April and May

The last few months have flown by. We have been super busy wrapping up projects at the house and getting ready for the new baby. The camera has been mostly collecting dust, so when I downloaded these photos, it was a random selection of what the boys have been up to lately:

Redbirds game on Easter weekend. The weather was great and we even stayed for fireworks. A fun night.

Noah got some practice mowing the yard....

It's t-ball season for Andrew, but Noah got a turn at bat, too.

Andrew was invited to a roller skating party. It was his first time on skates, and it was hilarious. When he first put them on, he could not stay on his feet. He wanted to take them off and quit. But I convinced him to skate around the rink one time. He was hooked. When the party ended, he was not ready to go home and wanted to keep skating. I'm proud of him for not quitting when it was hard.

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Holy Rosary doesn't have a kindergarten graduation. They have a square dance instead. Sort of unusual, but it's supposed to teach teamwork and following directions. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. On the other hand, most of the boys had the same expression:

Here he is, getting on to his partner about her performance. It's unlikely she will want to dance with him again!

Goodbye kindergarten, hello first grade! But for now, we are enjoying a fun summer.

Andrew's Sixth Birthday

Andrew had his 6th birthday at the bowling alley. The weather in March can be hit or miss, so I was pushing for an indoor location just in case. He invited all the boys in his class, as well as a few others. They had a fun time bowling, running around, and eating pizza. Andrew had requested these ice cream cone cupcakes instead of a cake, so that's what he got.

Birthday Questions

He was very into answering his birthday questions this year:

Favorite Food:  Ice cream (easy one. He likes vanilla and orange best.)

Favorite Sport: Soccer 

Favorite TV Show: Sponge Bob 

Favorite Person: Mama (!!)

Favorite Thing to Learn at School: Reading (I'm not sure if this is true, but I was happy to hear it)

The Thing I Do Best: Play soccer

If I Could Go Anywhere, It Would Be: Beach (me too!)

My Favorite Color: Red (he still likes blue too, but has finally admitted that red is his favorite)

When I Grow Up, I Am Going to Be: Worker (translation: anything involving tools and work boots, ladders, and trucks)

My Favorite Song Is: Scooby doo (I guess he means the theme song)

My Favorite Book: All kinds

My Favorite Snack: Ice cream

One Food I Really Dislike: Pickles, rice, ravioli, corn, beans (He has never actually tried a pickle, so I don't know. Ravioli and corn were on the lunch menu this week, so I think that's why he added them to the list. He prefers to bring his lunch to school, instead of buying, but will buy on corn dog days.)

Favorite Place to Eat: El Porton (he likes to get cheese dip, a crunchy taco, and french fries. But not the french fries at the Germantown location because they have the smiley fries instead of regular ones. Boo to smiley fries :(

Favorite Movie: Prince Caspian (I can't remember the last time he actually watched this)

Favorite Toy: Trucks 

Andrew's favorite thing about his birthday was the real bowling pin that the bowling alley gave him. He's already thinking about having his birthday party there again next year, so that he can get another one. 

Happy Birthday Andrew!

New Addition and February Fun

Exciting news around here: the Webbs are expecting another little boy on July 4th! Noah is going to be a big brother.

After a difficult pregnancy with Noah, I was hoping that this time would be normal and stress-free. Not to be. There had to be a little drama. On the 18wk ultrasound, they spotted something unusual: a thick placenta. Words you never want to hear a doctor say: "I've never seen that before!" Even though she said, "It's probably nothing," I had to go see a specialist. The same one I saw while pregnant with Noah. That's a place I was hoping not to visit ever again. Ultrasounds are not fun when you are worried about what they will show. It all becomes very stressful. The whole thing was feeling very much like the last time. Which is pretty scary, when you're worried that there is something majorly wrong with the baby. We were very thankful when the second ultrasound showed no major issues. Everything looked good. However, they did find one soft marker for Down syndrome: a short femur. Not a huge deal, but it did increase the risk of DS. Given our history, it was with mixed emotions that we decided to go ahead and get the blood test, which gives you results that are 99% accurate. I say we had mixed emotions because we are not really scared of Down syndrome: Noah is so precious and another little baby like him would definitely be a blessing. But Down syndrome can run in a tough crowd: heart defects, intestinal defects (like Noah's), increased chance of leukemia and Alzheimer's. Not something we look forward to for sure. But so far the ultrasounds had shown a healthy heart and no other issues, so that was a relief. We decided to find out anyway. Mainly because we've had all the drama we can handle already and want the baby's birth day to be a happy day, regardless of the how many chromosomes he has. As it turns out, the tests came back negative for Down syndrome, as well as a couple of other genetic disorders. Looks like he just has Webb short legs, which run in the family, passed down from Webb male to Webb male. Hopefully, the next few months will hold no more surprises.

In addition to the exciting baby drama, we have been focusing all our efforts on getting the house renovated. The major work is mostly done, and we are looking to moving in a few weeks. Woohoo! Now it's time to get serious about packing, yikes.

This ventilation hood almost drove Taylor crazy. But it's installed. And it's straight. Sometimes little things can cause major unexpected headaches. 

There is fresh paint on the walls! No more mint green. A cause for celebration, for sure.

Andrew cut Kindergarten one day to watch the new sewer line being put in. Heavy machinery in the front yard is heaven for a five-year-old boy.

I took Noah to see Disney Jr. live. He loves anything related to Mickey Mouse. Combine that with people singing and dancing...well, he didn't want to leave! He sat on my lap the whole time and paid attention to every minute. He's so easy going - I didn't have to buy him any of the over-priced food or toys, and he still had a great time. Every single little girl there was dressed like Princess Sophia. Sometimes it's nice having all boys - no princess costumes to worry about.

Time to go? No way! Pout face...

Andrew's birthday is this weekend, and we have some celebrating to look forward to. Maybe some cake and ice cream will put a smile on Noah's face.

Finally, although this was technically not in February I'll go ahead and throw it in. We made paczki, a Polish pre-Lent tradition. This year, we made half with nutella and half with black current preserves. Andrew was my helper, although I think more nutella made it into his mouth than into the paczki. I have no pictures of the finished product, but they were delicious.

We started March with a few snow days, and the kids were out of school. Good in theory, but cabin fever sets in fast. Thankfully everyone is back at school now, although spring break is next week. I'm hoping we are done with the snow days this year. It's been a very cold winter, and everyone is ready for spring around here.