The longest January.....ever!

After my parents left town, we had a few friends over for New Years Eve. New Years celebrations are very different these days, although I think this was the first year all 3 of the kids stayed up to see the ball drop and even made it to midnight! 

P and B are pretty cute!

My attempt at a toasting Boomerang!

All the kiddos before heading home - you'd have no idea it was about 12:15!

good times with fun friends!

My parents got Charlie this hoodie and boy does he love it. He only likes to wear it one way, though. You guessed it, hood and all! This one particular day, he must have been feeling quite feisty as this mood continued the entire day!

If you see this face on America's Most Wanted, I wouldn't be surprised!

The kid always has some crazy bed head, but on this day, he was channeling his inner Ace Ventura!

Funny side note about Charlie. I don't want to forget this. Lately, when I put on my make-up he tells me I have my cinnamon face on. I have no clue where he came up with this, but he is very exact about when I do or don't have it on. For instance, if I just have on a little mascara and powder, that is not full cinnamon face. He needs to the whol she-bang. Apparently, it's a compliment from him as he asks for me to put it on regularly. I think it's hilarious.

Love getting pics from his teacher to pek in on what they are doing while at school.

About two days into the new year, I broke my hand. Then, while at Urgent Care getting it checked out, I picked up some sort of upper respiratory virus that turned into a sinus infection and ultimately bronchitis. I knew walking into a place like that healthy with about 25 other extremely sick people in the waiting room was probably not the best scenario, but what are ya gonna do?!?! I swear it was close to two weeks before I felt better. So between the wrist and the illness, there aren't too many pics this past month, much less outings with the boys!

We did make it to a swim meet in Pensacola. It was about 22 degrees outside the entire weekend, but the boys had fun and did great. I think between them, they swam 13 events (some of which were new to them), but only 1 race was not a best time. They did awesome. I attached a few videos of a few races that weren't too big size wise to post.

Here is B's best freestyle ever! He even beat another 7/8 year old!

We make this drive every Tuesday/Thursday after swim practice and lately, there have been some amazing sunsets. I love the stretch of road we drive home on!

Seriously, it just doesn't get old!

The kids were off for MLK day, went back to school for 1 whole day, then had two more off due to snow. So, by Thursday, we had to get out of the house. We met up with some friends at Chick-fil-a then headed over to Altitude Trampoline Park in Mobile.

Finally, toward the end of January, life began to resume some normalcy. School was back in session and I had recovered! The football players from the HS came over for a pep rally one day. Ryan's teacher sent us this pic.

I know I posted B's pics in his birthday post, but here is Charlie's preschool pic as well from the fall.

He was my buddy through being sick and my broken hand! We've spent a lot of time together this month between all of that and school closures!

After a lot of Bradley's friends and classmates came down with the flu, I decided to be proactive and jump on the Elderberry train! We went to Whole Foods, which was of course, sold of out of the berries, so I ordered a pound off of Amazon. I googled a recipe and began my witchcraft once they arrived!

We've all been taking it every day for the past week. I even took it a couple times in one day when my throat started to feel scratchy. We shall see if we can build up an immunity against all of this crud!!

The kids had soup day at school last week where they all tried Chicken Noodle soup! They both liked it!

We were all glad for this month to end, however, February is a CRAZY busy month for Wes at work, so really we are all looking forward to March, I guess!!

5 years - BLM

My middle boy is 5 years old! Well, a month ago, but still, he's old!!! I'll be registering him for Kindergarten in 3 months. I'm still in disbelief. He's turning into such a little boy, losing all of the baby features that I've grown accustomed to! He's got more personality in his pinky finger, then I do in my entire body. Wes and I find ourselves in stitches time and time again because he always keeps us laughing!

B makes life interesting. He keeps us on our toes at all times. He's very sensitive. He can be so sweet, nurturing, and concerned, but he can flip that switch so fast into rage and frustration pretty darn fast! For instance, lately, Charlie will lolly-gag just about anywhere we go. Sometimes, I have to tell him if he doesn't come with, I am going to leave (clearly, I would never do that!). Well, when I have done that lately, B will lose it! One time he started screaming and crying at me, saying "But, we're never going to see him again, don't leave him!" Guess he really does love his brother!

He loves getting older. He's started making some good friends that he loves to have playdates with. He talks a lot about starting Kindergarten next year. I think he's ready to be big with Ryan. He talks about riding the bus, trying the cafeteria food, wearing his uniform (he's really excited about that. The kid has a thing for fashion, so he's already started acquiring Aftcos and Under Armour polos for school next year). We've started working on sight words with him as well as pushing the handwriting and he seems eager to learn, some of the time! The kid is, like I said, full of life, and is concerned about the fun aspect of school. So, his attention span will quickly dissipate and move on to the more appealing parts of school like snack and recess! He does seem to maybe have a natural knack for Math which makes me and Wes happy!

He doesn't go for a well check this year, but I weighed and measured him at home for my own stats:
Weight - 42.6 lbs. (61%)  3 lbs less than Ryan!
Height - 45.5 in. (89.6%) basically exact height as Ryan

Here's the list of questions I try and ask the boys at least once a year without any prompting.....

Favorite color: Orange

Favorite food: Pizza, Lasagna, and chicken from Boudreaux's; Oreos, Jelly beans, Reese's pieces
Favorite toy: Puzzles, dumptrucks, Magna tiles, and iPad
Favorite show: Minions, Little Rascals, Emoji Movie
When I grow up I want to be: A candymaker and an artist
Favorite thing to play: Video games, play on the swingset, ride his scooter
Favorite animal: cheetahs
Favorite thing to wear: His VBS Maker Fun Factory shirt w/ khakis shorts. He's also really into jeans right now
Favorite book: Daniel Tiger
Best friend: Jonathan from school, Camilla and Isla (his little girlfriends from school)
What you sleep with at night: my lovey
Favorite song: Made for This (VBS song)
What are you really good at: swimming at TNT, baseball
Favorite thing to do with mom: Going to the movies
Favorite thing to do with dad:  Go to the waterpark, taking them to the neighborhood pool
Favorite sport to play: football, baseball, and soccer
Favorite place to go: the cabin we are going to in TN over Spring break, Typhoon Texas (haven't been there in a year and a half!), and the beach, and HOTELS!
Favorite place to go out to eat: Trattoria (same answer as last year), Boudreaux's, Moe's BBQ

Favorite things to do with brothers: watch TV upstairs, go to swim meets, help Charlie with puzzles, talk at night in their bedroom when they are supposed to be sleeping!

His favorite things to do, I would say, are swimming, playing baseball,  and running around outside on the playground or riding his scooter around. He loves Magna Tiles, playing Paw Patrol, coloring, watching Netflix with Ryan, playing his iPad, and he has recently gotten into Minecraft. He plays well with both of his brothers. He admires Ryan more than Ryan will ever know. Just last night, Ryan was showing us some artwork and B asked him if he could sit with him so he could show him each piece. He soaks in everything his big brother says and does. They are cute listening to them in bed at night chatting away. He also plays great with Charlie. Since they are only 18 months apart, they will eventually have more in common, but for now, B is great playing with him, taking care of him, and showing him the ropes.

He loves to be a helper. He can sense with there is stress or tension and is the first to jump in to try and alleviate some of that. As crazy and wild as he can be, he is a great student at school. We always get the sweetest notes and compliments about what a good kid he is at school. I'm starting to think he is all talk! He told me once that he can't wait to go to Kindergarten and be bad because being bad sounded fun! GREAT! Hoping that's just more of his big talk!

He wears basically size 5/5t clothing, but moving more toward a 6 in tops. I think a 12/12.5 in shoes. We are on our 3rd pair of glasses, and working toward wearing the patch everyday for an hour. We weren't doing well in the fall, but since the new year he's worn it almost everyday. He goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up with Ryan around 6:30. Luckily, he will still nap. I've let him start skipping more considering in about 6 months, he won't be able to anymore. He naps about 3-4 days a week for 1-2 hours at a time. As far as eating goes, he is definitely in a better place than he was a year ago, but still very picky. He has started eating a few vegetables, or at least trying a bite of ours here and there. It helps that Charlie and Ryan are pretty good with eating them as the peer pressure definitely has its effect from time to time. He will eat sweet potatoes, carrots, spaghetti squash, and occasionally a few green beans. He is still an Italian boy at heart loving all things red - pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, cheese pasta, you name it. Slap some marinara on it and he'll devour it. 

He has really been into the whole girlfriend thing this fall. Just about all of our good friends daughters have been his girlfriend at one point or another. He seems to make friends, both boys and girls fairly easily, which is not surprising to me as he is really fun!

His lust for life is contagious. Unless he is in trouble or frustrated with something, he's really never in a bad mood. He doesn't get moody. He's generally always happy or can snap out of a funk just like that. I definitely admire that about him. He just wants to live life to its fullest and not miss a thing. Always looking to the next fun activity! He's literally the Energizer bunny! He's very excitable which also translates into being EXTREMELY loud. Wes just thought I was loud, until this kid came around!! We love you more than you know, B!!!