Life Lately!

These weeks and months sure seem to get away from me!  Life has been busy!  Good, but busy!  My dear boss/co-worker/friend Maya is leaving us for warmer weather.  Friday was her last day at work and she moves to California at the end of the month.  We have all become so close with her family and we are so sad to see them go.  We have been soaking up our last days with them here!  We had our final farewell with our little section last week.  We will miss her so much!  She is truly one of the kindest, most brilliant, hardworking, generous, and thoughtful people I know.

We are so excited about summer over here.  Ben LOVES being outside.  He puts up a big stink every time it's time to head inside.  "Ride my bike one more time!"  "Kick the ball one more time!"  "Shoot the basketball one more time!"  You get the idea.  We went to the beer garden to play trivia with some friends last week, so Ben got to play with the big kids.  He totally kept up with them and they were impressed with his throwing and kicking skills.  We stayed out until close to 9:00 (waaaaay past the boys' bedtime) and they were so good!

I love these boys!

We went to our old church festival last weekend and Ben had a blast!  Ben didn't win a fish this year (OH DARN) but he had fun nonetheless!

He was so funny with his pitcher of ping pong balls.  Some of them were dented so he would just throw those on the ground.  They weren't good enough for him.  ;)

But, of course, he only wanted to play basketball.

Look at that form!  Of course it was something ridiculous like 3 shots for $5.00

The guy kept telling him to stand on the ledge so he could shoot it better, but Ben thought that was too easy and he wanted to be on the ground.  He won some dumb piece of garbage prize that has already found a new home in the garbage.  Shhhh….

Ben also went fishing.

That was too easy for him.  He caught 2 fish at once!  (So he won more garbage!)

Josh didn't get to play, but that didn't stop him from having fun!

It wasn't until we already spent like a million dollars that we realized there was another area of games that were run by the kids from the church and the money probably actually went to the church.  Now we know for next year.  There were tons of sports-related games so you-know-who was one happy camper.   First up: kicking a soccer ball.  He kicked it at 13 miles per hour…or something like that. :)

I wish I had video of him throwing the football because it was SO cute!  Note the sign--3 shots for $1.  Such a good deal, especially compared to the other games.  He threw the first ball right through the tire.  The crowd (the line) went crazy!  And then he almost got the 2nd one through and the 3rd try landed right on the tire.  It was so fun.  And he won….

A 2 liter of soda!  We made him exchange the Mountain Dew for Sierra Mist. :)  This wasn't the first 2 liter he won.  Good thing we had the stroller!

Although we try to pack our weekends with fun, we still have a good time during the week too.  Ben signed up for round 2 of gymnastics, and Maddie joined him this time!  They could not be cuter.  

And Josh is a trooper for going along for the ride.  Soon enough, big guy!

This past weekend was Hannah and Emily's birthday party.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the boys with the birthday girls!  Today is their actual birthday.  Happy birthday, girls!!

I did get a group picture at Emily's soccer game last weekend though.  Ben was in heaven!

Andy ran a half marathon on Saturday and ROCKED IT!  Seriously!  I was supposed to run it but the training just didn't happen.  Next time!  After the run, we went to Fido Fest.  It was so hot!  I thought it was going to be cold so I made Ben wear pants.  He was not excited about this and it probably explains his facial expression.  He loves to wear shorts!

He wasn't actually pouting the whole time.  Just when the camera came around. 

In between work, we try to spend as much time as possible with our boys.  There's no place like home!!  I've decided there is nothing sweeter than watching the boys play together.  It makes my heart soooo happy!

And then something like this happens…

And it's still sweet.  Minus the choke hold.  

Ben is growing up so fast lately I can hardly stand it.  He talks like a 5 year old and it is so funny.  I just want to write down everything he says because it is just the cutest.  Luckily for me, he is still only 2 and he will be under my few for a few more years.  ;)  Even if he acts like a teenager.  "Auntie I want to get buckled in your car…And drive in the street just for 1 minute."  Sorry, bud!

Love, love, love these 3.

This guy… permanent smile on his face.

This made it hard to tell that he had an ear infection.  A double ear infection at that!  :(  I was soooo sad.  

Fingers crossed he is on the mend!  He isn't 100% but at least he is eating and sleeping a little bit better. He has his 6 month (!!!) check up on Thursday so hopefully the doctor will say that his ears are looking better!  I'll (hopefully) be back soon for Josh's half birthday update!

Life Lately

I'm writing 2 posts in 4 days! :)  It's a nice, quiet Sunday night over here.  It was a low key (and rainy/chilly) weekend and it was just what we needed.  I'm just going to go through my pictures and recap what we've been up to lately.  I think the biggest events were Ben's graduation at school and our Memorial Day weekend.  I'll start with his school.  Ben has come such a long way from his days of tearful drop offs with his nee nee.

He now actually looks way too old for this toy.  Love the comparison pictures but it makes me sad that he is growing up so quickly!  Now, it looks like he's thinking, "This pig is lame.  Give me some real money."

This past year he was in the toddler room with 1 and 2 year olds.  He will be in the 2 year old room in the fall, so he had a "graduation" on his last day of school.  It was so cute to see him with all of his little friends that he talks about all the time. 

Ben successfully walked over the bridge. :)

I am so proud of this sweet boy.  Love him so much it hurts.

And we love Ms. Sharon!

Here I go again with the comparisons…  (Tear!)

Luckily, Andy hasn't aged a bit!

I hope he always loves school so much!  Josh is going to be joining him at school next year.  Glad he will have his big brother there (in a different room) for protection! ;)

We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend.  It was gorgeous out so we went to the kite festival by the lake.  Ben was more interested in throwing the football. Too cool for kites, I guess.

We weren't sure that the rain was going to hold off, but thankfully it did and the weather for the Memorial Day parade was perfection!  

Aside from the fire engines (too loud), Ben had so much fun and got a TON of candy.  This is what was left after he ate about 15 pieces during the parade.

But better than all the candy were the 5 tennis balls he got. :)

Let's do another quick flashback, just for fun…

We tried with the family photo this year…

After the parade these boys definitely needed naps.

After nap time, we went to my moms to grill out.  We snuck in a walk to the park too.  Ben never turns down an opportunity to go to the park!  Or an opportunity to display his open mouth smile.  

Auntie Anna had to get in some Joshy smiles.

Even Uncle Joe was there.  Josh got in some R&R.

Nana got her daily fix of Josh smooches.

And Ben needed some R&R too, because let's face it, playing basketball, baseball, football, and golf in a 45 minute time span is exhausting.

It was great weekend, but then again, any day with my 3 guys is pretty much perfection.  Already looking forward to next weekend!

5 Months (5/18/2015)

Time for a break from presentation writing.  I was asked to do this presentation while I was still on maternity leave, and of course it is this weekend and I just started working on it this week. :/  I strongly dislike public speaking and I think I was hoping that they just wouldn't need me to talk about brain tumors and rehab for 45 minutes, but no such luck!  So I'm taking a break to talk about my big 5 month old!  I seriously get sad when I realize how fast he is growing.  I love watching him grow but time seems to be moving extra fast now that there are 2 little boys around.

GENERAL: Josh, this month, you weigh around 12 pounds and 6 ounces and are 24.5 inches long.  You are still the happiest baby in town.  I was certainly blessed with happy and content babies!  You rarely squawk and when you do, it is easy to get that smile back.

SLEEP:  Your sleep isn't horrible, but the stretches could be a little longer, especially at night!  We just put you in your crib for the first time 3 nights ago.  (You had otherwise been in the bassinet in our room.)  The first night was rough, you were up a lot.  The second night you slept from 7:00PM until 4:00AM which I believe is your best and longest stretch of sleep to date!!  Last night, you were up at 11:30PM, ended up back in our room (in our bed, for that matter) and I tried and tried to get you back to sleep, but that didn't happen until around 5:30, I believe.  I was so close to putting you in the jogging stroller and going for a run since sleep didn't seem to be in the picture!  Hoping for a better night tonight!  You still like your morning nap, around 8:00 to 9:00.  You take little cat naps throughout the day, some days they are longer than other.  Let's just say sleep is a work in progress.  Even in the middle of the night, you are happy and smiley and the sweetest little thing!  As tired as we may be, it is impossible to get mad at you!

EATING: Eating has been going pretty well.  You are still way more interested in what is going on around you instead of nursing, but you do a great job of nursing at night.  I'm still pumping my heart out at work.  I think the nanas are still putting a teaspoon of formula in your bottles, but I'm not sure, actually.  Your little rolls are growing, so I think you are doing just fine.  I think you take between 3-6 ounces at a time, usually around 3 times a day when I am at work.  No other foods yet, but we will likely try that next month.  (HOW is that possible already?!)

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: You LOVE to talk!  Something tells me you will be just like your big brother.  I love listening to you coo and squeal.  You're so serious about it!  You make friends wherever you go with your smiles and giggles.

FINE/GROSS MOTOR: Over this past month, you have REALLY started to move.  You roll, scoot, and inch your way wherever you want to go.  I can hardly believe that you are already army crawling!  You're one determined little guy when you see something you want.  You are really good at reaching for things, even if they are out of reach.  You still put everything and anything in your mouth.  You love to bounce when you are held in a standing position.  We just started putting you in your exersaucer, which you seem to love.  You are also sitting in the highchair, which makes you look extra big!

And last but not least, a little video.