Getting Settled

We have now been in the "wild and wonderful" state of West Virginia for two months and life is good. Maybe it's because we have never stayed in a place longer than two years and have moved so many times but I feel like we have adjusted to our new home really fast.

West Virginia is Bee-u-ti-ful. The one thing this photo doesn't capture however was my lovely back sweat or the multiple mosquito bites on Mariah and Chet. Humidity and bugs...not our favorite but just makes us that much more excited for fall. 

We have loved being just a little over an hour from Grandma and Grandpa Crossley. We get to see them so often. Mariah and Chet were excited to ride on this carousel and each picked their own animal to ride. Mariah insisted on a Triceratops and Chet insisted on a...pig. I showed him the bald eagle and horse and other noble beasts but he was set on the pig. I guess he and Grandpa Young have even more in common than I thought. 

Besides the weird smell and abandoned houses around us we really love our house too. I am so glad we have a fenced in backyard. Makes parenting just a little easier. 

Mariah had a camera and Chet had binoculars. They will be detectives in no time...just have to teach them to be a little less conspicuous. 

 The local fire department already have Mariah and Chet's hearts:

And we've found a restaurant that does kids' night: $1 pizza, free balloon animals and face painting. The face painter was a serious perfectionist and took at least 10 minutes on each kid, but they were pretty excited so that made it worth it. Hopefully next time we go the air conditioning will work so we don't have to lose 10 pounds in sweat outside. 

One day we went to the local lake. I told Mariah where we were going and a little while later she asked, "Mom, is there going to be a lot of Cheetos in the lake?". I asked her why she thought that and she said, "because it's Cheeto lake!". The Lake is actually named, Cheat Lake. And even though there were no Cheetos to be found, the kids still had a great time. Austin even got in the water with me and loved it. 

The amount of time it took to get this picture is ridiculous. There was a young couple right by us and I know they thought I was crazy. "Mariah, Chet come stand in front of the water for a picture. Not there, over here! In front of the water. Not all the way in the water! Smile! Look at me!" Boy, it was just a little obnoxious. Life with children. 

Tanner is adjusting to life as a Doctor and not completely overwhelmed. He enjoys his coworkers and is learning a lot already. So far his schedule has been pretty light but I'm trying to prepare myself for when it gets crazy.

Eight Months

• Little boys in overalls...can't get any cuter. 
• He has started saying "Mamama" and it's my favorite. 

• He loves when people have something on their face. The other day when Mariah and Chet got their faces painted he cracked up every time they looked at him. It was so cute. 
• Austin is looking more and more like his dad, which isn't a bad thing. 

• I can keep him pretty entertained by a basket full or toys or laundry. He loves to pull everything out. 
• He loves his brother and sister. I say it all the time but that boy is crazy about his siblings. First thing he does when I bring him out of his room in the morning or after his nap is look for Mariah and Chet. Mariah does such a good job of keeping him happy in the car and Chet shares his "Gwanket" (blanket) with him. 

• He loves to laugh and we love making him laugh. The more tired he is, the more funny things are. 
• Austin loves to get his nose sucked out with the aspirator. It's the weirdest thing. 
• Though he isn't crawling yet or moving around much he still finds a way to get into things. One day I walked up to him with a mouthful of nuts. His brother left his snack a little too close to Austin who decided to help himself to it. 

Austin found one of Chet's works of art that was covered in blue marker...

• Austin has started playing with my face while he is nursing. He especially loves my nose and is constantly trying to stick his fingers up my nostrils...not the best way to be jerked awake during a nighttime feeding. 

• Austin is the peacemaker in this home. I know, he's only eight months but he has such an amazing spirit of peace about him. There are many times when I am so frustrated with Mariah or Chet, like shoot flames out of my eyes, and then I look at Austin and he seems to tell me, "Life's good mom, and I love you." Such a gift that has already blessed our lives. 

Seven Months

The audacity of the boy to think he can just grow up like this...

• He is sitting up like a champ. I feel like one day he was super wobbly and the next he could sit for long periods of time. As long as his siblings don't decide to "hug" him. 

• Austin has this high pitch excited scream...not my favorite, but he doesn't do it too frequently. 
• He will sometimes put his hand up on my cheek for a little while, melts my heart. And then he gives a good yank on my hair. 
• He gives these great kisses on my neck and it almost makes the middle of the night feedings ok. 
• He loves bath time and sometimes I get brave and put him in with his siblings and they just love that. 

Our little dough-boy

• Sorry if this is a little crass, but the boy has some serious man-toots. Makes it a little awkward in church sometimes. I should just point to Tanner next time Austin lets one fly. 
• He loves food now. He wants whatever everyone else is eating and I've never seen a baby who has just started eating chew like he can. It's pretty impressive. 

• He now can roll over on to his stomach. At bedtime he is really good at rolling over on his tummy and then getting stuck and crying until we come in and roll him back over. I really hope he figures that out soon. 

He just keeps getting bigger and pudgier and cuter. Can't wait to see what the next month brings.