My foot: 8-ish weeks later

Overall it's doing great! I really hurt it on Sunday chasing after Brody when it got caught in my opposite pant leg, but feeling back to normal now.

Family Updates! Austin First!

We'll start with this guy, Trouble... I mean, Austin.

Don't let his tiny little baby appearance and innocent smile fool you... this little guy can be an angry beast! For the longest time we thought he had a personality more like Jacob, but lately its been apparent his personality more closely resembles Brody. He gets very angry for things like... being set down, placed in his car seat, having toys taken from him and when he is mad you would never know he weighs just about 20lbs. He is STRONG!! Aaron says his favorite game to play is "Light as a feather, stiff as a board"... that sums up our struggles getting him into his carseat perfectly. He also likes to hit and throw things when he is mad. THANKFULLY he isn't a biter (at least not yet.... let's hope it doesn't develop!). But also like Brody, when he is happy he is just the sweetest, most loving baby of all and also very, very sensitive. Despite his attitude, it's a really fun age for him as he is really starting to act like a boy. Poor little guy is currently cutting his bottom two molars (teeth 11 and 12) and boy, do they look painful! You would never know unless you checked out his mouth though, he's been such a trooper.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More damaging winds...

You may recall last October we experienced pretty strong winds that took down a tree on the house next door. Yesterday we had another one of those days. My parents watched our kids and my nephews while we went out to dinner with Mark and Lisa for my birthday. While they were home this huge part of a tree came down on the parents porch. It's hard to get a great picture of it because it's so heavily wooded.

You can see where it broke off of here:

Then we drove home to find that another tree had forked and fallen on the house next door again. You can see in this picture how close the tree that forked was to the tree from last fall (which is now the stump).

It damaged the roof and the antenna and there is damage inside to the room my treadmill is in :(

When the forester came out last fall for the other tree, he warned us about this current tree and one other one. He said not only did they have a fork in the tree that makes them dangerous, but now that the one tree has been removed it makes all other close trees unstable.

Crazy stuff.

Easter Photos!

We had a wonderful Easter and have a few pics to share!

Our group of boys: Austin (16months), Brody (3), Jacob (4), Noah (4) and Mason (2.5)

Aaron got the promotion!!!

I have lots to update on but the biggest and best news is that AARON GOT THE PROMOTION!! You may recall that Aaron's boss retired last December and Aaron has been the acting Hatchery Biologist since January 10th. After a long two months, they finally opened the position up right before we left for Florida in March and Aaron submitted his resume. Another month after that, Aaron was one of three interviewed for the position. Finally, last week Aaron was offered the position and is now the Hatchery Biologist which means he's the guy in charge of this hatchery. Unfortunately it won't mean a raise for another two years, but Aaron (and I) and still thrilled! Because Aaron's previous position was a specialized one, he was making more money than what someone starting out as a Hatch biologist would. And technically, he will actually make less money this year than he did last year because he will no longer receive holiday pay. But the good news? He won't be receiving holiday pay because he won't be working holidays!! Yay! More good news is that he will no longer have to work weekends, either! He will remain on call for 1 week a month, though which is good because we'll be able to keep the on site housing. So a big Congrats to my hubby!

More updates to come soon...

Brody's 3 year well child

Height: 36" - 20th

Weight 32lbs - 50th

Last month we had Brody's 3 year well child exam. He was such a good little patient and was so easy going with everything, including the blood pressure cuff! I was really proud of him. He did have to have one shot (a hepatitis one, I believe) and he totally didn't see it coming. He was just laying down all happy and then was like "What the...!" Then as we were leaving he kept pointing to his leg saying "Mommy, she hurt me RIGHT HERE!".

We did learn some bad news while we were there. When Brody started potty training last fall we quickly realized that his urethra seemed to be not positioned quite right and his urine would spray straight ahead instead of down. We were making great strides in potty training and didn't want to traumatize Brody by having his penis checked out for something we figured we wouldn't change anyway. Aaron assurred me that once he can hold and aim his penis that it would no longer be an issue, so I went with that and figured I would just bring it up at his 3 year appointment. So when I told the doctor what I thought he had (hypospadias), he checked it out and informed me it is actually a condition called meatal stenosis - narrowing of the urethra - which needs to be fixed because 1, it will only get worse and 2, causes backpressure on the kidneys which isn't good. We have a referral to a pediatric urologist in Grand Rapids for this Thursday. I'm not sure if it will be fixed there in the office or at another time in a surgery center, but were coming prepared for either. Keep little Brody in your thoughts and prayers, we'll keep you posted.