Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick post to say hello and Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. The boys had fun parties at preschool and were so excited to tell me about the Valentine's they received from their friends. You can read more about it here thisjourneyofours.wordpress.com -- a new place I'm using to write specifically about food allergies and other issues we live with every day. I was so proud of them today and how they handled their food allergies during the parties...definitely sent up more than a few prayers for them today. (:

Here they are going through all of their loot. Morgan's teacher's sent out a note encouraging parents to give non-food/candy items, which was much-appreciated. He got play-doh, socks, a necklace, and some other trinkets. Jacoby definitely received more candy, so we went through all of it together, tossed what they couldn't eat, and exchanged it for safe candy Mommy has stashed away. Then they enjoyed a silly supper with Curious George.

Justin and I enjoyed breakfast together and a relatively normal day until he called to tell me what he discovered when he got back to the car this evening (a big dent and the entire front bumper torn off):

Yep, this is what a hit and run looks like--when your fellow man or woman doesn't have the decency to do the right thing after damaging your property. That's about all I'll say because it's just not worth the time or energy to say anything else (especially when it's not nice). I feel really blessed that no one was hurt (presumably, although Karma may not be kind to this person in the future). The damage is minor compared to what an accident on I-25 or 70 would be, and we've been incredibly fortunate in all of the years Justin's been commuting to Denver that he hasn't had other car-related incidents. So, just a little update on some excitement in our week. We're good though and our trusty Honda will be as good as new soon (hopefully).

Germy Week

Well, we've had a very germy week with both boys down with croup and colds. It's been nothing but crankiness, noses running out-of-control, lots of hacking, and several sleepless nights. It will all pass soon, I'm sure.

I'm very happy to say that in spite of the germs, Morgan is 100% potty trained as of this week! He told me a few nights ago that big boys don't wear pull-ups to bed, so we're in our undies all the time now. We're super proud of him and he's also proud to be a member of the big boy club now. (:

We took the boys skiing last Sunday, taking advantage of less traffic because of the Super Bowl, and had a mostly good time. The logistics of lugging gear and kids in ski boots is just crazy, so we're continuing to brainstorm on how to best do this so that we're not all completely worn out before we even get on a chair lift. Jacoby is skiing beside Justin with the help of a ski pole. We're slowly seeing signs of a snow plow. Morgan skis between my skis and does pretty well for how young he is (as long as he's not cold, hungry, or getting sick as was the case this last time).

Justin is busy trying to get the draft of his proposal done. His students are keeping him busy--he spends a lot of time with them outside of class whenever they manage to find him on campus. One of his students has a family similar to ours and is applying to doctoral programs (Justin has written recommendations for him) and would like to get us all together. It will be nice to meet them but I'm not sure they'll want to hear an "uncensored" version of what graduate school is like with a family. (:

I had a challenging week at work. Morale is probably the lowest I've seen in the 7 years I've been there. Four (5 for some) years of no salary increases is definitely taking a toll, and our sense of being a team and working together is on hiatus. Small, inconsequential issues get blown up way out of proportion very quickly. But my mantra right now is just to keep my big girl pants on and try to stick to the higher road. I'm grateful to be able to leave the unpleasantness every afternoon and come home to a family who loves me.

I've been busy this weekend working on Valentine's projects for the boys. Jacoby wasn't able to help me as much as we had planned since he's sick, but he did sign his name for me so I could scan and attach it to all his cards (Morgan is giving play doh to his classmates). I also made cinnamon popcorn for their parties.

Here are a few pics from the week:

Playing with Insta Snow -- very fun stuff!

Jacoby's Valentine cards for preschool -- the only thing I can take credit for is finding them online. (:

Jacoby's autograph

All snuggled up

Snow Day!

Thanks to heavy snow, lots of wind, and cold, we've been holed up at home today. Everything's closed and our dentist and eye appointments were canceled, so we've pretty much had the whole day to ourselves! We're watching a movie with popcorn and hot chocolate this afternoon. We might try to ski tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the road conditions going up to the mountains.

The week was mostly uneventful. Jacoby's preschool teachers informed me that they think he's ready for Kindergarten and is showing signs of boredom in class. I was silently counting the months we have left until Kindergarten begins and wondering what it means for the next several months. Since preschool is covering the alphabet thoroughly, we're working on numbers, math, and some reading at home.

Morgan is 90% potty trained at home and at school. Can't wait until I can post that we pitched the diaper pail!

Oh, and I had a wonderful birthday this week! Jacoby went with Justin to pick out flowers and a card for me, and then the three of them made a scrumptious dessert. There's nothing quite like having my two little boys sing me Happy Birthday--it's the best! Justin and the boys got me a subscription to plantoeat.com, which is a very handy program for meal planning and grocery shopping. I took my birthday off from work and had the whole day to myself, which was heavenly. I did some shopping with gift certificates and spent several lovely hours in my house all by myself.

Thanks to everyone who emailed, called, texted, and sent birthday wishes!

The best part of making a birthday treat

My favorite boys

Making pizzas

Reading together

An update...

Life is blissfully uneventful for us right now. We're pretty comfortable in our work, preschool, study routine. I think my blogging has slowed down because I feel like we don't have much to report!

The boys are doing great. Both are enjoying interesting things in school right now. Jacoby starts the letter K this week and might be going on a field trip to a Kindergarten class. He has made remarkable progress in the last month or so with his writing and pencil grip. We've been using afternoon rest time for OT while the little brother is sleeping. I should also mention that Jacoby is officially registered for Kindergarten at our neighborhood school. We had a tour right after the holidays, and both Justin and I were impressed with the Kindergarten program and the policies/procedures they have in place for kiddos with allergies. Jacoby is one of the leaders in his preschool class with letter recognition, so that along with his progress with writing I think will put him in great shape for the start of elementary school. The way we do school will probably be a yearly decision for us depending on how Jacoby is doing.

Morgan's class is "studying" the book "Where the Wild Things Are" as part of the Story Book Curriculum they use, so once you enter his class it's nothing but jungle, wild things, and mischief (all quite fitting for him and his preschool mates)! When Morgan and his class begin Preschool II in the fall, they will be moving over to a brand new school building about a block from my office--very exciting! When the boys are home I feel like we don't see much of them! They're very busy right now with all sorts of pretend play in their room--pirate ships, trains, campers, etc. They talk about how they're best friends, Morgan leads the show quite often, and they don't react kindly to being interrupted by their parents!

Justin's Greek class is keeping him very busy. He's also doing a lot of reading for his dissertation proposal. Work is fairly busy for me and I'm also doing some projects at home. Our winter weather is a bit crazy: some days it's cold and snowy, and then sometimes it's super windy and 60 degrees. We hope the mountains will get some snow. We've only been up skiing with the boys once because the slopes are so bare. Our first ski run with Morgan went well. He may have been a little overwhelmed, but by the end of our time he was balancing on his skis while I pulled him with my pole (snow plowing for 2 hours and holding up a 30+ pound chunk is quite a workout!).

Besides all of that, we're healthy, happy, and doing well. And we hope all of you are too!

Reading together...Berenstain Bears and Where the Wild Things Are are our favorites right now

Our masking tape tracks have become a little more sophisticated

Their favorite fine motor activities are those involving food. (:

The Start of 2012

The New Year has gotten off to a quiet start for us. I've found myself sort of reluctant to think about what the next 12 months might hold. 2011 was such a good year for us (Justin thinks differently since he endured the torture of two comprehensive exams), but all in all last year gave us a much needed break after the unexpected plunge into the medical world in 2010. 2012 will be a good year, I'm sure. There are just a lot more questions on the horizon: will this be the year Justin begins a career and says goodbye to school (and good riddance as far as I'm concerned)? will we have to move? will there be any unexpected developments with Jacoby and his medical issues? how will life change when kindergarten begins? So yes, I'm sad to see the comfort of 2011 go and waiting with bated breath to see what 2012 will bring. And with those musings, here's a look back on highlights from last year and a look ahead to the New Year:

2011 Highlights

~Justin finished his comprehensive exams!
~We went on an anniversary trip without our kids!
~I got to travel to Hawaii (twice), San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Oregon!
~We visited our loved ones in Montana this summer!
~The boys had a great year in preschool!
~Jacoby grew many inches and gained many pounds!
~We started going to church again!
~The boys moved into bunk beds!
~We became experts in allergy-free cooking and it brought us a lot of joy!
~Morgan and Jacoby were (and still are) the best of buddies!
~We had a lot of family come and spend time with us here in Colorado!

Here are a few things we're thinking about for 2012:

Justin...
D.I.S.S.E.R.T.A.T.I.O.N

Jacoby...
Continue working on fine motor skills
Have fun skiing and swimming
Turn 5!
K.I.N.D.E.R.G.A.R.T.E.N.

Morgan...
Finish potty training
Have fun skiing and swimming
Move to new preschool building (same preschool) in the fall...right across the street from Mommy's office=lunches with Mommy (:
Have fun being 3!

Me...
Hold a garage sale this summer
Finish Morgan's first year scrapbook
Run in a race...my sister inspired me, so I'm hoping to try the Bolder Boulder this spring
Start a new blog...my plan is to start blogging specifically about our medical journey, how it effects our lives, some of the stuff we deal with, what it's like raising kiddos with medical issues, etc. Somehow all of the medical stuff doesn't fit into this blog, which is more focused on us and our kids. I am either not specific enough when I write here or I write to much and then I can feel eyes glaze over and yawns being suppressed. My favorite mom-in-law has been encouraging me for awhile to write our story, so this will be the beginning of that and we'll just see where it takes us.

We hope 2012 is off to a wonderful start for all of you!