YYYYXXXxxxxnnnnn/;, HHHHHdnxnxnxxxx!

  

   That's how Stevie writes Happy Belated St. Valentine's Day :). I'm sure everyone has received one of Stevie's hieroglyphic texts over the last few months. He's learning how to stay connected to his friends and family and many other important things.  He's learning all kinds of words like cereal (pronounced "Syria"), applesauce ("sa-sa"), water ("waddy"), picture ("pic-chee"), up ("uppy") and more new words every day. Just now, as he's sitting next to me and drawing, he said "pen" and "ba-pa" (pen and paper). He says Hank and yells at him when he's fussy - "HAAANKA". Its pretty cute. 

 

                                      We've learned about "Selfie's" lately too

 

 

 

 

  Hank is growing fast. I haven't taken him to the doctor recently but he's almost 4 months and I'm going to have to wash my 9 month baby clothes this weekend for him. He loves to laugh and is extremely ticklish. He won't take a pacifier, unlike his older brother who went nuclear without one until he was well over a year. So he's becoming a thumb sucker which is both adorable and concerning. His smile is beautiful now and I don't want it to get messed up.  Oh well! I have to brag a little and admit that Hank sleeps10-12 hours a night straight. I love him!

 

 Steve is doing amazing things with his company. He and his agents swept up all the awards in Palm Springs this year. He may be taking over a small real estate company in Gardnerville next which will be his third office. All of his hard work has paid off and I'm so proud of him. But in bigger news, he recently killed it in an intense fishing tournament, bringing home an $81 check. He and I couldn't have been more proud. However, I may have misplaced that check or threw away because it was in an old envelope that Stevie had drawn all over and I had no clue Steve had put it in my purse for safekeeping. SORRY STEVE!

 

 

 

                                       Chillin' at the pool

 

                                               
                                                            Feeding the birds

 

So Stevie loves animals especially birds. I thought it would be fun to take him to the zoo in Palm Springs but most of the animals were a no show. Birds are pronounced "bee's" by the way. They had an aviary which Stevie loved but every time a bird landed on him or got close he panicked. I thought after months of bird watching and bird chasing in the backyard he would have a blast in there. I think he did but prefers to keep a social distance in the future. 

  Now let's talk about me. I started a book club and it was a huge success. The event of the season! Well for me anyway. Five girls came and we have more members for March.  We read Rebecca which was supposed to be a romance for Valentines Day but ended up being more of a mystery-suspense like a Hitchcock story. People back in the 1940's must have been really starved for romance. They had tea and crumpets in the book so I made crumpets for the meeting. Delicious but really frustrating to make. Here's a few snaps of the décor.

Shout out to Bonnie and our babysitter Madison! They did pretty much everything while I wrestled with crumpet dough.