Playground Playday

What a fun day! Ella, Olivia and I joined Nick and his kindergarten class for their end of the year playground day. Nick has so much fun playing with all his classmates and it was really neat to see him interact with his friends. Ella and Olivia enjoyed watching and playing with all the kids too! NIck was a proud big brother and was eager to show off his sisters to his friends. He's such a sweet kid.

Child of God

Today was a very special day for us, our baby girl was baptized. She is such a blessing from God, and we are so lucky He has given us this gift. Olivia did so great during the baptismal ceremony. I did get a little emotional during her baptism because the preacher had all the children in the church surround us to watch her transition into one of God's children, just like they did when they were little. It was just a warm cozy safe feeling and I know He was there watching over our precious girl on this special day. We were also surrounded by all of our family and got to spend time together at Olivia's baptism lunch. My mother in law -better known as Mimi- yet again made this day so special for us. She planned wonderful food and set up her house with flower, candles and some of Olivia's decorations. We are so blessed and this was truly a celebration of God's love.

Sweet Olivia after getting Baptized

Us with our sweet little girl - She melts my heart.

She also melts someone else's heart!

Table set up - so swet!

Adorable cookies for her baptism

Amazing food!

Love

Bless this baby

Olivia's gift table


Olivia and I opening her gifts.

Thank you so much to all of our family for spending this wonderful day with us! We truly appreciate your presence.

This is tough

So Nick LOVES writing notes. Many days he will "mail" us letters and we have to walk to the mail box or front door numerous times to pick up our letters. Most of the time we can make our way through the letter, but I'll tell you, it is tough! If he didn't request we read the note aloud, I think we would be ok, but he does. He gets disappointed if we can't read what he writes or if we don't put it in the correct sequence he hears it in his head, and if we mess up he says "Geez, can you not read!" - haha! I just love these challenges with him because I see him learning and being VERY excited about his new capabilities. Last night he asked if I would play a game with him and after five minutes of making a sign for the game here is what I was requested to read (ALOUD):



"My name is Nick. Step up try to win $6666...... billion dollars. I got some" He also drew a pictures of what the game consisted of on the bottom left.



After a couple minutes (I'm getting faster) I figured out what it said and we started our game of hitting the balloon with a stick for money. I just had to capture these sweet moments, as I know he will only get better, smarter, and older, so these days are limited.

He lost another tooth!

Nick is on his third tooth now. He lost his two bottom front teeth a couple months ago and just lost his first top tooth. He thinks "he is cuter when he looses a tooth" , and I will have to agree. I just love all the holes in his precious smile!

Nick after he lost his 3rd tooth!

Nick gets a tooth chest from school if they take their tooth to class. He is pretty proud of his chest!

Here is NIck's tooth pillow for the Tooth Fairy


Our sweet little 6 year old, growing up too quick!

Mother's Day

I had such a great mother's day this year! We went to church, ate with the Easley's, then took off to my parents in Garber for dinner. I am so blessed to have such great children and love the bond and relationship I have with each of them. My MOST favorite present I received was the art work and letter from the kids. More than flower or gifts, the best presents are things your son or daughter have made for you! I love these precious little blessings with all my heart and I'm lucky to be their mother.


My first Mother's Day with Olivia

Ella's tiny little hand print and a sweet poem she made at MDO. I hope I never forget her hands this small.

Nick's card her made me and picture of me (love that he gave me blonde and red hair- how observant!)


This is the sweetest letter I have ever got, it reads:
Dear Mommy,
You are the best mom evr. You tac (take) me to the omnplex (Omniplex- I don't even know if I can spell that). You snugl with me. Win it ws my brthday you playd orme (army) with me. You mac (make) me hapy. You mac me good food. I like the food. It is rile (really) good. You love me and I love you. Happy muders (this is my favorite misspelled word) day.
Love,
Nick

LOVE THIS!!! And you bet I cried.


I got a Dyson!! I have been wanting one for a LONG time. Chris's cousin said "It's it sad when you cry when you get a vacuum"...only a mom would!

Fun with Tessa

Ella's neighborhood friend came to play Friday! I think these two look so much alike! Tessa is so quiet and shy though, so that is one feature they do not share! The girls loved blowing bubbles, playing on the car and drawing with sidewalk chalk!

My precious (quiet) babies

So I jumped the gun on this one. The other night we decided we would try Ella on a "big" girl bed, and needless to say the railing was back on her crib the next day. She has been wanting to sleep with Nick every night and begs us to "go Nick's bed" on our way to her room. I thought maybe she likes the openness of his bed, not feeling locked in like a monkey in a cage or something, so I decided to give her some freedom. I will say I THOROUGHLY enjoyed being able to tuck her and comb her hair with my fingers while we read Goodnight Moon. I also loved getting to actually give her a kiss while she was laying down and not having to sneak one in before I laid her down. However that sweet moment past and the next 45 minutes Chris layed back there with her so she wouldn't sneak out of bed! Maybe we'll try this in another 6 months or so, it's just too easy with a crib right now.

Night time is somewhat stressful in our house. By then both Chris and I are worn out and tired (not to mention the kids) and it always seems like a mad rush just to get all 3 in bed and asleep. Ella goes down first around 7:30-8 and likes her air purifier blowing on her head with her lovey snuggled up by her face and 3 pluggies (one for each hand and one in her mouth). She likes to tell me to get more pluggies and I always promise her I will "look" for some more. I think she knows she has enough, but I guess she just like the comfort of knowing I might just show up again before she shuts her precious eyes. Nick is next. He patiently waits in his room usually picking out a book or watching a few minutes of cartoons. He ALWAYS insists we tell him a story....of when we were young. He loves hearing about our childhood memories and often adds his version to our stories. This is our 'sweet' time with Nick. We sit in his bed around 10-20 minutes cuddling, talking, telling stories, or reading books. We give him kisses and hugs and tell him "Night, night....don't let the bed bugs bite". That's kind of gross now that I think of that, but that's what my parents said to me when I was young so it just seemed like the thing to say to him. Olivia is our last to put to bed. Mostly due to the 45 minute nursing time she insists- She just doesn't want to give it up! I love love this time with her because I get to cuddle with her, rock her, and sing to my little baby girl! She loves sleeping on her belly usually with one hand behind her head. Although the peace and quiet is nice after we get them to bed, I can't wait to see their smiling faces in the morning.

Good night my babies. I'll see you in the morning....

What happened to our baby?

Olivia is growing up....quick! She is sitting all by herself now, just on the verge of crawling, and her first tooth finally broke through! She is getting such a personality and learning new things everyday. She is really into making faces now and it's super cute. We love you little bug.

Superman (and women)

These two are so much fun together. Nick and Jacy have LOVED dressing up since they could walk. I know, sadly, there will not be too many more pictures of them dressing up in silly outfits and playing super heros so I had to catch some pictures of them.

Mexico

We left bright and early (make that 4am) last Thursday morning for Cancun Mexico for my best college friend's wedding! Before we even arrived at the airport I was already missing the kids. Funny how that works, when you think your SO ready for a break just 10 minutes down the road I'm ready to come back. I'm glad I didn't come back though, Chris and I got some MUCH needed one on one time and got to really enjoy each other. I think we sometimes forget that we really do LOVE each other, and that I'm not a nag ALL the time -ha. We were so excited to get to be a part of one of my very best friend's wedding- Stefanie and Brandon. Stefanie and I went through so much together and were connected at the hip through college. Life started a little early for me so we haven't got to spend much time together the past 3 years, but it's so nice we just picked up where we left off! You know your great friends when you can pick up 3 years later like we didn't even skip a beat.

Even though Chris got "traveler's diarrhea" for 2 of the 4 days we were there, we really enjoyed the stress-free days and the beautiful beach and water. We took tons of pictures and videos with Chris's phone, but leave it to me to drop it in the ocean. On the last day there we went to a beautiful island (about a 45 minute boat ride away) and enjoyed snorkeling, the zip cord and of course our favorite swimming with the dolphins. We had such a great time with each other but were ready to get back to see our precious children.

I am also so thankful for all of our family who pitched in to make our trip possible. We are so lucky to have such loving and helpful family members who were willing to take on the challenge of 3 kids for 5 days. I know the kids had such a great time with all the activities and gave them a little refresher from us as well! We've always know we are super blessed with such a great family and 3 amazing kids -but a little get away defiantly makes us realize how blessed we really are!




We LOVED these precious dolphins - too cute.


I would have taken them home if I could.



Kisses for Chris....



Chris dancing with the dolphins


The bride (and my beset friend from college)



Some of the group- so much fun!