Off to a busy start

Goodbye 2015 and hello 2016! The year of 2016 has started off pretty busy for us. Josh is finishing up his last week at Transystems and will start a new job on Monday! With a lot less travel, woohoo! We are so excited to know that we will have him home this summer and I'm personally looking forward to some more family fun when it gets warmer. It will be so nice to not have to cram our entire to-do list into a weekend at a time. We are also really looking forward to having more time to work on our gardening skills....as long as the rain isn't so intense this year.

Last Sunday, on my 32nd birthday of life, I was baptized at the First United Methodist Church in Kearney MO. Josh and the kids came up front with me and watched as our Pastor poured water over my head. The kids reactions were priceless and I was so thankful to have my little family stand there with me! We then became members of the church and are starting to become more involved by volunteering to be greeters this year. Isla and Aiden will get to greet with us and I think they will really enjoy that!

Isla has started the second half of her kindergarten year and brought home her first progress report last week. She is doing excellent and had all I's (independent) on the skills they assessed for Q2! She still loves art and loves bringing home Jan Brett books from the library. She is doing so well reading and it's amazing to listen to her work through words and sentences on her own. She has started learning her routines for dance. After long consideration, we enrolled her in performance team. This team has a couple extra performances at a dance extravaganza and then an actual competition in addition to her regular recital. She enjoys dancing and works hard during class so I'm excited to see her perform :) She is also doing Girl Scouts this year and she is always excited to go and learn. She had to stand up and give a quick presentation this week on birds. She was so nervous but she made it through!

Aiden is loving preschool and I think he would be willing to go every day if he could! He loves his teachers and I was beyond thrilled the day they told me that he was such a joy to have in class and hoe much he loves to sing along to the music and that he was just a happy little guy! I think my heart exploded with joy that day! We were a little worried with how he would do and it did take him a couple weeks to adjust but we got there. His preschool focuses on learning through play and it fits him perfectly. He has even made a couple little friends that he will talk about at home. He gets really excited to show us his artwork and he was super pumped that he got to wear PJ's today and eat chocolate chip pancakes. It's almost time to enroll him in the Pre-K program for next year!

Evan is growing like a weed and wants to be bigger than he is! He has definitely developed his own personality and has started moving on from the baby things to big boy things. Over the holiday break, we separated the boys bunk beds and took down the crib. I cried like a baby because my baby isn't a baby anymore! He loves his new bed but we are still working through some challenges with having both boys in the same room and both able to get out of bed. The cool thing to do right now is stand up and take all of the clothes out of a dresser drawer. He has a check-up next week so we will have his official stats on hand. He can show you were his head, nose, eye, ear, mouth, belly and toes are. He can also "honk" your nose which kind of hurts sometimes. His answer to most questions is "Nooooooo" but he might actually mean yes and if that's the case, he'll follow it up with "Peeeeaaaasssee". He still loves some good snuggles and even more so if there's a blanket involved. He demands independence but will still ask for help when he knows he needs it. On Sunday, he pushed a chair to the counter, grabbed an apple and then sat on the living room floor and ate it. He learns a LOT by watching Isla and Aiden...not always a good thing!

And that should bring us up to speed! I'd like to say I'll go back and fill everyone in on the month of Christmas (because we really did celebrate for a month) but I make no promises. It comes and goes in the blink of an eye! And life doesn't slow down and let you catch up sometimes :)

Trunk-OR-Treat

Tonight we attended Fall Family Fun Night at our church! We had hot dogs and chips for dinner, bounced in the bounce house (Even a tiny one for Evan), went through the haunted room, decorated a pumpkin and went trunk-or-treating when it got dark! I'll be honest.... I don't always feel super excited to take the kids to fun things like this because of the chaos that typically happens but tonight they reminded me why I do. Amanda came down to go with us and I was so thankful for the help as Josh is out of town for work this week. We got the kids dressed and this year we have a witch, mickey mouse and a cow. We started with dinner and the kids sat down and quietly ate their hot dogs and chips. Once they finished, Aiden and Isla threw their trash away and headed for the bounce house. Evan got to jump in the tiny one. I was ready to cry at this point because they were being so good and patient. And they continued to be good and patient the entire time. They were happy and good and it was wonderful. Did I mention how good they were yet?! So thankful for a wonderful evening with my sister and the kiddos :)

And now she's in Kindergarten

August 20th, 2015~Isla goes to Kindergarten!

We woke up early to have plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast. Although, she hardly ate anything at all. She said she wasn't hungry but I'm guessing it was a combination of that and nerves. She looked absolutely adorable in the outfit we carefully picked out together. She had decided to go ahead and ride the bus on the first morning too! We waited outside and a few minutes after 8am, the bus showed up. Things went downhill quickly at this point. She started crying as soon as she saw the bus and actually started running back to the house. The bus driver told me I could carry her onto the bus and find her a seat. I found her a seat and sat her down, gave her a big hug and kiss and told her to be brave and have fun. She looked at me through teary eyes and said "ok, I love you, I'll miss you." I told her the same and sent her on her way waving and smiling as the bus drove away. I went inside and started crying like a child myself! What kind of mother forces her child onto the bus in tears?! I gathered my composure and cut myself some slack. I knew she would be fine and would make friends in no time because that's just who Isla is. The boys and I went about our day and the dynamic had changed so much. They peacefully played and napped and it was a little quieter in the house. Around the time the school releases for the day, I went outside to wait for the bus. The driver had told me that morning she wasn't sure what time they would be to our house and that it takes a week or so to get on a schedule. I waited and waited and waited and started worrying and worrying and worrying. Did she get on the right bus? Did she get off at the wrong house? Should I call the bus barn and ask? And the she arrived! I was so excited to see her and hear all about her day! She ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. It was the kind of hug the tugs on your heart. She was smiling and excited. I asked her how her day was and she said "Good!" The funniest part was that she thinks she went to Grant City on the way home from school. The bus takes kids to Holt which is a small town and probably looks similar to Grant City. She believed she was going to Papa's town for the first couple weeks :) She loves it and is learning so much. I'm so proud of her for being so brave!

 She also lost her second tooth that morning!

 There she goes!

Came home, put on some comfys and passed out :)

July 18th, 2015

There are so many moments that are lost in my mind but this is one I WILL NEVER forget. The moment my first baby lost her first tooth! We had been to the dentist this spring and he told us she had two loose teeth on the bottom which was news to us! I hadn't really been checking it and she hadn't mentioned that it felt any different so it coming out wasn't on the radar at all!

We did a little shopping that morning and had stopped into Jimmy John's for lunch. As Isla finished up her last bite, I was looking at her (with a strange look on my face I'm sure) because it looked like she was missing a tooth. I asked her to open her mouth and sure enough, it was gone! And then we immediately realized it was gone gone! As in she swallowed it with that last bite of sandwich! She started to get upset and I did too. I have like 5 little boxes for her first tooth and it was gone :( But I pulled it together and Josh and I explained that she could write the toothfairy a letter and explain what happened. I wrote the letter out and she copied it down and that sweet toothfairy left her $1 and a little note back. Isla was a little timid about the idea of the toothfairy but I think it's because we hadn't really talked about it a lot. She came around and put the letter under her pillow and she was beyond excited to receive a note back with her $1.

I don't know how I imagined loosing her first tooth to happen but the way it happened will always be something we can giggle about. I love her to pieces and Josh assures me I can save the next tooth ;)

 Right after it happened!

Her precious little letter <3

KC Zoo

So today I decided I would write about our day...TODAY.. as to not forget it and never write it down. Maybe I could stay on track with this and there will be more to read about???? I'm not making any promises but who knows!

Because we live in Clay County we receive free passes to use at the zoo during certain months of the year and July happens to be one of them so off we went! I packed lunches and bags last night and woke the kids up early and we were pulling out of the driveway at 8:15 on the dot. Major accomplishment to meet the deadline I had in mind. We met some of our friends there and then she had some more friends meet us there and by the time it was said and done there were 4 adults and (drumroll please) 10 KIDS!!!!! Luckily, because we all have a few, we were old pros at herding cattle, I mean kids :) today. 

The polar bear was swimming in the pool when we walked by and the kids thought that was awesome. They even got to feel what polar bear fur feels like. We saw a couple monkeys and rode the train and then headed to find somewhere to eat our lunch. The kids ate really well for a change which is always nice and then we were off to see the penguins. I love those silly little birds and so did Evan! He could actually see them and he really enjoyed watching them swim. Aiden thought the jellyfish were cool too. We then went on potty break for the second time which equaled 1 adult and 5 kids in one bathroom stall and me wheeling Evan and the stroller in there to help wash hands. It's all about teamwork! Then our friends were tired so Isla, Aiden, Evan and I caught the Sea Lion show and walked over to see the Elephants. After that we grabbed some popsicles and a few drinks and headed home. 

Aiden said his favorite was the polar bear. Isla was a fan of the Elephant and I'm going to say Evan's favorite were the penguins. Isla was a huge help and the boys did pretty well too. Everyone was exhausted tonight but it was a fun outing for everyone! Here are just a couple pictures (10 kids=no time for pics!)

 We used the buddy system and this was Aiden's buddy, Adrian(sp?), who is my friend Monica's niece. He was asking her questions and explaining things to her and it melted my heart to see him act so kind.

 Checkin out the view

 ELEPHANTS

The aftermath. It took 30 minutes and lots of shakes to wake her up!

Evan~1 Year Old

It's a little late...I know...story of my life with three kids, a dog and a husband ;)

My little little man is 1. The baby days are officially over, never to return! It was only 2 months ago that he turned 1 but I feel like he's been 1 forever some how. He is such a funny, happy little boy and brings us so much laughter and joy on a daily basis. One of the funny things we love is the he walks. He has a couple different ways and they are so funny! When he's on a mission to get somewhere he swings one arm really hard and then when he is just walking casually he swings both arms in front of him with a big smile. He also "runs" which is walking really fast with the possibility of falling at any second. And he can climb! We officially kicked the bottle/formula and switched to milk. The milk transition was a little difficult because he wasn't a fan! I'm not sure if it was the temperature(cold) or the taste or what but he did not drink it. The first week we tried he barely drank half a cup total! I went against every bone in my body and will in myself and put a little chocolate syrup in it and he drank a little more. Then I happen to run out of Vitamin D milk and gave him 2% and that's when he started drinking it! He apparently wasn't a fan on whole milk so we did 2% for a while and now he will drink any kind. I was so surprised because he hasn't been picky about anything else he's had to eat/drink. The only other big change he had at a year was his hair! We did his first hair cut the morning of the boys birthday party and he looked so different and so blonde! He is my blonde hair, blue eyed boy. Josh had really light hair when he was young and even Aiden had lighter hair and I think I will get one kid with blue eyes! His are beautifully blue :) At his 1 year check-up he weighed in at 25 pounds and then I imediately went home and ordered him a new carseat. He was only 3 pounds over the infant carrier weight limit but it was time for a new seat anyway. He was happy to face forward with the rest of the crew! I had waited for a while to write this post hoping I would have a chance to take some pictures but it has rained and rained and rained so the lighting hasn't been the best.

Evan, we love you with all of our hearts!

Enjoying some cake on his birthday

 The hair cut!

His bog boy seat

His blue eyes :)

Aiden~3 Years Old

My big little man is 3. It's amazing to me every time we celebrate another birthday for one of the kids. I'm always in awe that another year has gone by and they are one year older. In the last six months, Aiden has really developed into a little boy. He is potty trained now and not even wearing a pull-up at night! He is pretty self-sufficient getting dressed, although his choice in outfits is interesting. He speaks much clearer now and people other than myself can understand the majority of what he says. Things Aiden loves; fruit snacks, any kind of fruit, most vegetables, bread, warm pants, boots(snow or cowboy), Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, cars, running, snuggling, sneaking in our bed(every night), being a boy(I'll spare you the details), pizza, iPad, ice cream, brushing his teeth, memice(also known as medicine), going to church and his "friends". He's passionate about things, good or bad. Every day is a new experience. Sometimes a challenge and sometimes full of giggles. I really feel like we are slowly turning a corner with his behavior and fits and he's starting to respect and understand things a little more. He has been playing t-ball this month and he starts preschool in the fall. This will be a big adjustment for him but one I know he will enjoy. He is so excited to have his own things to do and to talk about. Aiden we love you much and are so excited to see all of the exciting things this next year will bring!

Baby Aiden Lynn

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old