Things We Have Been Up To

When we got home from Utah, we busted out some gardening projects. We built two garden boxes and planted a few bushes in various places around the yard. A couple in the chicken run, a lilac by the wood shop, and three ornamental grasses in the back near the propane tank. I also planted a million flower seeds in some flower beds. They haven't done much growing yet though so I'm not sure if that was a profitable idea or not.

We also went to chick days to get five more chicks (various breeds) and ended up coming home with 12. So far, they are all still alive. Though Jon keeps guessing which ones are roosters since only one of them is for sure a hen.

We got new tadpoles (that died again). And then we got new ones again! They lived almost a month before they again died! We just can't keep tadpoles alive. But they got pretty big this time. Benson also lost interest and still asked to find frogs every.single.day.

We had Benson's new back brace made after we found out his curve is now 40 degrees. It was disappointing news but this new brace has been a good one. He is doing really well wearing it most of the day.

We had our first bon fire of the summer. We were very prepared with a hose and smores :)

  We had our international day for co-op. Vanessa did an amazing presentation about China. She really learned a lot about China and grew so much with this activity. I was so proud of her!

We spent almost an entire day at the dentist with Brigham getting all his teeth fixed. This boy got five crowns and something like ten fillings. It's extra flossing and brushing and no chewy candies for this guy!

 Benson has been working with me on reading and writing. We haven't done much math since he knows all his numbers. We'll get there. I just need to give myself a little pep talk about homeschooling two!

Vanessa lost her front tooth. She was really excited but wants to wait for her birthday to put it under her pillow. I am just hoping she lets me and Jon know when she decides to give it to the tooth fairy!

  We spent an afternoon at a homeschooling outdoor expo. The kids seemed to really enjoy the activities and Annabelle got her first tick. Bleh.

I finally went for it and got Benson the trendy haircut I thought would look good on him. Wish I had done it sooner. It's a perfect cut for him, with it super short on the sides. Keeps the crazy down in back, but still long in front. I love it.

I got to sleep in on Mothers Day and enjoy breakfast in bed. Brig was my stand up comedian for the meal.

We have some beautiful flowers in the yard.

 WE signed all the kids up for baseball/softball. This is Brigham telling me he is bored and wants to come to the other side of the fence. Hah. So far, we have had one game and it was bitter cold. He wouldn't play without me there holding his hand the entire time. I even ran bases with him. Haha! Benson was a champ and worked really hard! I think he enjoys playing and everyone is very supportive!

The boys "watching" Vanessa's game. She did great. She made it on base, though she didn't score a run. But she made up for it by tagging another girl in the next inning.

 This was the boys first freezing game!

The chicks got too big for their first confinement area so we had to come up with something else. They are in their awkward feather stage and look a little funky.

 We also had our last day of co-op with a fun lunch and awards ceremony.

Utah

We spent two weeks in Utah, over Utah and CA/WA spring breaks. It was really fun to see all the cousins, and just six months after we saw them all last! The first week we spent with Bradys and it was a whirlwind week. We were busy busy busy the whole week and did tons of activities. The dads still had to work so they were hit and miss but all the cousins were available to play the whole week. The kids just loved that. Since I am two months late writing this, I can't remember the order but we visited This Is the Place State Park, Classic Skating, Campout, Bountiful Rec Center swimming, Easter activities, and lots of eating!


















































The Purdy week included more Easter activities, Planetarium, lots of games and activities at Grandma and Grandpa Purdys, Classic Skating, and the park.

On Wednesday of this week, Steph, Mom, and Dad watched Brigham and Annabelle while Jon and I took Vanessa and Benson skiing. We were able to rent equipment for Benson to go too! We had to hire an instructor to take him because you have to be certified to use the equipment. Sometime, we want to plan a special trip to get certified and make skiing a family thing. Benson loved the trip and definitely had a need for speed. Vanessa did amazing. She picked it up so quickly I could hardly believe it. She went down the bunny hill three times and was ready for blue runs. By the end of the day, she was doing some squares. Jon said she got a little scared at one point, but put her mind to it and did it. We were so proud of both of them! We had an incredible time!

Brigham Turns 4

This little man turned 4! He could not decide what he wanted for his cake. So in the end, I did this and I think he was just happy to have cake. We continued our regular birthday tradition and went to Chuck-E-Cheez as a family. We also had some friends, the Barkers, join us for cake that night. Brigham got a new bike for his birthday (that is perhaps a little too big).

I feel like Brigham has grown up A LOT in the last year. And not just the growth spurt that has made all his pants ready for the flood. He is officially potty trained! Woot.  He is even doing well at night. He is getting soooo much better and controlling his anger. He still gets angry but he isn't hurting or destroying anywhere near what it used to be. He has a very tender heart and we are starting to see more and more of that. He loves little Annabelle and is really sweet when he plays with her.

Brigham used to be our talker, the one that would introduce the entire family to complete strangers. He has entered a shy phase and doesn't really like talking to people at all. It was really bad for awhile but he is slowly coming out of it again. I think maybe he had a spurt of insecurity, so I have been trying to be really positive with him and help him know how awesome he is.

Brigham likes playing with Legos, he still loves tools and doing little fine motor activities with his hands. He still loves keys. Although he doesn't take our keys anymore, thank goodness. He still likes to "look" though.

Brigham has gotten really good at riding his little Strider bike. He has had it for about two years and only just took an interest in the last year. When he was ready though, he took off with it and basically gets around everywhere on his little balance bike.

After Gaston was no longer bothering him, Brigham found he actually does enjoy the chickens. He sometimes likes to chase them, but he has fun feeding them as well.

Brigham loves spaghetti, fruit, candy, soda, and more candy. He definitely has a sweet tooth!

Brigham still likes to rub someone's face as he is going to sleep. Although we did kick the binki habit (that's kind of old news-about six months ago, but I think I forgot to mention it). It makes me laugh though because he now tells me that he can't go to sleep unless he can rub my face. At least he knows what he needs.

This kid is just full of personality. He makes us crack up all the time and keeps life interesting. We love this little ball of energy!

Annabelle Turns 1

 It's actually May and I am trying to play catch-up with blog posts. Looking at these pics, it is crazy how much older she looks just two months later. And even crazier, has it really been two months since her first birthday? Annabelle took her first steps the day before her birthday. I would say it took a good month before she was a confident walker though. She still, at 14 months crawls quite frequently but she is using walking more and more. She makes a lot of noise but she isn't actually speaking much. She pretty much says, "ma" for everything. She does say, 'uh-oh.' She makes noises that match syllables of words so it kind of feels like she is talking.
She has a mind of her own. She likes to feed herself, unless she doesn't. Then she wants to sit on your lap and eat your food. Or you feed her. It depends on the moment. She likes to take my phone from me and make the pictures move. She gets excited anytime she sees pictures of dogs or chickens. She makes her little barking noise whenever she sees a dog. I'm not sure how to describe the sound, it's like a really breathy monkey noise. It's adorable, but sounds nothing like a dog. She loves to eat peanut butter by the spoonful. She also loves chocolate, yogurt, all fruit, and mac and cheese. Not a fan of veggies or bread. We also discovered the pineapple makes her stomach hurt, keeps her up at night and creates horrific diaper rash!
She is a teething wild woman. By her first birthday, she had ten teeth. At 14 months she has gotten two more. And I don't think the others are too far behind. She is still nursing and I think a large part of this is the teething. She still doesn't have much hair but everyone always comments on her beautiful eyes.
She likes me to hold her most of the day. Although she is getting slightly better about letting me put her down. She does however, through full blown tantrums complete with throwing herself on the ground and kicking her feet. It just amazes me that this is innate even to a one year old :)
She adores her sister and brothers. Their interactions and giggles are what make my day. She loves to give them kisses, find their belly buttons, and completely tackle them as well.
This girl is spunk and sass with loads of personality. We just love her to death.

St Louis

On February 16, we made our drive up to St Louis for doctor appointments. This time was a little more special though because Grandma and Grandpa Purdy were going to meet us in St Louis and then come home with us. The kids were very excited and we counted down for weeks! We turned Annabelle to a forward facing carseat for the event, hoping that were would be slightly less screaming. We also finally forced ourselves to pay up to get the DVD player fixed in the car.

This injection we had a physical therapy evaluation the day before so we had to be in St Louis around 1 on Tuesday. The appointment was quick and easy and then we were off to the hotel for a swim. We swam for a while and then got some dinner at the hotel. Grandma and Grandpa got in and joined us for dinner.

On Wednesday morning, Jon headed off to the hospital early with Benson. The anesthesiologists have been great to work with and will let Jon take Benson back and actually mask him down for the procedure. They have also stopped trying to get an IV before the procedure so Benson won't freak out as much. The procedure itself only takes about 15 minutes but they keep him asleep for an hour because he has to lay still and flat.

Jon will usually get him off to sleep and then ran back and grab me and the kids. This time, we had Grandma and Grandpa come to see him at the hospital as well. We gave Benson hugs for being so brave and good. We didn't stay at the hospital because he has to stay in a small room for 6 hours post injection to get stats, etc every two hours. Jon stayed with Benson and took some fun games and other activities.

The rest of us went to IKEA to find a few items. That store is insane and I have officially ended my obsession with IKEA. Since my new house is anything but contemporary, there isn't much there that matches my décor. It has some interesting products that you can't find anywhere else but it takes so darn long to find anything I have decided it isn't worth the trip. I thought the kids play area would be the perfect solution but we had to wait for space and then even after an hour of shopping, we still had more of the store to cover. Sorry, IKEA, I think I like Target better now.

This trip I made it a point to pick some yummy restaurants. So on Wednesday night we had BBQ at Adams Steakhouse. It was probably my favorite BBQ I have ever had. Quite possibly even better than Oklahoma Joe's from Kansas City. The ribs and pulled pork were all simply awesome. We didn't order the applesauce because we didn't think the kids would really like it. They brought us tons of extra food though, including applesauce. This was by far the best apple sauce I have ever had. It was served cold, pureed but also with very small chunks and just very good.

On Thursday night we tried an Italian Restaurant (obviously a must staying on "The Hill" where St Louis is known for its Italian influence). Anthonino's was the name. They had amazing toasted ravioli. It was an appetizer and if I were to eat here again I would get that for my dish. My mom ordered a shrimp dish with a wine butter sauce that was also pretty high on the repeat list. I ordered pizza and was not super impressed. I would have to say I have had better pizza.

We had most of the day Thursday so we went to a chocolate factory that gave tours of their chocolate making. Annabelle HAD to wear a hat but it was a constant battle. I also love this picture of Benson, he looks so contemplative.

After the chocolate factory, we went to the Magic House. We had been here once before while Jon was doing rotations and remembered loving it. It was definitely a hit with the kids and Vanessa has since said it was her new favorite thing to do in St Louis.

On Friday, we had an appointment not related to the IONIS trials (they changed their name since ISIS is a terrorist group trying to kill all Christians and the western world). We met with Dr Bridwell for Benson's scoliosis. His back curve has indeed increased to about a 40 degree curve. He recommended we get a new brace made and that he wear the brace for 12 hours per day. Sad news. Surgery is inevitable. How successful we are with bracing will determine what kind of surgery and when. The goal is to put it off until 12 or so, where we will move straight to a fusion/rods and not have to do growing rods. Casting for his new brace is scheduled for March 16. Then we begin bribing to get him to wear it, I guess.