the website i use to store the photos i put on my blog has been on the fritz for a couple weeks. therefore, i haven't blogged.
to catch up, i am going to mention the most recent big events/accomplishments, and then move onto some of the lighthearted/funny things that have happened in that time.
first, the bigger things:
CHET got his cast off! yay! ... unfortunately, i was unaware that when you remove a cast you aren't immediately back to normal. dang it. a week after removing the cast, chet is still quite sore and limping around slowly. poor kid. but, even if he still isn't 100%, we are thrilled to have that silly cast gone.
some details from chet's cast experience:
- chet chose to never let anyone sign his cast. (although i definitely preferred it that way, i swear i never swayed him to leave it neat and tidy!).
- he wasn't super enthused about learning how to use crutches (he thought we should buy him a power wheel chair instead!) but chet did eventually learn to be a crutches master. he can now scoot around on those things like nobody's business.
- he pronounces them 'crunches', not 'crutches', despite many attempts to teach him otherwise.
- when his class moved to different parts of the school (i.e. gym class, music room, etc.) chet got pushed around on a wheely office chair. he thought that was awesome. and everyone wanted to be his buddy because that meant they got a ride too!
- i am proud of the positive attitude chet had about his cast. kids always impress me with their ability to adapt.
chet drew a self portrait of him with his blue cast.
MATT has been studying for the GMAT like a madman the past 4 months. he ended up taking the exam 2 times, and i am very proud of the scores he received. i am actually super impressed with how smart matt is in general! i knew he was smart, based on his grades and job offers in university, but man.. sometimes he would ask me for input on the practice questions he would do and my brain had not a clue where to even begin. it was kinda depressing because i swear i used to be smart. shoot!
matt has completed the applications to 2 of the business schools he plans on applying to. he has a couple more to do, but the worst of it is certainly over. feel free to cross your fingers for him!
HOLDEN and i started learning the alphabet this year. we only learn a new letter on days when chet is at school (and only when we don't have something more exciting to do) so we haven't made it too far yet. we are on the letter F. holden is so eager to learn and thinks he is just so special when we sit down and do his 'school'.
i love the way his tongue sticks out when he focuses on writing his letters or making his crafts. and i love the way his crafts always turn out - they make me so happy!
holden can be the sweetest little guy - so happy, helpful, complimentary, independent, loyal, forgiving, and silly. holden has also become pretty buddies with tank lately. he loves to get tank to do tricks, take him on walks, and give him treats.
TAD has passed the 5 months mark. which means he is close to being half a year.. and then a year.. then starting kindergarten.. then getting married. ahh! well perhaps that's a bit dramatic but, my goodness, he seems to be growing up so fast. he doesn't do anything especially cool yet - no rolling, sitting, eating - but we will cut him some slack since he joined our family earlier then anticipated! some of his best skills these days are smiling, sleeping, and DROOLING. based on the amount of drooling he does, i am guessing we have a tooth (or 7!) on the way very soon.
tad weighed in at 12lbs 3oz at his check up this week. that is exactly triple his birth weight of 4lbs 1oz. crazy!
tad has officially been moved into the boys' room. our house only has 2 bedrooms, so he either has to be in our room or the boys' room. matt and i are not the type to keep our babies in our room for very long, but we also aren't the type to mess up chet and holdens' great sleep routine. so tad has been hanging out in our room until this past week. now that he sleeps a solid 8-9 hours, he gets to join his big brothers. i have thoroughly enjoyed watching the 3 interact in the mornings on the baby monitor! chet and holden melt my heart with how smitten they are by tad.
to demonstrate just how much tad drools..
i ordered 3 cute drool bibs for tad and was super pumped to try them on him. i took the following picture 3 seconds after i put the first one on him. he put that bib straight to work!
(i have since ordered many more bibs. 3 is NOT enough!)
{tad is the easiest child to take pictures of - mostly because he doesn't have a choice - hence the excess amount of tad pictures in this post.}
PAM... hmm, i don't really feel like i have anything neat to write about me from this past month. how embarrassing.
that's not true.. chet and holden request to have pancakes for breakfast EVERY morning lately. so i am turning into a pretty fantastic flap jack maker.
and i have cute kids.. that has to count for something!
now, moving onto the other little things that have happened recently:
1. i am not really one to meticulously watch the cost of things that we need to buy (gas, groceries, etc). i just kinda feel like those things are needed and stressing over their slightly fluctuating price isn't worth it. (i know that thought process would disgust many!) but lately i have been more aware. slightly. i mean, i know gas is cheap right now. and i know produce is absolutely ridiculous! aaand that is about it.
i took a bunch of pictures the other week of the most outrageous prices and sent them to my sister, in texas, and my mom, in arizona, and they were blown away.
here is a good one:
can you imagine the outrage you would feel if you cut into that $17 watermelon and it wasn't the most delectable thing you'd ever tasted?
2. i have been trying to get tad to sit in his bumbo. but he clearly isn't ready.
i also try to get him to strengthen his next muscles through tummy time, like this:
but it always turns into this after about a minute:
he prefers to just be held. don't blame him.
he also tolerates playing on his mat:
3. my sister sent me this the other day.
she said it made her think of me.
matt and i both laughed. it's so true!
poor me :(
4. but my need for outside time/fresh air sometimes makes me do crazy stuff like:
- open all the windows in our house on a day where temperatures are barely above freezing.
- take the boys on bike rides on paths surrounded by piles and piles of snow.
- let our gibbled child play in icy/slushy messes with a broken foot and crutches.
5. we learned all about groundhog day on the 2nd - learned a song, read about the origin, made some crafts - and i gotta say, it's one really weird tradition. but i am thrilled that the most magical/important of all groundhogs, punxsutawney phil, predicted that spring is on its way!
6. tad had a really bad attitude about taking these selfies.
and i was terrible at taking them!
7. my fingers were stained yellow from sprinkles, and were bright pink from pain, after making these ridiculously tiny star shaped rice krispie treats for chet's space party at school.
i swore, right then and there, that i would buy something pre-made next time.
but that was a lie.. we all know i will try something just as tedious (and un-appreciated!) next time.
8. for some reason, i think i am capable of cutting chet and holden's hair. perhaps it is because i watched my mom cut a gazillion heads of hair during my childhood. but, turns out, 'watching' and 'doing' have proven, once again, to be very different things!
i totally butchered their hair last week. luckily, they don't care.
9. matt made this lovely cheese & pickles tray to take to a family gathering at his parents house. to say i was proud is an understatement.
