Sunday stroll

Don't you just love a beautiful Sunday? We had a lovely time at church and were excited to have an intimate family BBQ. JT set the ribs on the grill and we grabbed the kids and went for a walk. Is there anything more peaceful than sharing a day of joy & beauty with your family?



Grace

"I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am."

--John Newton

Getting in the Fall spirit

Sunday I had myself a good crafty time. Honestly, I've never been one to care about doing crafts before.  But for some reason it's starting to grown on me.
I went to JoAnne's on Saturday to hunt down a costume pattern for the twins. While there, I decided to check out the fall decor.  I found a wreath I fell in LOVE with and was about to toss in my cart when I realized the price tag said $60! You've got to be kidding me! Do they KNOW how much formula we have to buy in a month?! So rather than let the twins starve, I chose to spend $15 on the supplies to make it myself. I was pretty proud of myself and rushed home to get right to work!
I pulled out my craft box from JT's Grandma Pace and started looking for the glue gun. The panic set in when I realized I had pulled it out to attempt another project and left it in our office.  The office was being used as a construction zone at that very moment and there was NO WAY it was going to be where I left it. Dang it. Thankfully, our friend Tara offered to let me borrow hers. My life was saved.
Once I had all my supplies set up and was ready to get to work I realized that I didn't have a crafty clue. After many failed attempts and rearranged flowers, I finally found an arrangement I liked! Success!
I was pretty proud of myself and set it up in my kitchen to take a picture. There it remained for 2 days so I could smile at it every time I walked in.  I'm a dork. I know, but it makes me happy! To be honest, I don't consider it 100% perfect and there are some things I will end up tweaking, but until then I think near-perfect is perfect enough for me. :)
I'm linking up to The DIY Showoff Fall Festival.

JT providing me with some Fall inspiration

Welcome to the family!

On July 27th we had a little nephew named Anderson born into the family! Lacie did a wonderful job and looked amazing when I went to visit them in the hospital. The little guy had to wait a while to meet his daddy but once he did they looked really cute snuggled up together.

Some friends of ours babysat the twins the day after Anderson was born so that I could go to the hospital to see him. Isn't he adorable! Congratulations Stephen and Lacie! I bet they're in heaven.

Our (almost) 8 month-old twins!

I can't believe how quickly my babies have grown up!  It's so sad that my little newborns are gone.  Don't get me wrong, I'm LOVING the full nights of sleep and not having one or both babies in bed with me.  But I still want my little miniature Porter & Delilah to cuddle with!  Okay though, this post isn't about me whining.  It's about THEM.

Oh my goodness I adore these cuties! They keep me so busy now.  My biggest problem is that Mommy isn't as cool as she used to be and they get bored a LOT quicker than they used to.  Thank heavens for our "Los Pollitos" song in those moments. It always stops them in their tracks and brings out the smiles.  Or there's always distracting them with each other. It's super adorable to see the way they start smiling and laughing while holding hands. :) 

 

Don't worry. He doesn't actually sit forward facing in it. He's was modeling his big boy carseat since he's now 23 lbs!

  

Visiting Daddy at work

Our mischievous little Porter is always ready to go.  Just look at that little smile! He wakes up (and actually wants out of bed) at about 8:30 am.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am a lucky girl.  My babies like to sleep about 12 hours a night and only wake up at 6am for a bottle before going back to sleep. I know how blessed I am. Anyways, I'll walk in there to pick him up and get greeted with the BIGGEST smile I've ever seen as he begins to bounce on all fours.  He gets super excited to see me (and get rescued) after he's slept.
I bring him into bed with me hoping against hope that he'll want to spend 5 minutes cuddling with Mommy.  Not a chance. He flips over onto his stomach and almost army crawls his way off the bed about 10 times before I give up and head to the living room.
Since Mommy & Daddy haven't yet figured out that it's easier to babyproof the house before bed, I spend a good half hour cleaning up the living room and telling Porter that once again he is not allowed to eat wires/cables of any sort.  When he hears me say no he does one of 2 things: he either drops the cable out of his mouth and starts to fuss or makes eye contact with me and then continues chomping away. Why do I feel like he's already prepping me for the teenage years?!
The rest of the day alternates between his meal, nap, and play schedule.  He gets plenty of time playing on the floor with Mom and Delilah.  There's also quite a bit of time where he's thrilled to play in the jumper that Grandma and Grandpa Trout bought him.  I think the girls that live in our basement must think there's a kangaroo living up here!
Porter and Delilah share the same nap schedule: Anywhere from 9-10am small nap (if they've been up for at least an hour), 12-2pm nap, 4-5:30/6pm nap, and 8pm is bedtime.
Food is greatly enjoyed by all.  Porter is very particular about getting all the food he deserves. He has 4 teeth (I can't believe it!!!) so he can munch away on things like multigrain cheerios, pieces of cheese, and mashed/chopped (really really really finely) foods.  Tonight we tried pinto beans for the first time.  He locked his mouth and turned away from the spoon every time.  Delilah was more than happy to finish his portion for him. :)
Porter is just really a boy.  He's curious, active, strong, happy, and headstrong. I LOVE it.

Our little Delilah girl is just full to the brim with personality! She's a happy little girl that has no problem letting you know how she feels...immediately.
On the mornings that I go in and get Porter first, she waits until she sees me picking him up and then bursts into tears because she isn't the one being held. It doesn't matter that she MUST know I'm coming back for her. She cries until I reappear and pick her up. Then she flashes the biggest smiles possible and babbles to her heart's content.
During the day she just has one simple rule to keep her happy (aside from feeding her and letting her sleep): I must hold her at all times.  No joke.  Funny thing is though, I LOVE IT! I really thought it would bother me more since there's always a million things to do.  Maybe having Porter no longer feel the need to cuddle with me has made me aware of how precious this stage really is.
In fact, Delilah likes spending time with me so much that she has no interest in doing anything to become mobile.  When I put her on her stomach, the most she'll do is hold her head up for a few minutes and then decide to take a nap or fuss with her face into the carpet. She doesn't want to crawl or roll. She has recently learned how to sit upright, although I feel like she knew all along.  You see, I worked with her nonstop to get her to sit up and she never would.  Then a few weeks ago JT and I bought the twins a fun little tree/animal toy.  Guess who suddenly knew how to sit up all by her lonesome?  Yep. Since purchasing the toy she has spent a lot more individual time on the floor sitting upright.  I just have to be careful that I don't let her see me walk by, hold her brother, or feed her brother. 
I'm not sure if I'm just making her sound like a demanding little brat, but I assure you she's not! I can't get over how sweet she is.  She's always cuddling with me, breaking out into spontaneous giggles, or letting me play games with her.
Maybe when they turn 1 then Porter will want to play with ME and Delilah will want to learn how to do...anything really.  That could be a longshot though...

Awesome news & a funny moment

*drum roll please*

Today JT was promoted to service manager at his branch!!!!!!!!!!! Yay JT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of him and all his hard work.  It's great that Wells Fargo values him as they should.  He's worked for Wells Fargo for 2 years (that's it! Crazy!) and has gone from teller to banker to service manager.  He's only been a banker for 9 months now too! Good job sweetie!  Along with the promotion comes a whole host of advantages for our family.  We've been praying for this ever since the position opened up and now all there is to say is THANK YOU!  I know we've had a lot of support from all of you. We feel it.

Now for my funny moment of the day.
Today I strapped Porter into a stroller and put Delilah into the "monkey harness" (JT's affectionate nickname for the thing) and went for our afternoon walk.  I'm so glad that the weather is finally cooling down around here! I was going stir crazy not being able to take the kids outside!
Anyways, at the end of the neighborhood was a larger yard with sprinklers going. They all looked to be functioning appropriately so I continued walking on by. Best move EVER.
The corner sprinkler swung around and sprayed cold water all over the 3 of us! You know that gasping sound that babies make when you blow in their faces?  That sound times 5 was what I heard.  I would've given anything for a video of that moment!  They didn't cry or anything so I know it only surprised them.  I pulled over to the other side of the street to see if I could dry them up.  When I inspected Delilah's sopping wet hair and the water droplets still covering Porter's confused face I BUSTED out laughing!  I seriously stood there for a minute or two just laughing my fool head off.  That definitely didn't help the twins' confused faces.  Oh but I'll tell ya, that will be one moment I beg to see in Heaven. :)

Where does the time go?

OH my goodness it's been forever since I've blogged! There has been a TON of stuff going on over here at the Trout house.  Let's see...where to start...
* Porter is almost almost almost crawling
* Delilah is our new little giggler.  Seriously, there's nothing she doesn't think is funny anymore. Even looking at the TV makes her burst into giggles.  We LOVE hearing the endless giggles from the living room when we're not even there!
* JT's parents came up for a fun visit and brought Stephen with them!
* JT's parents took me and twins back down with them to Riverside for a VERY fun week-long stay
* Bonnie, Katie, and Reighlynn personally drove us back to Provo
* Katie and Reighlynn got to stay with us for a whole week!
* We took pictures with all the grandkids
* JT is gunning for a promotion and starts school tomorrow!
* I got a new calling

Since Porter refuses to be put down right now I'm gonna have to go. Enjoy the grandkid photos! Lacie's mom is way too talented! ;)