Seven Quick Takes

A little about what's going on with us:

1. Eric started his second post graduate year (PGY 2) on July 1st. We were under the impression that his second and subsequent years in his residency were going to be easier than his intern year.  We were wrong.  Very wrong. The poor guy works 12-14 hours every day and when he's not working, he's studying for a test at the end of the month.  I have come to terms with the fact that I am really a medical widow :(.
2. We are about 85% unpacked.  It still seems messy and unorganized and I'm having a hard time finding the time to finish the whole job.  This is mainly because...
3. Brandt has officially learned how to get out of his crib.  My highly cherished nap time that I count on has almost been taken away from me!  I put the boys down for a nap but I have to repetedly go back into their room and put Brandt back in his crib.  The boys have a process where Brandt will get out of his crib and then start throwing toys into Carter's. Lovely.  This makes for one crabby mommy!  I hope this is just a phase like when Brandt learned how to stand up by himself in his crib!
4. I've realized we really do live in a small town: last week I ran to Wal-mart. Now I know that I'm quite a scene with all the kids trying to do some grocery shopping, but an older couple stopped me to ask about the kids and to tell me they've seen me there before!  Yikes!  Now I know why the women get all dolled up when they go out!  Oh, and I also noticed that Wal-mart has the school supply lists of the area schools.
5. Elina is SO close to crawling.  She gets on all fours, but hasn't quite figured out how to go from there.  She still gets around by rolling and scooting.
6. Elina is also cutting her 4th tooth!  I can't believe how quickly my kids get their teeth.  I've also started giving her basically whatever we're eating for our meal and when I started, she acted like she's never eated before.  You should see her chow down on a slice of watermelon!  She also loves cut up green beans and rice.
7. We've met the neighbors on either side of us as well as the wife that lives across the street.  Everyone is incredibly nice and we are so fortunate to have awesome neighbors!

Pics from my camera

Eric and his little love before we left Illinois

Lil Miss helping me pack

Lil Miss in a photo I took with my phone.

On our drive to Georgia. This was when we were driving through the Smoky Mountains.  They were so pretty!

Our buddies on the trip

My momma and I rocked out to Journey on the drive.  Don't Stop (da da) Believin (da da)!!!!

Eric and Elina hanging out while the boys ran around during a pitstop.

We found a little church with a playground the boys loved!  It was awesome to find during the drive.

Mimi playing with the little men.

Eric and Carter watching a movie.  We had a few pieces of rental furniture for almost a week because our furniture shipment was late. Really late. It was really an awful experience. The day they were supposed to arrive, I called to see what time they were going to show up and was told our stuff was still in IL and they didn't know when it was going to arrive.  We were so mad!

Elina hanging out in her crib on the 4th of July while I unpacked.

Elina this morning at breakfast.

Carter this morning at breakfast.  I was trying to teach the boys how to get the spoons to stick on their noses.

Brandt's attempt

Carter being cute

While I was making dinner, I found the boys feeding Elina a lime.  It was so funny!  She loves it when they give her attention (which that have been more lately) and she so excited to be fed by them...until she tasted it!

Pop and his little men

A caught a picture of Eric's dad with the boys before we left Chicago...

A cute picture

Before we left....

Surprise!   It's a post!  We've been so busy since we moved in.  I don't know if we will ever get fully moved in, but alas, we are here in Augusta and functioning!

Before we left, we made a quick trip up to the U.P. to visit with Erici's grandparents. Eric is so fond of Michigan. We loved bringing up the kids to have a little fun in the forest and to see Grandma and Grandpa Fase. Below are some pics of our quick trip.

HeHe! Brandt showing off his tush!

While the kids took a nap, Eric and I got to hang out together and we noticed this family of geese.  See the babies?

A rare moment with the hubs

Lil Miss trying pears for the first time

On our way to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Fase, we stopped for the boys to see the Ever Flowing Wells (I think that's the name of it).  They really liked it.

Hanging out with Grandpa Fase and going for a ride on the ottoman.

Trying to get a good photo of Brandt for Grandpa.  I didn't get a good one of Carter with my camera, but hopefully, Grandpa, I did get one with yours.

The boys had such a fun time with Grandma.  They kept feeding her snack mix and wouldn't stop!  She was such a good sport and kept eating and eating!

Having fun in Grandma's chair

Grandma with Elina

An attempt to get a good photo.  I don't think they really exist with so many small children!

I thought this pic was cute

Eric having some bonding time with Elina before the boys got up the next day.

This was taken on our way home.  Eric found a great park on Lake Michigan in Port Washington and we stopped to have lunch here and let the boys run around.  Such a great place!