The scoop as of late.

Ahhh... quiet house. Two toddlers happily sleeping. Life is good.
In case you think life is ALWAYS so picturesque, let me reassure you...

A few hours ago life involved me flipping out, hollering at Tillie and Calvin to stop messing around and go to sleep. Finally, I put a sobbing Calvin in his crib saying, "If you don't go to sleep in your big boy bed, then you will have to sleep in your crib like a tiny baby."
Through his choked sobs, he agreed to go to sleep in his big boy bed, clung to me, and said (after prompted) "Sowwy, mom." Tillie also said (unprompted), "Sorry." And they, amazingly enough, stayed in bed, closed their eyes and fell asleep. Hmmm... See, life isn't always so picturesque at every moment.

Sometimes I forget that they are so little. Calvin, really, even though he looks like he's 4 is only 2. Matilda, even thought she acts like she is 12, she really is only 3.5 years old. Sheesh.

Lately a life goal of mine is to have more patience. Did I tell you that soon after I posted the pictures of Tillie's cute room, I moved Cal's twin bed in there too? Yes, they are sharing. I thought, once upon a time, that it was a good idea to have them share. Sometimes, like this afternoon when I snapped, it doesn't seem like a good idea.

But then, I remember the night before:

As we were going to bed, we found them like this in Cal's bed. The next morning when I showed Tillie the picture, she said, "Oh, yeah. Calvin was feeling a little nervous and I decided to go give him hugs and lay by him so he wouldn't be scared anymore."
Hello.
Is that the cutest thing ever?
Sharing rooms at ages 2 and 3.5 have their highlights. This is one of them. Hearing them happily play and read to each other is another. It's amazing that when they have the rest of the house at their disposal, they can fight like crazy---but when they are in their little room, it's amazing how happily they play.

Annnnnyway, so... that's one part of life. There are lots of other things going on---obviously. Since I haven't posted for a while you would expect as much.

Let's do some updates, shall we? (warning: the next part looks like I'm sending out a newsletter. awesome.)

aaron's practice: He is liking this new practice a lot. He gets along with the other three doctors great and we can't believe they asked him to come aboard. (well, I mean, I can... Aaron is the bomb, duh!) He's learning a ton and getting faster and is motivated to work even harder here.

Aaron got to hang out with the famous Bryan brothers when they came to town. Who are they? Read this wikipedia article. Twin brothers who are the best tennis team in the world. Literally. BEST TENNIS TEAM in the WORLD. Very cool.

Like I mentioned, he likes the other doctors in the practice, and we've been happily surprised at how nice the rest of the staff is. Whenever we stop by to visit, the staff always has kind things to say about him. They are so sweet. Can you imagine working in an environment where there are over 50 female women? Amazing. (No wonder they loved it when I brought in our favorite caramel brownie recipe a few weeks ago. Now THAT's the way to get people to like your spouse.)

They had a feature done in the local magazine here (and they run ads in it regularly). It's kind of fun/crazy seeing his face in a glossy-magazine format.

In fact, he likes the practice so much, it looks like we are going to stick around for a little bit. Meaning... we are actively looking for a home to buy/build. Crazy.

housing situation: Notice that last part? Actively looking for a home to buy? Yes, it is ALL consuming. Exciting/Terrifying. We've actually been at it for a few months. Every day off of work for Aaron involves looking at neighborhoods, checking out homes, etc. etc. etc. So much so, that I told Aaron I gotta take a break for a bit. (Whoa! Re-reading that last sentence, I don't mean a "break" from HIM, a break from the house hunt! hA! If anyone knew our dating situation, you'd remember how several times in our courtship I asked to "take a little break"---obviously we see a re-occurring theme in my life. I am weak. I can't handle a lot of emotional tolls. Okay, now that we've established that fact, let's get back to real current HAPPILY MARRIED life.)

As you search around the DFW area, you soon will realize that after a while all the homes blur together and every neighborhood looks the same (well, really, most new construction neighborhoods really DO look all the same). Regardless, it's an exciting prospect. I'm trying to prioritize what pieces of a house is MOST important to me---the floor plan, the location, the price, etc. etc. Is it weird to want it all?! :)

Right now we're trying to figure out if we should build again (gulp!), buy an existing home somewhere, or hold out and rent for another year. All good options. Too bad no one will tell us exactly what we should do. We keep asking our parents, but they're not giving us any hints! As Stephanie Tanner used to say, "How ruuuuude!"

And, while we're on the topic of homes---I still have a little hole in my heart for the house we were building in San Antonio. Honestly, I loved that house. I LOVED that floor plan. The backyard was amazing... so many great things. I'm trying to embrace these new subdivisions and their lack of trees, but it is kind of hard remembering what we left behind. I think I will always be a little heart sick for that house. Is that so vain to say? Probably, but oh well, I guess I'm vain.

pregnancy: In other news, I'm still pregnant (thankfully). This baby is growing and my stomach is in that awkward "is she pregnant or does she just have a beer belly?" stage. Nice. But, I am happy that we are growing this little tiny baby and every prayer prayed over here includes this little one. I am tired still, lack motivation to do normal household duties (like cleaning up tornados of toys from two toodling toddlers), but overall, everything truly is rosy.

Tillie is obsessed with the app on my phone BabyCenter.com---except she calls it "baby.com". She loves watching the animated videos showing the developing baby in utero. It's so funny, she says, "Hey mom, I want to see your phone. I'm wanna see our baby on baby.com."

I will say, I can't help but chuckle when I overhear her telling Cal about how the baby has "testies" and "gentals" (can I write that on my blog??)---she has no real idea what she's talking about---It's times like that I wonder if I should turn it into a teaching moment or just let her stay in her little 3 year old ignorant bliss. I think I like the idea of the latter for another while.

Tillie is SO conscious of this baby in my tummy. When I pick her up, or she lays on me, she is always quick to ask, "Mom, is this hurting the baby? Is the baby okay?" It's really too sweet.

random tillie news: She continues to amaze us with her drawing skills. She LOVES to color and is constantly producing new artwork for our walls daily. She really is good.

I took a picture of Tillie as a BIG girl in Primary at church. Here she is giving a talk with dad. She did pretty well. The topic was Choosing the Right. She did a great job coloring/drawing ALL the pictures by herself. It was darling. Proud parent moment.

fabric update: This just in. Our new line for Kokka will NOT be debuting this spring. Boo. :( I can't say that I'm too surprised, b/c there were lots of pieces of the process that were taking delays (I think that is one of the aspects of working with a company overseas), but I've been surprised at how OKAY I am with the delay. And now, instead of going to Quilt Market in May, I can attend Tillie's first ever dance recital. How's that for silver lining? :)
And, while I'm being Positive Polly----getting everything ready for Quilt Market, doing marketing, and creating projects using the fabric takes a lot of effort. So, it all works out for this procrastinator. Although, I do worry a bit that postponing the debut till next market in Fall, life will be pretty busy with a NEWBORN in tow. hA! Oh well!

One thing I've been pleasantly surprised by is how willing they are to go with whatever artistic decisions we present them with. They really have been pretty dreamy for a designer to work with. So, there's the 411 on that front.

calvin: He's been making leaps and bounds in the communication department---which is doing WONDERS for his tantrums! It's amazing how talking resolves so many quandries! Crazy how that works!? :) He is darling as ever. His new thing is BELTING songs at the top of his lungs. I love it. He never has been too interested in singing along with everyone (esp. his sister), but lately he likes to take the lead. His favorite songs to sing are "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star"---"Nephi's Courage" and You've Got a Friend in Me" (from ToyStory).

Also, we are learning that he is SUPER indecisive. Oh, great. He gets that from BOTH Aaron and me... uh oh. When we ask him to choose between two or three things he says, "I want... I want... hmmm... hmmm... (puts his hand on his chin)... Hmm... I want... I want..." It's a little ridiculous, but kind of darling at the same time.

And now, to end the post, random pictures of the kids in St. Patrick's Day hats that Nana/Papa sent.

And a few more of the kids enjoying the awesome weather at the park:

So, that's what's been up. And now you know.