Time is flying

This month was an absolute whirlwind. Lots going on keeping up with the boys, some fun news about our baby, Easter, and some unexpected events as well. So, here I am writing this a month late again...

Drew has kept us busy with Blastball practice and games this month. They are all usually during the week vs. the weekends which makes for some more than normal hectic evenings (and lots of eating out), but keeps the weekends open for other things, so that's nice at least. He is mostly enjoying it, though it's hard to keep his attention during all the down time. But I'm glad he's had this chance to learn some of the basics of the game and try something different. The season will be over mid-May.

This is the result of 'quiet time'...quite the mess!

Mommy was able to join Drew on his Safari Adventure at the nearby Putt-Putt with his class at the beginning of the month, and that was sure fun! It was funny to see the class interact and play and see all of their personalities! Some of the kids have been together for several years, so it's neat to see how they've grown. Hard to believe they'll all be splitting up after this year.

Drew is now wearing 5T or some 4-5 boys sized clothes, and size 12 shoes! He's working on letters and sounds more and more, though sometimes he just guesses instead of thinking about it...we are hoping to use the summer to work on that quite a bit with him.

Easter party at school

We also had some fun trips to the zoo this month - taking advantage of our zoo membership before it expires and before the weather just gets too blazing hot! There's a Gigantabugs 'event' going on right now that we all enjoyed. There are very large mechanical bugs spread out all over the zoo to spot, some that move, make noise, one even squirts water! So that has been a fun and different thing to enjoy. We even got to go with Daddy once this month - a very rare chance that we were home on Daddy's Friday off, so we took advantage of that! They boys had fun showing him around the zoo! And another time Grandma was there with her class, but she was able to spend the day with us - a true treat!

We had a fun visit from Uncle Kevin, Grandpa and Nana at the beginning of the month - it was a short visit, but good times were had by all. The boys keep asking when they are going to come back!

The boys keep taking advantage of any 'almost warm enough' days to get in the pool. still too cold for Mommy, but the 3 boys have been in several times. Drew loves playing with all the water toys we have and Noah is getting more and more comfortable/dare-devilish with jumping in, so we have to keep a close eye on him! He just can't help but want to jump off the diving board. And even when it's too cold, he'll get back in, with purple lips quivering, just not able to get enough!

Toys and games that keep the boys entertained these days: super heroes! Hot Wheels, castle toys, trains, legos, random games from our game closet and general going back and forth boy/brother play! It feels like we play "I Spy" every time we are in the car and at the dinner table...it's getting a little old for us, but the boys love it!

Bedtime continues to be an adventure - some nights they quiet down pretty quickly, other nights they talk for an hour at least, and other nights are just wild and we are intervening a ton and they are jumping from one bed to the other, turning the lights on, playing with flashlights...you get the picture.

We ended the month with a week of the worst stomach bug ever! Noah started showing signs the last Saturday of the month, and didn't fully recover and able to return to school until a full 8 days later - the next Monday. Which was right about the time Mommy and Daddy started feeling sick as well! I have never done so much laundry in one week without getting any clothes washed...one night Mommy and the boys slept out in the living room because I was so concerned about them and we had about 3.5-4 days of literally just lying around the house, watching back to back movies...they were absolutely pitiful! They had NO energy, no desire to DO anything. Poor Noah wanted to eat, but couldn't keep ANYTHING in his tummy for days...but he just kept asking for pizza! Poor thing! Drew handled most of it well, but had some fits about some of the symptoms that were a bit unfamiliar to him...I won't go into the details, but it was surprising what bothered him! Drew was VERY cautious about his eating - we really had to talk him into continuing to try and drink and eat a few things - he did NOT like what happened, so he didn't want to ingest anything that would make it happen again...understandable, but the amount of anxiety was also surprising! So we got them healthy after a week and then we got it! Ugh! Matthew recovered pretty quickly and was able to try normal foods pretty soon, but I couldn't tolerate more than chicken broth and bland mashed potatoes for several days and just felt awful. I tried to go back to work, but ended up leaving early one day, had to cancel more days (had already cancelled so many when the boys were sick) and couldn't eat hardly anything for several days. Man, it was a MESS! I felt like we needed to be in quarantine for weeks - I just didn't want to share that horrible virus with anyone - NO ONE deserves that! Drew still is anxious about it happening again and will every now and then work himself up into a tizzy that his belly is sick and will refuse to eat...sigh!

Started with beanbags as sufficient

Then went to full floor mode with nap mats

Just pitiful...:(

Took too much energy to sit and eat...:(

Now to Noah...what a trip he is! A few random things that come up a lot with Noah these days...his favorite number is 5, so he always asks for 5 of anything - food, toys, whatever. He has started going up and down the stairs by himself/with Drew in the mornings or to get toys and so far, no accidents! He figured out how to climb UP slides and does it pretty well as long as he has shoes on and it's not too big/steep. And when we are out in public particularly, he asks lots of questions about people: "that a boy/gwirl?"..."who that boy?", etc., things along those lines. My response is either to answer the gender and then say I don't know who they are, but you can ask them, so we are working on introductions: "what you name?" - pretty cute stuff!

Some Major Bed-Head!

Drew's baseball games are at a large park that has a huge playground, so anytime we talk about baseball, Noah talks about "I go to my park!" One parent is on the field with Drew and the other is on the playground with Noah - he will not sit and watch the game, so we take turns and the boys are happy! We've certainly enjoyed being outside more and more and it's been warm enough to enjoy not only the pool every now and then, but also the "sprinkles" - what Noah calls the sprinklers. He LOVES running through the sprinklers and just gets absolutely soaked! It is hilarious! Drew loves it too, but there's something about Noah's approach to the whole thing...he just cracks us up!

Oh, Noah can be quite content at times playing by himself...when he's in the right mood/mind for it, he can play with puzzles, trains, or books for seemingly forever and we won't hear a peep from him! He's getting really good at puzzles, which we love! He has started to build his own train track (yay!) and can really get into books when he's in the right mind for it. It's so funny to see this side of him, knowing he's such a wild and crazy boy...he's really quite the little instigator and never seems to stop moving, but every now and then...so funny how God created these boys!

A funny Noah and Daddy story...he can be a bit picky at meal times sometimes, but still overall a pretty average eater. Well, one night, you didn't want to eat your rice. So Daddy told you "No Noah, don't eat your rice, it will give you super powers....no, don't eat it!" Well, I've never seen Noah open his mouth so big for a bite of anything! It was hilarious! So then he wanted Daddy to keep doing it, so Daddy had to say "No, no, no, don't eat it" or some version of that for Noah to take another bite! It was quite amusing and still comes up every now and then at dinner, usually prompted by Noah to get us to play the game!

The boys had lots of 'picture' days this month...baseball, bluebonnets (thank you Mrs. Mueller!), and school pics! So, we'll end with these...

Easter, baby news and health update

The week before Easter, Matthew ended up in the hospital with perforated diverticulitis...a small area of his intestine poked through where it shouldn't and then popped open, letting free air into the abdomen - a very bad thing! He spent Tuesday evening through Friday afternoon in the hospital so he could receive IV antibiotics. He slept horrible and every time the Doctor came in, he kept reminding us of the threat of surgery with a colostomy bag (what Matthew now calls the 'fun bag') and so we were pretty on edge for several days. I couldn't have made it through that week without the amazing help and support of the Palmer family! They completely rose up and took care of me and the boys...especially Papa and Grandma! I would have been a much bigger mess than I was if hadn't been for them - they helped me juggle the boys and Matthew so much in those few days, it was a HUGE blessing! Lynne, Taron, Julia, Matthew and Josh all helped with random tasks (including laundry, bringing food to me in the hospital when the cafeteria was closed) and helping get the house ready to host for Easter. They have been a blessing to me since before we were married, but the love they showed me that week was just incredible - I have the BEST in-laws for family!!! Matthew recovered well, hated his bland diet, lost 15 pounds (gained some back when he got to eat food with flavor again!) and confirmed his disgust for hospitals. We are now in a seemingly long limbo waiting period where we are thinking surgery is likely, but not sure when. But for now, he is being careful, healing, letting the inflammation and tissues get back to normal before we know what and when anything else will happen next.

Matthew got home from the hospital Friday evening before Easter. The Palmers helped out to an amazing extent getting our house prepped for the family to come over on Sunday. Lynne's family was a life saver. Matthew and I laughed that of all the years, with Matthew out of commission, and the help of Lynne's family, we were more prepared for the family gathering this year, than any other year we've hosted! :)

We had a wonderful day of worship (though Matthew stayed home to rest) and the boys were the best they've ever been in church - they were almost completely silent! Amazing! The family got to the house right on schedule and we had a delicious spread as usual. The Easter egg hunt for the boys was massive and they brought in quite the catch from the very generous Easter bunny, AKA Grandma and Papa. There were literally hundreds of eggs for 5 boys age 6 and under!

On Easter we were able to reveal Baby #3's gender to the Palmer family and publicly! IT'S A GIRL!!! We had Easter eggs with pink jelly beans inside for everyone to open and the reaction was perfect! The overall consensus from family to friends is very much excited for us to be blessed by a girl this time. To be honest, we went into the whole, let's try for a 3rd, was very much motivated by the thought maybe we would get a girl. And then a funny thing happened over the last 20 weeks...we realized how much easier it would be to have another boy! :) But we are truly ecstatic and terrified about our little girl! Kate Emily is her name and she will turn our world upside down, no doubt! She's already made me cry more in the last 5 months than I've cried in the last 5 years with my boys...I'm sure just a glimpse of what is to come! :) But really, we are so happy and are praying for a happy, healthy (easy!) baby! Matthew has jokingly said that if she isn't a red-head, he has some serious questions for me...as if! Nana thinks she'll have dark hair like I did when I was born...only time will tell! We can't wait to meet her...but...wait a bit, ok Kate! :)

Our appointment to find out the gender was the same day Matthew ended up in the hospital. So needless to say, our plans to tell the boys the gender that evening changed...I refused to share the news in such a panicked way. Both Moms however, tried to get it out of me early! Shame on them! Poor Drew was so disappointed to not find out for several more days until Daddy was able to be home with us. Here's the video of our reveal to the boys...Drew's reaction is just as expected, Noah is ridiculous!

Spring is here!

Oh, we are just counting down the days were it's warm consistently...more than usual this year...all the boys are just ACHING to jump in the pool. There are days it gets quite warm, but the water is still so cool...I'm keeping my wish for warm weather toned down...it will be quite hot soon enough! The time change has been nice to allow for more playtime outside in the evenings again, so we do love that, though it makes getting into bed harder for all of us!

In the meantime, no doubt we are staying busy! There is true meaning in the phrase "It doesn't get easier...it just changes"...while there isn't 3 hour and middle of the night feedings right now, there are certainly all sorts of challenges on a daily basis. As the mom, I feel like we've struggled more with discipline (simple things like staying close to me in public), saying mean things, handling conflict without destroying things or other's feelings...there are times I feel I've completely missed something somewhere, that I failed to teach them the correct way to handle these situations, that I've been too lax in my expectations or discipline. I should probably pick up a parenting book or two to see where I've gone wrong...they are good boys, but they can run wild at the least opportune times - stores and church are the first to come to mind...I guess this is just my little moment of truth for the month and I decided I would make this one public! :)

Drew started Blastball this month (the pre-cursor to T-ball). He's easily the oldest, and tallest, kid out there. But at this level, the parents are on the field with the kids, and the goal is truly to learn the fundamentals of the game, like which base to run to, how to catch the ball, etc. He's been really excited about it and seems to enjoy it. The weather has stymied some of our enthusiasm for practice, but are anxious to help and participate when the weather cooperates. The fields were we play and practice are in the same complex as a huge park and so Noah is completely pre-occupied there...making it impossible for one of us to see anything going on with Drew. So, we take turns each week on who takes which kid...glad that works for now!

Drew has gone to consistently not taking an afternoon nap this month. He still has quiet times during Noah's nap, and gives Mommy some time to get some things completed (like write the blog, or whatever!) and a bit of a break from parenting. We decided to do this to help with Drew going to sleep quicker at night. In general it has helped overall. But I'm wondering if that's where all of our fiercely emotional moments are stemming from too, just trying to get the body used to a different sleeping cycle. Man, that would be great if that's all it was, but I'm sure it won't be that easy! (I'm sure I'll be responsible for some parenting and guidance here!) Drew has seemed to have more 'emotional' days this month and struggling with times that don't go his way. He is quite expressive in these moments, nothing middle of the road for him (just like Mommy) - he is either full on bawling his eyes out, or screaming insults at everyone, or throwing toys as hard as he can, or all of the above all at once. I'm sure he'll appreciate that I am recording this for everyone, but this is a record for me and for him, and this is something that I don't want to be missed! Does that make me a horrible Mom! Maybe it's out of hope that we can see how he grows and learns to handle these moments better! There, that sounds better!

Some funny moments with Drew this month: one night he discovered his spine. Daddy had just left his room, putting him to bed and Drew calls him back in and asks: "What are the bumps on my back?", M: "Oh, that's your spine.", D: OH! Tell me all about the spine!" with tons of enthusiasm, M: "You better ask Mommy about that another time." D:" Oh, that's right, you don't know anything about the spine...Mommy knows everything!", M: "Well, I know a little bit, but Mommy knows more..."We were cracking up all night - at the irony and at his enthusiasm to learn about the spine at 9 o clock at night! Another was during Spring Break at school, Drew was so excited that week and couldn't believe it... "There was no work today! No learning or worksheets! Just play!" I really didn't think about it making that big of a difference to him at this age, but apparently so!

The boys continue to love ninjas and super heroes, tickle monster and video games. Play-doh is about the only 'craft' type activity that keeps their attention for more than 5 minutes, and they really do love to play with it...it's great to have something like that finally! They really just don't do craft type stuff...though they like to draw and decorate with stickers, paint, etc, but it just doesn't keep their interest as much. I don't know how their teachers get them to do it as much as they do at school - I guess they know they don't have any other options at school! They have also really enjoyed their castle toys and marble set more this month as well. Always interesting to see what catches their interest for awhile before they move on to something else.

We did have two or three evenings this month where the pool water was just warm enough that Daddy thought it would be ok for the boys to play in the tanning deck. I don't know why, but I was surprised how much fun the boys had with just that! They had SUCH a BLAST! Daddy turned the bubblers on and before we knew it, they were splashing and giggling - the sounds of true joy! They both slipped a few times, getting more wet than expected, but they just kept going, despite Noah's chattering teeth! They really enjoyed it and keep asking when they can do it again...soon boys, we promise!

We had a few firsts this month. One was that Mommy took both boys to a movie in the movie theater - this was Noah's first! Much earlier than Drew's, but we thought we'd try it. We went to the LEGO movie...Drew loved it! Noah thought it was scary at a few parts and tried to leave a few times, but I was able to bribe him with candy and reassurance and we were able to make it through the entire movie, just the 3 of us!

That same night, we moved the boys into the same room! What an adventure this has been! We convinced Drew it was ok to keep the paint on the walls the same (he'd been asking for orange and green for about a year) to match a Super Hero room better and he quickly agreed! So super heroes it is, and we may just need some super powers to make it through this transition! There have been some nights that have gone ok, but others where about 5 minutes before getting into bed, they get all riled up again and are just loud and crazy and take forever to get to sleep! Our patience and parental power is being tested for sure, but we are glad we are doing it now, and not a few months before Baby! It's got to get better...it just has to! Talking and laughing are expected, but we've caught them jumping from each other's bed to the other's, jumping off the nightstand, fighting, etc. So we've taken as many distractions away as we can, but this may take awhile. Then the other challenge is getting Drew to leave the room in the morning without waking up Noah, who usually sleeps another 30 minutes or so. So add that to the emotional scale that we've been dealing with this month as well...fun times!

We had a fun visit from family this month...Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Kevin came for 3 days and we had a wonderful time, as always! The big guys got a huge start on the pool shed, with a little help from Drew (at one point he was lounging back in one of the pool chairs and leisurely handing screws to Uncle Kevin one by one - wish I had a picture - hilarious!), some from Noah too. The girls worked more on the boys new joint room and getting things sorted a bit more. We also enjoyed some March Madness, fun times playing outside, some baseball practice from coach Grandpa and Uncle Kevin, lots of books, Legos, chase, tickling, and lots of jokes and laughter! We even went to Daddy's outdoor soccer game on his birthday which was fun to see, though the boys really just ran all over the empty field the whole time.

Noah keeps on learning and taking after Drew in all that he can, but still showing a different personality and temperament. He is certainly quite the entertainer at times, and always willing and wanting to try something new and more daring. We struggle with whether or not he actually is so involved in his play that he doesn't hear us when we call, or if he really doesn't care and will continue to do what he wants...and who's to know at this point!

He is getting the idea of puzzles more and more and we are expanding to more floor puzzles lately. He still loves trains and games (Hungry Hungry Hippo is a favorite, but lots of others too). He loves to play with bouncy balls too - the boys realized the Jack and Jill bathrooms make for a great spot to bounce the balls off the floor and walls - the closed off area that's just the sink and cabinet - they have a great time doing that there! He does love books and can be quite content on his own more than we usually realize and see, but we see it most when the boys are separate...Noah can play by himself with toys (little zoo animals can keep him really busy sometimes!) and/or read books for a very surprisingly long time...hope that works when Baby comes too! :)

Noah got a tummy bug at the beginning of the month, and took several days to recover, and shared it with Mommy in the meantime. He handled it as one would expect any 2 year old to - pretty sad. There were a few days we could tell he really wanted to play, but his poor little body just didn't have the energy. Drew was sure to keep his distance and any time Noah made the slightest cough, Drew ran the other direction just in case! There was one day that Noah was better, but still couldn't go back to school, Mommy was sick and so Drew went to school and Daddy stayed home to help...Noah kept asking for Drew...pretty cute!

Super silly moment with Noah this month: we were having dinner with the Glienke family one night and Noah started to sing the ABC song. After a few repetitions, he started singing very loud and clearly stating every letter, with a pause between, making him get lost several times. Then at the end of the song, he sings "Now I wonder what you are" instead of 'now I know my ABCs'. His delivery was priceless and impossible to describe, but trust us, we were all rolling!

We celebrated Daddy's birthday this month...I love his enthusiasm he shows for the gifts the boys pick out for him...inevitably something they want...almost always some little Lego set - this one was Spiderman...very fun!