happy birthday, little man

five years ago today was a magical day for me and daddy

because you joined our world

and nothing was ever the same again.

we are so very proud of the little man you are becoming.

you have such a kind heart,

you are sensitive and sweet,

and you are a wonderful big brother.

you are so smart

and so imaginative.

you and your sister are the best things that have ever happened to us.

we hope today was as magical for you as that very first day we met you was for us.

happy birthday, baby boy.

Wordless Wednesday

These two make my heart melt.

{And tomorrow - our firstborn turns five.  And graduates from Pre-K.  It's a big day in our world.}

Little Things

I realized that it had been a very long time since Jack had come into our room in the middle of the night to spend the rest of the night snuggled up against me in our bed.

And Hannah no longer calls her lovey, "puppy."  Now she can make the /l/ sound, and "lovey" comes out clearly.

Skinny Bear doesn't go wherever Jack goes.  He often stays home on the couch.

Hannah's shape is no longer that of a dollar sign.  Her baby belly is disappearing - fast.

On most days, Jack does not nap with me anymore.  He prefers to stay up and play.

These things seem to happen slowly - I almost don't notice.

And then one day they hit me 

- like tiny pin pricks on my heart - 

I catch the /l/ sound when Hannah reaches for her lovey.

I notice that Jack doesn't run to grab Skinny Bear as we're leaving the house.

It makes me sad - my babies are growing up.  Quickly.

Their current ages seem so great, and I just want to stop time.

And then, as if he knew I needed it, Jack sauntered into our room at 4:16 one morning because his room "was too dark," and he wanted to snuggle.

And I hauled him up and squeezed him tight and smiled as we went back to sleep.

Just Jack

On our way home from school, I asked Jack what he learned about today.

"Mama, could you please not ask me that for a couple of days...because I'd like to have a relaxing time."

Well, alrighty then.

*****

After a long day (apparently), we were sitting at the dinner table eating when Jack announced the he was the "tired-est kid in town."

Teacher Appreciation Week

**Excuse my absence - I've been feeling very tired lately!**

Teacher Appreciation Week was May 6-10th this year.  Being a teacher, I know how important it is to feel appreciated by the parents of your students.  I wanted to make Jack and Hannah's teachers feel special during Teacher Appreciation Week - so I set to work on Pinterest to find easy, inexpensive, little things I could do for the teachers that spend so much time caring for our little lovelies.  Here's what we came up with:

MONDAY

{source}

TUESDAY

{source}

WEDNESDAY

{source}

THURSDAY

{source}

FRIDAY

{source}

Not sure what I did before Pinterest, to be perfectly honest:)  And boy, I can't wait until the kids only have one teacher each year!

I will say the teachers were extremely appreciative - especially because Jack and Hannah couldn't wait to pass out the goodies to them each morning!

Just Jack

Tonight while I was making dinner, Jack and Hannah were playing by the stairs.  I overheard a tiny piece of their conversation, and it made me smile.

Jack, leaning over to talk to Hannah, asked her if she wanted to watch a show in "a few whiles."

Watching him learn time increments lately is pretty stinkin' cute.

Also, just the way he talks to his little sister sometimes?  It makes me swoon.

Wordless Wednesday

{sibling love - captured by Jack's Pre-K Teachers}

Quick Snippets (I'm tired...)

Last night was nacho night at our house.  Jack was loving the smell of the taco meat, and when I gave him his plate of nachos he made a comment about what a great chef I am.  This made me swoon because A) I am not a good chef, and my whole house knows it, and B) he was being oh-so-sweet.  I went over and gave him a kiss right away.  (I tell you this part of the story because it's important here in a bit...)

I also offered soft tacos to the littles.  Well, actually, I offered a soft taco to Hannah (who rooted in the pantry and found the bag of tortillas all by herself), and when Jack saw what his sister had, he wanted one too.

Until he tried it and decide he didn't like it.

He asked me how much more he had to eat, and I told him I wanted to give it another try and take another bite.

And that's when he said, "Mom, you're such a good chef!"

And as soon as I smiled, he told on himself.  "You know why I said that, Mommy?  So maybe you wouldn't make me take another bite!"

*****

Every night when Brad gets home from work, Jack goes off to hide so that Daddy can find him when he comes inside.  Usually, Jack hides under the kitchen table and reminds me to say "my part" while Hannah happily hangs out in her high chair and continues to eat her dinner.

Daddy walks in and I make a big deal about how I lost Jack, and that I don't know where he is, and then Brad looks for Jack.

Apparently, Hannah has also learned "my part" because tonight when Brad got home from work, Jack found a new place to hide, and Hannah walked right up to her daddy and said, "I lost Jack."

We both just laughed out loud, it was so adorable!

*****

Tonight, Jack picked an ABC book about the Navy for his bedtime book.  It was one of the new books I brought him from IRA, and we hadn't read it yet.  While we read the book, Jack seemed to really enjoy himself, and when it was over, he started to flip through and explain to me why he chose it to read.  The teacher in me was getting all excited because I thought he was going to talk about how he liked the pictures and he was interested in the planes...

Instead, he shared that when he flipped through the pages, the book seemed really long, and he knew he'd be able to stay up later.

Oh, okay.

He's a crafty one, that boy!  I need to be careful:)

Silent Sunday

can't quite keep up.

Things are happening in rapid-fire succession around here, and I can't quite keep up.

I guess that's not really new, actually, but still...



Hannah's potty skills are continuing to improve.  She doesn't go consistently on the potty, but I've been trying to suggest she try when she wakes up, before nap time (on the weekends), and before bedtime.  Most times we're successful:)  This week, we overcame a huge hurdle - she went #2 on the potty - two times!  I was so proud, and so was she!

Tonight, she kept saying, "Oh, man," at the same time she'd bring her little fist to the table.  Very funny, indeed.

While we were eating dinner, she randomly broke into song - "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Before bedtime, while Daddy, Jack, and Hannah were all snuggling on the floor, she sat up and asked, "Picture?" because the last time they did that I ran for my camera.

She definitely keeps us on our toes.  I remember with Jack, right around the age of two, I had so many little pieces of paper around the house with all of the adorable things he was doing every day.  I still have those scraps - one of my goals is to eventually get them all onto this blog in some organized fashion.  We shall see.

I am making head-way on my own happiness project, though.  This week, I got completely caught up with scanning the kids' artwork into the computer and getting everything filed the way I think will work best for us.  And then, energized by an online sale at Shutterfly and a coupon I was given after our Easter Bunny visit, I made the past years' artwork photo books.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a wide range of artful designs and embellishments to choose from.

Anyway, that's what's happening around these parts.

Wordless Wednesday

{Dylan turned one month old while I was in San Antonio}