Florida

Over Memorial Day weekend we took a trip with the whole "Schillinger" crew to Tampa, Fl. It was a blast! We had our own beach house (blessing), ton's of extra hands and great weather. Pictures say it all :) 

Love that we hear the boys playing together but find it hilarious when I turn the corner to see what they are laughing about and this is what I see. OMG! Funny!

 Beach Hunks!

 My grandmother enjoying the beach and a little T-Diz time.

 Maybe just a little excited

 Water Boy

 Evie-poo-poo

 Great location for a playground!

 Nanny and her boy

 Waves were a little rough and when my dad took Deegan alone they both panicked and Deegan scurried up my Dad's head so that he would not be swept away. Hilarious picture!!!!

 HA!

 Heim Family vacation # 2 for 2012 ... up next Cruise!

 This is a picture of my future. 2 Boys raiding my fridge.

 Baby turtle

 Great Family Photo's

Something has to Give

I clearly have not blogged in ages. Not for a lack of trying. I have struggled lately to be all things to all people and in this battle I keep forgetting someone important ... myself. I truly love my job and get validation through my work but there have been some changes within the organization.  During this time of flux, I have been asked to do a lot more work on top of my normal duties. I thought I could keep up, but even my supreme time management skills cannot hold up to this test. 

On top of that, I am a mother (in case you didn't already know). I come home, cook, clean, play and love. It is my favorite time of day. But when those little monkey's go to bed its back to work. Did I mention I am a wife? Well that duty has gone off to the waste side. A date night is definitely needed because we do not even have time to talk between our travels and late night work duties. Thank god I have the most supporting and understanding husband because I have been going 100 miles/minute and I could drive most men nuts with this act. 

I need to find time for myself. I need to find time to go grocery shopping, maybe to a store or work out. I see light at the end of the tunnel but until then I plan to give, give, give. 

Deegan and Bumpa at breakfast. Silly smile.

I found my old doll in the basement with a bunch of staff my dad brought over. We dressed it up and Taber thought it was great to have another baby in the house.  

 Showing a little love

 All smiles. Taber is always up for a laugh

My boys turned 3 and 1 in the last month as well. It was the fastest year of my life and frankly, the best. 

Deegan and I on his 3rd birthday. So handsome 

Chalk on hands plus an itch = the Joker 

 I am behind ... her is 11 months ... forgot about 10 months

 Heim

For Father's Day weekend we went to the cabin. It was beautiful and the boys had a great time. I sent Eric off on a 2 hour kayak ride (by himself ... he needed some dadda time) and I took the boys on the boat. It was AWESOME! 

I am in trouble

Introducing ... Ca Ba

As noted in the prior blog, Tabor was honored with his Indian name. Typically you pass down names within the family but there was not a name available as Eric's uncle had passed less then a year ago (need a full year before the name is open). So Eric's grandmother used a distant relatives name; Ca Ba. Now all you white people are probably asking yourselves, "what does that mean?" Well, drum roll ..... we have no freaking clue. Eric's grandmother forgot to get the interpretation. I am certain it means Mama's boy but I could be wrong. It has happened once in the past. 

Eric's family made his little shirt and moccasins as they had with Deegan when he got his name. Eric actually wore his uncle's shirt and grandfather vest and let our nephew Brenden wear his shirt (blue). It was a good ceremony and extra special as Eric's cousin's kiddos received their names as well. Talk about a big family reunion. 

 They look related! PS - the baby on the right was just 1 week old. No way in freaking hell would I have been able to make it out to the reservation had the timing worked like that for our boys. Good thing I am not an Indian because I would have been a sad excuse.

 This was also special ceremony for Eric and Brenden as Eric's sister's name was passed to the wee baby. Now I have no idea how to say it much less spell it out but I do know it means pretty french lady. She may not have been french but she was pretty. It was a little emotional but very special to be there when the name was passed. 

So handsome 

By some miracle we actually squeezed Deegan into his ribbon shirt (may I add it was made for him when he was 11 months old). Thank goodness my kids are skinny! He was awesome on the trip and had fun playing with the other kids on some big nasty dirt hill. I had to breathe and remember: When in Rome ... or on the reservation (same thing?)

All kids, including Donna (my mother-n-law) have a picture on this rocking chair at Eric's grandmother's house. Not sure why but it is a family tradition and I was not about to break that one. So, here is Taber and the chair. 

Smiling Indians

Mark this down in the record books folks, we have a picture of 3 Indians smiling. Even the kids are shocked by the looks on their faces because I could not get these 3 to smile for my wedding pictures! I do think the lighting was off because they all look pale for being tan.

In regards to smiling, I have to say we do a ton of that in our house. It is amazing how happy and blessed we feel everyday to have to healthy, amazing, comical, sweet, handsome and oh-so-kissable little boys. Eric and I catch ourselves just staring at them and laughing at their crazy antics. Deegan is talking up a storm and we cannot get over the words and phrases he picks up. He is fully potty-trained (freaking awesome) and is a total champ. Taber is a crawling machine and a mama's boy to the 10th degree. I love it because since I had him, Deegan has tended towards Eric so I get my own little love-monkey who does not say "No."

My blog posting has been poor to say the least. We have been enjoying the sun, had 10,000 birthday parties in the last 2 months, been to KS (blog to come on that adventure) and there is this little website called Pinterst that is #2 in my life behind my boys. Its like crack and I am officially an addict. I have never made more food, come up with cuter outfits or given Eric more to-do's. Its freaking AWESOME!!! Yep, definitely a crack addict over here and I may need an intervention.

Of the 10,000 birthdays we have had every single weekend for the last 2 months, my 29th was one of them. I had Deegan help me unwrap my presents and the poor kid actually thought they were for him. He disappeared and came back wearing my new heals and pants told Papa John thank with a kiss. So darn funny!

How could this face not make you smile. He loves playing bubbles (aka - soap in a bowl in the sink). He got bubbles on his chin and refused to open his mouth to talk.

Taber is blinded by the sun in this picture but they were so darn cute all laying there.

Deegan playing with cushions. We have $1000s of dollars of toys in the garage and basement yet he laughed more when our neighbor Mr. John threw pillows at his head.

Time for another hair cut? This boy has his mama's hair as I have cut his hair over a dozen times and it just grows back faster. Love him!

9 months and counting. Well actually he turned 10 months last weekend but like usual I am behind. Since he started crawling he is almost impossible to take a picture of. We finally gave up and put the stick on his back as this was our most common view of T-Man. Just thought we would share what we see!

I could cry looking into these eyes. When did I turn into such a mush? I am a puddle when it comes to these boys. I am pretty sure they are my happy. The saying "If mama is not happy, nobody is" could be opposite in my world. If my boys are not happy, I am not happy nor is anybody else in the vicinity. I have so many hopes and dreams for these monkey's and pray that I do my job to mold good little citizens who respect others, love openly and understand the importance of family. Eric and the boys are my A-Team and their needs trumps all ... and that includes naps.

I am pretty sure Eric dreamed about pushing boys around in the wheel barrel his whole life. This was a great way to break it in.

That view never gets old!

There is a Bee in my Eye

A bee in your eye? You may ask who, how, why as that sounds like a serious problem. Well, this pesky bee can come in the form of an eye lash, dust, dirt, and a scratch. It is the phrase Deegan uses when there is something in his eye. Once he gets "it" out of his eye, he then informs us that the bee flew away. Where in the world did he come up with that and how does he remember to use that line every time there is something in his eye? I try not to ask myself silly questions like this because in all honesty, half the fun is hearing it nearly everyday. Such a little character.

I love this picture of my boys. Taber thinks his big brother is the greatest thing in his little world. He stares at him in amazement and loves when Deegan actually pays attention to him. I have a feeling they are going to be best buddies.

See, Taber loves Deegan so much that he used his little finger to clean Deegan's ear out for him. Now if that is not brotherly love, I am not sure what is.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. You saw the previous post with Deegan's sledding antics (which continued for 2 days). Well this is the top of the hill with all the dad's and kids building the hill. Not a bad view!

Also, if you read my last post I made a comment about Deegan avoiding something like peas ... well clearly I was wrong. I had spent lots of $$$ trying to find the perfect pea (frozen, organic, with butter, without butter, etc), turns out the kid loves canned peas! Who would have thunk? I personally think they are nasty and taste like can but Deegan and Taber LOVE them. They both shovel them into their mouths and Eric and I just stare in amazement (and a little disgust). Either way, the kids eat peas and I get my veggie patch!

We are working on the "cheese." Its getting better. Not great, just better.

8 months? Well closer to 9 at this point but nonetheless, T-Man is growing up so fast. He is days away from crawling, is able to sit up on his own from laying and can navigate backwards (almost as good as Mator from Cars).

He is such a light in our lives and I love the little family we have built. My boys are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I never want to take it for granted. I gladly give up going out to eat, getting away to the mountains for a weekend, and shopping to just hang out with my family. Working a full time job that does require travel (Scottsdale here I come for a week in a week), I flat out miss my kids and the best part of my day, everyday; is coming home.

How can I resist this?! (Caption: Who me?)