tad is ONE

my mom is teasing me for not posting about tad's birthday yet - she says i'm treating him like a 3rd child!
sorry tad.
in my defense, we did fuss over him on his birthday.. i am just slow getting things on here.
not in my defense, i have become much more slack with my birthday documenting..
for chet i put together a montage of pictures and videos, set to music, for the first 3 years of his life.
i made the same thing for holden. but only for the first year of his life.
and for tad... well, i didn't do it. at all.
i can already imagine tad bugging me about that when he is older!
my computer is acting up whenever i attempt to make a video though, so it's not completely my fault, right?
i do have 2 other little videos to link in this post though.
this one is just cute clips of taddy doing taddy stuff.
and this one is of tad and his birthday cake. (i need to re-load this one. it's uber blurry.)
anywho..

happy 1st birthday tad!
taddy bear

tadders

tadpole

toad
rad tad

lots has happened since tad was born - it has been a big year for our family.
i am so happy that we have had tad along for the ride.
he is the perfect addition to our family.

we all just love him to bits.

 and he's sure not hard to love since he is seriously the sweetest baby. ever.

every one is always commenting on how happy and calm he is.

he has a little cry and a big smile.

we are so lucky to have such a sweet, agreeable boy as our number 3.

tad likes to go on walks.
he is a water baby - loves baths and splashing in a pool.
he loves swings.
tad is obsessed with trying to get our electronics.
he thinks tank is pretty neat. always grabbing his tail.
he has 6 teeth.
tad loves to eat.
his favorite foods are pancakes, fruit, cheese (especially babybel), yogurt, and chocolate chips.
so many people comment on tad's nice tan (especially on his legs).
he likes to have his binky and a soft blanket when he sleeps.
tad stilllll doesn't crawl, but is awfully close. i'm sure he will be trouble when he figures it out!
tad likes to be held and walked around.
he is so loved by his big brothers - they are always kind and patient with him.
tad is, hands down, the easiest kid to make smile. it is so fun!
we LOVE tad!

tad's first birthday was pretty low key. it was just our family.
holden and chet thought tad got ripped off since no other kids were at his 'party'!
we did some of tad's favorite things on his birthday (a ride in a swing, a walk, played in our kiddie pool) and then celebrated with a cake and some small gifts.
(and i am not joking when i say 'small gifts'! we bought him some baby puffs and a toy cell phone, totaling about $10. sorry taddy.. it's just that we already have way too much boy stuff and no where to put it!)
tad smeared his cake allll over the place without ever tasting one bit. such a stinker.

(it's times like this that i don't know why a parent would attempt raising a child without a dog to clean up their messes!)

we've got a first grader.

chet started first grade (not to be mistaken with grade one!) on monday.

which makes today day 3..

and i am already wondering what we have gotten ourselves into!
and that is not ideal, seeing as how i have like 16 years of this ahead of me.
[ dropping off, picking up, packing lunches, helping with homework, signing forms, worrying, volunteering ]
i feel like i have stepped into a whole new level of motherhood this week!
i can't even fathom how parents juggle having multiple kids at multiple schools.
my head and/or heart would surely explode!
can i just say, though, that we have been on time for everything so far?!
that's a big accomplishment for me!
i know chet went to kindergarten last year, but it was only 2 days/week and it felt so comfortable.
this year feels like a big change for our family.
chet is handling it like a champ though.
he likes his teacher and thinks his school is really neat.
despite the fact that his school is older, and has a big prison fence around the outside, it is actually so great inside.
when we went for a tour of the school a couple weeks ago, so many of my worries and stresses went away.
chet's classroom has shiny hardwood floors, tall ceilings, and tons of big, bright windows.
it is very cute and fun.
it also doesn't hurt that his school is rated really well. yay!

we am proud of chet for being brave and having a happy attitude about school.
it's not easy starting out at a new place and making new friends, but he has jumped right in.

chet is a very kind, thoughtful, observant, capable boy - he will do great things!
now, if he could just learn that dang pledge of allegiance!

holden has worn his backpack (filled with toys/snacks/book) each time we go to drop off and pick up chet and i think it is pretty cute.

the last weekend before school started, matt camped out in our tiny backyard with the boys, and we went to the beach.
it was a fun weekend!

when chet is at school, the littlest boys and i play.
i plan to fill our time with trips to the park, holden's swim lessons, and story time at the library.

and here a few other pictures from the past bit.

travel town

the boys and i met up with some old friends at travel town, in griffith park.

chet and holden had fun exploring with their buddies.

and i was pretty proud of myself for venturing out on the freeways all on my own :)

things that happen every. single. day.

when we go to the library, the guy in charge of story time goes around and welcomes each kid personally.

he will ask the child their name and then the whole group says, "hello {kid's name}!"

without fail, he pronounces all of my boys' names wrong.

chet = chad

tad = todd

holden = julio!?

the julio one kills me!

but, considering the demographics in our area, it isn't that surprising.

holden is actually the name that gets pronounced wrong the least in general.

but honestly, every single day someone calls chet "chad" and tad "todd".

and i am guaranteed to be asked if chet and holden are twins, at least once!

nine big ones

today marks 9 whole years since i became mrs. leavitt.

madness!

matt is my best friend so, naturally, i am pretty happy to have been able to spend all these years as his wifey.

he is patient, hard-working, supportive, kind, the person who can always make me smile, an outstanding dad, a gentleman and a total hunk.

the past 9 years have been full of big changes, and this past year has been no exception.

i am anxious to see where the coming years will take us, and excited to do that with my favorite boy.

we celebrated our anniversary a few days early, because my parents were in town and that meant we could sneak away on our own for a few hours.
we headed to old town pasadena for dinner and dessert.
we ate outside and visited while listening to live music for a couple hours. it was perfect.
and now we both have a new musician we really like! - ari hest.

sturtevant "falls"

yesterday, we went for a hike with my parents.

the hike took us to a place called sturtevant falls.
the boys wore swimsuits and we packed water shoes in anticipation of playing in some refreshing water at the top of the hike.
but there weren't any falls.
you could maybe call it a drizzle? trickle?
like, if you smushed your face up against the rocks you would get a bit wet.
and there was some greenish, tadpole-infested water pooled underneath.
not quite what we anticipated!

i suppose that is to be expected in the middle of summer.. in a place that has been in a drought for 5 years!
but, even without water, it was still so pretty and the boys had so much fun.

chet and holden were caked with filth by the end - they did all sorts of climbing and exploring.

i loved watching them be boys.
and i loved watching taddy's tubby legs bounce in the hike backpack every time matt took a step.

other fun news:
we got a new car!

well, actually, it's a truck.

and we are pretty thrilled.

it has been quite the ordeal trying to give a car dealership a large chunk of money in exchange for a vehicle.

we weren't allowed to finance a car in canada if we were moving to the US, and we couldn't finance a car in the US if we were living here under the work authorization that we are, and the exchange rate is truly heinous right now.. so we were like, "umm can someone please take our money!? anyone?"

long story short, we have a truck!

my parents helped us find a wicked deal over in phoenix and drove the truck over here for us this weekend.

so spoiled, right?

we are excited to have the truck..

and the visitors!