Big news!

Sorry for the delay in sharing this news, and yes the official one year post for the boys is still in the works, I'm waiting on their doctor visit to plug in their stats. I am thrilled to finally share some awesome news from June. In early June, I noticed a job posting for the middle school that is about a mile from our house. The job was for a part time Spanish teacher. The Port Washington-Saukville school district has an excellent reputation and I remember being told by professors in college to expect a lot of competition for teaching jobs in good districts in Wisconsin. Granted, a lot of that has changed thanks to the politics of the last two years but anyways, I applied. The interview process was long, much different than what I was used to in Memphis. After the second interview the district said I was an excellent candidate but they thought I was an even better candidate for another job they had open at the time. The job was essentially the district's technology coordinator, someone to help the district improve their use of technology and teach teachers how to implement technology into their classrooms. For those of you who know me well, this is pretty much my dream job. However, I explained to the superintendent and the rest of the interview panel that I deliberately applied for a part time position because I still want to be home with my babies while also doing what I love, teaching and being involved in the community. Everyone respected that and I was offered the Spanish position!

I am beyond excited. I love staying home with my kids but this year I definitely missed teaching young people and being involved in the education of my community. This position will allow me to teach roughly two classes per day and still be home by 10am every day. I know it's going to be a lot of work grading and working on lesson plans at night but after 5 years of teaching I have become much better with my time management as a teacher. Having three little ones has really made me excel with my time management. The big thing I knew I'd lose was being able to do spin, yoga, and body pump classes in the morning but I think I'm going to start going to bed earlier and spin at 5:30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and swim the other days at the school. The school I'll be teaching at is also home to the city's indoor aquatic center so I should be able to swim, shower and still have plenty of time to prepare my classroom for my students. Tim normally doesn't leave home until 8:30am so we are in the process of interviewing nannies. We'd prefer to have someone come to our home since it's such a short time period but we'll see how things work out. Either way, I'm so excited to start teaching again. This will be the first time since college that I'm not teaching in an urban setting so it will be very interesting to see how different things are.

Everett & Sullivan celebrate their first birthday!

Here's a fun video of the boys when they were about 3 months old. It's hard to believe these tiny little babies are now busy 1 year olds.

A little over a week ago we celebrated the boys' first birthday. We spent their actual birthday with just our little family unit hanging out at the Pirate's Hollow Pool in Port. The next day we did a ton of cleaning and organizing for the party. As most parents know, it's tough to keep the place clean with kids around. So we decided to take the kids down to Bastille Days since their tio and tia would be there. To our surprise we ran into my parents there too. It was hot but everyone had a good time eating and dancing. 

The boys' party was on Sunday afternoon. We invited mainly family and a couple of friends. The boys were lucky to have both sets of grandparents attend, as well as their tio and tia (Lindsey & Andrés), Aunt Kathleen, Uncle Andy, and some of their great aunts and uncles, cousins etc. It's definitely nice to  be close enough to be able to have family at these events. I can't describe the feeling of seeing such a beautiful relationship develop between my kids and their grandparents and family that they get to see on a regular basis.

Since Wisconsin is in the middle of a major heat wave we filled up the water table, water pool and slip n' slide for the kids to play with. Everyone feasted on some of the best brats I've ever had which are made at Bernie's in downtown Port Washington. Bernie's is one of my favorite local businesses in town. We also served my Mom's famous beans, fresh fruit, and other side dishes. I made both cakes for the two birthday parties Sofia has had so far but for this party I ordered the boys' cakes. We were camping the weekend before  and I didn't feel confident in my ability to decorate the cakes according to the "Thing 1 Thing 2" theme. Everett loved his smash cake and destroyed it within seconds. Sullivan was a bit intimidated by the crowd of people singing to him but he still seemed to enjoy a bite or two of cake. Sullivan was much more comfortable with the small family celebration we had on his actual birthday.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Ev checking out the slip n slide

Sully's turn

And Sofia

Summer Fun

Whew! The past few weeks haven't left any time for blogging and frankly we have another couple of crazy weeks before things will settle down a bit. The highlights of the last few weeks have included the following,

Andrés & Lindsey's wedding: Tim and I were both fortunate to be a part of the wedding so there have been lots of showers, parties, etc leading up to the fun 3 day wedding weekend. It was a gorgeous day and Sofia was the "flower girl". I put that in quotations because the cathedral that they were married in does not allow petals to be thrown so Sofia was really a ring bearer in a flower girl dress. She was so adorable running down the aisle. Sofia also danced to her favorite song at the wedding reception in front of all the guests! It was such an amazing weekend because we spent three full days with so many different parts and generations of our family. Tim's family and mine have become closer over the past 6 years that we've been married so they were a big part of the celebration as well. A special thanks goes out to Tim's parents who helped us out with the kids so much on Friday and Saturday while we were busy with the rehearsal and wedding day/reception. On Sunday one of my aunts hosted a gift opening/lunch for our family and for the family members that flew in from different parts of the world for the wedding. My aunt has a house on Lake Nagawicka so it was fun to take everyone out on the boat. Oh, and Sofia didn't get a nap for three straight days and she handled it like a champ. The boys also missed their afternoon naps for two days and they were also troopers. The boys are used to being held by a lot of people so they didn't have any anxiety when being passed amongst all of the family that was in town.

Sofia getting a little encouragement to go down the aisle.

One quick family picture in between all of the festivities.

Now she wants a boat. Add that to the list that includes a pony.

Independence Day: We had an awesome day. We started out by watching Port Washington's parade and then heading to the lakefront for Port's 4th of July festival. We didn't last too long because it was incredibly hot and the kids were worn out from the parade and wedding festivities. While the kids took afternoon naps Tim and I hustled to pack everyone up for a camping vacation. We spent the evening at our neighborhood's 4th of July picnic at Lake Park. Our neighborhood/street gathers there every year to grill out, swim in the lake and watch fireworks. The park is on a bluff above the lake and there are steps right down to the beach. The fireworks are launched by South beach so Lake Park is an amazing place to watch them. So is our front stoop :) The kids just couldn't stay awake until 9:30 after such a busy weekend so Tim and I put them to bed and finished packing for our camping trip.

Camping in Peninsula State Park (Door County): The boys finally got to go on their first real camping trip. They did attend the fall 2011 Ruder campout at Devil's Lake but they were too little to sleep outside in that cold of weather. Sofia first went camping when she was almost 4 months old in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Anyways, we took a camping trip with Tim's parents and his brother and new wife, Susana. Tim and I got to the site first and we set up all of our gear and we let the boys explore in the dirt, I have never seen dirtier or happier babies. They absolutely loved camping. Sofia was so much fun to bring camping at this age, she loves to explore and go on hikes and bike rides but by far her favorite activity was swimming at the beach. She had a little turtle raft that she loved exploring with. She even sat on the end of a SUP (Stand Up Paddle) paddle board and let me paddle her around for a while. The biggest challenge was all of my kids missing their naps. It was way too hot in the tent for the kids to nap there during the day. So we resorted to lots of walks/hikes and let kids nap in strollers. Tim and I upgraded from our tiny two person backpacking tent to a 6 man family tent when we first took Sofia camping. I remember thinking back when we bought it that it would take years to fill it up. The joke was on us thought because that baby is now full! Our sleeping arrangements consisted of the boys in separate pack and plays and then Sofia shared a queen sized air mattress with us. Tim's parents were nice enough to stay back at the campsite with the kids for two nights so Tim, Chris, Susana and I could go see two shows at the American Folklore Theatre. It's a magical theatre that is literally in the middle of the woods. All of the shows are written by AFT and most of the shows are directly related to Wisconsin culture and it's history with lots of songs and jokes. This year we saw "Victory Farms" and "Belgians in Heaven". Both shows were great, I think Sofia will definitely be old enough to attend a show next summer. I have been going to these shows since I was a little girl so it was so wonderful to be back. After one of the shows someone in the audience was called on stage and proposed to his girlfriend, it's amazing how many people hold a special place in their heart for this theatre. We even took the kids to their first fish boil, the fish is boiled outside with salt, onions and potatoes and is served with cherry pie full of fresh cherries from Door County. The boys loved the fish and Sullivan was crazy about the cherry pie.

Even though she's standing in these pictures she did actually sit for a long time and we paddled around Nicolet Bay for a while.

"Mommy, my turn. I want to paddle."

One of the many stroller naps during camping.

Two cute guys enjoying the great outdoors.

Our fish boil dinner.

Loved the fries, not the fish.

The boys are the healthiest eaters, they loved the fish.

Ice cream after dinner.

Picture from the AFT website that shows what the theatre is like during the show. No joke, it is one of the most amazing experiences.

 Everett & Sullivan's First Birthday: Their birthday and party happened within 5 days of us returning from our camping trip so it was quite a busy week for us. Especially since Tim and I decided to storm the Bastille in the middle of the week. "Storm the Bastille" is one of my favorite fun 5ks in Milwaukee. It's a night race that kicks off the Bastille Days festival in Milwaukee. The run doesn't start until 9:30pm so we couldn't bring kids but my sister volunteered to stay at our house during the run so we could participate. We did it with my newest brother in law, Andrés. The rest of the week was busy with putting together the food and decorations for the boys' party. Their actual birthday was two days before their party so we were able to have some nice family time together. We took all three kids to Pirate's Hollow. Pirate's Hollow is the community pool in Port Washington and Tim and I remember driving by it when we were looking at houses thinking what an awesome bonus the pool was. We had no idea how awesome the pool actually is until we went with the kids. There is a beautiful kids area, high dives, water slide, lap area, etc. It is definitely challenging bringing three little ones to a pool but we had a ton of fun. Sofia and Everett both went down the water slide on our laps. After long naps we celebrated with a simple dinner and we sang to the boys and gave them each a slice of cherry pie from Door County with a candle. They devoured it! I feel like the luckiest woman alive when I sit at the dinner table and look at each sweet little face around me. The party was a ton of fun as well, I'll let that be a separate post though.

Cherry pie

This weekend we are heading out of town yet again for another wedding! We will stop in Madison on our way for the boys' 1 year pictures and then it's up to Tim's parents' house for Christopher's wedding reception. A proper post for the boys birthday will be coming in the next week or so. And hopefully I'll finally find some time to blog about a big change coming our way!

11 Months!

I have to admit that I have been putting off this post because I simply cannot believe my boys are almost a year old. I'm not ready for them to be a year old, at all. At 11 months the fun keeps rolling in. I have no idea what the boys weigh, the boys haven't been at the doctor at all since their last well child exam. Everett is into EVERYTHING. For instance, we never had to worry about the toilet or bathroom with Sofia. We now have to keep the bathroom doors shut and I plan to buy a toilet lock soon. I caught Everett lifting the lid this morning and about to put his hand in, when I said his name he practically jumped out of his skin. He is getting better at taking steps with his walker but prefers to climb up to his sister's rocking chair at her art table and push it around to walk. You can imagine how much Sofia likes this ;) He is also a speed crawler, especially when Frodo is around, Daddy comes home, there is an open door, or food hits the floor. Everett loves testing how things work. He will frequently take different objects and watch how they roll down an inclined surface. He can spend 15 minutes doing this. He also plays fetch with himself or Frodo. This month I think he officially became Frodo's favorite. Frodo frequently drops toys at Everett's feet. Everett is still waking up at night because he's always hungry. He eats almost two extra bottles per day lately. His hair has grown faster and longer than any of my babies. It's long and curly in the back, I think it's gorgeous. Sofia loves brushing his hair. Everett is a very happy baby, actually both boys are almost always happy. I thought Sofia was laid back and happy but they take it to the next level. They spend a lot of time playing together but also play independently.

Sullivan is also much more mobile but hasn't really started taking steps while pushing things yet. Sully is definitely the best eater out of the two when it comes to solids. He chows down at every meal and picks everything up with his pincer grasp. He isn't nearly as messy as Everett when he eats and almost never chokes. This month we found a new favorite food for Sully as he inhaled two containers of farm fresh strawberries that Grandma Rainey brought over from Baraboo. He has always been our very unique guy. Sully spend a lot of time in various yoga poses, his favorite is downward dog. Sofia has started copying him when he does it and it always leads to a lot of laughing and silliness. Sully has also started "singing" when other people sing. He has this cute little singing voice and he will just sing along as long as someone else is singing. He also loves to clap and looks for any opportunity to wave at people. We were at the zoo this week and when we ride the train we always wave at people along the way. All of a sudden we noticed Sully waving at people from the train, normally he just watches the surroundings. Everett spent most of his train ride squealing with joy because I let him sit on the seat by himself and hold his head up to look out of our train car. Sully is such a laid back little guy.

This post is very late because we have been out enjoying a marvelous Wisconsin summer. I have also been busy snuggling and playing with my baby boys who have less than a month left as "babies". I remember how nervous Tim and I were when we found out about our boys but I can honestly say I can't imagine life without them and they are both such important members of our family. Yes, it's been a lot of work having three kids 16 months apart from one another but I feel like we are through the toughest phase. It's amazing how close they are with their sister already. I am so thankful that God chose to put these two little boys in our family.

11 months old!

My little charmers

Father's Day

We had an awesome Father's Day and weekend. I forgot my camera for absolutely every event so these are all cell phone pictures! As soon as Tim got home from work on Friday night we packed the kids up for the first Summer Sounds Show in Cedarburg. There was a concert at the shell in Port too but it was blues and we were more interested in the artist at Summer Sounds. We were huge fans of the Levitt Shell in Memphis so we were excited to take all three kids to a concert here. The last show we had taken them all to was last summer in Devil's Lake. Anyways, it was awesome. The venue was much different, it was a large park surrounded by rivers and two playground. Tim and I were stunned to see how big the crowd was, it's hard to guess but we think there were between 1500 and 2000 people there. We set up our blanket and chairs and just relaxed, well, we relaxed as much as you can with a two year old and two speed crawling 11 month olds. We even ran into some old friends from college.

Sofia happy as can be in her chair between Tim and I.

In typical Wisconsin fashion the boys are searching for drinks in the cooler.

I tried to go to bed early because my first triathlon of the season was Saturday but Everett had other plans. I had to pick up one of my teammates at 3:40am so we would all be on the road by 4am for the race. I was so completely exhausted until I got in the car with the girls and we were all so pumped for the race that I just forgot how tired I was. The triathlon club that I'm in decided to have us all compete as relays for the first big triathlon of the year. I think this was a great idea for our team to warm up for the season. The Ozaukee Club had about 35 members at the race. My friend Deidre swam, I biked, and Liz ran. The bike portion was 22 miles and although it was a very windy day I felt like I had a great race. I beat my goal time by 28 minutes and was averaging 19/20 mph for most of the race which I felt good about considering the wind and the two hours of sleep I had the night before. My sweet hubby stayed home with the kids, this race was too far away for the kids to come and cheer. I had so much fun competing and hanging with the team. I can't wait for my next event. Unfortunately it isn't until August. All of the triathlons that I really wanted to do this year fell on the same day as the three weddings we are attending in June and July.

Before the race, pumped and ready to race!

After the race!

Father's Day was great. Tim got to pick out a brand new pair of fancy dress shoes. He is VERY excited about his new shoes, he has had crappy dress shoes for the past 5 years since we were students. It's nice for him to finally have a nice pair of shoes. We went to church with my family and then made a big brunch at our house. We spent the afternoon at Harrington Beach with the kids, my sister, and my parents. Then we grilled out and watched the kids swim in our kiddie pool at home. It was a great Father's Day! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is also an amazing father. Tim is such a selfless guy when it comes to being a parent. I am so thankful for such an awesome partner in this crazy journey of raising three kids born within 16 months of each other. Tim makes this journey so much more fun, he is willing to do any crazy adventure I come up with and is always ready (well, not quite ready but willing :)) to get up with Everett in the middle of the night when I'm just not up for it. I could go on and on but some things are just meant to be kept in our family.

My Dad and I with the boys, I think they are getting ready to chicken fight.

Ev & his Daddy

Everett James

Everett and his Grandpa