First Day of School

Two off to school this year!  Whitney started on August 31st and has had a blast going full day!  Colin started three mornings a week on September 9th and shed a few tears the first few drop offs, but quickly decided school was a lot of fun!

18 Months

Lauren is 18 months!  Such huge changes!  Sadly, I see the baby fading away and a big girl toddler showing up!  Luckily, she still loves lots of snuggles, so I just squeeze that little baby tight!

She has shown to be adventurous from a young age.  She climbs on everything!  She is also fearless and does her best to keep up with the big kids at the playground.  Resulting in her fair share of scrapes and bruises.  She will jump straight into the pool so you always have to be ready for her!

She is starting to say many more words like, ball, bath, shoes, cheese and bubbles.  She can make out the sounds of small phrases, like "I am sorry" or my favorite "Where's the Papa"!  She also sings the tune of Maroon Five's "Sugar".   Which is one of her favorite songs to dance to too!

She loves baby dolls and pushing them around in her little stroller.  She still loves a purse draped on her shoulder and likes putting on dress up skirts and wings.  She can walk around in the little girl princess shoes. And of course is usually caught wearing her sunglasses when outside.

She weighs in at 26 lbs (90th%) and 31.87 inches (53%).  Making her a little chunky monkey!

We are so lucky to have Lauren as part of our lives.  She showers us with love everyday!

She is always trying to put someones shoes on.

Snack and Ipad down.

Whitney is Six!

I will say it again, I cannot believe Whitney is six!  Though I do believe it because she has grown into such a fun-loving little lady that continues to impress me with her sensitive soul.

She leads the trio with pride.  She whole-heartedly plays with them, teaches them, encourages them and leads by great example.

She is also such a good friend.  She loves spending time with her little girlfriends and making little gifts for them.  It is so fun to watch them hop off the bus together, rush inside and get right down to playing games or make-believe play.

This girl is a lego master.  She has a collection going of Lego Friends and Hello Kitty legos.  Once she starts a new set, she works diligently to finish them in a few sittings.  She is also doing 150 piece puzzles on her own now.  The girl has patience!

Whitney has thrived this year at school.  Showing her fun-loving side to her new friends.  She is so excited to learn new things.  She is always practicing her adding and subtracting, and even some multiplying.  She loves to read to herself before bed.  She also can tell time.

We had a fun Hello Kitty birthday party with 8 of her friends.  It was so fun. We made bracelets, played pin the bow on Hello Kitty and had did a water balloon game before running around in the sprinklers.  Whitney was on such a high from her party, she had a hard time falling asleep that night!

We are so proud of you Whitney and cannot wait to see what is in store!

I love how she exudes pure confidence and joy in this picture.

Troopers

One of his happy moments during the party.

Can't get enough of her little Kello Kitty dress!

Colin is Three!

I am finally here to report that Colin is three!  It is hard to find time to post these days but my goal was to get it done before April was over, so here I am!

My sweet prince is so happy to be three and to be such a big boy!  He knows his way to his Mama's heart with bear hugs, many kisses and contagious giggles.  He is a talkative little man who lets you know exactly how he feels.  So if you want the harsh truth, beware you will get it!

He weighs in at 34.9 lbs (80%) and measures in at 37.5 inches (52%).

His latest obsession is the show Octonauts.  A fun Disney show where they learn about creatures in the ocean.  This was his big birthday presant this year and it has gotten hours of use!

He is a wizard at 24 piece puzzles.  He loves legos.  He loves his collection of trains.  He could spend hours playing with play dough.  And he is happy to serve you up a meal in the play kitchen.

One of my favorite things is his love for singing.  He sings songs throughout the day or in the morning while he waits for his clock to say it's time to get up.  His go to songs are Bob the Builder or Chuggington.  Lately, he has been making up his own songs about Spiderman.  I love his sweet voice!

He is such a good brother.  He and Whitney are best buds.  It worked out perfectly that she has afternoon kindergarten while he naps.  They play hard all morning.  They act out Paw Patrol or Octonauts or Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Or make up their own little make believe stories.  They work together building things in the basement.  Of course with this comes some drama but overall they play together so well.  And for a few months now I have seen a nice relationship between him and Lauren beginning.  She loves to dive down on the pillows he has thrown on the floor or tries to play along with their airport.  And he better watch out she isn't afraid to throw out some punches!  Gonna have to watch those two!

We got to spend his birthday along with Easter in Kiawah.  Another love is the Despicable Me movies.  He laughs hysterically at them.  So, I whipped up my best minion birthday cake.  Thank you Pinterest!

Colin continues to charm us all with his humor, wit and sneaky grin!

I mean look at that love!

This is one dynamic duo!

We love you Colin!

Lauren Is One!

I truly cannot believe we are celebrating Lauren's first birthday!  Though this year has been crazy busy and we have done so much as a family of five, the fact that our baby is one is surreal to me. My peanut is definitely not a peanut anymore! She weighs in at 24 lbs 3 oz (94%) and measures in at 30 inches (75%).

This time last year we were so excited with anticipation of her arrival.  Imagining who this little girl was going to be, what she was going to look like and how our family was going to change...for the better!

Lauren has brought a whole new level of happiness to our family.  She is so sweet, silly, and a feisty little one.  She is very friendly and started waving at a pretty young age ( I don't remember exactly), but she is always happy to say high to people in the stores.  She adores her big sister and I can see visions of her following her around.  She think her brother is hilarious and is ready to stir up some trouble by pushing him right back!  And when she wants some attention, this girl can yell her head off!

Around her first birthday she started taking steps on her own.  She is also working on climbing and grabbing anything she can get a hold off..that she knows she is not supposed to!  Being the 3rd child I see how she is more adventurous and must be part of the action.  She loves playing with her brother and sister and trying everything they are, but she is also happy to have all the toys to herself too!  She can play with the toy kitchen and all that goes with it for a good 45 minutes on her own!

Lauren is full of light and full of laughs and one dancing machine.  Her theme song is "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift.  Not only does she love to dance to this song but when this girl gets all wound up some times you just got to help her shake it off by jumping or dancing around!

We feel beyond blessed to have Lauren as part of our family.  A few years ago this vision seemed like a possibly unattainable dream.  The fact that we are now living it, is beyond words.

She is obsessed with the purse just like Whitney was!

Bundled up at the bus stop!

Striking a pose in these stylish glasses.

This girl loves her Papa!  She rushes right over to him when he gets home!

This year we took a trip to Kiawah during her birthday  and all of our family was there.  It was so fun to be together to celebrate Lauren's 1st birthday!

So this is what I have been missing!!