Life in General Update

Now that we are back to all the kiddies being in bed at 8:00 at our house (otherwise known as FREEDOM TIME!!!), I am hoping to have more time to blog again. Lots has been happening over the last few months...

Charlie is now almost 15 months old. I can hardly believe that. It seems like he should still be a newborn. He is now running everywhere, LOVES to play with cars (I swear that comes on the Y chromosome-watch out Christi), and is definitely suffering from middle child syndrome at a young age. He seems to love Sam, as he is constantly giving hugs and kisses, but he is insanely jealous of him too. He hates for me to hold Sam, for Evan to get to close to me, or sometimes even for Jeff to hug me. I think the early introduction of a younger sibling has shaken his faith in me a bit. He is also suffering from some delayed speech development. He doesn't as yet have any purposeful words, not even Mom. He is slowly picking up consonant sounds, but that's it. His pediatrician thinks it is from his constant sinus infections/clogged ears. So, we are off to see the ENT tomorrow to see if tubes would help, and he is going to be evaluated by Millard Public Schools in the next few weeks to see if he needs to be admitted to some early childhood speech therapy.

Evan is my super duper awesome helper. I would NOT have made it through Charlie and Sam and tax season if not for him. We are a real team. I don't even know how I would get shopping done without him. He pushes the cart while I push the stroller and try to stop Charlie from shoplifting items off the shelves. He made his 1st Communion a couple of weeks ago, a big moment for him. He has been looking forward to it all of 2nd grade. He is starting to assert his independence though with some sassiness and back talk, which is such a shock to me sometimes. I think we are getting a glimpse into puberty, which sadly is only about 4 years away. Ugh.

Sammy is almost 5 months old already. He LOVES to stand at all times, and can spend forever in his exersaucer. He is dealing with the chronic ear infections Evan did when he was little, so I don't think he will hold out for tubes as long as Charlie has. No teeth yet, which is strange as both the other two got two teeth right at three months. He is such a happy, laughing, adorable little boy. I am so glad we have him, even though I was scared spitless at first to have him in the mix.

Jeff and I are really good, except for the occasional spat. Things are much improved from our troubles last summer. We got out of the house for only the second time since Sam was born last Saturday. We went to a friend's birthday party, and it was SOOOOOO nice to be just us, no kids, and have fun. It was held at this restaurant in Council Bluffs called the Pizza King which turned out to be AWESOME!!! They have the best prime rib ever. And I am not exagerating.

Well that totally sounded like a Christmas letter. Sorry. I shouldn't let it get this long without an update. Oh, and I wanted to say thanks for the offers of a "do" to my post about being fat and disgusting. I always knew I could count on you guys for anything!!