Life According To My Instagram

The majority of our lives lately has been consumed with our latest move.
When we came home from Ohio, we found a reasonably priced apartment to live in until we figured out our next step.
After living there for about a week, we were eager to get out and our six month lease could not end soon enough.
We found a great house to rent and while TJ was traveling for work, I kept myself busy by packing up all our belongings.

Diet Coke and Downton Abbey really helped me survive the long, endless days of packing.

I wasn’t able to accomplish a whole lot while Olivia was awake, since all she wants to do is climb on/in the boxes. Or she’d pull everything out of the box while my back was turned. She’s lucky she’s so cute!

Riker spent an embarrassing amount of time playing iPad…while Olivia napped, Riker played his games/watched Netflix, and I packed.

Finally, the last box got packed up and we were ready for the big move.
Thank heavens for wonderful friends and family who could be there to help us!

Of course, to maintain our sanity we had to leave the house sometimes.
Riker is pretty much the best little buddy, except when he “acts his age”…he’s lucky he’s so cute, too!

But he is growing up awfully fast. And that makes me a teensy bit sad.

I mean, my goodness, he’s already shaving!

But he is definitely my cheeseball and loves to be silly and goofy with me.

So does this girl. She does this thing when eating where she bites down on the spoon, scrunches up her nose, and giggles…its quite adorable!

In addition to this being “moving weekend”, it was also “Baby Lexie’s Baby Blessing Weekend”…and since we were blessing baby Lexie (my sister Summer’s new little bug), my sister and her crew drove down from Utah.
And since all of the sisters are in town at the same time, a party just had to happen!

Also, cousin play dates. Riker doesn’t know his Utah cousins very well so he was loving the chance to play with some new friends!

And, of course, Lexie’s baby blessing. The perfect opportunity to snap a picture of the whole fam-damily!

Life has been busy and oh so crazy…and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon!

October: So Far

October has been one of the busiest/craziest/non-awesome months ever.
TJ has been gone, a lot, for work…he’s been traveling a LOT for work (he’s currently out of town and has been for the last 8 days!) and when he’s home, he works late every night.
The kids and I try to entertain ourselves as best as we can, to forget about missing dad so much!

Riker has grown so much and is my favorite little boy.
He’s typically pretty good, but definitely keeps me on my toes…he’s non-stop and always wants to be active.

And little Miss Olivia is desperate to keep up with her brother, so she is always Go Go Go too!
She’s probably the worlds fastest crawler, but she’s also pretty quick when walking with a walker.
No independent steps yet, but she is starting to stand up on her own more so I imagine she’ll be walking soon enough!

But these kids sure do love and miss their daddy.
TJ and I recently upgraded to new iPhones (4s, not 5) and we’ve use the Facetime feature daily since he’s been gone so the kids can see him and remember who he is!

And of course, we take pictures all the time to send to daddy so he can remember us too!

We’ve kept busy with park play dates, trips to the mall, and playing at the splash pad (yes, we can still play in the water in October!).

This past week, TJ’s grandfather passed away so a last minute trip to Spokane, WA was arranged.

TJ was in Utah working so he was just going to meet us in Spokane…
meaning I had to fly with both kids by myself!

The flight wasn’t awful, but my arms were pretty tired after holding wiggly Olivia for 2.5 hours!
But once we landed, we were able to go see TJ’s grandma (the kids great-grandma!).
(and yes, Olivia is gnawing on a chicken bone in this picture…we are classy!)

The kids favorite part of the weekend was of course getting to see their dad!
He’d been gone for a week and was planning to stay in Spokane for work for several more days, so we got in as many cuddles as we could!

The funeral for Grandpa Jack was very nice; the firemen played the bagpipes and the Air Force played taps…and since Jack had once been a state legislator, the flags at the capital were flown at half-mast in memory of him.

We don’t get to see TJ’s relatives very often so it was nice to get to see all of them again.
TJ’s aunt Cathy hosted everyone at her home after the funeral.
The views from her house were gorgeous (but in the winter, she has to use a snowmobile to get to her house…so I don’t want to live there!)

Riker loved meeting his cousins and had fun playing with them.

The flight home was…fine.
Riker is a pretty easy traveller…give him the iPad and snacks and he’s good to go.
Olivia, on the other hand, is such a wiggly bug and hated being held/restrained…but luckily, no one cried!

Now, I am in the midst of packing up our apartment in preparation for our move this weekend.
We have found a house to rent and are excited to have our own backyard…and a park just around the corner…and a garage…and no shared walls!
October has definitely been a busy month…and its only half way over!

10 Months

Isn’t she seriously the cutest 10 month old ever!?
Even with her crazy hair?!
I just keep hoping that her hair will soon grow long enough that it either lays down on its own or can fit into pigtails…because seriously, that hair is out of control.

Facts and tidbits about Olivia at 10 months old:
*7 teeth…4 on top, 3 on bottom
*too chicken to stand solo for more than 2 seconds
*walks along furniture/walls/whatever like a pro
*says Mama and baba, but will never perform on demand
*claps without abandon
*attempts to wave on occasion, but never when I ask her to
*smiles more for her daddy than for her mommy
*has perfected the fake whine, with accompanying “pathetic” face and will do this whenever she wants something but cannot communicate to you what that something is
*still sleeps like a champ and will take 2-3 naps per day and sleeps 12+ hours at night uninterrupted
*eats pretty much whatever she is given, be it bottle, jarred baby food, or “people food” off our plates (though she didn’t seem to care for the steamed broccoli TJ offered her the other day)
*at her 9 month check up, she was around 75% for height and 25% for weight (so very different from her brother!)…she’s currently wearing 9-12 month clothing, mainly 12mo tops and 9mo bottoms

Olivia is generally a happy baby.
Always smiling, often just chattering away to whomever will listen to her.
But sometimes, like when I try to get her to sit still for 2 minutes so I can take a picture of her, this happens:

But hey, it’s her 10 month birthday and she can cry if she wants to.
(she’s still cute, though…even when in hysterics)