Rubykiss

On May 26, 2015 @ 3:06 pm, Ruby was born at St. Joseph's hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr Lythgoe barely caught Ruby after Mom's water was broken and Ruby came just 40 minutes later. A wild rollercoaster for all present in the room (Mom, Dad, nurse #1, #2, #3, doctor on call, resident, medical student) as all the medical staff urged me to wait for the doctor before pushing...We are so happy to have this precious girl in our family. She has already made the joy in our home increase substantially. We are all crazy about our "Rubykiss" as Brielle has named her.

Hudson is the best BIG brother and has this down pat. Another little sis? Bring it.

Brielle is officially a big, little sister and enjoying it (at present)

The three cuties, in the flesh. This is too much fun to see their fascination with Ruby and the almost immediate bond of the siblings. This is where Thomas and I get all our kicks. Wouldn't trade these muffins for anything!

Hudson turned 4 a week after the birth of Ruby. We made his birthday a big deal with a bulldozer transformer (by request for the months leading up to his birthday), a race car track cake (also upon request), swimming, pizza and balloons galore. Hudson is our amazing, talented, joyful, fun-loving little man. We love you Hudson and celebrate you!

The siblings continue to love our new little gem: Ruby.

My lovely Mother with the girls on Ruby's blessing day.

Our beautiful Ruby is full of light and happiness. I hold her and I melt everytime. Thomas teases me for how in love I am with her. She really can do no wrong.

My baby doll is WAY too cute for words or to capture entirely on camera. Ruby is cuter than a button, sweeter than cupcakes, and WAY better than a brand new puppy. 

The 4th of July was HOT, HOT, HOT here in Phoenix. Surprised? Nevertheless, we got out and swam with some friends and enjoyed a good traditional American cookout.

They're home!!!! After a 3 year mission to Brazil, Layne and Marian are back:) What a wonderful reunion to see them again and have them meet Brielle and Ruby, who were born while they were away. It was truly a sweet time together.

Ruby's first white dress

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Great in Payson is always a treat. These are two of the most amazing people I know. Having them around for my children to know and love is such a blessing.

Just having juice, Mom.

We got a hot, new minivan and Ruby insisted on sporting the front seat:)

This last weekend, we packed up our minivan and trekked up to the Arizona mountains for a little getaway to the greener parts of this desert. Tonto National Bridge---a huge cave with some incredible views and hikes.

Brielle just continues to get cuter and more adorable as time presses on. Her little voice, bouncy pig-tails, big eyes, and fast moving legs are too cute to watch. 

This Hudson means business when it comes to hiking. We made these kids sweat. About time we got out in nature after having Ruby!

                                                      

                         Spending time with my cute little family. This is what life is all about folks!

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!