Growing up

First Day of Kindergarten:

Last Day of Kindergarten:

Thursday was Liam's last day of school and there is no doubt about it. He is not too happy about it. This morning he was having a particularly rough morning with lots of tears which no one could explain and so I think he is possibly worried. Worried that he won't see his friends again. Worried that he won't see his teacher, Mrs. Dewitt again and maybe worried that his summer will be no fun.

Everything about kindergarten was great for Liam. He made so many friends, learned so much, became a more confidant reader and showed us what a truly amazing little boy we have. A great listener (for his teacher, not necessarily for us) and a hard worker who LOVES to make others laugh.

After some reassuring this morning that we will make playdates to see his friends and have lots of fun this summer I think he was feeling a bit better. 

Bring on summer vacation!

Six Months

Lucy at six months is, you guessed it, a very happy and easygoing baby. She enjoys people, still not showing any stranger anxiety. She loves to babble and loves to do it loudly! Her most recent babblings have been the "D" sound and Evan keeps trying to claim that she is saying her first word. 

Lucy's weight: 13 lb 12 oz (10%)
Lucy's height: 26.5 inches (75%)

Lucy is in her six month clothes mainly due to her long legs and arms. She still nurses every 3 hours during the day and wakes up at night usually only once, sometimes twice. 

She has moved from sweet potatoes to squash; bananas to pears and they have all been greeted with the same reaction. Immediately sticking her tongue out and pushing the food out of her mouth. She does not open her mouth when the spoon comes near, in fact she clamps her lips shut and moves her head away which clearly means she is NOT interested. However, we keep trying and tonight when she had pears for the first time there was less sticking out of her tongue and less spitting out of her food so we may be getting somewhere. Hopefully. 

Lucy is a very active baby. She is constantly on the move whether that is rolling around, pushing up into crawl mode or even into downward facing dog. We are working with her to sit up although she usually just falls right over. She loves to munch on her toes and hands. She has two lower teeth and seems to be working on cutting her upper incisors next. 

Liam and Caroline still love talking, reading and playing with Lucy. She still adores them and gets very excited when they take the time to be silly for her.

It's really hard to believe how quickly these last six months have gone. She has changed so much in such a short amount of time. Slow down Lucy!

More milestones

Saturday we introduced Lucy to solid foods. Sweet potatoes were her first food and she wasn't quite sure about them. She's still not quite so sure about them but definitely intrigued. Today we started acorn squash. Again, she's not a super fan yet. If this is what she thinks of the orange vegetables I will be very interested in what she thinks of the green ones!

We also now have two teeth! (O to be exact)

This little lady really wants to start crawling. She loves to push up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth. Sometimes she pushes herself forward (usually on her face) and her objective is met. She is moving a little too fast for this momma. 

Mother's Day (or weekend)

I love being a mom. I love my children more than life itself but kudos to my husband this year for making Mother's Day (or weekend) amazing.

On Saturday, we went hiking at Starved Rock State Park. Evan used the Ergo carrier and Caroline rode on his back. He never once complained (he's not really the baby carrier type of guy). Liam hiked the entire 3 hours right by our side never complaining; and Lucy was in my wrap just happy looking around, sleeping and nursing to her heart's content. 

On Sunday, once again my husband wins the prize for most thoughtful as he woke super early (again, he's not the early morning riser in this marriage) to make me breakfast in bed. Crepes filled with Nutella, strawberries and bananas are my favorite.

A fabulous card that he designed with a questionnaire that the kids completed with him about me was by far my favorite of all time. 

Even better? He then took the two older kids downstairs for breakfast while I got to enjoy some peace and quiet. Lucy even seemed to know it was a special occasion and didn't wake until almost 8 am.

The day was great and filled with more family time Sunday night with Evan's family.

What a great weekend!

Once in awhile

While it seems like most of our days are spent breaking up little fights between the two, sometimes, on the rare occasion they get along and help each other. 

It always brings a smile to both of our faces and fills our hearts with so much love. If only it happened a bit more often....

Sparks

"We are Sparks for Jesus! Sparks to Light the world, we will shine for Jesus as we tell each boy and girl; We will hide God's word in our hearts; We will serve him right from the start; From his love we never can part for we are Sparks!"

As if last Wednesday didn't have enough going on between Caroline's broken collarbone and Lucy's new tooth; Liam had his AWANA awards night.

This past year of Sparks has been so great for Liam. We loved his helper Ms. Cole who listened to his verses every week and Liam loved game time and making new friends. He learned so many truths about Jesus and dedicated his heart to loving him and learning to walk in His way as well.

He finished his first book and even had time to review some of the key verses as well. He worked so hard at memorizing God's word throughout the whole year.

We are so proud of our little Spark!

Milestones

Not to be outdone by her big sister and in the midst of all of Caroline's doctor appointments; this sweet baby cut her first tooth (P to be exact). 

She also has decided to show how strong she is by pushing up on her knees in crawl mode. She amazes us every day!

We jinxed ourselves

Meet Caroline. Caroline is fun. Caroline is sassy. Caroline is accident prone. A week ago she ran into the door; with her face. She got a nice little goose egg on her forehead. Two days later she tripped over her own feet and got a fat lip. That resulted in Evan and I's conversation where we were trying to guess how old she would be when she broke her first bone. 

Two days later. Just two days later Caroline fell out of bed in the middle of the night. I picked her back up told her she was fine and to stop crying or she was going to wake up her brother and sister. The next morning she woke up to Evan trying to get her dressed and out the door for the babysitters. She kept crying and mentioning that her neck hurt. I thought she was being dramatic. I thought she was having an almost 3 year old morning. At the end of the day the babysitters informed me they thought she was actually hurt or maybe had a stiff neck. I now remembered about her falling out of bed.

The next day I took her to the pediatrician who ordered an xray and upon viewing it with the tech it was extremely apparent that she broke her clavicle. (aka collarbone) After another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon who also confirmed that the clavicle is broken we have been told that Caroline cannot fall again or it could be "really bad." She could have had a sling for her left arm but we were told since she is so young she most likely would not wear it and would constantly take it off. The doctor stated that it will heal the same regardless of her wearing a sling or not. So no jumping, no climbing, no running and no falling for 4 weeks. 

Meet Caroline. Caroline is accident prone. Meet her mom and dad who feel really guilty. This is going to be a long 4 weeks.