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. 

Last Long Summer

We just finished up the last long summer that we will get to have for a very long time and so we tried to fill it with as much fun and family as we could. 

My parents met me halfway from their house and Mendon to pick up Mariah and Chet. They kept the older two while we went to graduation, moved our stuff to Pittsburgh and looked for houses in Morgantown. They were away from me for two weeks. Which is way too long for me. But it made everything so much easier and I'm so grateful for my parents for keeping them. And my brother and sister for putting up with them. 

My mom kept them so busy they didn't even have time to miss us: 

Chet's throwing technique...I don't even know. 

Picnic at the "Crick" 

Cheering on Auntie Em. 

Pretty sure my kids lived on hot dogs, mac and cheese, and sugar. Grandma and Grandpa just can't say no :) 

While they had a blast at the ranch Tanner and I finished packing up the house and headed for Missouri. Tanner's sister Heather rode with him in the moving truck while I flew to Kansas City with Austin. We then headed to Kirksville for graduation. 

Tanner had to crouch pretty low to be hooded (?if thats what you call it)

Love those people!

So grateful for all these men and the support they were to Tanner

And I am so grateful to these women and the support they were to me. 

Some people talk about how miserable medical school is and it definitely wasn't just a walk in the park. But we had so many wonderful experiences and made so many great friends. I loved the journey. 

We then spent a week looking for houses and found nothing. I was pretty frustrated but figured we'd just find something long distance (which we did thanks to Tanner's parents looking at houses for us). 

It was wonderful to be back with Mariah and Chet. Mariah was a little unhappy with me. She kept scowling at me and telling me that I was gone for a looong time. Chet was just happy to snuggle me.

Tanner got to hike Havasupai with his brothers and they had a great time. 

While they were doing that my sister-in-law Lisa came out to the ranch with her kids. We stayed busy all week riding horses, driving the four wheeler and even spent a night up at the cabin. Lisa is amazing and handled her seven kids all week with such patience. She is a great example to me. 

I got to ride a mule! 

Lisa got to drive a tractor.

Benson is 7 months older than Austin...

Aunt Kelly had us over one day and the kids had a blast. 

The day Tanner got back from his hike my little sister Emily graduated and then the next day we headed to Tahoe for a family reunion. It was such a wonderful time. 

We spent two days at the beach: 

Bocci ball time

These boys never left the side of the water.

We spent one day hiking and all the kids were such troopers. 

We also got all prettied up and took family photos. 

We now know that the way to get my dad to do a real smile is to have a grandchild be the one taking the picture. 

The great hair obviously comes from my mother.

Tyler and Tanner...

Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the house one night so we could go mini golfing too. 

I think I gained 10 pounds from that week but it was totally worth it. I just love that family of mine. 

After the reunion we went back to my parents house for the fishing derby that started the night we got home. Mariah caught her first fish!

After all the craziness we relaxed for a few days and then we went to the Reno Rodeo. 

Chet had a major meltdown as we were looking for parking. Their fake smiles crack me up. 

And then we bought cotton candy...

But Mariah hadn't had enough sugar...

Mariah got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa on a Sunday afternoon. 

This just melts my heart. 

My mom watched the kids one day and Tanner and I got to go on a four wheeler ride up the canyon. I love where I grew up; it really is the best place for children. 

We then left the ranch with heavy hearts and headed to Utah for a Lockhart family reunion. We had a fun afternoon at a park, went on another hike and took more pictures. It was great to meet some of Tanner's relatives and spend time with all of his family. The Lockharts know how to have a good time. 

The kids were amazing on this hike. They both hiked the whole way up on their own and Chet only had to be carried a little on the way down. 

These women are so amazing and teach me so much.  

All these boys were born in a years time. Now we all have to live by each other and we'll have a basketball team. 

And here's a coed basketball team. I promise we don't call each other and plan when to have our babies. 

The one thing that made leaving Grandma Young a little easier-Grandma Crossley

The baby holding crew. 

We had such a great break but by the end we were ready to sleep for ten years. Too bad we then had to drive across the country and unpack...On to Residency and West Virginia!