Happy Birthday, Padyn

I'm amazing at how quickly this little girl....

...became this big girl.

Maybe you could slow down your growing up a little bit for me? Your daddy and I would really appreciate that.

Happy 9th birthday, Padyn Baby. We love you lots and lots and lots.

Robbie's Big Boy Haircut

A couple weeks ago, we finally had Daddy shave Robbie's hair. It isn't totally gone...there is enough left that he isn't completely bald. But we needed it to be short enough so he would stop twirling it. He has given himself a lovely bald spot right on top of his head from all the hair twirling he's been up to lately.

Here's what we started with....

 Here's Daddy trying to figure out how to cut a squirmy boy's hair...

 And here is the final product, though a couple weeks past the event.

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 And here is how is smiles now when you ask him to give a nice one for the camera.

Big Day for Padyn

It's hard to tell, but Padyn and her BFF got their ears pierced today. She is pretty proud of herself...feeling very pretty.

Super Quick Update

For my personal records, I must get down in writing that yesterday, Friday, May 25th, Robbie decided he must now wear underwear. This was not my decision. In fact, I cried just a little on the inside (mainly over the increase in laundry that is now to come). But there it is. One accident so far. But he still doesn't tell us when he needs to go. I have to set the timer every 45 minutes or so to remember to take him. He always tells me he doesn't need to go. Yet, once he is sitting on the toilet, pee always comes out.

I'm not excited about the vigilance I now have to demonstrate to keep my floors pee-free.

So. Much. Fun.

One Down, 23 or so to Go

It was a hot dog that finally did in Katelyn's first loose tooth. One bite and we had a big bloody mouth on our hands. Fortunately, the blood did not phase Katelyn at all. She just looked surprised, then pleased, then pulled that tooth right out of her mouth. And here is what we have now...

...a very excited 6 year old.

Happy Birthday to Robbie!

I am very behind, I know. Robbie turned 3 on Tuesday, we had his party Wednesday, and here is it Friday and I'm finally posting something about it! Not much...more later. Happy Friday!

8 Years Old

Dear Padyn,
I can't believe you turned 8 years old today. Long gone are the days were I could rock you to sleep or pick you up and swing you around. Actually, I can still do that last one, but only at risk of injury to one of us.

I can't believe how grown up you are becoming. You certainly look more grown up. Your face it maturing and you are getting taller. You don't like to be called "cute," even though you certainly are. Would you prefer beautiful? Pretty? Adorable? All those are true. And you are much more capable and confident than you were a year ago. You read, you spell, you solve math problems, you try to help me solve problems. I'm so glad you are finally interested in doing things for yourself! And when you choose to be, you are extremely helpful, especially with your brothers. These are things I really look forward to as you grow older.

But I also fret. I worry as you get older that you will stop talking to me and telling me things. It has always been incredibly hard to get you to talk about anything, and I fear it will only get worse as you get closer to your teenage years. Already you show signs of the future years...moodiness, attitudes, crying even though you don't know why....sigh....I am so not looking forward to that. I would love to just stop time and have you stay 8 forever. In third grade. Innocent. Happy. Carefree. I know you want to grow up, but trust me. Later you will wish you could remember more of this time, enjoy it a little longer. I know I will. I pray this 9th year will be full of joy and friendship and growth and happiness and fun. I hope you know how much your Daddy and I love you. It makes me cry, you growing up. Soon you may want to have much to do with us for a bit as you can sort out who you are and what that will look like. I pray that will be a very long time from now. Until then, enjoy being 8. Be nice to your sister. Enjoy your friends. And keep giving me hugs and kisses. Keep telling us that you love us. We feel the same about you.

Love,

Mommy

Recording for Posterity

Tonight, for no reason whatsoever, Kate decided to poop on the potty. First. Time. Ever.

She had managed to pee in the potty before her bath, which in itself is a big deal. That was something like the 3rd time ever. (She is not so motivated to use to potty.) I let her put a pull-up on for the first time ever while she ate dinner as a prize for the peeing. Then, I had her sit on the potty again before she put her jammies on. Of course, she had already peed in the pull-up, even though I had asked her 17 times during dinner if she had to go and repeatedly reminded her that we don't want the ladybugs to disappear (it's a pull-up thing).

So, she's sitting there on the potty, and I know she's not going to pee, but I count to 30 anyway, because that's our routine when she's on the potty. And she starts pushing. And pushing. And pushing. And before I know it there are 4 little nuggets in the potty.

Sure, it wasn't much, but it's a start. It's something I can reward her for and bribe her with more things to make it happen again.

And really-this is huge when compared to my other child. You see, this little potty...that was the first time it had been pooped in by my child. Padyn steadfastly refused to poop on a toilet until about 8 months after she was in panties all day long. She always went in her pull-up at naptime or when she woke up in the morning. And when I did finally offer the bribe that got her pooping in the toilet, she did it on the big potty. This little potty has never seen this much action!

We'll see if Little Miss Kate decides this is a new era in her life or just a fluke. Really, with her personality, it could go either way.

Countdown...

Even though it's impossible for me to wrap my head around, Padyn will start kindergarten in 5 days.

FIVE DAYS!!!!

I don't know if we are ready for this. I mean, really...what am I going to do with Katelyn all morning? By myself? Without Padyn to entertain her? I don't remember what it's like to just have one kid. I think it was boring...



But it's coming anyway.



Five days and counting...

Trying to Find the Time

Once NaBloPoMo ended last Friday, I really have not been motivated to blog. I stopped looking at all the details of the day through my blogging filter, so nothing has seemed post worthy in a few days.

Add to that a few stressful issues that I have on my plate, and I REALLY have not been motivated to post. I'd rather address my Christmas cards. That should clearly tell you how unmotivated I've been.

But, I did miss a few important days, and cute little phrases that have spilled forth from the mouths of my babes. I can't remember the utterances anymore, but I can tell you about one of the days...

Tuesday, Dec. 4th was Daddy's birthday. I didn't end up posting about it because all my allotted computer time was spent trying to create something for his birthday that in the end, didn't get created. (Don't you hate it when your photo project is lost forever due to the computer freezing up? Yea...that pretty much bites.) So, anyway, it was Daddy's birthday. I wish I could have done more to celebrate it, but I worked with the limitations of the day. It's funny...the two of us are kind of going in opposite directions concerning our birthdays. He is less and less interested in making a big deal out of his birthday, while I'm becoming more interested in celebrating mine. So, it was a mellow birthday date. I had fun, anyway. I think he did, too.

I did make him a chocolate chip banana bread, which made the whole house smell like bananas for the next 24 hours. And if you know me well, you know I hate bananas, so it was appreciated. Padyn helped. She didn't want to mash the bananas, but she did a good job stirring.

So, Happy Belated Blog Posted Birthday, my love. Here's to 50 or so more.

Padyn's Really a Big Girl Now

Even though Padyn has been potty trained for over a year and has woken up with a dry diaper almost every single morning during the past 6 months, she has refused to wear underwear at night. Whenever Daddy or I brought it up, she would tell us she'd do it when she was four. Or she'd cry.

But a couple weeks ago I told her that when we ran out of pull-ups this time, I wouldn't be buying anymore. She was going to be sleeping in underwear. She almost cried. She really fought me on it, but we stayed strong. Well, actually, we just didn't mention it anymore.

Until last night. Daddy came in and said she didn't have any pull-ups left, so it was time for underwear. She actually was excited about it! I was ready for a battle and here she was thrilled. Fabulous! I love it when your kids fool you in a good way.

This morning when Daddy went in to deliver their morning beverages I heard her say, "I slept in my underwear and it's dry!"

What a big girl you are, Padyn. We're so proud of you.

When I'm Four...

This is what Padyn says when she doesn't want to do something that she knows she probably should be doing. "I'll do it when I'm four, Mommy." Like, "I'll wear underwear to bed when I'm four." Or, "I'll be able to take off my shirt [by myself]when I'm four."

Little does she know that "four" is rapidly approaching. Yesterday J and I discussed writing down all the things she says and presenting them to her on her fourth birthday. "Here you go! You're four now! You must do all these things! See, you said you would!" Can you just see how that would go over? I think something like..."OK, when I'm FIVE I'll do it." That, or hysterical tears.

Well, trying to write them down is realistic. Everyone should get as much entertainment out of our children as we do. I think I also better keep track of what she says about when she's grown up. Almost daily she is telling us what she wants to be when she grows up. Or what she will have, like a baby. (That was our conversation while doing hair this morning. As always, I told her that when she was OLD and MARRIED she can have a baby. We'll see if it works.)

A couple days ago she came to me all droopy and depressed, like her heart had been completely shattered. "Mommy, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up!" That's OK, sweetie. Neither does Mommy or Daddy.