Adventures of The Parch Family: Playing catch (up).

when selfies go awry...

Waiting for Mimi's arrival...

A little bit of block building/lunchtime...

Mimi came to visit a few weeks after we moved in. The twins love their Mimi and Papa dearly but Liam took the cake this time around on the level of excitement when she first arrived. Mimi was definitely missed!

My mom, aunts Tatiana and Paulita and I.

We had a little get together while mom was here.

While we where staying in Orlando , my mom would make this really yummy, simple chicken soup for everyone about once a week. The babies fell in love with it and it has become a weekly staple here as well.

*Mimi's chicken soup*

I noticed one morning Liam had taken an interest in the word puzzles Jason had got him for Christmas. We practiced doing them, hand over hand for a little while that morning. He seemed in the moment to only be interested in the individual pictures and words...not so much about pairing them correctly, etc. After a short while I walked away to go do something. When i came back he had completed a whole row by himself.

So...

... later on, after bathtime, i gathered all of the puzzles and put them in his room, and he's been playing with them since. We have a few different types, word/picture matching, rhyming, ABC's...he loves them all. Smart kid.

He is also saying the words, and the animal sounds, when he knows them.

-Ca! (cat) Maow Maow! and then he gets very excited and will repeat it a few times and want you to repeat it too.

-Daw! (Duck) Qua Qua!

His absolute FAVORITE animal AND word, is Penguin. Although, until last night he would only spell it out loud. When he would try to SAY it for some reason it would come out like a completely different word. Something like Mazee. (?)

Sometime last week Jason had recorded a penguin documentary. We played it for him last night after the twins fell asleep.

He started jumping and got REALLY excited. He began with -Pen!

Then - Pen ma!

(i am squealing like school girl inside while this is happening and we are both cheering him on - Good job Liam! Yes! Thats right! Keep talking! You got it!)

Heck yeah Liam. HECK YEAH.

Speech therapy and time, will help with enunciation and echolatia.

Lately when i ask him a question that requires a yes (or no) he will respond with -Ya!

Liam are you ready for your bath (as he is taking off his own pants)

- Ya!

this is new alll new beautiful territory for us. Along with some speech and increase in communication in general, in the past two weeks Liam has begun undressing and dressing himself (with a little help). This is big for us! Its exciting and feeds my well of hope. We are so proud of our big boy Liam.

All this with no current therapies or school since we are still transitioning.

GO LIAM.

Hearing that little voice after 4 years is PUREEFFINGHAPPINESS, let me tell you. :)

My sweet Sam. Little Spider Monkey. Sleep evader aka Sleepless Sam. Daisy's Ying to her Yang. Resident Ham.

This little guy.

Loves cars and trucks and dinosaurs and anything that he can imitate with big growl- Rawwwr! Vrooooom! Grrrrrrrrr!

He sees a car? Its not JUST a car. Its a CarGrrrrr.

Favorite word right now? -NO.

Sam do you want (insert ANYTHING here)?

-NO!

lol

He loves chasing ducks.

(poor ducks)

And Blues clues.

There is a paw print on a vacuum extension we have (for pet hair) every time he sees it he says - A Cu A Cu! (A clue)

Everything and anything that freaks him out, like dirt or something funny on the floor...maybe its some new food that he doesnt want to try. Whatever it is, if he doesn't like it, is unsure of what it is or it grosses him out- its a Bee! A bee a beeee!

Whereas Liam's lack of fear stems more from not always paying attention to his surroundings or fully grasping the consequences...Sam will look over the edge, then look me right in the eyes and still dangle over holding on by one hand with a big grin on his face. Ay.

*kisses*

Daisy has seemingly turned in to a little lady over night.

She is talking non stop and has even begun with the Why"s?

she wants to help me with everything which is awesome, except when i am changing Sam's dirty diaper and she grabs and clean wipe and sneaks over to try to wipe his rear all while saying (very loudly) -

BIG POOP! BIGGGGGGGG POOP! Ma, SMELL. Yuccckk!

(true story)

This also means she is repeating things.

Like right now her favorite descriptive phrase is - OH.MY.GOD.

(Yeah. Mommy points for that one. lol)

Or- Soooo cooo (so cool)

She is starting to play with her dollies more, dressing them and covering them up with blankets and feeding them. She is also asking for things. Although she hasnt quite grasped the difference between I want and I need, so right now she says "i need" for everything she wants. Like, - Ma, I need pawcicle. Or- Ma, I need go pwaygwound.

Ma, I need passsta.

You NEED pasta Daisy?

Yah.

The boys can be tough sometimes. We love and adore them, but they are both a bit high maintenance! True story. :) Daisy is my easy one. Eats anything i put on her plate, sleeps well, puts up with her rough and tumble brothers like a champ. She is incredibly patient for a two year old. So loving and kind. If she sees one of us get hurt, she comes right over to give us a pat and says- Say (Sam, i dont know why she calls him Say) Ok? Is ok Say! Is ok. (pat pat pat, hug)

Wearing a dress that belonged to me :)

My favorite girl in the whole wide world.

We've been in Miami now for about a month and a half. I am still about a month behind on blogging and sharing pics, since like november of last year. ha!

Only real bad thing about that is that I forget little moments! (< scroll down to the end of that post)

The first few weeks here were a little strange, it took a bit for it to feel like this was our home. Jason and i have always lived in older (Atlanta) homes and this house just blows everywhere else we have lived out of the water. Not to say I didnt love our other homes. I did. But this place is just...different. New. Nice (er).

At first it felt like i was staying in a vacation home. But, the more i spend time cleaning it and mopping the floors (white tile allllll downstairs) the more it feels like this is MY place.

I am a slave to the floors. Like, for real. I spot mop on a daily and do a thorough sweep and mopping every other day. because if i dont, it looks like a stampede of muddy pigs came through the house. Between the kids in and out, the dogs and cats...well it just is what it is! I have adapted, and its all good.

Waking up to the view from our bedroom balcony, beautiful windows streaming in sunshine, palm trees and beautiful sights at every turn, my big bathtub (hello), not having to share a bathroom with the kids anymore (double hello), a playground around the corner, Pollo Tropical less than a mile away (lol)

having Jason home more often, and so many other really awesome things about living here...make having to mop everyday TOTALLY worth it in my book. I'm cool with it. haha

Thankful for sweep vac's and steam mops. First world probz, eh? :)

Good morning Miami.

The rent isnt very "budget friendly", so it means not eating out as much, going out as much, etc... but the neighborhood, school district, living so close to family and the amenities make it worth stretching that a bit.

At least that's how Jason sold it to me when i was protesting about paying so much. hahah But, he was dead set on it and so far he's been right! Shh dont tell him i said that.

The man with the master plan :)

We get to see him a lot more now, since he is able to do some work from home.

We love it! Although, we have had to carve out a little office space for him to be able to actually get some work done, because if the kids spy daddy...game on!