So it's been a while...

and that's an understatement.  Here is a picture heavy update from the past month or so...

sister loves her twirly dress.  loves it. 

 he loves taking pictures of himself and has put a camera on the top of his Christmas wish list

this was the best picture I got of all 3 kids on the 4th of July.

 I love taking pictures of sleeping babies

We went to Busch Gardens with friends.  She was all about giving high fives when she got off of rides. 

 all of our kiddos

dinner with 7 kids

she chose herself as the canvas

we spent a lot of time at the pool

and a lot of money at the grocery store (the boys have been HUNGRY)

princess slippers are the cutest slippers

went to the farm for our annual summer trip

she loves shopping and carrying the bag, just don't try to buckle her in the stroller...she doesn't like that

she also will only ride in a shopping cart like this.  

loves Hello Kitty

or anything with a kitty

found some great new playgrounds

went to Chuck E Cheese and all he did was make these cards...

she showed just how much determination she has, fell off the beam at least 10 times and would climb right back up to go again.  She would not take any help. 

new chucks

did a few photo shoots while the boys had summer camp

took the kids to the fair alone which meant I got to take them to the bathroom in one of these...alone. 

not sure that she was really liking the rides that much by her face, but she kept going on them! 

someone was so tired that he didn't really make it too far when I asked him to walk inside

started a Friday donut tradition

one year ago comparison. 

movies under the stars in our family room

she is a monkey

throwing coins into fountains

waiting for the babysitter...he loves her

earned a trip to the movie with Dad

while he slept because he was having a tough day

took the boys to watch airplanes up close.  Owen took this pic

then we went to DC

the Washington Monument looks so cool right now.  They are doing some construction on it. 

Our family according to Owen

spent a lot of time doing this -- it's tough to be 3

had our first shoplifting experience  --- big lessons learned here

another day, another farm

more playgrounds

FIVE

Dear Ryan,

      Happy Birthday, sweet boy.  You are five whole years old today (well not officially until 5:45pm).  Everyone told me that you would grow up super-fast but I really had no idea just how fast they meant.  Five is super-big.  Five is a whole hand worth of fingers!  Five means you are a big kid now, it means that Kindergarden is only a blink away, it means you aren't a baby anymore.
      At 5, your favorite things are: the color red, playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii, riding your bike, hitting the baseball and coming into our bed early every morning for cuddles.  You are an early riser and you go to be easier than anyone in this house.  You still love your monkey and new blanket and need them with you to sleep.  You dislike eating meat (except for chicken nuggets and deli meat), turning off Mario, trying new things and drawing.  You love to play board games and love to win.  You are learning that it is ok not to win too though.  You say you want to be a fireman when you grow up because they rescue people and help others.  I am so proud of you, Ryan, so very proud of you!
      The night before we brought you home from the hospital, I was overwhelmed with so many feelings.  I was worried about possibly messing up or failing you in some way.  There you were tiny and new and it was our responsibility to protect you, shape you, teach you right from wrong and raise you to be a Godly man.  Since I am with you mostly all day, it is my responsibility to choose the right things for you, expose you to the world and teach you to be an honest, caring and good human being.  There are times that you may think that things aren't fair or that I am being to tough on you but that is only because I know you can do things.  Even when you think you can't, I know you can!  Ryan, you are such a good boy.  You are honest.  You are so very kind.  You have the biggest heart and you love everyone.  You are gentle and you listen to us most of the time.  You are super silly and a little clumsy but that is what makes you you!  You have the purest heart, you love to cuddle and you have the most optimistic outlook on everything.  You have so much patience with your brother and sister.  You set a great example for them.  I hope that you always love them this much.  I hope that you always call Owen your best friend and I hope that you always feel the need to watch over and protect your sister.
     Thank you, Ryan for making me a Mom.  That is the greatest gift I have ever received.  Thank you for allowing me to see life through your eyes.  Thank you for showing me the magic in life and for helping me remember to slow down.  Thank you for your unconditional love.  Thank you for telling me that you will always be my baby, even when you are grown and you are bigger than me.  Know that no matter how big you are, how near or close you are that you are always, always my baby, my first baby.

I love you the most Ryan, more than a billion, more than infinity, the most.

Love,
Mommy

our yearly interview...

What's your favorite color?  red

What's your favorite toy?  my imaginext castle

What's your favorite fruit? apple

What's your favorite tv show? Super Hero Squad

What's your favorite treat? gummies (fruit snacks)

What's your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes

What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch? a turkey and cheese sandwich

What's your favorite outfit?  Mario shirt

What's your favorite game? Super Mario Bros Wii, Zingo (board game)

What's your favorite snack? apple

What's your favorite animal? Rhinoceros

What's your favorite song? Ride this Chevy - Jason Aldean, 5-1-5-0 Dirks Bentley, Old Alabama - Brad Paisley

What's your favorite book?  Froggy Learns to Swim

What's your favorite cereal?  Cinnamon Chex

Who is your best friend? Owen, Luke, Dylan, Noah, Libby & Gabby

What's your favorite thing to do outside? ride my bike

What's your favorite drink? lemonade

What's your favorite holiday? Christmas and summer

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Monkey 

What do you want for your birthday dinner? pizza

What do you want to be when you grow up? A fireman.   

What's your favorite movie? Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Wreck it Ralph

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Texas to see my family. 

What's your favorite thing to do with Owen? play with him.  Emily? give her hugs and kisses Daddy? Go to the playground Mommy? Spend time together. 

Flashback - Dutch Wonderland

This past summer we decided to take a trip up to Dutch Wonderland on a total whim.  The Mr.'s Parents were in town visiting and we thought it would be fun to go do something special with the kiddos.  Luckily, the hotel our kids love had availability!  We loaded up the van and hit the road.  The kids had a fantastic time.  The boys were mostly interested in the water park and riding a handful of rides.  Little Brother got his face painted to look like Batman.  He was so excited about getting his face painted and sat so, so still the entire time.  

next time we go this little man will likely be in the yellow! He has grown SO much! 

he loved the bumper cars, little brother did not. He cried "people are mean!!!!" over and over.

their bond is so special.  love love love 

Flashback - 1st Day of School 2012

Wow the shorts and flip-flops in these pictures make me miss the warm weather!  The boys were SO excited to start back to school this past fall.  Big Brother was starting Pre-K and his 3rd year at his school.  Several of his classmates have been with him throughout each preschool class.  He attends school 4 days a week this year for a few hours each day.  I have realized with him gone 4 mornings that I am going to be an emotional mess when he is gone to school every single day.  He likes to remind me almost daily that he will ride the big bus to school next year to Kindergarden.  Slow down time. Slow down! 

Little Brother absolutely loves school.  He adores his teachers.  I think that he would probably bring them home if he could.  He has made friends with everyone in his class (he is obviously my outgoing, social one).  He had a girlfriend after the first day.  Here we are 5 months later and the little girl's Dad came up and introduced himself to me one day as his daughter talks about Little Bro all the time! ha!!!  With the boys current career aspirations, it looks like college may not be in the cards.  ;)

This was the 3rd day for Big brother and the first full day for Little. 

2012 Favorites

This was hard.  I am not going to even guess how many photos I took in 2012.  I know it was over 10,000.  I weeded those down to around 3000 or so that were actually "keepers".  I tried to narrow those down to a manageable number to add to our yearly photo book.  I think I was able to get it down to around 700.  Then I tried to narrow it down even further for the blog...so here are my favorites from 2012.  Some of these are from my fancy camera, some from my phone.  None are edited.  All are perfect pictures of a year that was, perhaps, the greatest of my life thus far.   

Why this one?  Well, we were in town celebrating my Grandmother's 90th birthday.  We were with so many of my wonderful family members.  My boys had been given their first cowboy hats by one of my favorite cousins ever.  Big brother was FILTHY dirty with some sort of Kool-Aid or Gatorade or who knows what mustache.  This picture is pure joy to me.  We were in the country with nothing to do and my kids had a BLAST!  

We went swimming at my cousin's house.  Little Brother hasn't been around dogs a whole lot in his life.  He was very interested in her dogs but very cautious.  Towards the end of the pool party, the boys had a popsicle.  Little Brother was SO concerned with the dog and making sure the dog didn't get a bite.  :)  There is something so pure and moving about this image to me though. 

This picture made the cutoff because of the generations it captures.  Little Brother, Little Sister, their great Aunt and Great Grandmother...all together to celebrate a major life event.

There are so many things about this image that I love.  First, his stance is awesome.  Secondly, he was surprisingly good at hitting the ball when it was pitched to him.  Third, we were playing ball that day with my dad and brother.  It brought back so many wonderful images of when I was a little girl playing ball with my dad or with my whole family.  

This little boy is such a great brother.  He is protective, he always makes sure she is taken care of, he adores her.  He didn't care about her having a turn to ride his car.  His only concern was pushing her around the grass and letting her wave and smile to everyone she passed along the way.   

This picture captures so much of Little Sister's spirit.  She is lively.  She is outgoing, determined, focused and happy.  

We went to Disney for a week this year.  For the first 3 or so days this little boy refused to ride any rides at all because he was scared.  Then one night he worked up the courage to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant.  He was SO proud of himself.  I think that my heart almost burst right out of my chest when I saw his huge grin after the ride was over.  This is easily my favorite picture of the Disney trip and possibly my favorite image of the year.  Watching your child overcome a fear, learn that they can trust you...it is amazing.  This picture is about so much more than riding a ride at an amusement park to me. 

In June, Brandon and Molly came to visit us for a few days.  We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese.  They had a BLAST.  Brandon kicked tail on the pinball machine and won the boys a boat load of tickets.  Big Brother was pumped.  This picture makes me smile. 

Just about any day when the weather is nice, we can be found at the playground.  After a day filled with play we headed back on the walk towards our house.  Luck would have it that the boys held hands...this is a phone picture that I just love! 

Plain and simple...I just love this picture.  The boys love this jeep.  They started a thing this summer of driving with their feet.  They also find any random kids at the playground, hop in the jeep and dream up some crazy destination to go to.  Then all of the kids jump out and run around the playground, hop back in the jeep and drive off to another fun-filled destination. 

This picture is another one that I just LOVE!!!  This is probably tied for the number one spot.  We had such a fantastic time at Disney this year.  This picture of Big Brother playing in the water feature at our hotel is just perfect.  He wasn't posing, he was running around the place like crazy and having the best time ever.  Somehow I lucked out and got this shot.  If you look closely, you will see other people in my little family too.  :) 

This day we went out with one goal, to get a picture of all three of our kids looking at the camera at the same time and hopefully not crying.  We did get a few great pictures of them but this one is one of my favorites.  Sure her skirt rode up and her sweater is covered in drool, but the moment is absolutely perfect. 

There were so many great pictures from this day.  This was Sister's 1 year photo session and this picture is a phone shot.  I love everything about it.  From the sun, to the bow, to those little bare feet in the gravel.  She was drawn to the gravel and kept walking over to it over and over again.  

This was from Sister's 6 month photo session.  The cherry blossoms were in full bloom.  The look on Brother's face is priceless.  Love! 

Sensing a theme?  These two are the best of buddies.  You can just feel the love here. 

And this one is just too precious not to include.  

I'm Not Tired...

and a couple minutes later I came in the room to find this...