April Activities

April was full of fun things to do. Haircuts, Nana Laurie visited, beach trip, Easter and a graduation were the highlights of the month.

Elliott got her first big haircut! I loved her curls but it was time to cut off the baby hair. She was a rockstar and the stylist even told us she had never had a 2 year old that was so well behaved!

 

Next up, my mom came to visit. We got to visit with her for almost two weeks! We had lunch dates, lots of chatting time and a terrific trip to the beach. The weather was fantastic the whole time she was here and the day we went to the beach was as nice as I have ever seen it. She flew out the day before Easter and the night before she left we found out my brother and sis-in-law are having another baby!! Woo Hoo!!

 

 

 

We had a wonderful Easter as a family. We colored eggs on Easter morning (better late than never, right??), went to Easter service, hunted eggs & opened baskets and had a yummy Easter dinner at Honey and Grandpa's. The family looked so nice all dressed up for church but of course, I didn't get a picture.

 

 

 

And last but definitely not least.....(drumroll please).....Maverick graduated from his early intervention program! I am so proud of my little boy and all he has accomplished in the last 2+ years. The ladies we have worked with asked if they could come by and say goodbye, so we had a little party at our house for him. They brought balloons, a card and a fun book for him to read. One of the ladies said she had only been to one other graduation in all the time she has worked there. I think this meant that most children would start at their school when they turn 3. Not our Maverick! He is a mover & a shaker and we are his biggest cheerleaders!

 

 

P.S. - Baron finally got a haircut too and I love it :)

 

 

Sunny San Diego

I just got back from visiting my brother for four days in San Diego. This is the longest I have been away from my kids since they were born. It was fantastic weather, fantastic company and a fantastic time. I arrived late (11pm) on Wednesday night so Thursday we hit the ground running. We went to old town where we had delicious Mexican food and walked around sight seeing. After resting for a bit, we headed to volleyball where I opted to watch Tyler play and then headed to meet up with some friends. Friday was beach day and we started at Pacific Beach (or PB), traveled to La Jolla and ended back at PB. It was gorgeous weather! Saturday we went downtown San Diego and walked around in the farmer's market, went home for a nap and BBQ'd with friends that evening. Sunday we went to the zoo and had dinner out. I flew out early Monday morning and was happy I had the four days there with my brother. Thank you for hosting me Ty! Love and miss you already!

 

 

Baron is 4!

Happy Birthday to the one who first made me a mom!

Baron has turned 4 and I can hardly believe it. How has it been 4 years since this amazing, funny, independent, smart and completely wonderful little man entered our lives?? He was really into his birthday this year and he should have been since we celebrated all week. Monday he had his birthday at school and he brought cupcakes, crackers w/cheese, special juice and balloons. He chose balloons instead of goodie bags and I was happy to oblige. Tuesday was is actual birthday but we weren't having his party until Saturday so we weren't going to do it up big......until he woke up telling me it was his birthday and he needed a birthday donut. Since he had an excellent point (who doesn't deserve a donut on their birthday??) I loaded everyone up and we went to get white donuts with sprinkles. We then went by Honey's and back home where he requested mac&cheese for lunch. He didn't have to take a nap and when the twins woke up we headed to the park to meet Uncle Trav and Brady where they played for over an hour. Daddy met us there and we headed home for dinner where Honey met us with cupcakes for his special day. Then he opened his presents from us with his favorite being his new helicopter. I would say he had a great day! Up next was his Lightning McQueen party on Saturday. We had pizza, caesar salad, watermelon slushy and chocolate cake. We lucked out and had great weather so the kids played and played outside almost the entire time. We were joined by Nana/Papa, Honey/Grandpa, Tara/Bailey, Trav/Katie/Brady, Tia, Uncle Rod/Aunt Carol, Dale/Sheri Neuschwander, Nate/Reid/Reece Neuschwander, Jason/Allison/Grant/Liam Medford and Chris/Donna Cox. We enjoyed a fantastic party where our boy was completely loved! He received many wonderful & thoughtful gifts and he has yet to take off the Lightning McQueen crocs he received :)

 

 

 

And to round out the night:

 

 

 

Super Marvelous Maverick!

Maverick has been a part of the local Early Intervention program since shortly after his Russell Silver Syndrome diagnosis in December 2011. He started out as a 7 month old baby who couldn't lift his head from the floor during tummy time and has blossomed into a little boy who runs, jumps, climbs and has very little fear. He is what our therapist calls "a cautious learner" meaning he starts out new things slow and cautious but once he is ready, takes off in leaps and bounds. From what they tell me, they have not worked with a child with RSS before and didn't quite know what to expect since he was so small and low in tone in the beginning. Well let me tell you, they think he is the Man! They really are in awe with how far he has come in such a short amount of time. So much so that they think he is going to get "kicked out" of the program. We have mastered sitting, crawling, walking, falling (yes there is a wrong way), running, climbing stairs, climbing everything, eating, drinking, talking.....you get the idea. The only area we may continue therapy in is speech but that remains to be seen. We have been meeting with a lot of different people lately who specialize in different areas of therapy and have his big evaluation the end of this month. I am super excited at the possibility of him graduating, not because I don't want him to be in therapy anymore but because it is a huge acknowledgement of the great strides he has made in the last two years. Wish him luck!

Happy Birthday Finn!

The kids, Honey and I made an impromptu trip to Aunt Shannon's house last weekend to hang with the kids & Aunt Shannon and play, play, play. The kids had a blast running around their house and playing with Hudson, Finn and Ava while Grace was away for a day and a half at a volleyball tourney but we got some good time in with her when she got back. Maverick and Elliott mastered the stairs immediately which was really helpful since they have a three story house and the twins loved the freedom to play in the basement or upstairs with Hudson at their leisure. Finn and Hudson attempted to teach Baron to play Xbox or Wii but he ultimately found love in a large lightning McQueen toy which he carried around the entire time we were there. Aunt Shannon sent said toy home with him....she doesn't love him at all, does she?! Baron and Hudson spent hours running around the house together, up and down stairs to build train tracks, checking out Russell (beta fish) and during down time, relaxing together. There wasn't much time during our visit that those two weren't together and that made me happy, happy, happy!

Game time!

 

Just relaxing

Love this guy!

Girl Time with Ava



 

The highlight of my trip was getting to celebrate Finn's 9th birthday with him. They moved north when Finn was almost 2 and I think this might be only the 2nd or 3rd time I have been with him on his actual birthday. We were able to have dinner, sing Happy Birthday, eat cake and watch him open presents on his special day. We love you Griffin and think you are a complete Rock Star!

 

 

 

 

 

Just Another Day

A sneak peak at what a typical morning looks like around these parts - lots of laundry and play: