So, a quick run down on what's happened in our lives for the past 4 months...
Me...as I said, I started a new job in April! I am doing freelance Educational Correlations for a company called Academic Benchmarks. Basically, I take materials (encyclopedia articles, textbooks, lesson plans, etc.) and align them to the state standards of education for the 50 states and also other countries. Now is the time to pick me for your trivial pursuit partner as I have been reading encyclopedia articles for 4 months now! I go to the highest bidder! Anyway, I work, or try to work, 20 hours a week. It doesn't happen very often that I get the full 20 in, but I get as close as I can. I'm enjoying the mental stimulation, having a little extra cash that "I" earned, and also getting back into the educational field.
Kevin...is enjoying his job at Digital Motorworks. He is really busy, but it's a good busy. The best part is that he's only about 8 minutes from home! He works with some really nice people and is enjoying the challenges. Outside of work he's busy trying to find the right balance of watering and mowing, so that the yard grows at the slowest rate without dying. Mother Nature is being quite nasty with him and has been producing rain almost everyday! She's on his bad list! For fun, or for second career, Kevin is very engrossed with Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. He's actually quite good and if you catch him playing when he doesn't know you're watching, you'll see some especially cool "rock star" moves!
Harrison...is getting ready to start Kindergarten! I can't believe it! He's excited, but I can tell he's a little nervous about it. He's kept busy this summer with swimming (although we've had so much rain that we haven't used our pool as much), playdates with friends, karate, and driving me nuts. He loves video games which is a big surprise to you, I'm sure! He just got a haircut last week and looks like quite the big guy. He picked a picture of David Beckham and wanted "spikey" hair. That was actually second choice. First choice was a mohawk like the rock star on Guitar Hero. I told him he had to be a rock star first and guess what he now wants to be when he grows up?!?
Alex...is always playing with his choo-choos, cars, go-cars, and buses. He's very busy and keeps himself occupied for much of the day. His language is really picking up and he's finally branching out and attempting more new words. He does still need a translator for most things, but does quite well with his most used vocabulary. It's amazing how every conversation comes back to, "Mommy go bye-bye in Mommy's car" or "Daddy go bye-bye in Daddy's car". Then we switch it up, to "Mommy go bye-bye in Daddy's car"! He's a very funny guy with great timing for making us laugh. He drives around the house at full speed on his firetruck and can do a vicous spin-out when going around curves. You'd have to see it to believe it!
Ian...is now 10 months and has learned so much just in the past month. When he was around 7 months he was sitting up quite well and learned to pivot around on his buns to get things around him. At 8 1/2 months the little stinker actually started to crawl! I'm not used to these early crawlers! Within one week, he learned how to crawl, clap, go up stairs, pull up and I caught him standing without holding onto anything! I call him "Crazy Baby" because he's going to give me a heart attack! He's cruising around furniture now, walking behind push toys and is babbling a lot. He loves to climb on his brothers and has the funniest squeal when he gets excited! He's eating all table food now and will try just about anything. I wouldn't be surprised if he took his first steps very soon. Ian's worst habit is that he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! He loves to eat paper, especially toilet paper! YUM!!
Our sad news is that our beloved dog, Fletcher was put to sleep on June 28th. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer back in April after we had him to the vet for pre-operation bloodwork. We were going to have surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor on his hip. Right when this all happened he also took a fall in the house and tore his acl (knee ligament). So, because of the cancer, we decided not to do the knee surgery and just tried to keep him comfortable and happy with medications and lots of treats. Somehow the growth on his hip burst on the 26th and I took him in to have it dressed and cleaned on the 27th. The vet didn't like the looks of his ankle, which was very swollen, and did an xray. It revealed that Fletch had a broken leg. We had no idea. The next step was clear since he was most likely in horrible pain. So, I brought him home, fed him a dinner of bones and bacon and we had a nice last family night together. I'm probably having the hardest time with it, because he was my first baby. Such a part of my routine and it's hard to go through the day and not have him with me. The kids are handling it ok, although they are both sad. Alex just says, "My puppy had Ow and go Bye Bye". Harrison wanted to know where Fletcher's body was and tried to tell me that the vet didn't need to bury him, we have plenty of space in the attic. Everyone deals with it in their own way, I suppose. :-)
I'm going to post some pictures of some of the fun we've had since April! It might take a few posts to get them all in as you're only allowed 5 pictures per post. The kids and I spent a week in St. Louis and had such a good time seeing all of our family. We got to do a drive-through at the Witt's, on the way to and from St. Louis, too.
Watch out Bruce Lee!
Ian's first attempt at Cheerios!
Our dear friends, Elise and Eric Su with their adorable daughter Jaelin! They've visited quite often in the past several years and especially this year! They're moving here for good next week! YAY!!!!
Harrison getting up close and personal with the fish at Hamilton Pool.
Alex at Hamilton Pool.
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