Slow Down 2.2

This morning I was dressed and ready before Saffryn got up. After she woke up she snuck into her room for a bit. When she came out she was dressed and ready for the day. She came up very proudly and said: "Look mom, I am wearing a green tank top." Then she got a little shy and said, "like you."

Does it get much better than that?!?! Oh how I love her. I asked her if she wanted to get a picture with me since we were matching.





It is so humbling to have someone look up to you so much. I sure hope I am a good role model to her. I hope she is able to find her security from God and know how treasured she is by Him.




Happy Friday!!!



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Cranky

I was in the middle of writing some cranky post about naps.

My kids arent great nappers...blah, blah, blah...

Then, I got interrupted by someone working on the house and I am so glad I did. I needed an attitude adjustment big time. Man this parenting thing is hard work. Some days I just want to be able to check out for a few hours. Sleep would also be nice...

But the truth is my kids are awesome. I love having them around. It can be so hard focusing on that when the chore list never ends. And the sleep doesnt come. Maybe I need to reinstate the slow down posts.

Yes. Yes I do.

So slow down post new versions...lets call them 2.1

Colt. He is into EVERYTHING. It is hilarious. He doesnt slow down for one second during the day. So far today he has:

Gotten into dog food and water
Found trash on the floor (which was recently swept. This kid is a genius at finding hidden treasures)
Found an open toilet and splashed to his hearts content
Tried to climb down the steps outside
Broke the necklace I was wearing
Got into the dishwasher that was just barely cracked open

Anyway you get the point. The best part? This is what he looks like while doing the activities.

I told you (or maybe I am reminding me) my kids are AWESOME!

Memories

Somethings I never want to forget:

-Colt holding my hand while nursing

-Pierce spotting every plane that flies by

-Saffryn loving to ring the doorbell

-Saffryn and Pierce's love of popsicles

-What a PAIN carseats are...serioiusly can we be done yet

-Laughter is contagious

-Saffryn and Pierce running away laughing and trying to hide from me when its time to go to bed

-Colt shaking his head no while smiling

-The love my husband has for all of us

Foodie

Here is our future foodie:


This boy loves to eat!!!
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Speaking of Haircuts

There is a certain someone who has been DYING to cut their hair short like their momma...

We had haircuts all around! She got a short bob and Pierce got his cut, too!

She looks so old with it short. I was afraid she would regret it, but as soon as we got home she ran to my bathroom to brush it and look at it in the mirror.

She is on day 2 and loving it short! It is so easy to take care of. Yay! Best part...she looks adorable! :)
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First Haircut

Colt had his first haircut yesterday!

Here is the before. Just a little long and scraggly.

Here he is during!

He was such a good sport! The happiest baby!!!

After! Such a sweet and handsome boy. I just cannot get over him!!!
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Two!

I can't believe my little Pierce is 2!!!




This little guy has such a special place in my heart. I did not know what to expect when I found out I was having a boy. There are not many boys in my family. But oh how I LOVE having boys! From the second I heard his cry he melted my heart and I haven't fully recovered :)




He is my class clown. He loves being ornery and being over the top. He is so busy and is always climbing, jumping, running or hiding.



The above being said he has a heart of gold. He is the first to comfort a crying kid or baby in our house. He is always willing to share. He loves to encourage everyone. He is always I mean ALWAYS thinking of other people and looks out for his siblings.



He weighs 28.4 lbs 55% and is 35.5 inches tall 80%. He is wearing size 2t clothes and size 5 diapers. He is in size 7 shoes. He is our picky eater! He loves juice. If we let him he would fill up on juice every meal. His favorite foods include: cheese, pizza, fruit, bread, hot dogs, eggs and cookies



Speaking of diapers he is really doing well in the potty training dept. He pees like a champ and will consistently keep his diaper dry. If he is wearing underwear he hardly ever has a pee accident. Poop on the other hand is a different story. He doesn't want to go on the toilet. I know it will come, but in the meantime I'm not sure if I continue to try underwear because he really likes them and can keep them dry or stay with diapers since he will poop in his underwear. Lol. Oh who knows!




He loves balls, cars, trucks, planes, animals, blue, k-state and books. He is so good at playing by himself but loves to play with his siblings, too. His favorite movie is Rio. His favorite music is The Black Keys and can sing along to a few songs! His speech has exploded! He knows so many words and can say sentences. He has started to stutter slightly. The last week I haven't noticed as much so I think it is fixing itself.





He is still a momma's boy. And truth be told I love that!!!

Happy 2nd birthday to my dear Piercey James!


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Ballet Recital

Saffryn had her first ballet recital this weekend. We had the dress rehearsal Friday and she was so excited to go on Saturday.




Adorable!

Well that was until we got there. In her mind we were going to do it exactly like we did at dress rehearsal. Which totally makes sense. That was not the case. You see at the dress rehearsal the kids sat in the audience WITH their mom watching the dancers until it was their turn to dance. Then they got on stage, did their dance and walked back to their moms. There was no talk of dressing rooms, or them being left by themselves so when that was announced to Saffryn when we got there she was very unnerved. It was not what she had planned for. She starting crying and didn't want me to leave her alone. I stayed as long as I could, but I had to go sit down so I could watch her.

Dan, Papa and I were SO nervous for her. When I left her she was about 2 seconds away from coming unglued. We wondered if she would burst into tears on stage or maybe leave all together. Would she even walk out? There were a lot of people in the audience and it was a lot for such a little girl. My gut told me she would be clutch and go on stage without losing it. See for yourself what happened:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6J01V_QEZk

Awesome!!!

I loved it so much!

After she was done dancing she had to go back to the dressing room with the other girls. Then they all came out for the finale.




















SO typical of Saffryn. Oh she makes me smile. And what I didn't get a picture of was her walking out to the director right before the curtain closed to ask her all of her questions. LOL!



Papa had gotten her flowers! Oh she was excited to see him!












I cannot tell you how proud I am of her. This was WAY out of her comfort zone. She was so brave and pushed through the hard. She is very determined. I love that about her. Dan and I had such a fun time seeing her do this. I have no idea if this will be something she loves long term, but she made one adorable ballerina when she was 3!




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Mess-Free Activity

My friend found this on Pinterest. I take NO credit for it. I do not have a Pinterest account so I don't know if I can give credit to the person who posted this. But if it bothers someone enough I can try to do it.

Anyway...the activity. Place paint in a gallon size ziplock bag. If you use 2 different colors of paint you can work on mixing and making colors. Tape it to a piece of white paper on the table. Let the kids use their fingers to trace paint around. Then you have mess free finger painting!





My kids are so funny. I think they were disappointed in the mess free part. Saffryn kept trying to open the bag and kept asking if she could just put her hand in it one time. Pierce was unimpressed, too.




But for kids with normal mothers this may be a fun and mess free activity for you. It was a bust for us because I guess we all like getting messy too much...



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Water Play and Pulling Up

We had another nice day so we pulled some toys outside! For something new we brought out our pretend kitchen things and a bucket of water. They loved "cooking".




Stirring her soup!









Bucket of water.




Don't you just love his outfit?!? I tried talking him out of it...but he INSISTED on wearing his rain boots!









Oh the little monkey!




While they were busy doing this Colt had a project of his own...




Trying to pull up.



Getting close!




Yay!




Oops!

He did it over and over again! He is going to be running before I know it!


Anyway this is an activity we will definitely repeat. It was easy to set up and was just different enough the kids wanted to dive in and explore. The clean up was easy and they so enjoyed pretending! It was a blast!


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Dan's Favorite

Dan said this was his new favorite picture:





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Sleep Over

Dan and I decided to have a sleep over with the big kids (as we lovingly call Saffryn and Pierce). We rented a movie...Wreck It Ralph...and went downstairs. We set up blankets and pillows for our beds.



And made popcorn!



Yes those are m&ms. Learned this trick from a friend and it is oh so good!

The movie was really cute! Saffryn watched and understood the hole thing! Pierce started playing with toys towards the end. Hehe. After the movie we had the kids lie down and turned on some cartoons while we rubbed their backs. Pierce fell asleep in minutes. I started to doze off, too. Saffryn was having a hard time. By midnight she was still wide awake watching cartoons o obviously those had to go. She so badly wanted to all sleep together but she was just too wound up to sleep. I gave up and went upstairs to our comfy bed. I know...what a lame mom. Haha. Dan stayed down there and toughed it out. Saffryn had a rough night of waking on and off. Poor Dan and Pierce.

When I got up in the morning here is what I found:




Haha!!! Dan was asleep on the couch. We had 2 tired and cranky kids all day. So next time we will just have a movie night, then everyone can go to sleep in their own beds!

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8 months old

Look at this boy! Can you believe it!?!? Oh he is the sweetest, most charming little boy!



He is still huge. Ha! Wearing size 5 diapers and size 18 month clothes. He has bright blue eyes and light brown hair.




He is crawling!!! Look at him go!



Made it!

He has turned a corner on sleeping! His naps still vary during the day and he fights them so badly. But at night he sleeps great! Goes to bed between 6:30/7:30 and will wake up anytime between 4/6! Yeah buddy!!!




He has 2 bottom teeth. His top gums are swollen so I wonder if he will be getting more soon. When this boy is happy, he is the MOST easy going and smily baby. If he is tired or hungry he is SO loud. His highs are high and his lows are low. Lol!



We love that his personality is shining through! He loves to flirt and get attention! If somebody...anybody starts talking to him he lights up. People keep telling me he should be a Gerber baby.




He is still mostly nursed and I am still dairy free. I have had a few small encounters with dairy in the last few weeks and he seemed to tolerate it just fine so I will start adding it back in soon!



I could go on and on about this boy! He lights up our life.



Baby boy you have been the happiest surprise of my life!!!




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