Two Weeks One Day!!!

First off here are some random pictures just because I have cute kids.  Seriously...look how cute they are.

Wow, we are getting so close to Zech's arrival.  I guess you could say I am more then a little excited.  

Excited to see my hubby.

Excited to meet my baby boy.  

Excited for life to go back to "normal."

But I have been busy here at home which makes Zech's training seem to go by fast.   I have been unpacking and setting up every room, I mean all of them.  Since Zech has to go back to school only two weeks after he gets home I decided that I didn't want to waste our time together unpacking.  So Lisa and I have tackled just about every project with the exception of hanging pictures.  I have never been good at that.

Yesterday I attended church by myself.  The kids have a little bit of a stomach bug so they stayed home with Lisa while I attended then she went in the afternoon to the singles branch.  I'm pretty sure I have the pitty of everyone in our ward.  Everyone is so friendly and tries to help me even when I don't need the help.  I have recently been called to the primary which is exciting.  I have never been in the primary or attended primary so this should be an exciting experience.  Yesterday was my first week and I love the kids already.  I can't wait until next year when Elai gets to be a sunbeam.

Besides that I thought it would be fun to once again see just how frugal we could be.  Yes, I am on another kick.  With a new baby on his way and moving to a new house we did have to buy a few things.  But besides that I am on a spending slash.  I do this about once a year.  I think it's fun to see just how much money we can save or how much debt we can payoff.  In our new stake one of the goals each stake conference is to save one months worth of debts or to pay an additional month of debt each six months. This excited me and well I am back in the game and have been able to save another full month's worth of our debts.  This may not seem like a big deal to everyone but those of us that live on a student's budget understand how exciting this is for us.  The best part, Zech doesn't know yet.  He will be thrilled when he gets home and finds out.  I'm actually starting to wonder if he thinks I am on a spending craze while he is gone.  

Another fun fact!  Donna Rios is coming tomorrow!  Yay, we can't wait for grandma to get here.  I will be picking her up from Chicago tomorrow night.  She will be staying with us until the first week of August when the rest of the Rios clan will be joining us for our baby's blessing.  Elai is counting "sleeps" until she gets here.  Only one more to go!  

So the countdown continues and each day we get closer to Zech's return, the more excited we get.  Elai is telling everyone that his daddy is "at the army."  He also recently told me he wants to be a military officer just like his daddy.  He sure makes me heart melt. 

Day 18: Fun in the Sun

Yesterday the temperature was a nice 80 degrees.  Knowing that the rest of this week is supposed to be above 100, I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and we spent the evening outside having a picnic and playing in the sprinkler.  Here are the photos for your enjoyment.  

Elai loving the water.

Look mommy, water!  It's cold.

Josie running away after the water touched her toes.

getting brave

Thinking she wanted to be like brother.

Deciding being like brother isn't very fun.

Mommy Save Me!

Having a car wash!

Days 14 & 15

Fifteen days!  That is how long Zech has been gone.  Wow I can't begin to explain how hard yet rewarding this experience has been.  I miss him so much.  I still can't believe I have made it fifteen days.  We have been trying to find ways to keep ourselves busy. 

Yesterday we found the mall.  Of course the first thing Elai noticed when we walked in was the train.  Now I know not to park between Sears and Macy's.  But seriously he is so cute, how could I say no?

Elai riding the train at the mall

The purpose of going to the mall was that my feet are so swollen I can't seem to wear any of my shoes. Not even one pair!  Apparently your feet swell a lot more when your pregnant in the summer.  Or that at least seems to be my case.  Probably from all the water I have been drinking.  With that being said, this next photo is what happens when you let a pregnant women with swollen feet go shoe shopping.  

We were all very tired after shopping.  Lisa tends to get silly when she is tired.

<3 this girl!

After not being very productive the first half of the day, Lisa convinced me that we should get something done so we started working on freezer meals for when the new baby gets here.  

So far we have tatertot casserole, lasagna, and quesadilla casserole. On the agenda for tomorrow is shepherd's pie, enchiladas, and meat loaf cakes.  Here we are assembling the quesadilla casserole.

So that was the end of day 14.  Today we had church.  Lisa slept in and went to the YSA branch so it was just the kiddos and I.  Today was the best Sunday thus far.  Josie decided to give her mom a break and slept all through sacrament.  Other then that nothing exciting happened.  Just the usual, Sunday nap, dinner, and playing with the kids.  

On another note, Elai loves watering the garden.  He thinks it is a special treat to go out with me and water the plants.  Here is what our garden looks like these days.  Not to shabby for a late start if I do say so myself.

Day 13: Like Father Like Son

It appears that Elai is going to take after his father.  There is definitely latin in those hips!

Five Weeks and Counting

Well we are officially only five weeks away from what will be the homecoming of the year.  With that being said, I should also mention that I am only five weeks away from welcoming our new baby boy.  This last week has been so crazy.  I am finally nesting which basically means I have been in panic mode because I didn't know where any of our baby boy stuff was.  However I have gotten things under control thanks a bunch to Lisa for helping me and our nursery is just about put together.  I do need to purchase a few things, but I'm thinking that might just wait until after he gets here.  I'm not too worried about it for now.  I also have been busy trying to unpack the playroom/family room and I finished up Josie's and Elai's bedroom.  Wow, just typing this makes me tired.  Besides all this what have we been up to?  Well I am trying to fill our freezer for when the baby arrives and we have been spending time at the YMCA.  I am really enjoying Rockford and tonight we are having a special guest from Urbana.  We are lucky enough to be able to talk to Zech every night and we can even skype him!  This day has went by fast and I am looking forward to crossing it off the calendar.  

Day 2: stocking up

What a productive day we had. We started the day by driving a hour to go to Costco and Trader Joe's. That's right, I live that close to Trader Joe's. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. So we woke up, ate breakfast and off we went. Now normally I do not take the kids grocery shopping with me when I need to do a stock up but well Zech is gone so I had no choice. Luckily I did have Lisa. She is so good to me. She entertained the kids while we were in the stores. I hadn't told her we were doing a huge stock up so I had to chuckle when she made the following statement, "Emiley, why are we buying so much food?   Your going to make us fat." Oh how I love that girl. While at the store I got a little too excited about the melons. They just looked so good, I bought six. Then it was time to head back home. Boy did I miss having Zechary home to unload the car. Lisa and I managed though. I think her arms are made of steel.

My Melons!

After putting the groceries away it was time for a rest. Normally after I go shopping I can hardly move because I am so tired. This was not the case today. I could not sleep! I had entirely way to much energy and all I could think about was how I needed to unpack the babies room. So I did just that, well I started at least. It's still a work in progress. I guess you could say I am nesting. I had such a good time pulling out Elai's old clothes and recalling all of our sweet memories. I can't wait for our new baby boy to wear them.  There is still a lot to do in that room but I will get it done eventually, I'm not in to big of a hurry.  So that was our day, once again we survived another day.  Looking forward to tomorrow and crossing off another day.

Day One: Church

Wow, I didn't realize how hard it would be to take two little ones to church.  About half way through sacrament I couldn't help but wonder why I even went.  At least if I were at home the kids would play with their toys and stay out of trouble.  At least they wouldn't be running around screaming.  I know people were staring at me but I was to tired to even care.   I finally found a little room that we had to ourselves and we just played in there until sacrament was over.  I think the primary president felt sorry for me because she let me drop off Josie at the nursery.  It wasn't her first time attending.  Zech was a nursery leader in our old ward so she would go in with him.  I sure was grateful they allowed her to go though.  It was nice to be able to attend the  rest of my classes childless.  Next week is stake conference, not sure how well that is going to go.

After church I did hear from my Zechary, so that turned my day around.  He is an officer so they aren't taking his cell phone or lap top away.  I will get to talk with him every night after six pm.  With that being said, if you call me at 6:15 and I don't answer, do not call me again.  I will most likely be on the phone with the love of my life and your call can wait until I am done.  Anyway... Zechary made it and is all checked in.  He seems to think he is going to loose a lot of weight because it's so hot there.  He likes it and is dreaming of doing his residency there already.  All it took was seeing a palm tree.

Day one is almost gone and we have survived.  I will admit I was a little worried.  I kept thinking how am I supposed to take care of everyone when I am so tired that I can hardly take care of myself.  But luckily I have Lisa here and the kids love her.  Maybe even a little to much!  I am looking forward to crossing this day off my calendar!

Missing Him

It is the night before Zech leaves for his army officer training.  We will wake early tomorrow to go drop him off on a shuttle that will take him to the airport, then he will go on to San Antonio, Texas.  So many thoughts are going through my head right now.  How am I supposed to make it 6 weeks and 2 days without him?  Without my rock? As I am sitting here typing this I can here him on the baby monitor with Elai.  They are down stairs reading Book of Mormon stories.  Elai is laughing up a storm.  All day long Elai has been saying "daddy don't go."  And of course it breaks my heart.  Even though the thought of him leaving terrifies me, I feel blessed to have such a wonderful husband.  One who takes such great care of our family.  So the count down to his home coming is on.  We will definitely experience hard times without him but I know it will just bring us closer together in the end.

{Taking things in}

Lately I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on in my life.

During these times, I have experienced more joy then I thought was possible.

Everything seems to be winding down.

Finals are coming up.

We move in less then a month.

Zech is getting everything ready for his training this summer.

The kids are growing up WAY to fast.

We all caught the flu.

I became an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay.

With everything going on I have decided to take a step back.

To examine what is most important in my life.

I have been spending all my free time away from the computer.

That way I can take in all the wonderful little moments everyday. 

And I have been blessed from doing this.

I have been able to really see a difference in my children.  

I am so grateful.

So there it is, the reason I haven't been online lately. 

Sorry, but I don't foresee  it changing anytime soon.

Until next time...

{Surprising Daddy}

It's spring!  We have great weather, the sun is shining.  What does this mean?  It's time to for a picnic.  We had the opportunity to surprise Daddy at school with a picnic lunch.  

Elai loved that he got to see his daddy during the middle of the day and Josie really enjoyed crawling around in the grass.  I wish we could just bottle up these days and make them last forever.  I am hoping for many more picnics before our time here is over.

{Good Hygiene}

Yep, that is what we are practicing.  I am so glad that our kids get excited about practicing good hygiene. From brushing and flossing their teeth to baths or washing their hands.  They both love to do it all.

Josie is at that age right now where she especially loves brushing her teeth.  And doesn't she look cute doing so?

Elai recently had really started to enjoy flossing.

In fact he loves it so much that I have to hide the floss or he will use it all in one day.

I never thought that teaching my children the little, yet important, things in life could be so rewarding.

{Georgia Temple Trip}

While in Georgia we were able to attend the Georgia temple with grandma.

There is no better place then temple grounds.

And the sweet spirit that is there.

The Georgia temple is also where Zech's parents were married almost 27 years ago!

Not sure what he was doing here.  I can never keep him in line.

Overall a great day!

{Florida Beach}

When I think about the beach in Florida there is only one word that comes to my mind WOW!  I mean seriously breathe taking.  I couldn't help but feel so lucky to be sitting there on that beach.

 We all had such a great time.  This was our kids' first time at the beach.  They both loved it.

Zech was so happy to be "home"

Grandma Mitzi, isn't she beautiful!

When we talked about going to Florida the only thing Zech said he wanted to do was go to the beach, now I understand why.

It was a time enjoyed by us all, that however ended way to quickly.