Paul's visit came and went :(

My older brother, Paul, came to stay with us for a week and it is already over. How sad! It was so much fun having him stay with us, but the timing was both good and bad. Somehow we all (Calvin, Johnny, and I) kind of came down with something (which we are still fighting, but starting to get over). I still don't know what we all had, but it just made us extremely exhausted and just not feeling the best. I got vertigo and nausea as a result of it. We were all gassy...and Calvin threw up (for the first time) and my brother got to help with it all. Poor guy, but he was such a GREAT help! So, it was wonderful to have him be able to help out with the kids and he even cooked for us while I wasn't really feeling up to it, but it was sad not to be able to do anything outside of our house with him. I haven't really been out this whole week until today. Johnny and I finally took the kids to riverside and went on a nice morning walk. It was VERY refreshing. Now all the kids and Johnny are napping and I am finally trying to get a post in on our blog while I have the time and energy. Paul (my brother) spoiled us rotten while he was here. We had a mini Christmas with him, he cooked several meals (all my mom's yummy recipes), stocked our pantry and fridge with all kinds of stuff, and just kept blessing us all week! He even bought an organizer for our pantry from Lowes....I had originally been storing all our stuff in a big cardboard box. Look how beautifully organized it is now!


Here are a few pictures of my brothers stay with us. Thank you so much Paul for hanging out with our family! What a blessing you were to us! We love you and will miss you! Calvin absolutely adored you!




Now that we have an awesome baby monitor that we can take outside (thanks to Paul), Calvin and I hung out in our backyard towards the end of the week while Maya napped and had some fun sandbox and pool time together. Calvin got to play with his new Tonka truck too! So much fun! And he loves trying dads BIG boots on and walking around the house in them...he actually walks around in them really well!





And here are a few pictures of Maya. She is really starting to grow up....I love watching her features develop! And another of the two kids. Aren't they cute...Calvin always asks, "Hold it...hold it....hold it?". I have been trying to teach him that Maya is a "she" and not an "it". It is pretty funny though!