Brittyn turns 3!

Sprinkles abound!!! We celebrated Brittyn's 3rd birthday with a sprinkles party complete with a mess of colored quinoa (I'll never do that again) sprinkle cut outs for decor and a cake covered in sprinkles. She had so much fun and was so excited to have all her friends and family over for her special day. We colored quinoa and used them as "sprinkles" for the kids to make their names and pictures. Super messy but super fun. I think I'm still finding that stuff in the grooves of my table and my floor. She had a great day and I'm so happy that I get to be her mommy, couldn't imagine a day without my little Brittles!























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Huntington's First Birthday!

By the time my children have turned one, it's not too far after that that I become pregnant with another sweet blessing. Such a situation has not been the case since my Huntington Brooks turned one LAST AUGUST 31, 2013. He's now 19 months old and it looks like he's gonna be my baby, my caboose, my end of the line, my "they broke the mold" baby. He's moving and shaking and talking and eating and playing nonstop, like crazy! I cannot express how much I love this little man, because even the girls remind me that he's no longer a baby.

His birthday party was a great day for our family. I know he won't remember it because of being so young and also because he slept through a lot of it. I know because the minute I was gonna start the party, I looked over and he was asleep in his grandpa's arms. Note to self: don't let kids chill with grandparents on party day.

So, we welcomed everyone, had a blessing and started eating. We decorated the house in a barnyard and "Charlotte's Web" theme because he loved that movie as a baby. We would watch it every night before he went to bed, he got to where he would even ask for it, saying "Char" and I knew what He wanted. He'd take his bottle and lay in my arms and be asleep in no time. The girls would lay on the floor and also fall asleep to the movie, the I got to the point that I would know the kids were asleep by the time the movie got to 1:13:00 left. I know because it happened every night.

Ok, wiping my tears away, let me get back to the party! We used red bandanas and greenery and lots of "nature" inspired decor. We had Rice Krispie treats for "hay stacks" "spuds" for potato chips and Oreo cookies for "wagon wheels." We ate pulled pork sandwiches (sorry Wilbur) and had a great time. The girls "helped" him smash his cake and open his presents. Not that he really needed the help but... He was wide awake by the time the party was over so he and his cousins stood by the "watering hole" and played in the ice and drank Capri sun. That ended our day because I dropped the kids off at Kylia's later and I couldn't have been gone more than 10 minutes before she sent me a picture of my Bubby passed out on her floor. It was a great day, I know he won't remember it but Im thankful for everyone who came and helped make it a great day for Huntington!





































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Ryan's Tooth Fairy...

Wouldn't you know that Ryan lost her first tooth two days after she went to the dentist and the weekend before she started school. At least that's how I think that's when she lost it. My memory of the actual timeline of events is a little sketchy. Either way, I know we went to the dentist on a Wednesday, she lost her first tooth on a Friday and the tooth fairy came on Saturday!!! And she left Ryan one glittered dollar and a signed certificate of awesomeness for losing her first tooth, along with guidelines for taking care of her remaining teeth and letting her know that she'd be back each time Ryan lost a tooth. Let me tell you that Ryan is nothing, if not persistent and determined to lose all her teeth once that first one came out. She's since lost two more and wiggles the rest of her teeth daily to feel for anything that may bring her tooth fairy back for a visit. I don't know if it's a coincidence or karma, but the day I write this blog post about Ryan losing a tooth, I saw her brother Huntington putting his toothbrush in the toilet this morning and then into his mouth. After I vomited in MY own mouth, I took that toothbrush from him and decided that today was the day all three kids got new toothbrushes. Sadly, none of them will be safe from the possibility of Hunt and his toothbrush toilet dunks but at least I know they'll be safe for one night, as it's nearing midnight and he's already asleep. Here's hoping!!!

Also, since Britt turned three this past year, she too had her first visit to Dr. Brad and I couldn't have been prouder. She had no cavities and the hygienists told me she was such a big girl for them. She left me out front and followed them back, I went with them and got a picture of her in the chair and she was so excited to be a big girl that day. I hope her big girl"ness" continues for future dental appointments.

And then there's Huntington, who isn't really old enough to go to the dentist yet but I went ahead and posted a pic of him with his mouth wide open. He's practicing for his turn to meet Dr. Brad too.

























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Did I mention?

Did I mention that once school Ryan wanted a haircut. I'm really messed up on my chronological order of events and this post is no exception. I've been looking they pics on my phone and she clearly didn't get her haircut before school. But, most of the other events are correct so I'm gonna just leave them and all the pics up on this post. I'm gonna add some pics of Brittyn too because she also got a cut the same day Ryan did. Hers wasn't nearly as drastic as Ryan's was, but she wanted to be a big girl and get her hair cut too. So I obliged and had Mrs. Nancy trim her ends but keep her curls as much as possible. She was happy and felt like a big girl.She and I went to meet her teacher and also the substitute teacher that would be there while her teacher was home with her new baby. It was a rainy day and we got really wet but thankfully I don't have pictures of that, we just got the cute stuff; her with Mrs. Cowart and Ms. Dobbins and some of her classroom and her just being cute! She also got a haircut once school started because she said it was too long it got too tangled for her (that's the nice version). She chose the length of the cut with my approval and loved it in the end. I hope I have gotten all the memories of her first day at school written down and as accurate as possible!!!





























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Always room for one more...

There's always room for one more summer sendoff celebration. And Kylia B, as Ryan has recently began calling her, knows how to do it and do it right! She had the idea for us (herself, me and Jaren) to gather all the cousins and spend the night at a local hotel and just let the kids swim and play and eat pizza and swim more and eat more and not sleep the whole time before school started. She had one rule: there are NO RULES!
So, we spent the night at a hotel in town and did all the stuff the kids wanted to do and the kids were pretty set on not sleeping the whole night but thankfully they finally did and the next morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and the kids went home refreshed before school the next week and the grown ups went home and went back to being in a frenzy before school started. I'm sure all of us had a blast and we can't wait to do it again!





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My cheer dancer...

Ryan participated in a cheer dance class this summer at Trousdell Gymnastics center. She was really excited about shaking some Pom poms and jumping around to music. I don't know why I can't upload the video but maybe I'll try again later, for now just know that she's awesome in her dance and had a great time as a cheerleader over the summer!!!


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So not ready for this...

I've always told myself that if I could just get my kids past certain, simple benchmarks I'd consider myself a "good" parent. Things like crawling, walking, potty training, sleeping through the night were all admirable benchmarks that me and my kids would go through together. (At this point, I probably started this blog post more than 3 months ago, in an ill-fated effort to finish blogging 2013 before 2014 started, but that was not to be. So I had to think really hard about what the post was actually supposed to be about and I didn't remember until here.) However, no one could prepare me for when my firstborn started kindergarten and was at school for a FULL DAY!!! Half day pre-k was emotional enough but all day at school?, what parent does that to their child?!?!!! Alas, I bravely prepped Ryan for school, we got lunch boxes and backpacks, we got lunch supplies and classroom supplies, we got everything from pencils and paper to Clorox wipes and Kleenex tissues, I didn't realize all that kids had to bring to school these days!!! We laughed over first day of school outfits and whether or not she'd wear her hair up or down or with a bow or without (she settled for a bow worn half up half down). I even purchased a frame and spray painted the glass with chalkboard paint and wrote the cutesy "First day of Kindergarten" on it complete with the school year and other various data pertinent to Ryan and had her stand in front of it before we left the house, alone for a few clicks before sweet Brittyn photobombed us. She's just sweet that way. She kinda felt like it was her first day of school because she too picked out outfits and I packed a lunch for her to take to "Grandma's school" and she packed it in her own back pack. She will NOT be left out. I wish now I had made her her own chalkboard sign.

We finally made it to school and got in line to drop our baby off, we all walked as a family to her class and took a few more obligatory pictures outside her classroom door and with her cousin Amelia, who was in the classroom right beside her. I couldn't wait to pick her up when school got out, I had waited all day to hear all that she had done. She loved Ms. Dobbins (her substitute teacher, since her teacher Mrs. Cowart was still on maternity leave) and she had made lots of new friends and loved her new teacher and her lunch and tons of other things I can't remember because she spoke so fast with excitement. Overall it was a good day and she loved it and hasn't looked back. I honestly couldn't be more proud of her if I tried.
















































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