Goodbye 2019

Wrapping up the year of 2019 with November and December.  November was just ramping up for the holiday season.  And as usual, Crew started off November with an ear infection.  Of course there is usually one kid always sick but we had to recover fast as wrestling started in November.  Crew really enjoyed the start of wrestling practice.  He did pretty good and even had his buddy Easton with him so it worked out great.  It was adorable seeing all those little ones practicing their new learned moves.

We wrapped up November with Thanksgiving at Grandma Strohs and onto December.  First weekend of December, we started with the Falcon Funfrawl.  Crew’s first official wrestling meet.  It was a big meet as we all had to pitch in and help to raise money for our wrestling program.  Mom worked in the concession stand and dad did security.  Crew had three matches and did awesome for his first wrestling competition.  The first round he lost and got pinned, the second round he lost but his competition was last year’s State Champion so he was out of his league a little and then, finally his last match he got a PIN.  It was an awesome moment for all of us and the smile on his little face when that ref held his hand up was priceless.  He ended with a third place meddle. 

We stayed busy the rest of December with seeing santa, xmas concerts, holiday parades, seeing Frozen II, decorating cookies, and everything else associated with xmas.  It was, as always, a busy month for Strohs, with some wrestling meets for Crew mixed in.  We had all the boys this year for xmas so we really cherished everything we could this year.  We started the events off with Christmas Eve at Grandma Stroh’s where Crew received a remote control Monster struck which he loves.  Then we got to enjoy Christmas Day at home this year.  Crew was really into Santa coming and we even put out some cookies and milk for Santa to enjoy.  Crew woke up around 7 and was the first one awake and was quick to check on the cookies and was so excited to know Santa had stopped by and ate some of his cookies.  It was one of the sweetest moments.  Santa brought Crew a Jack in the Box so he was a happy boy.  We wrapped up our holiday with an annual Vetter tradition at Kobe and back to the farm to open gifts.  It was a great holiday season and we are all so blessed!

September/October 2019

And onto fall for 2019.  One of the main events that September brought was the beginning of 4 yr old preschool.  This year Crew will be going to school 3 days a week (M/W/F).  Same teachers, same place and probably almost all the same friends.  I’m excited for him to get to go to school for 3 days a week.  He’s a social butterfly so getting out of the house is a good thing for him.  

September also brought another sporting first….soccer.  We got the shin guards, the socks, the cleats and, luckily, Tate’s jersey fit Crew.  His coach is Kayla Gage and we don’t have too many of our friends on our team but that’s fine with Crew as he does fine meeting new people and fitting in.  Crew did great in his practices, so I knew he was going to be fine during a game.  He is always excited to go to practice and play the games.  He was a stud this season.  Running after every ball and making at least one goal every game (he even made 4 goals in his last game).  This kid is a sports guy and likes to win and is very determined.  I’m assuming he gets that from watching his older brothers.  Next is wrestling.  All signed up in October and we start that in November.

October was also Crews 5^th birthday month.  I can not believe Crew is already 5.  He has grown so much in the last couple of months and he is such a funny kid.  Crew thought that he was getting a friend’s birthday party this year, so I guess he was a little disappointed when it turned out to be just family but once the cake and gifts came out.  He was good to go.  His little face lit up once everyone started signing.  He loves to be the center of attention (much like Tate was at this age).  He received many Ben 10 toys, wrestling and transformers.  He had a good time but I think next year we will need to think seriously about a friend party….lord help us.

  Of course, we wrapped up October with Halloween.  Crew did not really have strong opinions as to what he was going to be for Halloween….which meant he could choose from the 30 costumes we had in the basement.  He circled through wanting to be Superman, Spiderman and Ironman and settled on a Teenage Mutant Turtle.   Unfortunately, Halloween was the crappiest day ever.  Very, very cold (like 40 degrees) and the boys froze.  We started off the night at the Villas of Hollybrook to have an indoor location for the little boys and then started our yearly tradition down the Railside subdivision.  Mom stayed with the two little boys in the car while dad walked with the big boys.  We went to one other subdivision and then headed home.  We still got a ton of candy but our 2019 trick or treating night was sorta a bust.  Which makes we sad as this was probably our last Halloween all together that all the kids wanted to trick or treat.  Next year Brayden and Owen will be with the mom and the next year Brayden will be 14 almost 15 so I’m sure he won’t be up for it and Owen and Tate will be 13.

Wrap up Summer - July/August 2019

As always, we started July off with a bang.  Crew had a great 4^th of July.  We started the day off with the parade where we collected a lot of candy which made our little boy super happy.  When I told him we needed to make sure we brought a bag with us for and Crew said that we should bring our Halloween pumpkins to collect our candy.  Is he a genius or what?  Unfortunately, we forgot the pumpkins.  After the parade we headed to the lake, had some lunch and hung out at the lake with the Fords.  Crew was old enough this year to participate in the kids games and did he have a great time.  He participated in the sack race, the three-legged race, the bear crawl and the water balloon toss.  He got second place twice and was so excited and got $2 and a chance to say his name into the megaphone where he introduced himself as “Crew Boo” to everyone.  It was so cute.  The rest of the day Crew enjoyed time with Aric, bouncing in the bounce house, getting face painted and just had a great time.  By the time the fireworks came about we had some tired kids hopped up on sugar.  It was a wonderful day.

After the 4^th we spent the weekend with the Johnson’s at the Lake with our new camper and going boating.  It was so much fun.  Crew enjoyed the whole process.  Still a water baby and loved swimming with his friends and camping in the evenings.  And then in Mid-July Crew got the opportunity to go to summer camp at Little Achievers which he loved.  I also love hearing about his days at school and we are looking forward to September when Crew starts three day a week school.

We wrapped up July with our yearly trip to the Ozarks. This year we stayed at a VRBO rental house and it turned out awesome.  The House had enough beds for everyone and included a paddle boat and floating mat that the kids loved.  Of course, we did the yearly trip to the go carts and a round of mini golf followed by ice cream at Randy’s.  The boys all swam, knee boarded, skied and had a lot of fun.  We also stopped at some our favorites including Dicks, cliff diving, Red Head Yacht Club, Fish & Co, Margaritaville, and Papa Chubbys.  Our friends Cindy and Tristan were also able to join us for a couple of days too which was nice.  This year was special for Crew as he tried knee boarding for the first time and he mastered it.  He is so impressive for a 4-year-old.  He is always so determined and always surprises us with how much he can do with only being 4.

August we kept busy with trips to the park, ranger rides, swimming lessons, swimming in grandma Stroh’s pool, and playing with brothers and cousins.  We are looking forward to starting school in September and playing soccer.  It’s going to be a great year.

2019 - May/June

We started May off with the annual GCMS Baseball Opening Day.  It’s a fun little event where all baseball players go in their uniforms, get their pictures taken and get their name announced as they run out onto the baseball field.  Crew had a blast and loved seeing his friends and running around like a crazy man.  He had a great time and it was an awesome start to a baseball season.

May also brought the end of our 3 yr old year at Little Achievers.  They do a little spring program to close out the year with a few songs and then a graduation ceremony at the end where they receive a diploma, a trophy and a meddle while taking a walk across the “Bridge” into the 4 yr old clase.  As always, super cute.  Crew didn’t sing as much as he did at the xmas concert, but this was also 10 a.m. in the morning so I’m assuming he was still just a little tired.  So next year we are already all signed up for 4-year-old preschool where he will go three days a week.  Love watching him grow.  They also had a beach day and a park day to round out the end of the year.

For Mother’s Day weekend we made a quick trip to St. Louis to watch our favorite college student graduate the 4 year program (which I think is kind her BA).  The ceremony was about 2 hours long, so the kids and David kept busy during that time with a trip to McDonalds and hanging out at the hotel pool.  That night Sydney took us to dinner and the next morning, after another stop at the pool, and packing up Sydney, we headed home.  It was a busy Mother’s Day but I got to be with some of my boys and it was a great day!

May and June also started Crew’s baseball career.  Tball games!!!  When it’s warm, I love sitting and watching all the boys play baseball.  Crew was no different and doesn’t disappoint.  He loves to bat, run those bases and is one aggressive outfielder….meaning he will get every, single ball that needs fielding.  It’s gotten so bad that Crew has made his own little game out of it and wants to win.  I know we are supposed to teach our kids to share and take their turns and I get it, but I love that Crew is so competitive and wants to win.  Tate was never like that, so this is a whole new ball game for me.  I definitely hope this is the start of a long career in baseball for Crew man cause I sure love watching him be him.  Every day Crew has a game he is super excited

Milestones:  can cross the monkey bars all by himself!

March/April 2019 (4.5 years old)

Hello March and bring on Spring.  We are so ready for some warm weather around here.  The big boys are itching to get outside to ride their go carts and dirt bikes and the littles are itching to get outside and ride their new jeep they got from Grandma and Grandpa Stroh for xmas.  We had a couple 60 degree days so we all got the feeling that spring is coming soon.

We had a rough March and April with Crew as he was the sickest we had ever seen him.  He started off in January with some swollen lymph nodes in his neck.  After about a week they were back to normal and the doctor seemed to think that was normal.  Then in February he started the temp again which lasted for about 5 days before we decided to get him into see the doctor.  At that point, the doctor found ear infections and on antibiotics we went.  About 5 days after the antibiotics, he got very sick again.  Wanting to sleep with the lights off and the door closed, drinking more then I had ever seen and just miserable.  Once again, we waited about five days and back to the doctor.  This time I started expressing concern about underlying issues.  Maybe bloodwork?  At that time the doctor put an order in for bloodwork and a chest xray as there was a little rattle in his chest.  The bloodwork results came back alarming at 35K for the WBC and the doctor was concerned.  Once the chest xray came back it was confirmed he had pneumonia.  It took a double shot of antibiotics and a booster to get rid of it but we avoided draining his lungs which was good news.  He was a trooper through all the bloodwork and I never want to have to put him through that again as it was rough. 

His next adventure will be tball which we were able to sign him up for this month.   Practices started in April and his coach is Frank McCoullough.  His buddy, Max Johnson from Little Achievers is on his team so he is super happy.  He also has Grandpa Vetter’s best friend’s granddaughter, Ellie, on his team so that will be fun.  It’s the start of a whole new era and another adventure for Crew.

We rounded off the month of April with Easter activities.  First with a trip to Railside for a cookie decorating event.  We were able to bring Owen with us and ran into our friend Avery Hyatt and Emmerson Lange while we were there.  Crew loved it and decorated his cookies like crazy.  Then the Easter bunny visited our home and Crew got a new baseball glove and batting gloves for tball.  He was a happy boy and loved finding eggs in the yard with his brothers.

Crew continues to grow and thrive.  He is the most stubborn child we have but he is so witty with his words that it’s hard to stay disappointed at someone who makes you laugh so hard.  He acts very much like his older brothers and it worries me how old he acts as I need to remind myself he is only 4. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

January started off fast and furious.  Our first two weekends we planned to start the basketball season and unfortunately, the weather had a different plan for us.  We were actually “SNOWED IN” for the first two weekends of January.  It was actually nice to have things slow down a little and enjoy some snuggle time and board games and enjoy our boys for a little more time.

Crew kept busy with school in January and February and even got to celebrate his first valentine’s day at school.  He brought Oreo valentines to share with his class and was very excited about the bag of goodies he was able to bring home.

We spent the end of February with all the boys trading the flu and colds, so we are ready for some spring weather.  Crew was even so sick that high temperatures kept him down for about 5 days.  He was the sickest I’ve ever seen him.  He would just lay down and say, “I don’t feel very good”.  It was the saddest thing as Crew is rarely sick and never so sick that he is down for an entire day.  Finally, after 5 days of high temps on and off, we decided to make a trip to the doctor.  Dr. Delost for two ear infections and a sore throat accompanied by a light rash that he thought may be the early stages of strep throat.  Needless to say, we bought some antibiotics which did the trick.