Update on The Merrill Family

 This is our most recent family photo. We are all dressed up in our cute black and yellow Easter clothes. Don't we look so cute?!

Tom just started a new job with Apollo Education Services just last week. He is really liking the change. Tom has been a single dad while I have been away at school. I am gone most nights and he managed to keep a clean house, make dinner, and get the kids on a bed time routine! He recently did the 60 day Insanity challenge and now has enough energy to keep up with 3 kids. He enjoys racing Raelyn to the house from the park. Of course, Raelyn is on a bike and house a 20 ft head start. Tom's new obsession is (or maybe it always has been his obsession) guns. I think he mentions something about it every day. He just got an early birthday present from me, a new stock for his gun. Who knew something like that would make him so happy?

I have been in my first block of nursing school for the past 5 months. It has been the biggest challenge academically in my life! Exhausting and time consuming! I forget that I am even pregnant!!! Actually, I am in denial. I am now 24 weeks and 5 days, that is 6 months pregnant! Just this last week, now that school is out for the summer, I have finally started nesting. I had no time before. I was so focused on school, if not school then my kids. That's pretty much been my life for the past 5 months. Now that all my classes are done and I only have 2 Saturday clinicals left, I am feeling lost. What do I do with all this spare time I have? I mean, my shows have ended for the season so I have nothing to watch on TV. I wont start summer school for a couple of more week, so I don't have anything to work on. My girls are out of school so the Mom taxi is on vacation. I am just home all day hanging out with my kids!



Maelee just turned 4 last month!!! She has Mastered all her goals in preschool. The school created 3 new speech goals. She already mastered 1 of the 3. So it looks like she will be released from speech preschool by the beginning of next year. Maelee enjoys being a girl! She loves to do hair, her own, mine, and her Barbie dolls. She loves make-up, clothes, and shoes. She has a sense of style. She will tell Tom and I that she likes our outfit and shoes. She always notices when I am wearing something new. I was going to go to her school and she asked "Mom, are you going to wear your new sandals?" I replied "Yes, I am." She said "OK, good." Really, I have to dress a certain way in front of your friends. Just yesterday, Tom was looking at a little yearbook Maelee's teacher made. As they were flipping through the pages, Tom was asking about each child. When it came across a certain little boy, Tom asked "Is this little boy nice?" Maelee said matter of fact "Yes, he is my boyfriend!" She is only 4!!!

 Raelyn turned 5 in January. She just graduated from preschool last Friday! She is so excited to finally go to kindergarten! She will be attending Benjamin Franklin Charter School. She gets excited about every time we past by it. Raelyn is definitely the oldest. She tries to be a mom to Tyson all the time. She loves little kids. She often is trying to tell me what I need to as a mom and lectures me if I didn't do something right. None of this ever goes over well with me, I mean who wants a 5 year old telling you what to do?! She is so excited to have a new sibling! She is always talking about when the baby comes we can do this and that. She is going to be a great little helper when the baby comes! Raelyn loves to have things clean and organize. She will come and re-organize something after I did it or tell me how to do it. I am trying hard to let her do it her way, which isn't easy for me. But she is a girl after my own heart. She is SO much like me when I was a kid.

Tyson is our youngest, but our biggest handful!!! He is all boy! That is for sure. He enjoys wrestling and rough housing. He doesn't care how big you are, he know he has strength to keep up. He is now potty trained!!! He turned 2 in February and he was about 75% trained in March. Not too bad for a boy. In the last 2 weeks he has come a long way. He now tells us that he needs to go, instead of me taking him every 2 hours. He is finally pooping on the potty! I was getting tired of pooping undies and wet clothes from accidents from not taking him potty in time. He is often dry at night. We tried to let him sleep in undies last night, but that FAILED. He was wet by midnight. Go figure. Something even cuter has happen this week!!! He now pees standing up! We have tried teaching him that so when out in public we don't have to completely undress him to have him straddle the toilet. Which, BTW, is not fun when you are 6 months pregnant in a tiny stall. Whew.. I am glad I am diaper free for the first time in 5 years! Well, for a few months anyway. So back to Tyson, he is so naughty. He is always breaking something or hurting a sister. He takes up so much of my energy! But he is very sweet at the same time. Maelee was sick yesterday and asked for a blanket. He went and got her one and wanted to put it on her. If he sees anything pink he tells me "Rae Rae" or anything purple "Mae Mae." He is always getting 3 food items out one for him and one for each sister. He is always too bad.

The Baby

The baby is due Sept. 7! We are not finding out the sex of this baby! I want a surprise they day he/she is born! It is fun guessing what it will be and going back and forth on what we think it is. I am surprised on how many people are annoyed that I am not finding out! I don't know why it bugs them so much! I mean 25 years ago, they didn't have ultrasounds. No one knew what they were having.  I only found a few people who think it is fun to be surprised. Honestly, I was all about finding out the sex with the other 3. I made my appointment right at 17 weeks because I couldn't wait to find out. Since I already have 2 girls and a boy, it doesn't matter what I am having. I also had a hard time delivering Tyson, so I thought if I didn't know the sex that gives me a big incentive to push him out!

This is what is up with our family! I hope you enjoyed catching up with us!