With spring break in the middle of April, the month seemed to fly by quicker than normal. Our weekends were spent at the soccer fields since soccer was in full swing and we spent the rest of the month in our normal day to day routine. Here are the highlights:
First soccer day when both kids scored goals!! Yay!!!
The girls received their costumes for their dance recital which is in June that they are so excited about!!! Of course, they had to try them on!
Joseph received his spring pictures which at first glance I loved but then decided that his shirt makes him look huge with just his skinny little arm sticking out. I am not sure why his shirt looks like it is 3 sizes too big (because it isn't) and I know it isn't a huge deal but it bothered me enough not to spend the $17.00 on 2 pictures. So I took a picture of the picture instead :).
Charlotte and Joseph were playing "restaurant" with me one Saturday morning. This is normally a favorite game with Ella and Julia, ordering through the window and then one of them being my helper to deliver the food, so it was fun to see the other two in on the action this morning.
Ella was showing me some food that was stuck together that she was impressed with! Ella seems to really be growing up lately-we definitely think she is going through a growth spurt by the amount of food she is consuming. She will often eat a full sandwich for lunch with fruit and veggies and then ask for another sandwich or just complain that she is still hungry for the next hour or until I give her something else. I love how she calls the bean and cheese burritos that I buy from Costco and can heat up in the microwave "My favorite burritos". On the days that Ella has school (MWF) I often find herself in her own little world after she has lunch. I think that she just enjoys that downtime and often she'll play with Julia but she is also often very content just being in her own imaginative space. She makes up these detailed stories and can role play forever. One day this month she spent the entire walk to school telling me about her new baby and how her grandma couldn't' watch the baby since she had to go to yoga and that she wasn't sure if Rich would be home from work yet so she wasn't sure if she'd be able to run her errands and so on and so on. Maybe the stories aren't that creative since they definitely have many similarities to our real life but they are definitely detailed!!! She is also making so much progress with speech. Her therapist with sharp recently told me that she feels like she jumped up to the next level-she still has work to do but that she is really making great progress. We've also been really impressed with her academic progress-her preschool has really helped with this and she is much more prepared academically going into kindergarten than Joseph was. She has almost all of her sounds down and is doing a great job of writing her numbers through 20. This doesn't really mean a whole lot to me since I know by the end of kindergarten they all tend to get to exactly where they should be but it is just great to see that her love for learning is strong. We are proud of her!
She also is a really great athlete. We joke around saying that she is almost as fast as Joseph but in reality its pretty much true. She's super quick on the field and her coaches told us that she has great hustle and is a really fast learner!
And, she is also the BEST big sister!!! Her and Julia just play so well together but she also plays really well with Charlotte and really looks out for Charlotte. I really think she likes the 1 on 1 time with Charlotte during dance on Thursdays since she really doesn't get that any other time during the week.
Joseph had a field trip to the Reuben H. Fleet Center in Balboa Park on April 26th and said, "This was the best day ever!!" Libby chaperoned so he and Jeremy were in her group which was great as I knew he would be in good hands and then I also got pictures of him throughout the day.
On Saturday, Sydney and Cole surprised us by showing up at the kids' soccer games with Nani and Poppa so then later that afternoon the kids surprised Sydney and Cole by showing up at Nani and Poppa's to join in on their sleepover fun. They had a blast, although Nani and Poppa threatened to discontinue cousin sleepovers for awhile since not much sleeping took place! Too much excitement in the air!
On Sunday morning we all showed up for brunch to find out that Julia had gotten a little sick over breakfast. When we arrived she was acting totally fine and hanging with everyone. However, within about an hour she was definitely not acting like herself and was really quiet asking to go home. Rich ended up taking her home and as soon as they got home she got sick. While they were resting at home, the rest of the kids and I swam and had a great day with everyone. We left around 2:00 and on our way home Joseph got really quiet and said he wasn't feeling well...we got home and he got sick immediately, too!! Oh no!! We had a quiet rest of the afternoon but both kids seemed to perk up around dinnertime and thankfully didn't get sick again. I let Joseph sleep in the next morning and although he was up before school started I kept him home since he still wasn't acting 100%. Julia was acting totally normal by breakfast and by lunchtime Joseph was back to his normal self. We are thankful it was short lived and it was pretty much contained (although unfortunately Sydney and Lindsay did get sick that week, too.).
Lots of fun that morning before the sickness all began though!!
We finally had Joseph and Ella's well checks for their 5th and 7th birthdays on April 23rd which was 4 months late!! I had their appointments scheduled for the beginning of January but with flu season being pretty bad this year I decided to postpone them and not risk being exposed to any germs in the office. Thankfully the kids have been really healthy this year so we haven't had to see the doctor at all and we love our doctor so it was a nice treat to see her, especially since it was just for a well check!! Both kids looked great and got a great report! Ella weighed 44.4 pounds (50-75th percentile)and was 108.5 cm tall (25-50th percentile). Joseph weighed 55.4 pounds (50th-75th percentile) and was 50 3/4 inches tall (75th-90th percentile). Both of the kids got really shy when being asked questions by the doctor so we had a long talk/practice round that night addressing their interaction with Dr. Goldberg. Rich and I feel very strongly about instilling in them the basic courtesies of conversation, such as a strong handshake, looking others in the eyes, speaking clearly and loudly, etc. (which unfortunately it seems like people in our society today lack) so we'll keep working at it. I did talk with Dr. Goldberg about Ella's progress in speech and although she still has a ways to go, she seems pleased with her progress...we're getting there!!!
The kids think these gowns are pretty silly so their faces had to match! Photo shoot while waiting!! SO thankful for our healthy kiddos. xoxo
Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte!! Goodness we sure do love this little girl with her hair in the face all of the time (she will not keep a bow or elastic in her hair!), never wanting to wear shoes, and with the contagious belly laugh but she is also really starting to give us (me, specifically) a run for my money at times. She is independent and stubborn and doing things that I swear none of the other three kids did at this age!! She turned 20 months on April 8th which is just so hard to believe! She is talking up a storm, although I will say that probably only 50% of her words are intelligible. She is obsessed with "hoods" and "paw paws" (pockets) and asks if every shirt has one; whether she is wearing it or someone else is and often gets extremely excited if it has both. She has also begun calling me "MeMe" especially if she wants my attention-she'll begin by saying "ma ma, ma ma" and then it seems to turn to "me me". She also is known to hit, pinch, bite and pull hair and Julia is almost always the sweet victim. I will say though that Charlotte gives the sweetest hug, always followed by a kiss and a "sor sor" when spoken to about that behavior. A sweet tidbit about her is that I always sing "Hush Little Baby" to her when putting her to bed and sometimes I'll put her in her crib and then "shush" a few lines while rubbing her back before I leave. Recently she has started saying "Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh" while I sing letting me know that she wants me to stop singing and just shush the rest of the song. I love that she is a girl who knows exactly what she wants and acts upon it. This month she has also learned to get up on our tall kitchen chairs and also enjoys hanging from the doors of the refrigerator. She's a crazy one, I tell you, but we do love her so!!
She definitely loves keeping up with her big brother and sisters and is always trying to do what they are doing. She is currently calling Joseph "braw braw", Ella, "Ewwa" and Julia "Ju Ju". 
I snapped this picture a minute too late but wanted to include it anyways. He had the book up in front of his face reading it when he first started taking the trash in and it totally made me smile. He has turned into quite the bookworm this year and I love catching him curled up reading to himself. He is loving "My Weird School" series right now and we can't seem to get to the library fast enough. He also still loves being read to, and often prefers that over reading aloud, but we are so glad that he enjoys reading.
Sweet, sweet Julia!! She is just at the best age and just has the sweetest heart. I took her for a speech evaluation through Sharp one day this month so we stopped by Starbucks after for a special treat. She makes me smile constantly and comes up with the best lines during the day. Right now, I LOVE how she calls pajamas "p jammies", how she told me that "Charlotte is my boss baby" one night, that her obsession with playing "family" is so strong and that she always wants to be "Rainbow" (whether a kitty or a person) and even that sometimes she will give me a pretty serious glare to let me know that she is not happy with me. She takes F O R E V E R to eat her meals and one night this month said very matter of factly to me, "This dinner is not good." I don't even remember what it was but we definitely talked about hurting people's feelings after that one! One of my other favorites about her during this moment in time is that I'll give her a kiss and then say, "I could just kiss you all day" and she always responds with, "Mommy, do you want to kiss me all day? But you can't because I have to...and then fills in the blank with whatever we are getting ready to do" Those big brown eyes are just the sweetest!!!
We've been enjoying going to Frost Gelato almost weekly after our Saturday soccer games since both kids are on a role with scoring goals during their games and this particular Saturday, Charlotte was really enjoying her ice cream!
Julia loves ice cream, too!!
Julia even made Frost's instagram page...I'm telling you, we really have been there every Saturday all month!
We have been swimming much more regularly this month and are loving it. Charlotte has no problem just jumping straight in and has been doing a great job with the puddle jumper. She doesn't mind getting her face wet going underwater and even will float with Rich or I.
Joseph lost another top tooth this month so he has this awesome toothless smile right now!!! It is just the best!!! Along with soccer he has also been going to wrestling one night a week and seems to still be enjoying it. I think he likes the special time with Rich and he has recently been introduced to the band Imagine Dragons from their car rides to and from wrestling and is currently obsessed with the song, "Whatever it Takes." He's growing up...
But then he will come downstairs dressed like this and I just love that he still enjoys dressing up and imaginative play even it means that he is trying to shoot me ;). ha ha!
I'll finish out the month of April updates with just a few cul de sac pictures since as always we seemed to spend the majority of time just out front playing with the neighbors. We just love our cul de sac time and I really am not joking when I say that we probably spend the majority of our time out there! So thankful for it!
