wordful wednesday, for real

Bronchitis will do "wonders" for your thought process. 

I posted a (pseudo-because I actually had words in it) Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday.

Awesome.

Spring Break cannot come soon enough!

wordless wednesday, birthday style

The cake

Happy Birthday, Dear Kieran

Happy Birthday to you!

(Note: There are lots of kiddos at the party, I just didn't include them in case someone didn't want their kid on here :) )

The jumpy

I AM your father! (we did the pinata indoors, it started to rain!)

WooHoo!

Pin the Saber on Yoda (My FANTASTIC Mom did this for me-love you Mommy!)

Storm Trooper and Yoda Sugar Cookies-Vader & BobaFett were too hard, plus I didn't want to stay up past 1 in the morning! (the humidity made them bleed and NO these did not turn out like Williams-Sonoma but I tried!)

The Big 5

The Family (Almost...Tatum was asleep w/ Grandma)

The really ugly, tired, done with the party shot (of me of course, the baby is always cute ;))

More bouncing

Auntie Mary, Johnny, Catherine, Kieran (you should see the before and after shots...if you yell out diarrhea to my family, or anyone's I bet, they'd smile and laugh like this, too! Gross, I know, but it works!)

Grandma & Tatum (for some reason I didn't have any shots with Papa...oh well, next month for Anna's 3rd birthday!)

Galaxy Blaster

Nonno, Kieran, and Nonna

Jumping with Daddy 

When Kieran woke up the next morning after his party, we sang Happy Birthday to him when he crawled into our bed. I always get teary eyed when I sing to him on the actual day, but he quickly had me smiling. He never ceases to make me smile. He'd been waiting and asking for the last 6 months if it was his birthday and he asked again. "Wait, am I five yet?"

Yes, baby, you are.

happy birthday, dear kieran

My baby, my son, my boy.

Today you turned 5.

5 years old.

I feel like we just began our journey as first time parents and here you are, almost finished with preschool, and beginning Kindergarten in the Fall.

Each year rushes by so quickly. I feel like I just wrote your birthday post when you were turning 4. 

At 5 you:

are 42 1/2 inches (according to Daddy who measured you tonight when you asked)

are in to Star Wars, Bakugans, Wii

love golf, soccer, and riding your bike

tell me you love me at the most perfect moments

love playing outside with Daddy

love entertaining your sisters

love to dance

care for friends and family the way that I hoped my child would; with compassion, and with all your heart and might.

Our lives were forever changed the day you were born, in ways that we never could have dreamed.

You amaze me every day with the new concepts that you learn, and the questions that you ask.

You have an imagination that is out of this world-it's like watching my very own Toy Story.

When I first learned that we were having a boy, I was nervous and scared. Afterall, I had a sister and most of my cousins were girls, what was I going to do with a boy? Would I know how to take care of you, raise you, teach you?

I have "my days" like any mommy does, where I feel like I am challenged to exhaustion, yet I'm challenged to be a better me. Yes, my sweet Kieran, you have taught me so much in these last 5 years, I sometimes wonder who is teaching whom?

Your love for life is powerful.

I often wish that I looked at the world through your lens, as it is untainted and non-judgmental. Oh, if all the world were this way...

may you always carry this beautiful gift.

You are heaven sent, and you are your own little life.

Daddy and I are the very blessed parents who have the honor of guiding you through.

Happy 5th Birthday, my sweet Kieran Andrew!

4 months

My sweet Tatum, 

You turned 4 months on the 11th. I am behind, but mainly because I'm so busy loving you! That's a good kind of busy, a busy that is delightful, delectable, divine. 

You have found your hands and feet. 

You love to grab on to toys, especially rattles. You shake, shake, shake, and are very proud of yourself for making noise! 

You giggle, sometimes uncontrollably when you think something is funny or when we tickle you under your cheeks. 

Our family and friends collectively, must have planted a billion kisses on you by now, you are that sweet!

I am not sure where the time goes, but I savor every minute of every day. 

You are taking two naps and sleeping through the night (but I won't say any more than that...fingers crossed!)!

Kieran and Anna are so wonderful with you, they are always making sure that you have what you need. Your Daddy has taken to you like any father would, and it is so sweet to see him try to get you to smile and laugh.

We'll find out at the end of month how much you have grown! 

You have blessed our lives in ways unimaginable.

Happy 4 months, sweet girl!

wordless wednesday

Sisters much?

Somehow, without fail, I make the bed and they find their way in.

I'd make the bed a thousand times over if it meant that I could freeze time. Some day, they won't do this, some day they'll be out of the house. So, when I find myself frustrated because I've made the bed over and over, I remind myself that they are only little once. These are the simple and special moments that make motherhood so sweet. When the third is old enough, she'll likely make her way to my freshly made bed, too.

I won't fret that the bed isn't perfect, I'll dive in between them and we'll laugh to our heart's content.

first cut(s)

Friday was a momentous occasion. I said I'd wait until Anna was three. I couldn't bear the thought of scissors to these beautiful locks:

Her hair is getting so long though, it's becoming more difficult to do her hair quickly in her usual piggies or pony.

So we decided it was time, just shy of her third birthday next month, since she was looking a bit scraggly:

I love the place that I take the kids to get their haircuts. It's perfect because it's just for kids!

I asked Anna if she would like Kieran to go first, thinking that she might need a little encouragement.

No, not Anna. What was I thinking? She's little miss independent, little miss extrovert, little miss I can do anything and be anything! I love this about her!

Anna fished for plastic fish and had her haircut without a problem. See the saved locks on the counter? I still have mine in a little envelope in my baby book!

Just an inch, that's all we took, but Anna was so excited to see the finished product since she had a beautiful braid. She thought she looked just like Rapunzel :)

Some pretty sparkles for the finishing touches,

and an apple lollipop to make her lips pucker and she was good to go!

That is, until this...

her first cut on her head that landed us in the ER.

Anna didn't have a nap today because she was too excited that Nonna was here to visit. No nap for Anna means crazy in the afternoon and evening. She gets a second wind of sorts and the energy just explodes from her body. Silly girl that she is, she took a dive for Tatum's Nap Nanny and overshot. The fireplace won.

I'm so thankful that my mom was there to stay behind with Kieran and Tatum, while Erik and I took our sweet Anna. Erik asked me how Kieran would have handled the situation had it been him. Ha! The difference between Kieran and Anna. No matter what the situation, Anna will always stop crying quickly, because she doesn't want anyone to worry about her. Kieran? The tiniest of splinters could get him and he'd be wailing telling you the sky is falling. Anna=Me, Kieran=Erik. 

The nurses and doctors were blown away by the way she communicated with them and thought she was the best patient ever!

A little soap and water and some purple dermabond, and Anna thanked them and asked if she could then leave. "I'm all better, just a little glue". A few Disney Princess stickers and we were in and out in an hour and a half. 

Let's hope for no big events or more cuts for Sunday, that's enough for one weekend!