Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Good times




This week has been a very good week for our family.


The warmer temperatures have allowed the boys to get outdoors and play and tire themselves out. A little bit of sun on our faces has seemed to brighten everyone's mood. I bought the boys street hockey sticks this past weekend and they are having a blast with them in the grass with a ball, using their soccer nets as goals. So much fun! We have also dragged out the bikes and scooters and some outdoor toys. Nathan LOVES outdoors. He is giddy with excitement outside. He loves to RUN everywhere and explore. I know Ive said this a kabillion times since we moved but we are SO lucky to have the yard we have. What a wonderful opportunity for the boys to grow up running outdoors, playing and enjoying a backyard of their own!

Friday, March 25, 2011

TGIF

Happy Friday! Technically its one minute to Saturday. Definitely Im up way too late. But, since Ive been neglecting our family blog a little too often, I figured Id sacrifice some sleep and talk about our week.

Good news! We heard that everything is in place for the closing on our house, our "other" house was we like to call it. Fingers crossed that nothing happens in the next 10 days and we will be down to one house once again. For those keeping track, the house was on the market for 6 months and change, which still falls below the average time on the market in our price range right now, and for that we consider ourselves lucky.

Evan had his 5 year checkup this week. He is average height and weight for his age, 42 inches and 40 lbs. He had to get a shot, his chicken pox booster, tears followed, WAILING followed the tears. Im continually amazed and embarrassed at how sound travels in a doctor's office. The shot couldn't have been too traumatizing though because Evan managed to participate in his gymnastics class an hour later with no problems. He is still wearing the bandaid though, for the record he told me he will not be pulling it off ever. Evan had some issues with his vision and hearing screenings that they do for 5 year olds, which we can just add to the list of ongoing concerns with Evan we are having. The poor kid has had enough with doctors and specialists as he made perfectly clear to me this week in a lengthy conversation. I told him all the drama called for a very special treat and we indulged in our first of the season ice cream at a local soft serve place in our area, the BEST soft serve in the area I might add! Ice cream solves everything.

Nathan now has 12 teeth! He cut the last of this set this week, it feels like he has been working on these particular teeth for what feels like forever. Maybe we will be able to retire the phrase "no bite" for a little while now. Nathan's reach has been increasing, which has lead to some near misses recently. There was the cupcake incident from last week and this week the pizza incident! Nathan grabbed a piece of the boys' pizza off the table and got alot of it in his mouth before I was able to pry it away from him (he REALLY liked it). Hives and swelling in his face followed. But, nothing that progressed further because I gave him Benedryl right away. Im going to see if I can find shredded soy cheese for him and make him his own little safe-to-eat pizzas when the boys have pizza from now on. Nathan's new phrase is "where is it?" followd by a shoulder/hand shrug. He also has been non-sense talking constantly to himself. Its so cute to listen to his little gabbering. Nathan's favorite food of the moment is tomatoes. Fresh, diced up and served. He devours them. The kid eats absolutely everything and continues to not be picky at all. For now. Nathan knows where a nose and mouth are. He likes to point to yours and stick his fingers up and in them. He tries to point to his own and its cute to watch him locate it on his own face, he has to search around a bit with his little finger first.

Justin has TWO birthday parties this weekend, Mr. Popular. Justin also has an upcoming gymnastics meet in April that parents and family are invited to attend, if you are interested let us know!

I just received word that our new swingset will be arriving on Monday!!! The ground is still frozen however, its exciting to know that we will have it here and waiting for when we can break ground and install it! The boys are going to love having a mini playground in their backyard for the summer!!! Speaking of summer, we have been planning some of our summer already. Our annual trip to Martha's Vineyard of course! Also, Justin is attending a Lego camp and dance camp. Evan is attending a soccer camp and will be continuing with private swim lessons (for therapy) and private OT. And I imagine I will be spending alot of time chasing down Nathan who now RUNS at full speed when free!!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Videos This Month

Evan hanging at gymnastics class. He is the one in the middle in green.

Evan swimming in the pool at the indoor water park we took him to for his birthday, he is one of the only ones in a lifejacket:)

The boys dancing to some good old 80s tunes.

Nathan riding his fire truck outside.

The Week/Weekend

Nathan tries to climb/ride anything he can these days. He took over his brother's Rescue Heroes truch to ride around on this week. Nathan with his cousin Allison at my Aunt's house, having a tea party while being babysat this week.

Nathan very excited to be able to walk around outside and play and explore.
The big boys enjoying popcorn and the trains at the train show.




G was on another business trip at the beginning of the week. Evan got to celebrate his birthday with cupcakes at school and I was able to come in to help him celebrate (thanks to Auntie and Uncle for babysitting Nathan for me). There was gymnastics class for both boys, three playdates with friends, a St Patrick's Day party, the start of my second crochet class, a train show, and best of all the weather warmed up for plenty of outdoor fun!!!
As always, you can follow my daily photograph blog for more pictures of our week!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Catch Up

Evan with his fabulous Mario cake.Evan blowing out his birthday candles.
The boys at Coco Keys water park.


Justin at the water park. Justin under the water.



Evan on the slide.




Evan with his new puppy and school puppy.


Our gymnast Justin walking on his hands. The kid has talent!!!



Justin creating army men and an army scene. Justin got this book on army uniforms out of the library and immediately wanted to create army scenes using the pictures as guides. Such a boy thing. He spent over an hour on his little creation after school!



Nathan lookin' cute, double fistin' his sippy cups, practicing for college.



Wow. Its been awhile. Things have been extremely busy and stressful in our household. Im pausing to catch my breath and put together this update for everyone.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes for Evan. He had a very special and FUN fifth birthday. Our wonderful newly five year old spent his birthday with myself, G and Justin at an indoor water park! Evan told me at one point, beaming, "this is the best day EVER". Im so happy I could give my amazing boy such a fabulous day. Special thanks to Nana and Pa for babysitting Nathan so we could enjoy the day without worrying about naps, diapers, etc. After the water park we enjoyed presents and cake at my parent's house. Evan was more than impressed with his Mario birthday cake made by my mom this year, she outdid herself again this year!

This week our car was in the shop being repaired from an accident that I had a few weeks back during bad weather. We had a rental van, which was exciting/confusing/annoying depending on who you ask in our family. There was alot of car seat and car shuffling going on. But Im happy to report that we have our van back and its as good as new!

This week G was traveling which was utterly exhausting for him and myself. We lost our power one of the days he was gone which was a crash course in the finer points of the electrical supply of our house for me! Missed flights and delays made coming home quite the adventure for G at the end of a long week.

This week I met up with my old high school friend Erica. Erica and I live nearly identical lives with her three boys and mine being all within a year of eachother! We went to a local indoor playspace with all our hooligans and let them run wild while we caught up. It was so nice to see her! We also had a visit with my Nana at my aunt's house, Evan and Nathan got to spend some time with Great Nana and Great Aunt Mary. Nathan got to get his grubby paws on my aunt's dog Duffy after being cleared for his dog allergy. Nathan LOVES dogs. He kept pointing at Duffy and saying "woof woof".

Nathan has a couple new words. "Okay" is one of his favorites now, every time you offer him something he really likes he responsds with a happy "okay". "Done" has been added to his hand gesture for all done. "Get it" and "I want" are two new phrases he uses alot now too! Nathan loves playing with Hot Wheels cars and balls. He can play for hours with just those two toys all day long. Its very cute to watch him play by himself, he is learning to pretend and imagine, I think he will be imaginitive like Evan!
Tonight was my last crochet class - I am in the process of piecing together all my squares of different stitches I learned to make a blanket to be donated to the shelter in our area. Ill post pictures when it is all completed. The class was fabulous, I learned so much - Im continuing on with the "advanced" class this coming semester!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

For Evan On His 5th Birthday

On March 6, 2006 you entered the world and our lives. One very loud, crying, adorable baby boy. We fell in love immediately and our lives have continued to be touched by your incredible spirit. You are kind, compassionate, loving and loyal. You are brave and strong, you are a "fighter". You are a math whiz. You fit snugly into our family, you are the perfect big brother and little brother. Your warmth radiates from your big brown eyes. You are hilarious! You are imaginative and creative. But, it is your kind and loving soul that continually surprises and impresses me the most about you. I have watched you grow into a boy with this incredible heart and tenderness. I know no matter where life takes you, your tenderness and compassion for others will always be one of your greatest gifts.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Doggy - The Outtakes

Im thinking about putting doggy in my mouth right now.
Ive got doggy in my mouth, mommy is behind the camera and cant see. She saw. She took doggy out of my mouth! I am very mad. Very, very mad.
I will wail and you cant take a picture with me with doggy. Now I dont even want to be near doggy if I cant have him in my mouth.





There is something about doggy lately that screams out to Nathan EAT ME, chew on me, gag on me (this is inevitable after sucking on a piece of fur that gets slimey and very wet). Last month I let it slide while taking our monthly picture, but this month I was determined to get a picture without doggy in Nathan's mouth. The above photo series is the result :)Evan actually helped talk Nathan down after this incident to get the only decent picture with doggy, you can see it on my 365 blog.