A Long-Awaited Catch-Up

I know I always begin by apologizing for how long it has been since my last post and this time is no exception. I'd like to say the absence is due to some extenuating circumstance but that is not the case. The reality is that being a mom to four kids is wonderfully exhausting and takes up nearly all of my time (not surprising, I know). I usually have an hour to myself in the morning between "the Bigs" going to school and the Littles awaking. I then have another free hour while the Littles are napping before the Bigs get home from school. It seems as if every other waking minute is spent cleaning up a mess, chasing (absolutely adorable) toddlers or chauffeuring the big boys to soccer practice. Understand I am not complaining one bit (okay, maybe a little...but just to Stu!); I just want to apologize for the long time between posts. I usually have great plans to catch up on long-delayed communication (like this blog, for example) during those few free sacred hours in my day, but I tend to just sit on my couch, enjoy the silence and wait for the next round of chaos to begin.
I had plans to try to do a recap of all of our events from the past several months but that will have to wait (as it's 5:00 in the morning and my "official" day will begin soon)...needless to say, it has been busy. Chipmunk and Monkey started back to school, second-grade and kindergarten respectively; Pudding celebrated his 3rd birthday and HotDog celebrated her 2nd Family Day (aka Gotcha Day); we have had several weddings of family members and all of the trappings that surround such celebrations; we have just finished another season of soccer for the big boys; and we are now gearing up for the beginning of the holiday season. As a child, I was never a big fan of Halloween. My-oh-my how that has changed since becoming a mom. I love the crisp fall air that surrounds this time of the year. I love making our annual trek to a local pumpkin patch. I love seeing the excitement in my children's' eyes as they debate for weeks about which costume they are going to choose. It is so much fun. Of course, this year Pudding will be celebrating his first round of holidays as part of our family. I cannot wait to see how much fun he has trick-or-treating around our neighbor!
Speaking of Pudding, may of you have been asking me about his progress. He is doing fantastic! I still cannot believe how easily he transitioned into our family. I was so worried about the difficulties of a toddler adoption but I can honestly say he made the smoothest transition out of all of our kids. He is just the happiest kid I have ever seen. He has been home a little over six-months and the progress he has made is amazing. He is starting to speak in sentences now (although I'm usually the only one that can understand him), but still uses a lot of sign language. He has been going through a huge growth spurt and is now on the charts for height and weight. We just finished a check-up with his cardiologist (all good news) and underwent allergy testing to determine if that is causing his breathing difficulty (of course not...not allergic to anything; the allergist/ENT say he just has the smallest sinus passages they've ever seen and simply can't pull air in through his nose). He has transitioned to his own big-boy bed and I'm thrilled to say sleeping has gotten (a bit) better. He usually falls asleep by himself now and sleeps through the night about 50% of the time. The other nights he tends to toss and turn and will wake up a couple of times during the night. I know it is still not ideal but I am so happy with the improvement he has made it that area.
All in all, life is great. I promise I will try to update on a more regular basis and catch up on all of my favorite blogs. I have missed everyone!
In the meantime, I'll share some pictures of our recent trip to the pumpkin patch.