13 Months!

Sammie is officially 13 months old today. Where does the time go!?! I absolutely still think of her as my little baby even though I know she's really not all that little and she's loosing her "baby" day by day (*tears*).
Good morning Sammie Sue!
Teeth count: 5

Things she loves right now:
-Being tossed into the air by daddy.
-Watching her brothers and sister be crazy in front of her (and if they are knocking each other or themselves down, watch out, major laugh-fest).
-Playing the "you go get it" game which involves us giving her a toy that she immediately drops (I think all kids this age play this game).
-Being naked. Completely, absolutely naked.
-Snuggling with her Mama and Daddy.
-Bathtime with Josie (if Josie doesn't get in the tub with her, it's a sad bath).
-Having her teeth brushed (and then forceably removing said toothbrush from you and "brushing" her own teeth).
-Eating. Especially bananas, avacadoes, strawberries, and pasta dishes.
-Naptime (hallelujah)!

 Dinner v. Sammie (it was a hard fought battle but Sammie ultimately OWNED it - as usual)!

Things she doesn't love so much right now:
-Physical Therapy (yep, still doing that once a week).
-Being all alone in a room.
-Being the casualty of a wrestling match or race gone awry.
-Knowing where she wants to go, but not being able to get there fast enough.
-Having her hair fixed.
-Diaper changes (although, in her defense, I don't like those either).

 Word Count: 4
"Mama"
"Dada"
"Uh-Oh"
"Nana" (usually this means banana, but it is also her go-to word for any food item that she wants)

Mobility Update:
She's not walking yet, but she's making awesome progress. She hates her PT, but we're seeing results so we're going to stick with it. She is now consistently crawling (quite quickly) on hands and knees. She pulls up to furniture and other objects all the time and is starting to cruise (and is getting better at that by the day). She still won't stand without holding on to anything but she's getting sturdier and we're continuing to work on it. She has recently started getting onto her hands and feet in the middle of the room so I'm hoping that standing on her own is going to come in the next month or so. She will climb up a step if it's a really short one (less than 4 or so inches). I'm really okay with that one. The older she is when she learns the stairs the better! I'm hoping that she'll be walking by 15/16 months!

Happy 13 months Sammie! You're sick today, which is a bummer, but I'm loving how cuddly you are right now. We love you!

My Boys!

Meet Super Pootie:

Super powers include: extreme bendiness, super stubbornness, snuggle power, brainy-osity, and creativity

His kryptonite: quinoa, cleaning up, mornings, and anything girly

My Hero! **Swoon**

Clayton got his Bobcat badge last night. We were so proud of him! It took him less than a month to earn his Bobcat and he can't wait to start working on his Wolf!

As the proud mother, I also earned my Bobcat! As Clayton was giving me my pin he said, "Don't worry Mom, I won't stick you!" He was true to his word! I'm so proud of my (not so) little scout!

Rewind: Labor Day

A few days before Labor Day my good friend, Missy, texted me and invited me and the kids up to Wisconsin to spend some quality 'Smithersen' time and go to one of the waterparks at The Dells for free! I didn't need much persuasion. It was a super short trip (we got there Sunday afternoon and left Tuesday morning) but oh so worth it!

I didn't take too many pictures (shame shame) but here's what I have:
On the way to the waterpark (these boys were so excited):

Josie was pretty excited herself (and I love Enoch's face in the background watching Clayton play the DS - lifesaver on this trip btw):

Once we got there it was apparent that, while there were many things to do, the wave pool was where it was at as far as the kids were concerned. They really didn't have any desire to do anything other than get mowed over by waves. Worked for me! They were pretty easy to keep track of and they were having a blast!

Plus, I could sit Sammie down just beyond the water and when the waves would come in she would get a little wet. She loved it!

Cute Jo:

Happy Sam:

Missy and Tessa:

The boys loved it! They kept going further and further but would come right back when they heard us call them.

Just about the time that the kids decided they were done with the wave pool and ready to go on other rides, they started closing the park down (due to storm warnings). Fortunately, the water park we went to (Mt. Olympus) had an indoor waterpark as well so we spent our remaining time playing in the indoor waterpark. As we were leaving it started to rain. Kind of a bummer but we'd had several hours of swimming fun PLUS it was free so we really couldn't be too disappointed about the rain.

Since it was Monday we were fighting the Labor Day traffic heading back into Madison. It took us a long time. Thankfully, the kids were so exhausted from the waterpark that it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.
I thought this was funny: Enoch's head kept sinking lower and lower. Clayton would call from the backseat (slightly panicked), "Uh, Mom? Mom? Moooom!" as Enoch's head got heavier and heavier on his body. Obviously there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it aside from laugh and snap a picture or two:

He eventually fourd a way to make it work:

It was a fun weekend. I'm glad that we were spontaneous and made the trek up to visit our friends. As for the two 5 hour drives I had to endure with the four kids all by myself? They were all awesome! After this trip I'd definitely make more road trips with them. They were fun, they got along (in the car), and the let me listen to my music for the majority of the trip!

Thanks for inviting us Missy! We're ready for the next visit!

Sammie's Birthday (a.k.a. 'some of my favorite pictures EVER')

I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Sammie's birthday was fun. Muffins for breakfast, a few presents throughout the day, mac 'n' cheese for dinner, and CAKE! Here are the pictures (and yes, they're awesome)!

Don't try to take her milk. Trust me. She's got a kung fu death grip on it anyway.

Mmmm, mac 'n' cheese. This girly can out eat her sisters and go noodle for noodle with her brothers. She knows how to pack it away!

 Not sure what to think about this cake with this candle in it.

Are you ready for the funniest picture ever? (Anisha, I think it's right up there with the 'Max shoving cheese in his mouth' picture.) I laugh so hard every time:
Cake coma:

 Must. Eat. It. All. At. Once.

 I love cake!

 All done!

The weekend after her birthday we had a little party for her. Nothing big or fancy, we just invited a few of her little "friends" over and had a barbeque and some more cake.
Opening presents:

She loves this little dog. I love that it has a hidden "off" switch (even Clayton and Noah don't realize it's there - tricky tricky - I love that)!!

 Here comes the smash cake:

 For a girl who LOVES to eat, she was a little dainty with that cake.

 "Here Mama, want some?"

 That's better:

 Nope, now she's done and trying to get away:

Not sure what's going on here but cousin Levi loves Sammie. It's cute. However, sometimes love from a two year old is a little bit like a full contact sport (not in this picture, but in general).

 "Hi!" (**Side note: How is it that Kerstin and I can use the exact same camera and her pictures still turn out way better than mine!?! I'm calling "not fair"!)

After that, we were pretty much done. It was past Sammie's bedtime (not to mention being past the bedtime of her "friends") so the party broke up pretty soon after cake. It was fun though and I'm glad that we got to celebrate a year of Sammie. This little girl lights up our lives and makes us smile every single day. We sure do love her. And, just one more time, here's the best picture ever (you're welcome):

Josie's Turn!

I have so many things to blog about. I need to finish blogging about Sammie's birthday, as well as our last minute trip to Wisconsin for Labor Day. However, since Josie started preschool this week (and since it's currently the thing I'm the most excited about), I thought I'd post about this one first.

Josie has been waiting for a whole year to go to school. Every day last year we would drop Noah off and she would BEG to get out of the car and go too. When Clayton and Noah started school this year, she would wake up with them each morning and ask me if she, too, was going to school today. I would tell her, "Not today, but soon."

Well, yesterday was orientation. Not a full "real" day of school, but she got to go for about an hour while I went to another room in the school and had orientation. When she woke up she asked, as usual, if she was going to school and when I said "Yes!" she flung herself at me and gave me the biggest bear hug she was capable of. Cute.

She had very specific opinions on what she should wear to school. Fluffy, frilly dress, sparkly gold shoes, and a 'princess' braided updo. Since it was the first day I complied, but that won't last. I can't spend 20 minutes a day on her hair. It'll make me crazy.

I know I'm her mom, so I'm automatically biased, but she's such a beautiful girl (although I have stopped telling her that - I want her to know I value her other traits WAY more than I value her physical appearance - if you feel sad for her that her mom no longer tells her how pretty she is, don't be, there is no shortage of people who tell her regularly).

 This is what we get lately when we tell her to smile big. Classic.

Orientation was great. When we pulled up to the school she kept insisting that I just drop her off and leave. I told her that maybe in a few weeks I could start doing that (they have a teacher that stands by the door at drop off), but for now, we were going in together. She walked right in like she owned the place. She already knew all the teachers from when Noah went there and wasn't timid in the least. After orientation was over she was upset that it was time to go home. Having Mrs. Halliday promise that she could come back the next day (and have a snack this time) was what finally convinced her it was okay to go home.

Today she was just as excited. She knew it was her first "real" day and that I wouldn't be staying there with her. After the boys got on the bus she went into a frenzy about what she should wear. I directed her away from the frilly dresses and (somehow) convinced her that jeans would be the best idea for school.

Here she is on her first day as an official preschooler!

I'm including (almost) all the outtakes because they are so indicative of who she is. Such personality in this little lady!

 I had such a hard time getting her to give me a "nice" smile. She was so excited and wound up and silly that it took us a while (and even then, I'm pretty sure the normal ones happened by accident).

 My fav:

 She looks like she's missing her hands, but I like this one:

With Mrs. Halliday. As is typical with my kids, she didn't want to pause long enough for a picture with the teacher. She wanted to get in there and play and was trying to force me out the door. Fortunately, we did get this one:

The three year old class has a half day on their first day of school (an hour and a half) which gave me just enough time to run a few errands with only this little girlie for company (Heaven):

When we picked Josie up she insisted (at the top of her lungs) that it was, "THE BEST DAY EVER!" She can't wait to go back tomorrow for a full day. I'm glad she's so enthusiastic about school. She's been watching the example of her brothers for years now and they've set a really good example for her as far as really enjoying school. They were just as excited to hear about her day as she was to tell it. Hopefully this year continues to be fun, enjoyable, and successful!