From Then To Now

 Just for the sake of me being caught up, here is another catch-up post! It includes everything from the day after Christmas up until now (minus Daphne's birthday which will be a separate post.)

The morning after Christmas was electronic heaven for the boys.

 That day was also the annual Collette Girl's Shopping trip. So much fun. I am truly blessed with amazing ladies to call my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law.

 We shopped to our heart's content and also had lunch. We tried taking a photo together, but every single one of them ended up as more of an "outtake" photo.... this is probably the best I could get:

 What can I say, we are pretty goofy when we get together.

That night the Laylah and Daphne were able to have a sleepover with their St. George cousins who we don't get to see nearly enough. They had a blast together.

And a little Magna-doodle snuck into my bed yet again.

Baron lost his first tooth! The Tooth Fairy came and he was oh-so-thrilled.

We had a fun night getting together with some of Andy's high school friends (whose wives happen to be some of my best friends now too :). I snagged a photo with our besties Paul and Cheryl before we all took off for the night. Between Andy and his 3 best friends from high school, we have a combined total of 16 kids. Pretty impressive :)

Well, 15 kids.... number 16 is still baking for a few more weeks.

We had a fun New Year's party with some friends from our ward. Between us four couples we have a combined total of 21 kids! Yup, we're Mormon ;)

It was such a fun night of food, fun, games, movies, chatting, and ringing in the New Year with kisses, resolutions, and screaming and yelling.

This boy loves his Christmas gift and rides it around our tiny kitchen. Can't wait for spring!

He also started primary.That's right, my last baby is out of nursery. It's so weird. He isn't a huge fan of sunbeams yet, but we are trying to convince him.

 WARNING: If you are squeamish, do not scroll any further! Or scroll by it fast, but there is a photo of Andy's surgery scar/stitches down below...

Andy had his soft cast and splint taken off. Because of the severity of his injury, instead of switching him over to a walking boot and physical therapy (as is the norm at this point in the healing process) Andy's doctor decided to put a hard cast back on for a couple more weeks to continue to let it heal.

Andy was disappointed, but you know the saying.... Doctors orders. He was told to wait with attempting to walk and put weight on it just yet.

In other news, we decided it was high time for a certain little boy to become potty trained. He had shown absolutely no interest whatsoever at this point, but we explained the process to him and he seemed excited about choosing underwear and becoming a "big boy" and leaving his diapers behind.

 He had several accidents the first day, but by day 2 seemed to be getting the hang of it. He has had accidents here and there, but overall has done fabulously. It is so weird (and wonderful) to not be buying diapers anymore!

He's just too cute this little caboose of mine. He fell asleep one night with his headlamp on.

I did a crazy thing and signed up for a 100 mile bike race. I am super excited. I have been a bit of a yo-yo with my weight over the last couple months and I feel like this will help me have a goal and something to work towards. I never did quite hit my goal weight from last year (I came within 1.5 pounds though!) and I need to lose about 8 to get back to where I was. I know I can do it, I have just been lazy. And I have become re-addicted to sugar. You'd think I would learn...

The awesome Potty Boy in his cool undies.

Andy and I went to a friend's 40th surprise birthday party with a mobster theme. It was so much fun.  I am so thankful for good friends!

 We went on a scavenger hunt.... our car took last place, haha.

I did a crazy thing. You know how I said I would never go dark again because I always hate it? Well, I colored my hair dark again. Plus, I decided that while I was making such a drastic change that I may as well cut it all off too.  

Before:

After:

 It's crazy and different and I am still getting used to it. I have had super short hair before (even shorter than this when i was in hair school) and I have always wanted to do it again. My hair was so unhealthy, so I decided now would be a god time to do it. I like it most of the time. I think I am going to go even darker and see how I like that for a little bit because it has already faded a ton.

Andy and I have been putting our Christmas gift cards to good use:

The Jonah-boy had to get some new glasses. They are super cool.

Baron is my quiet and artistic boy who wants me to take a picture of anything and everything he makes. He also wants to keep any piece of paper he's ever put a crayon to.

After two weeks with the hard cast Andy got it removed. He got his walking boot and has started physical therapy.  His leg is soooo skinny, his muscle has atrophied so much.

Daphne took 3rd place in her class spelling bee!

And Laylah took 2nd! She gets to move on to the school spelling bee which will be in a few weeks. She's busy studying. Jonah's class bee will be next week. He took 2nd last year, so I'm hoping he can do it again so he can be in the school bee as well. We'll see!

And once again, we are putting our giftcards to good use.

I love getting to have time away with my guy. Between kids, work, school, and responsibility I am tapped out at the end of every day. It's so nice to have time alone together. Sure love him.

So that's it. From last year to this year, you are officially caught up on the life of the Collette Crew. Don't you feel lucky?!