Emma ~ 4 Years Old

Dear Emma,

A few days ago you turned 4! Where as the time gone? I know it's certainly seemed to have passed by in the blink of an eye. You were asking every day when you woke up if it was your birthday for a couple weeks before your special day. You are so very excited to be getting bigger. I, on the other hand, would like for it to slow down...way down.  Four years old means only one more year home with Mommy before you're a really big girl and head off to kindergarten and surely in another blink of an eye, you'll be off to college. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but it's what it seems like.

You are definitely a little mommy. You could run this house just like me if the need be and some days you certainly try. :-) You sometimes take the words right out of my mouth and it's kind of scary just how alike we think and act.  Daddy often says he feels like there's two of me in the house.  Hahaha! Poor Daddy! ;-) Some of the things you say, I have no idea where they come from, but they sure do put a smile on our faces and make us giggle often.  Gigi really gets a kick out of it! Sometimes the things that come out of your mouth are quotes from movies, but the timing of when you use them, is just perfect. And hilarious.  One day you and I were out to dinner and we were just chatting and you said to me, "So...Do you work out?"  Hahaha, just like a total pick up line.  Turns out that one was from Despicable Me 2.  Another time I showed you an old picture of Daddy from high school and you said something about it making your eyes well up with tears. That one's from Monsters University.  I'm thinking you might be an actress. Or you watch too much tv.  Probably a little of both!

You are quite sassy, but also very smart and so very sweet.  You are constantly giving us hugs and kisses and randomly telling us that you love us.  And boy do we love you, sweet girl.  You love Aiden and Aubrey SO much too. Aubrey wants to be with you all the time.  She loves to come over and give you hugs or sit on your head. You're so good with her.  Even when she's driving you nuts, you don't lose it with her, well, not too much. And Aiden? You say is your best friend. <3 You two love playing Minecraft together.  I still don't know how you understand what to do on that game because I still don't get it, but you love playing it by yourself and with Aiden. If Aiden is home from school, you are or want to be right there by his side!

You love to do many things! Some of your favorites are arts and crafts, reading, drawing pictures, playing with your tablet and leappad, playing outside, watching tv and movies and playing with Aiden and Aubrey. You just finished your first swimming class last night (5/6/14).  You LOVED it and weren't afraid of the water at all.  Ms. Michele (your teacher) said you were an excellent back floater and were really good at kicking your legs.  You liked playing with the noodles and floating balls the best.  You love to help Mommy cook in the kitchen when you can. You are one of the best cookie and cake dough stirrers that I know! Some of your favorite foods right now are hot dogs, cheesestrings, popsicles, chocolate, french fries, and "chicken balls" (popcorn chicken) from walmart.  Your favorite restaurant is Grotto's (according to you) and that's where we went to dinner on your birthday to eat.  Your favorite things to watch right now are Princess Sofia, Doc McStuffins, and princess movies, like Aladdin and Tangled.

We went to doctor on your birthday because you weren't feeling well and unfortunately you had strep throat...on your birthday! What a rotten present! But we found out that you are almost 40 lbs! I told you, you are growing so fast!

One of your favorite people to hang out with is Gigi!  Boy, do you love Gigi! And she loves you right back.  She always says there's just something about you.  And there really is, you are simply one of the best.  I feel so extremely lucky that I was chosen to be your mommy!!  I love you soooo much, Emma Cheryl! I can't wait to see what you discover and grow into as the year passes...just not to quickly, okay?

I love you!!

Love,
Mommy

Questions with a 4 yr old Emma

Wow! I haven't touch my blog since Aubrey's first birthday! She's gonna be 2 in just 3 months! Yikes! SO much has happened, but having 3 little ones takes lots of time and something has to take a back seat. The reason why I blogged in the first place was to have all our memories stored in one place that we can go back to look at whenever we want. For that reason, I've gotta try and find some time...I have no clue when it'll be so I'm not holding me to it! Hahaha

Our oldest daughter and middle child, Emma, just turned 4 on May 5.  4. I can't believe it! Although most days it seems like she's a 16 yr old so I'll take that she's really only 4.  I'll try some day soon (Hopefully?) to write about her birthday party {Princess Sofia}.

For now I have the questions that I ask the kids every year.  It was fun to see how some answers changed from last year and how some stayed the same.

Questions with a 4 yr old Emma

1.             What are you going to be when you grow up?  A doctor {Thank you Doc McStuffins!}

2.             What is Aiden going to be when he grows up?  A robber  {Geez, I hope not!} Aubrey? I don’t know. Well she should be a princess if she was big.

3.             How old is Mommy? Uhhhh, 16!

4.             How old is Daddy?  Uh, 61? 

5.             What is your favorite place to go?  Yogi Bear’s! {A campground}

6.             What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Watch movies with you

7.             What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Play games with him

8.             What is Mommy's job?  Uhhh, buying stuff?? {My husband thought this was really funny and perfect!}

9.             And Daddy's?  I don’t know. Dada what job do you have?

10.          What is your favorite toy?  The princess one. The princess castle.

11.          What is something Mommy always says to you?  I love you!

12.          What makes Mommy happy?  When I don’t step on your toe

13.          Who is your best friend?  Aiden <3

14.          How do you know Mommy and Daddy love you?  Because you love me.

15.          What does Mommy do if you're not around?  Watch tv

16.          What is Mommy really good at?  Putting stuff together

17.          What is Mommy really bad at?  Fixing lights you’re bad at

18.          What is Daddy really good at?  Putting stuff together too

19.          What is Daddy really bad at?  Breaking glass

20.          What is your favorite food? Hot dogs!!! {And that's because the poor girl only gets them when we're camping or at birthday parties}

21.          What's your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my trike!

22.          What is your favorite thing to do with Aiden? Play Minecraft Aubrey? Play with her

23.          What are you scared of?  Spiders

24.          Who is the funniest person you know?  Gigi when she tickles me

25.          Who's the best dancer that you know? Mommy because you’re a great friend

                26.      What is your favorite color?  Pink and purple

                27.      What is your favorite tv show? Princess Sofia

                28.      What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch? A cheese sandwich

                29.      What's your favorite game?  Minecraft

                30.      What is your favorite snack? Cheese string

                31.       What is your favorite animal? A baby chick

                32.       What is your favorite song? This is the Best Day of my Life by American Authors

                33.       What is your favorite book?  I am Not Going to School {This is not her favorite, it's just one we just checked out at the library and it was on her mind. We've only read it once!}

                34.       What is your favorite holiday? Halloween!

                35.       What is your favorite drink? Pink Lemonade

Happy 1st Birthday Aubrey

Dear Aubrey Grace,

1 year.  It went by in a flash.  I know it always seems that way, but with your brother and sister also keeping us busy, your first year went by in what seems like a blink of an eye.  I would swear we were just at the hospital yesterday to meet you and already it's been 365 days. Wow! 

I love watching the little girl you are becoming.  You are a pretty happy girl who loves to giggle, make tons of messes {in record speed, might I add}, and gets into all kinds of things! You also can be sassy at times, especially with the looks you give! 

You are always on the go! I don't know if you are trying to keep up with Aiden and Emma or if you're trying to get away from them, but you started moving pretty early in life and even took your first steps at 9 months.  Now, at 12 months, you're pretty much a pro and even get to running a lot.  I love watching your chubby little legs go when you're on the move.  It's not always graceful and you often end up crashing down, but that doesn't stop you, you get right back up and head off again! You have had quite a few boo-boos from some tumbles, but after a little snuggling and some kisses you are off on your way again!

You are a pretty determined little girl and you know what you want.  If we have something you want, you'll come stare at us and thrust out your belly, while throwing your arms down at your sides and grunt at us. You'll keep that up until we either give you what you want or until we distract you.  I've tried and tried you get you on video doing it, and every time, you decide whatever we have is not worth it and stop and walk away.  Stinker!

You love your brother and sister so much.  You want to be right with them all the time and follow them all around.  Of course there are times when they drive you crazy with too many hugs and kisses, but they can't help themselves.  You get so excited when Aiden chases you all around.  No one can quite make you squeal with happiness like they can!

You don't have too many words in your vocabulary yet, but you babble all the time.  Some words that you are saying are: Mama, Oh Wow!, thank you, sit down, Aiden, Dada, and ut oh. {There might be a couple more that I'm forgetting on the spot.} One of my favorite things is when someone or something makes a noise and you'll stop what you're doing and gasp and look around for the noise and then look at us to make sure that we heard it as well.  :-) I wish I had a video of that, but then you'd be distracted and wouldn't notice the noises around us.

You love to wave goodbye and blow kisses to us when we leave the house and you'll wave to pretty much any car that drives by. When we were camping, you were the welcoming committee to all the campers that showed up, as every car passed by, there you were waving to them!

And blowing your kisses because it's too cute not to share...

You are quite the dare devil and I'm sure that you're going to be the one that has us in the emergency room first! You've discovered how to climb up on chairs.  At first it was the little table chairs, which immediately lead to you climbing on top of the table and then you figured out you could climb on the chairs out on the back deck.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you learn how to escape from your crib.  We'll just hope that we still have plenty of time before that happens!

Yup. I told you, you are nonstop with the naughtiness!

Speaking of your crib, you are still an awesome sleeper! You still take 2 naps a day {if we're home} and are ready for bed by 7:30 pm. We'll head up to your room with a bottle of milk and I'll rock you while you finish your bottle.  I know now that you're 1, I need to start weening the bottle away, but it's our time and I love it.  I know, with you being our third baby, that those sweet night time snuggles don't last long enough so I'll take full advantage and soak up every minute that I can! After we rock, you'll go down {usually without a fuss} and sleep until 6:45-7:45 the next morning. When you wake up, you'll babble to yourself for awhile and throw everything that's in your crib {a blanket, a little taggie blanket, your seahorse, and a stuffed duck} out onto the floor, except your duck, you usually throw him in your hamper.  Could you be a future basketball star?? :-)

You are still a great eater! You might even be the best eater of the 3 of you.  You'll try pretty much anything we offer, even if you'll only take a couple bites of it.  You LOVE snacks! You get that from your mommy, for sure!! You still only have your two bottom teeth so we're limited on what we can give you, but some of your favorites are:  peas, green beans, grilled cheese, pancakes, cereal bars, yogurt, sandwich cheese, crackers, and cake.  Oh yes, sweet girl, you definitely have a sweet tooth! 

You are such a silly girl.  Lately when we see you doing something you shouldn't be, you'll stop and run over to us and hug our legs. :-) Smart girl...trying to distract us with your sweet, cuteness.  And I love it how you constantly shake your head no to whatever question we might ask you.  You often shake your head no, right on cue to the question.

You love to "tackle" us if we're on the floor and smother us with your big, slobbery kisses. Sometimes instead of the kisses, its the hair pulling. I much prefer the kisses!

You love to dance! Whenever you hear music in the kitchen, you'll stop and start dancing.  I think you're favorite song is "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke.  You seem to get the most excited when that one comes on.

You love to look at yourself on the phone and stick your tongue in and out. {It's hard to describe so just watch below.}

You make the cutest little squishy, smiley face all the time.  I love that squishy face.

You are such a joy and bring so many laughs, smiles, and sweet memories to our life. I can't wait to see what this next year brings! I love you, Aubrey Grace! <3

Love You,
Mommy

And your 12 month stats:

Weight:  22 lbs 9 oz (75th percentile)
Height:  30.91 in   (95th percentile)

Aiden's 6th Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated Aiden's sixth birthday.  Originally he told us that he wanted a Phineas and Ferb party, but then we saw Wreck-It Ralph and he became slightly obsessed.  So Phineas and Ferb were pushed back to maybe next year and we went with Ralph.  It was meant to be in my eyes.  We went to Party City one day looking for things for Emma's party and there was all the Wreck-It Ralph supplies...on clearance...for $1 each.  Thank you very much! We scooped up everything we could!

Other than buying the tableclothes, plates, and napkins, there wasn't much out there in the decorations world.  Aiden's favorite is Fix it Felix, but everything had Ralph on it so we needed to find an invitation/decorations that would work for us. We finally found an invitation on Etsy.

(Again, I'm not a computer expert so the ugly nonsense at the bottom is the only way I know how to blur out our address and phone number)  Looking back, I wish I had him where a different colored shirt in his picture, but I needed to get them done, like yesterday, at that point so it was whatever he had on! In the end, he loved them so we were happy!

Next it was lots and lots of looking online to find ideas for decorations.  And? There weren't many. Good thing he's a 6 yr old boy and doesn't care. :-) Lucky for us we had the Wreck-It Ralph tableclothes which counted as a big part of our decorations.  I decided to go with the Sugar Rush theme for centerpieces and came up with these:

 I loved them. And Aiden and Emma already have big plans to eat the giant lollipops!

I made Emma a banner for her birthday and what you do for one, you have to do for the other so Aiden needed one too.  Since Fix It Felix is his favorite I decided to go with those colors and added little pictures of Felix and Ralph.

 And a slightly closer look...

 I found this idea for favors on Pinterest.  Surprisingly, they were super easy to make and probably cheaper than finder another idea for favors!

 Our favorite cake lady did an awesome cake for us! We've been going to her for years and she never disappoints! I wish I was that talented!!

 

 Finally, after all those preparations, it was about time for everyone to arrive! Aiden was excited and had been counting down since at least the day before!

 As soon as the kids arrived, I didn't see my little man again until it was present time! He's still stone faced when he opens gifts.  That one is not gonna let you see him smile!

 

 

 And my favorite?? Him sitting with his daddy. <3

 After presents, it was back to running around until cake!

 Making a wish! And no, he would not tell me what it was for because then it might not come true. :)

Our little man was shown so much love that day and it was an awesome party until the evening when he started acting a little strange.  He's not one to ever tell you what's wrong (yeah, I love that) so I was pretty frustrated.  He actually ended up going to bed around 7 with his friends and family still partying without him.  Turns out (we found out on Monday) that he had strep throat.  What a rotten birthday gift!!  Thank goodness he's feeling much better now!!

Thanks to everyone that helped make it a great day!

Aiden's 6th Birthday

June 7th was Aiden's 6th birthday. I was so happy to find out that his last day of school was June 6th so he'd be home with me on his actual birthday! Yay!!

After spending the afternoon at Aunt Kelly's for a playdate, we were going to go to dinner where ever Aiden chose.  He wanted to go to Nino's.  Ahhh, yes. Patrick and I's favorite place to go when we lived up north.  We've taught him well. :)

Aiden had been begging to open his presents all day, but with Patrick working, going to playdate, and me having a dentist appointment in there, I had been putting it off until the evening.  Big meanie. I know.  I make myself think it spreads the birthday out longer.  To a poor kid? It's torture.  It was also an extremely yucky, rainy day.  Honestly, I didn't want to drag everyone out into that mess to eat.

We gave Aiden two choices.  1.  We could still go to Nino's and open gifts when we got home. Or 2. Open the presents and then get something quick to eat so he could play with them and we'd go to dinner on a different day.  (We knew he's want to play with them.)

What would you pick if you were a kid? Yeah, me too.  He chose 2.  So present time it was!

 

 Opening his present from Emma and Aubrey...

 Yeah Luigi's Mansion! Thanks girls!

 And his big gift that I know he wasn't expecting because I constantly told him not to hold his breath because it was way too expensive, but Patrick decided he really, really wanted to get it for him...

 The Wii U!

 Yup, that face right above is probably the most excited face he'll give away.  I don't know why he tries to hide it, but I'm guessing that on the inside, he was super pumped!!

 And the whole reason he wanted the Wii U...the Mario game

 

 (And can I just say that that stupid shadow in the pictures is driving me nuts!!!)

Happy Birthday you be 6 year old you!

And I couldn't let him get away from me without a picture on his birthday! So hard to believe it's been 6 years!!<3 

Gosh, he's handsome! What a perfect day!

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Dear Aiden,

     On this day 6 years ago, our lives forever changed when a beautifully perfect baby boy arrived (in quite a hurry).  {You can read about that adventure here.} 6 years. I still have to stop myself and think before I tell someone how old you are because I just cannot believe how big you are.  I know everyone always says it, but it really does seem to have flown by all in an instant.

You, 6 years ago - June 7, 2007

     There are times when I look at you  and you'll make a face or do something and and I am taken back a few years.  I can still see that sweet little boy with big chunky thighs toddling around getting into all sorts of stuff and saying all kinds of sweet and funny things. The little boy that insisted on "rocking wiff Mommy" every night before you'd get into bed, who would cling to us in an unfamiliar situation or screamed and cried for us when we first dropped you off at daycare.  Now that you're 6? You are a big, brave guy and though you do still need us...it's not like it once was.  There were times when I dropped you off at school this year that if your friend, Ethan, was there, you'd forget to even turn around and wave bye.  And then there was the day that you told me you'd rather kiss me good-bye in the van so that you didn't have to do it in front of everyone.  I knew that day was coming, but I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't hurt a little that you were to that age already. You, being the sweet boy that you are, could tell I was a little sad and decided to give me a kiss the next day up at the doors instead of in the van.  Once you saw that it made me happy, that's what you continued to do each day.  Unless of course, Ethan was there! :-) Thank you for that. It made me extremely happy.

     You are the best big brother we could have hoped for for the girls.  You and Emma have your moments, don't get me wrong, but more times than not, you two are inseparable.  I still love watching you play or listening to your conversations when you think I'm not paying attention.  And Aubrey? You love to hold Aubrey (when she'll let you) and I love to watch your reaction when she learns something new.  You are always so proud of her.

     Speaking of proud...Daddy and I are SO proud of you!  You just finished up kindergarten (June 6, 2013) today.  You were an excellent student and always strived for perfection.  If you had a paper that you brought home and something was marked incorrect, you would have to erase it and fix it before we could see it. :) Ms. Stone was your teacher and you loved her. I can see why, she taught you so, so many things! In fact you told me once this year that you wanted to stay in kindergarten forever and that you knew if you did badly, you'd have to stay there again next year so that was your plan. :-)  I'm glad you were too smart for that plan to work out! You made a few good friends while you were in kindergarten this year too.  We often heard stories about Ethan, Joshua, Cole, Seth, and Madison. I really hope that a couple of them end up in your class again next year. You aren't very happy that school is over for the summer because you know that when you go back you'll have a new teacher and classmates.  You'll be just fine! No worries!

     You love to do so many things! You love to ride your bike! Daddy took the training wheels off a month or two ago and it didn't take you long to get the hang of it! Within an hour or so you were zipping all over the place! You love going camping with your cousins.  You guys will go from sun up to sun down! You love having movie nights.  I'm not sure if it's the love of the movies or getting to stay up a little later with us. :-) You even taught yourself how to swing. Yay! Now we can go outside and you don't have to ask Mommy or Daddy to push you for hours!

     You are still a pretty shy guy and do NOT like it when you think people are watching you. That being said, you, me, Daddy, Emma, and Aubrey still have some super fun kitchen dance parties!! I think you're just going to be a man of few words.  You have definitely come out of your shell this year, but you still aren't the kid that will walk up and talk to anyone or give a detailed answer to anyone who asks you something for that matter.  Even if you know the person, you usually tend to give the bare minimum and move along. :-)

Last full day of kindergarten

     I can't wait to see how you grow and change from here, but if you'd like to slow it down...just a little...I would be so very happy!!

I love you so much, sweet boy!!

Mother's Day 2013

Love you,

Mommy

Emma's 3rd Birthday

Emma's actual birthday was the day after her party, so we still had a little more celebrating to do!  :-) She slept in since she stayed up late partying the night before. And I actually ending up waking her up just before 9.

(With Aiden and Emma since they were both born during the day, I take their picture each year at the exact moment they were born, at least until they have to be away from me at school.) Here's our sweet girl at exactly 3 years old, May 5, 2013 at 8:54 am.

 

Hahaha! Excuse her party hair/bed head!!

We headed downstairs for breakfast aka cake because it's okay when it's your birthday, and to play with some of her new toys!

 

We laid around for most of the morning being lazy.  After some lunch and baths, we decided to head to the store so Emma could buy something with her birthday money she got from her party.  She had wanted this garden table that she didn't get so we went to check that out or see if there was anything else she might wanted instead.  In the end, she decided to get a sand table, which I'm glad for because I think they'll all play with that longer than the garden table.

We also had to remember to measure Emma on our growth chart to see just how much she grew over the year.  I love looking at it to see how big they've gotten! It's funny how it always seems to be about the same amount in between each year. And in this picture you can see that Aiden was a bit taller at 3 than Emma is.  

We still had one more present for our girl that we saved so she'd have something to open on her real birthday and so she'd have a chance to open something since she refused to at her party.

A bike! Now she can ride like Aiden! We had to go outside once Daddy built it so she could test it out. It's still kind of tricky for her to go and keep going.  I guess riding bikes uses some muscles in her legs that she just hasn't gotten the hang of how to use yet.  She did get going a couple times and was so excited!!

 

We did get her a helmet just to be safe and obey the laws but do kids on tricycles really need helmets? I honestly don't know. She insisted that we get it out because it would help her go.  I just love this big ole helmet on her little head!

 

I still can't believe she's 3!! She's an awesome little girl and I couldn't be more proud to call her mine!