Catching Up

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've written anything, but better late than never. We've had a very hectic life since Christmas. In the midst of Tony's quarter from somewhere down below, we found out we are expecting our fourth. The baby is due Sept. 19th and we will find out the gender on May 5th. We're going to tell the boys after the ultrasound, so that should be exciting! So for the past four months we've been in the throws of nausea, sheer exhaustion, oh and trying to pass pharmacy school, with a horrible tooth ache and root canal for me too. So it's probably apparent now, why I've been MIA on here.

Hudson started walking a little after 13 months and has recently began talking too. He picked up the sign for "more" very quickly and used it quite often. He has recently opted out of signing "more" for some sort of angry cow noise that we're supposed to interpret as "give me more NOW". His first words were "thank you", not kidding. We said can you say "thank you" and he said "nank oo". He now says "ball", "up", "down", "dada", "yes" and occasionally "mama". He has also become an expert at going up and down the stairs, which makes him think he should be allowed to play in the basement with Cullen and Aiden. Luckily he has very nice big brothers who allow him to do this, while keeping him out of trouble. He also loves the little boxes of raisins and would probably eat 20 a day, if we let him. He still only has four teeth, which has turned him into quite the vegetarian. He gets just as excited about tomatoes as he does cupcakes, it's hilarious.

Aiden has been taking karate for the past month or so. He likes it and seems to do well. They usually don't let them start until 4, but they said he was "such a good listener and so mature for his age, that they would let him start early". I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Luckily by the time he gets settled in and shows his mischievous side, he'll be four and there will be no turning back. I also got to make my first trip for X-rays with Aiden. He fell and hit his nose at the McDonald's play place, so off to get X-rays we went. Luckily it was not broken, but it was black, blue, green for a long time and he has managed to hit his nose in the same spot 2 or 3 times since then, so I think he's starting a perpetual bruise there. He has gotten very good at riding his bike and is now ready to move up to Cullen's old bike. It takes him so long to work up the courage to get good at riding new bikes, that by the time he's good at it, it's time to move to a bigger size. Tony got a bike too, and the boys love to go riding with Daddy. Aiden is doing well in preschool and enrolled for next year. Of course, he's still picking up more of the stuff Cullen's learning than the basics he should be learning, but hopefully it will all come together in the end. Aiden is also doing really well in swim lessons and I think he might get to move up to the next class this time, so that's very exciting. He's learned how to open the child gate to go downstairs by himself and we're working on fastening his own seat belt. It's very exciting to see him gain independence away from Cullen.

Cullen has had some big milestones in the past few months. He was able to move up a class in swim lessons, so now he does lessons in the big lap pool. All they do is swim laps up and down the pool the entire 30 min., so he is exhausted, but becoming a very good swimmer. He can read on his own and do math, which he really seems to enjoy, and he lost his first tooth and turned 6 years old within a week of each other. He is very independent and proud of all the things he can do on his own. He likes to pour drinks for meals, get water for them when they're thirsty, help with laundry and use windex to clean windows, sinks, mirrors, etc. We had some of Tony's classmates over for Easter and Cullen said he wanted to help me make the sinks nice and shiny. He is such a big helper! We are definitely blessed to have him as our oldest, because he helps out so much. He loves to carry Hudson around and keep track of him going up and down the stairs.

So it's been a crazy, hectic time and I cannot believe that in less than two months I will have a first grader and another one a year away from kindergarten. Cullen and Aiden, and myself, are really looking forward to summer. We got some Little Tikes equipment for the backyard, so they are going to have a great time playing around the neighborhood, not to mention the trips to the beach that they're planning.
I'm sure we'll have many good stories to tell!