Preston Turns 3! And Other Milestones...

As I write this, Preston is a few months shy of being 3.5 ! :( He is growing by leaps and bounds (which I'm sure I've said probably every post!) Rather than have a birthday party, we actually (very coincidentally) left on the day of his birthday for a trip during Fall Break, so that became his present/party. Therefore, the weekend before we just went out to dinner and had a cake to follow afterwards. He is going through a Baby Shark moment so it was Baby Shark themed!

We started the birthday weekend at the Farmer's Market where he got this blown up shark! 

His actual day was not too exciting since we were airplane and airport hopping, but the week to follow was spent at Disney World! (more to follow in another post). He is familiar with some of the characters so that was pretty exciting. 

Other big things happening with Preston! We (finally) got him potty trained. I'm mostly going to put this note here for myself to laugh at down the road, but believe it or not we got the to the point where we reached out to a professional this time for help. As there are sleep experts/consultants, we discovered there are potty consultants as well. Earlier in the year Preston did not take to the training as he was scared to even sit. I looked into a consultant as we needed help with his outright refusal to sit this time around (not that he scared, now he just didn't want to sit). Josh was the first to get him to be able to do so, and once we discovered he cared for a particular potty seat to use then it started to come together. 

Preston had been at a small preschool program before that allowed non-trained kids, which was good for us, but ultimately I wanted to get him into a program with kids more his age and where I could drop him off. Once he was trained, he was good to go! All of December he went to his new program, which I'm also thankful for the fact that he seems to LOVE it. No tears, bribing, nothing. He will continue to go there three days  a week for 2-3 hours each day. 

New school

...with a new backpack!

Preston is still taking swimming lessons. He's so close to moving up another level. We took a break in December but hope to start back up in January. 

The other big thing that happened with Preston is...

...a new BIG bed!

Gone are the crib days. Preston never tried to climb out of his crib so we were not anxious to switch him out of it, but the boy was growing too long for it to comfortably sleep. We are SO thankful he continues to not get out of his bed! We were astonished that he did not try to get out. We expected, like our others, that we would have some time of playing the "put him back in bed over and over" game. We think waiting until he was 3 years old instead of 2 helped. Even now he will just call out when he wakes up. 

He is your typical, very active boy. He loves to ride his balance bike, he can balance and ride a Razr Scooter (he basically wants to keep up with his brothers). He remains a pretty good eater most of the time. His vocabulary is increasing, which is good for the most part ;) He has his moments of cuddle time. Growing to be such a sweet, smart boy!

School Year

We are now halfway done with the school year, already! Each of the boys have male teachers which has been a fun dynamic to watch. They each have good classes that they enjoy. It's crazy to think in another month we will be touring junior high for Nathan. Especially because it's the last year in which I will get to be involved with a class with Nathan (before he fully just starts growing up), I decided to be the art masterpiece guide for his class, coming in once a month to teach an art lesson. Josh went with his class in September on their Science Camp. In October, the boys' school had their yearly Fall Festival and in November their Fine Dining event. Each boy took a turn being sick for those special events (Aaron did not go to Fall Festival, Nate did not go to Fine Dining, or "friendsgiving" as I call it). It has been busy! Aaron continues to be in Boy Scouts this year. Starting in the Fall, Nathan decided he no longer wanted to be with Boy Scouts (when it was realized the added homework and responsibility it would become). He continues to do percussion with band this year, we will find out in the coming months if he decides to continue in the Fall next year in junior high. Aaron has also begun Running Club with some friends. Earlier in December, we had the school's Jingle Jog which is becoming a favorite tradition.

Jingle Jog

I was the first winner at the Cake Walk - Fall Festival. It was delicious! 

Packed and ready to go to Science Camp

Summer 2019

I swear with each year the time goes by faster and faster. Despite not having any big travel plans this Summer out of town, our eight weeks of time off of school went by super fast. Josh was quite busy on a few work trips out of town and he went with Aaron to a Cub Scout camp up north for a few days. Nathan had his first, solo camp away from us with Boy Scouts. He traveled to San Diego, CA for a week with no communication. He was busy each day, all day, with activities.He had a great time!

At home, a lot of days were spent swimming in our pool, in the city pools, doing crafts for my job, trips to ice cream, library for reading program, their Nana took them out for Summer movies, Aaron did a Lego camp for one week with a friend and they both did one camp together for a week at TopGolf. That was the only camp I could get both of them together to do. It's getting more difficult (ahem, Nathan is getting more difficult) to find things to do, things that he actually wants to do. It's even harder with the various age ranges. Preston began swim lessons which were not great at first, but once we switched facilities (or maybe it was also because he got used to them?) things went a lot better. He still continues to go once a week and has really excelled if I think back to Day 1. It helps I think that I allow each child to have "their day" of the week so each person feels like they have a say each week. 

The last day of school called for pool time and snow cones

National Donut Day is always a hit with Nate, though

At the end of Summer, I wanted to do something special to wrap up the time off. I rented 'camping equipment' to have an inside camping night. Following Meet The Teacher, we had a night of pizza, s'mores, "campfire stories", slept under the "stars". The boys got a huge kick out of it so I'm glad I did it. 

Mom-cation

Still working back to Summer posts is a post now about my getaway in May! Memorial Day weekend I got away with my sisters (something I don't think we've done since I was pregnant with either Nate or Aaron?) We traveled to Waco, TX for the long weekend. We thought a fun girls trip would consist of visiting Magnolia, the shop owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines from TV home popularity. It was a great and refreshing time away!

Besides the shopping and the eating (we LOVED one steakhouse in particular) we mostly just hung out at our adorable Air Bn B. Not much else to do in the town. It was an interesting town, run down in many parts (including houses right around us) but then others were nice, such as our adorable bungalow. Many houses are built with porches so a lot of times that's where you will find people - sitting out in their front yards.

With crazy and busy lives between the three of us,  we are grateful to get any time we can together.

Aaron's 8th Birthday

Now to go back a few months...welp...to May! We opted out of having a birthday party and had a split celebration with families. Aaron wanted to do an Escape Room and do go-kart racing. His birthday was on the same day as Mother's Day, so I had gone out the day before so he could do whatever he wanted on the day. Now some facts on this guy!

--Loves his art, loves his cars! He hasn't changed. 

--Loves learning! He'll complain about it sometimes, especially the school part, but then the next thing you know, he's rattling some facts off about Ancient Greece. I'm convinced he needs to be on Junior Jeopardy. He received a subscription service where he gets a box each month about a different country and he loves it. 

--Loves to be outside, playing soccer, riding bikes, in general just playing.

--I'm going to appreciate each year going forward that he likes to sporadically cuddle up to us :)

--Loves a good messy room. Definitely different than his siblings in that respect.

--He likes my Green Kid Crafts job :) He's a frequent model.

--Is still our emotional firecracker. Happy one minute, tears the next. He's our social butterfly.

It's always flabbergasting how fast these guys grow. 

More Work Updates...Part 2

Not so fast! How things change in a month. At the end of these long, Summer days of work and being with the kids...made me re-evaluate if everything going on in my life made me happy. At the end of a recent day, I decided something was not, despite all the money and effort I had put into it. 

I have now dropped my sleeping consultant job. Out of all my work, it was the least consistent in terms of making money. I have gone some months without a single client. If I'm going to take time away from my family, it has to be worth it. Of course while I don't have clients it means I'm not taking that time away, but after spending a lot of money on course work to get certified and insurance to cover me as a consultant, it made me disappointed it wasn't paying off the way I hoped it would once I became certified. I also have some personality differences with the owner of the company that made me feel inferior a lot of the time. Basically, there were just more non-fun parts than fun parts and I decided if it wasn't fulfilling, wasn't making me happy, it needed to go. Honestly, I hope in a way I was doing the owner a long term favor even though she is in the short term stress now of finding someone new. *deep breath* I've been pondering this decision for a while so while business has been slow, I'm glad I found the courage to do it. I wish them well but now I can put forth the effort into the things that are allowing me side income.

On that note, I'm increasing my ESL companies I work for. Lately I have not been fully booked as I would like with my original company, and if I am going to be up early anyway, I really would like to be. I've come to discover many teachers use multiple companies. I'm currently in the trial class period with my 3rd company. China is entering their Summer holiday, so I'm hoping to milk that up by teaching evening and morning classes for the duration of their break before it slows back down. This is one case where I am devoting more time, especially since it has been the greatest side income blessing, and one reason why it made it an easier decision to let go of one of my other jobs. For now I'm just trying to survive the busy season of really having to juggle when I'm able to work. 

More Work Updates!

Even more work updates for myself since February.

Still with the magazine and with my promotion role. Hectic at times but going okay.

I did not become a certified sleep consultant until the end of April. In May, I did my first "in home" visit - meaning I went to a client's home where I sat and went over their assessment and then hands on helped them implement it - for twins none the less! It went well. Things generally slow for Summer but come Fall I may have some speaking engagements.

My newest work news is that I have started as an ESL teacher in February - meaning an English as a second language teacher. I teach kids in China. It works kind of like Skype in that we connect via a camera in a "classroom" through the company. I would say the most difficult part has been just getting used to the times I teach - peak time in China is EARLY AM my time (as in 3am, or earlier some days until 7am). Some nights (my time) are also available, particularly during China's Summer months when kids are home. Getting used to being up (and showing and having energy!) has been the the biggest adjustment. I began with a 2nd ESL company not long ago as backup. My hope is the 2nd company will eventually take over the first one, as it has a friendlier teacher policy. I do enjoy the job itself (99% of the kids so far are great and its neat to teach a variety of ages and class types). It has been great in terms of another job I can do around the kids at home (and practically in pajamas!) and its the most money I have made from home yet. I would say the fact that Preston no longer naps has made this a bit harder - I can't exactly lay down for a quick catnap much anymore!

Virtual classroom

Due to sleepy brain I can't remember if this has been mentioned, but I also have another little blogging job with Green Kid Crafts, a subscription mail service of crafts and projects for kids. They pick what crafts they want me to do, the kids and I do them (I take note of instructions and take pictures), I send the company those and they get posted on their social media. Here are some of past projects...

Candle making with crayons

Rock crystal candy making

Painting using yarn

Working electrical circuits - using batteries and LED lights

I enjoy this job too as it allows the kids to partake in it, we do some neat things.

So, life is very busy over here, especially during the now Summer months with everyone home.

Preston Update

Last I wrote, we were beginning potty training. It did not go well. I tried for a few days, but he was scared of sitting on the potty. He ran from it. When it became noticeable that it was just going to be mommy cleaning up messes on the floor continuously, we were done. In March, Preston began not taking his nap so that has gone out the window too (somehow my boys have always been on the younger end of the spectrum when it comes to ending nap!) That has been a struggle, as I always used the time to work/do house work/self care. More of a balancing act for me but that will be discussed in another post!

At the end of March, Preston started a preschool program. Talk about a saving grace. Two days a week, Preston goes to a program at our gym for two hours. I do have to remain on site and it's not as long or as many days as I would like, but it does give him time with kids his own age and the social time I think he needs. And time for me to workout/do some work! There was an adjustment period as it's also his first time being with people he doesn't know, but now he looks forward to his friends and the things they do. He has even tried using their little potty! It was not until our other boys were 3-3.5 before they were trained so maybe I'll check in at the end of Summer. For now I'm thankful he has a place to go where he can be 2 and NOT potty trained! Being potty trained is a big deal at most places.I'm excited that when the boys start school the end of July that Preston's program, too, will start back up. 

Other Preston facts :

--He loves eating! haha. It's great to have an adventurous eater.

--He still sleeps in his crib. I'm not feeling anxious to move him into a toddler bed at all. Preston hasn't even tried to get out of his crib so unless he grows out of it, he's staying there. Half joking. Half not. That was also another adjustment period for my older boys, it took what seemed like weeks or months for them to stay in bed and not try to get out of their room. He is a pretty good sleeper; going down now at 6:30-7 on his own.

--Talking up a storm now. It's nice to start eliminating the frustration of communication. I can tell he's absorbing what he does in school too - numbers, letters, colors. 

--Continues to be on the high end of the growing curve! A lot of people think he looks older with his height. 

--His favorite place and person ever is his Nana and her house. Every-day we listen about going to "Nana's house". 

--He loves his balance bike. And being outside. He begins swim lessons tomorrow! 

Nathan's 11th Birthday

We're back! For a quick minute to update life's passings in the last few months. Much to discuss!

First off, I last wrote right around Nathan's 11th birthday! In lieu of birthday parties for the older two this year, we had family gatherings where we let the kids choose outings. Nathan did indoor skydiving with my family and went to a local theme park with Josh's. He enjoyed both!

Now some 11 year old stats!

---This year he has really begun those tween changes- he has grown and all that entails (deodorant! smelly room!)

---On the flip side it also means he has really matured, Josh and I can have a date night now when Preston is down for sleep that we know he will get Aaron to bed. That has been really nice for Josh and I not having to arrange babysitting for each thing. He has always been responsible.

---Very goal oriented. He wants to be a pilot when he grows up so everything is starting to come into consideration for that (will that look good on my resume?)

---This last school year he has played percussion in band. He seemed to enjoy it and has decided to continue in his 6th grade year.

----His 6th grade year! Where we live, this is the last year of elementary school. I can't believe we are already at this point. He has adjusted well to our new school this past year.

---Also has continued on into Boy Scouts (see above-does it look good on my resume?) It is even more active than Cub Scouts so he stays pretty busy. He has his first, all by himself, trip with scouts to San Diego the end of June.

---Just starting over the Summer he is taking a diving class. This boy plans to live in the pool all Summer long

2.5 Year Old Comparisons

Can you believe in a few weeks Preston will now be 2.5?! That in about six more months it's time for his birthday again? :( Me either. This is a huge year of changes. We just weaned him from his pacifier use. I think with each day it gets better. I was nervous at first with how he would settle, but he really didn't fuss much at all. He knows what it means when something is "broken", so we just cut his pacifier. He was beginning to bite into it and make holes so it was time for it to go. Next up: potty training! In one more week. I think I'm prepared. I've done a bit more reading and research so that it too is a smooth process...hopefully!

Anyway, onto the comparisons of the kiddos.

All in order! They definitely all have the same grins!