Special Visit From Our Cousins!
A couple of months ago I got an email from Justin's cousin in Arkansas The Bowers ( meet them and read about them at Bowers Baking And Babies) from Arkansas asking if they could stay with us a couple of days while they came to visit their college friend Megan in Houston. YES! YES! YES! We were so excited because the boys have never met their cousins Hadley (born Oct 15th 2 weeks before my sweet boys) and Noah (5 months old).
They flew in on Friday (bless Shannon's heart flying with a 5 month old who we later found had an ear infection and a 2 year old at nap time.. whew. With turbulence and terrible rain.) We had just gotten up from nap when they arrived. I think there is only one word to describe the initial meeting WILD! Crazy wild. They played with every toy in the house. We dealt with normal 2 year old drama (mine, not Hadley) that comes along with sharing toys and having new friends in the house.
After a yummy dinner (thanks Justin) we got ready for bed. We weren't sure how the sleeping was going to work but we voted to try Hadley with Beckett in his room. I ordered 2 of these travel toddler beds (and travel boosters) for our upcoming trips and they worked awesome! Hadley and I made her bed right beside Beckett and after just a couple of minutes of crying they were both out! Such cuteness, just peeking in on them made my heart melt. On Saturday night, Hadley cried a little more and I could hear Beckett saying "hadley, hadley" Precious little ones!
Friday night, tiny Noah had a rough night. On further inspection he had a fever. Poor guy. We called our pediatrician and they were very helpful and willing to see them in their weekend clinic. Shannon, Noah, and I headed out to the doctor and Justin stayed home to manage the 2 year old troops. As we suspected, Noah had an ear infection so after picking up an antibiotic we headed home. To find a whole lot of silliness! They 4 of them had been dancing to Elmo's dance party DVD I had bought the boys and they were C-R-A-Z-Y! and so cute dancing together.
After a good nap for all 4 babies - oh yeah, we felt like supermoms with all 4 sleeping at the same time we headed to the Woodlands to the Children's Museum. They all had a blast! It was so fun and lots of hands on activities just for their age group.
After all that play we were starving.. PIZZA! We found a great pizza place called Crust right near by and headed over. The little ones sat at the "kid table" and did great. Seriously, they had conversation over pizza. It went something like this. Eli: "dis big pizza" Hadley: "dis big pizza" Hadley: "this my fork!" Eli: "dis my fork" All 3 dissolve in uncontrollable giggles. Really, you should have heard the giggles. TOO CUTE!
It really was a great day! With the time change the boys and Hadley slept "later" on Sunday morning so we took our time and got us all ready for the later service at church. I can't believe how good we did getting all 4 to church and us on time!
They flew in on Friday (bless Shannon's heart flying with a 5 month old who we later found had an ear infection and a 2 year old at nap time.. whew. With turbulence and terrible rain.) We had just gotten up from nap when they arrived. I think there is only one word to describe the initial meeting WILD! Crazy wild. They played with every toy in the house. We dealt with normal 2 year old drama (mine, not Hadley) that comes along with sharing toys and having new friends in the house.
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| Favorite game - Beckett and Eli under, Hadley jumping on top |
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| Ipad Fun! |
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| Kisses! |
Friday night, tiny Noah had a rough night. On further inspection he had a fever. Poor guy. We called our pediatrician and they were very helpful and willing to see them in their weekend clinic. Shannon, Noah, and I headed out to the doctor and Justin stayed home to manage the 2 year old troops. As we suspected, Noah had an ear infection so after picking up an antibiotic we headed home. To find a whole lot of silliness! They 4 of them had been dancing to Elmo's dance party DVD I had bought the boys and they were C-R-A-Z-Y! and so cute dancing together.
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| This is what we found when Justin was left in charge! |
After a good nap for all 4 babies - oh yeah, we felt like supermoms with all 4 sleeping at the same time we headed to the Woodlands to the Children's Museum. They all had a blast! It was so fun and lots of hands on activities just for their age group.
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| Megan, Shannon, Hadley, and Noah playing house |
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| Eli was obsessed with pushing the cart everywhere |
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| Sand tables |
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| Um.. how cute is she!! |
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| Love these girls |
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| By far my sweet boys favorite! |
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| Noah watching the action |
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| Beckett being silly in the rocks |
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| Beckett could have put these scarves on the air ALL DAY! |
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| using my new app |
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| Triple trouble! |
It really was a great day! With the time change the boys and Hadley slept "later" on Sunday morning so we took our time and got us all ready for the later service at church. I can't believe how good we did getting all 4 to church and us on time!
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| Packed in the car and ready to go to church! |
No tears, no crying. All 3 amigos went straight to playing in Sunday School. They all were in great moods afterwards. We asked them if they learned about Jesus and Hadley said "yes, we learned about Jesus and how he poured out his Cheerios" Silly!
After a great nap on Sunday, Megan showed up with such our favorite treat. CRAVE cupcakes! We all enjoyed the yummy deliciousness and to our advantage none of the 3 kids finished theirs.. more for me :-)
With the help of 3 adults - yes it took all of us, we successfully completed an art project for the boys and for Hadley to take home with her. I found it on Pinterest from Confessions of a Homeschooler and it was simple enough so we gave it a shot. I loved our "stained glass" art for Easter. What I really loved is that Eli took his and I helped him stick it to the window as he was sticking the cross on the window he looked at me and said "that's for Jesus" what a sweetheart :-)
When Monday rolled around we were super sad to see them go. Eli and Beckett stood on the front step and waved and said "bye bye Shannon, bye bye Hadley" then Beckett cried as they drove away :-( After nap Monday, Eli got up and looked for them. He said "where my friends go Mommy" I told Hadley that I was going to miss her very much and she said "you can come to my house. I go home and see my daddy" What a blessing to have them here and for the boys to get to know their sweet cousins. Can't wait for a visit again!
Love,
The Riley's
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| Hadley spiced hers up with princess stickers |
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| Eli took this picture of Ms Hadley |
Love,
The Riley's