What a bee is to a 4 year old

Elizabeth and her cousin, Blake, were in a deep conversation about bees last night. The imagination of a 4 year old just makes me laugh every time. They are so serious and truly believe everything that they say. If only I could have their imagination!

Beautiful Flowers

What a sweet man! Mike sent Elizabeth flowers for her birthday and a beautiful bouquet of roses to me as well. I never receive flowers so it was a wonderful surprise. Thank you so much Mike! I love and miss you!

Elizabeth's birthday flowers

Just because roses

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Today the little princess Elizabeth turned the big 4. Yesterday Elizabeth took cupcakes to school and got celebrate her birthday with her class. She had gymnastics this morning and made sure all of her classmates as well as her teachers knew that she was the birthday girl. We opened gifts this afternoon and her best friend Katie came over for pizza and cake tonight. The little princess is getting older and more dramatic by the everyday. Who knows what this next year will bring?

Happy Birthday little girl!!!

A sample of the cupcakes for school.

Who knew that the tissue paper would be better than the presents?

Katie helping put candles on Elizabeth's cake.

What next?

Well, for those of you that haven't heard, I topped off my talents with a flying trip in the yard that ended with a nice cast and a pair of crutches as my reward. I broke my ankle on Saturday while mowing the lawn. I fell in a drain ditch and heard the crack and knew it could be good. I was lucky enough to land near the phone (and Jacob for that matter) so I was able to call my neighbor and have her come over. She watched my kids while her mom (who had just flown in the night before) took me to the ER. After a few x-rays, and MRI and a dose of morphine, I was sent home and told I couldn't bear any weight on my leg for six weeks. So here is my question to you all - how in the heck do you take care of three kids, a house and prepare to move when your husband is gone and you can't even get off the couch? Well, the answer that I have come up with is having the love and friendship of all of the people around you. I am not sure what I would have done without Kristina and everyone else for that matter. My Mom was able to fly in last night and is staying for a week. My sister-in-law and nephew are coming after that and then I'm not sure. All I have to say is that I am blessed to have the people in my life that I do or else I don't know where or what I would be doing right now.

I get to see the orthopedist on Thursday and I will keep you updated as to what the next step will be. Thanks again to all that have sent their well wishes and helped me out!!!!

Being a Mom

Amy sent this to me in an e-mail and I thought it was wonderfully written - so I decided to post it here for everyone to read! (I really need things like this to remind sometimes how wonderful it is to be a mom despite the three kids that are crying and you don't know which one to go to first!)

For all of my friends who are moms, or soon-to-be moms, or thinking of starting a family soon. Or at the very least, it makes you appreciate what your mom goes through...

Being A Mom

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking a survey," she says, half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?" "It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. "I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all.

I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love
with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Author Unknown

Skinned Elbow

Not that this a huge milestone but one for the books I suppose but anyway, Elizabeth got her first skinned elbow yesterday. She was playing outside and chasing a ball when it got away from her and she landed on her side, catching herself with her elbow. There were a few tears shed and then she moved on. It wasn't until she realized that there was blood that the big tears hit but of course a Band-Aide and a little bit of Mommy love made it all better.

5 months old

5 Month Stats
18lbs. 4oz - 88th percentile
28.5 inches - 100+ percentile

My little man is now 5 months old and has grown so much in the past month. His new arsenal of tricks includes playing with his toes ALL of the time, rolling from side to side to get to his toys, spending time hanging out on his belly, spinning around and around in his exasaucer, sitting in his Bumbo playing with toys, but most of all he is full of laughter and smiles. He has grown such a personality that is just filled with joy, it is hard to imagine him ever in a bad mood. His latest trick is grabbing my cheeks and pulling them to his mouth and then laughing. His belly laughs are a lot of fun. He is still eating like a champ and loves to watch what is going on around him. I can't wait to see what this next month brings - it just keeps getting better and better!

It's My Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To...

Today was AJ's birthday! He is officially two now - although I question when the terrible two's actually started. Since Mike is gone, we had just a little get together at the house with a couple of friends. Two other moms in our playgroups have husbands that are gone right now as well so it was a nice excuse to do something for us as well. Anyway, the kids had pizza and cupcakes. I know now not to keep a little boy waiting for his cupcake! :) Enjoy the movie and pictures!

2 Year Old Stats:
29.5 lbs - 67th percentile
38 inches - 100+ percentile

Pizza Time

Cupcake Time!

AJ's 2 Years Old!

The Hat

Now that we have started to see a little bit of more sunshine, I have had to get out the hats for the kids. AJ and Jacob love wearing theirs and look like such little men in them. For some reason though, I can't seem to catch AJ with his on.

Mommy and Me

So, Mike and I got a new camera (well actually two, but who's counting) and have had a blast trying to figure out how to use them. Mike was snapping these pictures of Jacob and me the other day and I thought they came out pretty cute!

CONGRATULATIONS TRICIA!!!!

As I'm sure all of you know, our best friends, Tricia and Adam Quick have been dealing with infertility for quite some time. After a long trial with fertility treatment, IUI's and a failed in-vitro, they found out yesterday that they are pregnant. Congratulations Tricia & Adam! All of our prayers are with you for a happy and healthy pregnancy! If you want to stay updated on Quick babies check out Tricia's blog.

Kids Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had the kids birthday party ( a little early because Mike is going to be TDY during their actual birthdays) at Stars Gymnastics where Elizabeth takes her classes. AJ and Elizabeth had their friends there and got to have the whole gym to themselves for quite a while. Miss Randi gave all the kids a quick lesson on the floor, pit and trampoline and then they all got to do whatever they wanted. AJ wasn't quite sure about the whole thing seeing as it was his nap time. The biggest obstacle that we had with him was over his balloon addiction. He knew which room they blew up the balloons in and spent most of his time trying to fight his way in there. Once he moved past the idea of getting a balloon he had a lot of fun in the ball pit. Elizabeth, of course, got right into the swing of things and told everyone how things were done. She really enjoyed herself. She did get a little overheated and had to take a break for a while though. After a hard playtime, it was time for cake and ice cream along with opening presents. The kids got a lot of great presents and had a lot of fun with their friends. Thank you to all who came!

Elizabeth buried in the ball pit! (I LOVE this picture!)

I think there were 10 kids in the ball pit at one time. . .

Super Daddy!

Helping AJ blow out his candles

Elizabeth was very proud of her cake - look at that grin!

I've got my toes...

Jacob has added many new things to his arsenal of tricks lately but my favorite one has been his love of his feet. Apparently they are the best toys these days and he can't seem to keep those little toes out of his mouth. The other two didn't play with their feet all that much so we are having a lot of fun with it.

Aren't I just the cutest?