Let's Talk About Life and Change

So much has happened since March... The wait was killer! We knew our lives would hit hyperdrive once we heard back from the matching process and now here we are in May. To give a brief summary of events, we matched for residency in Phoenix on March 25th, packed up house the next couple days... drove for three days out west from our home in Chicago (Dad towing the Camry and drving the Budget truck, while Sydney wrestled the children in the car and battled severe water retention from being 8 months pregnant and driving 12 hour days). 

After arriving in Arizona, we stayed with our dear friend, Jane while we went hunting for a house and a doctor to deliver this baby in May. After nothing short of a miracle, we found a house a few days later to throw our boxes into, squared things away with a doctor in downtown Phoenix and then drove up to Utah to visit family and do a short rotation with Thomas's brother Taylor and his podiatry practice. Phew! Got that all out. On our way up to Draper, we stopped in to visit Nana and Papa Montague and enjoy a little Easter retreat/Conference weekend with family. Such a pleasant and welcome change from the crazy, hectic previous weeks.

Let's start at the most recent picture since our last post...Happy Mother's Day! Here we are in Phoenix, AZ in our new house and just a couple weeks out from having our new baby girl join our family. 

Brielle is talking so much each day, adores her big brother and stuffed animal (dog) and thinks she is the boss---she totally is too. She is opinionated, snuggly and quite the fish in the bathtub. After only knowing a baby bathtub since birth, we now have a BIG bathtub for the kids!!!! HOORAY! Bri was terribly nervous/terrified in the beginning, but now is all about bathtime. 

What?!?! We have a pool in our back yard???!! It has been a blast to enjoy the sunshine here in Phoenix. With all the tramatic adjustments that naturally occur from a big move, it is nice to have some perks to cling to. We are feeling spoiled to have a stand alone home with a pool and even a dishwasher AND washing machine/dryer! Definitely moving up in life:) Hudson is quickly learning to swim and is eager to play outside all day.  

We had to get hyped up before getting into the pool. The kids were excited about the idea, but when it came down to it, they were clueless as to what you even do in a pool. Problem quickly solved once they kicked around for a while. Not a difficult thing to fall in love with when it's blazing hot outside.

The kids have been the ultimate troopers as Mom and Dad have been setting up, cleaning and fixing things around the house. Dad has done a million and one projects including: changing the light fixtures throughout the house, fixing the plumbing in both bathtubs and bathroom sinks, fixing fans, getting the kitchen disposal to work, fixing broken drawers, changing the hardware, running a water line from the sink to the refrigerator (now we have water and ice!), building window screens, painting closets, wiring an automatic garage door...you name it, he's figured it out and done an amazing job with it. What a handy man!

The big day has come! The kids have their own BIG bathtub! This may seem so silly that we are so pumped about such a commodity, but after bathing these two growing kids in a baby whale bathtub for the past year and a half...well, things needed to change and we are so grateful they have!

Easter was a blast and Nana and Papa Montague's house. Cousins Luke and Ezra came down to spend the weekend and the kids had a hayday with their Easter candy after the hunt. Thanks for spoiling them Nana:)

We hit the sand dunes and let the kids go crazy. They were quite a sight with white sunscreen caked to their skin and then after rolling in the red sand...This picture looks like a mini-Thomas to me. This kid likes a good drink, just like his Dad. He is in hog heaven.

After arriving in Phoenix and while looking for housing, we were so grateful to have Jane and her hospitality. The kids came to love Jane and felt right at home there. We are forever grateful to all the good people that have gotten us this far! We are thrilled to be finished with Podiatry school and excited to enter this new phase of residency. What a sweet time to share together with our little family. 

One of our stops along the way out west was in Dalhart, Texas with Thomas's brother Dennis and his family. We love that family! They are some of the coolest people you will meet and we were so happy to spend a little more time with their family. It's not every day you go through the small town of Dalhart, so we felt pretty happy to have had the opportunity to make some sweet memories with the cousins along our journey.

Here we go! Budget truck packed and ready to drive the miles across the country. Mom cried closing the house door for the last time and driving away from that sweet chapter in our lives. Hudson was so worried about me as I was sobbing..."Mom are you going to be okay?" It was such a thoughtful inquiry, but it just made me cry harder because he hadn't a clue what was really happening. Those were some of the best memories made and our best friends, the Tranters came to bid us farewell. It made it hard to drive away, but we couldn't be more thankful for all the sweet times we will cherish from our experience in Chicago.

Our cute little Tranter/Wright kids hanging out for one last goodbye.

The beginning of our long journey and Mom is prayerful that the kids cooperate and buckle in for a long ride...Love these kids for being so flexible and tolerating the long hours in the car. It's not fun for anyone, but all in all they did great!

This is the view I had for 1,775 miles...Those Budget trucks don't have the manliest of engines so it was a slow 1,775... We did it though! We made the trek and were so grateful for no disasters along the way.

The week we packed up, it was Grandma Wright's birthay and the kids were so excited to put on their party hats and give a big cheese for Grandma:) I was dying at how hilarious they were during the whole thing. Kids make everything funnier.

The two best buddies. 

Spring is in the air, but it's still freezing in Chicago! We wore some early Easter clothes for our last Sunday at church in our beloved Buffalo Grove 2nd Ward and it was a bitter/sweet reality. Excited to move forward with this journey, but extremely sad to leave many friends that we have loved and learned so much from.

Just reading while Mom packs up the house. The kids were so good to just take each day and make the most of their changing surroundings. It was difficult to explain what was actually taking place, but they quickly learned that their little world was changing, but were happy and confident that life would be happy in our next home. Thanks for giving Mom hope!

Waiting Out Winter

Last winter we escaped to St. George, Utah (or the reality of a cold winter) while we waited for the harsh months of winter to pass here in Chicago. Thank goodness! Because last winter was a record awful. THIS winter however...we have had to pay our dues. It's a good thing that our kids make us laugh and keep us busy or Mom just might turn into a hibernating bear and force her cubs to fend for themselves while she slumbers-a-bloat. All we do is eat, eat and eat when the weather is ridiculous and not worth trudging through. "What should we bake today Hudson?" is a common question in our household. We are mastering the art of hibernation in all its forms.

Exhibit A: We spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking, munching and thinking about what we want to eat next. The kids are much more intuitive with their eating habits, whereas Mom has turned into a ravenous food monster without a threshold. Winter. Pregnancy. Sedentary. Awesome. Any questions?

Exhibit B: We decided to bag all principles of nutrition while we headed north into Wisconsin and stayed at a little indoor waterpark (Great Wolf Lodge) for a few days. Upon our arrival home, we HAD to finish the remains of our lute. Dinner has never been so nutritious. These two were in heaven with such leniency.

We spend a lot of time looking through books and reading together. This was a cute sight to behold one afternoon as I was getting lunch ready for the kids. Hudson is very much into scouring the pages of any book he finds, but Brielle, I think is just being a copycat:) A cute copycat at that.

Our beloved Chidren Museum that we go to weekly. The kids have enjoyed exploring new territory and Mom loves that we are making messes other places than home base. 

"Um...what do I do? I've seen Hudson go off about these before..." Another gem at the museum.

Hudson has started an athletic class and gymnastics class through the rec center in our area. It has been a great energy outlet and good way to keep Hudson sane as he has been a cooped up little boy these cold months. He is becoming really creative at how he spends his time at home.

This little sassafras is all smiles. She brings a smile to our faces everytime she pulls one of these cheesy grins:) 

Here is Momma hotstuff. She got a new red purse from Nana and Papa Montague for Valentine's Day and knew exactly what to do with it: stuff it with a pearl necklace and throw it over her shoulder. We are innate creatures.

Another museum picture: Hudson could play in this area for a solid 3 hours. There are squirt guns, spinning wheels, foam boats and buttons galore that spray and shoot water everywhere. We usually end up soaking wet, but happy as a clam.

A Holly, Jolly Time

December has been magic. Preparing the house and feeling the excitement of Christmas can be some of the sweetest times of the year. We decked our front room in Christmas decor and gave Hudson the job of the lights. He thoroughly enjoyed plugging them in each day. Hudson was aglow with the Spirit of Christmas! We read about every Christmas book, saw every Christmas movie, and sang as many Christmas songs as we could throughout the day. You would think it would have gotten old as the days went on, but the joy just kept building!
Hudson also got the privilege of eating the amazing chocolate to our advent calendar. Not a day would pass that he wouldn't mention, "Mom, can I have my chocolate today?!" Bri did get one occasionally, but Hudson was always reluctant to pass the chocolate down to the baby sister.

Here they are, ready for the big day!!! Christmas Eve and eager to see what Santa would bring them in the morning! Hudson was sure he would get a whole lute of things and was pretty dead on. He was definitely spoiled.

This guy is happiness. He is full of so much love and is the sweetest of little boys. We love his personality and how much he is speaking his mind these days. Three-year-olds are so alive!

Caught Bri asleep on the couch and could have just kissed her little cheeks to no end. She NEVER does this. She and Hudson had been playing at the Children's Museum earlier that day and she got worked.

Turns out we found our hero Christmas morning. With a gun and sword, he was leaving nothing to chance. Prepared for anything. Bri is also prepared for the sale of the season with her shopping cart. She was putting everything in sight into her cart. Where could she have possibly learned that??? :)

We have a mini-helper in the kitchen now. I know she'll love it more as time goes on, but it was so fun to see how excited she was as she ran to it first thing that morning. 

This is where our morning started. Santa's leftover cookie crumbs. Santa didn't eat EVERYTHING and these kids don't waste sweets. Just helping out.

Christmas Eve, after putting on Christmas pajamas. The kids were too thrilled to sleep. We had so much fun experiencing Christmas through them this year. Being a parent is the best.

Sometimes I will catch the cutest pictures of the kids on camera. They are so much cuter in real life:). Brielle is the smallest little thing and full of words. She mimics everything we say and follows all her brother's actions (good and bad) ---a fast learning curve. We are amazed at her sponge-like capabilities.

This week, I found the kids on Hudson's bed reading books together. Hudson has so much fun looking through books and Bri is apparently a wannabe. I love capturing these moments where silence didn't mean a complete disaster was made in the other room. Hooray for clean productivity!

Candy Withdrawals

This big boy started preschool and hasn't looked back. LIVES for his preschool days. I started him in preschool because I know how he craves friends. It really is so cute how much he loves his friends. Nursery has always been a favorite part of his week. Now, life just got that much better buddy!
"What did you do during preschool today, Hudson???"
"Oh, just played with my friends. I love my friends."
Yes, it is totally worth the 25 minute drive each way. Plus, it has been some great Bri-Mommy bonding time:)

We took family pictures basically on the prettiest day of the season. It was balmy and colorful. No one had chattering teeth and blue lips. No major thawing ritual was required afterward. So refreshing! A much different story from last year's unbearable temperatures. Not even joking, two days later, this place froze over and all the colors vanished. We are glad we got some family photos in while we could still have some skin showing... without getting frostbite. Where do we live?

For Halloween, Brielle was the cutest elephant you will ever see in your lifetime. She has the whole snort with the trunk thing down too. AHHH! She is sooo much better than a doll! She wasn't loving the ear paraphernalia so Daddy had to pose her ears for her.  We ended up making a haul as we went trick-or-treating in a neighboring city's downtown shopping center earlier on in the day. Thankfully, there really wasn't much pressure for the performance of the children later that evening. 

Later that night, when we went out trick-or-treating in the crazy cold temperatures (and hit probably 5 houses before losing function of our limbs) we bundled the kids in layers upon layers to last as long as possible. Bri looked much more the part a little stuffed. She insisted upon holding Hudson's flag in her pictures though. Gosh, she knows how to get her way! I guess she is somewhat of a patriot.

This is our Halloween star! Hudson has been all about Halloween this year. The second we could put up decorations and get into the spirit of it all, he was hooked. He was our pumpkin scout. Everytime we would be out we would hear a common dialogue, "A pumpkin, Mom!!! It's Halloween, a little bit, right?! Oh, and another one, Mom!!!" Each time getting a little louder and a little more excited!!!! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!
He could not wait to be an astronaut. Something so adorable is that when we were getting ready for the ward party, he said, "But Mom, wait, where's my flag???" We didn't have a flag or talk about a flag up to this point. Where he remember this detail from, I am still unsure, but HECK YES! We will make you a flag son! Gotta be the part! Look at that smile!:)
We read scary book after scary book and flooded him with Halloween spirit so that when we finally took down the decorations, he was completely distraught. He still asks about when Halloween will be back.
Didn't totally fall in love the same way with Thanksgiving, but did end up getting the gist of the pilgrims and turkey business.

These two made quite a haul with these buckets. Made their parents right proud:) Turns out that kids are very aware of the sound of candy wrappers. Hudson will come running in whenever he suspects the sound.
"MOM, I HAVE TO HAVE SOME TANDY!"
You don't understand. He isn't lying. He really does HAVE to. If half of your DNA was comprised of sugar molecules, you would have withdrawals too. Thanks Dad:)

Harvest Time

August and October Harvests

We got us some beautiful load of carrots this summer! It was such a thrilling hobby to tend and love a garden and in return, have it love us back by providing some of the tastiest veggies I've had in a while. Hudson didn't miss the opportunity to play the part. He would bust out his tools, gloves and wheelbarrow to do his part in weeding and harvesting. My hope was that his pallet would warm up to the idea of consuming veggies "happily" since we had cared for and been through the whole process from their seeding days. It didn't prove effective, but at least we learned some new skills!

Garden carrots are the most delicious, but quite tedious to clean, trim, cut and prepare (if you have ambitions to go through all the steps in one afternoon). I now will look at the already cut, washed and prepared carrots in the store with much greater appreciation. Of course those companies use machines...but nevertheless! It is a process indeed!

We have had our fair share of zucchini this year. Zucchini bread, stir fry, steamed, kabobs, salad shredded, beefed up and marinated... Woah. Talk about a heap-o-zucchini! We would catch most of them right at the perfect time, but then we'd find the Moby Dick's of the garden, lurking in the shadows of the massive zucchini leaves. BAM! They get to be heavy weights fast. This zucchini could have eaten Hudson in one bite. 

Those green beans never got tiresome. I ate them as fast as they could grow. So fun to pick them and then go into the house and cook them up all tasty like. No better way to enjoy green beans!

After our summer harvest in August, we came home in October and found our squash were finished and ready to be enjoyed. Here the kids are modeling their different variety. Bri started into her butternut squash just after this picture. She was curious to see how it would taste raw. It only took one bite to know. There was never a second bite. Just a look of disgust across her face.  

Now that there is a Fall crispness in the air, we are back in coats and boots, prepared for a long winter. First, we will enjoy this amazing Fall weather. It is beautiful out in the Midwest in the Fall. Leaves changing, foliage everywhere, pumpkin patches, apple orchards. It is an enchanting season.

Bri is now 13 months old and seriously the cutest little thing. Her personality is so spunky and tender all in one and she is taking off with what girls do best: TALKING. She wants to say everything we say and do whatever she sees us doing. What a little woman.