Milestones and European Travels

So its been awhile....I honestly meant to blog before we left for our trip but getting ready to be gone for a full week took about a month of planning/packing/training. We had to get both grandmas comfortable with taking care of Paxton, all doctors appointments and medications up to date and filled, packing for ourselves and making sure the boys were all stocked up on their favorite foods etc. Truth be told we could've done little to no pre-planning and the grandparents would have been just fine but my Type A personality never wants anyone to be left wondering or felt they don't have all the 

tools/info needed laid out for them. 

I will try to not be super wordy so you can just enjoy all the photos, but here's a (hopefully) quick update on everything and everyone. 

Easton: He had Kindergarten Roundup!!! Definitely harder on me than him. He wasn't too sure about going. He kept saying "But I don't know anything about Kindergarten" After the day was done he couldn't wait to tell us all about it and how he "is really going to like it here mom" I couldn't believe we just dropped him off and they swept him away to start his day at Roundup. I was shocked that I wasn't invited.....Brian just shook his head at me lol. Easton is just such a little man these days. He is definitely an old soul and so so smart and intuitive. He wears his heart on his sleeve and loves deeply. He is a HUGE help and loves to do things he knows we will ask of him before we actually ask. He will come down stairs after cleaning the toy room and be so excited to tell us that he cleaned everything up after his friend left and even vacuumed (with a toy vacuum lol). When we got back from our week long trip he ran to us as we walked in and grabbed me so hard. He hugged me and started crying and laughing simultaneously....he was just so happy to have us back. Even though it breaks my heart that I can no longer just scoop him up to carry him upstairs etc. I am so proud and thankful of the boy he is growing up to be. Yes he still loves to push his brothers buttons and can be the most stubborn human alive, but he's our little human and we are so grateful he is ours. 

Kindergarten Roundup success!

The weather has been surprisingly nice with the exception of the past week in a half. We even made a zoo trip in Feb. if you can believe that.

Ben navigating

Easton and Baylor in the bat cave

Paxton snoozin away

Kalasek Cousins

For St.Patricks day we made a trap and caught us a leprechaun. For a holiday I don't remember being much of anything growing up these kids sure do love it! And to be honest any holiday I can make a big deal out of I'm all for. You only get one childhood before the magic in a lot of things goes away so I try to do it up as much as I can while I still can. 

caught him and his gold

and of course any holiday I can get the boys matching shirts I'm all about as well :) 

Paxton: Our little Pax is doing great. He is getting stronger day by day and has the best personality. He is very social and becoming quite the wiggle worm. He is 6 months and I still cant believe how far we have come as a family and how far he has come in his journey with PWS. Sometimes its hard to see the progress since I am with him day in and day out...but when I look back I am always blown away. Its hard to go back to the place we started as there are so many emotions still tied to that time and I'm not ready to revisit some of them.....but it sure does make us proud of our little tough guy and the work he has put in to get to where we are today. He loves babbling away, kicking everything he can, batting at toys on his playmate, and watching his brothers run around like the crazy creatures they are. 

He was baptized recently which was a very special day for us. The church has been such a present role in Paxton's life since his days in the NICU so it was very special for us all to come together for this occasion. An double bonus Easton and Ben sat through the entire service and were really really good!!! 

Ben: Ben continues to be our very crazy man! God love this kid. He keeps us on toes and laughing daily. We have started swim lessons with both him and Easton. We want them to be ready and comfortable when we open our pool in a couple months. Ben has no fear when it comes to jumping off our diving board, off the side of hotel pools, etc. We get to swim lessons and the kid FREAKS out! Now I guess we should've guessed it would be weird for him as the last time we took lessons either Brian or I was in the water with him. This was the first time he was in a class in the water without floaties or a parent. He sat in the water screaming bloody murder and reaching out to Brian and myself on the other side of the glass wall. As he is reaching out to us bawling we are waving, smiling, and giving him thumbs up....hahaha it was ridiculous. After the 30 minutes the owner of Little Waves came out and said "well his lungs are strong we know that" He also told us it was very normal for someone who did so well in the mommy/me class to be scared in the independent class with a stranger in the water. Kids trust their parents 100% but being vulnerable in the water with someone they don't know doesn't always sit well. We are now on week 4 and he no longer cries. Does that mean he loves going.....heck no! Lessons are wed. and all week he lets us know he is "not going to swim lessons" But once we get there and get him in the water with his teacher he does great and lets us know that "I was so brave mom" after class. Ben is also very much into anatomy right now. He loves to talk about his pee pee and how dads is bigger and Paxton's is smaller....and of course how mom doesn't have a pee pee she has a "bagina"....so that's fun....especially when its in public. He also likes to ask MaryPat "do you have to pump your boobies" which is really awkward lol but she is so great and just says "no just your mommy does that" and then doesn't pay it any more attention. Oh Ben! He is the sweetest little man. He never stops moving or talking and has the quickest temper ever. He could snack all day long but you sit him down at meal time and he won't eat a thing. Like I said he keeps us on our toes at all times! 

fighting bad guys at the park

Such great friends

It was very hard on Ben when we left. Easton is a bit more seasoned when it comes to Brian and I going on trips. He knows its his job to be a big help and he takes that job very seriously. Benny is still recovering from us being gone. Every morning he comes downstairs and says "your still here....yeah!" I tried to soften the blow as best as I could. I got them each little gifts to open each morning we were gone. I wanted them to have fun things to do and also something that grandma and grandpas could bribe them with so they would get up and dressed easily each morning. :)

The trip Brian plans for his clients each year was in London this year. I have never been to Europe and as nervous as I was to leave Paxton and the other boys I knew deep down that I needed to get away for a bit to recharge. I hadn't left Paxton since his birth over 6 months ago so it was a very overdue trip for me. 

First class....only way to do a long flight....i may never fly coach again lol

The Savoy...our hotel in London

Our first full day we did a tour of Windsor Castle. The Queen was there but of course we didn't see her. A few people did see her Yorkie dogs playing in one of the courtyards outside. 

That evening we had a lovely dinner and then went to see WICKED. It was my 3rd time seeing the show and I loved it just as much as the 1st and 2nd time...Brian even enjoyed it! 

Big Ben

Our 2nd day we had a brunch inside the Guards Museum. We got to go inside the gates and watch the changing of the Guards....followed by a private performance of the the Guards band. Then they stuck around and took photos with us which was amazing! After that we went to the see the Churchill Museum and War rooms.

We had a few extra hours to kill before that nights activities so we hung out with another couple and did some shopping and visited a few pubs.

meat shop

That night we rode the London Eye and got a magnificent view of London. We had champagne in our little pods during the ride (about 30 minutes around)...then we had a happy hour and boarded a boat for a dinner cruise.

view from the boat

our boat for the evening

The last full day was our free day. Brian got a shave at a barber shop and I got to do some damage at Harrods.....That evening we had our last big dinner at a place called the Trinity House. We had the Captain of the Queen Elizabeth come and talk to us and join us for dinner. It was a beautiful house with a lot of history. 

Had to take a photo here...My grandfather has a photo under this sign and so do my parents

had to do fish and chips at least once

Then Brian and I decided to extend our trip to Budapest. It was amazing. The food, drinks, and sights were out of this world. The place is beautiful and we walked our little butts off. We had no real game plan we just wanted to get off the plane and explore for two days. We did just that and enjoyed the time together! We plan to go back to both London and Budapest. This definitely gave us both the international travel bug. Honestly there is so much world and history out there and going to the same place for vacation every time just seems like such a waste. My parents have been going to Europe for some time now and I never really thought I would enjoy it as much as I did. Obviously its not something that can easily be done for most people often, but its so worth the effort, planning, and budgeting. If these past 6 months have done anything for us its that life can change in a second.....I know after my mom was diagnose with Cancer that was something she talked about too. Thankfully she is doing great and cancer free (knock on wood) but it really puts in perspective that time waits for no one. If you have a bucket list start ticking off those items while you are healthy and able to. We had the best time! It was wonderful to get home to our little boys and back into our routine, but I definitely count this as one of the best trips Ive taken if not the best. 

My mom Ronald Reagan

Indoor Market...so many foods to try so little time (and room in our stomachs)

Back home with my three loves 

We are still trying to get back on track as far as time zones and sleep schedules. We got home on Thursday and have  been going nonstop since. We had a family shower Friday night, Cousin Brynlee's 2nd bday Saturday, caught up with both sets of our parents/grandparents Sunday, and Paxton had an appointment this morning. We hit the ground running from the second we got off the plane but we are so grateful for the opportunity to go on a trip of a lifetime and to come home to amazing kids and wonderful family who willingly stepped in and helped hold down the fort in our absence. Getting away with Brian is so important and we honestly couldn't do it without the love and support of our parents. Now we just need the rain to stop and the sunshine to come to stay!