Molly!

Just look at this sweet face...

She's a doll and I'm her proud aunt.  Little Molly was the main reason we decided to runaway to St. George for the week.  She was so worth it!

Sam and Max loved checking out their new cousin.  Sam loved 'his' little feet, 'his' little head, and all of 'his' things! 

Max didn't know what to think of Molly Ann.  He took desperate measures to make sure we knew HE was still the baby.  He was fascinated with Molly's carseat, bed, and binkies, but he was not at all amused by the fact that his own momma was paying so much attention to this baby girl.  He turned into quite the momma's boy during the week and wanted to be wrapped, snuggled and held just like his newborn cousin.   

St. George, even with its 100+ degree heat, is still a family favorite.  We swam and swam and swam.  Sam surprised me with his fearlessness in the pool and behind the boat. 

Max loved the water too, and after watching Sam, his reservations about jumping into the pool quickly subsided.  He was full of energy the entire trip!  After hearing Josh, Kelsey, and Ally all say "How do you ever handle your kids by yourself?"  I think it's safe for me to say that Max has made them all a little more leery about having children of their own.  He may be a handful, but he's definitely a handsome one. 

While in St. George, Sam made it clear that Gram is his best friend and favorite person, ever.  He loved golfing with Pops and being teased by Josh.  He's really so grown up and surprised us with his sweet compliments.  My favorite 'Sam Compliment' of the week..."Your veins are cute."

Most of our trip was spent soaking up time with the Morgan clan, but we did get to see a few other favorite people as well. 

Sam with two of his great-grandmothers...

Me with Liz, the bride-to-be on Saturday, and Ashley, my fellow mid-westerner! We felt old thinking that we've been out of high school for nearly 10 years?!

And of course, the Dockter cousins that are finally back in America!  And even though we don't live close...we're at least in the same country!

Our trip was wonderful.  There's just something about getting together with family.  It feels good.  We didn't feel totally complete without Eric though.  We'll have to bring him along next time. 

Ally does Indy

I love when Ally comes to my house.  I suddenly have a walking buddy, an extra carseat buckler, and automatic entertainment for my boys!  She is wonderful.  She's also patient, hilarious and fun.  Why can't sisters live closer?! 

It was fun to explore Indy a bit together.  Here's a rundown of what we did...

We visited the zoo, twice, where we rode the rollercoaster three times, and laughed at Ally cringing and screaming at the butterflies floating around in the butterfly house. 

We visited Broad Ripple, twice, where we walked part of the Monon and almost attended a beer fest by accident.  Sam slept through dinner at La Piedad and Max ate all of my icecream at Brics. 

We walked around the canal district, twice, where Ally and I figured we walked at least 10 miles (ha!)  and then tried desperately to capture some pictures of the boys.  Ally also saved Max's life at least 20 times while we were at the canal.  He's a rascal and likes to run... mostly away from me. 


We saw a gorgeous sunset and sang "Freedom" by Akon at least 50 times. 

Oh, good times. 

 

And now that she's checked Indiana off her list, she's headed to India for another adventure.  Although, I'm sure it won't compare to the excitement experienced in the Circle City!

This & That

My boys seem huge to me lately! 

Max is suddenly a talker!  The first thing he says when we get in the car is 'window down!'  He tries his best to repeat everything Sam says.  My favorite thing is hearing Max yell for Sam when we're playing at the park.  "FWAM!  FWAM!"   Sam secretly loves it, too.  Some of Max's favorite things these days are popsicles, raspberries, and bubble baths.  (This picture suggests otherwise, but it's true.)  He still loves his binky and definitely understands the rule that binkies only belong in bed.  I've caught him twice hiding under his crib with a binky in his mouth this week.  He's a sneaky one!

And Sam, as usual, makes it hard for me to get a word in during the day.  He's been quite my little buddy lately and I love the conversations we've shared.  Just yesterday, he crawled up on my lap, patted my cheek and said, "It's hard being a mom, isn't it?"  How does he know?!  He's turned into quite the swimmer and climber this summer, and he's sure proud of that.  Sam's also super, super competitive these days.  He insists on being the tallest, the fastest, and the smartest.  Last night at dinner, he and Eric got into quite a discussion about who's muscles were bigger.  After a good 15 minutes on the topic, Eric finally relented...Sam's biceps are huge! :)

I feel like we're settling into a routine here and it feels really good.  The boys are playing more and more together and I love catching them in the act.  They are buddies. 

Part of our new routine includes walks in the morning to feed the ducks, but little Max usually ends up eating nearly half of our loaf of bread.  So typical!

We've been seeing more of Eric than I thought we would since work started, and that's a huge plus!  The boys have missed having him around during the day....so have I.  Life's way more fun when Eric's home! 

Friends

I remember moving to Toledo.  It was hard.  Sam was barely two weeks old, Eric was adjusting to life as a full-time med student and I was an emotional, post-partum wreck.  I didn't believe for a minute that I was going to grow to love life as an Ohioan.  Eric promised me that someday when it was our turn to leave Toledo I would cry because I'd be so sad.  And guess what...he was right.  I cried, hard. 

There are so many things I grew to love about Toledo.  I love the parks, and the springtime is beyond amazing, but mostly I love the people.  We were lucky enough to have a few of our favorite Toledoans visit this week and it was so great.  Thanks for coming Ericksens! 

It's not always easy to live at least 1,000 miles from family, but I think it's helped me realize that there are good people everywhere and that friends really become family.  I'm thankful for that little lesson learned. 

Here's to my midwest friends...the old ones and the new.