Jack is 9 Months and a Luke Update

Okay, okay. If you're looking at the dates, you know I'm a little behind on this one. It's been a crazy week full of doctor's appointments, and I'm obviously running behind. Jack turned nine months on the 11th, and he's doing great! He's still waking up one or two times each night, but he's also scooting across the floor like a pro and eating everything he can get his pudgy little hands on. He also has the most adorable habit of breaking into a grin when he sees one of us. I love it! It's the best greeting in the whole entire world.

We had him tested for peanut allergy at Luke's appointment next week, and it came back negative. Yay for Jack! He also saw his pediatrician last week, where he weighed in at 20.13 pounds and 29 inches long. He's a healthy boy with the greatest chunky cheeks in the whole wide world. He's also the sweetest tempered boy a mother could dream of. He's such an amazing addition to our family.

As for Luke, we haven't had the best news lately. He saw his allergist in Helena last Friday, and we ran a special test for peanut allergy. Unfortunately, the results were worst case scenario, with a high risk of anaphylaxis and almost no chance he'll outgrow it. He also saw the ENT this week (and the audiologist), and now he's scheduled to have his ear tubes replaced and his adenoids removed in a few weeks. I hate it when he has surgery. Absolutely hate it. At least it will be over before summer, and we can enjoy the next few months together as a family.

Egg Rolling and a Weird End to Spring Break

It was a weird day. Just plain, old didn't feel right. To start it off, the battery keeps dying in the Prius, so Darreck took it in at the crack of dawn for repair. Then the toilet broke. Then the light in the aquarium broke. And, it was gray and gloomy and cold. Sheesh.

But, we did get to go egg rolling with Grandma-Great and Kayla, in spite of waking up to a dusting of snow. The boys had a blast, and we rolled right through out dozen eggs too quickly. Gram brought cupcakes and soda for dessert, which was good because the boys decimated the eggs beyond edibility. Luke got REALLY into throwing them as opposed to rolling them down the hill. Kid's got an arm on him. It didn't really matter anyways, because half the eggs ended up being under cooked and therefore impossible to peel. At least the seagulls liked them.

We went out to lunch together, and received possibly the slowest lunch service known to man. The boys were great, but we felt rushed to get to an appointment for tire rotation. Yeah, not even something fun. Darreck was supposed to drop the boys and me off at home first, but there wasn't time, so we spent the afternoon in a tire shop waiting room. See, weird day.

Now it's back to school for Max tomorrow and back to work for Darreck on Wednesday. I'm already back to my teaching routine. All good things must come to an end, so why should spring break be any different? However, it definitely got me psyched up for summer to come. Bring it on!

Easter and Egg Dying

Today is Easter and general conference. While I missed attending church in person today, I'm still so thankful to celebrate this Easter season, and teach the boys the true meaning of the holiday- the miraculous resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for the redeeming atonement made on behalf of all mankind and for us as individual believers. Even more so, we are thankful for the resurrection, and the chance to live again as a family throughout the eternities.

To celebrate, we dyed eggs between conference sessions. Darreck and I are sitting here wondering how coloring eggs relates to Christ's resurrection, but it's fun no matter what. We had a good time with my family this afternoon, but I'm not going to lie- dying eggs with three little boys looks an awful lot like a three ring circus. It was nuts! I also tried out dying eggs with nail polish this year, which was stinky but surprisingly effective. Gotta keep it fresh. Especially when you're talking about eggs. Okay, sorry. That was a bad joke.

Easter dinner was at Grandma-Great's house, and I wore my new dress. Even though we didn't attend church today, I was determined to still look special on Easter. I live in a house with four boys- gotta do what I can to retain my femininity. We had the traditional ham and funeral potatoes along with a lot of fresh veggies and angel food with berries for dessert. Nothing says spring like asparagus and fresh berries. It has me itching for summer.

Another Epic Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter bunny came a little early to Grandma and Papa's house, as usual. The boys went over after nap today to search out eggs, then we had pizza for dinner with the missionaries from our ward. It was loud and crazy and really fun. Max was running around like a mad man searching for eggs, and he got more than his fair share, which is slightly ironic given that he's the one who's not into sweets. Luke, on the other hand, just looks like a mad man today. I've got to start cutting his hair before major holidays because the kid looks a little crazy. I bet he would have been more adamant about finding the most eggs if he knew before hand they were filled with candy. That kid's got an amazing sweet tooth. Jack was perfectly content to suck on the one egg Papa helped him find- the egg itself, not the candy inside. Now we're all preparing for general conference this weekend and looking forward to celebrating the rest of Easter.

Max Without Training Wheels

Darreck has tried to get Max to ride his bike without training wheels for a few months now, with very little success. Max inherited my wimpiness, apparently. However, today, now that we're on spring break, Max finally found enough courage to give it a try, and he did very, very well. I'm guessing with a few more sessions over the weekend, he'll be riding completely independently by next week. I'm proud of the little monkey for overcoming his fears and having a ton of fun. He's really enjoying himself, and that's good enough for me!

Above all else, I'm just grateful that we're getting out more now that the weather is nice. We were blessed with a long fall this year, and it also seems that spring is coming early. We're certainly not ruling out another snow storm or two, but there have been enough 60 and 70 degree days to keep us satisfied. Last Friday, after walking to pick Max up from school, I played in the backyard with the boys until well past dinnertime. It was glorious.