A boy and his bear

M loves his blue bear, it is always in his arms or close by!

when not feeling well



time to eat

at bedtime

during Mickey Mouse

playing with the dog

playtime in the playroom

Peek-a-boo

getting sleepy

getting ready in the morning

Nobody touches my bear!!!

A girl in the house

People like to ask what it is like to now have a girl in the house. I have thought about that a lot lately as A's little personality is really coming out. This girl is a riot! Not only does she have her daddy wrapped around her little finger she also has her brothers too.

She is momma's little girl though. When she wakes up she loves to be in my arms--melts this momma's heart.

She is also taking on her role as big sister (by 8 minutes!)
*If I hand her a snack she will hand it right to M then wait to get the next one.
*If M finishes his food first she will take food from her plate and throw it onto his high chair.
*If anything falls out of their snack bowls she is there to pick it up and put it back.
*The other day both had reached their limit so I tried to give them a little snack to hold off until bedtime. She was so tired but determined to feed M. He of course would not open his mouth and she was crying away. She really thought he needed to eat and was so upset when he would not open his mouth. Mommy got to enjoy some yummy puffs instead. :)
*When M stands on the train table she is there pointing and shaking her head no.
*If it is time to change diapers she is there handing wipes then will lay down to wait her turn.
*At story time she will always hand M a book to hold.
*If she sees M's bear she will pick it up and run it right to him.

*She thinks everyone always needs their shoes on and will try to put M's socks on him.
*She loves her Minnie Mouse purse and phone.

*She will not wear hair bows but is all about the jewelry!! If you have on any type of jewelry on she will be your best friend!!
*Another favorite is shoes!! This girl loves her shoes. We will put them all in a row and she will always grab her red ones and hand M is yellow or blue tennis shoes.

Having a girl in the house, yes it has been fun going down the PINK aisles now at Target. Shopping for dresses, hair bows, purses, etc..... Dolls, playhouses, and pink baskets filled with pink toys now fill the house....

but as girlie as she may be her favorite toy is a soccer ball so I guess it is not that different!

Midweek Randoms

1.     We are surviving high school. I say we since I have decided the moms get just as stressed out as these kids. It was a challenging first week, 2^nd week was a little better, 3^rd week we made it. I had to attend open house last week, wow—things have really changed. I wonder when these kids actually get to enjoy high school life.  When is their first break???

2.       Break from school—no break for high school but L and J will get their track out in less then 2 weeks! We are counting down!! I am ready to have 3 weeks off with these two.  Not sure what we will do but it will be nice to have a break from trying to get 3 kids to get homework done while entertaining the twins.

3.       This weekend we will be celebrating my beautiful niece’s first birthday! I love that my sister and I have little ones that are close in age and that A gets to have some girl time with her cousins!

4.       We had a touch of fall this past weekend, it was nice but I am not ready to say good bye to summer yet. I am keeping out my flip flops as long as possible. I really don’t mind the fall, I love the bonfires, hot cocoa, leaves falling, it is just what comes next-Winter and cold L This Florida girl will never get used to it! The countdown is on for summer 2014!!!

5.  The twins turned 15 months on Sunday. I am amazed every day how quickly they are growing! I did a post at the beginning of the week of life with 15 month old twins

http://bratager7.blogspot.com/2013/09/15-months.html

















Hope everyone is having a great week!!

  

15 months

It was just yesterday that we were celebrating the twins 1^st birthday and today they are 15 months. The past 3 months have flown by. I am amazed by how much these two have developed. Every day they seem to be doing something new, I love to sit back and watch.
Our day…

On the days you both sleep all night J you are up by 6:00. We come downstairs and have our morning milk and cheerios while the big brothers get ready for school.

After they head out the door it is breakfast time around 7:30.

Your favorite breakfast foods—eggs, smoothies, French toast, or blueberry waffles.

You both love to have morning playtime in the playroom while I try to straighten up and get caught up on emails.

After a good hour of playtime you get to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I love watching you both run to the room and start dancing around when Mickey starts to talk. You love to dance, clap, and sing along (well babble away).

We then will read some books before heading off to morning nap. We have tried transitioning to one nap a day but M is just not ready yet.  M will take a shorter nap and then have some one on one time with mommy J

When A wakes up it is time for lunch then off for some outside playtime.

Your favorite lunch foods-grilled cheese, apples, chicken nuggets, and cheese sticks

The afternoon is filled with more playtime, then naptime. We also will run out to do errands if we need to get out of the house.

M loves to take his afternoon nap, A will play around in her crib for a little while before coming to join mommy for her one on one time J

Around 3:30 we are off for a quick walk to the bus stop to meet the boys. You just started noticing the big yellow bus and will clap when you see it coming. You both have the biggest smiles when your brothers coming running off the bus.

Lately you get to watch one more Mickey Mouse while I help your brothers with their homework and signing all the agendas that come home. We also lay out your red play mat and both of you run over to sit on it while eating your afternoon snack together.

The rest of the day is filled with carpool, soccer games, dinner squeezed in there, and playtime with your brothers and daddy.

The afternoon may be busy but right at 7:00 you know it is reading time. For 30 minutes you will sit in our laps or your green chairs and soak up book after book. You both love this time!! We will read Brown Bear 3 or 4 times, Goodnight to the twins, and Peek a boo. This is one of my favorite times of the day.  I just love all the cuddles and watching you two together. After reading A will go find M’s bear to hand to him then you both will go to the stairs and wait for us to carry you up. Lots of hugs and kisses to everyone and lights are out at 7:30!

 

Favorite activities—Coloring, going down the slide, playing in your playhouse, taking out Tupperware, kicking the balls, dancing, building blocks…..

Dislikes

A-     Green veggies, carrots, being told No, afternoon naps, hair bows

M-   Carrots, people yelling at soccer games, being in the stroller too long

Both of you do not say a lot of words but really babble!! M always has a lot on his mind and wants to tell us all about it. A likes to babble when she is on her phone!! Such a girl!!

 We love to see how much you have developed the past 3 months, we can’t wait to see how much you grow the next 3!

Happy Birthday L!!

Today my sweet L turns 9!  This past year he has grown so much! I think back over the past 9 years and am so thankful for this sweet boy. He is one special boy who has been prayed over so much. The first 2 years of his life were so hard, it feels like it was a blur. My little man had a low immune system so whenever he would catch ANYTHING he would take it to the extreme. From 4 months to 7 he had a continual ear infection, it was so severe we had to go into the hospital to have tubes put in. Around 9 months he would constantly run a fever. We would be at the park having a great morning and by the time we drove home I would take him out of the car seat and he would have a 104 fever. A couple of doctor visits ended with ambulance rides to the hospital due to breathing issues. We had constant visits to the cardiologist for his heart murmur. Eric and I spent the first 2 years of his life taking turns at night watching him sleep and breathe. We always had to have an eye on him since we never knew when the fever would hit or when his oxygen levels would drop.  If the stomach bug hit our house his little body could not handle it. Anytime he would get sick his eyes would roll back and he would pass out. We ended up having to ask friends and family to wear masks when they came over. Thankfully he slowly out grew this and his immune system became stronger. He may have missed out on every preschool Christmas performance, his preschool graduation, and his Christmas week in kindergarten but he was always so good about it. We had the best teachers and friends who always made sure he never noticed.

I looked at my L today and just smiled. This boy is one sweet little guy. He is so full of love and will make everyone feel special. He has such a passion for soccer and football. He loves hanging out with his friends. He also is such a great  big brother. I love watching him interact with the twins, to see the love he has for them makes my heart so full.

Today I can not wait to spoil this boy rotten. Last weekend we had his friends birthday party! This morning the house was full of Happy Birthday Banners everywhere he turned. Tonight we will do  a little family night with his siblings between the boys soccer practices. This weekend it will be the big family party with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Happy Birthday my Sweet L!! You are so loved by all of us!!!

Cupcakes at school

NFL shirt!!

Birthday Breakfast



Tickets to see the U take on UNC for Thursday night football. Overnight trip with just dad!!

LOVE THESE 5!!

Cake time--brownie overload :)