Drew's Birthday Party

Drew combined with his friend Weston again to have a little birthday get together but due to COVID and some quarantining a few of their buddies weren't able to join. They had SO much fun at the indoor waterpark though riding rides and surfing, eating pizza and of course filling themselves with ice cream! 

 

Drew // 10 Years Old

DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!! Holy cow that's just insane. This was SUCH a good year for you in sports and personality and school and everything. You are 100% an amazing kid. You get along with everyone, do amazing in school, help so much with your siblings and Hazel puppy and overall are a kind human being. We love you so much!!!

For the stats:

Height: 61 inches (97%)
Weight: 73.8 pounds (97%)
Shoe size: 5.5
Clothes: Large

And for the annual interview:

Favorite color: green
Best friend: Josh and Weston
Favorite food: Gramma's Meatloaf
Favorite restaurant: Babe's
What do you want to be when you grow up: Aerospace engineer
What makes you happy: When I get 100% on a test
Where is your favorite place to go: The beach
Favorite show:  Dude Perfect
Favorite sport to play: Golf
Favorite sport to watch: Football

Favorite toy to play with: Nintendo Switch

Favorite movie: Indiana Jones Movies

 

PRK

So I decided to have lasik on my eyes for the year that I turned 40. I have wanted it for about 20 years now but was WAY too nervous back in 2000 to pull the trigger. Fast forward about a decade ago and I was even more wanting it but decided to punt even longer. So here it is, 2021 and I was ready! I had the first appointment in which they very lightly check your eye sight to see if you're even a candidate for any eye surgeries. I was. But then at the pre-op appointment things changed. My eyes were a bit too 'bumpy' and my 'rubber bands' (apparently the eye is made up of thousands of rubber band like things) were too weak for lasik so the recommended surgery for me was PRK. I was told it was more uncomfortable and took a longer recovery but after some discussion with Derek we decided to do it. Our kids activities were still on winter break, COVID still put a damper on most social activities and my January shoots are generally pretty minimal. 

So, on January 7th I went under a laser to correct my eye sight. 

And then I paid for it. 

January 8th, 9th and 10th were MISERABLE. I couldn't stop crying from the pain and it felt like someone was trying to gauge my eyeballs out. I laid in my dark room and slept as much as I could but VERY much wanted more medicine than just tylenol! (They do give you pain drops but say they slow down recovery so try and not use them too much. I broke down and used them only 1 time each day as I was in so much pain). The next day my pain was WAY less but my eye sight was terrible. 

Fast forward to my check up at one week and although I was pain free, my eye sight was still terrible (20/70 together and 20/100 separate). I'm frustrated and regretting this and hope one day in the coming weeks I'll have good vision but for now I'm just praying it's sooner rather than later because I can't imagine never taking another photograph again due to blurry vision. :(

Bigger Bike

This one got an even bigger bike for Christmas and she's riding it like a champ! It's actually the same wheel size as Drew's since there's a range but guess who now wants a bigger bike himself? It's on his Christmas list! Anyway, Ady loves her new big bike that isn't a baby princess one but I personally think she looks too grown up and I want my squishy wormy back! :)

This One

Good thing this one is cute because MAN he's a handful lately. He's JUST like Drew in that he talks ALL. THE. TIME. Legit. All the time. There are times when I have to say 'Will, can we not talk for a minute' just to get a break. I KNOW it's his mind processing and working and I know it means he's a smart cookie but WHEW it's tough. On top of that his whining is OFF the charts! I just don't remember the other two whining this much at his age and Derek says they didn't. I'm hoping it's just a phase but it's just SUPER hard right now! Good thing he's cute. :)

Drowning

Although this blog has become just something I post pictures on and write on to memorialize our lives for our kiddos to read someday, I still want to post about life in general. The word to summarize where we stand is drowning. We are drowning in potty training a 2 year old and a puppy, drowning in housecleaning, drowning in whines from our 2 year old who is our neediest and most dramatic yet and just drowning in staying on top of life. There's no complaining as a couple of those things we chose of course and I do realize this is a normal part of life as parents with young kiddos but it's tough. Very tough. 

 

Hazel // 11.5 Weeks

This little nugget is already 17 pounds and had fit into our tribe amazingly. She goes into her crate at night and sleeps until we wake her around 4ish to go outside for a quick pee, then straight back in. During the day she's in her crate for anywhere from 2-5 hours to nap and then out at other times with us watching her like a hawk. She got her second round of shots last week and cried quite a bit but was fine the next day and has grown to enjoy car rides. This girl is CRAZY soft and we hope she stays that way! I've also found 3 of her siblings and we have a little FaceBook page to keep each other updated on! 

 

Will Potty Training

We potty trained Drew at 2 years and 8 months, Ady at 2 years and 7 months and then Will was 2 years and 9 months. We knew he was ready when he started showing interest a couple of months ago and we got out the potty. We cleared 3 days off the schedule and loaded him up with juice and got started! Day 1 was rough as always but by day 2 and 3 he started to get it. It's now been a couple of weeks and while we still have some accidents here and there he is overall doing awesome! :)

New Years Eve

This New Years Eve looked quite a bit different than in years past. No parties, no dressing up, no gatherings, no large amounts of yummy food and endless amounts of cocktails. It was low key with just my parents and honestly was the BEST. We played a new game, watched an earlier kid ball drop and then stayed up to watch the New York ball drop with my parents. We enjoyed banana bread and bourbon slush and it was just perfect. :)

Also, this is our first picture as a family of 8! 

 

More Hazel Pictures!

This little bundle is the perfect amount of crazy puppy and sweet lovebug. She's SO good with the fact that Ady carries her around everywhere and has done great in her crate and with potty training. The big kids are SO good at helping us out and we think she's just the most perfect fit to our family!!