NWWF 2016

Our local fair is in town this week. Cohen loves the rides at the fair. We were surprised the first year when he went on rides and kept wanting to go on more! He's always been a sensory input kinda guy (spinning, swinging) so this is perfect. He's also lucky enough to have cousins, auntie, and daddy who will take him on rides. Cohen tried to talk is into the Gravitron 3000 (the one where you go in and get plastered against the wall while it just spins in circles) but he had no willing supervision to go with him. Ezra did well on the rides this year too! And of course loved the animals and the tractors.

Summertime at the Creek

There is this great little spot near our old house that is perfect. Shade for me, sand and rocks and water for the boys. And the weird thing is, no one is ever there! It's finally heating up around here and this pregnant lady doesn't tolerate it very well (a true pacific northwesterner here).

These boys are growing up so fast, I can't believe it! Both will start preschool in a couple weeks.

Happy Second Birthday, Stinky!

Today, Cohen came up from the basement with this little smile on his face. He told me he needed to tell me something and whispered in my ear "Today is Stinky's birthday!!" Stinky is Cohen's lovey that he has had since a few months old. He hasn't been as attached to Stinky lately but apparently he deserved a party today! After that he decided that Stinky needed to have a cake with frosting and that it needed to be a surprise. I'm not sure how we came to the conclusion that it was Stinky's second birthday, but that's what he decided. 

 We had to take a trip out, so we decided to go with it and swing by the store and get Stinky a cake. We let Cohen take the lead and pick out what he thought Stinky wanted. We were going to make a cake but it was getting close to bedtime and we decided it would be faster to buy something. Cohen picked out a german chocolate cake and some ice cream. When we got home, the boys put extra sprinkles and candles on the cake.

We also invited Gramma and Grampa over for Stinky's party and then brought him a blanket and hat for his birthday. We lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday". The whole thing was pretty darn cute and Cohen was thrilled and had a big smile on his face. I'd say it was worth it to throw Stinky a party, they've been through a lot together! 

Ezra's Thoughts on Baby

What do you think we should name the baby?
I don't know. Maybe "Big boy". We're going to name him "butt".

Do you think you're going to like the  baby?
Like the baby?

What color hair do you think the baby will have?
Fruits on his head!

How's the baby going to get out?
Cut open your tummy.

Is the baby going to be your friend?
No.

Are you going to be nice to the baby?
Mmm-hmm. And not take the toys from him.

Do you think the baby is going to be a boy or a girl?
Girl! Girl, girl, girl.

Are you going to help me change the baby's poopy diapers?
Uh huh.
Are you going to like it? 
No.

What are you going to do if the baby cries?
Give him some medicine to help the baby stop crying.

Cohen's First 5K!

Cohen finished his first 5k this weekend. He has always loved to walk and walk (and walk and walk and walk). Maybe it has to do with the fact that we have gone on walks since pretty much the day we brought him home from the NICU because we needed out. Or maybe it's that he likes to walk and look at everything around him and check it alllll out. Either way, I think it's calming and a good outlet for him. 

His Gramma signed them up to do a local fun run/walk. Every day he would ask if Gramma was coming to get him for his "big walk". We fed him an extra big breakfast and sent him on his way with Gramma, his auntie and cousin Jordan. He made it the whole way with only one short piggyback from Gramma and even did some running at the beginning! Pretty proud of all that this guy has been up to this month!! 

Baby Kimmel #4 - 14 Weeks

It's true! Baby Kimmel #4 is coming in October! I am currently 14 weeks along. I had my first ultrasound around 10 weeks and all looked good and I get to be a normal person! My pregnancy with Ezra was treated as high risk and I had an ultrasound every 2 weeks. This time I'm on a regular schedule with regular appointments! I had to ask my OB what they actually do at a "normal" appointment and she laughed, but I really have no idea!

The first trimester went fairly smoothly, I did have some morning sickness and only wanted to eat bread type foods. I couldn't stand any kind of brown meat. It has since gotten a little better but I'm still mostly only wanting bland foods. I couldn't believe how tired I have been. Apparently I'm not 25 anymore.

We are considering not finding out the gender of baby until it's born! We thought it might be a fun surprise for our last baby. The chances of it being a boy are good. The boys are excited and love to hear the baby's heartbeat. Cohen keeps telling me that the baby has to stay in for 9 months, let's hope, kid! We will have our next ultrasound around 18 weeks to do the anatomy ultrasound. Praying for boring and normal!

Movin' On Up!

Around 3 weeks ago, we decided it would be a good time to sell our house. Que whirlwind of activity. In this same 3 weeks, we rehomed our dog, painted the inside of our house, said goodbye to our kitty after he broke his leg badly, got 3 new goldfish, accepted an offer on our house and put an offer on another house!

Crazy. And slightly stressful. I am, however, so thankful that we got an offer the day we listed our house. And I only had to keep it super showing ready for 2 days. I don't know if you know my boys, but its basically impossible.

We are super excited for this new chapter in our lives. And...if you can't read the boys' shirts, they are getting a new baby brother or sister!

Easter 2016

Things have been a little bit crazy around here and I haven't had time to keep up with the blog like I always hope I can. It has been so nice to be able to look up posts over the last few years to remember things. We have had lots of winter sicknesses through the house, a trip to the allergist for Ezra for ongoing, unexplained hives, getting a dog and sadly having to find a new home for him, a job change for Danny, and now we are getting our house ready to sell! Cra.zy.

We attempted church this morning, ended up sitting in the back and leaving early. Since we've been sick and haven't been able to go to church in awhile, Cohen was a little out of the routine plus no children's church and the Easter excitement and it just wasn't going to happen. So we ended up sitting through the singing and then making our way up for Easter breakfast being served through the rest of the service. We tried. I'm thankful it's about Jesus and all HE has done and not about us.

I didn't even get a good picture of the boys before church and since we've been so crazy I didn't even get to get them any cute matching outfits or anything. Oh well, maybe next year.

After the church fiasco, we gave the boys their little Easter baskets (bubble guns! Giant chalk!) and then headed over to my parents house for lunch. My sister plans an awesome egg hunt every year and the boys were super excited about it.

Ezra was all in and ran around the yard collecting eggs like a champ. Cohen was a little more selective, choosing only the blue, pink and purple eggs and returning the rest to the yard for someone else.

After lunch and egg hunting, the boys were ready for a sugar crash so we left to take Carter some flowers and then home. Ezra fell asleep on the five minute drive home after no nap. We saw some sun this afternoon which was SO nice and much needed.

Happy Easter! He is risen!