The month flew by and if I am being entirely honest, the whole next year from this date has flown by. I found it pretty hard to blog about losing furry Natalie and so I didn’t blog for awhile - which is when life went crazy and I got so far behind. I am trying to catch back up a year later! The details might be a bit fuzzy a year out, but I didn’t want to miss the chance to document everything. So between this post and next December(!) there might be some embellishment in places and total lack of details in others.
You guys know me, this isn’t exactly abnormal. ;)
Last year at the Christmas Market, Matt bought a giant log stump style checkerboard. So this year it shouldn’t have come as a surprise we ended up at the same booth buying more wooden stumps. The method of transport to the car was a bit questionable, but he swears our youngest is totally safe here… “/
Meal times can be so exhausting when you are actually expected to eat a few bites… Lol
Told you that she is a champ at pulling herself up to a stand these days! And the tiniest little cheerleader for her brother’s soccer team! :)
It took 5 years before there was an injury between the brothers that required intervention! Thomas was trying to show Henry some Tae-Kwon-Do moves and accidentally knocked his brother into a very heavy wooden chair. We finally discovered something that is harder than Henry’s head… “/
The urgent care clinic tried their best to close the wound with glue, but it just wouldn’t stay together. So Henry got his first stitches (I am sure not his last…). The PA said he was tougher than most adults she took care of!
Thomas felt terrible about his brother getting hurt - at first. Once we teased him enough about it, he exasperatedly said “Well Henry didn’t protect his base!!!” After trying not to die of laughter, we had to explain to Thomas that Henry isn’t actually in Tae-Kwon-Do and most 4 year olds don’t know they have to “protect their base”. Thomas remains unconvinced.
The super involved and time consuming bunk beds are finally done! (I kid, Matt!) We wanted to buy the boys bunk beds and all of the ones for sale up here seemed a bit flimsy, so Matt decreed them unsafe and that he would build them sturdy ones. He did and they look amazing!
They just took a little longer than expected because he has so many other fun hobbies in the summer. ;)
Since he got such good practice on his sparring skills with his brother (lol), Thomas had no problem advancing up to his purple belt!
On the bright side, Henry looooooved the emoji bandages I found for him! Also, the panic has set in that he is starting Kindergarten next year and won’t be right next to work… So I am trying to take advantage with extra lunch dates while I can. :)
Sooooo Aunt Heather heard I was trying to read Harry Potter with them and excitedly brought them Chocolate Frogs and the Every Flavor Jelly Beans. Boys being boys, the three of them were trying all of the “gross” flavors. Apparently some of them were super bad and Thomas ended up dramatically throwing himself on the floor. Pretty sure this one was soap.
Momma wisely abstained.
Also, look how adorable he is in his Cub Scouts uniform! :)
Natalie’s new favorite activity is knocking down blocks! I have been building her towers of blocks so she can crawl over and knock them all down. It’s quite the anxiety-inducing time as I try to build up to the full tower height before she can reach me. Thankfully she let me take this photo before going full destructor on me. ;)
Thomas loves it when his baby sister crawls on him, though he has gotten smart enough to take his glasses off before she can rip them off his face. He learns fast! ;)
She is kinda getting the hang of taking bites, but definitely loves playing with her oral toys more than eating. As long as she can take enough food in for the swallow study to work next month, that’s good enough for me!
Trying to get an early start on the Advent calendar this year! I bought a cute one at Target last month in the after-Christmas sale and realized we could make our own holiday envelopes for it. It took a few tries to get them the right size as the envelope-maker I have doesn’t have measurements that small listed, but we made it work!
She’s not allowed to have pieces of food yet, but her speech therapist did give her the go-ahead to try gnawing on them with this mesh bag. So far she hasn’t quite gotten the concept. ;)
The last photo I have of the two Natalie’s together… Furry Natalie looks like she is disgruntled, but she really didn’t mind baby Natalie sitting next to her. She just wasn’t feeling great in the last few days. :(
Not our best selfie, but I wanted proof that we had Thanksgiving dinner! Matt fried the turkey again and I made everyone’s favorite sides. I totally cheated and used Stove Top for the stuffing, but in my defense - I don’t really have one. Sorry grandma, don’t be mad at me when you look down from above. ;)
We had to facetime Nonni to get the last minute details of when she was coming back up and she got to see the boys get attacked with silly string. I think she got more of a kick out of it than they did… Ha!
And just like that - we have another skier in the family! He took to it pretty well right away and they are both doing awesome at lessons. So proud!
And the event that was pure chaos. I don’t have many photos from the day of the 7.1 earthquake that was a direct hit to Anchorage, but this one shows the emotional toll pretty well. The power went out, the ground would start shaking again every few minutes and the kids were terrified. They spent most of the day in the closet under the stairs and the adrenaline wore them out within a few hours. A morning naptime seemed to be a good break for them. Thankfully we did discover our fireplace works even if the power is out, so once we decided it was safe to turn on, the house warmed up enough until the power was restored.
Matt was thankfully still at home with them when it hit at 8:30 in the morning, so Nooni and Natalie weren’t alone in the dark. I was at work on the 17th floor and got quite the terrifying ride when the ground went crazy. I don’t think most people who weren’t here can understand the terror that this event caused and the weeks of non-stop aftershocks that killed everyone’s nerves. It was not a day that will likely be forgotten by any of us there - except Natalie. She seemed quite unfazed by the whole ordeal. Lucky girl!