Birthday Season

 As if having 3 birthdays within a week in our house isn't enough, there are a few other January birthdays in our family as well.  Henry and Amelia were invited to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate their cousin, Mason, turning 5.  It was Henry's first (and possibly last) time at the Cheese so that is why he is pictured and Amelia is not.  It was pure joy on his face pretty much the entire time!

Oh wait, there's Amelia in the background! I did get one of her after all.

Celebrating Charlie

 Here's a few pictures from when we all finally felt well enough to celebrate Charlie's birthday.  We can just pretend like they are from January 2, though.

Typical Charlie.  I have never seen such a serious kid.  Ever.

 The kids spent a lot of time making a special gift for Charlie.  I think he loves it! We call it his busy board.

He got lots of books for his birthday and we decided that instead of more toys we would get him a music class.  Everyone liked checking out his new books.  I've always thought my two older kids were huge bookworms, but Charlie may just have them beat.

I even got a little birthday love too! We were on a sugar high for days!

Charlie is ONE

Dear Charlie,

Today you are ONE! I must say, of my three children, your year has definitely gone the fastest!  And although that defies common sense and logic, it is true nonetheless. I swear it.

But as I sit back and reflect on your first year (and maybe even shed a few tears), I cannot believe just how well you have fit right into our family and how I see now that you were meant to be with us all along.  You see, when we found out that you were coming, we decided to make many quick changes that made things a bit hectic.  Big changes like a new house and a new car and plenty of small changes too.  It was kind of a stressful time around here.  It was hard for your brother and sister leaving their old friends and getting used to their new rooms. We were so busy getting everything just right for your arrival that I didn't have much time to prepare them for what was to come.  Sure we talked about you EVERY day.  We even had a name for you--Baby Herkemer. But I never talked with them about how mom and dad's time would be divided even more now and how babies are a lot of work and get a lot of attention and the like.  Sure, we signed them up for Big Sis and Big Bro classes, but there was a big snow storm and they were both canceled.  And we were out of time to reschedule, so on the job training was our only choice.

Then one night, a couple days before you were due, in the middle of a snow storm you decided it was the right time to come.  And we thought you would come fast, but you didn't.  Already paving your own way that was different than that of your siblings---early arrival, without induction, and you completely took your time once things got going.  Your labor was so laid back that we remarked more than once that we hardly had a nurse in our room the whole time!  That was also different from Amelia and Henry's arrivals.

And then you were here!  So healthy! So alert!  So loud!  And we ALL fell in love with you in an instant.  And I knew it was all going to be okay.  Oh how your siblings adore you--and while they may show it in different ways, they both love you very very much and tell you on a daily basis.  I hope you will always feel that love from them.

It has been so fun to watch you grow and take on your own personality--once again a personality that is definitely your own.  Your brother and sister are quick to jump in feet first to virtually any situation.  They are loud, sometimes wild, and very outgoing. You, on the other hand, are very much a quiet observer.  You spend a lot of time sucking on your lip and watching what is going on around you.  You constantly look to dad or I for reassurance that the chaos that is occurring is okay. You are slow to smile, even in the mornings when we first come to get you.  You make strangers work very hard to get you to smile and often you will just turn your head away from them and keep it that way.  If they really persist, you may give them another look or two, but it is rare. And we all love that about you.  We call you the most serious baby that every roamed the Earth.  I don't compare you to your siblings because one way is preferable to the other.  I compare because I want you to see that you are special and different and loved exactly the way you are.

I feel guilty that I haven't kept up with this blog as carefully as I had hoped since your birth.  I still have hopes of rectifying that.  These days I really do try and live in the moment with you all and sometimes I don't snap the pictures or jot down the stories I'd like.  And for the record, I really really hate that we all spent your first birthday rather sick.  It was a rough winter break for everyone (except you!  You were the only one who escaped getting either the actual flu, stomach flu, or both!).  Your siblings and I serenaded you on your birthday when you woke up.  They made you a special busy board that they put a lot of thought into.  Dad made you a delicious smash cake that is still sitting on the counter waiting to be smashed into when everyone is healthy.  And you were treated to a couple of great rounds of Family Ring Around the Rosey where you pretty much wore the expression I mentioned earlier--glancing at dad for reassurance.

You are such an awesome little boy.  Taking many steps at a time each day.  I would say you can do 10-12 easily now before tripping on some floor hazard.  You have been saying "ball" for a couple of months now and point it out in every book you can.  You even said "ball" for a ladybug one day when we made you look at a book about animals.  You also say "vroom, vroom" and "more".  You can sign "more" and "all done". You give kisses not so much to actual people, but to babies and animals in the books you are looking at.  And speaking of books, you absolutely love your books and will drag them from your bin and look at them. You are always up for sitting on a lap and looking through a book with any adult, often we use it to calm you when you are upset. You go to sleep without a bit of trouble.  We lay you down, you flip to your tummy and then we cover you up with your special "Charlie" blanket, flip on your music and that is that.

So there it is!  One year of Charlie.  I can't wait to see what I'm (hopefully) writing next year at this time.

Love,
Mommy

Stuck: The Sequel!

This is Charlie still on a daily basis and it STILL cracks me up how totally ok he is with being stuck under the furniture!

Birthday #8

So here's the face on a brand new 8 year old that got everything she wanted for her birthday--new glasses and a hamster!

It is hard to believe that Amelia is 8!  It has been a really crazy last few weeks with First Communion, End of School and now her birthday.  Luckily, she seemed to be a little burned out on crazy partying too. 

We picked up her birthday gift a couple days early at the pet store.  We wanted her to be able to pick out exactly what she wanted.  We went in thinking it we would probably be leaving with a fish, but a hamster won out in the end.  Her name is "Emily", in case you were wondering.

 On her actual birthday,  she wanted to start the day with monkey bread for breakfast (and a math problem to boot).  Please don't ask me why she's naked--it is how we sleep around here in the summer.  Sheesh.

Her only other request for the day was to visit the American Girl doll store to drop some money that had been burning a hole in her pocket.  Literally, this girl had been saving for like a year to get a new doll and she was ready to spend it!  A rather pushy sales associate practically made Amelia pose with the doll of the year, Isabella.  Can you tell how uncomfortable she is?  I had to get that documented with a picture.

 

In the end, she surprised and impressed me by ditching the AG store and heading to Claire's for a new pair of (fake) glasses.  (Although I'm not supposed to tell you they are fake).  So, instead of spending roughly $120 on a new doll, we got out with $4.99 glasses instead.

For her birthday celebration this year, we spent a lot of time thinking of how to do something special with a few close friends.  In the end, we decided on a trip to the drive in movies with 4 of her closest friends followed by a sleepover.

It was perfection!  She requested a make-your-own-nachos bar (at which every single girl other than Amelia chose chips and cheese) and then we had cake, opened presents, and changed into PJs.  Jason burned a little birthday CD that we enjoyed on the long ride to IL.  For many of the girls it was the first time they had been to the drive in. I'm not sure how much of How to Train Your Dragon II they really saw, but it was fun nonetheless.

It was really a blast and the girls got all junked up on goodies.  A few even fell asleep on the way home.  We fed them some breakfast in the morning and then everyone was on their way home! Not a bad way to party!

Summer Kick Off!

We LOVE our friends, the Rectors!  Henry met Lincoln way back when they were both 2 in the Time for Twos storytime.  They are both second born boys after a first born girl and they are two peas in a pod!  They have spent the last 3 years of preschool together and although they will be going to separate schools once kindergarten starts, I have a feeling they will be lifelong friends.

Their older daughter and Amelia got along great AND they have a baby girl born just 2 days after Charlie.  It is so nice to share all of the stages of life with my friend Amber.

We decided to kick off summer with a trip to the park with our friends, followed by some slushies to cool down.  (Henry opted out of the photo.  He was too busy hunting sticks to stop and pose).

The Many Faces of Five Months

Baby's First Cardinal's Game

We made a last minute decision to jump on some really cheap seats (read: nosebleeds) and try our luck at the Cardinal's game with 3 kids. 

Luckily our cheap seats were close enough to the top to shield us from the sun (and eventually the rain).  The rain popped up unexpectedly and made it difficult to wake around with two stir crazy and one tired kid.

We attempted to wait it out for awhile, but eventually decided to cut our losses and leave a little early.

All in all, I'd say it was a great first game---at least what Charlie remembered!

Last Day of Second Grade

Well, as the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end".  It has been a fantastic year with so much growth: physically, spiritually, and academically. Amelia was blessed with an amazing teacher who she loved so much.  We are sad to see her go since she is switching to public special education next year.  But we are thankful for a great year regardless.

The pictures from Amelia's last day of school are almost painful for me to look at.  I can hardly believe how much she has grown and how old she looks. Wow.

I mean, really.

The last day of school is super short, they are usually released by 9:30 or so.  But it is fully of meaningful symbolism starting with the all school mass where they "graduate" to the next year's spot to sit in church.  Unfortunately, the third graders get a bit of a demotion as far as church seating goes. With second grade being a sacramental year, they were seated right up front!

Charlie got to join me on the last day since we can't be apart for more than an hour or two.  Too bad he didn't get any attention from Amelia's classmates...

This friend of Amelia's wanted a picture of her and Amelia and Charlie.  That was a little tricky. Charlie just wanted to pull on her dress.

Sweet girls excited about the end of school and the start of summer!

We didn't waste any time getting started on our summer fun list.  Amelia changed clothes and then we were off to start our cake hunt.  We set a rather lofty goal to find 90 this summer.

We found 5 that first day (but only photographed 4), it was a great start to summer!