Big boys bedroom

We have been co-sleeping with Tman since he was about 4 months. It's what worked for us in the beginning but by the time Jbird arrived I was done co-sleeping but couldn't get this baby out of our bed. We tried everything and I mean everything but ultimately for our sanity Tman would always end up in our bed.

We were smarter with Jbird or I should say luckier, he never wanted to sleep in our bed. YAY. He has been the best sleeper you guys. This kid has been sleeping in his own bed in his own room since he was 6 months old.

So our plan is to put both boys in the same room and get them to sleep together. I am hoping Tman, who doesn't want to sleep alone, will be happy to have a friend and hopefully will sleep in the room. I am praying that Jbird continues to sleep, we'll see what happens. We have not been lucky so far, the boys only slept in their room one night so far and it was a total disaster. Here is to hoping.

I present to you the boys new bedroom

I loved these car beds because they could accommodate a crib mattress and a twin mattress. Since Jbird is still so little, I made his bed a toddler bed and used the crib mattress. Given the shape of the bed, it gives him built -in railing. Score. Tman who is completely into Thomas requested the sheets and blanket and I was happy to indulge.

Jbird's bed with his bookcase set up :)

 Tman is my big boy so we gave him the twin mattress. Tman's bed with his bookcase :)

We opened the room to the boys on Christmas day and they were so happy. Tman was really excited about the bed and told me he needed a book to read

 Jbird can easily get in and out of his bed, YAY

 My boys hanging out in their new room on Christmas morning

Tman is such a smart boy I tell you, reading in bed

 Jbird also wanted to have his book and lay in his bed and read

 Both boys in their room with their daddy

I still have to put some art on the walls but I am very happy with how well the boys room is coming together. I am now hoping that they actually want to sleep in this room and not our bed (at least for Tman). Big boys room almost complete, this makes me so happy. I will keep you updated on how things go with this, I am sure it will be a work in progress.

Ringing in the New Year

My sister in law came to town to celebrate the Holidays with us and of course we had to go out for New Years. I would have been content staying at home chilling on the couch but with my in laws willing to watch the kids it was hard to resist an opportunity to go out without the kids.

We decided to go back to the same place that we went to last year since we had so much fun there last time and it wasn't too crowded. I was not shaking my booty on the dance floor this year, I am just way too tired for that. We left early to beat the rush, enjoyed a nice dinner before we moved to the bar where we spent the rest of the night. My friend C was in town so she joined us for a night of fun without kids too.

My sister in law and her now fiance. Yep they got engaged on Christmas eve, another story for another post :)

Hubby showing off his ring stemming from a joke about the engagement. We got engaged almost 6 years ago, sorry hubby engagements are not relevant anymore for us :)

My friend C and her hubby, they got engaged over 8 years ago and have been married almost 8 years ago, wowzer. Time surely flies

 Me and my friend C chilling at the bar, pregnant ladies in a bar what up?

C and I making babies a few months apart since 2010 :). 32 weeks and 24 weeks with baby #3

Happy New Year kisses :). I always insist on taking these. Good thing everyone cooperated

A pic of all of us chilling at the bar, hello 2014, it is so nice to see you

We were lucky to have babysitting grandparents so we spent the New Years celebrating in style with no kids, woop woop. This is the year my 3rd boy is going to be born :) :) :), I can now focus on his arrival. Hope you had a great time ringing in the New Year too.

The last days of December

It's been fun to have the time to spend with the kids these last days of December. Since we were home with the boys a lot we had to do lots of things to keep them occupied.

My favorite thing to do when it's this cold is always to go to the mall with an indoor playground that way I can not only get my shopping on during nap time but also let the kids run wild and do fun things inside.

My Tman is clearly a fan of such fun activities

I celebrated Christmas at school with Tman and all his friends. It was such a sweet event, best way to end the year. He doesn't go back until next Monday.

We hung out with my BFF C who is visiting from Indiana with her boys. We heard of a train exhibit at the local train station and thought it would be such a fun time for our train loving boys. It actually sucked but somehow the boys were really excited about it still and the day was not a complete loss

Hubby with Tman watching in front of the train exhibit (yeah, that's all it was, not even a train display the kids could play with or anything)

Me and my friend C with our youngest boys. C and I have been pregnant together throughout the years and what do you know, she is again pregnant with her 3rd child :). I swear we don't plan these things

 Our first boys eating some ice cream in the Winter, the beauty of indoor play

My friend Melissa came down to visit too. YAY. I am always so psyched when she comes to town, she has such a great time with the boys. She only lives 2 hours away but she is moving to Austin, Texas next year :(. We won't get to see her as much but I guess that means we'll be going to Austin soon :).

Mel came to visit with her aunt and uncle who used to take such good care of us when we were in College. They wanted to see the boys so they made the trip.

 Reading with Tman at bedtime. She is such a great godmother to my boy.

Our friend A was having a birthday party to celebrate her 30th birthday. She was actually pregnant when the actual birthday happened so we are celebrating 6 months later. Since Mel was in town, we left the boys with hubby and turned this into a girls night. It was nothing fancy, we just went to a local bar and enjoyed some crab dip and a few drinks. It was classic.

The birthday girl and her cake :)

The girls hanging out. A, Mel and I lived together for years and had a blast doing it too. It's good to see things don't change much over the years

My friend D hosted a kid friendly Christmas and New Year's party at her place. I am so glad we were able to go. They just moved into their new house and it's an absolute beauty.

They had 3 trees in total in their house this year, wowzer. I loved the beautiful tree at the front door and of course had to take pics with the boys :)

As soon as we got there, Tman zoomed in for the train table. This kid loves trains I tell you.

Jbird stayed attached to me or my hubby as he does these days.

After he finally warmed up he also went for the trains with his brother. I thought he would just destroy everything as he does but I was really impressed with him.

 A few pics of me and my boys at the party

Before we left, we got a pic of all of us who went to college together with our spouses. The kids did not want to cooperate for our pic but never mind. I can't believe that we were graduating from college 10 years ago. Insane I tell you. Go Terps.

The last days of the year 2013 were well spent. We celebrated the New Year in style with no kids :). Gotta love babysitting grandparents. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. See you in 2014.

Christmas festivities

Christmas festivities are my favorite. This is always the holiday I looked forward to the most.This year was a great year because both kids were old enough to enjoy the festivities with us. Well Tman was all about it and all Jbird wanted to do was unwrap and destroy things :).

We usually start celebrating in the morning and are later joined by my siblings in the afternoon for a family celebration. My mom usually spends the night with us since we have the kids (this will probably change now that my brother has a little one too) and every year in the past 4 years, hubby's parents also spent the night with us. This always makes for an awesome time on Christmas morning.

Christmas cards are one of my favorite things to get each year. I actually display them all year long to enjoy them as long as I can :). I put them on the door that leads to the garage so that I see those lovely pics everyday.

We've hosted Christmas every year for the past 3 years and each year we take a family picture. My sister always gets me this awesome picture frame with the year and I finally got my act together this year and started displaying these. I plan to do that every year as part of my Christmas decoration.

My mom and Tman chilling Christmas morning

We actually shower and get dressed in our matching pajamas before we come down to see what Santa brought us (I mean you have to look good for all the pictures :)). We let the boys open a few presents before we sat down for breakfast. I don't think they would have survived otherwise.

We had to put this toy together before doing anything else because the boys insisted. We all worked together and I love that my mom captured it. It pays to have people around

My mom and the boys

  Hubby and the boys

 We get excited about gifts around here :)

 Hubby's parents were there too opening gifts with us :)

After the first round of gift opening, we enjoyed some breakfast before going back to open more presents.

My hubby couldn't wait to get out of his pajama :). At least he was a good sport this year. The next big think Tman opened was a train set. He was so happy about it that he couldn't wait to put it together. Jbird on the other hand was destroying everything, my little destroyer.

We had to move the train set downstairs to keep Jbird from messing with it. How awesome is this all set up? Tman was so proud that he built that with his dad.

Jbird trying to help his grandma make cakes :)

I totally have to show off my mom who was looking gorgeous after she got dressed. I mean just looking at her makes me happy, since I have half her genes, I have a great chance of aging gracefully :) (one can only hope).

Love this picture of everyone working on presents before the rest of the crew arrived. Blessed indeed

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the arrival of the rest of the family. Oh look who came to celebrate with us, my lovely niece almost 3 months old

 Me and my sisters

 Our house was bustling with love and laughter, Christmas rocks

 My mom helping my niece open her present

The boys got a motorized car that they totally loved. It was pure joy on their face as they were attempting to ride it around the house

I got better pictures the next day when we created some room around the living room and let them ride the car. My boys were in heaven

Back to the party, my brother and his beautiful family

We also took some fun and silly pictures in front of the tree

And of course all of us that celebrated together. Can't wait to put this in my 2013 frame :)

Our Christmas celebration was awesome. 4th annual hosting and looking forward to many more. I hope you had a great time celebrating with your family too.