Happy Birthday, Brooklynne

Last Friday, my not so baby girl turned 5. She immediately asked to start kindergarten, because she was 5. She also wanted to paint her own nails, get a cell phone, get her ears pierced and wear make up. Apparently, age five is pretty much like being a grown up!

The day started with sour creme doughnuts that I had bought the day before for breakfast. You all know that we eat as healthy as possible, but birthday's are meant to be filled with sugar and carbs, right?!

After using up 17 hours of the day to pack all the necessary items, food and people for the pool, we arrived to find it was closed which was devastating to Brookie since that was what she wanted to do on her birthday. She quickly wiped her eyes, brushing back threatening tears and I felt terrible we couldn't continue with our plans.
 We headed back home where I made a special birthday lunch: Turkey and Cheese heart sandwich, apple stars, and a rice cake with peanut butter and a frosted "5" shaped into a heart. She loved it!

 Because the pool plans were shot, I let her choose something else, which was watching a movie. She didn't have to go to her room and have quiet time but stayed up to watch it instead while I baked and frosted her cake.

Her dinner request was macaroni and cheese, potato chips, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and rocky road ice cream. I made everything homemade (except the chips, of course), and I'll tell you what, it was amazing.

She wanted to do cake before presents, which is what we did. I am in love with my mad cake decorating skills. If you ever need lessons,  I can teach you all about how to make it look like a five year old made the cake! In my defense, it tasted divine!

While I cleaned up from dinner, she spent quality time with daddy, and then we took a few pictures...

A little later, she opened presents

We finished off the day with a walk to the park, and found hopscotch someone had drawn on the sidewalk.

When we got home, we skyped my parents so they could watch while Nate brought out the present from them: Brooklynne's very first bike. She was thrilled and wouldn't stop riding it around the house! Before she went to sleep, I asked her what her favorite part of the day was and she replied, "my bike". Good job, Mom. ;)

Later on, Nate and I crept downstairs and got into the leftover cake. We stood over it laughing and giggling like 2 little kids getting into trouble while we shoveled it into our mouths. It was good. It was so good. The next day I took the last big chunk of it, put it in a container and gave it to a friend. I didn't need that in my house any longer! :)

Like any parent, I am a little sad that my little girl is growing up so much, but I want to focus on the positive. She is healthy, something that many parents do not have the privilege of saying. She is happy and fun but also has a serious side, too. She can pull out a pretty good attitude when she wants to which we quickly work to get rid of. She loves me so much and has recently started saying, "you're the BEST" while giving me huge hugs. Her and Joey are best friend and normally play together so sweetly. I am so, so blessed that I have had 5 full, wonderful years with my little bestie!

A Day in the Life: Week 20

I'm posting just in time to turn around and post again for this week, but at least now we'll be all caught up! :)

Monday, May 14th: A picture for Mommy (love the backwards "J")

Tuesday, May 15th: Tummy Time is NOT cool, Mom

Wednesday, May 16th: Uriah's Kindergarten Graduation

Thursday, May 17th: First night in a Big Boy Bed!

Friday, May 18th: A very rare, natural smile :)

Saturday, May 19th: Looking at picture of the salamanders with Daddy

Sunday, May 20th: Me and my little Cuddle Bug

Next week I'll be posting about Brooklynne's 5th birthday. Have a fun Memorial Day weekend, and take some time to thank a veteran in the next few days!

Big Brown Eyes

It seems like almost all of my friends growing up had blue eyes. I have adored blue eyes forever. I was blessed to marry a blonde hair, blue-eyed, hottie and I had high hopes that our children would also have blue eyes someday.

 I think pretty much every baby is born with blue eyes, so I didn't get my hopes up when they came into the world that way. I waited a few months, keeping a close eye (no pun intended) on Brooklynne's. At 6 months old, her eyes were still blue but they changed to brown somewhere between 8-9 months of age. Joe's were blue for a much shorter time and by just a few months old, they were also brown.

 Suddenly, I acquired a love for brown eyes like never before. 

Here are my kids, hugging me and looking up at me like they do so often. Oh man. Those beautiful, big brown eyes kill me. When they talk to me and I stare at them, I'm amazed at just how gorgeous they are.

 Of course, it could help that they are my life, and to me, they are the most beautiful children in the world. In that case, I might be just a little biased.

#3 still has blue eyes, but I know that they could stay that way for a long time, even almost 9 months like Brookie's, so I'm not holding my breath. If they stay blue I will be totally thrilled, but if not, I am gonna love those big brown eyes just like I do the older two.

Oh, and when I need a blue eyes fix, I can just stare into my Man's. He doesn't mind and neither do I. ;)

A Day in the Life: Week 19

I'm a week behind in posting my picture a day, so here is 2 weeks ago and I hope to have last week up within a few days. One thing I've noticed with taking on this challenge is that I really notice little moments around the house and capture them more. Taking a photo every day is becoming second nature to me now that we're in month 5, and I'm really enjoying it! It will be so great to have these all to look back on at the end of the year.

Monday, May 7th: Awkward Family Photos :)

Tuesday, May 8th: Babysitting sweet little miracle baby, Bryan

                             

Wednesday, May 9th: A Mother's Day picture for my Mom

Thursday, May 10th: Baby Yawns

Friday, May 11th: Cousins and Best Friends

Saturday, May 12th: I told them they could have popcorn for a snack and before I could help them, I found them like this. Notice that closed feet make a great popcorn holder! (thankfully they just had baths!)

Sunday, May 13th: Mom of three on Mother's Day. It's still hard to believe I have 3 kids.

Hope you all have a great week!

A Week of Little Moments

If you haven't noticed, I added a feed of pictures from my phone onto the side of the blog called "daily moments". Some days there are 2 pictures and some days there are 5. I'll admit that what I do is for my family who lives so far away to feel like they are a part of our every day lives, but you guys get to come along for the ride as well. 

 Moment of silence for that privilege, please.

 Just kidding.

 Here's a week of "Daily Moments". Of course, it's not every picture I took on my phone but it's a good portion of all the little moments that make up my wonderfully blessed life.

Cuddles with Mommy

Swim day with cousins

A nap by the pool

Who says a 2 year old can't do a Jillian Michael's DVD?

Little fluffy head after his bath

She loves the "hat towel"

Speaking of moment of silence, may we have one now for this homemade salsa. Amen.

A rainy Day

Rainy days are good!

My happy little Man

Another picture, Mom?!

Good morning, little brother

 She lets rolly polly's crawl all over her hands. I stand at a safe distance to take my pictures.

Romance in the Kitchen

Good morning, big sister

Learning the scooter

My little Shadow who has been just that lately--very attached to Mommy.

He's not too big to curl up and go right to sleep in his wrap

Sitting outside

Big boy bed. He kept asking, "Why is it broken?" (because it's a crib that converts) and said we still have to call it a crib. So far he's slept great in it--not sure he realizes his freedom yet!

Happy Weekend!