New Home

Mommy finally got internet access today so she can update what's been happening with Joseph and Audrey. Well, we left Texas the last friday at the end of August. Mommy and Daddy dropped Joseph and Audrey off with Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye in Arlington for a week so that Mommy and Daddy could get everything unpacked. Joseph and Audrey had a good time in Arlington. Ye-Ye took them to the splash pad at the nearby park almost every day. Joseph liked playing ball with Nai-Nai. Both kiddos liked jumping on the trampoline at the house and playing in the backyard. Mommy and Daddy worked really hard to get everything ready before the kids arrived. Mommy and Daddy repainted one of the bathrooms a neutral color because it was an awful shade of blue. The moving van also arrived later than expected because the truck broke down in Dallas. Daddy had to go to work right after all the boxes arrived. Mommy worked to unpack boxes during the day and Daddy helped after he got home from work. On saturday (1 week later), Mommy and Daddy met Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye and the kids in Gainsville, TX at the outlet mall. After some shopping and some lunch at the Cracker Barrel, we all headed to the new house.

Joseph and Audrey took to the new house right away. They enjoy playing in the big backyard. Sushi also likes her new surroundings. She has a big porch to lounge under and lots of space to run in the backyard. Because the new baby is coming soon, Mommy and Daddy decided to put Joseph and Audrey in the same room. Audrey is getting used to sleeping in a room with Joseph. Most nights she crawls into bed with Joseph and falls asleep. Daddy moves her to her own bed after she falls asleeep. Audrey does stay in her own bed sometimes. A couple of nights, Mommy and Daddy caught Joseph and Audrey playing instead of in their beds. Mommy and Daddy put all the toys in Joseph's and Audrey's room so that the upstairs room could be a guest room/library instead of a toy room like at the previous house. Sometimes the temptation to play instead of sleep is too great.

The weather here in Oklahoma has been great! Mommy and the kids spend lots of time outdoors. Daddy also spends lots of time outdoors after coming home from work. It is so peaceful in the country. The yard has lots of big oak trees. Joseph and Audrey like walking around the "woods" and exploring. Joseph and Audrey also enjoy riding their scooters off a small hill in the backyard. They push their scooters up the hill and ride down. One of Joseph's newest activities is to roll large rocks off the storm shelter in the backyard. Mommy told him not to "throw" big rocks so he decided to "roll" what he terms "little big rocks" down the front of the storm shelter instead.

Audrey hasn't sprouted any new teeth recently but she is starting to talk a lot more. She says lots of words. Her favorites are probably "no", "mine", "milk", and "shoes". She definitely loves shoes. Audrey is always putting on other people's shoes. Audrey also has quite a little temper. She has a loud, screechy, kind of gutteral cry when she gets mad and throws quite the little tantrums. Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye says that Audrey acts alot like Mommy did when she was little. Mommy threw lots of nice tantrums as a child. Mommy also liked to torment her Ge-Ge (older brother) just like Audrey enjoys tormenting Joseph. One night Mommy and Daddy heard Joseph crying for help. Daddy went in the room and found Audrey next to Joseph in his bed. She was sucking her thumb with one hand and whacking him on the head over and over again with her free hand. Joseph is actually a very sweet older brother and doesn't ever hurt Audrey even if she is hurting him. Audrey has slapped other children and tries to hit Mommy when she is mad. She is a little firecracker sometimes.

Joseph has discovered the world of cartoons on the new channels that come with having Direct TV. He also decided that he loves video games. Mommy and Daddy have had to deal with a lot of tantrums when we limit the time he can spend watching cartoons or playing games. Joseph does like to do other things that are not so mind-numbing. He loves to draw and color and do crafts. He also likes to explore the house with his flashlight. Joseph plays well with other children and always tells Mommy that he "shared" with his friends. Joseph's new nursery teacher said that he has been very good in nursery and has been a good helper. Mommy and Daddy were happy to hear that he does well in nursery. Audrey has been doing pretty well in nursery since this last sunday was only her second time to go. She was a little emotional on sunday. Church happens to be during afternoon nap time so it is a hard time for Audrey.

Joseph seems to understand somewhat that we don't live in Texas anymore. He says Oklahoma is "far, far, away." Although, at times he does ask to go to places in Texas and doesn't seem to realize that we are far from the old places we liked to visit. Mommy and Daddy will have to find lots of new places for the kids to visit. We are thinking about going to the Oklahoma State Fair sometime this week. We also have plans to check out the zoo, bricktown, and other fun places that we have heard about. So far, we all seem to like Oklahoma.