10 sleeps until the big move.

welp, the countdown is on.

10 sleeps until we are outta here.

next weekend, we make the big move back to california.

about a year ago, we started talking about the idea of matt going back to school to get an MBA.

we researched schools, he studied for the GMAT, took the GMAT, and applied to a handful of schools.

during that process, he got in touch with some colleagues from his previous job (to get letters of recommendation) and found out that PCL was doing really well in california and doing a lot of hiring over the next year.

matt was interested in the idea, but an MBA was still the plan.

then, when we heard back from he programs he was accepted to, our plans changed.

the schools he was accepted to were expensive and we would have racked up a lot of student debt in the pursuit of an MBA.

matt wasn't sure he felt passionate enough about the program for it to set us back like that financially.

for now, the MBA plans are on hold.

so then the idea of going back to PCL was discussed more seriously.

and after a LOT of list-making, day dreaming, and stressing we came to the decision that, although moving back to california is scary and means we will be leaving a very comfortable life, we think it is a good choice.

moving south has always been in our future plans.. so why not now?

i mean, matt has a good job offer that he is excited about, our boys are still young enough that a move won't be socially devastating to them, and we haven't really settled down in calgary yet anyways.

we are excited for this adventure.

it will be a chance for our family to explore a new place, make new friends, and grow closer together by relying on one another.

with that being said, i don't want any of our favorite calgary people to think we aren't scared and sad.

we are.

i just stopped by my old office to say goodbye to the girls i used to work with and cried all the way home.

i can't even imagine how hard it will be to say goodbye to family.

but the nice thing about family is that, no matter what, they are your family.

since i was 13, i have hardly ever lived in the same county as my sister. it's lame, for sure.

but every time we are together it's like we were never even apart.

our house is 80% packed up. we just have the things we still need out - table, couch, mattresses, clothes, some toys..
it's getting pretty ghetto these days.
i botched my dinner plans for tonight so i thought, 'oh well, i will make grilled cheese, or something'.. then i realized i had packed up all our frying pans. dang.
i may need to unpack one of those!

we will load up our uhaul on july 2 and drive across the border on july 3.
my dad is flying into great falls at 8pm on july 3 and the boys and i are flying out of great falls 30 minutes later.
my dad will drive with matt the rest of the way while the boys and i play in arizona with my mom.
we will meet them in pasadena on the 6th.
and then the un-packing party, and our life in calfornia, begins!

tad = 10 months

today marks 10 months since tad was born.

and, evidently, just 2 tiny months until he is 1 whole year old.

my goodness, time flies.

tad had a check up this week.

he is 16 lbs.

he sits!

we love the view from behind when he is sitting on the floor. he has such perfect posture and the cutest, fuzzy head.

he has 2 teeth on the bottom, and is disgustingly close to getting his top 2.

he likes every kind of baby food (except for maybe the meat kinds.. because we don't buy those.. because they smell like cat food), watermelon, yogurt, popcorn, rice cakes, baby puffs, and anything sweet we sneak him.

he doesn't like loathes tummy time.

therefore, he has still never rolled back to front. he just has no interest in getting himself into that position!

i hate to admit this, but he likes a show on netflix, called baby jake. it's super annoying and somewhat brainwashy.. but it makes him happy when he is sad.

he thinks chet and holden are very neat. he likes to watch them play. they make him laugh.

all of his cousins are so sweet to him, but ede and ava deserve a special shoutout. they spoil that boy.

we still swaddle him at night, like a little burrito.

he is so smiley. he smiles at everyone who gives him attention.

he likes walks, swings, and baths.

tad herschel is a peach.

we can't imagine life without him.

tad, holden, and i got to tag along on a field trip to the zoo with chet this past week.

it was a perfect day for a zoo trip.

holden was so excited to be there with his big brother and all his cool friends.

holden is still a huge fan of the penguins - that was his favorite part of the day.

chet really liked the bears this time.

holden's first concert.

we signed holden up for a music class over the past couple months.

it was actually the same music class that chet participated in a couple times.

and, just like chet, holden LOVED it.

he felt very special every monday morning when he got to go to his class.

it was just a little class of 4 kids, taught in the basement of one of my mom's good friends.

the kids learn how to sing some songs, play simple instruments, and read that "ta ta ti ti ta" type music language.

this past week, the kids put on a cute 15-minute concert to show off all the cool stuff they learned.

i loved watching holden. i thought he participated really well. ( i worried he wouldn't sing a word!)
i was very proud of him.. and so was he!

my phone got smashed the night before the concert so i had to go all old school and record the concert on my camera.

i am not sure what i did wrong, but the footage got blurrier and blurrier with each song. my bad.

click here to watch a mashup of clips from holden's concert.

bad dream.

i have had a recurring style of dream for about 4 years now.

and it's a terrible dream!

in the dream, i am following chet or holden while they ride their bike, and then they ride out into a street and get plowed over by a huge, fast truck.. and i wake up.

(see, i told you it was an awful dream!)

i always wake up so stressed and have the hardest time falling back to sleep after that because every time i close my eyes i see the collision.

this morning, that stupid dream woke me up at 4:15am.

and i just really didn't need that!

i ended up going on my phone to find something to get my mind to stop thinking about that dream.

and somehow i came across these stories of being buried alive.. which definitely did not help me fall back to sleep!

so, this morning, i'm tired!

we were up late last night (like most nights these days) picking away at all the packing/organizing/decluttering we need to do before me move.

last night, we took apart the bunk bed.

now chet and holden are sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and they think it is super cool! haha

when i snuck in to get tad out of their room this morning, chet and holden were spooning!

i wish i had've taken a picture because it was super cute.

aaaand because they would hate that picture when they are teenagers!

he sits!

this past week, tad figured out how to sit all by himself.

all his practicing has finally paid off.

it is cute to watch him sit and play.

(and do the occasional slow motion face plant!)

chet and holden were so proud of tad when he did his first long sit.

hike in bragg creek.

on sunday, all the leavitt family was meeting out in bragg creek provincial park for a picnic.

we decided to head out a bit early and do a little family hike before the picnic began.

we found a super easy hike to do by a river.

it was such a warm, sunny day to be out in the mountains.

i liked watching chet and holden exploring, tad enjoying his first ride in the hike back pack, and matt being the amazing dad he always is.

these next 3 pictures show matt helping all our boys on the hike, while i stood there taking the pictures..

and our attempt at a family selfie..

right now.

it is hitting me, right in this moment, that my little boys are their own capable, creative little selves.

i think often about how lucky i am to have such amazing little boys.

chet is currently sitting at the kitchen table, whistling as he crafts up a storm - coloring, cutting, pasting, using ridiculous amounts of stickers.

he makes me the nicest pictures lately.

i love all the details he puts into his pictures.

our fridge isn't big enough to hold all the ones i want to display!

i can't believe chet will be finishing kindergarten in a couple weeks.

i feel like it was just yesterday that i was freaking out over him starting!

chet will be going to a new school for first grade and that makes me really sad because his school is amazing.

when his teacher found out that he wouldn't be returning she sent me an email that said, "We at RDL just adore Chet and will be sad that he is not returning next year. I wish him the best in all his future endeavors. Chet will do so well wherever he goes to school as he is such a kind, respectful, eager learner."

It was nice to hear that he has left a good impression.

holden has been watering our one flower pot on our balcony for the past 40 minutes.

don't worry, he is watering it with the teensiest little water gun. (not the most efficient way to get that job done!)

he pulled a stool over to the kitchen sink, filled up a bowl with water, and hustles in and out the house to fill up the water gun and then go spray the flowers.

no one asked him to do this, but he sure thinks he is doing some important business.

funny fact: holden gets his shoes on the wrong feet 90% of the time, which seems statistically impossible.

chet and holden have the exact same shoes for soccer (same size, too), so holden has even managed to get out the door with 2 of the same shoes on which is pretty funny.. that can't be comfortable!

chet and holden are still such good buddies.

they play together so well.
chet is very good at teaching holden how to do things.
holden is so good being happy for all the fun things his big brother  gets to do.

and they are both soOOoo good to tad. they adore their little bwother.

right now, tad is laying beside me, dozing off as he drinks a bottle.

snoring.

most of the time we call tad a 'turkey'. just because.

but we also call him our 'little piggy' because he snorts when he is mad and snores when he is sleepy.

he is extra pooped from all the sitting practice we were doing this morning.

i don't think it will be too much longer until he can do it all on his own!

he is still such a smiley little fellow. i love it.

this morning, the boys and i made a countdown to all the exciting things we have coming up in the next month...

holden turns 4, chet finishes kindergarten, we have soccer every saturday, holden's music concert is this coming week, we have birthday parties, an end of school party, father's day, canada day, a zoo trip, aaaand on july 3 we are moving back to the LA area.

it's going to be a fun, busy, and very emotional month!