My baby boys are growing up before my eyes.  Elias is looking more and more like his father everyday.  Aiden just learned to eat solid foods from a spoon and keep it down.  I want to keep them as little children but know they must continue to grow, learn, and experience their own lives.  I watch Aiden pushing himself on to his hands and knees, rocking himself, preparing to lounge into a crawl, and I want to help him but know that he must learn and grow on his own.  Elias reaches out in hopes of communicating and is struggling to do so.  His frustrations a evident in his tantrums and vocal outbursts.  He feels I am not listening to his signals and perhaps I am not giving him the attention he needs.  Unfortunately I do have two children, not just one.

SNAKE!!! A garter snake found it's way into our kitchen last night and smelled of its foul nest. The kids showed no interest in their visitor and continued with their play.

Andrew is getting his Bachelor's in General Studies Emphasis in Physics, Mathematics, and Business by the end of this next semester (July) just in time to become a certified manager in a restaurant chain. Things are finally turning his way and looking up for this family.

A few months ago it became grossly evident that Elias was delayed verbally as well as interpersonally.  I reached out to other moms in the LDSMotherhood Facebook group who recommended I have him evaluated through the Infant/Toddler Program. I am so thankful I did just that. After his evaluation it was shared with me that Eli showed signs of being delayed in EVERY domain except gross motor. Since then we have been working with him to engage with us in play, look at us when he wants something, jester, bring us objects, obey simple commands, and play gently with his baby brother. Though it has only been about 2 months, Elias has shown enormous growth in his abilities and interactions.
Unfortunately he is still nonverbal thus far but I am very hopeful for his future. He has begun to plateau and is not growing nearly as fast as he was just last week. He is still continuing to explore his abilities and ways in which he can interact, but I do long for him to speak.
Right now he is a very typical two year old in that he is throwing tantrums on a daily basis, sometimes hourly.

I need to add up to date pictures, all I have currently are just pictures of Elias, though the last picture of Eli (with all three of us) does look a lot like Aiden. There is no mistaking these two as not being brother, they are nearly identical, but 20 months apart in age.

 

Picnic at the park. Eli would only eat the watermelon and the brownies.

It's SPRING!!!
With the snow finally melted away I am so excited to start preparing the ground for a full garden. Though the ground is currently hard as clay, we ordered a few loads of mulch which hopefully will quicken soften things up.
The yard is already filled with life, from the bulbs pushing through the mud to the snake nest under the foundation, evidence that spring is here is emerging all around. As soon as it is warm enough I plan on taking the boys out and sharing the wonders MUD has to offer. Eli is already willing to go when it comes to being outside. Little Aiden on the other hand needs some encouraging, but then again, he is only 5 months old.

A few months ago (just before Christmas) our little family moved south from Rexburg to the tiny town of Basalt.  It was the dead of winter and the ground was buried under a minimum 18 inches of snow.  The house had not been heated for some time and the linoleum kitchen floor felt like ice to our feet each morning.  As we quickly got ourselves settled in it became apparent additional heaters were needed in the bedrooms, particularly in Eli's, our 2 year old, who became ill the duration of our first week there.  Since then everyone has remained mostly healthy.