Love being a mom!

It should be known that being a mom is bitter-sweet. Yes, things can get monotonous. I have found that to be very true! But, I had an experience today that made me realize how much I love being a mom. The stomach flu tornado has hit our house. 3 of the 5 have gotten it so far. Hopefully we're done. But after being down all day, not taking care of my kids like I want to, watching my sweet husband doing everything, made me sad. I wanted to be the one up in the kitchen making pancakes for the kids this morning. I wanted to be the one heating up their lunch. I wanted to be the one hugging them while getting them ready for church. But all I could do was listen to their noises upstairs. Gavin came downstairs with a green paper circle around his head that he had made, and a tie around his neck, asking me if he had a vest to wear. Garrett came down and showed me his outfit for church with his oversized church shoes and his hair done by Gavin, looking cute by the way. Josh was in the other room, laying on his side and playing with his beloved trains. They are such cute boys and I miss when I am too sick to help them. Gavin let me tie his tie and just in that moment, I looked at my sweet 10 year old and realized how grown up he is. He looked so handsome in his white shirt and black pants and red tie! What a handsome young man. Motherhood is more than just monotonous days and screaming at your children to clean up the toys, and cleaning up puke. It's full of laughter, love, handfuls of kisses from a little 3 year old, and many, many I Love You's from a certain 7 year old. It's leaving the mess to go read to them, or after school instead of doing homework ride bikes for a while. It's enjoying a few minutes more of laughs watching studio C with my 10 year old. I love being a mom. Even though they get sick and puke all over. Even though they scream at you for a few more minutes of iPad even though you told them to go to bed. Even if they sit at the dinner table and it takes them hours to finish their dinner. I still love them. It's all worth it for the many, many days of love from them. I love that they still want to be with me. I love that they still want me to hold their hands. I love that they still want me to kiss them. They are so special to me and I don't know where I would be without them!

Insurance , pee, and priceless memories!

Yeah so my new years resolution didn't happen. I haven't written a post since November 2014. Technically, we are 7 days into the new year so technically I am ok to start now! I thought it would be fun to post about my days. I don't think anyone will look at this but at least when my kids get older, they can look at it and know what was happening with them. So, here goes! Today is January 7, 2015. WOW. 2015!! I remember leaving for my mission July of 2000. It doesn't seem like 15 years has passed. Actually I feel like the mission is a dream that I had, like I was never really there. But flashes will come of something that happened in Russia and I will remember! Like today for instance. It snowed! Actually is snowed yesterday but... I was walking the boys to school and felt the fierce winds against my face while trudging through the snow and a memory of my mission came to mind. I remember I was with Sister Hart (my companion) and we were bundled up with scarves and hats and thermals and long sleeve shirts and coats and boots ... We were facing the wind as it forced its way through the little town of Saratov, us trudging through the snow!! This was all day long we were doing it and today I couldn't tell you how I did it. It was amazing that I didn't go home after that winter! Anyway, here's to 2015 and its many memories. I am starting with Garrett on potty training. Actually, I started him the day after the boys started school in Sept. He wasn't ready, or maybe I wasn't ready to sit with him and cater to him every whim! The time in September lasted 1 day and I gave up. I was done. So I decided to wait until the new year. He is ready now. Yesterday we stripped him of his pants and diaper and he was pantless for the day. He had multiple accidents. He even had a little poop hanging out of his bum when I checked up on him! We sat him on the potty but nothing else happened. Today, though, he has had 2 episodes of peeing in the potty. He woke up this morning and we took off his diaper which was wet and he went naked but didn't do anything for a while. He had an accident in the playroom in the morning. It was 3pm and I had to pick up the boys from school. So instead of putting a diaper on him, I put some underwear on him. I was a little hesitant about doing that but he has just peed so I figured he would be ok. And he was. We came home and took his pants off and he was DRY!!! So exciting. He was getting a little excited about something so I asked him to sit on the potty and about 3 minutes later, he peed.... in the potty! YAY! We did the potty dance and then hugged and then he carried the bowl into the bathroom to empty. Then we of course washed hands! He was sure proud of himself. He gets so animated about things anyway, it was just that much more fun to see him like this. He told Daddy when he got home. He then went again a few minutes ago... in the potty! No accidents in between. I am so excited about this. The rest of the week is spent mastering this with him. Having new insurance and a new year can sometimes bring difficult things. Josh wears patches that allow him to hold urine in until he catheterizes himself. I have had no problem in the past receiving these patches from the pharmacy. So, I called to get them refilled and we went to the pharmacy to pick them up. They told me that my insurance needed a dr to call them to give them prior authorization. I change Josh's patches Tuesdays and Fridays and here it is Monday and they expect me to call my dr and get them to call my insurance and give them consent that they will cover the insurance? Ya right! I needed these patches by the next day. So I did call the dr and had to leave a message with the nurse. I didn't hear back Tuesday so I decided to call the office in DC at 3pm on Tuesday. I had to leave another message. By Tuesday night I didn't hear anything so I emailed the dr. I told him that I was sorry to disturb him about this issue but that I was getting no feedback from his staff. Now, I might sound very impatient right now like I should wait a good 2-3 days before calling the nurse again but if we don't change the patch on time, he could pee all over. This means at school he could have an accident. I try to keep Josh as normal as possible. He is in the 2nd grade and shouldn't have accidents. This patch helps him not to. So, I was probably acting like a crazy person to these nurses by my son's feelings mean a lot more to me than that. So, about 7 pm last night, I received a call from the drs. PA. I gave her the number for the insurance and she called them. Got things squared away but now the pharmacy doesn't have the patches in stock so they will be ready tomorrow. She also informed of another issue. Josh hasn't received a renal/bladder sonogram in a couple of years. She said that I haven't seen the urologist in a while. Well, I explained to her that the Spina Bifida clinic in Fairfax has dissolved so I was told to go to the Spina Bifida clinic in DC. So I made an appt. I expected to see Urology, neurosurgery, and Orthopedics. When I got there, I saw PA's. and that's it. No real drs. I actually did see an Orthopedics dr but she had never seen Josh before. I wanted to see Josh's dr... the ones that know him. I was livid. I traveled all that way, took my son out of school for the day, to see some PA's? I don't think so. So I explained this to her and she tells me that the Urologist doesn't participate with the Spina Bifida Clinic in DC. Excuse me? Why wasn't I told any of this. Well, now I know. I have to see each dr. separately, which doesn't bother me because we only see them once a year anyway! But if I had seen the urologist at that time, he would have told me that Josh was due for a renal/bladder sonogram, heck, the PA should have told me that while I was there! I was not happy. So now, we are seeing all of them separately starting soon! Gavin is surprising me lately how fast he is growing up. He is becoming his own person. I don't worry about him going to and from school. I don't worry about him at all. He is a good kid and he tries so hard. He is getting better and better at math. He struggles but who doesn't, really? I am so glad he is so grown up. I am so glad that the other boys have a great big brother to look up to. I had a great brother to look up to and to this day he is still my hero. I know Josh and Garrett will look at Gavin the same way!

2014 overview continued....

In March, Joshua had leg surgery. Now, I thought for sure we were in the clear when Dr's kept telling us that his legs were doing great. I thought no surgeries. I should learn by now not to get comfortable with Josh because when I do something big always happens. The orthopedist did a tibial de-rotation. They is where they cut the tendon on the inside of his left foot and wrapped it around his bone and attached it to his pinky toe. Crazy how far the medical world has come! Of course, Spina Bifida Elmo had to have his cast put on. This Elmo has been with Josh for a while now. Elmo has had every surgery Josh has had. Josh was in a wheelchair for about 8 weeks.

Foot after cast came off!! Just imagine his toe pointing in more and you'll get the idea of how his foot was before surgery! Nice, right!

In April, we went to Syracuse NY! We lived in the wonderful area of Syracuse for 3 years while my husband attended law school. It was a great experience and we learned a lot about ourselves. Josh was born there and our testimonies grew and we had to learn to rely on each other as husband and wife instead of on our families. This is probably why we keep visiting the area... that and our wonderful friends. We stayed with Debbie and Thom Riddel and of course we had to go to Dinosaur BBQ. If you have never been to Dinosaur BBQ, you have to go... or buy their BBQ sauce at Wegman's or Giant. It is delicious. It is the only BBQ sauce I buy. You can do anything with it. I usually grab pork or chicken and throw it in the crockpot with a bottle of Dino BBQ slathering sauce and cook it for 8 hours on low. It is so yummy. But this place is the best and we had to visit the restaurant.

Syracuse has an awesome mall that has since been renovated. It was known by us as "the Carousel Mall" because.... wait for it... the big carousel at the mall! The boys loved riding it when we lived there and they still loved it while visiting. It was on the list of to-do's when coming to Syracuse. We love visiting friends there and finding ourselves going back every year. I remember we went back there when my son Gavin was turning 8. We are making it a tradition in our family to take the kids to Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah pageant, the temple, and the church history sites before they get baptized. It was a wonderful experience for Gavin and I hope that each of my boys feel the same way he did.

2014 overview

Well... I'm ba-a-a-a-ck! Yup. After a good... how many years not keeping up my blog, I am making it a new years resolution to write in my blog at least 3 times a week. Let's see if that happens! I may be changing my resolution. I know, I know, the new year has is 2 months away but this is just my trial run I guess. So hang on because I am going to take you through the year 2014 with the Tolboes: In January we welcomed a crazy amount of white soft snow. It was so fun to play in... for the boys that is. Any of you that know me know that going to Russia for 2 years practically scarred me of cold weather. I.hate.it! So, I did the next best thing.. watching my sons through the window. In February, the boys wanted to go bowling... so we did! Gavin was unbelievably good and Josh won (using the cheat bowler they have there). They had a blast. These people are my life. Just thought I'd share! In March, Garrett took a tumbling class. He loved doing somersaults so much. He was the only kid going back multiple times to have the teacher help him. The teacher kept telling me how handsome and cute he was so she let him do it as many times as he wanted. They had a bubble machine there and boy was he in heaven. This kid loves bubbles! Then they each got to wear a belt with a different animals tail on it. He chose the tiger. If the teacher pulled off your tail, you had to run back and grab it and put it on again. He really liked this game. Overall, the class was a success.

More to come tomorrow....

Long lost friends

If anybody knew us in Syracuse NY, you would know that these two boys were inseparable starting at age 2.  Bryan and Gavin had a special kind of relationship.  They were together almost every day for 2 years.  When we had to say goodbye, it was a hard one, but... one day... Bryan moved 8 hours away from us.  8 hours is a long time but at least it is within driving distance!  Bryan and his family came for a visit this summer.  They stayed for a couple days and boy was it fun.  Imagine 10 boys and 2 girls.  And the girls were the moms.  8 screaming, hyper, sweet, fun little boys all 8 or under, all under 1 roof.  SO FUN.  But some things never change.  These two boys were inseparable yet again.  The whole time Bryan's family was here, these two boys were never seen apart.

Gavin absolutely loves having Bryan as his friend.  I don't think that will ever change.

Our trip to Palmyra New York

We thought it would be nice to take the kids to the Hill Cumorah Pageant before Gavin gets baptized.  We use to live in Syracuse NY which is about an hour away from Palmyra.  So, while out there we decided to visit some good friends, the DeGaetano's and the Riddels.  We had so much fun.  We went to the church sites near the temple and saw Joseph's Smith home where he used to live.  The boys had fun posing for this picture.  We even got a smile from Garrett.

We all definitely had to be in the picture.

All the kids had fun waiting for the pageant to start.  These kids were inseperable our entire trip.  

They even had sleep overs.  They had a blast!

At the church sites, Joshua wanted his picture in front of the statue of Joseph Smith and Jesus and Heavenly Father.

Gavin wanted his picture by Joseph Smith.  That man will be this boy's hero some day!

Oh, and he had to have his picture next to the scriptures opened to James 1:5.  Scripture that Joseph Smith read before he decided to pray and ask God which church to join.

It was a great trip.  Very spiritual experience for Gavin.  It was one that I am sure he will never forget.

Joshua's bike

Joshua finally got a bike!!!!  He couldn't be happier.  Just a movie of him riding his bike for your enjoyment.

Swim team!

Gavin has had a great summer with swim team.  He was again in mini splash, a team for beginners!  This year he was one of the most advanced on his team.  He came in first at both of his meets.  We were so proud of him.

This is Gavin getting an award at the end of season banquet.  He did so well.  We are so proud of our little swimmer.  Next year, it is swimming with the bigger kids!  Woo-hoo.

Spring Baseball

Gavin started his second year of baseball this last spring.  He was on the Athletics which is the same team he was on when he played 5T baseball 2 years ago.  And the best part is... he had his dad as his coach.  It was so much fun to go to the games and see the boys all get better and better.  Gavin was the only one for a while who hadn't hit the ball, but his turn soon came!  He got to the point where he was hitting the ball at least once at every game.  We are so proud of him.  He was such a good sport and enjoyed every minute of it... even the hot and humid nights.  One time, I grabbed his white pants out of the dryer and handed them to him and told him to put them on.  We were scrambling to get out the door for a game and he accidentally put his pants on inside out.  I didn't notice until he was on the field playing.  It was hilarious but at least he didn't care! 

Mac coaching and telling Gavin what to do!

Josh turns 5!

Joshua turned 5 years old!  I can't believe it.  It seems like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and just getting to know this little guy.  He has grown up so much.  His personality is so fun.  He loves to hang out with Gavin and be funny.  His stubbornness has come full force and we all know where that comes from!! (insert arrows pointing at his mom here)

So for his birthday this year, we didn't do a friend party, although that is what he wanted.  We didn't do one because Gavin was involved in baseball and our Saturdays were all full.  School was still in session so we couldn't do a week day party.  We decided that next year, he could have a full-on friend party.  So this year was spent skyping Babo and Pa (Mac's parents) and sitting on the toilet doing his nightly ritual -  his enema!  Well, he sure loved his presents too.

Singing happy birthday to Josh while he enjoys his cake and ice cream... nothing better!

We love you, Joshua.  Our days are full of joy and laughter because of you!  

Spring break in Virginia beach

My cousin who lives in Ohio called me one day and asked me if we wanted to join them for spring break in Virginia beach. You don't have to ask our family twice!! We had a blast. The first two days we had good weather. The rest of the trip, we filled our days with an Easter egg hunt, coloring eggs, playing wii, and playgrounds. At least we got one beach day!


Joshua enjoying coloring eggs!



Gavin needed one egg that wasn't colored.


Joshua loves laying with his little brother.



Josh absolutely LoVeD the water. He
would run towards the water and just
when a wave would hit him, he would
crawl away.



Gavin was proud of the deep hole he dug.


These two boys were never apart the whole
trip. This is my cousin's son and they were
born within 1 month of each other. It was so much fun to
see how much fun they were having together.






Fun beach day


Even on the playground they were together. When we
called one child, the other was sure to follow.
What a fun trip.

Cat in the hat day

The day of doctor seuss' birthday, Gavin's school celebrated by everyone dressing up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character. Gavin picked The Cat in the Hat. I made his costume. It turned out real cute. Everyone thought he looked cute. I thought so too!

A face only a mother could love...

This is the face I see every morning! I enjoy this boy every minute of my day!!!

We have been to all this....

It has been a while since I have posted anything. Busy has a whole new meaning for me since kid #3 came along. I just barely transferred all the pictures from the camera to the computer. I had pictures on there from last summer. Sad, I know. So, here is what has been going on with us this last month:

Joshua will be getting new orthotics. Here is a picture of what they look like:

His will not be pink, of course. These are called RGO's. (recipricative gait orthosis). This fancy contraption will help him walk better with his walker. Joshua has such a weak core, so his balance is way off. This will help him balance better, holding onto his hips and letting him walk without assistance, we hope! This will challenge him, of course, even more !

Here are a few pictures of the process to get the RGO custom fit:
They are first fitting Josh for his new braces called an AFO: ankle-foot orthosis. They will fit comfortably inside the RGO.


Still fitting for AFO


Above: they are starting to fit him for his RGO. He has to wear a double layer of a cotton fabric so they can easily cut the cast off without hurting Josh.

Casting: Josh was so patient with them. He had to lay on the table in this position for about 15 minutes. He did so well.

The cast is hardening as they rub it.



Finishing product from inside.



Finished product from the outside.


Here they are fitting him for the boot of the RGO.
The whole process took about 2 1/2 hours. We should be getting all this new stuff in about 4 weeks.



I had to share this picture with you all. Our dog Macy is such a great dog. She loves Joshua a lot. Mac was leaving for work one morning and Josh and Macy both had to look out the window to see him off. I thought this was such a great picture!




Gavin was given an award in school for his perseverance in mathmatics. Math has never come easy for both of his parents so we weren't shocked when math was a little hard for him. He has really strived hard this year to do well in math. We are so proud of him.

His certificate!







Garrett is such a happy baby... now! The first few months were rough because he was diagnosed with acid reflux. He was on Zantac for a while, which helped him to be more comfortable but the spitting up was a joke! Instead of burp clothes, I had to use towels while burping. He would cry all the time because it hurt to spit up. Poor guy! It is now finally starting to subside and there is less spit up. YEA!




This is what Mac caught him doing last night. He is only 3 1/2 months old! The only thing he needs to do is lift his left arm up and he will be rolling over. Crazy! He is so close.

And here he is! Smiley, chunky, happy! This shirt is 6-9 months and it fits. WOW. My other boys were so skinny that they were always under the percentage of weight for their age. He is a little under 75% for weight. This kid makes us all happy.