Tadd's Birthday

I'm really attempting to be up to date with our blog before this baby girl gets here. I don't want to be behind at all, in anything. That way, when she's here, I can just be 100% in the moment.

Do you remember October? I barely do. Tadd turned 5 but it seems he's aged about 10 extra years. His "little boy" stage is quickly slipping away and I'm not dealing with it very well. Luckily, he's still my mama's boy and I don't see that changing any time soon.

We always decorate the boy's room the night before their birthdays, while they're sleeping, so they have a fun surprise to wake up to. Although, they've caught on and it's no longer a surprise, it's still a fun way to wake up on your birthday!

Luckily, or unluckily (depending on who you are...), Tadd's birthday keeps falling on the same day as the church trunk-or-treat party. It always makes for a different birthday but he couldn't think of anything better than dressing up as Batman and getting free candy.

We spent the day just playing and enjoying the weather, then headed to the trunk-or-treat. He kept saying it was the best day ever and that he was so lucky, so I'll consider it a win.

They Started School

Kade started 2nd grade this year. He loves school and was counting down the last days of summer. He couldn't wait to see friends again and go learn! 

I did my usual video for him. This year I decided I'll only do it on the first day of every elementary year. Then on the first and last days of jr. high and high school.  Let's be real, I'll be lucky if they let me do it that often. Kade was still willing to do the video this year, but heaven forbid he hold my hand in the school. :(

He's getting so old. Even from these pictures his face has matured and he's gotten so much taller!

I fought my hardest to get him to keep holding my hand but he thinks he's just too cool for that. Never mind that I kept reminding him, he'll never be too cool to hold mom's hand. Sigh. 

A couple days after Kade's first day of second grade, Tadd started his last year of pre-school! This boy was so excited for school to start. All the way up until we were walking to his classroom. That's when he started getting nervous and sad. He still tried to keep a smile on his face though. He wanted to be there, he just didn't want me to leave. 

When I picked him up, I expected a big hug and a whole lot of excitement to see me again. The instant he saw me, he said, "Mom! Can I go to my friend Connor's house?" He told me he had too much fun to miss me. Something that was both a relief and a devastation. He's my little mama's boy, but I'm glad he's gaining his own independence. This year has been amazing for him, he's already starting to read and he loves homework, for now. :) 

Baby #4

Updating this blog has been so daunting to me. Probably because I'm so severely behind with journaling our life this year, that it just has been too overwhelming. There's a lot to update, but I'll start with probably our most exciting adventure this year.

We found out in late May, that we were (SURPRISE!) expecting another addition to our rowdy crew. This pregnancy was my most difficult. I was sicker, and more tired than I had ever been in any other pregnancy. This is my only pregnancy that's gotten me waking up to use the restroom in the middle of the night. It was so different in so many ways, that I hoped it meant it was a girl.

 At 15 weeks, and 17 weeks we had ultrasounds that determined the sex of the baby to be a boy. While we were still excited to be adding a fourth, we were a little (ok a lot) sad that on our last shot, we wouldn't be having the girl we had always wanted! We love our boys and we know the boy thing, plus we had all the clothes we could ever need for another boy so things were still good. We chose a name, we were getting excited to meet this new baby boy.

 At week 20 I had another ultrasound and the dr. got us all sorts of confused and hopeful when he said that if I hadn't had the previous ultrasounds, he would be 100% sure it was a girl. Oh great. I was trying not to get my hopes up while simultaneously being oddly sad, or sort of mourning, that we weren't having a boy anymore. It was the strangest most surreal feeling. We were told that at our 24 week appointment would be the big ultrasound where they'd be able to determine for sure, the gender of the baby.

Those 4 weeks were the longest, ever, of this whole pregnancy. Sure enough, 24 weeks came, and a baby GIRL was confirmed!!!

I love this little clip from her ultrasound. You can see her little fingers grab onto her feet. :) 

Apparently Aaron had been in cahoots with some ladies from our ward and texted them immediately, once the gender was confirmed. When I got home, I had this surprise waiting for me. And I of course burst into tears. It was such an emotional day. I won't soon forget it.

We have been so excited for her to get here. When we told Kade he was going to have a little sister, he responded with, "I have been praying for a little sister! Heavenly Father answered my prayers!" Which again made me burst into tears. Like I said, emotional. Tadd has also been so excited to have a sister and he's loved helping me get her room together. Max knows there's a baby coming, and he'll kiss my belly and say hello to baby sisser. I really am so excited to see them interact with a sister. I think she's the luckiest. In one short week we are going to be holding her in our arms and we can't wait!

So Much to Catch Up...

I neglected this poor blog, during the entire summer. School started again today so I figured I should play catch-up.  This summer has been so busy for work that I haven't had a ton of time to take pictures of my own family! :( I'll do better. 

Toward the end of the last school year, Kade's class had an awards ceremony. All the kids dressed up and watched a cute video their awesome teacher made for them and then the awards were handed out. Look how cute they all are!

Kade's award was "Best Penmanship", he was so proud of himself! It was adorable. 

On the last day of school, there were lots of tears. He was so sad to be leaving school and his friends and his teacher, Mrs. Chatfield. He absolutely loved everything about 1st grade!

Toward the end of May, Tadd had to get stitches after a fall into the leg of the kitchen table. Aaron and I were working at a wedding when it happened. Luckily it wasn't too bad. He's had worse. It's something about that eyebrow of his!

We also celebrated Kade's birthday! He turned 7! My parents were here and Aunt Amy and the kids came up as well as my Grandma Lauritzen! It was so fun to have so much family around for his birthday. He chose to go bowling and then we had cake and presents back at the house. 

Randomly one day, Max climbed into this cabinet and wanted the doors shut. He stayed in there for so long. He's a weirdo. 

And Aaron's birthday! He turned 35. Serena, Cameron and Charity came over for dinner and we had a nice relaxing evening with Cafe Rio salad and cheesecake. Sadly I didn't get a picture with our guests!

On our first day of summer vacation, we went to the splash pad. It was the perfect way to start the summer. 

On the fourth of July, we went to Jamie's house and had a yummy BBQ. Again, Serena and Cameron were there too. And again I didn't get any pictures when we were around other people. But I did take pictures of the sparklers that went down after our firework show. TADD HELD A SPARKLER! This was a big deal. Last year he ran screaming. This year he was still hesitant but he did it. And then he burned his finger and he was finished. 

We also went on a family vacation to California! It was the looongest road trip of my whole life. The way there wasn't too bad but the way back was awful. Max hurt his neck and couldn't lift his ear off of his shoulder. He screamed the entire way home. Our last leg, should have been 11 hours and it ended up being 17. Awful. Annnd again, I didn't take very many pictures with my real camera but I did instagram a lot of our trip so that counts, right? The only ones I took were when we went to the beach, even then I didn't take very many because my battery died. Ugh. 

It was an eventful summer and we did do our bucketlist again. It was fun but unfortunately we didn't get to do very many of our items. Next year will be better!