Happy birthday, Toby!

It’s been one year since our newest family member joined the team and we can’t imagine life without him. We feel like Toby makes our family complete. Our little Toby is growing every day and his personality is really starting to show. We always thought he was the sweetest, most laid back baby. Well, that sweet little baby has grown into a very vocal and determined toddler. That’s right. Our little Toby now bullies his big brother and has an iron grip when it comes to grabbing a toy or piece of food that he wants. It’s so fun to watch him learn new things, or new techniques to get his way. He is a determined guy, that’s for sure. We had a birthday party for him the last Saturday and he had a wonderful time. He got to play with his cousins and a couple close friends and then eat his first piece of cake. Toby went to bed happy that night, and I think for the first time in a couple weeks, he actually slept through the night, all night, in his own bed.

As for his big brother, Xavier started preschool about two weeks ago. He LOVES it. Let me just say, on his first day of school, he was so brave and ready to go. Bottom line, I cried, he didn’t. He didn’t stay still long enough for me to take a good first day of school picture, but I do have one from the open house. Xavier’s teachers are really nice and, since it’s a co-op, I go in to volunteer about twice a semester. It’s really nice to be involved, but still be able to let him go and see what school is like without mom around. Toby apparently loves preschool too. During open house, I couldn’t keep him from playing with all the big kid stuff and when I went to drop Xavier off on the first day, Toby managed to tackled one of Xavier’s classmates and swipe his toy. I think Xavier may be our little thinker, while Toby is just a bully already!

Scott and I are doing well. We’ve just been incredibly busy! During August, Scott’s segment was going through an audit and several people from headquarters were up to go over everything. There were several trips to the slope and a lot of business meetings and dinners. Now that it’s over, it’s nice to have Scott back to his normal schedule. As for me, filled in a bit for the Morning and Newshour editions, which was fun, but made me realize, no matter how much I think I miss work at times, I would so rather be with my boys. It makes me remember how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my boys and just fill in, get a taste of what it’s like to work in the newsroom again, and then get out before getting burned out. Scott is content with the current situation at work, so it looks like we will be in Alaska for at least the winter, but transferring is still an option in the future.

We’ve been plenty busy since I last wrote. We’ve been on playdates, hikes, berry picking, to the state fair and I took Xavier to a special show called, “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Xavier loved it. It was a little spendy and we didn’t think Toby would sit through it or really care about is, so Xavier and I had a mommy and me date. The dinosaurs were amazing! Basically a “paleontologist” describes what the world was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth and they were all life sized. Of course, some of them were baby dinosaurs so they would fit in the arena, but it was still incredibly impressive. I was blown away! Xavier couldn’t stop talking the whole time. He kept saying, “mom, mom, mom! There’s a dinosaur! Mom! Hey, hey mom! Do you see that dinosaur..” He was shouting and oowing and awing the whole way though. It was fun to watch. When Scott came to pick us up and he asked Xavier if he liked the show, Xavier said, “no dad, I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!” That was pretty funny.

We’ve had a lot of fun this summer. Between soccer, playdates, family visiting and the start of school, we’ve been booked. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I just may be ready for winter to set in. Just so we can have a set schedule and I can have the routine down again.

We love you guys and we will be sure to check in and write more in the weeks to come!Yvonne, Scott, Xavier and Toby!