Little Bear turns the big F.I.V.E!!!

 I love this little bear. He is my mini me, my little boy and makes me laugh every day!!!

1st birthday

He is a ham and LOVES the spotlight. He will do anything for a laugh, even if it's not very appropriate.

 He's always....ALWAYS been a snuggler. and LOVES his blanket!

He has always been a climber. (kind of like someone else I know).

 He can also be a little destructive, rarely on purpose. But he's a rough kid, and when you're a bit rough, things get broken.

He likes to feel "cool". He's my rock and roll kid.

 He rolls with his own style. He knows what he wants and he doesn't care what other people think of it (or at least he doesn't want you to know he cares)

 There is no happy medium. He's either loud and crazy, or calm and almost asleep...those are the moments I love the best. When he just wants to snuggle and love.

 He is my protector. He wants nothing more than to keep his momma safe. At all costs. I hope this never changes.

 I love this little boy of mine. He holds a special place in my heart. His heart is full of love and he wants nothing more than for everyone to be happy with him.

He's very creative!! No matter what it is, he will find something creative to do with it. He loves to draw, and color, and paint, and create. No matter the tool, no matter the canvas.

And now he's 5.
5
My little Bear is 5!!!
He's five and will be starting pre-school in just 7 weeks!!

Greg took him out to breakfast at 5am (no. that has nothing to do with the age he is turning. when one has to leave for work at 7:30, and a certain birthday boy comes into your room at 4:30 and has ZERO intention of falling asleep, there is nothing else to do but go out with your dad for a Birthday breakfast). We made him a shirt the day before and at 5am they headed off to breakfast!!!

 We made the puffy paint, so as the day went on, it chipped off. but it still looked pretty cool!!




Monday night we had a nice little family celebration where he got his cake and his big gift from his family.

Real baseballs

A REAL wooden bat

 Nothing is better to this little boy than a game of baseball. Baseball is is love and his life!
It makes me a bit sad that we are turning in blankets and binkys for baseball bats and mitts. But I love that he's found something he's passionate about and wants to do.

A throw back net

 He loves to be in the backyard practicing. He loves playing catch with anyone who will play with him.
If you've never heard of a throwback net, no fear. I hadn't either, so when Greg said that's what he wanted to get him I trusted him and we went with it.
That thing is AWESOME!!!!!!!

Pitching

NOTHING smells better than a new baseball

 He has quite an arm on him. When you play catch with him and he tells you to get a mitt, he's not kidding!! That kid can throw a ball! Someday we're going to get a hold of a radar gun to see how fast he can throw them.

A little cake and baseball while Daddy sets up the Throw-back net!














The more you help the faster it gets set up!

It took him about 10 mins to get the hang of it, but after he did, he LOVES it and uses it every day.

We have been very impressed with the dedication he has when it comes to baseball and practicing.

I can't wait until we can get him into little league!!

However, it's all fun and games until someone get's knocked in the nose. 

so while Gary was being consoled, Isaac decided to try is hand at the net and had so much fun!!!

 Meanwhile, Gary learned why it's important to put his mitt in front of his face, instead of always having it in "grounder" position.

Did he fix his mistake?!
Not right away,

But he can now confidently catch a ball that's coming right for his nose.

I typically go all out decoration wise for his birthday, I stay up late and start after they've gone to sleep. This year Greg had the GENIUS idea of just hanging balloons from the ceiling with streamers rather than string the streamers from one corner of the room to the other (like I normally do)
It was WAY better!!!!
When Gary got up he said it look like "raindrops not falling"

sidenote:
we got caught. while hanging streamers from his door he woke up and came out, he saw what we were doing, smiled the biggest smile, said "it's ok that I saw what you were doing because I haven't seen the rest of it yet!" and then went right back to bed!

 

 Isaac really wanted to make something for Gary for his birthday. So I found this tutorial by Martha Stewart and decided to give it a try on the white pillow case for Gary's long pillow..

Just so you know. You really do need the 90+% Isopropyl alcohol. Ours was only 70% and it didn't work that great...still looked coole enough for my little boys, just now what I was hoping for.

For his birthday PARTY, we apparently planned it on one of the busiest weekends, so only Greg's parents could attend, so we decided to take them and go bowling, another favorite activity of Gary's.

Gary did a really good job

Isaac got a little excited at times,
but also did a really good job!

Ashley had fun being passed around and held by everyone, or just sitting in the big chairs!

Call me crazy, but I think bowling shoes, especially little kid bowling shoes are the coolest shoes EVER!!!

Greg tried the whole game to get his m.p.h over 20. He finally did it at 21.07mph!!!

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  At the end of the day, Isaac won both games when it came to the kids.

1st game - Isaac 72 -- Gary 53

Greg 117 -- Sonya 99 

(I rarely break 100. Bowling is not my strong suit, but it's one of my favorite things to do)

2nd Game - Isaac 79 -- Gary 54

Greg 135 -- Sonya 112
Grandma and Grandpa smoked us all BOTH games.
It's like they were playing a completely different game!!!!!
I think it's because of the bumpers we got for the "kids"

I was very happy the bowling ally we went to allowed us to bring cupcakes.

He was treated with Funfetti cupcakes with Nutella frosting.

Ashely patiently waiting.

She was so good the whole day!!

He loved his pillow case!

 Grandma and Grandpa got Gary some new bases

and his very own "NEW MARINERS SHIRT!!"

And his very own "Mariners BALL!!"

 All in all it was a very successful Birthday!!

And now he's five.
And big.
But he still wants to sit on my lap and snuggle at the end of the day. So, I Guess, until he's done snuggling with his momma he's not big just yet. He's just getting there.

There was a little girl...

Who had some little curls,

all along the back of her head,

 And when she was good,

She was very, VERY good!

 

And when she was bad.....

 

 She was horrid!!!!

and now you know why I've been MIA.

1 for all

 How do you make your kids be best buddies?

I don't think you can.

I think it's something that just happens.

 I think it happens through a series of events.

Events that no one can plan or force on them

It happens through sleeping on top of each other in the car.

 It happens through family movie night.

It happens through eating popcicles on the porch

I think it comes from being allowed to be silly together.

It comes from being allowed to fight with eachother, and learning how to work it out by your self.


I believe it happens when you set an example as parents of what bonding and cooperation looks like.
They don't learn how to communicate unless they see what communication looks like.
You can't force kids to do anything, believe me, I've tried.
I think the trick is allowing you kids to be their own person, and not making them into someone you think they should be.
Kids need to be allowed to make their own decisions (within reason). How are they to know what making a wrong choice feels like, if they aren't allowed to make wrong choices?

Siblings become buddies because, like adults, they have formed a friendship with each other. They have been taught to love and then given the opportunities to show that love, and feel that love from each other.

Siblings form an unbreakable bond from fighting, making up, picking on each other, and sticking up for each other.


There are moments, everyday, when I wonder if they will ever get it. If they will ever form that unbreakable bond.
And then something happens, everyday, when I see that they have.
They stick up for each other, they protect each other, they love each other.
When one is down, the other 2 know, they care, and it makes them sad. It's makes my heart smile and I like to call that "pay day". It's moments like these when I look at my 3 amazing kiddos and realize that no matter what happens down the road when they have grown and gone, they'll be OK because they have each other and they have the unbreakable bond that only siblings can form.

One for all and all for one.

Pets

There comes a time in every parents life when they have to address the subject of pets.

Our time has come. 

The boys understand that both Greg and I, and what turns out to be them too, are severely allergic to cats. They also understand that they like their outside toys to much to let them be chewed up by puppies. We also like having grass in our backyard, and not having to scoop poop.

So last Saturday Isaac comes to Greg with this notebook written with the question:

"Can we buy a fish today?"

Greg, sadly had to tell him "no. not today"

To which Isaac responded with the sad face below it.

When Greg and I were first married we had a fish tank. It was lovely. I had fish to take care of, he bought himself some time in the baby department. I named all the fish funny names like Spot, Speedy, Booger, Slime face, and Twinkle.  Some would die....one actually physically jumped out of the tank, which we found when we moved....Ewww. He would occasionally buy me a new one.

When we had Isaac I discovered I couldn't handle cleaning the tank and taking care of a baby and being pregnant again all at the same time. So we sadly flushed the fish, I cried, and the tank went into storage.

When we moved into the house, the boys were so tiny and we were considering getting pregnant again, so we sold the tank to on of our neighbors. 

Well.....Now that neighbor has an adorable dog and they are done with the fish......

Needless to say we are talking about considering taking on the task of fish once more.

Ahhhh Parenthood!

Toddle Toddle

Look who decided that Valentine's Day would be a good day to walk?!

Yes. That puts her at 14 1/2 months.  A whole 5  months past Isaac and almost 4 months past Gary!

This little girl just continues to prove that things will be done in her time, and her time alone!!!

Gary picked her her hairdo this day!

So the story is this:

Ashley will take steps for Greg. Several steps at a time. But when I tried to get her to walk this is what I got:

 

Laid out flat! Refusing to walk anywhere.  *don't ya just love that binky?!*

So Valentines Day I'm at my friends house getting my hair done and Ashley decides that she needs to be at the couch, so she stands up, and walks over to the couch.  Now she's walking all over the place. Not in great distances but she is at least 60/40 walking/crawling.

In other news. Guess who is missing several teeth?!

 

This guy just can't seem to keep em in!!! the tooth fairy is about to go broke at this rate!!

This one he swallowed. yep. He was eating some toast for breakfast and when he was done, the tooth was missing....straight up GONE!! So I think he swallowed it. He was worried at first but after I assured him the Tooth Fairy would still leave him something he felt better about it.

Life has been fun and crazy....I'm ready for winter to be over so that everyone can warm up and finally start feeling better. I'm over the constant cough and runny noses.

 

28

Everyone has that defining year. That year that you really seem to get it together and take care of yourself, for once.

28 is that year for me! I am only 4 months in and already so much has happened that has made me feel more grown up.

It started off Great with doing my first 5k with my Mother in law and my Best friend!

 I have never considered my self athletic or really into exercising or anything fitness related. When we signed up to do it I started running, every morning for about a mile. The week of the 5k I ran 3 miles every morning. I had so much fun running with my friends that I haven't stopped looking for which one I'm going to do next.
I have also decided that I want to be in better shape for the next run, so my 2 best friends and I have started working out every day. We really dove in head first and we are doing the Insanity Program. It is Crazy hard and so much fun! I find myself looking forward to working out in the morning!! I'm trying to decide if I want to start it over when I finish or do one of the other 10 workout programs we own, but have only done for about a week....
I'm so happy with the results I'm getting and I've only done it for 3 weeks. We are at the beginning of week 4.

We are also busy with Isaac being in Kindergarten. He is LOVING it and I am loving being able to help out in his classroom twice a month. I love to see him in class soaking up every bit of knowledge he can. I love being able to see how he interacts with the other kids and who his friends are. I love being able to put a face with the names of the kids he talks about, and I love that his friends are now starting to recognize me and say Hi to me when we drop him off at school! It's fun to watch him grow into his own person and have his own opinions and feelings about different things.
 Isaac also lost his first tooth this past year and I never realized how that effects a mother. It's exciting, and kind of scary to pull a tooth out of your little one's face, or to have him walk up to you with a tooth in his hand and a hole in his face. It makes you feel older to realize you are old enough to have a child with missing teeth and in Kindergarten!

Another big deal is that Ashley turned 1!
Our last little one.
There is a certain reflective feeling you get when your last child turns 1.
It's the last 1st birthday party you get to throw.
It begins the year of the last first word, the last first step, the last first cupcake.
The feeling of completion you get when you look at your family and realize that this is the last pair of tiny shoes that will litter your hallway.
It's kind of a sad thing to realize, but it's liberating to know that you are happy with life and happy with how it's turning out.
Your body created these 3 perfect little people who have everything they need and some of what they want. They are taken care of, and loved, and happy! It feels good to be in a place where you are able to take care of your family and know that they are there to take care of you too.

 Gary is my little man. He is me (as a kid) in boy form. He is loud, and crazy, and sometime uncontrollable. But if you need something, he is THERE!!! He is helpful, and loving, and just wants to be included in everything!
He needs to be allowed to run, and yell, and do crazy, dangerous things. He is daring, and sweet, and loud as all get out, but bless his heart, he is there with a great big bear hug if your day is swirlin around that drain!
He has shown me a lot about what it means to have the love of God towards everyone. That kid loves everyone!
He is our Little Bear and he loves it. He makes me feel like screaming and singing all at the same time.  He has really taught me how to have more patience and try to understand things better. Most of the time (as I'm sure it is with all kids) he melts down before you can figure out what the problem is. And as long as you don't yell or get frustrated with him, it's pretty easy to figure it out and solve whatever is upsetting him. He has learned which buttons to push to get Isaac upset and he's learned how to react to Isaac to get Isaac into trouble. He is clever and very smart, although he's very good and acting likes he's not.

Kids have a funny way of helping you grow up. They fight and fight all day long but at the end of the day, they are the best of friends who can't go to bed without each other.

They teach you patience, and problem solving. 

Love and understanding are required when you are a parent.

They define you. They are apart of you and they make you who you are. You wouldn't be "Mom" without them.

 

There are moments when I think "why did I want this so badly" and then they come to you with a simple problem that they can't solve them selves. 

Tie my shoe.

Zip my coat.

What's 3+3?

I need a drink.

Can I have a snack?
Where's my bunny. or puppy. or teddy. or buddy.

Can you please come put the blankets back on me?

And then I look at them and remember, oh-yah. Because I wanted to be the one called "mom" to tie the shoes and zip the coats and snuggle them into bed at night. I wanted to be the one to dress and feed and clean and take care of the little ones. I wanted someone who relied on me to survive. I wanted little ones who would love me even when I'm a hot mess.  I wanted to be the responsible one who made sure they have clothes and food and snuggles. Beds, pillows, blankets, and a little stuffed friend to keep them safe. 

And in order to claim all of those privileges you have to claim the role of referee. You have to take the fights to get the love. The whining to get the kiss. The tantrum to get the smile.

These past 4 months of being 28 has really been crazy, and fun, and scary, and exciting. I love having "Ah-Ha" moments that show me things I have been missing, but didn't know. 

Everyone reaches their "grown up" year at a different age....mine seems to be 28.