HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!

Oh wow....so much has been going on this week that I've neglected this blog terribly. Please bear with me as I try and break it down. It's going to be a LONG post (but I promise lots of pictures! ;))
First, my sweet baby boy turned THREE (*sob and sniff*) on Tuesday (the 29th). HOW is that possible?? If that we're enough for the wee man (and his mama), he had a birthday party at the local petting zoo on Sunday (where he got an entire bag of carrots to himself to feed the animals - that he didnt' have to share with the brothers!), he had his final session with the fabulous Miss Ann (his speech therapist) before he aged out of the program, AND he started his first day of Pre-school on Monday.

SO.
I'm praying you can understand why I've been horribly slack about posting! My emotions have been soooo over the gamut this week and I haven't even felt like myself!

I've been completely proud that Carson is done with his speech therapy and it doesn't look like he's going to ever need any more. But we're going to miss Miss Ann terribly. She's been with us since Turner was 20 months old (a total of about 2 1/2 years!) and it was so bitter sweet to see her go. I know both boys are going to miss her coming in.

Carson's 3rd birthday was great. He said he wanted to go to the zoo but it was so unbearably hot that day, we opted for a petting zoo near Mom's. She got each boy their own bag of carrots to feed the animals and they were beside themselves! They fed goats, hamsters, pigs, horses, cows, emus, deer and so much more. And of course we couldn't leave until every last carrot was gone. ;) Then we headed out to mom's for presents, pizza, cake and ice cream. We had a wonderful time and the boys were completely exhausted for the ride home.

C is adjusting to school slowly but surely. It was absolutely heart-wrenching the first few days as he cried hysterically whenever he had to leave me. It immediately put me into tears too. But I'm so proud of him because he's trying so hard to be brave. The first day when he got off the bus, his famous lower lip immediately came out and he started crying the second he saw me, but he sniffed and said, "Mama, I rode de schoo bus!" He was so proud of himself for doing it and my Mama heart just welled up. It's been progressively improving and today even though he told us he DIDN'T want to go to school, his Ribbit went with him and he was brave because he had to be strong for Ribbit. And when he got of the bus, there were no tears, just a few sniffles and a hearty "BYE, schoo bus!" as the bus rounded the corner after leaving our house.
Now if only *I* could adjust as well. I miss that little boy during the day more than I thought possible.

And as a final update, E and T are both doing fabulously in school. Turner really thrives on a nice tight schedule and having some time away that is just his, where he can be just Turner and not a brother too. He loves his friends, he's amazingly social and his personality is just getting sweeter and sweeter.
Ethan is doing amazingly well in first grade. His teacher comments often how bright he is, how he has such wonderful handwriting and creative writing skills. He's so quick with math too. It completely blows me away! Now if only he could not be like his mama in all areas....for he too has developed her tendency to talk too much in school. *Sigh* I TOLD everyone who would listen that I'd cloned myself in male form. I've got it all over any scientist! ;)