Things that just happen Out of the Blue!

We walked over to my friend Kara's on Sunday and while we were chatting something seemed odd as I noticed Nolan zipping by us, back and forth on a 2 wheel bike without training wheels!  It took me by surprise, couldn't believe he just hopped on his buddy's bike and took off!  I am so proud of him, he literally learned this by himself, we haven't even practiced.  I guess the moment he sat on that bike on Sunday things just clicked!  He's over the moon and so proud of himself :")  Of course I didn't have a camera with me, it was an out of the blue thing.  So yesterday we took a little video of him cruising around the cul de sac happy as can be!

1st day of school 2012!

Thought I'd take a break from scrubbing toilets, and dusting( of my least favorite household duties!)  AND do something that makes me happy, like looking at pictures of my sweet faces and writing about what they are up do. 
Liv & Nolan are both in school 5 days a week now, so weird!  Olivia is in the 3rd grade, loving it, enjoying her friends, and getting to know her teacher, whom she seems to really like.  My little Nolan started 1/2 day Kindergarten.  He has an early September birthday so misses the cutoff by just a couple of days.  God orchestrated something really cool for him.  Olivia's Kindergarten teacher had a large group of young 5 year old kiddos that signed up for Kindergarten this year.  So this year he is so fortunate to have one of my favorite women on the planet, Mrs.Tammy, and he will be in full day Kindergarten next year(which will make more sense for him as a 6 yr old.)  Nolan is also enjoying Kindergarten, making new friends, learning , & loving this new adventure he is on. 

1st day of school 2012!!!

Can you say excited?  and HAPPY!

Nolan with his buddy Landon

The K class, 12 boys...only 2 girls!

They love the playground, which is the woods, very cool for little boys!

I snuck in to see where Nolan was sitting before class started.

My little Dolly the morning of her 1st day of 3rd grade!

A friend that I used to teach with at Mt. Spokane said the funniest thing the other day so I have to share. "I got every single thing done I hoped to while the kids were in school," said no one ever."  This is so hilarious and is so true in my life right now!  Cleaning, cooking, laundry, running errands, and more dumb errands, managing a house with kids, and a husband~whew, it takes everything I have!  When I do get a 1/2 second to do something, it's usually to read a page or 2 of a book that will take me forever to finish, write on here, or quickly check the Internet.  My day will come when life isn't always moving full speed ahead in the F-A-S-T lane =)

8 is GREAT!! Olivia has had a BiG last month!

Birthday Morning Pictures!

I have been taking her birthday pictures in this same spot for years & years! Would be fun to look at them all side by side to see how much my Noodle has changed!

~I am a month behind, but I have very good reasons ;)  Life has been so crazy for us this summer!  I will share more on that another time.
~Back to this post, Olivia turned 8 on August 4th~yes 8!  Hard to believe!  She wanted her party at an aquatics center, and lucky for us, we have a great one just a few miles away, it's one of the nicest facilities I've been to.  We spent many summer days there actually.  Summer biRThdays really are so much fun, especially with the nice, HOT weather.  We had our good friends the Wiley's in town over Liv's birthday weekend as well.  Oh how she LOVES little Lilah & Eden.  It's crazy to think that the Wiley's were here celebrating Olivia's 3rd Birthday with us, and now Lilah is 3!  How time flies.
~Liv wanted an Olivia the Pig cake this year.  I knew I wouldn't be able to make something like that for her, so I hired a baker =)  The cake turned was super cute, and so delicious!  Needless to say she had a blast on her birthday, and was delighted to see all her family and friends.  In return, we were delighted to celebrated her!
~ Olivia is a little doll, she hasn't changed a whole lot~still has a tiny little frame, long legs(partly why her daddy has always called her Noodle,)  has a sweet & spicy personality, is sensitive, passionate, observant, creative, compassionate, animated, loves to dance, cheer, sing, do her own hair, pick out her own outfits, writes letters to her friends & family(and my favorite, little notes to Shane & I,) journals daily, loves pretending she is a mama/teacher to her little brothers, she is very active and enjoys riding her bike, and scooter. 
~Most importantly, I pray she continues to have a pure heart, a good GOOD heart and desires to do the right thing in life, to LOVE God/and to follow Him, to love her friends and family, to be truthful & quick to forgive, and treat everyone with kindness! I love her dearly and am so happy she's mine!
~She started one of her favorite activities, Cheerleading, about a month ago, and started dance with her BFFFF ;) last week. She also started the 3rd grade last Tuesday, which is also hard for me to believe! Lots of things going on for us right now, so I am ready to plug into our new routine of busy, busy, busy! I don't think I have ever seen as much written on our calendar as we do right now, life with kids=always busy & NEVER a dull moment right?!

 

 

BiG sister to liTTle brothers~

This title has nothing to do with the post. Since we have celebrated all 3 of the kids' birthdays(*actually Nolan's 5th is today) I have been going through 1st birthday pictures. Wanted to share Olivia, Nolan, & Leo's 1st birthday pictures. These three look alike, but Olivia & Leo resemble each other the most~especially with the blue eyes and curls! They all 3 have similar mannerisms/expressions AND all have their Daddy's nose :)

Noodle on her 1st Birthday!

NJP on his first Birthday!

Leo my squishy little marshmallow on his 1st Birthday!

Look whoo's 1! Yikes, can't believe it's already been a year!

No one will ever know the strength of my LOVE for you. After all, you are the only one that knows what my HEART sounds like from the inside." 

This quote was given to me from my friend D, she said it reminded her of the way I talk about my pregnancies, and my babies! This quote is such a perfect way to describe the love I have for my children~especially during that first chapter when I discovered they were there~the moment I knew they existed. I loved it so much that I placed it on Leo's first pottery hand/footprints.
There is so much I want to say about this sweet little boy, I don't think I could possibly list it all, and if I tried, it would literally take me days D-A-Y-S!  So how do I condense everything I want to say? Leo has made my life, this family's life so very happy, full of joy, and a given us a sense of completion, we're a party of 5 now :) He is one of the sweetest things I have ever known, my little blessing. I am in awe of him on a daily basis. I will never forget the moment that I just knew he was there, inside my body, when everything within me was telling me I was pregnant with him before it was confirmed. I also remember how terrified I was, not because I was pregnant, but because I didn't want to lose another baby. Leo had so many people praying for him, praying for a healthy baby, and a healthy mama. As much as I wanted to cherish and embrace my pregnancy with him, I really wanted to get to the finish line more, just so I could get him out, to hold him, to kiss & nibble on his tiny body, to know he was here with me and healthy! Leo came out and was a mama's boy from the beginning. He nursed like a champ right from the start, drawing my milk in almost 24 hrs after he was born. He gained a pound within his first week little chunker. I love that he still wants to both be with me 24/7 and nurse 24/7. A friend of mine keeps reminding me that I am so lucky to still be nursing him, and that the time I get just laying with him, nursing, relaxing, letting him play with my hair, touch my face, or just to fall asleep, is so precious...and will be over in a blink! She's right, I am so lucky, and as much as the long nights, sleep deprivation, and night feedings can get to me, it is all worth it, Leo's worth it! He would seriously be the perfect baby if he was a good sleeper...but he's not(a good sleeper.) We have co~slept with him up until 3 weeks ago :( Don't get me wrong, he is still in bed with us each night, but he now shares a room with his big brother!
Leo has also done everything the fastest. Especially the physical things. He took his first steps at the end of June, and was walking like a little champ by his first year. He is a great little eater. His favorites right now are cheese, crackers, oatmeal, yo baby yogurt, squash, peas, cheerios, tortillas(of course right, he's gotta make his great grandpa Leo proud!) strawberries, applesauce, pears...he's pretty much trying everything aside from peanuts, and meat(grosses me out when they are little, I prefer my kiddos to be vegetarians until they are 2 or 3, no joke!) He LOVES airplanes, helicopters, loud cars, motorcycles and stops if he sees or hears one and makes sure I am aware too. No surprise that he loves music~he gets goofy when it's on~always dancing, bobbing his little head & moving his body whenever he hears a good beat~I love that he loves it :) He likes to throw balls, hit balls with a little golf club, swing, play in water, be outside, run outside, watch the wind blow the trees. Tonight he reminded me so much of Nolan when Nolan would look out the window and point to the moon~he did that tonight, was very sweet. He likes to cuddle with stuffed animals, he loves his baths, to be naked, to play with the telephone, or remote controls, did I mention he loves to nurse ;) He has a cute little voice and is trying so hard to talk, can't wait to hear more of his sweet voice...it's coming, if he's anything like Liv or Nolan he will be talking our ears off in no time at all. They were early talkers. He was born with dark hair, and now has the curliest honey blond hair. He has a sweet little smile, bright blue eyes, a perfectly chubby little body, and tiny little teeth poking through his gums~he's dreamy, my little hunk! I have to say he favors Olivia's look as a baby, although I see Nolan every once in awhile too.  I think he looks so much like Shane's Dad(Papa Jerry,) when he was a baby.
One of my favorite things about him right now, he will come over to Shane, Liv, Nolan, or I and wrap his little arms around our necks to hug us, but it's not a quick hug, he will just sit there for a minute or so cuddling. He is a doll baby, always happy, & wants to show us love. I can only hope it comes from the love he knows and feels from his family. He grits his teeth already because he sees us all do it daily as we grab onto him, kiss him, hug him. I can't count how many times within a day that Shane or I say we want to eat him. He is delicious and seriously smells like a sugar cookie! There are so many more things I want to say, I want to write about him forever :) He is a fun baby boy, and such a character. I have a couple other posts I would like to share so I am sure I will say more.  Since he is now 13 months I thought I'd better get his 1st BiRtHdAy post uploaded(*might I add that it is midnight, I am so tired, and when I just went through these pictures, it uploaded them in super random order AND the margins are all wacked out~arg..., oh well, I am not changing it, not tonight anyways.)  Summer has been crazy, fun, with its ups & downs.  I am way behind on pictures, updating journals, baby books, but I have legitimate reasons :)  Our July, August, & September are super crazy~Leo's Birthday in July, Liv's one week later in August, and NJP kicks of September with his birthday!

It was only fitting that we had and Owl themed party for Leo...since he is a true night owl! So my friends D, and Laura helped me make Owl cupcakes. They turned out so cute! We made a little smash cake and stuck an owl cupcake on top of pretzels to make it look like the Owl was sitting on the nest, pretty cute right?! I should mention he wanted nothing to do with the cake, good boy stay away from that sugar(unlike your Mommy!) Liv and Tabitha cut out stars and moons, and Tabitha came over and hung them up. It was a pretty simple party, simple food, decorations ex.  One of my favorite things was displaying my favorite pictures of Leo throughout his first year. I printed out BiG pictures and used clothespins and clipped them onto twine. Leo was a trooper, there were loads of people/kids here, and he had just woken from a nap as the party began, but he hung in there, and if he could tell me, I think he'd say it was a great party :)
Lord I am grateful, forever grateful for so many things that you have blessed me with. One of the most amazing gifts you've given me is my Leo James the most sweet and perfect little boy(next to his big brother Nolan!) Leo is truly the 3rd best heavenly gift I have been given! Thank you for allowing me to be a Mama to my 3 babies, they are my life! 

Leo's cake, a little Owl from Uncle Noel to Olivia on her first birthday, and a tiny owl book given to Leo when he was first born.

        



Thank you for the cute leaf Tab!

This is that face I want to nibble on!

Looking  a bit confused, & still sleepy!

 

So funny, he didn't want to touch it, or anything to do with this cake!

He preferred to just hold onto his balloons.

Um...can someone please wipe this off my hands?

 

Clifford the big red dog=one of Leo's faves!

He likes to cuddle with him, and to lay on him :)

We Love you Leo!