September was a better month as far as stress with the office 10 fold, which I am so grateful for! I have still had to be there more often than I ever thought I would, but to see and feel the success and to know that all the nightless sleep and hours is starting to pay off makes it more worth it. Despite still having to find the right fit for the person at the front desk, and making the most of the situation we were in, finally we were blessed to have the perfect candidate join and hopefully complete our team for a while, until we need to add another person when we are able to grow more and be busier. The trial of our faith has been so real. WOW. But hopefully now I can have a new baby without constantly worrying about the office and if the necessary things are getting done that need to be. Hallelujah! Now onto the fun stuff that September has broughten...
Back to school for all my sweet kiddos!
Vienna started us off with her First Grade fun in Mrs. Needham's class. Such a grown up little lady. I hope she is able to make and keep great friends and expand her mind. She is a smart little lady.
We had to drop her off for the first day, even though she really wanted to ride the bus. Here she is in her classroom, so ready! She also started piano lessons and gymnastics, but I don't have any pictures of those things yet. So far they are going really well and for only having 4 lessons, her teacher is super surprised at how well she is doing! YEAH!
Something very Special happened on Sept 9th...Mikey and I celebrated our 10 year Anniversary! It is amazing to think that we have spent a decade together. Pretty soon we will have spent more of our lives together than apart. Mike was so sweet and thoughtful, he literally thought of everything...and then some. My exhausted pregnant body was very grateful that it was nice and relaxing and quiet.
We had a special romantic dinner at the Melting Pot. We have only eaten there once before and it was for our celebration of acceptance to dental school, so about 7 years ago. (We don't get out much with all our littles) It was really fun, then he surprised me with a hotel room. It was a fancy one that had a bath tub in it. (See below) which is exactly what I needed. He then presented me with 3 amazingly thoughtful gifts, the magazine you see below with 5 articles in it. It is amazing and such a great keepsake. Who knew you could even do something like this???
This is us in Japan
I'm lame, all I did was make a collage and post a special tribute to him on FB. I'm not normally that lame, but with pregnancy and being at the office every waking minute it was tricky and what do you get men anyway???
The collage.
Then he presented me with this...
OUR FAMILY BLANKET! Which he sewed himself. He seriously cease to amaze me with the things he just does and has never done before. Like a deck, a weighted blanket for Lincoln, a hammock for Vienna, thats just a few things, but a quilt..seriously???
So here it is, its got our Country Flags and then each one of our family members State flags. So Alberta, Kansas (Mike), Idaho (Vienna), Ohio (Lincoln and Everett) and Washington for our little Oaks...soon. I absolutely love it!!
The best part is always dessert, right?
We got pedicures before dinner, it was Mike's first time.
Here is the bathtub I mentioned earlier. It was just what my prego body needed/wanted and then while we relaxed Mike busted out the last gift...a video slideshow of the last 10 years of life together. It was SO special and great and wonderful and funny! It was perfect. Again something I don't think he has ever done before. I could watch it over and over again. The kids sure enjoyed watching it too.
To say the least I have truly married a very remarkable man that is so thoughtful and romantic. I couldn't ask for anything more in my eternal companion and I can't wait for forever!
Moving on, Lincoln started back with his Pre-K, which he will attend 5 days/week to prepare him for all day kindergarten next year. He is loving it and doing really well! Mrs. Amber is the best!
Look at this cute little guy all ready to go.
i'm glad he was willing to hold the sign and sit on the sear, you just never know what you're gonna get with this kiddo, however he is growing up and becoming more adaptable with time. Thank heavens!
Here are Linc's stats...
What a silly boy...
On to Everett...
My sweet little guy started Joy school just 2 days/week and he is doing really well also. he attends with Lincoln on tues and thursdays. Its great for them and me!
Here are his stats...
Look at this cute little guy all ready to go!
More silly boy pics...
Lincoln started soccer and is loving every minute of it. We really didn't know what to expect, but so far its great!
Little Lincs had his surgery (tonsillectomy and adenoids romoved) he was such a trooper, nervous but did really well. I didn't really tell him much and I think it helped.
Waking up he was just so chill and sleepy, which is good because there were some serious screamers and delirious kiddos in the recovery room. I just couldn't get him to wake up and there was some vomit, but just a bit.
He fell asleep in his throw up tray even...Recovery was tough at times, but not as bad as some of the stories I've heard.
When you don't have time or much money or a sister close by, you do your own maternity photo shoot that consists of your hubby taking some and your 6 year old...not too shabby I'd say.
It was fun and I'm glad we did it. (especially for Oaks sake) They are all so excited to meet him and have him join our family. Lincoln kisses my tummy a couple times a day just to say hi!
Luckily we made it to the pumpkin patch up in the Green Bluff Area. It turned out to be the perfect day and Oaks didn't arrive early. There were tons of fun things to do...
A corn maze that included a courtyard maze of hedges that led to a castle and in the corn..
Jail birds of course
A kids train and a big train (no picture)
Pedal cars which were a blast! Lots of work and too tough for Everett, but super fun!
A pirate ship and crew of Captain Hooks
the wicked witch of the West, the kids were trying to rescue her!
HUGE PUMPKINS!
Scarecrows and many other fun things like honey crisp apples!
Vienna loves coming to YW activities with me. Mostly to play with Sienna, but also because she gets to be a big girl. Her and Sienna were the judges for the apple pie bake off and that made them feel pretty dang special.
The finalists and their trophies...
Look how adorable Michelle is with her decorations!
Just some prego photos...
A cute E Man!
An always changing, fancy V girl!
THis, what is this?
Ethiopian food of course!
I was very lucky to be asked to have a girls night "shower" of sorts to welcome our little guy. These ladies allowed me to go to a whole new area of town (The Flour Mill) and eat food I have never even contemplated. It was my first and only girls night out since living here and it was really thoughtful of them!
Lincs got to go on a Father son date with Daddy to Franks diner that is located in a real train car. He loved it and thought he was pretty darn special...which he is!
We also had our first garage sale and even though it wasn't all that busy, we had a great time and made a little extra spending money, plus we met some great neighborhood folks/
We even made and gave away cookies from "ARBOUR FAMILY DENTAL" which was fun!
This is a miracle...Lincs fell asleep on Daddy at church in the foyer. NEVER EVER HAPPENS!
My built in table,,,
Sexy selfie, with a can opener of course!
This little lady got to be the star student and her treat were cutie oranges with pumpkin faces and yogurt tubes, She said they were a hit and she was so excited to make all the faces!
Her family tree, I don't remember who is who, just the little one is Oaks,
When Daddy gets way too many rose pedals for our anniversary the first thing you do is have a rose pedal fight. It was fun to include them in our celebrations...
And that brings us to the end of another month. Tomorrow is my induction day, so Oaks will join our family and life will be a whole new kind of crazy, but I hope to stay on top of our family blog a bit better than the past 6 months. I know...I know...high hopes.
We are so blessed and grateful for everything in our lives, especially our family.
