CRC/VIP Bouncy house

Today, we took the kids to the CRC/VIP were Ian goes to preschool bouncy house. They put together a relay for life fundraiser with bouncy houses, bake sale and trike-a-thon. Ian and Chloe had a blast jumping and going down the giant slid. I finally went and just bought a bunch of tickets and gave them to each one. Ian was having so much fun going back and forth to each. I thought it would be a great idea. It was money well spent and for a good cause. Both the kids were not happy to leave. They could of spent all day jumping. We might have to rent one for a birthday party.

27 and counting

I celebrated my 27th birthday today. How am I closer to 30 then 20 these days? Time sure has flown by. I had a great day. Ian had therapy in the morning. His therapist Kati bought be a super cute necklace. She is so sweet. Then we headed to my moms for the afternoon. We went and grab some ice cream cones, and it was great to hang with my mom. When we got home we headed into town with Matthew for some calls. We ended up eating dinner at the food court. We are planning on going to Pitch Perfect 2 and dinner Friday. I can't wait. Thanks everyone for the gifts, phone calls and texts. I had a wonderful birthday.

Matthew and the kids bought me these pretty flowers.

Memorial Day

We had a pretty laid back Memorial day. We slept in and ate breakfast. Matthew mowed both his parents and our yards. Then we headed down to Matthew's parents for a BBQ. We enjoyed hamburgers and polish dogs. Our friend Jake Bischoff showed up on his way back home to Casper. We enjoyed talking to him for a few hours, and catching up. We helped a little more around the house at Stan & Jan's. While the sprinklers were running Ian was in heaven. He was soaked all day long. When we headed back to our place to plant the rest of our garden, he jumped in the ditch. Both him and Chloe were muddy kiddos by the end of the day. It was a great day in the sun and mud.

 

We planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, green beans, and snap peas

Branding Calves

It was super rainy on and off, but the guys got the calves all branded. The kids had a blast helping and running around at the corrals. Michael & Emily came down, and it was fun to have all the kids together. I wish we would of got a picture. It's getting harder and harder to get a big picture of them all. Jan was awesome and fed everyone breakfast, lunch and dinner as always it was so yummy. She also made pies. All the sheep were lambing as well. The kids were loving taking care of a chilled baby in the house through out the day. Matthew was on call all weekend, but was still able to help a little bit. I think the branding would of went faster if it wasn't raining and the had some more help. We once again enjoyed working and playing as a big family though.

Ian's Hearing Test

Right after Ian had his tubes put in we went up to Billings for a hearing test. We had one of these hearing tests done before in Spokane, WA when we lived in Pullman. It was not a good experience, so I knew this one wasn't going to go well. They tried there best, and it went way better then the first one a couple years ago. Our ENT who put the tubes in contacted us. We made a plan to have him sedated to have a hearing test. This was the only way it was going to happen with Ian. At first I was a little hesitate to do it. I knew we had to though. It was the only thing we could do to know if Ian could hear. If he couldn't hear then it could be our answer to him being non-verbal still. After ABA therapy on the 19th Ian had appointments with a different ENT for a physical, and we met the audiologist that would do the test. Those appointments went great. We had to be in Billings at the surgery center at 6 in the morning, and his procedure was at 7. We had planned originally that Ian and I would just spend the night. Then Matthew was able to take the day off. I was so glad because I needed his help with this. In pre-op they gave Ian some medicine to kind of make him loopy. I loved it because he sat with me and watched cartoons for about 30 minutes before they took him back. I loved having cuddles from my boy. They took him back and everything looked great. It took about an hour for the procedure, and they said his ears looked as good as gold. We were so relieved to hear this. We knew that hearing aids would be a fight with Ian. The only thing that he hated was having the IV in. They wrapped it super well, so he couldn't get it off. We learned from the tube surgery that it's no fun to see Ian come out of anesthesia. We brought the ipad this time. Which helped so much, and he was a happy camper once they got the IV out. Afterwards we headed to Costco, and to lunch with Michael & Emily & kids. We are super excited Ian can hear!

Quick Fishing Trip

On Saturday evening we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do as a family. We thought we could go into town and get a bite to eat. Then Christian and Jill called us and said they were going fishing to our secret fishing pond. We decided to join them. We had a blast. Ian loved rolling around in the dirt and attempting to get in the water. Chloe was a great little fisher. Her and Landon were happy catching moss off the little dock. The other boys, Matthew and Christian caught a few fish but not a whole lot. We didn't last long though because the wind came up and it froze us out. It was a great little fishing trip though.

Ian is 4!

I literally cannot believe that we have a 4 year old now. Time has flown by so fast with Ian. Before we know it he will be going to Kindergarten, but lets not fast forward time please :)
Ian is continuing to do awesome in therapy. We switched therapist in April, but Ian has done so well with the switch. We are really loving having Kati work with him. She is doing an awesome job, and Ian loves her.
Ian can match colors, cut with scissors with some hand over hand help. Ian has said the words mom, dad, all done, tree, ipad, no ( na), this, chip (chi) and go before. Ian is still not consistent with his words but we love and cherish every time we hear anything close to a word come out of his mouth.We are using a picture exchange program PECS for him to help communicate with others. It is working awesome and his therapist will add new rules almost every week. Ian catches on quickly though and is such a smarty pants. Ian still loves being outside to play. He loves to swing and especially loves being outside on a windy day. He loves the wind and his mom does not lol. Ian will go to the potty every time we put him on the potty. He has shown us that he can stay dry for most the day as well. He still doesn't like to go number 2 on the toilet but baby steps is all we ask for with him. Ian loves to put puzzles together and read books. He also loves super soft blankets and will sleep all wrapped up in them. Chloe and Ian are still best friends. It has been so much fun to see more interaction with the two of them. Ian will push her on he swing, give her a sippy cup, and just the other day they danced together. We love how much eye contact and interaction with other we are seeing with Ian. I love to look back on just over a year ago where Ian was in all areas. It's amazing how far he has come. He is our little Superstar.

  Ian has always been our special boy! He has never let fear or anything get in his way of doing what he wants. He has always been so determined since the day he was born. We have had some bumps in the road with Ian , but I think that is why he has such a strong spirit and personality. We are so thankful for the hard worker Ian is, and the determination he has. We love love love having Ian in our family and are thankful for the happy moments and learning moments we have with him. We are so thankful that Heavenly Father sent Ian to our family 4 year ago. He has been a blessing to our lives.

8 Days Old

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

4 Years Old

Ian's 4th Birthday Party!

We partied on Saturday night for Ian's birthday since his birthday fell on Mother's day this year. We decided a few months ago we were going to do a bowling party with a few friends and all our family. We had never taken the kids bowling but we knew Ian would love it. He did! He loved watching the lights and pushing the ball down the alley. Chloe had a blast as well dancing and bowling the night away. We ate lots of yummy pizza, sang happy birthday to Ian and ate cupcakes as well. We saved his presents to open until Sunday. By the time everyone was done bowling Ian was so ready to go home and get to bed. Thanks for all the great presents though everyone. We are so thankful for all our family and friends that came. We had a blast and we are so glad you all got to help us celebrate Ian turning 4.

Happy May Day!

Our May day was a pretty great day. We started our day with Chloe and Ian waking up super happy and ready to go for the day. Ian had an awesome day in therapy. Then both the kids were so tired after eating lunch at 11:30. They went down for naps at 12:30 and both slept until 4. It was amazing for this mama. Then we spent the rest of the evening outside playing. It was a great sunny day. We even enjoyed our yummy dinner of deep dish pizza outside as a family. I can't wait for more warm evenings this summer. Bring on the heat!