Lane, Jannica, Kobe & Ella

Crazy months, as in, a lot of birthdays and trips... Busy, busy!

Ellabella is 9 months old (17lbs, 12oz, 27" long). She has her two bottom middle teeth, two top middle teeth and is working on at least one to two more. She officially crawls on hands and knees (Kobe army crawled and then walked...and then crawled normal), pulls herself up and can take some slow and wobbly steps while holding on, but she is getting braver and braver. We learned in the last couple days that she can climb all of the sudden- also something Kobe didn't really do. She's a petite little adventurist. She is starting to wave 'hi' and she is always, always smiling. Even when she's crying she'll half-smile. She eats baby rice cereal/oatmeal, avoids eating other baby food, and wants whatever Mommy is eating. She can feed herself finger foods. She is interested in whatever her brother is doing. She's a mama's girl, but she definitely has a soft spot for her daddy. We all just love her so much!

Kobe turned 3 years old (32lbs) last month! THREE?! I can't believe that. How do I have a 3 year old? He is totally a threenager-- terrible two on steroids. We have a lot of melt downs (yes, 'we') and a lot of timeouts. BUT, he is the most snuggly 3 year old and when he's not sour he's the sweetest. I'm obsessed with him. We get along best when Ella is napping or down for the night. He is such a silly little boy. He's figuring out so many things in life and forming sentences with words that I didn't realize he knew. He surprises me every day. He teaches me every day. He melts my heart every day. He is totally potty trained!! Finally! It just clicked and he has done such an awesome job. I am so proud of the little human that is he is. His life includes: cars, dinosaurs, trucks, airplanes, watching shows, playing outside, digging in dirt, pushing anything with wheels and lining them up, helping mommy and daddy "work", playing with and/or torturing his sister, sitting on the potty for an hour at a time to go poop, drinking juice and eating Go-gurts, and basically any other thing a three year old boy would do!

My sister came to visit with her kids in April. We had so much fun basically doing nothing. I wish we lived closer so we could do nothing together more often. Reagan turned 3, Kobe turned 3, Ada turned 2, Tate turned 3...and that's just the start and some of the birthdays. I took the kids to California for a little over a week and we were there for my dad's birthday and Mother's Day. We packed in a lot of fun things and had lots of family time. Lane turned 33 and I threw him a surprise party. I didn't do anything for his 30th; which I feel is a must because it's a milestone. I had just had Kobe, and then I had just had surgery for his 31st, and then I was probably just pregnant and grumpy for his 32nd. Therefore, he wasn't expecting anything for his 33rd. I sent him golfing, made BBQ pulled pork with a bunch of sides (not easy to do when you're trying to hide it all) and had everyone come for lunch. He was surprised! May is also full of a bunch more birthdays, Lane and I are coming up on 8 years of marriage, Lane's so busy with work, and we're in the middle of refinancing our house and doing projects. So life is busy!

Life is about to get a lot slower for me, and busier for Lane. I found out a couple months ago that I had a screw break and that my fusion wasn't 100% successful. It was recommended that I do another surgery to do more bone graft, and while he's in there, fix the screw. I continued to have back pain, but I thought I was just weak. So it has been very depressing news and a hard pill to swallow. It's an optional surgery but the pain is getting worse and it's not something I want to live with. I got an MRI to check on the other discs above, and my next appointment is next week and then he'll schedule my surgery. Everything from the last surgery two years ago is still so fresh in my mind and knowing I'll be right back where I was with not being able to lift my kids or do a lot of motherly duties, be on pain meds, and being depressed gives me constant anxiety. I am hoping recovery is even the slightest bit easier than last time.

St. Patrick's Day

Easter 2016

Kobe's 3rd birthday

Ella getting too brave

My friend Heather moved. Kobe will miss his little friend Lana too! :(

Soul sista time, binge watching Fuller House

She was giving him a hug....They have a love-hate relationship

Playgroup babies

Raurel moved to Spokane to finish school. We miss having her around!

Faith's middle school play-- she did awesome!

Our plane was late to Wenatchee; which in turn made us late for our connection in Seattle to CA. As you would imagine, I was frustrated, sweaty, angry, and on the verge of tears as they basically closed the gate right in front of me. So since we had almost 5 hours to kill, we grabbed some lunch and found a place to sit. Kobe folded his arms and said, "We pray Mommy?" So right there in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, we prayed. And my kids were angels. And slept on the plane. What a humbling and tender mercy.