And so it begins...: February thru March-ish 2017

Graduate school started full swing by the end of January and beginning of February. Most of my days were spent doing homework and hanging out with Emmett. I had class in the evenings one to two nights a week. It was awesome to be home and have such an easy schedule.

Around this time Mitchel needed to get his wisdom teeth removed. I have never had this done so I was still a little unsure of the process and a little freaked out to put my child under anesthesia.
We got up super early one morning, Mitchel had not been able to eat or anything. He was tired, grumpy and a teenager.

We set up Emmett in the waiting room on the floor and Mitchel went back.

It really didn't take that long before they came out to tell us they were waking Mitchel and would be taking us back there in few minutes. When we came back to greet him as he was coming off the anesthesia, he was shaking and really out of it. I swelled up with a weird motherly anxiety. I hated seeing him like that, but he was surprisingly coherent and pleasant. He just couldn't stop shaking.

Mitchel has never had any cavities or any other dental issues, so he has never experienced the joy of having his face totally numb. He started rubbing his face saying it felt like foam. Then he started flicking his chin and giggling. It was pretty funny.

Also around this time, all of the boys started doing karate through the recreation center. They really enjoyed it.

Karate was a couple nights a week. Each of the boys worked very hard and tried to learn their kata to help them move up to the next level/color belt.

I still spent most of my days at the kitchen table, doing homework....

Sometime in February we went to Portland. I caught up with my sisters...

This was a day I took the boys to ice cream in Bend.

Around Easter they had this not-creepy-at-all Easter bunny at Walmart. I haven't seen bunnies to take photos with in a long time! Couldn't miss this opportunity.

Of course, also in the garden center August spotted someone else he wanted to take pictures with...this gnome. The obsession lives on!

Our Aunt Kathy's birthday was also in February. We tried to put around thirty candles on a cupcake to symbolize around half her age...

Sink baths were a staple in our morning routine.

Then there were also bath baths...

In March I had a birthday. Celebrated with an ice cream cake. I also got serenaded by a bunch of handsome guys...

They really do try to sing their best for me...

I loved Emmett's little frog head hat. I was sad when he started to outgrow it. Hats and my babies never really worked out. They always had huge heads and moved through their baby hats and into toddler size hats too quickly. For those that don't know, toddler sized hats are not nearly as cute.

Finding our voice...

Around my birthday is when Emmett started pulling himself up to be standing and playing around with the idea of walking.

Every year Brent and I go out and do this one particular hike around the Bend area. This year when we went to go down the road to make the hike we got the Corolla stuck in the snow. We were digging and trying to get free. I called my mom to bring shovels, the boys, and other things to use as traction. While she was making the hour long drive to us a sheriffs vehicle found us and luckily he had a tow line. He hooked it to the car and drove us out. He said that several people were getting stuck and he couldn't believe that the park wasn't closed.

This is the one and only picture I snapped to show that we really hadn't gone far off the main road (over there by the yellow sign) and we drive in snow all the time, so getting stuck was a first.

August's elementary school does this thing called Storyline. It is a way of immersing the kids in something fun and engaging, while tackling reading, writing, math, and science standards. Several different storylines are ran throughout the year. When the storyline is complete the parents are invited to school for the culmination, where the students then show us everything they have been working on, and usually have a small presentation for us.

This particular storyline was one of August's favorites. They were doing an Iditarod storyline. They learned all about being a musher, and training the dogs. They learned about the terrain and environment. They went on field trips up to Bachelor and met some actual snow dogs. They read the story Balto, and recited little excerpts from the book for us.

Emmett started sprouting teeth all over the place...

One day we all went to the cinema. It was one of the last movies Emmett was able to go to for awhile. He was out of that sit quietly in the theatre phase of his life.

Brent discovered this gourmet cupcake place in Redmond...

more sink baths.

The Goodies candy store in Prineville was closing. We had to go in and get one last goodie.

Emmett noticing the rain on the window.

Snuggling with Mommy.

Another trip out to Portland to stay at Carleen's.

Mitchel is the BEST big brother ever!

Elysia loves her cousin and I do not complain that when she is there I have to do very little. I mean, who gets excited to change a diaper? Not this Mom...

Brent and I carried on our tradition of one night away a month...
With Emmett, of course.

We even did some swimming and Emmett got so tired he fell right to sleep. He looked so sweet with the WHITE hotel towels and pillows.

The boys sit and allow less and less photos to be taken, where they are not making some face or being ridiculous. My camera also started to act wonky around this time. It has stopped focusing or adjusting to the different lighting in the rooms. I just have not had time to really worry/care about it in the last couple years...instead I just moved to taking a lot more pictures with my phone.