Matt's Day

7 years & still missing him!  7 years seems like too small a number for how long it feels.  It feels like it has been forever since he left us.  I had Jacob that same year and it seems like an eternity since I was kid less! 

I love taking the boys to the cemetery.  They ask lots of questions about Matt and I enjoy telling them about him.  I was a little stumped this year when Jacob asked how he died.  I wasn't sure I wanted to share that with a 6 year old.  I told him I'd tell him when he got older.  Jacob remembers where his grave is each time.  He always finds it right away. 

We met my family at Matt's Dairy Queen after the cemetery.  The boys love this annual tradition.  Unfortunately, it got a little crazy when everyone & their kids arrived.  The restaurant was transformed into complete mayhem.  We didn't last very long!  I don't do well with lots of kids running around screaming, especially if some of them are mine!!  Luckily we got there before everyone else did so they at least sat at the table and ate their ice cream before the craziness came.

Adam was happy to get out of his car seat and be held by Uncle Bryce.  Next year he will be one of the kids running around screaming!  My mom suggested we change the annual tradition to Dilly Bars at the park.  I think I have to agree with that one!!

We miss you Matthew!  I wish my kids could have known their Uncle Matt!

Caleb & Adam

These guys are 6 days apart.  My eyes nearly popped out when I saw Caleb.  He is huge.  He weighs a pound more than Adam and is 3/4 inches taller.  He is already in 6 month clothes when is still in 0-3 months (even though they are getting a bit snug).  Adam looks so petite next to him.  I usually have the biggest baby in the room so this is a new experience!

Science Fair

I don't remember participating in the Science Fair until about 4th or 5th grade!  Apparently they have changed things!  I was surprised to receive a flyer talking about the fair and an experiment and when it was due by.  That's not something a Mom of a 6 year old generally wants to see, especially coming off of a nasty household illness!  Of course, I waited until the last minute.  I even turned it in a day late because I couldn't get his display finished in time.  Tsk tsk..I know!!

His teacher graciously sent home a list of ideas for our projects.  I scanned the list and selected the easiest one on it.  It was all I was up for!  We decided to mix soap with milk and food coloring with milk and see what happens.

We were kind of disappointed with the boring results, so we decided to expand our experiment and add any other household liquids and substances we could think of.  We used vinegar, baking soda, vanilla, syrup, salt, pepper & bleach.  They all produced the same uneventful results except the bleach took the green out of the milk.

Jacob's cousins, Abigail & Eden, were over and were happy to help with the experiment.  Hunter had fallen asleep on the couch in the front room.  He has been doing this lately, maybe he's still recovering.  I'll find him asleep around 5 or 6 in random places, usually on a couch or the recliner.  He will even put himself to bed at 6 or 7.  It has been wonderful!!!

Jacob enjoyed being able to do science in our kitchen.  They do science at school about once a week and it is one of his favorite parts of school.

Another Loss

Jacob lost his other bottom tooth.  He was working at wiggling it after I put him to bed.  He came out and was trying hard not to smile.  "Mom, I have something to show you."  Me: "No you don't, GET TO BED!"  Obviously keeping kids in their bed after I put them there is a problem in our house!  He proudly produced his tooth.  We placed it in a baggie for safekeeping until he could show it off at school and be sung the "Tooth Song".  Once he does that, then it will be OK to leave it under the pillow for the Tooth Fairy to take away.  Trevor and I don't like how fast our little boy is growing up!!

Nap Time Lifesaver

This cute little guy has a problem.  While he sleeps great in his crib at night, he doesn't like to take naps unless he is in constant motion.  I noticed that he sleeps really well on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday when I'm out running kids around.  He loves to sleep in the car.  On Monday & Friday when we generally stay home, he is SO restless!  He sleeps for about 10-20 minutes at a time.  Once his Binky falls out, his fury awakens, as does he.  I was getting rather frustrated since both of my other kids were great nappers.  It has been difficult to get anything done during those short cat naps.  That is also not enough time for me to recharge my mommy batteries!  Enter "The Swing".  I was resisting the urge to use it for nap time.  I don't like to rely on crutches for getting kids to sleep (except for the Binky).  I want them to learn to do it on their own.  Unfortunately, my patience in this matter has depleted.  You won the standoff Adam!  Congrats to a worthy competitor!  Now we are both happy!  It is a different experience for me to tuck him into his swing at nap time.  He loves it and I love the break!

Crappy Valentine's Day

At first I was disappointed that I couldn't get a shot of him in his cute Valentine's Day outfit from Trevor's mom without him screaming.  Now it just seems appropriate.  We barely noticed it was Valentine's Day around these parts due to a housewide illness (Trevor excluded..he had his the previous weekend).  I realized Adam feels just like his father where Valentine's Day is concerned!  ROMANCE??  WAHHHHH! 

It started with this one.  He came home from school on Tuesday, the 8th complaining of a headache.  He actually told me he had one before he got on the bus, but I thought he was just trying to get out of going to school..whoops!  He missed school for the rest of the week.  It's that nasty week long cough/fever virus circulating out there.  Hunter came down with it by Friday.  I started coming down with a breast infection on Friday.  At this point, I was still impressed that me or the baby had not gotten this illness and credited it to my daily multivitamin.  I obviously jinxed myself.  I was forced to miss GNO that night due to my achiness, I was feeling better on Saturday.  Unfortunately the kids were still hacking and feverish so we had to miss the adult game night at Trevor's parent's house.  Two fun activities I was very much looking forward to that weekend..we didn't get to do either.  On Sunday, I was starting to feel achy again and started having a fever followed by a sore throat.  I knew my turn had come.  Taking care of a newborn while aching and coughing and being exhausted already is not ideal.  Our turnaround for feeling better is usually only a few days.  Unfortunately this mutated virus lasted much longer than we are used to.  I assumed Jacob would be better by Monday so he could return to school.  On Sunday night he started having a fever again.  He ended up missing school up until Wednesday the 16th.  He missed his precious Valentine's Day party.  I dropped his Valentines off at school so he could still kind of participate. My mom was able to pick up his Valentines from his classmates and drop them off for him.  Hunter had been feeling better by Tuesday, the 15th, but Jacob was already staying home and Hunter wanted to as well so I let him.  Wednesday was declared "Everyone goes back to school" day.  I thought that would be the end of it.  Especially since I had declared it!!  Thursday I got a call about an hour after I dropped Hunter off at preschool.  He wasn't feeling well and he was pale and warm.  I continue to have nightly chills and fevers as of last night.  Each night I think this has to be the last time!  Poor Adam is not feeling well either.  He has been coughing a bit and he doesn't want his Binky as much.  It has been a long two weeks and I have been itching to get out but it's been pretty hard with sick kids.  I don't want to expose a babysitter to this junk.  We're keeping our fingers crossed for this weekend!  Trevor and I are due to a Valentines Day rain check.  I declare it!!

I wanted to publicly acknowledge our parents for being so wonderful & helping us out during this sick time.  They both brought by yummy meals for us and it was so appreciated!!!  Trevor & I both recognized how lucky we are to have such awesome parents!!

Cranky Time

Doesn't he look like the happiest baby?  You wouldn't know it between the hours of 8-11 around here!  It is known as cranky time at our house.  He gets so inconsolable.  We have tried everything!  It's just one of those times we try & tune out the screaming and keep an eye on the clock for the end, which is usually around 11.  My sister, Sabrina, told me to just be grateful cranky time happens before we go to bed and not in the middle of the night while we are trying to sleep.  I am very grateful for that.  For all the crying he does during those hours, he sleeps pretty good at night, doing 3-4 hour stretches between meals & going right back to sleep afterward.  The morning does always come too quickly for me though!!  I miss my restful nights! It's been so long..so very long!

Brothers

These boys love their baby brother.  They are so sweet to him.  I am so grateful there doesn't seem to be any jealousy so far.  I am also still wrapping my mind around the fact that I have 3 kids!!

Catching Up

I have been a bit preoccupied and am now focusing on catching up.  I am now back-dating my posts.  It makes things much easier when I make my blog book and I just found out you can back-date (thanks Mandy)!  So if you are visiting and it looks like I haven't posted anything new, scroll down a few posts and make sure!  I am just catching up since the holidays, so once that's done, it should all be back in order!