Pigtails!

She wore Pigtails today :)

Finally!

Sometime about a year ago, Ady stopped letting me put anything in her hair at all. It falls in her face and she gets food in it, and yet that is less bothersome to her than having to wear a barrette or a ponytail. Once in a while, she would be inspired by some other little girl's cute hairdo(usually her friend Morgan) and get my hopes up while she let me try to put her hair up. Then my dreams of a ponytailed girl would be dashed in about 1 minute. Either she would decide it wasn't worth it at all and it would never get up into the ponytial or clip, or she would let me go as far as putting it up (which usually was difficult due to all her wiggling) and then she would look in the mirror, laugh and say how cute it is then grab the hairclip or hair band and take it out and give it back to me. So I gave up for a while.

Now suddenly school has started for the boys and she wants to be just like mommy. She wants to wear the same type and color of clothes as I am wearing and she wants the same amount and type of jewelry. She even wants her hair to be just like mine! Then when we are both dressed exactly the same she gets so excited and declares "I can't wait to show daddy! He will be so happy to see me!" :)

It is so cute and I am thrilled that I can put her hair up out of her face, even if it does mean I have to wear my hair the exact same way. I will gladly don pigtails if it will mean she will wear them. She looks so Cute and grown up with her hair up. Yesterday I gave both of us french braids. Unfortunately I was feeling ill and I didnt think to take a picture. I will be sure to next time :)

Here are some more pictures of her hair up.

Summer Recap - July

In July we were also very busy. We started off the month in Utah which Ive posted in my June Blog and then when we got back we were able to go out on Lake Shaffer with My Brother and his family. It was so much fun. He had rented a pontoon boat and a Jet ski for the day. Here are some pictures of us out on the lake.

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Later on in July, we took another trip, this time to Ohio and to Maryland. Unfortunately we didn't take very many pictures. We had a great time, though, first visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Ohio, then visiting Dave's family in Maryland. We were also able to spend a few days in Baltimore while Dave was at a convention for work. The Inner Harbor was fun, but very expensive.

This is the only good picture we took. It was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore at the end of a very long day. Dave had to be at the convention before I was able to take the kids to a birthday party for their second cousin in Ohio, so he went on ahead and I stayed behind with the kids, then I drove out to meet him a few days later. I was nervous about driving all that way alone with the kids, but they were so good the whole day and we made it just fine. It felt good to be able to do it all by myself! Staying at my Aunt's house is always so relaxing, we are really lucky to have such a nice place to stop on our way to Maryland to see Dave's family, it works out really well for us, and she treats the kids like royalty.

All in all we had a terrific time, but after all of our traveling this summer we were very happy to be home again.

Summer Recap - Trip to Utah

We were so lucky this summer to be able to take a trip back to Utah for a family reunion (Dave's mom's side of the family). It was the first time Ady and Tayden had been on and airplane, which turned out to be quite an adventure. On the way the airline was having problems which led to us being stuck in the Minneapolis airport over night. If any of you have ever had that joyful experience, you will now how much more fun it would be with 3 tired children. Well we tried to make an adventure out of it. We were given sleeping mats and meal vouchers, so we found a quiet spot to rest.

Unfortunately, we weren't aware that this spot was already taken...

...by a little mouse. Yuck! I quickly found a cleaner place to camp, even though it meant sleeping with all the lights on.

The Next day we found a great play area in the airport (too bad we didn't find it sooner)

We finally were able to get on the plane and Ady had an anxiety attack. Luckily I finally got her to calm down and sit in her seat with the seatbelt. (I've heard horror stories of toddlers who won't calm down before take off and the flight attendant forces them off the plane) She quickly went to sleep, which was a blessing, and she slept almost the whole time.

This is a Picture Kyler took out of his window.

And lastly, here is slide show of all the fun things we did while we were there:

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Tayden's Birthday Parties

Here is a Slide Show from Tayden's family Birthday Party in June: (scroll down for his other party)

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And here is a slide show of Tayden's friend party a few days later :)

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Summer Recap - June

June was a really busy month for us, but fun too. Here is a little slide show of some of the random things we did.

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Summer Recap - May

I've been looking through our pictures and thought it might be fun to post some of the adventures we had over the summer. The summer was so busy I had forgotten some of what we did until I looked back through the pictures :)

I will start out with May in this post, then i will go from there.

For My Birthday this year (the last year before I turn old! EEK!) my good friends Vicki and Candy planned a surprise outing for me. The kid-napped me and took me out for a fun girl's night. First they made me dress like a Princess (and I secretly liked it) :)

I had a really nice time and I am so lucky to have such great friends. Not only Candy and Vicki, but lots more of my friends were there too. Thanks guys :)

The week after that, wasn't as nice, however. On the way back from visiting my family for Mother's day, I hit a deer with our van. It was so scary! Dave was sick and had to work, so he wasn't with us. The kids had all been asleep. The crash woke up the boys, but Ady kept sleeping. I was so worried about her that I kept trying to wake her up. Finally she did wake up only to tell me that she wanted to keep sleeping. No one was injured but our poor van was totaled. Here are the pictures. Note the fur up in the engine. The hood flew open on impact and the deer was up in the engine for a bit. I had to steer the car off the road blind.

 

Here is a picture of the kids happy to be home safe.

And lastly, we spent a fun Memorial Day swimming at my Brother's house.

Destiny

I met Tayden's "girlfriend" today. She is very nice and really cute. Her name is Destiny (sounds sort of like Jennalee).  I talked to her mom, who seems nice also. Her mom said that she has been talking a lot about Tayden and really likes him. (They weren't sure if his name was Tayden or Kayden) She seems to be an only child and it does show a bit, but she is nice to Tayden and he really likes her. She is also in his kindergarten class, so I am sure that helps him feel more at ease.

Tayden was nice and polite to her and waited for her to get on the bus and then they sat together both with big happy grins. While I don't think it is necessarily destiny that forced us into sharing a bus stop with her, I know it is Destiny that is helping Tayden be excited about going to school.

Tayden has a girlfriend!

A few days ago Kyler came home from school and told me that Tayden has a girlfriend and her name is also Tayden. We laughed it off and Tayden denied it and I thought nothing else of it. Then yesterday Tayden came home a lot more happy than he has been and announced to me that he has a girlfriend. He said it with a huge grin on his face and we laughed. Kyler chimed in to tell me that her name isn't Tayden, after all. I asked Tayden what her name actually is and some more about her and he has it narrowed down to either Elizabeth or Jennalee. He seems to just make up names for things and people when he doesn't really know, so I plan to look deeper into who this mystery girl can be.

I do know that she gets on the bus with the boys and that she may or may not be in Tayden's class. Today Tayden was actually eager to go wait for the bus and impatiently waited for me to tell him it was okay to cross the street to get to his bus stop. As he crossed the street a cute little Elizabeth or Jennalee, or whatever her name may be, ran the length of the side walk to eagerly greet him as he crossed the street then they both ran back to the bus stop with huge grins on their faces.

While I am delighted that Tayden has made a friend and that having a friend makes him happier about school, I can't help but feel sad to see him growing up so fast and doing such school age boy things. A girlfriend! I wasn't expecting that for a few more years, or at least not so soon in this school year.

Tomorrow I think I will go to the bus stop with him and meet this girl and solve the mystery of who she and where she lives. If it means that he has a friend nearby then I am all for it. Its just hard to let go.

Hello world!

    Fall is upon us and I find myself with a lot of free time that I didn't have before. Both boys are in school full day now and its amazing how much more time and freedom I have in my day! Kyler started 1st grade this year and Tayden started kindergarten. Our school system added full day kindergarten this year, so Tayden is gone all day too.

I was nervous and sad for him, and rightly so. He isn't enjoying it yet and I think it is hard for him to be around other people all day. He likes to have alone time throughout the day and at school you never get that. As soon as he gets home he is ready to relax and play alone to clear his head. Unfortunately, Kyler comes home all wound up and ready to play with someone, never alone, and tries to get Tayden to play with him. It's a new pattern and we are mostly settling into it. I've learned not to ask Tayden too much about his day right away, because his answers are all negative until after he has been home a while and had time to himself. Then we can talk to him about his day and get more happy answers. Over all I think he is adjusting and I hope soon he will actually enjoy his school day. Tayden is so sweet and I love that he is so good at playing alone, but until now I didn't realize how long it takes him to warm up to new situations. I know that he will warm up to it though, and once he makes some friends he will brighten up and be the fun and clever boy we enjoy so much at home.

Kyler was really nervous the first day, but by the second day he was comfortable with his teacher and the new pattern to his day, thriving in the routine of it all. He is such a social creature that it doesn't take long for him to find someone to talk with and play with and then he is the life of the party. Its a wonderful trait because he adapts quickly to new situations (at home though we all get a little tired of all his social needs. Tayden and Ady and I need our quiet time, which Kyler does not seem to require at all. He cant stand quiet time. He wants to be busy and socializing at all times! Its a great trait, but a tiring one.)

Ady did miss her brothers the first few days, and I spent more time playing with her than I normally need to (which is fun because sometimes she won't let me). Now she is loving her time at home all day without having to share her toys with anyone and no one changing the channel during her favorite show. She is excited to eat lunch with mommy and help mommy clean and feel important. She is growing up so fast and talking so much. I feel like I have this fun little best friend with me wherever I go.

I am glad I have a few more years with her before she goes off into the world like the boys, picked up by a stranger on a big yellow bus and driven away and out of my watch. I love the relationship that I have with her and with the boys as well. Being a mom is so wonderful. I could never have imagined how much of a bond I would share with each of them. I have such a deep love for each of them and I want to savor each and every moment with them for fear I will wake up and its all been a dream. As hard as it is sometimes, I never want to lose the love that we feel as a family. I am so lucky to have a home filled with a fantastic husband and three beautiful children. My kids are still at an age where they openly express their love to me so often throughout the day. I am bombarded with hugs and cuddles and its so lovely. I wonder when that starts to change. With them away all day at school, out of my grasp and my care, I fear that change is near. Will their new independence bring these snuggles to a rarity?

Ive waited and wished for all these hard years of toddlers and preschoolers for this day to come, when I would have that much yearned for time to myself, and now that its here I feel sad in a way. I feel the time dwindling away and I don't want lose what I have. But then I know that as they grow older things will inherently change, many of the changes are good and all are needed in order to help mold them into successful adults. I have to let go a bit. I have to accept that the big yellow bus filled with strangers is taking them and I have to relinquish my lunches with them. They have to decide for themselves now whether or not to finish their apple, or drink all of their water. They can make a decision whether or not to eat the crust, and I cant be their to say don't wipe your hands on your shirt. I should feel relief that I can have a meal without all these worries, but instead I eat my meal without them and still have those worries. Are they raising their hand to speak? Are they taking turns on the playground? Are they using polite words? Are they making an effort to include the boy or girl who others seem to exclude? These are questions that I ask myself throughout the day while I am enjoying my alone time. And I realize that I have to let go a little, they are doing the best they can and I have to let them learn and grow.

Through all the worry and the missing them I do feel happy. I do love the change in my day and most of all, I love seeing them step off the bus and smile at Ady and I and run to us and smother us with hugs!