Science Museum in Durham

One of Corey's spring break days was spent on the couch, but the next day we talked him into taking us to the Science Museum in Durham! Since you have to pay an "arm and a leg" to get in, we made the best of it and spent the entire day there. I think our favorite thing was the butterfly conservatory, and seeing the cool stuff that astronauts brought back from space!

 Hanging out with the butterflies!

 Insects

Adelynn was SO excited about the scorpions! She has been wanting to see a real one ever since she heard about them..

 Addy and Daddy!

 We couldn't resist, we had to scare Adelynn!

 This NC Flag was flown into space with one of the astronauts!

RANDOMNESS:

 Addy made a Rapunzel mask with a little help from Mom

 She's a Princess!

 What 1-year olds do...

 Peek-A-Boo!

Funny Kids!

Corey's 29!

On March 5th, Corey turned 29! He is officially as old as his "Old Woman" now. He had a great birthday because it just happened to be his Spring Break too! But, don't get too excited for him, his Spring Break was 2 days long! At the rate he is studying and going to clinicals we were happy to have those days off! I wanted to plan something fun, and he wanted to sit on the couch and relax. Since, it was his birthday I let him relax!  

 Corey excited to see what his Grandma and Grandpa Woollard sent! The cookies they sent were gone within 12 hours. :)

 Corey got spoiled by us, but all his gifts were wrapped in girly wrap thanks to Adelynn!

 I laugh everytime I see this picture, because the cake looks like it is on fire!

But, he blew all the candles out at once and I sure hope his wish comes true!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and remembered him on his birthday! 

First Snow!

Things are looking up for us, Corey is done traveling for clinicals, for the time being!!! I finally got the guts to take Jack to the doctor and his ears were great, so we decided that he has been crying so much due to teething. Also, this is kind of a weird story, but when Jack quit breastfeeding I gave him cow's milk to wean him, and he was throwing it up and had bad diarrhea. So, I thought that I would be the perfect parent and feed him organic soy milk instead. He has been on soy milk for about two months and has been cranky with ear infections and even more severe diarrrhea. But, I didn't ever equate it with an allergy to soy milk until I was researching reasons for ear infections online and allergies came up. Come to find out, about as many people that are allergic to cow's milk are allergic to soy. So, to make a long story short, I started him back on cows milk and the first day I thought I had a different kid. It was AMAZING! I think he originally threw up the cow's milk because he was trying to transfer from breastmilk, or may have been sick. However, this past week has been much better, and he LOVEs real milk with lots of fat in it to help his brain grow!!!  YEAH!

On February 19th, our Dad was gone studying for a test, and it was about nine thirty at night. I still hadn't managed to put the kids to bed yet and was running around trying to clean. I looked out the window and I couldn't believe that I was really seeing snow in Raleigh! I grabbed the camera and opened the door and got Adelynn on video in shock. We had given up on the idea of seeing snow this winter. In fact for the first part of winter all Addy could talk about was when would it snow and how bad she wanted to eat some. :) I just kept telling her she probably wouldn't see snow in Raleigh much, especially because it has been so warm here. Anyway, it snowed a tiny bit and it was all gone by the next morning, but we went outside and played in it for a minute and ate some snow. Adelynn, kept saying, "My dream came true", and "I prayed for this"! It is a minor thing, really. But, you have got to be grateful for the little things in life as well as the big, right?!?

 Yes, she's in shorts and a coat.

 Our first snow in Raleigh!

 A multi-weather outfit, because after our "snow day", we had weather in the 70's that week too!

Jan & Feb Update in Pictures!

With this blog post I have a disclaimer:  Adelynn has been completely obsessed with the camera and has walked around for a month taking random pictures and videos of all sorts of useless things.

 So, the majority of the photos are taken by her. Also, I realize I haven't blogged in awhile because it seems like I have been SO busy. But, I look back and wonder what I was busy doing and all I can think of is trying to hold everything together while Corey has been gone to Fayetteville doing clinicals. The kids have hated having him gone at nights, and when he comes home on Friday's they just attack him and are so glad to have their Dad home! But, it doesn't usually last very long because he has to leave to go study. :) We are counting down the days until Feb 24th, his last clinical in Fayetteville! Then, he will be home at night, even if he is studying.

Anyway, as for myself and the children a few pictures below should describe what we've been up to:

 Had the LDS missionaries over for dinner and Addy dressed them up and took their pictures.

 Elder T

There is almost always a pile of clean laundry to rest on around here.



 Addy put this on her head and called herself Lady Gaga,

 not sure how she would even know who she is?

 I bought Corey (or us) a rice cooker/steamer for Valentine's Day,

I don't think he was actually this excited, but we've really needed one.

It's hard to live on beans and rice without a rice cooker!

 Little Miss Addy taking pictures of herself!

 What I deal with ALL day, Addy teasing her brother and he goes around the house screaming!

 Since we have been in Raleigh Adelynn has taken a few introductory classes in gymnastics, swimming, and karate. I just want to channel her energy and get her familiar with sports. So far, she says she hates Karate and LOVES gymnastics. So, she may have found her niche.

Jack cries a lot. We are all healthy, kind of! Jack still has an ear infection in his right ear. So, is it bad that I'd rather deal with the ear infection than go to the doctor? I just HATE hot waiting rooms with germs oozing out of every corner. I know he needs an antibiotic AGAIN, I've just been putting it off.

 I was so grateful to have my kids to spend Valentine's Day with!

It's my favorite holiday, and they were extra fun to be with.

We got to eat a wonderful rice lunch (from the rice cooker) with our Dad in-between his classes.

LOVE them!

Addy got the "Barbie, Princess Charm School" movie from us for Valentine's Day,

 but lets be honest I bought it for myself.

It's a great movie and it keeps her busy watching for over an hour. ;) 

I have been teaching Adelynn preschool at home this year, until she starts preschool in the Fall. She is SO self motivated that she is asking me tons of questions and works really hard to learn about EVERYTHING. She is very crafty too, something she must get from her Dad. Anyway, today I found these on our bed. It's a his/her crown!

This is my NEW BEST FRIEND! The plan is that it is going to work magic for me: reduce stress, get me in shape, reduce anxiety, help me enjoy nature, get me and the kids out of the house. You get the idea, and so far it is just as great I as I thought it would be, maybe even better than expected. Can't beat that! Meet me on the Greenway and we'll go walking ladies!

Sick, Sick, Sick

Jack is going to start his third round of antibiotics today for his double ear infection, and he will be doing four breathing treatments a day (at home) to clear up his chest congestion. The poor little guy just isn't getting better, and his doctor is a little confused by it too. So, she decided to quit treating the ear infections and start treating the wheezing in his chest. He needs a lot of rest, but he wakes up a bunch at night in pain. Mostly, this blog post is me venting! So, feel free to skip over it entirely. It seems like Corey and I have been sick a ton this Winter also, we keep passing our colds and sicknesses back and forth to each other. Our family has literally been sick for about a month now. Luckily, my little Addy girl has always been a healthy girl! So, I'll count my blessings about that. :) Corey has been staying in Fayetteville (two hours away) from Tues-Friday to do his clinicals, and when he's home he is either exhausted or studying. So, I can honestly say I'm a one (wo)man band around here, trying to keep everyone healthly and happy! I'm soooooo glad I get to be at home with my kids everyday and that we are here in Raleigh with such a great support system. When things get tough, I seem to be able to pull myself out of it by counting my blessings! So, we will be crossing our fingers that our little Jack-Jack can get all better and then things wont be so rough for this Moma!

 Daddy giving Jack his 1st haircut on Sat. January 14th 

 Chop-Chop!

The BEACH on New Years!

Who doesn't LOVE the beach in winter!?! We drove down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the 30th of December and spent two nights on the beach with our kids! It was a lot of fun and a much needed vacation for all of us! We went to the Children's Museum of South Carolina and Adelynn had a fun time celebrating "Noon" Year's Eve with a TON of other kids. Then, we spent the afternoon at the beach, it was sooo warm and Jack loved every minute of it. He got so much attention from all the passer-by's and just kept crawling for the waves. We saw a great fireworks show on New Year's Eve, and listened to all the crazy people screaming off their balconies at midnight. It was exciting to watch the ball drop in real time, because this was the first New Year's we've been on the East Coast! Oh, and the next morning we ended up coming home with two lovely hermit crabs; named Gabriella and Bobby Pink, but their nicknames are SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs!

 Our drive to South Carolina was lined with church after church and crazy moss growing from the trees!

 Handsome!

 Excited!

 Addy insisted on sitting at the outdoor bar. But, it was closed.
So Corey brought his own beverage of choice. :)

 Addy in a bubble at the Children's Museum

 Corey was helping Addy put the organs inside this patient!

 Cheers!  Happy "Noon" Years!

 Jack wanting to get in the water!

 Jack "walking" on the beach with Daddy!

 He has an ear infection, so I kept the hat on and he kept pulling it off!

 Watch out for the waves!

Corey + Robin = Love

 Finding shells with Dad!

 Cute Boys!

 Our hermit crab with a nice shell we want him to move into.

I had to post this video, so you could all get a feel for what our New Year's was like! This video was taken about five minutes after midnight and the celebrating continued for at least half an hour!

This was taken from our hotel balcony.
WELCOME 2012!

Christmas 2011

We had a perfect little, WARM Christmas! On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner with some friends who are also in nurse anesthesia school. On Christmas morning we opened gifts from Santa and Grandma and Grandpa's, and then we went to church. To be honest, I wasn't thrilled about getting in a dress and going to church on Christmas morning, but once I got there I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my Savior. I was very emotional that day, not because I was homesick, I just felt SO blessed to be with my little family that day! It truly was a great day with traditional Breakfast Casserole, an afternoon nap cuddling with my husband, and a short little chat with my favorite missionary in Vancouver!

 US on Christmas Morning!

 We all loved the marble run from Uncle Layne!

 Jack's walker

 What is it?

Kids in PJ's