Spring is here!

Spring is here, spring is here! I don't think I've EVER been more happy to say hello to spring. We are eagerly waiting for the birds to start frequenting our yard and for the big, beautiful trees to start turning green. The sunshine and warmth we've experienced recently has helped improve moods all around our house. Last weekend we were able to enjoy an OUTSIDE fire for once! Ahhh..

The boys are as cute and funny as ever. Since it's been warmer, they've been exploring our backyard and making up creative imaginary movies and games to fill their time. Everything usually turns into Pokemon somehow and there are fake "battles" that take place. The way these two talk back and forth about Pokemon reminds me of two old men talking politics. They are quite schooled in the Pokemon world and Elijah especially knows very specific details about EVERY character. "Oh, him? Yeah, he's on page 97 in the Pokemon manual. He weighs 237.4 lbs and he is 7'9"."

Do you see Sammy's Sharpied nostrils? Yep, constant antics around these parts.

School has been going great for both boys. They are both still enjoying chess club on Wednesday afternoons. If you asked either of them how our winter was, they'd say, "Awesome!"

I recently brought Elijah to his 6-month urology check-up and everything checked out great! They did an ultrasound of his one kidney (we hadn't had this looked at for years) and it looked wonderful. It's nice and big, which is great since it's taken over the other kidney's job as well as its own, and it's functioning well. We've continued to cath him daily since his surgery last summer and it's been working! Third time's a charm.

His well visit last week was great, too. Dr. S recommended that he see an orthotist for shoe inserts to help with his very flat feet. He's been experiencing leg (knee, I think) pain for over a year and the flat feet could very well be the culprit. That appointment is on Monday!

Other upcoming appointments in the next few months: cardiology, ENT, pulmonology. We are also in the process of getting him some extra assistance through the county/state and once we're through all the paperwork this will be GREAT to get him some extra help! He's doing so great. We are constantly so proud of Elijah and Sammy!

We hope you are all doing great! Work for both Dan and me have been insanely busy, hence the minimal posts. That should slow down soonish. Thanks for peeking in! More soon!

Mustaches and mud!

Click here for the recipe for Sammy's birthday cake!

And here are a few silly boy pics from the weekend..

We were so excited to get a visit from my bestest friend Heather and her awesome kiddos this past weekend. We had tons of fun together, as we always do, although the weather didn't exactly cooperate with our plans. Before they arrived, I did something I had never done before! I ran in a mud race with my sister-in-law Christine and two friends. We had a blast! Ok, so running straight up two entire ski hills wasn't exactly fun, but the the experience as a whole was fun and we proved to be a great team.

Here is a pic of us after finishing (we finished in one hour and three minutes!) and getting rinsed off a bit. At one point we were running with totally goopy muddy legs, torsos, arms and hands and our shoes weighed about 10 pounds each. Then we went down the giant slide that got us (mostly) clean and filled with suds!

(photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

Here we are before the race, clean and fresh! :)

                                                       (photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

The below pic was physically the toughest point of the entire race for me. My most difficult mental part was the balance beam, which I wouldn't have expected beforehand. I freaked out half-way across, but thankfully my awesome team talked me through it.

                                                         (photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

I can't believe tomorrow is Wednesday already and that the little boys and I leave for our big road trip in LESS THAN A MONTH! Yikes! We have much to plan before then, but we are very much looking forward to it. It is going to be an adventure of a lifetime!

Just a few tidbits before I sign off for the night..

Elijah needs foot orthotics again. He had them when he was two for about a year because his ankles turned in when he was upright. His feet are super flat, so he typically walks with his feet turned out for stabilization. We will likely take care of this in the fall, after croc season. :)

E will be having a cavity filled in the morning. It's the exact same spot as the last two. The filling from the last round fell off and created the perfect cavity pool. Hopefully this filling will take care of it for good, and with little to no stress.

A few more of my most favorite mispronounced Sammy words:
birthmark=buckmark
suitcase=soup-case
band-aid=bamma-dage
naked=make-id

I will end with the funniest quote of the week and perhaps the month!
Dan had Sunday night free due to bad weather, so we took the opportunity to enjoy a meal out as a family. Totally out of the blue in a moment of silence, Sammy said, "Daddy! What's the name of the restaurant where you took your pants off?!" Uhhh.... Dan? Is there something you should share? :) Never a dull moment with these silly boys.

That's all for now! Thanks for checking in! OH! I was going to ask you all to leave a comment on this post. We would love for you to say hello, or more or whatever. We want to know you're there! It would be so fun to see 25 comments in the morning. :) Elijah would be thrilled to read through them all. Thank you and good night!