Thanksgiving

We made our annual trip to Charlotte for Thanksgiving.  The kids were counting down the days! It was a long car ride, but we made it! This year we left Tuesday night and stayed till Sunday night.

  It was so nice to spend so much time with Tim's family.  We have many great memories from this trip.  Playing, doing crafts, snuggles, watching funny videos and singing a long, and eating lots of good food!

Lauren ended up getting pretty sick with croup.  A very long story, but I will say, it was nice to be there and have all the help!

We can't wait till next year!

Cozy in Grandma and Grandpa's bed.

Cousins!

Trip #1 to Urgent Care

Crafting Cousins!

I love how he is passionate in everything he does!

Checking out those Black Friday ads.

Sicky getting spoiled.

Aunt Niki Snuggles

Uncle Brady time!

Not so fun, trip #2 to Urgent Care

Loved the tool bench!

Five and A Half

Whitney is five and a half!  I love age five!  Whitney is so sweet and thoughtful and I love hearing her questions and thoughts on life.

Whitney has grown an inch in the last 6 months, now measuring 46 1/2 inches and weighs 46 lbs.

She loves her art and does some kind of coloring or creative thing everyday.  She also has excellent color choices and is starting to create pictures on her own.  She took a decorative painting class after school and loved that of course!

She also has two new, sweet friends, Elsie and Caelyn.  They are both on the bus and Elsie is in her class.  I believe they are inseparable!  Elsie is the oldest of three as well (Caelyn too) and their teacher told me they are very similar.   Whitney talks about Elsie all the time, things that Elsie likes, things that Elsie does.   For example, her favorite colors have been blue and pink, but now because Elsie likes green and pink, those are now Whitney's favorite colors of course!  We have had play dates with Elsie and Caelyn where the girls will get off the bus at each other's houses.  And a huge perk for me is I love their Mom's!  The mom's and younger kids join us after the kids get home.  It is so nice to meet these new families, especially because we are going through the same thing with three young kids!

Whitney continues to be an amazing big sister.  She and Colin are best buddies and have great imaginative play together.  I love listening from the other room.  Though working through conflict will always be a work in progress, I am very proud with how she handles Colin.  She still dotes on Lauren and is always telling her how much she loves her.

Whitney now has a chore chart that takes her about 10 days to complete.  She accumulates 20 stars and then gets a reward. Her chores are things like take her dishes to the sink, vacuum, end of day clean up, etc.  Rewards are anything from a new game, puzzle, pajamas or a trip to Sweet Frog.  It has worked out very well!

The growth in these last 6 months has been huge.  She is more confident and more outgoing and I couldn't be more proud of her!

Waiting for the bus.

Who is this old girl!

 I mean look at that love!

Patiently sharing one of her favorite activities. (For a few minutes)

Play date at Elsie's. (Elsie is in the middle)

Girl Time!

Walking to the bus with Caelyn.

50's Day at school to celebrate the fiftieth day of school.

Will have to pull this out in 10 years.  Yikes!

9 Months

Lauren is 9 months!  Our little lady is not so little anymore!  Her weight is 21 lb 7 oz which is 91%.  Following suit with her sibs.  A little shorter at 27.8 inches putting her at 60%.  Her head is still smaller at 40%.  But I will always call her my little peanut since I did get to enjoy a petite baby for a few months!

At 8 months Lauren started working on crawling.  Trying out her knees and doing planks.  Going from laying down to sitting on her own.  About a week before 9 months, she just took off.  She is all over the place!  A little scavenge,r trying to find any piece of anything to put in her mouth.  We are back to using the baby gates.  Though I have to keep my eye on her more, she is entertained for much longer periods of time now that she can explore.

This girl likes to eat just like her brother!  She is self feeding entirely.  She will sit in her high chair for a good 30 minutes just eating away.  Some of her favs are peas, sweet potatoes, avocado and bluberries.  She also eats proteins now like chicken, beef, salmon and eggs.  Pretty much anything we make that is safe for her to eat I give it to her.  I can't think of anything she doesn't like!

I am so excited to see the personality come out of this girl as she grows.  She already knows she has to scream to be heard over everyone else.  I have seen her adorably tugging on Whitney's nightgown and she belly laughs at Colin's goofiness.  She also isn't afraid to pull some hair or climb on top of them either.  I think she is going to stir up the pot a little bit with some feistiness!

We are so happy that Lauren is part of our family!

Exploring

Yay, I can crawl!

Double Trouble

I think I am such a big girl.

Her little alone time with me every day.

Don't worry Mom, I have these two under control!

Lauren's Baptism

On September 21, 2014, Lauren was baptized.  She looked beautiful in her gown and loved being in church watching all the people.  She had no issues about the water being put on her head and enjoyed being serenaded to Jesus Loves Me.

We were so lucky to be surrounded by so many family members that day.  We are also thrilled that Kristi and Mike are her godparents.

Colin and Whitney had a blast playing with Cole, Haley and Joey, but by Sunday morning they were pretty worn out and woke up with stuffy noses.  This resulted in many tears.  During the ceremony Colin cried the whole time, concluding by saying "No Amen"!  after the ministers prayer.  Luckily, and much to my surprise Colin went to the nursery so we could enjoy the rest of the service.  Then as we tried to get family pictures afterwards Whitney cried because Colin got goldfish while in the nursery.  Well folks, that's life around here these days!

We are truly blessed beyond words!

A struggle to get everyone looking!

Two and a Half

Colin is 2 1/2!   I always say that these 6 month milestones are huge.  There always seems to be some kind of shift and big strides in becoming a big kid that takes place. It is all so bittersweet!

Colin continues to be a super sweet and funny little guy.  He is full of hugs, kisses and snuggles for everyone in the family.  Though sometimes he still turns the hug with his sisters, into a tackle to the ground!  He is a very a passionate boy and he can really charm your socks off!

Everywhere we go Colin gets attention.  Whether it's his cute grin, adorable laugh or stylin' sunglasses and a hat, he always grabs the attentions of strangers that just ooh and ahh over him.  He is happy to wave or say hello, but if anyone gets too close he gives me this look of, " Mom, please, they are invading my space".

He continues to impress us when a few months ago he just started pointing out all the numbers and letters he knew.  He has also taken an interest in puzzles like Whitney.  He is very happy to sit down and work through several 24 piece puzzles with you.  At the same time he needs to get outside and burn off all of his crazy energy.

He is still faithful to a 2 1/2 hour nap and a good 11-12 hours at night.  He is our champion of sleepers!

 He has also officially topped the charts at weighing in at 35 lbs.  Most three year old boys I know don't even weigh this yet!

He loves anything, trains, planes or cars.  He enjoys a ride on his trike and could spend hours in the swing.  Many times during the day you will hear him singing Veggie Tales or Chuggington.  He and Whitney also sing Frozen songs together.  We also have many dance parties and he loves to attempt somersaults.

We are so blessed to have this little boy in our lives and he knows his way right into our hearts!

What, I thought you said I could paint?

He played with play dough one day for a good hour and 45 minutes.

Sisters sunglasses, over his sunglasses.

Asleep, and Bert and Ernie in hand.

"Cheese"!

Cool Guy

We love you big boy!!

Kindergarten

Wow!  Whitney is in Kindergarten!  Going to orientation was sort of surreal.  Being in an elementary school again.  Crazy!  But so exciting.

Whitney was so ready to start school.  A few weeks before school started I asked her what she was most excited about Kindergarten.  Her reply, "I don't know, I haven't been there yet".  My dear you are so right.  What a smart little girl.

Whitney jumped both feet in and road the bus the first day.  She is in afternoon Kindergarten, so it was a little comforting that there were only 5 year old's on the bus. Whitney already has her bus buddies, Caelyn and Elsie. Caelyn was in the other class at preschool, so we reconnected the girls so they would have a familiar face.

  School starts at 11:35am and lets out at 2:35pm.  Getting home around 3pm.  (Yay, mom gets some time alone while others nap!)  They get the Kindergartner's on first and have them sit in the front rows, then load up the big kids.  Whitney has also made friends with an older girl (she thinks 3rd grade) who is named Whitne(no "y").  Since all of this has gone so smoothly it has definitely made it easier on me.  I had to dry my eyes the first morning but otherwise, it has been great.

Side note: Colin was a mess that whole first week.  He was so sad to see his best buddy go away.  We have had a lot of crying and not the best behavior.  But to be expected.  He has had to deal with a lot of changes in the last 7 months!  He is always so excited when Whitney returns home.  Little does he know he is sleeping for 2 1/2 hours while she is gone!

A few questions for Whitney as she starts Kindergarten.

What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite food? Green Beans and Almonds (I pat myself on the back)
What is your favorite activity? Coloring and Painting and getting messy when I paint
What do you want to be when you grow up? Pilot because I want to fly a plane (Like her Papa)

First day of school gift taped to bathroom mirror.

Confidently walking to the bus!

The big send off!

Anxiously awaiting big Sis's arrival.  Ok, how much do they look alike in this photo!