Sorry All

I just finished deleting almost all of the pictures from our blog. The thing is, I want to keep our blog public, particularly for those parents of sick babies with similar issues as Boo had. But, I do not want to open the door for people to take our pictures and use them however they want to on the internet, which has happened to several people I am acquainted with over the past few months. So yeah...sorry. No more pictures. Hopefully anyone reading this blog regularly and who wants to gets our family Christmas card or sees us on a regular basis??

Anyway, as I was going through and deleting all our pictures, I realized how glad I am to have recorded some of these blog posts as I have forgotten many details over the past five years. And this coming from one who does not post very often at all. So I thought I would write a quick blog post, Christmas card style, for a family update.

S
1. Continues working full-time as an electrical engineer and seems to be succeeding in that regard.
2. As soon as everything dries up (very soon I think!), will start work on the backyard again!!! We are sooo excited to have a level backyard with a patio, fence, sandbox (please, please, please don't any cats come in in the interim...!!!!), swingset, grass (since it has been dirt since last summer), and a new deck/stairs! Yeah, this is tons of work, but something that has been high on our wish list since we moved here, and it is super fun to see it come to fruition. Last summer, S (with the help of brothers/brother-in-law) was able to complete a 2-foot retaining wall and fill the backyard with dirt (NOT clay!). We still probably need one more load of dirt. CeeCee and Boo were beside themselves about the dump trucks bringing "big dirt!" to our house, and CeeCee still talks about it frequently. It has probably been one of her main life events so far. :)
3. Finished reading "The Last Lion" books, of which there are three volumes of Winston Churchill's biography. He loved them, although he found a lot of overlap with the last book and the 6-volume World War II history written by Churchill himself. And he has read any number of other books, and probably every political article that has been published on any sort of credible website since 2008. I frequently find myself uttering the words "is there possibly any article written that you haven't read tonight?"
4. Loves to be "on the go" when he gets home from work, meaning that he and CeeCee and Boo run around the house and sing "Dad (or CeeCee or Boo or Mom or BBB) on the go!" to the tune of one of CeeCee's favorite Netflix shows, "Bo on the Go!"
5. Does a good job feeding BBB while I feed Boo at the dinner table. CeeCee eats all by herself, seemingly away from all the action at the table, but still very much a part of things as she has a nearly constant stream of conversational speech coming from her mouth.
6. Just got released from Sunday School Presidency at church, and we are excited to see what is next in store for him!

A
1. Has been running fairly regularly for the past 2 months now, getting ready for a half-marathon in July and probably a marathon in September, but we will see. The one I want to do is on our anniversary, so I may have to look at some other options for my full. I am finally making super good use of that treadmill I got two years ago for Christmas! Oh, and I watch "The Biggest Loser" at the same time, to ease my too-cold-and-dark-to-run-outside blues.
2. Recently discovered that I am trying to do too much. I filled up a whole sheet of paper which I entitled "Things I am Trying to do in life". Yeah - priorities are everything, people. And by people, I mean me. :)
3. Saw on facebook some kind of diagram which basically describes my life. Here is a gross representation of said diagram:
The house.
The kids.
Self.
Choose two of the above.
I tend to choose the bottom two, although this is not to say that I am happy to have a messy house.
4. Waits patiently for the postlady to bring the next "Downton Abbey" DVD from our blockbuster queue. Did I say patiently? Maybe I mean impatiently. Anyway, when I let the laundry pile up so that every item of cloth that we own from sheets to towels to clothes to underpants is in a big clean pile, you know it is because I am waiting for "Downton Abbey" so I can watch several episodes and fold at the same time. As I have aged, I rarely have the attention span anymore to just sit and watch something - I must be doing something else. And folding laundry at the same time is truly one of my favorite pasttimes.
5. Sometimes gets fatigued of poop.
6. Is beyond excited for our new Vita-mix blender!! And I have great ambitions to make whole food, nutritious, smooth, deliciousness for our family to consume, particularly BBB and Boo. I plan to do a partial blenderized diet for Boo in his feeding tube, as well as make some scrumptious purees for him to eat with a spoon. So we can get past this yogurt-only kick.

Boo
1. Plays the piano so well! This kid has incredible talent!! Yesterday, while I gave CeeCee a bath, Boo came up with the idea on his own, and taught himself "Here we go round the mulberry bush" perfectly! What four year old does that?? (I guess Boo...)
2. Has loved riding the school bus. And his bus drivers and aides have loved him. Even if he has had a tough morning, he runs to the school bus with a big grin on his face and has a great time. When I realized how long he was riding the bus after school (a little over an hour!), I thought I would do him a favor and pick him up from school, so as to not "waste" that hour. He was so sad to not ride the bus! He couldn't stop trying to run to it and get on and point to it and sign bus and everything short of crying to show me that he really wanted to ride that bus. So I decided that it was not a "waste" if it means that much to him! Unfortunately, as of next week, he will be going to afternoon preschool, which means... no bussing! Sad day! I already have this pit in my stomach caused by missing his bus drivers...
3. Knows a TON of stuff. You wouldn't think, since he still doesn't generally talk (although he is able to say things like "All done!" and "off" and "out" - as in "out of bed!", and "shoes". That is basically it.) He knows all the letters, numbers, colors, shapes, letter sounds, and more. He is academically quite ahead of his functional skills class at preschool.
4. He is finally starting to like sitting down and reading stories with me. He doesn't request it or anything, but if I pick him up and sit on the couch with him, he will read stories with me and not try to run away.
5. He just loves CeeCee. Loves. They are always happy to see each other. They love to do the same things together, like wrestle, and hop like frogs, and jump, and walk backwards, and about anything crazy you could think of.
6. He does a great job on his chores (ie. picking up all the pots and pans and chairs that he gets out, putting away the silverware and/or pots and pans from the dishwasher, general picking up around the house). He knows that he gets to play with one of his electronic toys if he does a chore, and you better believe that is enough motivation! In fact, he has recently taken to getting all the pots and pans out so he can then promptly put them away, and then request his reward. :)

CeeCee
1. Is such a sweet little companion. I love to go shopping with her. She is so complimentary and friendly and funny. She keeps me in a running dialogue all day long about whatever is on her busy little mind, which is way fun.
2. Loves to pretend with our fingers. Her finger represents herself and my finger represents "Grandma". (She also has toys that represent both of her grandmas in play). This is all in good fun, until we are in the grocery store and she keeps referring to me as "Grandma"!!! And not quietly either (that is her way - say it loud or not at all!). I'm not even thirty yet guys, I am totally NOT this girl's grandma!
3. Is starting to get really girly, which I love. I wasn't sure for awhile there, since she loved Lightning McQueen and Mater and "diggers" and stuff, but I would say she is now decidedly girly, and not because I pushed it either. I was perfectly complicit in dressing her in her brother's old Cars shirts, even if it wasn't my first choice. Now she talks about pink things, painting her "pigs", beautiful hair, wearing "wipstick", and her new "Tinkerbell shoes" (which do not have Tinkerbell on them, so they must have just reminded her of Tinkerbell).
4. Told me today: "[Boo] is my best friend!" :)
5. Really gets the hang of family relationships. She is glad to be BBB's big sister, Boo's little sister, and a cousin. She was only a little confused when I told her today that I am not Daddy's Mommy, Grandma is.
6. Dances like no one is watching. We love to turn on Pandora Toddler Songs and dance our little hearts out.

BBB
1. Has a tooth! I keep saying that her nursing days are numbered, but she has been mostly gentle so far, so we shall see...
2. Is seriously the smiliest baby. A lot of people have said that to us. In fact, a week ago her cousin D (age 12ish) told us that she is the smiliest baby he has ever seen. Later on that night, he looked down at her randomly, only to discover that she was already looking up and smiling at him! So fun. She did the same thing to my brother when he visited us right before he left for his mission. He said he will always remember her hanging out of her little high seat, smiling big at him before he even looked over at her. :)
3. Has been wanting to stand and sit straight up since birth. CeeCee held her head up since Day 1, BBB has been standing up since Day 1.
4. Laughs at her older siblings, particularly CeeCee, and their antics. Boo held hands with BBB for the first time tonight, which was fun for both of them. She grabbed his hand and he decided to hold on. :)
5. Is 90%ile for height!
6. Unlike her older siblings, does NOT sleep like a champ. Also, unlike her older siblings, she DOES EAT like a champ! Yay!

OK, that is all for now. Good night!