It has been 5 years already!

It sometimes seems like just yesterday we were preparing for our first little boy.  Now that little boy has turned 5 years old.  Wesley opened his presents after I got home from work.  Kyle asked Wesley if he knew what he was getting for his birthday and he kept telling him he was getting a bed.  Apparently he saw me get one of his presents and was confused.  I got him a new comforter and sheets for when he moves into his own bedroom.  For his birthday we had a family dinner with Poppa, Grandma and Aunt Jenn at Chadwicks in Burley.  The boys were a little crazy at dinner, but we did have a good time.  The next day Wesley got to go to the doctor for his 5 year well child checkup.  I say "got to", but I think Wesley thought it was a had to.  We have been prepping him for this doctor's appointment for several months since he would be receiving a fairly large amount of shots.  He had to get his last set of shots to be able to go to school this upcoming fall.  He got four total shots.  One in his right arm, one in his right thigh and two in his left thigh.  He was really upset after the shots.  He did fine however once he got over the shock of his mom holding him still while he got stuck four times.  The nurse said he did quite well and did not even cry a lot.  He was a real trouper.  His stats are 43 inches tall (75th percentile) and 36 pounds (25th percentile).  He eyesight was appropriate for his age and even his blood pressure was wonderful.  Overall, a healthy little boy.  On Saturday we planned a friend birthday party for him.  He had a Superman party.  He had his cousins and a few friends over for games and cake.  They played Pin the Shield on Superman (instead of pin the tail on the donkey), Kryptonite Treasure Hunt and they colored their own Superman Shields.  He even had a Superman cake.  It went very well and all of the kids seemed to have fun.  After the party ended we went to Gerties with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins and Poppa and Grandma.  The men left Gerties to go play golf that evening and the rest of us went to Grandma and Poppa's house.  It was a wonderful day.

Wesley opening his presents on his birthday.

Wesley's Superman cake.

Wesley and his cake while we sang "Happy Birthday to You"

Wesley opening his presents from his friends.

Easter

Easter this year was really fun.  We got to attend a ward Easter brunch and egg hunt on Saturday morning.  It ended being really good.  The Easter Egg Hunt was split into little kids (7 & younger) and older kids (8-12).  The little kid side mostly had candy and eggs thrown on the ground so they were easy for the kids to find.  However Kyle noticed a large chocolate bunny that was hidden up higher more in Kyle's reach than any small kid.  So Kyle lifted Jon up so he could get it.  Later we noticed a couple of young women girls looking where the bunny had been hidden.  They must have thought that no little kid would be able to reach that high so they would be able to come and get the bunny later.  It was kind of funny.  We took Wes & Jon to the movies on Saturday as a treat.  They really enjoyed going to see "The Croods" and quote it often.  After the movie we went to my parents to color easter eggs and have dinner with them and my sister Caitlin and her husband and daughter.  The boys had fun coloring Easter eggs, Nate especially.  Nate stuck his hand in the coloring and turned his egg.  By the time all the eggs were colored, so was Nate.  Nate had dyed his hands a beautiful shade of green that is remaniscent of the Hulk.  Jonny was jealous that Nate had Hulk hands so he dyed his hands a lighter shade of green.  We quickly made up Easter baskets before we went home so the boys' baskets were at Poppa & Nana's house.  It was fast Sunday at church so we felt it would be better to just have the baskets after church.  We did have some Easter outfits and movies at our house the next morning so they would have something from the Easter Bunny in the morning.  The next morning I went to get the boys ready for church and discovered that the pants that came with their suits were too big.  All of the boys' pants had to be resized so they did not fall off their bums.  Wesley however wanted to know "why the Easter Bunny did not know his size."  After church we went to my parents house and had a family Easter Egg Hunt with Catie Bell (Caitlin's daughter).  Nate was really excited to pick up the eggs and would point at the eggs to get us to go the right direction.  All of the boys seemed to have a lot of fun finding the eggs.  We had a turkey dinner for Easter dinner.  Kyle does not approve of this tradition in my family.  He feels we should have ham.  It was a great day and really fun to celebrate with Caitlin, Scott, Catie Bell, Jenn, and my parents.

My boys in their Easter outfits.

Spring Break

Spring Break this year was cut a little short for us due to circumstances outside our control, but we decided to still go to Coeur D'Alene for the time we did have.  We took off Saturday morning in (of course) a freak snow storm that made it difficult to see.  It cleared up by the time we got past American Falls though.  It was a very long drive.  We drove up through Montana so we got to see some really empty country. By the way, did you know there are 2.5million cows in Montana and less than 1million people.  See I even learned something on our vacation.  When we got out of the car in Missoula for a potty break we discovered that Jonathen gets car sick.  He did manage to get inside and puke in a toilet.  We then stopped again in Kellogg and he threw up all over a grocery store floor.  We couldn't find a bathroom fast enough for him.  We got to the condos by 5 pm PST.  (Coeur D'Alene is an hour behind Heyburn)  We made dinner and unpacked.  We didn't even go swimming or anything that night since it was getting late.  The next day we met up with my sister Elisa, her husband Don, and her son Shayne to go to Cataldo.  Cataldo is the first mission in Idaho.  It is an interesting building since it was built by the Coeur D'Alene Native Americans and the Jesuit priests that came by invitation.  All of the paintings inside were done by the first priest who set up the mission.  We had a picnic on the grounds of the mission and discovered that soggy ground and running children equals mud splatters up to the rear end of said children.  We then went back to the condos and swam for a little while before grabbing some food.  It was a fun day.  On Monday we drove down to Potlatch to see an old train depot.  It wasn't as cool as it sounded, but we mut up with Elisa and Shayne and played on the playground toys.  Nate had a great time and kept wanting to go down the slides.  Then we headed back to the condos.  On Tuesday we drove to Mead, Washington (just outside of Spokane) to go to Cat Tails.  Cat Tails is a zoo mostly for different types of cats.  They had a lion cub, tigers, a couple bears, some panthers and some bobcats.  It was fun to see the animals up close and hear the stories of how they ended up at the zoo.  Most of the animals were rescued from bad situations.  There was a white tiger that prowled around his cage growling at pretty much everything.  The boys really enjoyed him and spent a lot of time "talking" to him.  Wednesday we headed home.  It was another long drive, but we stopped by my sister Crystal's on the way home and spent some time with her and her kids.  Overall, it was a fast and furious vacation, but lots of fun.

Cataldo "Old Mission"

Inside "Old Mission"

Potlatch Train

The boys and Zeus the white tiger

The view from our condo balcony.
It was beautiful.

 

One Year Older & Wiser too!

Jon is now three years old.  He has been anxiously awaiting this day for quite a while now.  The night before his birthday he asked me if he could start telling people he is three.  I took him to the doctor the day before his birthday for his yearly checkup.  On the way there he told me he was getting shots.  Since this is his 3 year check up he is not supposed to get shots so I let him know that no, he would not be getting shots this time.  He then informed me in a very sad voice, "But I wanted shots so I could get a sucker."  It was very funny.  He thought he had to get a shot to get a sucker.  The doctor is always suprised by my little boys and what they say and do.  Jonathen shook his hand when he came in and promptly told him all about how he will turn three the next day.  Jonathen is a big talker.  In fact, it is not very often that I can get him to be quiet.  He will talk to anyone.  He measured 39 inches tall (between 75th & 90th percentile) and 30 lbs (10th percentile).  Long and skinny.  On his birthday we had a family dinner for him and Upper Crust.  My parents and a few of my sisters were there.  Elisa and her son Shayne were in town from Moscow so they got to be there.  Jon  always enjoys having Shayne around.  They had dinner and Jon got to wear an icecream cone hat for his birthday.  He wasn't really sure he wanted to wear the hat.  We then opened presents and had cake.  Jon was soooooo excited about all of his presents.  The cake was a superhero cake.  It had three different layers and each layer represented a different superhero.  The bottom layer was green and purple for The Hulk, the middle layer was white with blue webbing for Spiderman, and the top layer was yellow with a bat signal for Batman.  Jonny got the idea from my mother and her pintrest obsession.  She saw a cake on  pinterest that was layered like that and Jon just had to have something like that.  It turned out pretty well for being three cakes combined into one.  Jon also had his nursery teachers stop by with bunny cakes for his birthday and the Bishop brought over cookies the next day for him.  Our ward is really great about birthdays, I was really suprised.  Jon had a great day and is so excited to be three years old.  However he has already started planning his next birthday. 

Happy Happy Birthday Nate dear

Nathaniel is now 1 year old.  Actually he has been for 10 days now.  It is amazing how fast time goes by.  He is an amazing little boy.  For his birthday we didn't just have a one day celebration, in fact, we celebrated all weekend long and it was a long weekend since President's Day was the day after his birthday.  On Saturday we had a family dinner for any who could and wanted to attend at Gertie's.  Nate got to eat as much pizza, cottage cheese and olives as he wanted to.  He actually really enjoyed the evening.  He opened his presents from his grandparents, aunts, and uncles at gerties.  Poppa & Nana got him a turtle he can bounce up and down on and when I lifted the large box up so he could see it he hugged the box.  It was very cute.  He also got a drum, toddler piano, Optimus Prime Rescue Bot, and a stacking toy.  Aunt Jenn was less than excited to see the drum.  On Sunday, his actual birthday, we let him open his presents from us and his brothers.  We got him a Fisher Price Zoo with animals that roar.  He absolutely loved it.  Once we got it all put together he stood up next to it and shook it.  The boys got him extra animals to go with his zoo.  On Monday my sisters and their kids were coming to Rupert so we had cake and icecream with them at my parent's house.  I got up on Monday and made a 3D duck cake and decorated it.  To the left is the finished product.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  Overall he celebrated turning one pretty well.  On Monday I also took him to the doctor for his 1 year well baby check up.  He got his immunizations and showed the doctor how fast he can crawl.  Jon went with us since he likes going to the doctor (he gets suckers at the doctors office).

 Nate and Jon were chasing each other around the base of the examinig table when our doctor came into the room.  He was 31 inches tall (90th percentile and taller than both of my other boys) and weighed 20 lbs (10th percentile).  He is an inch taller and a pound lighter than Jonathen was at one year old.  He can take a few steps by himself, but prefers to crawl.  He will take a few steps and then look around accusingly and promptly sit down.  It is almost like it surprises him  that he walked without help.  It is kind of funny.  Nana let go of him and he took 2 steps, he then turned and glared at Nana and quickly set down.  He is an adorable little boy that loves to play with his brothers.  We are so happy to have him in our family

Nate opening his Christmas Eve present

Wesley opening his Christmas Eve present



Jon opening his Chrismtas Eve present

Jon wearing his Christmas Eve present

Wesley and Nate in their matching Christmas Eve presents

Jon in his present from Aunt Mandy

Wesley in his present from Aunt Mandy

Nate and his big present from Santa

Jon in his helmet.  (The helmets were jointly bought by Great Grandma & Grandpa Welch and Great Grandma Reddington.)

Jon and his 32" tall Batman - he just stared at it with his hand in the air for a couple of minutes after he opened it.

All of the boys and I playing with Nate's Sock Monkey in the Box.

Wesley in his helmet playing with his bike from Santa

Wow - Really behind.

So a ton has happened since I lasted posted. 
First and foremost, we finally moved.  We closed on our new home on December 7th and moved the next day.  We had tons of help and are very grateful for all of those who came and helped us move.  It was a crazy day.  The boys went over to Grandma's house while Kyle and I stayed and helped with the moving.  I mostly cleaned after everyone else moved stuff.  My sisters Crystal and Caitlin both came with their husbands to help us.  Two weeks later we closed on our old house.  It was great to be able to sell our house at the same time as finishing the building of our new home.
Next, was Christmas.  Christmas started the Friday before for us.  We had the Reddington Christmas Party that Friday.  We hosted this year so all of my sisters and their families came to our house.  We had dinner together and then had an auction with beans and presents with funny sayings on them.  You bid on different presents with funny notes on them to hint at what it is.  The kids really got in to it and got to "buy" a few items for themselves.  It was funny to see the the boys bid the same amount no matter how much the price is at at the time.  I worked the weekend before Christmas so I missed Wesley singing Christmas songs in church and my dad singing in his ward.  Wesley also had the scripture and prayer in primary that day.  However, on Monday (Christmas Eve) we really got to work.  I spent the day wrapping presents and even ended up running to Wal-mart to make sure we had enough presents for all of the boys.  We then headed to my parents to have Christmas Eve dinner and unwrap one present.  Typically this present is pajamas to wear the next morning.  Wesley and Nate actually got matching pajamas that were both Superman with capes.  Jon got Superhero Squad, which are really the avengers in cartoon form.  We read the Christmas story and then sang Christmas songs.  We sang all of the favorites and got ready to go downstairs to open the present.  Jon however kept insisting he wanted to sing the song about baby Jesus.  Which is kind of hard to understand since pretty much all Christmas songs are about baby Jesus.  It ended being "Mary did you know?" which none of my family really knows.  I sang a few lines to make him happy and let my dad know which song Jon was talking about.  We went downstairs and opened the presents.  Wes and Jon were both really excited.  We then took the boys home and put them to bed.  After the boys went to bed I got to work wrapping presents and getting Christmas breakfast ready for the next morning.  My parents brought their presents and stockings over since they would be joining us the next morning to open presents.  Jenn and my mom helped me finish wrapping presents and get the boys' stockings ready for the next morning.  We finished everything up and all went to bed.  The next morning my parents came over a little after 6 am.  The boys came down to see that Santa brought them bicycles.  They were both super excited.  They loved all of their presents.  Wesley had spent weeks telling anyone who would listen that he wanted a trampoline for Christmas.  After opening all of the presents under the tree and all of the Santa presents we asked Wesley if he had gotten everything he wanted.  He looked around and said, "Maybe not."  He was afraid to admit that he still wanted something else.  We then told the boys to go and check in the office.  We put the trampoline (still in its box) in the office since there was absolutely no way I was going to wrap a box that big and it was too cold and snowy to set it up.  Wesley and Jon ran into the other room and Wesley yells, "It is MY trampoline!"  Apparently he felt it was just for him.    They both were really excited to get the trampoline and Jon wanted to set it up right away.  It is still not set up and probably won't be until spring.  Breakfast was in the oven already and was ready a little after we finished opening presents.  We ate breakfast and then started getting toys out of their boxes and cleaning up.  The boys even insisted on going outside and riding their bikes for a little bit.  It was a wonderful Christmas.  It was fun to stay at our house and have  my parents and sister join us. 
New Years -
I got to work both New Years Eve and  New Years Day.  My parents met us at our house after I got off work on New Years Eve and we made pizza for dinner.  We also made treats for the night.  I let the boys stay up a little later than usual, but they did not get to stay up until midnight.  I know my children better than that.  After putting the boys to bed we played some games with my parents and sister and then watched the ball drop on TV at midnight.  My parents left shortly after that and we got to bed.  I worked the next day at 7 am.  Since I was at work Kyle and the boys went to my parents and my dad and Kyle watched the bowl games all day.  When I got off work we had dinner at my parents.  It was not that exciting of a day, but we had fun. 
Work -
Back in Septmeber my boss got fired and we were left without a manager.  At that time I took over as clinical lead and a search was started for a new manager.  I applied for the position.  I interviewed for the position.  After a few weeks they announced the new pharmacy manager.  I was not it, but they hired a guy named Scott Milner.  Scott had worked at corporate office for Intermountain Healthcare, who own Cassia Regional.  He started in November and has spent the last few months in meetings trying to change things at Cassia.  Finally in December, right before Christmas, he got approval for the changes he wanted to make.  One of these changes our schedule.  My new schedule is Monday thru Friday 7am to 3:30pm.  I do not work weekends or holidays anymore.  This new schedule starts tomorrow.  The other two pharmacists (Karen and Edee) are now working 7 days on and then 7 days off.  I am really excited for this change since it will allow me to better use my education and be a clinical pharmacist working with doctors.
That has been our last couple of months.  It has been crazy busy, but totally worth it.  Apparently there is a problem with uploading pictures to Blogger right now so I will add them as soon as I can.