5 Years of Pootie!

Noah is 5 years old today. Justin and I are not sure how that happened. I remember him as a baby. He was so mild tempered and happy. By far my smiliest baby. He was also my baby who hit all his milestones early.

I remember Noah as a one year old. He was a determined little kid. He would climb on my counters and sneak treats (even if they were wrapped up), he would climb under the legs of our barstools and sit there forever, and he was so snuggly! He is (still) my most snuggly kid.

As a two year old Noah was developing his stubborn-ness. He would draw on my walls in permanant marker, throw epic tantrums, he stopped napping around this time. We had to move him out of his crib because he kept jumping out of it. He was still a climber but was now adding jumping to his list of tricks. He'd jump down the stairs (meaning he'd still be about 4 stairs from the bottom and jump all the way down). He used to make me so nervous that he'd break something (a worry I still have about him). Also, I lived for those sweet blonde curls. I still miss them.

As a three year old Noah was developing his 'Pootie P. Pickleweasle' persona. He was learning about cars, playing with his big brother, ignoring his new baby sister, and generally being pretty sassy. He attacked everything with 100% and rarely showed any fear over any new feat. We quickly realized that the terrible three's were going to trump the terrible two's.

At four years old, Noah had started to outgrow the terrible three's. He was still stubborn and opinionated and determined, but he was also sweet and compassionate, and loving. I remember watching Astro Boy with him shortly after he turned 4 and having to force him to sit through it so he could see the happy ending (he was so distraught when he thought the garbage can dog had died that he had to leave the room). He would hold my hand every chance he got and constantly tell me how much he loved me.

Now he's five. He's still my most determined and stubborn kid. He's incredibly strong willed, very funny, sweet, and smart. At five years old he: loves peanut butter and jelly more than anything, loves Pokemon, Bakugon, superheroes, cars, and basically anything else that's super masculine, he is so sweet to his new baby sister that I have a hard time believing this is the same kid who ignored Josie for almost a year, he loves to draw, read, wrestle, do gymnastics, and talk about geography. He's very independent and self-sufficient (for a five year old) and loves to do things for himself by himself. With all this, he's still my cuddle-buddy, often asking me, "Mom, can I snuggle you?". My answer is always "Yes!" because I know it won't be too much longer before he'll stop asking.

I love this kid. He amazes me everyday. Happy birthday Noah, five is getting off to a great start (in a five shirt and soft pants - what could be better)!

3 Months!

Sammie is officially three months old today. These three months have just flown by. I can't believe how big our sweet Sammie is getting.
This is Sammie the day we brought her home from the hospital. She still has that red, puffy 'just out of the womb' face.

 Sammie at one month. She has zero control of her hands, but she's trying desperately to catch one.

 Sammie at two months. A little more alert, starting to give us her gorgeous smiles.

Sammie at (almost) 3 months. She's almost got those hands under control. She can't really grab objects intentionally yet but she can get those fingers into her mouth with increasing accuracy. She's started rejecting the pacifier. I love it. I also love that she seems to prefer the 'rock star' method of finger sucking as opposed to thumb sucking. She may eventually go with the thumb, but for now I love this!

We're starting to be more consistent with tummy time (I figure I should start giving her opportunities to learn to roll over).

Tummy time usually starts out pretty fun, but always ends the same way...

Officially three months!

Sammie is such a sweet baby. She's starting to get a little more demanding now. She requires more of my attention lately. I think it's because she's starting to notice more of what's going on around her and she wants to be part of it (I can't blame her). She is still easily soothed though. All one of the other kids has to do is sit by her and talk to her and she calms right down. It's lovely.

Her smiles are getting easier and easier to come by. You'd never know that when I was taking these pictures she was in the middle of a major fussy moment.

She's also starting to get delightfully plump. I was comparing the three month pictures I took today with some of her two month ones and I definitely notice a difference. She's really filling out. I love to squeeze her chunky baby thighs and kiss those fat cheeks. Yum!

Some Sammie facts: her nicknames are - Sam, Sammich, and Sam-Sam, she loves having people up in her face, she loves when you make fish faces to her (they get a smile every time), she has one good bouncing leg - when I put her in the bouncy seat she gets her left leg going and bounces herself really well), she has started cooing more often, she's a little bit ticklish but hasn't laughed out loud yet (just big silent open mouth grins and gasping), she's rolled completely over once about a month ago - she does a lot of rolling on to her side but just can't seem to get all the way over yet, and she is starting to attempt to grab things (she's very rarely successful, but I can tell that she's trying every now and then).

She usually has that right hand up by her face. No matter what she's doing, that hand is right there. It makes her look like she's constantly posing for a Glamour Shot (remember those?).

Sleepy Sammie. I scored with this baby. She's the best sleeper of any baby ever. I swear. She doesn't need to be rocked to sleep or anything. At night I've started putting her to bed before she's fully asleep and she's never cried. No lie. Not once. I think that she's only woken up in the middle of the night a handful of times since she was born. I wake her up at 5:45 every morning to feed her (it's necessary for my day) but she always goes right back down no problems. I figure, even if everything else with my day goes down the toilet, the fact that I can count on her to sleep at night saves me.

This little girl is a gem for sure. We sure were blessed when we were given Sammie. She's growing so fast and as much as I'm trying to treasure it I feel like it's just slipping by. Things I'm looking forward to in the coming months: hearing her first laughs, watching her become more interactive with her brothers and sister, watching her roll over (yes, it's time, I can look forward to it now), and seeing her gain more core strength in the Bumbo (she's getting better, but she still kind of shlumps to one side in there).

We love you Sammie!



Thanksgiving

We were so thankful this year to have the Petersen's come stay with us for Thanksgiving this year. It was like being reunited withour other half. Sadly, their visit was painfully short, but we made the most of the time we got to spend together. I only took pictures on the actual Thanksgiving day, so that is where I will limit my commentary.
On Thursday morning, Chase, Missy, and I ran in a Turkey Trot in Elkhart. Missy did the 10k and Chase and I did the 5k. It was a great day for a race. It was pretty cold, but once you started running you warmed up quick. Missy and Chase both did awesome. Missy finished her 10k in 51 minutes and finished 3rd in her age group. Chase did 25 minutes and was also 3rd in his age group. I was not so fast and didn't finish in the top 20 in my age group, but I blew my personal goals out of the water! My goals were: run 2.25 miles of the race and finish in under 40 minutes. In my training I'd been doing 5k's in 39 minutes and running about 2.5 miles of it. On race day I ran the WHOLE THING and finished in 36 minutes!! I was super happy with that. It's a full 10 minutes faster than the last 5k I did (when I was 7 months pregnant). I know I'll only get faster and it's great to know I can push my body and accomplish my goals.
Giving our photographer 'the bird'.

 Happy to be done (and get to the car to warm up).

 Missy is in amazing shape. I feel kinda large next to her in pictures, but I know that if I keep running and working on it, I'll get to where she is (hopefully)...

Clayton took this picture of us when we got home. It was so cold. My fingers were numb by the end of the race. It felt great to get home and thaw them out.

After we got home (about 10:00), it was time for everyone to get ready for the day. I told the boys that for Thanksgiving we like to dress up a little and look nice. Noah was pretty resistent to this but Clayton embraced it! He told me he wanted to be extra fancy and wear a tie. He picked out his outfit himself and I LOVED it! I wish he could dress that way every day (I seriously couldn't get over how handsome he looked in his shirt and tie)!

The kids spent the morning playing...

...sneaking into the kitchen...

...being undeniably handsome (he loved his GQ pose)...

...and eating (although to be fair, it wasn't just the kids that snacked all morning long). We had quite a spread of pre-dinner goodies. Cinnamon rolls, egg casserole, veggies and cheese fondue, sugared cranberries, and candied almonds.

Tessa is just adorable. How much do you want to squeeze her!?!

To help keep the kids out of the way Chase turned on Secretariat and watched with the kids.

Sammie was a rock star the whole time (it's official, she no longer needs a pacifier, she sucks these fingers pretty consitently now, there is no end to the love I have for this).

C-tone and I being GQ together.

Since Enoch, Noah, and Missy all have November birthdays, Missy wanted to make a cake (I was planning on doing a birthday dessert, but she insisted that she liked making cakes and had no problem making her own birthday cake).

If you've never tasted Justin's turkey - I'm sorry. It's the absolute BEST thing I've ever eaten. I wait 354 days a year for it. It's the perfect turkey.

Missy assembling the cake.

Doesn't that look amazing! The pumpkins are ganoche filled figs coated in white chocolate. The leaves are painted marzipan. As beautiful as it looks, I can tell you - it tasted even better!

Josie was trying to be so sneaky and steal a pumpkin.

After all the food had been prepared, Justin took a few servings over to the hospital to feed the on-call residents. The adults waited (anxiously) for him to come back while the kids went ahead and ate. If Noah looks grumpy it's because he had fallen asleep and was not happy about being woken up to eat. We asked the kids to tell us what they were Thankful for. Clayton was thankful for Thanksgiving, Noah was thankful for Bakugon, and (before I could get to her) Josie blurted out, "I'n a pincess!". Someone has princesses on the brain.

Tessa definitely enjoyed her Thanksgiving dinner!

Our lovely adult table. I love getting Justin's grandmother's china out.

Justin finally got home...

...and we chowed down!

Yum!

Tessa couldn't get enough. She was literally taking the older kids' leftover plates under the table and finishing them. I was laughing so hard.

Since we all looked nicer than usual, we decided to do a quick family photo. It's hard to get a great family picture with four kids! We settled for the best one.

Then it was time for dessert. Our dessert table was insane! Missy made a pear tart, a maple tart, that gorgeous pumpkin cheesecake cake, lemon drops with sugared cranberries, and chocolate turkeys for the kids. I bought a pumpkin pie from the store (L.A.M.E.).

Our November birthday's posing with their cake!

Missy with the birthday sign.

Blowing out the candle on their cake.

Petersen's have a tradition where the birthday boy/girl gets to take the first bite right out of the cake. Since Missy's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving this year she got the honor!

She did it so neatly too! Hardly made a mess at all!

After that we all dug into the desserts and stuffed ourselves more than we would have thought possible. Then we sent the kids to bed while the adults plopped down on the couch and mindlessly watched TV while we let ourselves digest. By far, this was our most delicious and decadant Thanksgiving.

My favorite foods from this Thanksgiving were: turkey (of course), Missy's low fat replacement of green bean casserole (I will never make the regular green bean casserole again), stuffing (I made a cornbread sausage stuffing this year that was delightful), sugared cranberries, lemondrops, and maple tart. Of course, EVERYTHING we had was delish, but those were my very favorites.

I'm thankful this season for a wonderful family and amazing friends who were willing to drive 5 hours one way to spend two days with us. They really are the best. They're the kind of friends who feel more like family than friends. I know they'll be in our lives forever and I'm really thankful for that. I am so blessed, not just at Thanksgiving but always. I hope you were able to have as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we had!