As of the end April, we are halfway through the deployment. We have learned a lot and the kids sure have grown, physically and developmentally. People have asked how we're doing and generally we've been doing very well. Some highlights from the past four months are: I have a gym membership and I go to yoga and zumba classes four times a week (the kids do great in the gym daycare), I have a new calling as second counselor in the Young Women's Presidency which means we go to Mutual every Wednesday night, I have started teaching piano lessons- I currently have one student and am really enjoying it, and Andrew is almost potty trained. On the negative side, we have been sick with colds twice and I hurt my back last month (it is now healed), but mostly things have been going really great.
Family selfie from December:
Tyler has been doing really great overseas as well. We are able to Skype everyday and keep him up-to-date with all the kids' antics. Tyler has been reading a lot during his downtime and is enrolled to take some classes this summer. We miss Tyler but are very proud of him.
Here we are waiting at the chiropractor's office. I would go quite regularly at the beginning of the year.
When the days started getting warmer we would spend as much time as we could outdoors. This is the start of our tradition known as picnic lunch. We do this sometimes to mix things up, and the kids really enjoy eating their lunch on the porch.
One of my New Year's resolutions was to eat less processed foods and so I have been trying tons of new recipes this year! This picture below is a carrot and apple breakfast muffin that the kids really liked. It has been fun and I feel like a food scientist whenever I modify recipes to make them healthier.
Silly Andrew face
Andrew trying to skate. He has a very active imagination and he likes to pretend a lot. His language development since the beginning of the year has skyrocketed. I am amazed by his extensive vocabulary, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was influenced by his love of books. For example, he asked me to read a 62 page kids chapter book to him and he sat and listened the whole time.
Silly Sylvia! She always likes to help unload the dishwasher. I happened to look down at her and saw this face. I laughed out loud and then took this picture. She always wants to do whatever big brother or I am doing.
This is the first picture I took with both kids in their big car seats! Technically Sylvia was still supposed to be rear facing, but we also turned Andrew to the front when he turned one. Their legs don't have enough room!
Selfie from January:
This is a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent from Tyler. He knows how much I enjoy flowers.
I had a little scare thinking Sylvia had a rash all over her body and maybe an allergic reaction, but turns out is was a delayed (normal) response to her chicken pox vaccine. It felt like a rookie Mom mistake to take her to the doctor, but I have found that sometimes bearing the burden of parenting worries alone is the hardest.
We had a very mild winter but it would surprise us and snow a lot every now and again. Andrew loves playing in the snow!
You can tell it is still unseasonably warm despite the snow, it mostly would be melted by the afternoon. Here we built a snow family together.
Selfie from February:
Sylvia's newest words are "uh-oh!", "ta-da!", "ma!" for more, and "da!" for done.
Andrew likes to line up the laundry baskets like a train. He also loves hugging his stuffed animals, Sylvia does too.
They are two cuddle bugs.
Selfie from March:
Daddy selfie:
Sylvia and Andrew are playing together a lot now but still need to work on sharing and gentleness every day.
The springtime meant we could visit the park close to our house a lot more often. Andrew wanted to climb the tree so I put him up there and told him to hang on really tight. He makes a good monkey.
Sylvia has a fair complexion and wear this hat every time we go outside when its sunny, as you will see in the rest of the pictures.
Andrew loves playing with play-dough. He mixes the colors every time my attention is elsewhere it seems which means all his play-dough is now a gross brown color, but he still has tons of fun.
Cute girl at bath time. Sylvia has gotten more teeth and has her first molars in top and bottom on the left side. Those were pretty tough on her coming in.
Andrew and Sylvia winding down for bedtime.
Playing at the park. Sylvia can go down this slide all by herself.
Having fun in the front yard. Our lawn isn't perfectly manicured, but the kids couldn't care less, they love playing in the grass and dirt.
Playing at the Fountain Creek park.
It snowed again unexpectedly. This time it was cold too.
By the time we went inside, there wasn't any snow that hadn't been stepped on in our yard. Andrew really enjoys snow.
Sometimes before bedtime I will let Andrew watch something on the ipad while I put Sylvia to bed. Lately she likes to climb up next to Andrew and watch with him. They are pretty cute.
Sunny day!
Andrew running around.
Playgroup is every Thursday morning. It's fun for the kids to have friends to play with at the park and it's fun for Mommy to talk with her friends.
Selfie from April:
Daddy selfie:
And a cute Andrew picture:
Sylvia is a very affectionate girl, she gives lots of hugs.
The kids like playing in the van and car. I attempted to put Sylvia's hair in a ponytail in this picture. Her hair has been growing a lot lately, but I do believe the ponytail attempt was premature.
After bath time. I think Sylvia knows how cute she looks all wrapped up in her towel because she always smiles so big and makes cute squeaking sounds.
Grandma Carson sent these cool towels.
Playgroup picture, these four are best friends.
The kids like snuggling on the couch watching movies. We purchased some Disney movies and open a new one each month to watch. 101 Dalmatians, Lilo and Stitch, and Toy Story 2 are some of our new ones. Andrew went through a stage where he said they were too scary and didn't want to watch Disney movies anymore, so I am sure to fast forward the scary parts now.
Before bed
They love each other.
Sylvia has big hugs for mommy. These two kids are my precious little gems and I truly adore them.
Sylvia is almost completely weaned! She is drinking three bottles of milk a day and I have noticed we go through a gallon of whole milk a week, which was a bit surprising.
Both kids have gotten very tall and continue to eat well and sleep well.
Tyler is happy when he gets a lot of flight time.
We are excited now that summer is upon us and look forward to our fun plans. We are always grateful for your prayers in our behalf and I hope we continue to be healthy and happy as we finish the second half of this deployment.
