Gotta Get Back in Time (Part IV)

[This is part four of a series I am posting to catch up on some months that I didn't update the blog. These pictures are from roughly April-May 2017.]

First off, celebrating Easter on the Town Green:

And then celebrating Easter at Granny & Poppy's house:

My family has a tradition of competing in various egg-related challenges on Easter, and the grand finale is always an egg toss over the house. It's a two-person challenge, with one person in the front yard throwing the egg over the house, and the partner standing in the backyard, trying to catch the egg. As I remember it - and I could be wrong, as I was a bit younger when this started - it was considered an impossible feat for many years until my brother John and his wife Maria successfully did it many years ago. Well, this is a proud moment for me to announce that this year, Jacob and I were the egg-over-the-house champions. Jacob threw and I caught it, one-handed, without breaking it. It was one of the greatest achievements of my life. Definitely going on my resume.

This is not the moment of catching the egg, but it is a glimpse of my victory dance afterwards.

Champions!

Then there were lots of days just playing around (as there should be, in beautiful spring weather):

Poor TomTom getting a breathing treatment

Painting a pig at the Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival

Every child's dream - a field of dandelions!

We visited the Baltimore National Aquarium:

Listened to Aurora read stories at the Library:

...and Mama read books at home:

Inspired by the Daddy-Daughter Date that Jacob & Abby went on, Jacob and I resolved to go on more one-on-one dates with Abigail (and Thomas, too, when he's a little older). In May I took Abby to see Seussical.

And then I tried growing my hair overnight (if you haven't heard of this, you basically stick at lot of nasty gunk in your hair and sleep in it. It's supposed to grow an inch overnight. I don't really know about that because I didn't measure my hair before or after, but Jacob commented for days about how beautiful my hair looked).

More play days at home:

Thomas kissing the window goodbye as Abby leaves for preschool

Star Wars Day at the Library:

Yeah, Abby was not happy about this. This dude was a bit intimidating!

I said the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day was a picture with my kiddos. And I got it!

Abigail's preschool year finished out with an art reception, and here is her grand work of art. The title? Baby Brother Thomas.

And that's it! All caught up at last.

Gotta Get Back in Time (Part III)

[This is part three of a series I am posting to catch up on some months that I didn't update the blog. These pictures are from roughly December 2016-March 2017.]

Going on a firetruck at a friend's birthday party

Making salt dough ornaments, one of my favorite traditions

Ballet class Winter Revue

I made DOZENS of cookies last Christmas to give away to neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. It was certainly one of my grandest baking endeavors.

What the kids woke up to on Christmas morning (Santa came!)

Someone was REALLY excited about her stocking

The red wagon that Santa brought us has been well-loved over the last year. We use it just about every day.

I can't remember the particulars of this moment, but this is a scene that repeats itself fairly often at our house.

Watching the trash truck go by! A much-loved weekly tradition!

In February 2017 we made a last-minute trip to Utah/Colorado when Jacob's paternal grandmother unexpectedly passed away. Thankfully, Jacob was able to fly out first and say goodbye before she passed away. A few days later we all went out together.

We tried to find some fun things for the kids to do on the trip. Of course they didn't understand what was going on, and I didn't really want to burden them with it. So while on our drive from Salt Lake City to Colorado, we stopped at the Discover Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

We didn't stay in Colorado very long, but we were there long enough to get some much-needed time with great-grandpa and many other family members. I am so glad that I thought to take this picture while we were there:

Four generations! Thomas with his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather

Afterwards we went back to Layton to visit with Jacob's family a little longer. One day we all went to SeaQuest, which amazingly enough, is an aquarium INSIDE the mall! It was awesome!

And because only educational things happen at aquariums, here is Abigail accepting a seashell from a mermaid.

Touching a starfish

And then we came home and went back into the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Abigail had her first dentist appointment:

Looking good!

We occasionally fell asleep while eating breakfast:

When we were really bored we dressed up in Dad's clothes:

And I know that I already mentioned the date night that Abigail and Jacob went on (months ago), but here are a couple more fun pictures from that event:

Soon afterwards Abigail had her first day of preschool at the Montessori school in our town. That ended up not working out so well, and we moved her to a different school for this school year. But here she is on her first-ever day of preschool (March 27, 2017):

After dropping her off at school, Thomas and I went for a walk and I took this picture. I remember thinking how weird it was to only be watching one child, and just aching for Abigail. 

Literally just two days later, Thomas woke up one morning really struggling to breath. I took him in to the pediatrician, where they gave him a breathing treatment and gave me a nebulizer and instructions on how to continue his breathing treatments during the day, but hours later he still had not improved and we rushed him to the ER. What has followed is months of different asthma control medications and various nebulizer treatments, and we still don't have a diagnosis for him. It has been very frustrating and anxiety-inducing. But here he is, proving that he can be cute even in the Emergency Room:

And two days after THAT, we celebrated Jacob's 33rd birthday. Per his request, I made my first-ever dulce de leche cake. It was delicious.

Only one more post and we'll be all caught up!...