Levi's 1st Birthday

 Levi's 1st birthday! We celebrated with family and friends on the big game day (and enjoyed the game as well!) Our family of 5!

 Opening gifts.

 Poor guy. He was so tired and wanted to take a nap instead of opening gifts. Then we made him sit in his high chair and give him this foreign food while 30 people stared at him.  So....he cried...and cried...and we took pictures...and he cried some more. 

 Then he took a nap, woke up and dug in. Without the large audience too.

Levi, we love you so much. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. I still remember my tiny little baby boy with dark brown hair. And now I have an sweet, yet ornery blonde haired, blue eyed handsome little guy. This month has been big for you. You really don't seem like a baby anymore. You laugh at yourself often and think you are so funny. We can easily make you laugh too. You only take 2-4 steps all alone because you think that it is a game so you laugh and fall either forward or backwards..on purpose. You don't care if anyone is there to catch you either. You walk behind anything and everything. You walk from place to place, along things and you will take the couple steps it takes to get between things..but nothing more. You actually slept through the night for 6 nights, but then that stopped. You go to bed around 8 and get up once, eat and then sleep until 6-6:30 (unless it's a day care day and we wake you up at 5:30). You take 2 naps. You prefer meat (steak, pulled pork, chicken). You are picky but getting better with table food. At the beginning of the month you still preferred baby food over table food, but by the last week, things finally changed. You not only attended your first wedding, but you were in your 1st wedding. You did great! You are ornery. You get into everything..toilet paper, the toilet, the pantry, any drawer. You like to destroy things, look at me blow me a kiss, shake your head no and smile. You know exactly what you are doing. Your 8th tooth popped through. You crawled up on the couch by yourself and you thought you were pretty cool. You are super sweet and we love you Levi!

Meredith's 5th birthday

 Belated, I know...but Meredith had a wonderful birthday. She decided on a My Little Pony party, filled with rainbows. She loves rainbows and ponies! She wanted a cookie cake too.

 She had a few friends over to celebrate, play games and have fun. Making a rainbow craft.

 On your actual birthday. You were so excited to be the special helper at school and even more excited to bring cupcakes. Here you are on the morning before getting on the bus. It was hot (upper 80's) but you insisted on wearing your "new fuzzy socks" pulled up almost to your knees. Too funny!

 Your bike has taken a beating between two busy girls and your legs are growing, so we bought you a new bike. You were super excited! You wore that crown all day at school and that night at home too.

 When we were picking out your treats for school you really wanted this chocolate cake...so here you go sweetheart.

Meredith you are such a sweet girl. You have very strong emotions. On one end you know exactly what you want and you will try to stand your ground until you get it. On the other end you have such a soft tender heart. You easily get your feelings hurt. You are very sweet to your brother, sister and both of us as your parents. You often fight for attention and you are often the loud one. You are funny and you know it. You like to entertain anyone who will watch you. You love to mimic your sister. You want to be a vet and a farmer when you grow up. You love to play farm and you have a well organized running farm operation. You play with a smile on your face...unless something doesn't go your way and you hang your head, walk over to me...look at me with your adorable brown eyes, quiver your lip, shake your shoulders up and down and then I hear the dramatic story about whatever it may be. Sometimes I wonder if you will be a performer..you are a talented one. You have great alligator tears! You are the best eater!!! You eat all fruits and veggies. Your favorites are blueberries, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapes and mango. You LOVE peanut butter. You don't like meat or eggs. You eat well and you eat fast. You love your sweets and work your magic to get them...ice cream, cake, cookies, M&Ms, anything you will convince someone to let you have. You are learning what lying means. You love music and you love to dance. You often sing to yourself throughout the day. You don't like to go to bed. You like flip flops, cowgirl boots and sneakers. You like braids in your hair. You do not like ponytails. You like to sit in my lap. You give great hugs. You torment Levi, but he gives it right back to you. You are protective of him at the same time. You LOVE books. You could read for hours. You have a fun imagination and you are also in pretend play. You love to color, paint, do crafts.  Meredith you can put a smile on my face even at the end of a bad day. You make me laugh and cry too! I am so proud of how you are growing up. Happy 5th Birthday sweetheart!

1st Day of School

Where did the summer go? Today was the 1st day of school. It was a beautiful morning. Meredith started Kindergarten and Lauren started 3rd grade!

My favorite 3rd grader! She told me I didn't need to come to the school this year. It was fine to tell her bye at the bus (even though when I told her bye, she ignored me). Lauren you are very tolerant of my several pictures. You were very kind when you said that I didn't need to come to the school.

The most adorable Kindergartner EVER! 

Walking to the bus stop.

Getting on bus #58.

The first 2 days are transitional days for kindergarten. They go later and come home before the rest of the school. This allows for an easier transition for them. Here Meredith is walking to the bus stop with her friend/neighbor Makenna Champlin.

Makenna and Meredith

They were so excited to ride the bus. M & M went all the way to the very back seat on the bus. It was so funny. There were only a handful of kids on the bus.

Arriving to Waukee Elementary.

Waiting forever to go inside for her 1st day!

Coming home. 

Meredith, you are so ready for school. It helps to have an older sister who teaches you so many things. You were really nervous in the days leading up to today. You were curious about where the bathroom was, if you needed a drink of water, if you would have friends in your class, etc. Lauren and I both explained in great detail everything that you could ever know! When you came home you told me that their was a "Micah and a Jillian" (names of your cousins) in your class...you had one recess and played by yourself (but you were ok with that?)...you loved taking your own lunch and ate everything but your salad (it got soggy) and why didn't I pack a cookie for you (done for tomorrow)...you forgot your water in your room for lunch so you had "cow's milk" (I'm sure her teacher thought that was a funny way to ask for it)...you had to sit by 2 boys and you wish it was 2 girls instead...you liked riding the bus...you saw 5 different friends of yours and "that was weird"...you drew a picture...you sang a song about a crocodile, but you couldn't remember it...Miss Y read you a book...you listened to a song from Frozen...you didn't see Lauren...

I am so proud of you Meredith. You bravely went into school. You couldn't wait for it to begin. You thought that it took forever to start (it did). You were just as excited to bring your own lunch. You don't know anyone in your class (but several kids in kindergarten and the school) but I know that you will easily make friends. You have such a soft and tender heart. I love you.

Lauren arriving home. You said that didn't learn anything today. Your said your teacher talked and talked and talked....you went over too many rules/directions that you already knew all about...you had PE today and it was 45 min instead of 30 min but you couldn't remember anything you did because it was first thing in the morning...wait, you did 20 jumping jacks...you talked all about your friends...you didn't eat much because you didn't like the school lunch (you don't want to take your own lunch either)...you didn't see Meredith (nor did you care)...you saw lots of your friends....you are going to start Math tomorrow...you have a new planner for school. 

Lauren, you are growing too fast for me. You act like a teenager and I'm slowly preparing myself for this. I will try to give you your space and let you grow/make your own decisions. 3rd grade is going to be a year of growth for both of us, I can already tell. You are a beautiful girl inside and out. You have your own opinion that you strongly believe in. You are very responsible and I love you dearly, Lauren.

11 months old

Levi, you have continued to grow so much this month. You started the month out in Wyoming surviving your 1st Forced Family Fun Weekend, your 1st rodeo and your 1st trip all the way home in one day from the cabin. You traveled very well but you were so happy to be home. You loved playing with all of your toys again.  You play well with your toys. You especially love anything you can use to bang something else. You like blocks, your activity table, cars, trucks. You love to ride on this toy. 

You now have 7 teeth. You are eating table food much better. You started the month off by preferring to be fed baby food, but you are getting much better now.  You are a little picky, but prefer meat! You are your father's son (even though you look like me). You eat better at day care. Maybe the peer pressure gets the best of you. You still prefer breastfeeding/bottles for the majority of your intake, but we're working on that. You love your sippy cup full of water. You like to throw food. You like to throw your cup.  For the most part you are a pretty quiet guy, but when you speak...you are loud! You like to be heard!

 You are a bit ornery. You like to bite Dad and me. You will empty every drawer and cabinet. You open the pantry and go to town trying to take everything off of the shelves. You will lift the toilet lid and play. You are sneaky and quickly get to wherever you are NOT supposed to be and get in and play. You are very proud of your accomplishments and you think that we should be proud of you too! If there is such a thing as sweet ornery, that's you. You look so innocent, yet so proud that it's hard to be upset. Or maybe it's the tolerance of having 3? 

 You love books. If I could, I would read them to you all day long. You are better at sleeping. Early in the month, you were getting up once/twice a night (vacation and a cold set us back) and then back to bed. For the last week, you have gone to bed around 8 and get up around 5, eat, then sleep until 6:30-7 (on days that we are home. Other days we leave at 6). I hope this continues because I am tired and would like to sleep! You go to bed very easily though. Feed, read books, lie down in bed and you are out. You nap well, but you aren't consistent because we don't allow you to consistently be home at the same time everyday. I feel sorry for you. You are a good sport. You'll catch a nap in the car, in the stroller, in my lap. You are a mover, but you also are the best cuddle buddy! I love when you hug me and rest your head on my shoulder. It is so sweet! 

Those Blue Eyes!

You will walk behind every push toy or you make your own push toy with the bar stools, a box, your toys..anything that will move. You have taken 2 steps all on your own and we are working hard on getting you to walk. You think this is a game and lunge forward, hoping someone will be there to catch you. You laugh and smile when you do this. You love to hold onto my legs and hang out by me most of the day. You love to be outside. You like to go on walks. You like to swing. You like bubbles. You love taking baths. You love the water and put your face right in. You are a sweetheart Levi and we love watching you grow up.

Special

 Here is what happens when I take my kids to the grocery store....it takes twice as long, I end up with items not on my list, we have a million near cart crash accidents, the meat department gives my kids "special" stickers and they decide the best place to put them is on their forehead! And they wonder why everyone is now looking at them. BUT...I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Iowa State Fair

 The girls and I went to the Iowa State Fair on Sunday. It was a perfect weather day. There were lots of people there! It was nice to hang out with the girls (and leave the crabby boys at home). The conversations are always enjoyable! 

 The girls loved the butter cow, butter corn and the GIANT pumpkin.

 Love John Deere equipment.

Walking tacos and corn dogs. 

 We spent the majority of the time watching all of the animals. We watched them clean horses forever! 

 These were a hit!

 Poor Meredith...a little short (can you see the top of her head above?)