Life as we know it!

It has been a bit crazy here the past couple months. We’ve been trying to get into routines and the boys have been growing and changing so rapidly we almost can’t keep up. Owen started counting to 5 all by himself! It is the cutest thing and we are so proud especially since he isn’t even 2 yet. He is also doing well with colors and animals. He sometimes can be hard to understand but he is learning new words every day and he is so polite saying “sorry,” “thank you,” “please,” “you’re welcome” and when you tell him you love him he’ll say “too.” He is ready to be potty trained but we’ve been waiting because 1) we aren’t really looking forward to asking every 5 seconds if he has to go potty and 2) the CDC won’t allow him to wear underwear and won’t take him to the bathroom when he needs to go until he is in room 2. We understand this, most kids under 2 aren’t potty trained and they can’t have a teacher take 1 kid to go to the bathroom but it would have been nice to start potty training as soon as he showed an interest. I’m sure he’ll pick it up quick once we start.

Blake starts pre-school today and he is so excited! We got him a new backpack that is WAY too big for him but it will work until he gets the one we ordered. We ordered him a Lightening McQueen backpack that has his name on it but it could still be weeks until we get it. Blake loves being a big boy and is so curious about everything. He is at the age where he wants reassurance for everything and also wants to tell on every move Owen makes lol. At least whenever Owen takes his diaper off in the morning or mid nap, Blake is always right there to tell us so there are few messes to clean up. He is so smart and we are so proud of him. He is still having trouble with red and blue colors but everything else he knows, even black and white. We’ve been working with him to write and recognize his name but I’m sure they’ll have more patience with him at school. It’s hard for us to sit with him and try to go over things especially with Owen around because Blake will start imitating Owen to get attention and pretend he doesn’t know things.

Vinny is growing so quickly, he is already 3 months old; he smiles all the time and at everyone. He is such a happy baby and he started really laughing last night. It looks like his two bottom teeth are starting to make their way to the surface and we already predict he will not be a pleasant teether. I wish I could stop time because I love this age. He has started sleeping more at night (although there are times he will still be up every hour to 2 hours and that’s usually when Blake and Owen want to wake up super early so I get almost no sleep), he smiles at us and he still will cuddle. I love my cuddle time, it’s the best part of my day and no matter what is going on it always puts a smile on my face. Vinny loves tummy time, as soon as he is on his tummy he tries moving all over the place. He also loves to stand and is very strong; you can have him stand and only hold his hands and he’ll just stand there with a huge smile on his face.

We ordered the boys’ their Halloween costumes. Blake is going to be Buzz Lightyear, Owen will be Woody and Vinny will be one of the little squeaky toy aliens. I will have to alter Vinny’s costume because they only had 12-18 month ones everywhere we looked.

Anthony and I are doing great. Anthony is only a few classes away from his Bachelors degree in Political Science. Just as he is finishing, I’m starting. I registered and start classes in November in hopes of getting Bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Communication Studies. We are both looking forward to going back state side but are enjoying and trying to do as much as possible here before we leave.

I’m doing well with my weight loss, would love to be further along but I’m still proud of myself. I’ve ran farther and longer than I ever had before and my goal is to get to 3 miles in 30 minutes in the next couple weeks. I’ve lost 32lbs since having Vinny and still would like to lose between 18 to 28lbs. I’m only 1lb away from the 1st incentive with over 2 and half weeks to go. I’m 11lbs away from the 2nd incentive but not going to kill myself trying to make that goal. It’s about 6 weeks until our pictures so I hope to be comfortable by then so I’m not self conscious about how I look.

So that’s it for now. Will try and update more often if the boys will let me!