Back to busy...start of spring 2013

Written in March, 2013:  Well, even though we've had a little bit of sicknesses here and there over the past few weeks, we're starting to get healthy again and do fun things.  We've had several birthdays to celebrate - including Noah and Evan's 4th birthday!
Noah and Evan turned 4 on Friday, March 1st.  Noah, Evan, and Joshua spent the day at Grandma's house while we worked.  Brian met us at Grandma and Grandpa's house after work and we left to take them to Chuck E. Cheese as a surprise birthday celebration.  They had a blast!  After we got back home, we gave them their birthday presents from us - new big boy bikes!  They immediately climbed on to them and started trying to ride them around our house.  We haven't been outside with them yet but are really hoping we can do that this weekend.  The weather just hasn't been nice too often lately.
The next day, March 2nd, we had their birthday party here at home at 4pm.  Lots of family and friends came to celebrate.  It was a ninja turtles themed party.  Brian and I did Ninja Turtles cupcakes and a Leonardo cake, and we ate pizza and had "green slime punch" to drink.  They got lots of really great presents and they love them all!  It was a great celebration. 

New bikes!

The Leonardo birthday cake Brian and I made for Noah and Evan

Noah and Evan with their cake and cupcakes

Noah and Evan opening their presents

The Ninja Turtles fans! Mark, Sarah, Dommy, Evan, Noah, Mom, Joshua, and Dad

Evan and Noah blowing out their birthday candles

The following weekend, we spent Saturday night at Crown Center.  Thanks to Grandma Cathy for purchasing a package for Noah and Evan's birthday where we got to go to Legoland, stay at the Westin for one night, and then go to Sea Life Aquarium the next morning.  The boys really enjoyed both Legoland and the aquarium.  It was a lot of fun!

Evan, Noah, and Joshua at Legoland

Evan and Noah in their lego fort that they built

Evan, Noah, and Joshua at Sea Life KC

Evan, Noah, and Joshua inside an aquarium tank bubble at Sea Life KC

On March 21st, we took the boys to see a KU Basketball practice at the Sprint Center.  It was only about 30 minutes long - just enough time to get a fun experience.  That was technically Joshua's first visit to the Sprint Center (the first time was when I was pregnant with him).  We had a lot of fun watching the Jayhawks practice before the big tournament.

Easter was very busy for us.  Noah and Evan got to color eggs and hunt for them at school the Tuesday before Easter.  That Thursday, all three boys took part in our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  We have so many kids in our neighborhood, so that is a fun way to get them all together for a little while.  On Good Friday, we went to Uncle John and Aunt Theresa's house so they could color eggs with Michael and Mia.  They made alien eggs!  On Holy Saturday, we celebrated Easter with Brian's family in Smithville.  Noah, Evan, and Joshua got to do another egg hunt in the back yard and had a blast!  On Easter Sunday, we went to 8:30am mass and then enjoyed the awesome weather outside in our backyard for a couple of hours.  After lunch and naps, we went to John and Theresa's for our family Easter celebration.  It was another great Easter celebration! Here are some photos of all of our Easter fun.

Neighborhood Easter egg hunt

Coloring eggs with Michael Jude and Mia

Easter egg hunt at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house

Noah, Evan, and Joshua on Easter morning

Joshua, Evan, Noah, Dommy, Mia, and Michael after Easter mass

Evan and Noah playing soccer outside on Easter Sunday

Joshua playing outside on Easter Sunday

Joshua and Mia having a blast on Easter Sunday

Evan and Noah after their Easter egg hunt at Michael and Mia's house Easter Sunday

Joshua's 2nd birthday and more!

Since our last post, we've stayed pretty busy - although the weather has been crazy!  It's supposedly springtime, but we have had more winter weather than spring weather.  It even snowed on Joshua's 2nd birthday, on May 2nd!  We were at home all day anyway because the boys have been trading fevers for the past three weeks.  We think it's just viral, but it's definitely been putting a damper on our plans.  Noah and Evan have actually only gotten to play soccer three times this season.  Three of the games have been cancelled due to weather and are starting to be rescheduled.  They did go to the dentist one day after school, and then we had a special afternoon and went to see the movie The Croods.  They loved it!  We've been out to dinner with Brian's family, Brian and I ran a 5K to benefit The Marian Hope Center, we went to the Lee's Summit Kite Festival (our third year in a row), and have played outside A LOT!  If the weather is nice, we are usually outside playing.  The boys still love to play with our next door neighbors Abby and Ryan.

We turned Joshua's carseat around on Thursday, April 25th. He really likes facing forward now!

Joshua turned 2 on Thursday, May 2nd.  As I mentioned above, it was snowing and very cold that day, so we mainly stayed in.  I picked up pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert, and Joshua seemed to love it.  We gave Joshua his gift from us that afternoon.  It is his very own Toy Story couch!  All three of the boys like to lounge on it and watch television.  That evening, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike came over to visit and give Joshua one of his birthday presents (a Team Umi Zoomi remote controlled car!).  We got to have Joshua's birthday celebration with family and friends that following Saturday at 11:30am.  We had Goodcents' sandwiches, pasta salad, chips, veggies, fruit, a Toy Story cake, and ice cream.  Everyone seemed to have a great time!  The kids even got to play "Pin the tail on Bullseye" and catch candy from a piñata.  Joshua got lots of great gifts, including tank tops for the summer, a new spring jacket, a Buzz and Woody blanket, his own soccer goal, new shoes, cars, a Toy Story outdoor chair, and much more!

The next day, we celebrated Dommy's 1st birthday!  They had a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at their house and Dommy seemed like he had a lot of fun eating, opening his gifts, and eating his birthday cake.  He turned 1 on May 1st.  

Other than all of the busy family time, we are also getting ready for my surgery (prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with diep flap - abdominal tissue - reconstruction).  It is a little less than three weeks away, and I'm almost finished with all of my pre-surgery doctor's appointments.  At this point, I am anxious and nervous, but also very ready to get it all over with.  We have had so many people offer to help out while I am in the hospital and recovering at home, and that is awesome (warning: we will probably take you all up on it :))!  The actual date of surgery is May 28th, and I should be home around June 2nd.  Total recovery time is about 6-8 weeks before I feel like myself again.  Thoughts and prayers are appreciated :) I have already registered Brian, my dad and I up for the Race for the Cure on August 11th, and it is my personal goal to be able to jog it.  I'm looking forward to it!

As far as the boys' development, they're all doing fantastic!  Joshua's vocabulary is still exploding and his sentences get longer and longer each day.  He loves to look at books, do puzzles, color, and do pretend play with all of his toys.  He fights with Noah and Evan over toys a lot, but they are learning to share.  Noah and Evan are also doing great.  Noah still loves to color and can write his name very well pretty consistently.  Evan likes to color as well, and can write his name well too.  He also loves to play with the iPad.  They all like to be outside; Evan and Noah are learning to push themselves on their swings, and also like to drive their Lightning McQueen Power Wheels around in the front.  Life is good here at the Quirk household.