Exciting month!

 With the arrival of spring brings much warmer weather.  Its the days when the sun is shining that I really love our little slice of island. Within 5 mins we are able to head into the forest for family walks and just enjoy nature.

 One of Adler's favourite activities is sitting outside and watching all the neighbour hood kids play.  So much to see!

My boys patiently waiting to head back to the pediatrician.  For those unaware of the situation, Dr's were concerned that Adler may have fluid on his brain.  So last month we had to take him to get an ultrasound on his brain.  Needless to say it was not his favourite activity.  After waiting about a month for the results we finally got the good news that everything is perfectly normal!  No fluid!  But he is a little behind on some of his physical development so he is lucky enough to get his own physiotherapists that will come to the house and work with him.  I am not sure how this will go over considering he is not what you would call a "people person"  I guess time will tell.

 We were also lucky enough to have visitors!  I told my kids that if they cleaned their room really really good then I would have a surprise for them the next day.  They had no idea how big a surprise it was!  When Joni and Presley arrived here we went up to the school and surprised Tavie and Brecken.  Tavie was SO happy and literally jumped into Presley's arms when she saw her.  It was seriously the cutest thing ever.  So we spent the week just hanging out and enjoying being with family.  Such a rare treat :)

Saying goodbye sucks. 

We had such a great time it was hard to see the kids say goodbye to their aunty and cousin.  The only thing that stopped me from being a blubbery mess is that we will be headed to Lethbridge the end of June.  So it won't be too long until we see them again.

On Easter Monday we went to Comox Marina for a Easter egg hunt.  It was basically a bunch of candy on the grass and a race to see who can pick up the most before it was all gone.  They had it divided into to areas.  Little kids and big kids.  It was hard for me to not intervene and tell Huxley to stop picking up the Hershey kisses and granola bars and grab the Cadbury cream eggs

 It was also Adler's 1st Birthday!  He enjoyed watching the kids scramble for all the eggs and his first taste of mini eggs.

 After the egg hunt we figured a good way to mark the end of our babies first year of life would be to go see some other babies....of the bison/water buffalo variety.  Tavie/Hux loved every second of it.  Adler hated it!  He screamed when ever an animal got close to him.  Happy Birthday Adler! HaHa!

After traumatizing him at the farm we came home and had birthday cake.  He had never seen fire before and kept trying to grab the candle.  First taste of cake and he LOVED it!  This has been quite the year for us. He is officially a toddler and so it marks the last time we will have a baby in the Price family.  Strange to think that but happy the baby years are over. 
Now only 2 months left of school and they are BUSY!  Between Tavie getting ready for her ballet year end show, both boys in soccer, Brecken/Tavie in basketball and xcountry there is never a quiet moment. Time is just flying by which is why it is even more important to cherish those little moment that mean so much.  I am one lucky gal to have such a wonderful life :)

Spring Break

 For Spring Break the kids had 2 weeks off school.  Brad also had the first week off so we were able to do some fun things together as a family.  One of the first things we did was head to Nanaimo to do a little shopping.  After the mall we went to Buttertub Marsh for a little walk.  The kids saw and heard lots of cool birds and want to head back in the summer to see the turtle that live there.

                         A few days later we took a walk down to Seal Bay, a family favourite.

 

 To help ring in the first day of spring the kids painted flower pots then picked out their own flowers and planted them.

 When ever we have some spare time with nothing to do we like to head to the Spit and explore.  On this day the tide was WAY out so they had a blast exploring the tide pools.  They founds tons of crabs, snails, fish, sea stars and even a sea cucumber!

 Tavie also had the Upper Island Music Festival.  She danced beautifully and came in 3rd.

 Everyone had their eyes checked.  The boys have Brad's "eagle vision"  Unfortunately I fear Tavie has my eyes and will eventually end up in glasses.

Enjoying Strawberries for the first time.

 With such beautiful blue skies we had to get out and head to the park.  I was pushing Adler on the swing when I heard Brecken calling my name.  It took me a while to find him......

A few of the days during spring break were gloomy and rainy.  So we made drift wood wind chimes!! 

 It was great to spend time together and do some fun things but boy was I happy to have them back in school!  After Spring break the rest of the year tends to zoom by.  Easter and Adler's first birthday are right around the corner. (CRAZY!)

2014

 2014 is zipping by so fast! I can't believe that it is already into February.  Some of the things that have happened so far are.......

 Little Miss Tavie had her ballet pictures taken. She is hard at work getting ready for festival next month in Nanaimo. 

This handsome boy turned 9 months old.

 

**WARNING, Next photo not for the faint of heart***

         Brecken is lucky enough to get sebaceous cysts. (I blame the Price genes ;) One night with a firm squeeze it finally popped out!  He was pretty excited and decided that he wanted to put it under his pillow to see if anything happened.  So he put it in a little container and sure enough the tooth fairy left him money!  HAHA!

 On family day the kids were SO excited to wake up to SNOW!  It was the second snow fall of the year and they were so happy to finally use the snowman kit they got for Christmas.

 After spending the morning in the snow we headed to the rec center to play around in the gym.

Even Adler got in on the action.

 After the rec center we went home for lunch and to let Adler nap, then we headed skating.  Brecken and Huxley had never been before.  They both loved it! I spent a lot of time skating when I was little but hadn't been in over 7 years so it felt good to strap the ol' skates on :)



                    My little Fossil Freaks!

 On Saturday Feb.15 down at Puntledge Park there was a big fossil hunt.  There is a guy that lives here called 'Skippy the Fossil Freak' .  He finds tons of fossils through out the year and then picks a day and hides all the fossils for kids to find.  Despite the rain the kids had a blast searching for and finding all sorts of fossils.  Top of Brecken's was the shark teeth!

It has been a busy year so far and we are looking forward to the rest of what 2014 has to bring.

One year ago today...

              Exactly one year ago today marked the end of a really trying time for our little family.

You know when you ask an expectant couple if they want a boy or a girl and you get the response "I don't really care as long as it is healthy"  Well, there was a time with baby #4 when we didn't know if he was going to be healthy.  At our 20 week ultrasound we were told some not so good news.  Possible chromosomal defects.  It was a very heartbreaking time for us and we had to wait a few agonizing weeks to get into our apt in Victoria for genetic testing.  Those weeks were filled with lots and lots of tears, prayers, a few blessings, a trip to the Temple and more tears.

But on January 2 2013 we got the news we had hoped and prayed for.  They moved us from a very high percentage of the baby having problems to a very small percentage. The ultrasound tech said he looked like a very happy healthy baby boy.

Fast forward exactly one year and he is a very happy healthy baby boy.

We didn't really tell anyone while we were going through it.  Pretty much just our parents.  I just didn't want every one's first reaction when he was born to be "is he normal?"

                    Well, he is very healthy and is as normal as one can be when being born into this crazy little family.  :)

December 24th & 25th

This Christmas was a HUGE success! 

Since living away from all our family Christmas is pretty quiet at our house but we have made our own traditions as a family. 

First up on Christmas eve is an early dinner, this year it was Chinese food. Then like just about everyone else in the world the kids open new jammies.

After jammies we always have a chocolate fondue and watch Elf.

                            After the kids headed to bed and finally fell asleep SANTA came!

 

Christmas morning was great.  Kids up at 6 which is pretty normal for them and they all got just what they wanted!

Tavie got a crochet kit.  She really wants to learn how to crochet.

Brecken got walkie talkies

Huxley got a new Thomas the train set

Adler got Mega blocks

 

 The rest of the day was spent opening and playing with new presents, having a yummy Christmas dinner and just relaxing.  It was a great day and a great time spent together as a family.

Total Transformation

 Last Saturday Huxley informed us that he wanted to cut his hair so that he would look more like Brecken.  Brad was totally against the idea and said no, but Hux was pretty determined and convinced me to cut it for him.  I must admit I was not emotionally prepared for this day.  His long hair represents his little boy state and I was not ready to let that go quite yet.  It was pretty hard to see his long hair fall to the ground.  Once it was all done he looked in the mirror and said he LOVED it! 

He looks SO grown up now! And he looks SO much like Brecken.  I never really thought that they looked too much alike until now. I ask him everyday if he still likes it and he usually says Yes you silly billy.  It has taken me a while to get used to and still throws me off.  I think it is more that I have to face the fact that he is growing up and not my little boy anymore.