephew, I am so thankful that I do not have a one year old between the two kids I have. Messy room, two kids on my lap, B "cheesing" for the camera...life is good.

Ben has been eyeing a "Buy One, Get Two Free Sale" at a boot shop downtown. He took advantage of his brother in laws in town and they each got a pair of cowboy boots. What a fun night. One of my favorite quotes was "Ya, you want ones like that, they already look dirty!"

 

Charlie is full of hugs, my son is not, I love this picture and the fact that B didn't run away or worse yet push him to the ground, then run away.

Branson wanted a cowboy hat, how could we resist.

The troop our first night out.

We tried a couple different times to tour the Capitol, but they were closed for the holidays.

We went to Franklin, an adorable little town not far from Nashville. The best part is that Josh's cousin, his wife and their two kids live there. No pictures, but a fun night catching up with them.

Charlie and Branson were troopers exploring all the shops with us in Franklin. We came to find out that Branson sat so nicely in the stroller because he wasn't feeling well. He caught a cold and we spent the remainder of our trip battling that. I was concerned about Branson spreading his sickness to his cousin with a baby coming a week later and tried to be diligent about disinfecting all the things he touched. As I was busy chasing B around with disinfectant wipes I turned around and saw Charlie drinking out of Branson's cup! Then the next day Charlie was sharing pacifiers with Quinnie. You get the idea...

Opry Land Hotel was fun to explore.

A Poinsettia tree in the lobby.

Charlie liked Shrek as long as he was in Grandpa's arms.

Josh and I in front of the tree at Opry Land

My kiddos took advantage of the long stroller ride to get in a nap

We are trying to teach B about giving. This year we gave gifts for the giving tree and Josh also took Branson to pick out a Christmas present for Charlie. B loves truck, specifically monster trucks, so he picked out a nice little monster truck for his cousin and on the way out of the toy section these monster truck caught his eye. Josh says his face lit up when he saw them and he pointed them out to his daddy. Josh asked Branson if he was going to get that for Charlie and B replied "No, for Branson!" Josh is a sucker so he snuck two in the cart. One for each of the boys.

Christmas Day! We were all together for about 24 hours. 

Christmas kisses from Charlie.

Charlie loves Quinnie. When ever you can't find him, just look for Quinn and he is probably right there beside her. He likes to climb up on your lap when you are holding her, but don't be fooled it is not because he wants you to hold him it is so he can be near Quinnie.  

Auntie Holly with Quinnie the mummy. It was cold when we went to The Hermitage. With young kids and the cold weather I didn't explore as much as I would have liked. Maybe we will go back on a future trip, but it was great to learn a bit about Andrew Jackson. Branson even got to pick cotton.

Dad, Ben, Holly, Josh and I went on a tour of the city and stars homes. So much fun! Big thanks to Mom and Bethany who kept all the kids at home so we could enjoy our time. One of our stops was at the Ryman Auditorium. Original home of the Grand Old Opry.

Dinner at Monnell's. Yummy Southern food served family style.

On the way home we searched out a kids area in O'Hare airport. It was awesome. The Chicago Children's Museum has a play area themed after an airport with a control tower airplanes and even luggage to weigh. Branson loved moving the luggage around. It worked perfectly for him to run off some energy then fell asleep as soon as we got on the plane. 

Branson showing Charlie his new toy

Branson loves to play in cribs, Charlie hates his crib so they had some bonding time in Charlie's. Bethany told me that her son wasn't cooperating to get a good picture, but here is the evidence. I think my child is the uncooperative one.

 Remember what I said about B and his monster trucks. He never puts them down. Josh went shopping for a few little toys for B on the airplane and found a school bus monster truck. I know this sounds like no big deal, but I learned out the hard way that it is. First of all he found it in my bag the night before we flew out. I wish I would have seen his face when he came across it because he loves school bus monster trucks. Well...we lost it. I have been searching for a replacement and I finally had to confess to him that it was gone. Poor guy.

Remember what i said about us not wanting to travel without help...here is proof. Thanks to my dad and the rest of the crew for helping out.

There you go. A quick recap of our trip, great to be together and to see where my sister is living, can't wait to go back, but until then cherishing the moments that we had all together. At one point on Christmas Eve Ben walked into the kitchen where we were cooking and said "It is Chaos out there and it is great!" I think that statement pretty much sums up our trip.

Just one last picture because i can't resist this face