Three!!

Today my baby girl turns three.  How is that even possible?  She is growing up way too fast. Seriously, wasn't it just yesterday that I posted these pictures of her?

 

Molley can make anyone smile. She is a stubborn little gal, with a slight flair for the dramatic. She loves pink, princesses, and her brother. She can mess with him, but no one else had better try! She loves to play outside with her friend, hunt for frogs with her David, but keep the bugs way from her! Dancing and singing are some of her favorite activities, and one of these days she will be potty trained. Molley loves to wake me up in the morning and cuddle. I may tell Nate that I don't like to get up so early, but I secretly love the morning cuddles. She cares for her babies, and makes a mean cup of pretend tea. She will even make you pizza if you ask.

Happy birthday, baby girl. We are so blessed that God picked us to be your parents. We love you so much!!!

1st Birthday

 

 

2nd Birthday

 

This is a few weeks old. Catching her still has become a challenge!!

 



 



6!

I know I say this every year, but wasn't my baby born just yesterday?!

5 was a big year for David. He accomplished many things this past year!

He played his first season of soccer!

He graduated from pre-k!

He learned to swim without a puddle jumper!
He started kindergarten!

He had his first real campout with daddy!
He had his first snow day!
He started playing baseball!

He moved into a new house AND switched schools!
He learned how to ride a 2 wheeler!
He go to drive a boat!

I know the year was filled with so many more accomplishments! He is growing up much to quickly, but I love watching him explore his world. He is into science and figuring out how things work, just like his daddy.

I love you David, more than you will ever know.

Time flies...

SO much happened in March and April.

We listed our house, sold our house, and moved into a new house. ENORMOUS news.

The Easter bunny found our house. EXCITING news.

David started at a new school. CHANGING news.

David learned to ride a 2 wheeler, HUGE news.

Molley made a new best friend, AMAZING news.

David started playing baseball, SPORTS news.

All of these things and more, yet I did not make a single post.

I will not win blogger of the year.

We are loving our new neighborhood! There are kids - so many kids, so many laughs, squeals, smiles, and hugs. We have some pretty cool neighbors, a great location, and the prefect house for our family.

Most of these have made their way to Facebook, but here are some of the highs from the past few months.

 

Kindergarten

It's official - I have a kindergartner in the house.

And in case you were wondering, I still think of David like this, bundled with his favorite blankie.

David was beyond excited. His favorite part, the bus. Wanna know why? "No seat belts mom." Yeah, not sure how I feel about that one.

He gets on the bus early, like 6:45 early. We are hoping he wants daddy to take him to school eventually (which would mean daddy could drop off as late as 7:50). He is used to getting up, watching some TV, goofing off, and then going to daycare not on any set schedule. Not anymore. Kiddo will get up at 6am, brush his teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and out the door he will go.

For day 1, he didn't want to buy a lunch, so I packed. Packing is my preference for budget reasons, but we will let him decide. Wanna know what he learned on his first day?
"Mom, if you don't have a lunch, you just go in and they give you a tray of food!" 
When do you think he will figure out that someone has to pay for that lunch? 
Day two he totally wanted to buy a school lunch.

If you don't listen in kindergarten, you walk laps at recess. A classmate found that out the hard way on day one. David does not want to walk laps. He will always listen to his teacher.

It's okay to sit with friends on the bus and at lunch and not know or ask their names. "Mom, maybe tomorrow I'll ask."

A few weeks before school started this conversation was had...
"Mom, why can't I ride the bus home"
"Well, buddy, mommy can't get there to get you off the bus. Mommy doesn't get off work until after you get out of school."
"Oh, is that why I have to go to K-Care"
"Yup buddy, it is."
"Oh, I wanted to ride the bus home."

After his first day...
"Mom, I love kindergarten! The bus was awesome! Can I come again tomorrow?!"
"Yes, buddy"
"Mom, I liked K-Care too. I got chips and salsa!"

Thank you for taking such good care of my baby.

Kindergarten will continue to be a huge adjustment for us. David and Molley are no longer in the same place for ease of pick-up. She is very concerned about where he is after he gets on the bus. David now has a very structured day. We don't have those at all in the summer. Now he will be on the bus (until we convince him otherwise) at 6:45 and I will pick him up by 4 from K-Care. This is a much longer day than he is used to. We will work to figure out how our schedule needs to change. Molley isn't used to getting up that early, and neither is Nate for that matter! I am also used to running errands after school, and those will end as we adjust to David being at school for much more of his day. I know that he will be fine - I just need to adjust to my baby being away from me for so much longer!

The excitement melts my heart! I wish that everyone could see the world through the eyes of a 5year old. So magical, so simple, so wonderful.

Molley is 2!

I can't believe that my baby turns 2 today. It seems like just yesterday we were on our way to meet our beautiful miracle from God, and today she turns 2.

She has been an amazing addition to our family. She is a handful, for sure! She is stubborn and always wants to do things for herself, or at least try before she lets you help. She is active, loving, loud, and a lover of Minnie Mouse. She is a girl who knows what she wants, and is not afraid to let anyone know what that is or what she thinks. She can be a girly girl at times, but don't dare try to put a bow in her hair!She studies everything and thinks about things before answering questions. Molley is a daddy's girl for sure.

She has developed so much this year! From scooting to walking to running to jumping - she is a girl on the go! She had only a few words in March, and now she says over 40, and is puts words into sentences.

My baby girl on her birthday.

And on her 1st birthday

 Happy birthday, baby girl. We love you more than you will ever know!

We're gonna go Wild, Wild, Wild Kratts!

I'm finally getting around to sharing pictures of David's party. We had a great day celebrating with family and friends!

This year he chose to have a Wild Kratt's party. In case you are not in the know, the Wild Kratt's is a show on PBS. David loves the show and we don't mind letting him watch since it is pretty educational.

As always, I set out with the best of intentions of making things and having great games. It's the thought that counts, right?

I didn't get a picture of the food table. I had cute buckets with the snacks in them. It was all animal themed food, and all kid friendly.
Tiger tails (cheese puffs)
Fried ants (raisins)
Twigs (pretzel sticks)
Jungle vines (green twizzlers)
Elephant food (peanut trail mix)
Animal crackers
Fruit fly food (grapes)
Hungry hippo dip (fruit tray)
Mess hole (sloppy joe)

We played 2 games. The first was a game to learn about frog power. We used big 'ole sticky hands to catch bugs like a frog would with his tongue. Big hit!

Molley wasn't as amused with this game.. She picked the sand table.

Our second game was to teach us about the creature power of the caterpillar/butterfly. We took turns wrapping each other up and then busting out. Fun, but the tp wasn't as kid friendly. 

All in all it was a fun day! David was excited to have his friend over and he didn't want anyone to leave. He woke up the next day and asked when he would be 6 so he could have another birthday party. He's growing up too fast!

The guys (and Sadie) parties hard!!

Nate gave rides that may not have been so safe, but the girls loved it!

Boys being boys.

Any party that ends like this has to be a good one, right? *

*No he did not drink out of the bottle. He has gum in his mouth that he was chewing.

Happy

Five

 I am in denial that my baby is five. How is that even possible? He was just born yesterday, right? (I know, I say that every year, but I mean it every year.)

I cannot believe that it has been 5 years since we met our baby boy.
5 years since I became a mom to this wonderful, at times challenging, but perfect little boy who has brought so much joy to our lives.
5 years!

This is David on his birthday. The day he was born and we finally found out that baby bear was a he!

This is David at about 6wks, practicing for his senior pictures. 

4 years ago we had a smiley little 1yr old. He still wasn't walking (he did figure it out by the end of the summer), but loved to be carried everywhere. He was a happy little guy, content to play alone or with others. He loved animals and Mickey Mouse.

3 years ago we had a boy who loved adventure and the Cat in the Hat! He was talking more and more (finally?) He loved to be outside, no matter the temperature, and he loved running! He was hard to keep up with. Water was his favorite thing to play in, and muddy puddles were the best!

2 years ago I had a boy who was more than ready to be a big brother. He would often "take" his sister out of my belly to play and then put her back in. He loved to hear her heart beat. He was excited to start in Miss So's room at school. He learned how to ride his bike. He was an adventurous 3 year old.

1 year ago I had a boy who was ready to start kindergarten. He was sure that he was going from kindergarten straight to college. He loved his baby sister, and his new found favorite show, Jake and the Neverland Pirates! He still wanted to be outside all the time and go on lots of adventures.

Today, I have my amazing 5 year old boy. The boy who will still cuddle with me if I ask, and sometimes just because. He has accomplished a lot this year!

He graduated from speech
He finally got to Mrs Lori's room where he started and completed Pre-K

He learned how to write all of his letters and numbers
He learned how to spell and write his name
He learned to play soccer in a clinic and on a team
He registered for kindergarten
He has decided that there are some more grades between kindergarten and college, but he'll be going to college after 6th grade
He wants to be a parent someday, mostly so he can make his own rules :)

Happy birthday to my baby boy who has brought more joy, laughs, smiles, and love into our home than we ever could have imagined. I love you to the moon and back, buddy!