A Peek at the Poulsens

Austin built me a shelf! (And by "me" I mean "his books with a little section for my books.") It was so handy of him - good work babe! I'm also happy with how this turned out: my baby picture with my stitchery from Grammy Bee, and Natalie's picture and stitchery beneath We weren't sure of the room configuration that we wanted once Jack was ready for a crib, but we decided on having the boys together and then Natalie having her own room. It was nice to finally decide because I was able to put up the wall decorations in each room where they will actually be instead of sort of willy-nilly nailing them wherever they fit. It's fun having a "girl" and "boys" room - I'll take more pictures once I'm more satisfied with how things are. We've spent some fun days at my parents' house the past few weeks; I'm sad my dad has to go back to work now that school is starting again (boo, jobs!) but glad my mom is ba...

My children got their first haircuts! Naturally Grandma was the go-to choice, and she did a great job. I was sad to see the bulk of Stockty's curls get snipped, but the top of his hair was getting unruly, so it was time to let it go. And I wasn't planning on cutting Natalie's hair, but after seeing Stockton she said she wanted a turn, and I'm glad she did because her hair is less scraggly and more even now. Grandma is the best! BEFORE (p.s. isn't he handsome?)  DURING AFTER He did SUCH a good job, I couldn't believe he sat still for so long! We whipped out all the tricks: Monsters University, three bags of fruit snacks, a banana, and his favorite alligator toy. Good work, buddy!  Natalie did well too, cute thing. She was a little overwhelmed by the process though and went to Daddy afterwards for some support. I told Austin on the way home that we have shorn children! The first of many shearings to come, I am sure. Thanks, Grandma!...

Pop-Pop decided Natalie should have swim lessons and promised he would pay for it and provide transportation (thanks Dad!), so we got her all signed up for a two week session in Pre-school 1. At first she was anxious about it, acting clingy and weepy and crying during parts of the lesson, but she warmed up to it after a few days and ended up having a great time. After one of her early lessons we were driving home and I asked her why she was crying during the lesson: N: I was having a little problem. Me: Oh, what kind of problem? N: Um, just a sad problem. Ha, in her cute little matter-of-fact voice it just sounded so funny. I'm glad she liked the swim lessons, and I'm glad she got so much good one-on-one time with Pop-Pop. They are definite pals. She was exhausted each night though with the no nap/swim lesson combo; she practically fell into bed each night. she's in the far corner group in the white top on the far right And, not only was she the youngest stud...

Randomly one Tuesday night we decided it was time to go mini golfing. We snagged Grandma (and Great-Grandpa Winterton who was visiting) to come babysit and grabbed Ross and Aly and headed to good ol' Adventure Golf Center, home of our very first date over four years ago! We had some issues getting there, ha: the golf place only takes cash and none of us had any, so we stopped by a random ATM but Austin's new debit card wasn't activated yet so we had to pause to call the 1-800 number, then Ross pulled forward so Austin could reach the ATM but it was too far from his window so he had to open the door, but the piping on the top of the car between the body and the door started coming off so Austin panicked, and meanwhile Aly was really hungry but we decided to wait until after to get a snack. It was silly and funny and we were already having a memorable night before we even got to our activity! At the ATM with the falling lining, ha, and Jack being patient   Finally we ...

Our sweet Natsby turned THREE on August 1st! She loved her birthday weekend and will joyfully tell anyone who asks that she's "free" (since she doesn't say "th" sounds very well.) I made her favorite dinner (palm springs chicken, YUM) and Jack and Mimi came over and we had cake and presents. She loved her blue "cinderella" cake that Mimi made, and she loved her new minions shirt from Daddy. She took her wish-making very seriously. Her favorite part of the celebration was taking little snips of the frosting. I should have taken a picture, but she picked off all the frosting from her slice and left the actual cake sitting there untouched, ha. She was blessed with presents galore from family and friends, and she loved all the attention for her special day. (I was holding an ipad during her party at the Poulsens so I don't have any pictures from there, but we had a great time, especially being able to face time with family in Utah wh...

I never thought I'd say those two words in a sentence, but that's what this week has been: happy and hot ! My mom is finally home (for at least a few weeks) from her summer travels, YAYAYAY, so we hung out with her twice this week. Yay for Mimi time! I will forever be grateful that both our parents live close. Natalie is still not napping anymore - I guess that's not new news - but she always gets really excited when Stockton gets up from his nap. I think she misses her built-in play buddy. One afternoon I found them like this after his nap:  She couldn't wait to go find him : )  The no-nap fallout has provided some contentions between Mommy/Natsby (no break for Mommy = more impatient and no nap for Natalie = more ornery, so it's a bad mix). One night I was tired of our bickering so I took her on a coveted "Mommy Date" to try to ease some of the tension. We went to Yogurtini (and Natalie had more fun moving the chairs around than eatin...