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!! 

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!

We attempted to take a few pictures of the boys for Gramma for Christmas. Ezra was feelin' the baby modeling. I told him to go stand up against the fence and the second picture is what he did. His first model pose. 

Cohen - 4.5 years old

This boy...he's getting so grown up and so smart. He's working on all kinds of things and making great progress at them. He is Mr. Serious and Literal who insists that we are NOT allowed to say "Say cheese" when taking a picture because cheese is a food in the refrigerator. A

nd also Mr. Goofball who likes toot noises and silly faces.

I thought I would ask him a few things and see what he said...He yelled these all back from the bathroom.

What's your favorite color? White and brown and grey and black

What's your favorite food? Mac and cheese

Why don't you sleep at night? Because...it's because...I don't like to sleep at night.

What's your favorite animal? Horses.

What's your favorite toy? My animals.

What's your favorite number? 9. (always 9 - When playing hide and seek he insists on counting to exactly 9, never more or less).

What's your favorite thing about Daddy? Playing.

What's your favorite thing about Mommy? I like to play with Daddy. (alrighty then).

What's your favorite thing about Ezra? Playing with him. I like to play big rigs.

Do you like school? No. 

What's your favorite book? Poop book. (Look inside your body book)

What are you going to be when you grow up? A man.

What are you doing in there? We're just cleaning the bathroom...

We interrupt this interview to see what kind of disaster "cleaning the bathroom" means.  

Picture Drawings

It seems like Cohen has been learning so many new skills lately. One day, he could put on his own shoes! And with a little work, his socks too! He can write his name and recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-20. He hasn't been much of a drawer up until recently. He drew this today and I couldn't help but be so proud! Cohen is getting to be so grown up!

It's our house, with me outside, a sun and a cloud.

Eye Exam Day

Pretty proud of this fellow who went in for his eye exam today. I promised him NO drops because of our last experience and when he was doing so well, we decided to do the drops. He handled it like a champ! AND he has perfect vision and no scarring or damage from his ROP as a baby (common preemie eye problem). Such a better experience than last time!!

Apple Picking 2015

Today we went for our annual apple picking trip to a local spot nearby (last year's trip is here). We've all been fighting colds, thanks first week of school, and the weather wasn't great but we decided to go for it anyway.

We went straight for the honeycrisps, our favorites! Ezra sampled one to make sure they were still good this year, they were!

As good as it gets with these two little jokers!!

Preschool - Year 2

Cohen started his second year of preschool last week. After having the summer off, it was a pretty big adjustment for him. He was not excited about it, but he was brave and has been doing well so far. He goes 4 days a week now and gets multiple services while at school. He also gets to ride the bus which he thinks is pretty great.

Ezra is a little bit jealous of big brother. He tries to get on the bus every day and the few times we've visited Cohen's preschool he has made himself right at home and not wanted to leave! Cohen's class is half kids who need services and "peers", kids who are developing "normally". I think I need to sign Ezra up to be a peer next year, I know he would love it!

A Hiking We Will Go!

We normally try to go hiking a few times over the summer but just didn't get around to it until today. Cohen starts preschool again this week so we decided to embrace our last day off. Cohen loves adventuring and hiking. Ezra has always been little enough to carry in the hiking backpack but we decided to let him tromp around on his own today. Obviously, it wasn't a difficult hike but the boys loved it and it was so great to get up to the mountains!

Ezra is big into the 2 year old "me do it" phase. He loved climbing all the big rocks by himself and then jumping off just as many other ones.

Oddly enough, for someone who has long struggled with balance and physical motor skills, Cohen is in his element when he's hiking and exploring. For some reason, he seems to be so much more coordinated and climbs rocks and goes over uneven ground without much trouble. It's so great to see. We joked today how awesome it would be if our "wimpy white boy" who spent two months on a ventilator, spent 8 months of his life on oxygen, and was supposed to have "crappy lungs" became a mountain climber! (Well, we know he has already climbed so.many.mountains. but you know, actual physical mountains someday)