Happy Resurrection Sunday!

It's Easter!  He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!  We had a great Easter weekend with Sunil, Julie and Christian coming to visit us in our new home.  We had an Easter Egg hunt in our neighborhood with my coworker Louise and her family and we even dyed eggs ( a first for Joshua and Noah and maybe my second) and had a little brunch.  So much fun that we'll have to start that yearly tradition.  We also made it out to Mount Bonnell (though Joshua and Noah stayed in the car napping) and Mayfield Park.  I think Christian had a blast being outdoors in the beautiful Austin weather.   Church was packed today but a great service nonetheless.  We hope Christian liked his first road trip/vacation!

I'll take a moment to relive Moving Day which was Sat Apr 5.  We had Joshua and Noah spend the night with Mom and Dad Friday so we could finish packing.  We got up early Sat as the movers came at 8 and we had the maids at the new house at 7 cleaning.  It was chaotic and hectic all at the same time.  At one point in the new house the maids, locksmith, painters, and movers were all dodging each other.  All I could do was just watch the circus.  I'm embarrased to say we had about 100 boxes of stuff though Steve will say they were small boxes.  Mom and Dad met us at 11:00 and started helping us unpack.  Thanks to them, the kitchen and kids rooms were unpacked by 5:00.  Then Steve's parents and Joshua and Noah met us back for dinner. Phew - what a day!

And now, two weeks later, we have boxes in our office, garage, and attic that we're slowly unpacking.  But, I can say we feel settled!  I do love our new house - I think its perfect for our family and one we can grow in.  It's a big difference going from a one to two story house and I'm slowly getting accustomed to that.  Running up and down is more exhausting than I thought!  I do miss our old backyard with the playscapes and basketball court but the kids love the playscape in our new backyard.  The kids never went through an adjustment period - they had no problems.  In fact, Joshua and Noah are now sleeping in the same room.  Noah still wakes up about 3 in the morning and we have to put him in our bed.  All in all, it's been a great moving experience and we feel very blessed!

                                                             Bluebonnets

                                                            Elizabeth Milburn Park

                                                  Their last night in their first house

                                                      One last pic in the old house

                                                           

                                                         Dyeing eggs

                                                 

                                                              Easter Egg hunt

                                                   Noah's friend Evelyn

                                       Louise teaching Joshua with Resurrection Eggs

                                                  Confetti everywhere!

                                                       Mount Bonnell

                                                   Mayfield Park

                                       Noah's not so sure of those peacocks

                                                             Easter Sunday

Joshua is 4!

Joshua turned 4 on Monday, St. Patrick's Day!  I think he thought the day would never come.  He's been talking about turning 4 since he turned 3. We let him open his present right after we woke him up singing "Happy B-day." Of course I played it safe and got him a Thomas the Train toy.  He had a great day since he went to school and was treated like a prince.  He brought doughnuts for the class and wore a crown that Ms. Gwen gave him.  He didn't want to take the crown off for most of the day.

Steve and I had the day off since we closed on the house that morning.  Thought I'd be more excited about it but I guess since we've had such a long time pass since we went under contract (end of January) to now two months later the feeling was a little muted.  But still a big day for all.  We also met with several contractors at the house to get things done before we finally move in.

Then finally we went over to Mom and Dad's house for the mini-Bday party!  Joshua loved his ice cream sprinkles cake and us taking a million pics of him.  He also got a Talking James train from Granny and Grandpa and I think that was the icing on the cake!

"I'm glad I met you."

I can't believe how fast the year is already going by.  It's almost March and the boys are just growing up fast. I'll start with the news that we bought a house in the Ranch at Brushy Creek in late January and we will close on March 17 and probably move in 1st week of April.  We're very excited about the new house not so much the moving process.  Joshua and Noah know where the new neighborhood is and we pass it every day so I'm trying to get them used to the fact that we are moving out of the only house they've ever lived in.  I know they'll be fine but I am a little sad that we are leaving the house that we initially raised the boys in.  So many memories.

I wanted to remember that last week the boys said some funny things.  Joshua told me, "Mommy, I'm glad I met you."  Haha.  Me too Joshua.  And I asked Noah if he wanted a doughnut after dinner and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Of course I do."

We had a really relaxing Feb.  The first weekend we had Brant's Bday party and Ava's Bday party at The Thinkery (the new Children's Museum.)  It's been opened since December but this was our first time and the kids had a blast.  On Valentine's Day I received chocolate covered strawberries from the boys and they all got cards from Steve and I that morning.  Noah kept going around saying, "Happy B-day Valentine's Day"
The Jacob family came that weekend and we went to Zilker Park, Home Slice and Amy's Ice Cream.  That evening Shawn and I went for a nice sushi dinner.

Here are some recent pics:

                                                              1/23 - Ice Day (no snow)

                                                                2/15

Noah's 2nd B-day in Austin

We celebrated Dad's 65th B-day party in Dallas prior to Noah's 1st B-day party.  We went to a nice restaurant in Frisco where we had a private room.  Dad had a great time and we all enjoyed the food including Joshua and Noah.

On Noah's actual 2nd B-day (Jan 15) we celebrated in Austin with another Mickey Mouse cake that Mom made.  Noah couldn't get enough of that chocolate cake.  And of course both Joshua and Noah got a little present from Mom and Dad (trains).

The following weekend we took them to the circus at Cedar Park Center where they watched elephants, camels, dogs, a human cannonball, and motorcycles.  They enjoyed the motorcycles the most since they did flips and jumped off ramps.

Noah's 2nd B-day party in Dallas

We didn't do too much on New Year's Eve - I went to Cover 2 with Trisha for a couple of hours but was back home before midnight.  I worked on New Year's Day while Steve had the day off with the kids.
We both had Thu Jan 2 and 3rd off so that we could travel to Dallas and celebrate Noah's B-day on Sat.

Here are some pics of Noah's 2nd B-day party in Dallas: