Feeling it.

It's my birthday.

First thing this morning Bubu says to me, "Happy birthday mom...................................................you look so Old!"

So yeah, it's my birthday and apparently I look it.

OLD.

Who's trying to walk?

She is!

Until she gets distracted, this walker is a little too much fun ...

A five strand ponytail

Do you see that?
Look really closely.

I know it's hard to see.

We though it was pretty funny, and super cute. {By the way it is extremely hard to get a picture of this girl now a days...she is a wiggle worm!}

I'm thinking it will be a while before she actually wears hair pretties, but it was fun none the less. She actually kept it in for quite a while, and it made me giggle every time I looked at her. Too cute. My bald little princess.

And now he is five!

My first born is turning five today.On his first birthday I could hardly believe my baby wasn't a "baby" anymore, I cried. Looking back on this picture I can't believe I even though he was not a baby, look at him...he was still sooooooo little! Everything was so much more dramatic, being as he was my first.
Here he is on his second birthday and again I cried thinking he was getting so grown...ummmm no, still a baby. Little round toddler. Bald beauty. It took him so long to get any hair, hope it's not the same for his sister, ha! The only thing he wanted for his birthday was a bike, talked about it all the time. So we got him one with training wheels and all...he just started riding it this year, silly boy. Silly parents. He did enjoy staring at it for years. ;)

My wise little three year old. He's always been wise beyond his years. I'm not sure if I cried on his third birthday, but I probably did because I'm a sap. This was the year I noticed he was leaving the baby years behind, and looking more like a little man.

My proud little four year old. I was shocked at the changes that happened between three and four. He grew like a sunflower! Like the giant sunflowers in my front yard. He blossomed and grew. No baby left, unless I looked really well into his baby blue eyes!

*

And now he is FIVE! The big day is here. He's been talking about being five for years now. When I'm five I will...bla, bla, bla...that's been the constant phrase around here. When ever he wasn't old enough for something he was sure he could do it when he was five. He would conquer the world at five, go to the moon and set world records. He's got a huge imagination. I don't know about conquering the world but I have a feeling that this year is going to bring some pretty big things for my amazingly wonderful five year old. I feel so blessed to have my young man in my life. He is so caring and compassionate. Loving. Responsible. Funny. I look forward to what is to come.

~no words~

A little too adventurous

I've always taught my kids to be food adventurers. The rule in our house is to try one bite at the very least. I'm always reminding them that their taste buds change and something they didn't like before they might like now. When you've never tried it you just don't know if you like it or not. And many other such phrases. Numerous times now my boys have come to realize how true this is. Bubu will often tell me how he didn't like something before but he tried it again and he likes it now. Unfortunately my kids have begun taking it a step to far, they are trying to turn the table on me I do believe. They are getting a little too adventurous. Their new favorite thing to do is to put some crazy combination of food together like bananas dipped in ketchup or a chunk of melon on nachos. "Watch this mom" one of them will say and chomp away with a mischievous look on their face and then "you want to try it mom, be a food adventurer". Then they sit and wait, with a smile. Oh yeah, they are that sly. And their combinations get worse by the day. It's an outright challenge I do believe. But I'm stubborn as they soon will learn, I wear big girl panties and I play for keeps. I will eat their foul combinations with a smile on my face and even throw in a yum for good measure. ;)

Why do I always feel like my kids are ten steps ahead of me {and laughing}?

Nothing but fluff

I always come up with great blog post ideas in my head while doing the dishes, or driving, or cleaning the house, etc...but then when I actually get a quiet moment to sit down an the computer my mind goes blank. So I guess I'll just ramble because I feel the need to write.

My first born son is turning five next week...ack! My baby girl is going to be one in October...double ack! She is already trying to walk! I went on a walk with the children yesterday and watched my boys running on ahead as I pushed my little girl in the stroller and my heart felt full to bursting. I love what they are becoming and what I see in them. All their different and some times amusing personalities. Parenting is so hard but so worth it when you see the results of all your hard work. {Hard when you are not seeing the results yet and are instead questioning yourself and your worth as a parent on a daily or hourly basis.} I want my baby girl to stay a baby and at the same time I can't wait to see her running around with her brothers. I am so ready to move on to the next stage that doesn't involve me having babies anymore. I've always been emotional about that before, not yet ready to move on. Makes me feel old, moving out of the baby stage. But I guess with a birthday looming around the corner now I feel old anyways and more then ready to watch {and help} them grow into capable adults. Plus I'm back to an even number again {we were going to stop at two} and I don't wait to screw that up...six kids would equal a mini bus and I doubt my ability to drive that thing safely... ;) And no I do not know why I feel the compulsory need to have an even amount of children, I've got quite a lot of weird quirks, maybe I'll share them some day. Then again...maybe not.

Atty has asked about his bio brother Evan a lot lately. When they first left every time someone would knock on the door he would say "brother Evan" and get all excited. Or he would stand at the window and say "brother Evan coming?" Heart breaking. A couple times he asked to go to brother Evan's house and when I told him we couldn't and why he would just get upset and start to fuss so now I just say something like that would be fun wouldn't it and change the subject. He responds to that better. We do hope to go visit them someday, but they do live two states away so it would be a major {and expensive} road trip for us. Maybe in a few years when all the kids are a bit older. I wish they lived closer and the boys could grow up seeing each other more often, but I am thankful that they get to stay in contact.

Spike, who is four month younger then Atty, has taken to being Atty's "big brother". It's funny and Atty doesn't seem to mind. On the walk yesterday Spike at one point was chasing after Atty telling him to hold his hand and then when Atty did he turned to me and said "I'm taking care of Atty mom" in a very grown up voice. It was cute. He's been taking his big brother responsibility with his sister very seriously as well. I guess he was tired of being the little brother. I'd have to say he makes a great big brother! His sister adores him. He does like to pester like a little brother though, he's a mischievous one my little Spike. And competitive. Very. I've heard that is often a little brother trait, always trying to prove you're as good or better then the bigger siblings.

Bubu is starting swimming lessons in September and he's so excited. We went to the Y to sign him up and he saw the pool and could hardly contain himself. He wants to be a life guard that saves people, too cute! Atty asked if there were any sharks in there, ha, ha! Ira made sure to let me know he wanted nothing to do with that pool. I don't know why he is so afraid of water, I truly don't...He was my only baby actually born in the water at my midwifes clinic and he's my only child afraid of water, hummmmmm...weird. It was a bit of a scary birth, but not because of the water and he wasn't too upset after he was born. I don't remember anything scary happening to him in water. He's always hated getting his hair washed though, oh my goodness if you didn't know any better you would think something unspeakable was happening to him when it comes time to wash his hair! Anyways I started this paragraph off with Bubu swimming and ended with Ira getting his hair washed, that is some serious rambling!

I've got plenty of other things to ramble on about but I'm pretty sure you've got to be bored out of your mind by now {if your even still reading} so I'll end it here. I keep wanting to write a post about some changes I've been trying to make in the way we are living and eating but I'm not sure where to start with that one or if I even want to go into it on here so I just keep running it around in my brain.