Tate - He is reading. Like for real reading. I am so proud of him! He LOVES school, thinks his teacher is the best teacher in the world (we think she's pretty fantastic too!), is thrilled that Ava and Kiley get to come play after school on weekdays and loves that his best friend from his class lives 3 doors down. He can't wait for it to snow. He is growing up so much!
Wesley - Just today when I was changing his pants, he said, "whoa, poop?" I asked if he had to poop and he said yes, hopped up, ran to the bathroom and pooped! This is huge...potty training has been a major struggle. I was so proud of him! Wesley is a spaz as usual, full of energy like no other child I know. He is hilarious too! He LOVES singing and dancing while listening to his iPod, he loves his brothers and is getting so big! He wore some jammies last night that I put him in back in the spring and they were WAY too small! He doesn't get night feedings anymore, so he is hungry all the time. His favorite food? Hot dogs. He would eat them for every meal. He is improving with his communication too...it's still a struggle, but he is talking much better. He loves school so much and thinks it is so cool that he gets to ride the bus.
Cason - He is all over the place, into everything. He is pulling himself up to everything and climbing the stairs. He imitates sounds and words and babbles ALL the time. He is getting more attitude as well, which is good. He gets angry when his brothers take a toy from him that he was playing with. When he accidentally rolls a ball or pushes a car out of reach, he gets mad if he can't get to it. Again, a great step in his development. He is still the snuggliest, happiest boy though! He eats anything we put in front of him, he snuggles into the shoulder of whoever picks him up, he laughs at the drop of a hat and has the best smile. He attracts attention everywhere we go.
Sean and I - We are busy as usual...Sean with work, me with the kids and photography. Sean has just taken a class to be a preceptor and has a new nurse that he is working with now. He loves his job and I love mine. :) I have the best clients ever. Period. I am amazed after every photo session at how wonderful every single one is. I love working with people!
We are so looking forward to the Christmas festivities to begin! To me, things will start next Thursday when I am having approximately 20 ladies over for my cookie exchange! I loved that evening last year and am going to make this an annual thing! Can't wait for a fun adult evening with a bunch of wonderful women!
We will celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve and then Sean's family on the night of Christmas and then mostly on the morning of the 26th. The kids don't know that we (along with Mike, Sarah, Leah and Kayla) will be going to a waterpark hotel for 2 nights after that. It is their big Christmas gift and they are going to freak out! We have decided to not bring Cason. He isn't too fond of pool areas with his sensory issues and the echoing that goes on in hotel pool areas. We are so blessed that the DeCooks offered to keep him for the 2 nights we will be gone. He loves them and is completely at home with them and at their house. He will have much more fun with them and it will be much easier for us to enjoy our time with the 2 big boys without having to comfort a distraught Cason. And fortunately, he is young enough that he won't know the difference!
After our return home from our mini vacation, we will be enjoying having the boys off of school to spend some time with at home for a few days. They are going to be spending New Years Eve with Mike, Sarah, Leah and Kayla at their home while we party with my side of the family in Muscatine. Again, we are so blessed that we have Mike, Sarah and the girls here and that they love our boys so much that they are willing to take them on for the night...it's no easy task!
After we ring in 2013, the boys don't return back to school until the 8th! It will be fun to have a good week of all of us home to start out the year, but I am sure ALL of us will be ready for school to start back up! Still, our Christmas festivities will not be complete, we will be celebrating Christmas with Tate's birth family in January and also will be celebrating Cason's 2nd birthday, Tyler, Leah, Abby, Linda (my mother in law) and Sarah Peakin's birthdays on the Peakin side. My sister's birthday is also in January! It is a BUSY month!
I am hoping that we will have a low key February and then we'll be ready for our almost 2 week spring break vacation we're going on in March to Florida! I have a feeling, the next few months is going to FLY by!
