Dear Joseph,

Happy Birthday! We officially have a teenager in the family now that you are 13. I asked Dad if he wanted to write the letter, but he all but said he was going to get AI to do it. I'm sure you wouldn't mind, but I'm going to stick with tradition. Onto the letter!

In addition to officially being a teenager, you are officially taller than me. Hard to tell, but if we line up, you have a smidge on me. My prediction was correct on that. I buy clothes from the men's section now and I don't think you mind as you prefer more plain, grown-up versions of things. Something new? You have glasses! And will be getting braces very shortly as well. You have a decent appetite and still love the same things (Fanta, sushi, pickles, etc) but recently I've been buying coconut greek yogurt and you love that stuff. You love anything lemon as well and recently had the idea to open up a lemonade stand. We'll have to try that soon.

 After reading your last letter, I am so happy to report that you now have friends! Your best friend is Troy, but you have also made friends with boys named Andrew and Aiden. Perhaps you will be open to even more friendships. You are kind of at the stage where you are being influenced by your friends. You went through the 6 7 craze like most middle schoolers, and you are signed up for orchestra. That is something I never thought would happen, but your friend Andrew plays the viola, and you figured orchestra is popular now and are willing to try it. I'm not going to hold my breath, but it makes me happy to see you interact more with kids your age.

School has been a roller coaster in 7th grade! You are capable, but we have to be on you like flies on honey to make sure everything is turned in. You managed to make the honor roll for the second nine weeks, but here we are at the end of the school year, just limping along to get to the finish line. You took Spanish this year, which counts as a high school credit! Hopefully, it transfers all right when we finally make it to New Mexico. You don't want to take Spanish II, hence taking orchestra instead. Overall, you seem to enjoy your school, especially now that you have friends. You take the bus most days, which extends your school day quite a bit, but you have a 3DS to occupy the time, so you wouldn't mind too much. 

Let's see, what interests do you have? You love to learn about any type of cryptids and your favorite is el chupacabra. We visited Roswell, and you've taken a liking to aliens as well. You liked to make your own cyphers for a while and attempted to make a cypher club, but the word didn't get out much, and it fizzled before it could take start. You love Pokemon XY and ZA, so anything to do with the Kalos region. Your favorite pokemon still appears to be Sylveon, but you love Zygarde as well. Sadly, you did not stick Scouts out. You realized you didn't like tent camping that much, and I don't blame you with this hot Texas weather. But instead we invested in the Hack Packs from Crunch Labs by Mark Rober. Maybe you'll learn a lot from doing that instead.

We've been attempting to get you into after-school behavior therapy for autism for months now. I felt you needed extra support to cope with things and to know how to behave in certain situations. Maybe we should have done it a while ago, but now I know why I avoided it. If it's not the doctor's office, it's the insurance. If it's not the insurance, it's the therapy place. Hopefully, I'll be able to report all the good things by the next letter. You struggle with conversations with others. You also struggle with coping with things that annoy you. You bite your hand really hard and cannot stand when your siblings bother you, intentionally or not. You immediately resort to yelling or even getting physical. Needless to say, we need the help! 

 

I'm interested to see what this year has in store for you! I sure hope it's a good year and you continue to make friends and keep up in school. I also hope you continue to participate in Young Men's and gain a testimony of Jesus Christ. I love you and your truly unique personality. Thank you for being our little guinea pig for our parenting! Keep being the amazing boy you are.

Love,

Mom

Dear Noah,

Happy belated 5^th Birthday! I procrastinated long enough getting this letter out. The month of your birthday was a little crazy between guests, travel, and Dad being out of town for three weeks. I was reading your last letter only to find that not a lot has changed. Nevertheless, let’s move onto the letter!

 

Another year, still very tall for your age! You are also still quite the picky eater, but something added to your list of favorite foods is ranch. You eat ranch with your chicken, corndogs, and even your quesadillas. You’ve become even more independent with food items, including attempting to make your own Ramen in the microwave! You can be a little demanding when making requests, and I often have to remind you to say please and thank you. We’ll get there!

 

This past year, a new interest popped up, dinosaurs! Your older brother got into Jurassic Park at some point, and you were hooked. Your absolute favorite dinosaur is a swimming dinosaur (you’re not too picky about which ones). You used to watch Dino Ranch, but now you are hooked on Dinosaur Train. We’ve already accrued so many dino things in the past year between toys, clothes, underwear, and even Band-aids. You can probably guess what the theme of your birthday was!

Something new since the last letter is starting school! I was worried about how long the days would be, but you adjusted really well. Your teacher says you are super smart (you are even starting to read short words) just struggle paying attention! Your best friend is Analisa, and you’ve made some other friends as well. Sadly only one of your classmates was able to make it to your birthday party but you didn’t seem to mind! I can’t believe you are starting Kindergarten in a few short months!

 

As far as your personality, you are a very silly boy! It’s easy to get you to laugh, and you love to have fun. Like I said earlier, you are Mr. Independent. I often find you in the front yard and recently you took your little bike on a bike ride by yourself! I had to chase you down halfway down the street. You are the ultimate mess maker as well. If there is a mess in the house, 90% of the time it can be traced back to you. You aren’t picky about where, as long as there is space where a mess can be made. We need to work on that.

You and your siblings are frienemies. Eli and Eden are often good to you, and Eden loves playing with you, but if there is a disagreement, you are not afraid to show your dismay. You will yell and hit or kick right away, and we are learning to use our words. You and Joseph do not get along and have a hard time with each other since Joseph hates having his things touched and likes to tease. This explosive behavior bled into school, so we are working on how to solve conflicts calmly, but it has been hard on your parents. Despite all this, you fit in our family nicely. You are so darn cute!

 

I know you are going to have a good year, Noah! We love having our silly, mischievous boy around to keep us on our toes. I hope you continue to learn patience and solve your problems in a healthy, constructive way. You are one special Child of God, and I look forward to seeing you grow and learn every day. We love you!

Love,

Mama

Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner Surprise Visit

I received one of the biggest surprises of my life on my 32nd birthday! My parents surprised me with a visit! I was expecting them the following month for a solar eclipse happening in San Antonio, so I absolutely had NO idea they were coming until I heard the doorbell ring and I checked the camera. I was super confused, thinking maybe it was showing me a recording from the past, but when I realized who was there, I was so surprised and happy! My parents were taking care of my grandma for so long, they couldn't up and go anywhere without a lot of work on their end to make sure she got the care she needed. Sadly (but not unexpectedly), my Grandma passed away earlier that year. This allowed my parents to do this!

Our first outing was trying La Tropicana and their many goodies that remind me of Mexico.

Noah's birthday is first, of course, on the 1st. Here is the birthday boy! He requested a green birthday, so that's what I did.

Along with his green decorations Noah helped me make a green cake. That's all he asked for! 

Green cake in question:

 

Probably not the most exciting outing for a toddler, but my mom and I took Noah to the river walk to go on a boat ride. The River Walk is always interesting with a stroller. We enjoyed our tour guide, but sadly, it's been long enough that I don't remember all the funny jokes he made. We also stopped by the Alamo because, you know, it's so close.

 

 

We properly celebrated his birthday when all the kids came home from school.

 

Happy Birthday, Noah!!

The next day was my birthday, and I requested we all go to the zoo since it's been years since I've been to the San Antonio Zoo. Overall, it was a pleasant day with fun animals to look at.

Komodo Dragon

King Cobra

Jaguar

Hippo

Gaboon Viper. They are my favorite snakes to watch move.

Gharial

Joseph's favorite exhibit and what got him into cryptids: el chupacabra

I've been eyeing this HEB cake and finally got to try it!

It was just so nice to have my parents over, and I'm incredibly blessed to have parents who take the time, effort (and money) to come see us. I love you guys!! When it was time to say goodbye, it was nice to know we would be seeing them again the next month!