Thursday, May 20, 2010

Letter to Helena



Dear Helena,
Where has the time gone? In just about a week you will be turning 2. We can still picture you with your big blue eyes staring up at us with a giant paci in your mouth or giving us a “Shark Bite-Beana Kiss.” You are still our little Bean and love to be held when you wake up from your naps. You are a very quick learner and since you are a light sleeper, you end up getting lots of one on one time to learn your letters and numbers. You can name almost the whole alphabet already and love to read books! Every day you surprise us with something new that you have learned or can say. You are VERY smart and we think that might be trouble one day! Even though you are still the smallest you have no problem holding your own with your brother and sister. They love to console you whenever you are sad and you love the attention. You are very athletic and can run and jump all day long. Your favorite toys are your Baby Deer who sleeps with you, Elmo, and anything you can play with outside. You love being outside and get upset when it’s time to come in. Rain or shine we think you’d stay out there all day if we let you. Helena, you are very sensitive and we don’t have to yell at you often but when we do, you get very upset. It often takes quite a while to calm you down. You wear your heart on your sleeve already, and we hope you always keep that quality. You have quite the sweet tooth and just last week insisted that Mommy make you a cupcake. We made them of course since you asked so nicely… You are very strong willed and almost stubborn at times, a trait you get from both Mommy and Daddy. You always want your brother and sister to be just like you, whether it is wearing a tu-tu, a hat, or no socks. One of your favorite words is “self” since you want to do everything yourself. Strong will is a good quality to have but you will have to learn to compromise a little too. Mommy and Daddy are very proud of the little girl with the “pretties” in her hair that you are becoming!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Letter to Seamus



Dear Seamus,
In a little over a week you are going to be turning 2. We can picture you telling us how old you’re going to be and saying “birfdy, happy” in your little boy voice. It’s almost sad that we can’t call you a baby anymore but you’ve grown so much this past year that it’s clear you are all little boy now. You love to cause trouble with your sisters as any brother should! Taking the toys they are playing with is one of your favorite pastimes. The other is trying to figure out how stuff works. You are VERY inquisitive and smart. If there’s a way to take something apart you are going to find it. Sometimes this part of your personality gets you into trouble though since you’re listener turns off when you are trying to figure something out. Because of this you spend more time in time-out than your sisters but you are still a very good boy Seamus! Learning to talk with two chattering sisters around you has made you a little more laid-back but if there’s something you want to say, you make it known… loudly! You are very strong and love to wrestle. We have a feeling you will the first one to get out of your crib. You could probably do it now, but luckily for us you don’t know that yet. You are very caring and are always concerned about where everyone is. You wake us up in the morning by calling our names. You love to give giant Tater hugs and kisses. Sometimes it feels like you might pop our heads off but we’re not complaining. Whenever we go to the park, it’s always you who wants to pick Mommy a pretty dandelion “flower.” Your favorite toys are Mouse that sleeps with you, your “Bob” pillow that has a Sponge Bob pillow case , and anything you can ride on. You'll do laps riding your toys around the house and saying whee! Your favorite shirt to wear is your hockey jersey, and you point to your chest and say “Wings! Hockey!” every time you wear it (This make Daddy very happy)! Mommy and Daddy are very proud of the little man you are becoming and can’t wait to see what this next year brings!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Letter to Katie



Dear Katie,
It is a little over a week now until your second birthday and we can’t believe what a big girl you have become. You make Mommy and Daddy so proud! Just yesterday when you had to go to the doctor for being itchy, you were so grown up. You didn’t cry or complain even though we had to wait a very long time. You just colored away and said hi to everyone. You are quite the little chatter box now and VERY smart. You are very funny and crack everyone, including yourself up. You like to try and be a little mommy and tell everyone when they are doing something they shouldn’t. Even complete strangers, you don’t care! We went to the zoo a few days back and you were even telling some boys there that they should get down. Of course you were right… You use a ton of words now, more and more every day and even know some of your letters and numbers already. You’re very caring and will go and hug Helena and Seamus when they cry, even if they don’t want you to. You give the best Katie hugs and squeeze us for a long time. Your favorite toys are probably your fra-fra- Grover, your giraffe, and of course your dolly, named Baby. You love to carry Baby around by her arm, give her kisses and even help her brush her teeth. Katie you are also our nature girl. You love to play in the dirt, pick up sticks, and point at bugs. It’s so cute! Daddy likes to say that you are Mommy’s mini-me, maybe it’s because you are the oldest sister just like Mommy, but chances are it’s because we both like to play and get dirty. You’re a big help to Mommy and Daddy and try to help carry things in when we go shopping and like to sweep the floor all the time. You are also our #1 somersaulter! It’s amazing how far you’ve come since you were the little Bug who refused to do tummy time and didn’t want to roll over. There’s nothing that stops you now. We love how you say “love you” all of the time and we say back “love you more”!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Letters

One of the things that I've been thinking about doing for the last couple months is writing little letters to the kids for their birthdays. The letters are not anything overly elaborate but I wanted to put in writing some of the things that we'll want to look back on in a few years. Our ultimate goal is to make a keepsake book for the kids that includes all of our blog posts over the last few years. The next few posts will be the letters to them...

Monday, May 17, 2010

What a Bunch of Animals!



Pat and I skipped work today to hang out with the kids! Shhh, don't tell... In reality it was a necessity for one of us to be home since Grandpa was still on his way home from my cousin's wedding in Savannah this past weekend. Congrats Tricia and Danny!! We've had a fun extended weekend especially since last week was rainy and cold. Friday evening we went and saw Clay play soccer. He almost scored a goal! Katie was trying so hard to go play with the big kids. I think she's going to be the next Mia Hamm but I may be biased. Saturday was Victorian Days in Romeo so we took a walk around town. No stroller, we actually walked! Good thing Main Street isn't very long because by the time we made the turn all three of them were starting to drag. We watched some musicians, a trolley, and a horse-drawn carriage. We also made cupcakes. Helena kept asking for them, so we made them. That girl has such a sweet tooth! Sunday we had a first birthday party to attend for a friend of mine's daughter. The party was at a park and we played like crazy on the slides and swings. We even got to have a picnic lunch and birthday cake before coming home. The party was in Allen Park so thankfully even though we missed our naps, they did get to sleep the whole car ride home. Today we went to the zoo and boy were the animals active! We ran into a mom and little boy that we knew from when the kids were in physical therapy. It was so weird seeing how much he has changed in a year. Pat also ran into people he knew from work. Wouldn't you know the one day we play hooky, classes from his school are on a field trip to the same place! Walking around the butterfly house was much easier this year and since we outgrew our zoo hats, we got some new ones while we were there. We also got to go out to lunch at American Pie and got their birthday cake ordered for their 2nd birthday party. Less than 2 weeks to go and we'll have three 2 year olds on our hands!


The trio and I in front of the fountain for the first time this year


Wow! We saw the gorillas and lions too!



Rhinos and Hippos, Oh my!



Katie's favorite!


Oohh bugs!


Pat and the trio in the butterfly house!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Day, Happy Mommy

Happy Mothers' Day to all the mothers out there! We were practicing saying "Happy Mother's Day" this morning so we could say it to all the grandmothers and aunts. The best they all got out was "Happy Day, Happy Mommy." We had a busy time today going to breakfast, church, and visiting the grandparents. We were so busy that we missed our nap today. That plus the bad weather keeping us indoors for three days straight made the kids (and us) get a little stir crazy. The pictures below are proof of this. And once again, to all the mothers, Happy Day, Happy Mommy.


Katie with her toy car (For some reason she refused to wear pants after potty time)


Helena, also with no pants


Seamus, yes that is a purse and a spoon (clearly the stir crazies affected him more than the girls)

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Bring May Flowers!

Here are a few pictures from our photo shoot. It took us 2 days to get them done but I think they turned out pretty well. The trio are 23 months old now so it's not as easy as plopping them down and snapping away. We had a few tantrums and a few tears in the poccess but as you can see we had some laughs as well. Tomorrow is Mothers Day so Happy Mothers Day to everyone!


The 23 month old group shot



Helena



Katie



Seamus