Celebrate Good Times C'mon!

Well, it was a big week for both of our baby sisters and a big month for both of our baby brothers, who had babies! So all sorts of congratulations all around to the moms, dads, bride, groom, and graduates! A big welcome to babies Oakley and Oliver. May is always just filled with busy fun! I love all the celebrations.

These are all of the PGHS alumni of the fam! Except Kyle, Josh and Marissa are also PGHS alumni of the family too. We were trying to figure out how to all show the year we graduated. I struggle with the '06...

Kasen had his very last day of Kindergarten the day of Stephanie's graduation, so Kyle and I walked with Tai and Kohen over to his school to pick him up and then walked over to the snow cone shack for our first summer snow cones! But the snow cone shack was closed. That was a huge bummer for our last day of school celebration, but luckily Arctic Circle is right there so we got ice cream instead.

The next day was a good day because Kyle got to go fly fishing again and caught his very first fish fly fishing! I'm so proud. He's been trying to fly fish here and there since 2013 so I'm glad his work buddies have finally been able to help him have success. Good Job Jim!

Later that night Becca's family came over to watch the FRIENDS reunion with us. When Kyle finally learned how to clap during the FRIENDS theme song that's when I knew it was the real thing. "Capital R, Capital T." haha

Somehow we all came up with the genius idea of doing a babysitting swap with the Days. So Friday night Kyle and I got to go on a date to see Cruella and then Saturday their kids came to our house to play while Kyle and Jordan went on a date. The cousins were in heaven! Kyley taught Kasen how to remember her name and now he calls her Kyle-ey and loves talking to her all about Pokemon since she gave him the Pokemon cards out of their cereal box.

Kasen and Tai even got to sleep over and then while the boys helped Lyndsey move into her new house Kyley and I took the kids over to play at Patriot Park for a little while. Where I sunburned my baby. Again. But he loved swinging and playing with Kennedy!

We painted nails, played Color Brain, and then had a dress up, trampoline, popcorn party after dinner!

I love how much these cousins love each other! It's the best.

And Kohen is just here for the food. 

He's finally been moved out of the baby carrier carseat into the convertible carseat and Tai is big enough for a booster now too. More reminders of how big they are getting. Kasen is just excited that he doesn't have to help Tai unbuckle her bottom buckles every time we get out of the car!

Gradulations, Girls Night and a Garden

 Tai has been so excited for her "Gradulation" from preschool. But she's not actually graduating this year. She still has another year of preschool even though it totally seems like she is more than ready to start kindergarten in the fall! So she will end up having had 2 preschool graduations, while Kasen had none. lol He only went to preschool one year and the last couple months were cancelled for Covid.

Beckett was even in her class! And as part of their preschool class, a 30 minute movement class was included. So the day after their graduation they also got to go preform the dance they learned at the studio's dance showcase. When the curtains opened she gave me a big thumbs up, but as soon as Footloose started playing she folded her arms and mad dogged during the entire performance! At least she sang her songs at "gradulation".

The last couple days of preschool they had field day and she got to wear her new swimsuit.

Really, she absolutely LOVES going to preschool and loves when it's her turn to take snack and loves when it's her turn to be the line leader. Every day she asks me how many more days until she gets to go to school, so last night when I told her there's a 3 month break for summer and that she'll go back after Kohen's first birthday, she started sobbing, "but 3 30s will take FOREVER!!"

Today we got to go watch Kasen dance at the school's dance festival! He danced the best Yakety Yak dance. His air saxophone and rubber legs were my absolute favorite! Even though he was wearing his winter coat WITH his hood on the entire time. 

For teacher appreciation week we took Mrs. Perez her favorite treats and I asked Kasen if he wanted to make her a card. He said yes, but didn't know what to write on it. I told him he could write, "Thank you for being the best teacher ever!" He responded, "But I don't know if she's the best teacher cause I've only had two so far." Haha So he decided to just write "I love you" instead.

He's loved playing soccer at recess so we signed him up for a team in the fall that he's super excited about.

I've still been mourning the cancelation of my perfect girls trip to Idaho last year with these girls, but we had a good start to making it up with a fun girls night last Friday! We went to dinner, saw a comedy show at Improv Broadway and then stopped for dessert. Improv Broadway is definitely worth the $7. Laughter is the best medicine and girls nights are my best self care. I love these girls more than all the pasta and Cazookie I ate that night.

And while I was gone, Kyle took all three kids with him to the nursery to buy everything for our garden and got it all planted! Super Dad!

I think we have corn, pumpkin, zucchini, peppers, onion, carrots, tomatoes, watermelon and strawberries this year!

And Wednesday we get to go to Stephanie's high school "gradulation"! Sunday Tai and I went to her seminary graduation too. Graduations all around. Party Party!

Flower Girl

Krista and Will got married yesterday! Congratulations! And she had all the nieces be her flower girls. They were the cutest and Krista even gave each of them one of these puzzles to ask. Kasen had Tai convinced that she would actually be dressing as a flower, but even though that wasn't true, she was super excited to wear her white "wedding" dress!

Jordan is the baby whisperer, the king of getting Kohen to sleep, so we let him every time he wants to! While I got to hold/meet baby Oakley. Congratulations Hayden and Karissa. The cousin score is now Girls: 12 and Boys: 3

Yay for weddings and babies and more cousins!

Croup Coughs and Concussions?

 What a week! It was busy and crazy and more bad things happened than good things, but this week is going much better already.

Kyle was overlooked for another position at work that he applied for, except this time he was the more qualified candidate, with more detective experience, and they couldn't give him any advice on what to do better for next time. They told him to keep doing everything the same... He was the very next pick for the two positions they filled. Super encouraging to know you should've got the job and didn't.

Same day he found out that he did not draw out for the hunts. But he did get to go fly fishing in his new waders on Friday, so yay!

Thursday we took the kids to ride bikes and Kasen is officially riding a 2 wheel bike! Fourth time was the charm. Now we have Tai's training wheels off too and she'll be next. She is much braver cause every time she starts going faster she yells at us to let go! Even though she isn't really balancing on her own yet.

That night around midnight, Kohen woke up coughing and breathing horribly. We called Teledoc and he said there was enough retraction in his ribs that we needed to go to the ER for a breathing treatment and/or steroids. Luckily we've met our deductibles and out of pocket max or I would have watched and waited till morning. He was still his happy, energetic self so I wasn't super concerned. But to the ER we went. And he didn't cough the whole way there. He sounded fine! So no breathing treatment. I mean look how happy he is in the ER at 3am! The doctor said he probably has croup though and did give him a steroid. The nurse went on and on about how awful the steroid tastes and how kids have a hard time keeping it down, but Kohen did not care a lick. Took it like a champ with a smile on his face. So now he has steroids on the inside and on the outside. Steroids all around!

Saturday's good thing was going to get our Mother's Day pedicures and then out to lunch. This is the fourth year we've done pedicures. 

Saturday's bad thing was that when I got home Kohen fell all the way down our flight of 13 stairs. So now my baby, with croup, has a giant goose egg on his head. And of course the day that Kyle makes me promise to check on Kohen, so he doesn't die in his sleep from a concussion, is the first time he actually slept through the night!

#motheroftheyear

Babies are so much harder to keep alive when there are other kids around that forget to not put him on the couch, leave tiny toys on the floor, leave the bathroom door open during a bath and the gate open at the top of the stairs. Crossing my fingers that he survives living with them.