Thankful

 

I am thankful we were able to celebrate this little boy's 5th birthday this weekend.

 

 

I am thankful for family and friends that love us.

 I am thankful for the beautiful weather we enjoyed.

I am thankful for a party that had little to do with gifts, themes, goody bags (well, it actually had nothing to do with goody bags since I didn't make any - gasp!) and everything to do with memories.

I am thankful for parents who continue to do so much for me and Alan like give clothes to our kids because they know it helps us with the cost of raising 3 kids.

I am thankful that I am a MUCH more relaxed mother the 3rd time around.  I'm thankful I could toss my 9 month old in the bouncy house and trust the "big" kids to watch her.

 

 

I am thankful my son will have memories of opening his birthday presents in the back of his Papa's truck.

I am thankful for this little guy who is wild, smart, sweet, tough and a GIFT!

 

 

9 Months



If it weren't for these monthly pictures my blog might never get updated!

 

Another month has gone by and Miss Izzie is now 9 months old!  She has five teeth and still NO HAIR!!! 

 

Taking these pictures is getting a little more challenging since Izzie does not want to sit still.  The first several months I would take about 15-20 shots and choose my favorite.  Now, I'm happy to get 1-2 of her sitting still.

But she is a happy baby!  She has the cutest little smile and laugh!  She is learning to wave and loves to clap for herself.  All we have to do is say "Yay, Izzie" and she'll start clapping.

Love my sweet girl!

8 Months

 

 

Our baby girl is 8 months old this month.  It's hard to believe her first birthday is just around the corner.  I don't usually do big birthday parties, but I've already been thinking about a few things to celebrate her big day.

Izzie is wearing 9 month clothes, but 12 month sizes aren't that big.  Yes, she's a chunk!  She has 2 teeth on the bottom, but it looks like 3 more on the top are just days away from breaking through.  Probably explains why she's been such a cranky butt today.

I still can't believe how little hair she has!  The other two didn't have a ton of hair, but they had a decent amount.  I guess it will be a while before we start buying hair bows!

Izzie is so precious and so loved!  I am truly blessed!

Soccer

Today Alden started soccer.  This is the first extracurricular activity we have put him in.  It's only been one day, but I think he really loved it.



This is Alden and his buddy, Taylor.  Taylor's dad is the coach.  Not sure what Alden's thinking in this picture.  Quite the mischevious look.

Alan and I have exactly zero athletic ability and EK has never participated in sports, but I think Alden may actually have a little skill.  He's not timid and seems to have some decent coordination.  He's not exactly David Beckham, but considering he's never played soccer I thought he did a decent job of catching on.

Plus, he was just the cutest little stinker out there!



7 months, first day of school and balance

Time keeps flying by and Izzie turned 7 months this week.  She is crawling everywhere and has cut 2 teeth.  She is loving her solid foods.  We've been giving her sweet potatoes, peas, spinach, kiwi, apples, blueberries and avocados.  I've still been making her baby food.

There are many things I will do in the name of convenience: feed my kids cereal for dinner, let them pick out their own pajamas even if that's a bathing suit or dress up outfit rather than battle with them, grab a prepackaged breakfast food to eat in the car.  But I'm pretty picky about what I feed my babies when they're babies.  I try to stay organic and absolutely no sugar for the first couple of years. 

EK and Alden are pretty good eaters.  Don't get me wrong, they love their junk food but many times they are just as happy to skip the sweets and move on to something more fun.  These kids love to snack so in our house I say fruit is free.  They can almost always have fruit if they really have to have something to eat.  Maybe I was blessed with good eaters but I can't help but think the diet they had at the beginning has helped them later.

The bigs kids started school this week.  I can't believe I have a 4th grader and one in pre-k!!  It's nice having 2 kids in one place.  Since Izzie was born I've been dropping off and picking 3 kids at 3 different places.

Alden's teacher is just wonderful and is an NGC graduate so I know she'll be great!





Call me mother of the year - after dropping Alden off at his class we were late getting EK down to her room.  So, I don't have a picture if her and her teacher.  :(  But she got the teacher she wanted and is excited about this new school year!

It has been a wild and crazy summer for me at work as I have taken on some new responsibilities.  As we get ready to jump into the school year and extra activities (dance and soccer start next week) I find myself striving more and more to find that perfect balance.  Family always comes first, but part of what I do for my family is work to provide income.  I really like my job and always strive to do a great job, but
my mental capacity is limited and there are times when I have to say, "enough is enough."

I'm looking forward to this school year.  Watching EK grow into a beautiful and smart young lady.  Seeing Alden learn so many new things in "big school".  And celebrating all of Izzie's milestones - I know she will be turning 1 in the blink of an eye.  I want my children to appreciate how hard Alan and I work for our family.  And I think I can do that best by maintaining balance. 

6 months

Izzie girl is six months old!  I can hardly believe it.  She continues to be an amazing baby and is the perfection completion of our family.

I just started introducing solids this week.  We tried some rice cereal and then avocados.  She's not sure about the avocado.  She doesn't act like she doesn't like it, rather she's just uninterested.  But we'll keep plugging along.  I may try some sweet potatoes or squash next.

Izzie really wants to crawl!  She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth . . . and then flops back on her belly.  But even though she isn't crawling yet she can definitely get where she wants to go!  She rolls and stretches and squirms until she's reached her desired destination - usually to reach a toy.

5 Months

Izzie girl is 5 months old.  Everyone keeps asking me how much she weighs and I honestly have no idea.  I just know she's a healthy girl! 

Izzie continues to be strictly breastfed which I am so thankful for.  I struggled so much with Emma Kate and Alden and was already supplementing with formula at this point.  I will start introducing some solids after she turns 6 months and am going to try to make some of my own baby food. 

I'm done, mom.  Photo shoot over.