February's Bits

Just a few bits from February!

Why do I love sleeping pictures of my kids? Luke is usually operating at high speed, so if he happens to slow down for a second, he often falls asleep

 Cafe Rio opened!  Through some great coupon finding and grand opening celebrations we managed to score a total of 12 free meals there.  How can I turn down good food that someone else prepares and cleans up especially during busy season?! It was awesome!

 My turn to teach Joy School came around again, and we spent one of those mornings on a field trip to Winco.

 This field trip is one of my favorites.  Luke especially loved watching the forklift demonstration.

The rain continued for most of the month, so outside play time didn't happen much.  But when it was just sprinkling I took my cute Joy Schoolers for a walk.  Our sweet neighbor Sandy snapped this picture as we walked by her house.

Having Joy School at our house is a big deal for Luke.  He gets so excited to have his friends over for 'learning time.'

Noah must have thought Nate needed a little help in the Valentine's Day department, because he wrote a love note for him to give to me.

 And sweet Luke wrote his first 'all by myself' love note, and I was the lucky recipient!

Leah got hit with a terrible cold.  That sweet girl would just walk over an put her head in my lap for some comfort.  We spent a LOT of time snuggling and not getting much of anything else accomplished.

Chick-fil-a hosted a Mommy and Me breakfast one Saturday morning.  So while Nate was at work, the kids and I enjoyed free breakfast at one of our favorite spots.  Score!

 Luke started swimming lessons at Tricks.  Fingers crossed that he's ready to swim without floaties by the time summer comes around.

 Nate and I celebrated our birthdays.  Thanks Noah for taking a picture so we could remember it!

 It was just a few days after Valentine's Day and Target was already well stocked with Easter stuff.  But this girl sure made for a cute bunny even if it was only February.

Rascal Baby

Leah has affectionately and appropriately been nicknamed 'Rascal Baby' in our family.

Seriously, this girl is so busy!

We are in a huge climbing, exploring, destroying phase and some days it feels like I can't keep up with the chaos.

Every drawer has been pillaged and pulled apart and Leah squeals with delight when she's figured out a new way to cause destruction.  

 So much personality in that girl!

As exhausting and frustrating as it sometimes is I also love seeing just how much that strong body and mind can do.  She is really strong!

So for now I just have the phrase, "It's just a phase" on repeat in my mind.  Surely she won't be a tornado forever, right?

Hearing Test Success!

Noah and I had a little date down to the audiology department at UC Davis.  We noticed an improvement in his hearing almost immediately after the surgery last month, but I've been antsy for some documented proof that things really are better. 

 

 And, good news!  Noah's hearing has improved so much.  Just for comparison, this is the audiogram from December.  Everything below that yellow line is considered hearing loss.  The x's are Noah's left year, the triangles are the right.  It kind of explains why the audiologist and ENT used words like significant, surprising and impressive to describe Noah's hearing loss.

What you see below is Noah's post surgery audiogram.  All of those symbols moved up so much.  While his hearing at the 250Hz is right on the line, the audiologist explained that is completed normal and exactly what they would expect to see from a kid with ear tubes.

Surgery success! Now I've just got my fingers crossed that those tubes stay put for as long as they're needed so we're not back repeating the whole process a second time.  But even if we are, we know the road to take and know what a difference it will make.

Valentine's Day

 I snapped this picture the Sunday before Valentine's Day after church.  Look at my little loves!

I loved teaching Joy School on Valentine's Day.  Yes, it made the day a little crazier and busy, but frosting cookies with Luke and his buddies was a really fun way to spend the morning.

Noah was too cute when he walked out of class.  He was really proud of the Valentine bag that he'd created.

 

 The boys loved going through their Valentine's and comparing what kinds they had received.  As a teacher I loved this holiday.  The kids were always to excited to give and receive these little pieces of paper from each other.  Oh, to be a kid again!

 My favorite was when Noah said, "Mom? What's that word, the one that means everybody likes you? Oh, I know! Popular. Mom, I must be super popular. Look at all of the Valentines I got!"

Overnight in San Jose

Andy and Marissa blessed their sweet baby Jack last weekend.  It's been too long since we've seen them, and it actually worked out in this busy season time of year (miracle!) for us to go.  So Saturday we drove to San Jose, ate lunch and dinner with the Armstrongs and just enjoyed being together. Leah is not a road tripper, although she's improving.  It took a LOT of peek-a-boo, snacks and a little screaming (from her, not me) to get through the drive.

 I REALLY enjoyed getting to snuggle Jack for two hours while Leah and Lucy slept and Nate and Andy took  the bigger kids out for a while.  How did I not even get a picture of that sweet baby?!  It was heaven snuggling a little one again!

This was our first hotel stay as a family of five and it was great.

 Between unlimited waffles and the t.v. on above them there was no way these boys were going to focus on taking a picture.

The blessing Andy gave little Jack was precious, just like that sweet baby.

These two are like brothers.  I'm grateful that their friendship has also made a friendship for Marissa and me.

And our kids love each other too!  Marissa told me the other day that Lucy was trying to name people to invite to her two year old birthday party and Adalyn suggested inviting their 'cousins' Noah and Luke.

 We detoured on the way home and stopped at the Oakland Temple.

After thinking about it we realized that it has been ten years since we've visited.  That's when the Sacramento Temple opened, and we just haven't made the trip since.  The visitor's center there had lots of interactive activities that we all enjoyed.  Noah was impressed by this giant Book of Mormon.

It was a quick trip, but a fun one, especially at this time of year where we don't get much time all together as a family.  Thanks Armstrongs for a fantastic time.  We can't wait to do it again!

January's Bits

Noah went to his first 'friend from school' birthday party.  He and Peyton are good buddies, and she really won him over with an awesome face painter at her party. 

 There's Noah and Peyton.  

 The 100th day of school was filled with celebration and activities.  I was super busy running the centers, but quickly snapped a picture of Noah with Bentley and Everett.

We celebrated Nana's birthday at our house and, of course, she was in heaven being surrounded by her favorite little people.

Dad's at church meetings, Leah wakes up earlier than expected, and Mom still has to finish getting ready for church.  On this Sunday morning it meant Cheerios to snack on in our closet until I was done.  Leah loved the idea!

Noah wanted to send another 'wish you were here' text to Nate.  The boys always feel like they've hit the jackpot when we eat AT Costco.

When the sun actually shined for a few days this month we were outside on bikes, at the park, or just exploring. 

This darling pink marshmallow girl just wants to get out and explore too so she was all smiles when the rain finally stopped.

Oh, and she's WALKING!  It's mostly just a few steps that turn into a crawl, but it's happening! 

I always know when Luke is going through a growth spurt because he's extra hungry and every afternoon I find him napping somewhere.

Cafe Rio opened in December and thanks to all of their promotional nights we've scored twelve free meals!  Thanks Cafe Rio for feeding my littles AND cleaning up after us.

Leah loves sitting on the mantle.  Like, she screams to get up there and screams when we take her down.  Silly girl.

This year of being six is so far filled with too many doctor's appointments.  This one was for the pediatric plastic surgeon.  Nothing big, but this brave boy probably has a little procedure in the future.