Addison's 5th Birthday Party

We celebrated Addison's 5th birthday today, with a puppet show. The show was great, the kids laughed and had lots of fun watching a talking book, an orangutan, a bookworm, and Jack-and-the-Beanstalk. Next we ate delicious Barbie Cake and visited with our friends. After the party, a few families headed out to dinner at a local pizza place....14 people...6 adults, 6 little girls, and 2 baby girls with highchairs (I don't think either of them ever sat in them). It was crazy but fun. Finally we came home and opened her presents. She got lots of cute gifts, plus between her savings over the last few months and birthday money/gift cards, she has about $160 to shop at the American Girl store on Tuesday. She can't wait. It was a great day celebrating my girl....hard to believe she is almost 5!!!

We put Gracyn in the cake box, so we could get the party set up.

If she wasn't contained in the box, she was climbing everything!!!

Baby girl LOVED the puppets.

The talking book, a big crowd favorite.

Happy Girls!!!

My sweet 5 year old.

The Barbie Cake of her dreams.

My sweet family.

Friends.

Opening Gifts.

Another American Girl card.

This morning Reagan said she wasn't going, just bring her some cake, but she decided to join us!!! :)

Gracyn loves to be upside down.

Daddy and his girl.

Reagan had earned a special prize, so I got her the doll chair. I knew Addison was getting one, and they love to put them in the chairs and do their hair.

Phonics and Donuts

This morning, the girls and I were working on a paper chain, to count down all of Addison's upcoming birthday events. For Monday, we were writing "donuts" on the chain, since she is taking donut treats to celebrate her birthday at school that day. I told her the "D" and then she said, "Hold on, don't tell me anymore, let me think a minute!". She then sounded out the rest of the word completely on her own. I was so excited for her. What a big girl she is getting to be. And, can I tell you how proud I am that besides family members and the easy 3-letter words, "donuts" was the first word my child spelled. She is a girl after my own heart.

Peek-A-Boo

Gracyn was quite the ham, while playing peek-a-boo with me this morning. She was hiding behind the door of their little cottage and would then throw it open and laugh at me. Pure cuteness!!! Wet cuteness, do you think all that drool might be an indication that she is getting a few more teeth?

In other Gracyn news, she is on the move!!! Something finally clicked with her Sunday and she is standing on her own, getting herself to standing and taking 5 or 6 steps at a time. She is so proud of herself and she gets a big cheer from the crowd each time she does it.

Swim Lessons

Addison and Reagan started swimming lessons as a local swim school this morning. They did a great job, and each of them did things I had never seen them do before. That is good, because for the price of these lessons, I am expecting some swimming on par with Michael Phelps in the next few weeks. Addison came out happy to report that her teacher said she was, "Amazing!!!". And, Reagan went under water, floated on her back and retrieved things from the bottom of the pool. They did a great job and they can't wait to go swimming with Daddy this week, so they can show off their new skills.

Getting that cap on her head was no easy task....Mommy needs lessons.She is thinking about this cap, she isn't too sure!

Doesn't she look like she belongs on the back of a Harley....Lord, help us!!!

Sweet sisters, ready to go.

Gracyn, the ever-present, cheering section.

We have entered the one-year-old awkward hair stage, can you tell?

She Fights

But she doesn't always win!!!

I have always heard that turkey has some sort of pheromone that makes you sleepy. Maybe I should be feeding it to her at 3am.

Date Night

Daddy and Reagan's date night, that is. Sunday evening our church hosted a father/daughter luau. It was the perfect opportunity for Tommy to do something one on one with Reagan. She had just received perfect luau attire, that her friends brought her back from their recent vacation in Hawaii.

They had a great time together, the highlight being the "hupa-loop" (Reagan's name for hula-hooping) contest. She "won" that giant lollipop and by the look in her eyes, I think it may have been a highlight of her life. Her sisters were quite envious when she came home licking that thing. I am glad my sweet girl got to have a special night out with her Daddy.

Three

Little Miss Reagan turned three last week. She is growing up so fast. She is so much fun to be around, she makes me laugh all the time. It sounds strange when I say it, but if you know Reagan than you understand. Most of the time, she is my most easy-going girl, however she is also the most strong-willed. She is generally happy to go along with anything and doesn't complain, but every now and then she digs her heals in, gets a certain look in her eye and I know it is time to decide if I want to battle an issue out with her or let it go!!! As she gets older, she has become much more reasonable and those moments are fewer and farther between. Thankfully, with that will-power comes a fierce loyalty....she takes good care of her sisters and wouldn't let anyone hurt them.

Reagan lives in her own happy little world. She makes me laugh all the time, because she is just kind-of out there....happy as can be, but not always exactly in-tune with the things going on around her. For instance, a few weeks ago, they were in time-out for interuppting me while I was making a phone call. At the end of their time out, I was talking to them about why they had been in trouble. Addison gave me all the textbook answers I was looking for and went back to playing. Here is my conversation with Reagan....

Mommy: "Reagan, what are you supposed to do while Mommy is on the phone?".

Reagan: Wiggling all over the room, eyes darting everywhere, "Clean-up!".

Mommy: "Um, no Reagan, What do you do while Mommy is on the phone?"

Reagan: Still wiggling, "Put my shoes on!".

At this point, as usual, I am laughing at her and can't keep a straight face. She half listens to me,while she bounces all over the place as I remind her not to interrupt when I am on the phone. Tommy and I decided that she has a few good answers... she ISoften supposed to be cleaning up or putting her shoes on.....she is just trying to plug those answers in at the wrong times.

Reagan skips everywhere she goes and loves to twirl in front of mirrors. She does a great job at her ballet class and is begging me to put her back in gymnastics. She loves to be outside and can play in the sandbox for as long as time allows. She loves reading, playing computer games and playing with her friends. Reagan rides her little bike all over the neighborhood and has more near-misses than I like to count.....she is crazy!!! She goes to bible-study school once each week where she is a leader in her class. She can't wait to start pre-school next year. Reagan loves to worhip, currently always singing, "There is Power in the Mud"....better known as "Power in the Blood".

I never want to forget how after dinner she always tells us, "I promise I am done, I really am!" and how she loves to use the word "suddenly". She still calls loud noises "Nows" and she likes to drink "Coke-E". At night, before she goes to sleep she needs me to "Pray to her".

I love my time with this precious girl. Looking forward to all the adventures being 3 brings for her.

Happy Easter

Easter weekend was a fun and busy one. Saturday afternoon, we headed out to the annual neighborhood egg hunt. I believe there were 23 kids there this year, we moved to a GREAT street. It was such a windy day, but it seemed like the wind slowed down some, just long enough for us to get outside. It was a great afternoon with friends! When the hunt was over, several of us headed to Quedoba for "Kid's Eat Free" weekend.

The infamous tutus....if you have talked to me in the last month, you know know the drama! 4 girls, waiting for the eggs to be hidden!Little chick distracted enough be the eggs to stand for awhile!

Baby girls on the block. 3 boys are due this summer to help even us out.

My girls checking out their goods.

The crew!

One lucky Daddy!

Sunday morning, we headed to church at 9:00. The service was amazing. They ended with cardboard testimonials, which is always so uplifiting. I loved watching the young teenage girls in the choir and wondering if someday I would have a girl up there.

The only picture we got after church....Gracyn feel asleep.

After church Gracyn got a quick one hour nap in her bed, while the girls and I made cake for an Easter party. This was our second year to have our "Displaced Texan" party with our friends Matt and Mary. Tommy and Matt have been friends forever, and unrelated to us, they were transferred here a few months after we were. They live what Tommy calls "A Par 3" away.

We loaded up the wagon and headed there for Easter lunch. Another group of friends were new to the party this year. They moved here in June to go to work for Matt's company. We had lunch and then Aaron hid eggs for Landon and the girls. It was a beautiful day. We were blessed to spend all day outdoors with good friends.

My prissy girl.

Mommy helping her find some eggs.

Mary can always manage to get a good group shot for us....no easy task.

The guys hanging out.

Sweet Addison.

Baby Girl.

We came home and the girls dyed their eggs. We ended the day tired, happy, blessed and thankful.

PS....

She looks just like Addison. I don't have the energy to dig out a picture of Addison at the exact same age. Here Addison is about 18 months, but you can see the resemblance. Gracyn is a blue-eyed version of her.

One

My baby girl is ONE!!! The year went so fast, but was so much fun. A bit of a blur maybe, but fun. Above, she is celebrating her first birthday with the traditional Red Robin birthday dinner. She watched intently as they sang to her and loved the whipped cream they delivered. I didn't let my little dairy intolerant child go near the ice-cream, and yes I realize that whipped cream is dairy too, but somehow it seemed better.

At one, my girl is amazingly good at communicating what she wants. She shakes her head yes and no, points to anything that interests her, and shoves away and speaks a firm, "NO!" to anything she doesn't want. She loves playing with her push toy, reading books and standing on the side of the bathtub. She doesn't like being told no or being left out of her sister's activities. She isn't the best at sharing either, as evident in the fact that she bit another sweet baby friend today and left teeth marks in her little arm...we have to work on that.

Thank goodness, she is finally sleeping through the night or just getting up once most nights, but she still isn't a napper....usually just a quick one-hour nap sometime mid-day. She also tends to try to wake up at 5:30am, but I usually try to nurse her quick enough to get her back in bed!

Gracyn is super-fast and all over the place, however she cannot be convinced to walk. She has taken a few steps here and there, but only when she isn't paying attention. Same goes for standing on her own, she won't do it unless she is distracted. It isn't slowing her down any though, she keeps up just fine on all fours, less a few splinters every time we go to the playground. She can also climb like a champ. I strapped her into her wagon today and then turned around to walk, when I looked back she was out of the straps and standing in the seat, holding onto the seatback.

She is definitely my most timid child. She is scared of load noises (the bear stuffing machine at Build-A-Bear was most traumatic), new people and strange places. She doesn't cry, she just tightens her grip on me and quietly observes. The doctor commented today at her well-check that he had never seen her smile. That's because he is the one poking, prodding and giving shots. For us, she is all smiles and here lately big laughs all the time!!!

Gracyn says....Mama, Dadda, Addi, no-no, go, bye, ball, and this.

We love our girl. She has the whole family wrapped around her little finger. Addison and Reagan will do anything for her. Daddy says she can't walk because he holds her all the time, and I just love her to pieces!

Suck it In.

Reagan was happily chatting to herself as we were getting ready to go out to dinner a few days ago. She put her shoes on and then found a tube of lip gloss. She applied lipstick and smiled happily. Here is what I heard her saying to herself....

"I look soooo fancy....'cept not with my boogers." Insert loud, slimy snorting sound. "That's why I have to suck them back in!".

Lovely, such a dainty girl she is!!!!