FIVE

I am finally catching up...they may come in random order but they are coming!!


Wow!!  I cannot believe I have a 5 year old!  The last five years have been filled with so many wonderful memories and so many moments that I will never forget!

 Time for a new bike!  Outgrew the old one!

Birthday Pancakes with Chocolate Chips!

Presents!

Whitney continues to amaze us with her kind and giving heart.  She is sensitive to other peoples feelings and seems to know just the right moment that someone may need a hug.  She loves to draw and paint and always has someone in mind that she is going to give her artwork to.  

This year at school Whitney really blossomed.  The last few months of school her teachers continued to tell me how she was breaking out and showing more of herself at school.  They were so excited to see her growth and we were so proud.  At graduation they were blown away by her performance skills.  You could tell she was so proud and confident up there.  And because this is my blog I will brag that they told us..."Really, she is the perfect child"!

Whitney also had her first big recital.  Her weekly dance class consisted of ballet, tap and gymnastics.  Gymnastics being her favorite. She did a great job and looked super cute!

She continues to be an amazing big sister.  She showers Colin and Lauren with love.  She plays with Colin so well and now that school is out for the summer I look forward to them having more play time together.  She is a huge help with Lauren.  Running to get a binky or a burp cloth.  She can sit and hold her if I need to get Colin in the swing.  And we have a morning ritual of getting Lauren up in the morning.

Birthday Dinner out at Los Tios!

She had a super fun birthday party this year.  We decided to downsize and just do girls her age.  It was a Little Mermaid themed party and we played lots of games and ran around in the sprinkler.  Just good old fun!

I love that now we can really sit and have heart to heart conversations.  Whether its time to work through something that is tough or just sharing our favorite parts of the day.  I feel so blessed to have Whitney as my daughter and am excited to see what this year will bring!

Colin is Two

Our baby boy is TWO!  These two years have flown by and he continues to steal our hearts everyday.

Colin is a lover, a charmer, a jokester, a wildman, a silly boy who never stops.  Except for an episode or two of Bubble Guppies.  He is obessed with Bubble Guppies.  It is hard to get him to watch anything else.  So of course we had to have a Bubble Guppies Birthday party!  Along with new Bubble Guppies toys.

He also loves Cars, of course Lightening McQueen.  Loves trains, of course Thomas.  He can always be found zooming or choo chooing one of them around.

He is a little brother who loves his Big Sis.  They play so well together and he has learned so much from her.  Most of the time he is good about sharing.  He is learning you can't hit or pull hair.  And adorably he will say "Sorry Neenee".

He is a big brother now too and he loves his Little Sis.  He loves to hug and kiss her.  He asks to hold her and after about 15 seconds he says, "Mama's turn".

He has a little act we call his "Ray Charles".  He likes to move his head side to side with his eyes closed all while trying to eat or while walking around.  It's pretty hilarious.

He has the cutest little stance with his hands behind his back.

He has impeccable manners.  Always saying "please and thank you".

He loves to sleep.  He sleeps about 12 straight hours at night with a 2 hour nap.  He even likes to lounge around in bed in the morning playing with all his binkies.  I think soon we will make the move to his big boy bed.

He was not happy to go to the doctors and was bawling his eyes out while getting weighed and measured.  They weighed him at 31 lbs at 90%.   He tops the charts in weight but short for now at 34" only 32%.  They were super impressed that he is potty trained.  His chubby legs look super cute in his Thomas undies.

He loves to eat and some meals I swear he eats more than I do.  Some favorite foods are cashews, cheese, carrots and hummus and chips and salsa.

We had a fun family dinner out at Los Tios.  Colin loves Mexican and Mama has been dying for one of their delicious and way too strong Margarita's.  We got there at 4:30pm and had the restaurant to ourselves.

Lauren Reese

Lauren Reese was born on February 12, 2014 at 9:46pm.  She was 7 lbs 3.6 oz and 19 inches.  That night over a foot of snow fell as we cozied up with our new little girl.  I fell in love the moment I set eyes on her!

Our sweet Valentine came home on the 14th and was surrounded by love.  The excitement from Whitney was just amazing and Colin's curiosity was so cute.  They both immediately wanted to hold and kiss her.  Their love continues to grow.  We have had such a smooth transition becoming a family of five.

Lauren is our little peanut!  Though she was almost exactly the size of Whitney when she was born, she is not growing at rapid speed like her siblings.  At two weeks she had gained a little weight but was only in the 33%, while Whitney and Colin were quickly close to 100%.  I got my wish for a small baby so I could enjoy this newborn phase longer since it will be our last time.  Setting records for longest time spent in newborn diapers in the O'Neill house.

We have had so much help from our family and are so grateful for it.  Making time for us to nap, taking Whitney to school, making food, folding laundry, the list could go on.  The interrupted sleep in tough but we have settled into a good routine and our days run pretty smoothly.  I definitely have that second cup of coffee and let the laundry pile up.  I just don't want to miss any of these precious moments!

Here are some pictures of Lauren's first few days.

Heading Home

 Anticipating our arrival

 I love Colin's first peak at his little sister!

Lauren was so responsive to Whitney.  I guess all that talking to my belly paid off!

We couldn't feel more blessed!

When There Were Two

I thought I would do a post before the baby arrives to catch up on what Whitney and Colin have been up to. They have been changing and growing up so much in the last few months!

Colin is  22 months and around 31 lbs and seems to have added a little height to his sturdy stature.  He is talking much more and putting two words together now.  Most commonly saying "More Mama", since he always wants to eat!  He is usually the last one to finish his dinner.

 He loves playing with his new trains, cars and airplanes.  It is crazy how innately little boys just make that "vrroom" sound when playing.  So cute!  He also loves to sing and dance.  He sings along to songs in the car and at home we often have music playing.  Any toy that has music he has a little dance to it.  Amazingly he really seems to hear the different music tempos and sounds and adjust his dance moves accordingly :)

He continues to be my little snuggle monster.  I can always count on many hugs and kisses though out the day.  When he gets in trouble he grabs my face and plants a big wet one on my lips.  I mean really!  He is such a Mama's boy and I love it...and am enjoying it because the day will come when we will be his Papa's wingman.  I could never imagine how a little boy would make me feel!

He is also in big boy underpants! We took the plunge with the New Year and he has been doing great.  Don't get me wrong, we have had our fair share of accidents.  But I can say we are only in underwear during the day from here on out!

Whitney is so much fun.  I love spending quality time with her and hearing what is going on in her head.  She is such a caring little lady and loves doing sweet things for the family.  Writing notes, drawing pictures or just giving them a call.  And she LOVES her little brother so much and tells him all the time.  She also hugs my belly and says, "I love you baby sister"!  She cannot wait for this baby to arrive!

I just had her conference at school and she got high remarks for everything.  They specifically noted what a good artist she is, that she has enthusiasm for learning, is a hard worker and has been a delight!  We are very proud of her and excited to see her making friends and showing more of her fun and energetic side to others!

Whitney and Colin have such a sweet relationship.  Whitney looks after him and is so good at playing with him like an equal.  He loves keeping up with his big sis.  He often gives her hugs and kisses too but then it ends in a tackle to the floor. Boys!  I am so glad they have each other as we bring a new baby home.  I know there will be adjustments and tough moments for everyone, but we are thankful for how well they play together and will continue to get closer.

This is most likely my last post before the baby arrives.  Here are some of my favorite pics from the last few months.

Whitney loves pretending to be a dog.  Thanks to her current favorite show, Paw Patrol.

Colin's favorite thing to play is doctor.

Build them up and knock them down!

Passing down her love of puzzles.

Playing in his big boy room.

Big Boy Undies

 Whitney and  I saw a production of Annie.   I have been singing Annie songs since I was 5 and was in the show twice.  It is so fun to share my love of theatre with her!

We feel so blessed.  There were times we never thought we would get here.  We can't believe we get to love another one!