Crazy Crazy Crazy...

"Oh tay" it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but things are starting to get a little settled, I think! Right after the New Year we found a new place to live. It truly was an answered prayer. Dallas and I both knew the second we pulled up to the place that it was a very strong possibility. Then the Landlord dropped the rent by $500 without us even having to barter with him. Which in turn put the cottage into the price range we were looking for.

It is such a cute little cottage. This is the first time we have ever been in a house since we both left our parent's homes for college, so needless to say we were both excited about that. It has a nice little yard for Dallas to work in, a cute wrap around porch perfect for Joss to play around on, and a great big room that the kitchen, living and dining room are all in which makes mommy happy :)

Joss' room was the first room that we got completely unpacked. I'm still working on the office area and our bedroom, but with two little ones and work, it's been a pretty slow process. Joss seems to like his play area now and has had fun discovering his toys all over again. I miss his bright teal walls, but other than that I'm very happy with his little setup :)

January brings more birthdays for our family. Dallas, my mom and I are just a few. For Dallas' day he got a new grill. First man-sized one he's ever had :) He's been playing with all kinds of fun recipes lately-- I'm not complaining one bit (except maybe over the grocery bill).

Shortly following his birthday is mine. Dallas set the bar really high this year :) He started a week in advance and called it "7 Days of Tamara". I was treated to presents, massages, fancy meals cooked by him, and a sweet sweet husband :) The hammock (above) was one of my treats. The finale included a pretty purse from Bahama Hand Print! His goal was to find everything here in the Bahamas and he got everything right here on our little island except the purse. I was very happy with my birthday and all the sweet gestures Dallas surprised me with.

The boys are settling in quite well to our new surroundings. Joss has fun exploring out in the yard and on the porch. He's been playing a lot with the little umbrella stroller by pushing Hippo around the yard, or he'll pull Hippo around in the wagon. He's always pulling or pushing something it seems: a wagon, a stroller, a toy on a string, his little bike, kayak pumps or anything that works at the time.

Emit is quite content as long as he can see Joss. If he can't watch him or see what he's doing then he gets pretty mad. He loves to play on his tummy on the ABC mat in their room. He likes all the bright colors and of course watching Joss play with all the toys. He's going to be crawling and sitting up in no time I bet.

Joss wants to help us do everything right now. If he sees Dallas doing something out the window he'll say "Joss Help" or "Help Daddyn" and want to go and do whatever Daddy is doing. The other day Joss was hopping around like a wild man, and he fell down (nothing serious..just lost his balance and went down). When he fell, we said "JOSS DOWN" and for the next 15 minutes he was spinning around and pretending to fall and then would say "Joss Down". He's all the time doing stuff like this. Whenever he sneezes it's "Bless Joss" :) When he's climbing on the furniture or something it's "Don't pawl Joss" (Don't fall Joss).

I think Emit has been teething for a couple weeks already. He is drooling like crazy and chews HARD on everything he can. I'm trying to help him understand that "mommy" is not a chew toy. We're also starting to work on his sleep habits now that he's old enough. My friend Meghan is working with me again-- she helped me get Joss sleeping through the night. I will forever be thankful for her, and HIGHLY recommend any of my friends that are having problems with the little one's sleeping talk to her. She's GREAT!!!

I had a whole list of things in my head that I wanted to share on here, but now that I have a few minutes to do this (FINALLY) I can't even remember them. Guess I'll just put them on the next one. I've got to start writing this stuff down or else I will really forget it.

Hope you are all doing well! I also hope all you pregnant women out there are feeling healthy and strong! I promise my "Christmas letters" are still coming!