Let them be Little

It's Landon's second birthday this week. It's so hard to believe that it's already been two years. My pregnancy with him was both wonderful and difficult, and I wish I had stopped to savor the moments more.

It's been a while now, but sometime in this year we got his haircut for the first time. He has since had another cut, and boy does that boy have some locks!

The decision to finally get his haircut was made for us when in the same week two different people thought he was a girl. After that his daddy said it was absolutely time to get his haircut. So our sweet friend Deborah cut his hair for us. She also did Caroline's first haircut. We love how personal it is for a good friend to be such an important part of this milestone.

He is growing up too fast. I know how cliche that is to say, but it is so true! I was looking at him today before his nap and I just wanted him little again. Throw in that Caroline will be going off to preschool this fall and I'm a bit emotional about my kiddos right now. Every once in a while he'll still let me cuddle with him and rock him. Most of the time he is all boy and all about trucks, dirt, sports,questions, and rough housing, but sometimes I'm still able to catch him in a moment of weariness and he'll cuddle. I savor these moments because when I look into his eyes and answer his favorite question, "What's that sound?" I see the boy in him. The baby is almost gone. Only the slight chub in his cheeks and thighs still shows there was ever a baby there at all. He is a boy.

I like to tease Caroline and tell her I don't want her to grow up. I go on and on about her staying four forever and how she can live with me and be my little girl always. She loves this game. She'll laugh and then say, "Mommy! God made us so we'll grow up. I can't stay little forever." I am teasing her and I know she will grow up and I pray about that often. I love to hear her explanation about God's plan for human life.

This morning we were having this discussion and in addition to her reminder to me that God made us to grow up, she added, "Mommy what about Landon? When I'm off at school you'll still have him. You like him." Yes sweet Caroline, I do like Landon a lot. But that doesn't change the pang in my heart that you're growing up. The sweet moments of your childhood will grow fewer and farther between.

For now though, I will love my children deeply and fully. I will continue to pray for them and their future spouse. I will laugh with them and discipline them, and hopefully just let them be little. For a little while longer.

Catching up...

I took an unintentional hiatus for almost a year...but I'm going to try and make blogging a priority again. We'll see how that actually goes. :) There is way too much to catch up on from almost an entire year, but I'll try and hit some highlights.

We had a really fun fall...

Love these birthday buddy cousins! These two girls have two of the most precious, sweet and loving hearts of any kids I've ever known. I am so blessed and honored to be a mother and aunt to these adorable girls!

Landon is into everything. All. The. Time. He is "noise with dirt on it." (A quote I saw on Pinterest about boys. A definite fit for my boistrous son!)

Love my daughter!

Halloween was a lot of fun. We loaded up and drove to some friends houses and really enjoyed seeing everyone's costumes. Then it was back home to trick or treat in our neighborhood with some of our favorite friends!

Ava and Landon are squished into that stroller. Hahahaha...the big kids were sweet to not want to leave them behind. The daddies walked around with the kids and us Mamas had some soup, chatted and passed out candy every few minutes. It was a lovely evening.

We had a shared Princess birthday with cousin Annalise. It was a really fun day with our family. The girls had a blast and Aunt Stephanie made an AMAZING cake and all the decorations were so adorable.

I'm FOUR!

Our Christmas card photo. Pretty "classic" of our children.

We attended the annual ornament swap with other couples from our church family. This year the hostess decided to make it a costume/tacky Christmas sweater event. I was a dark chocolate Hershey's Kiss, Aaron taped some mistletoe to his head, our friend was Jack Frost (although Aaron coined him a Snow Fairy) and his lovely wife busted out a tacky outfit! It was a fun night.

Mamas of two or more kiddos family Christmas survival tip: drink coffee regardless of the hour.

Silly girls!

I think we're going to have to make matching pjs a must every year. We'll have to have a set for the boys and a set for the girls. I think I'll all it quits for now. Goodnight!

Landon's First Birthday Party

We had a Noah's Ark theme for Landon's first birthday. I made the cakes and cupcakes...it literally took me almost all day long the Friday before the party on Saturday. I love doing it, and I will continue to make their cakes as long as they want me to, but whew! It's definitely a labor of love.







He had a great time and actually really enjoyed his cake. His sister...well, on her first birthday she did not enjoy her cake, so we weren't sure what he was going to do. He was a little apprehensive at first, but once he discovered that it tasted good...well, he was sold!





On a hot Saturday, we had so many wonderful friends and family come out to spend the day celebrating our precious son. I love this picture of Aaron with his buddies and brother-in-law.



With Aunt KK and Uncle Judd



With Opa and Oma



And yes, for the record, I know the color of those pictures isn't the best...but I still like them! I never claimed to be a professional....

It was a fun day and I'm so glad Landon is in our life! He adds joy daily and is a wonderful addition to our family!

Playtime

I can't believe summer is almost over! Well, for the school aged kiddos anyhow. It's hard for me not to define summer based on the school system. I guess growing up that was life, then same thing in college, then I was a teacher...so in my mind, the year is still divided into "summer" "first semester" and "second semester"...I guess it's alright though...we will soon be in the school days with our own children. Which is a scary and humbling thought. How fast life does fly.



Oh how we've played this summer. When we weren't out of town or having house guests, we were trying to beat the heat by playing indoors more than I would like. It's just been so hot this summer...as all of you know. Our time outdoors has been somewhat limited, but the children have still had fun and loved playing.



Caroline has played school, library, sleepover, and grocery shopping with her dolls and animals. She has a vivid imagination...it's obvious by the stories she makes up. I don't know how she comes up with some of her stories.



Do you remember those old reams of printer paper with the holes on the side and then you could tear the holey part off and have a regular sized piece of paper? Well, Opa gave Caroline a whole ream of that paper and while some of it has been used for drawing (she's also becoming quite a little artist), the bulk of it was used to play with on the floor of our bedroom. They had a blast.



Why do kids like to play under covers and pillows? Or at least, my children? This is one of my least favorite games because it messes up the bed. We do play it sometimes though, their laughter making the mess easier to swallow. :)

Goodbye for now!

Happy First Birthday!

A very sweet little man is having his first birthday today!



Landon is a joy to have in our life and a priviledge to raise. He is a true gift from the Lord and it's very difficult to remember our life without him in it. Just like his big sister, he loves the water. He loves to splash and makes a big mess, but his squeels of delight are like payment for the time spent cleaning the bathroom floor.





Landon is into everything. He's crawling and pulling, and trying desperately to walk. He is drawn to all things electronic and would chew through a wire if given the chance.



Landon loves his big sister. He wants to eat what she's eating, play with her toys, follow her around, he's basically her little shadow!





I love you dearly, little boy! Happy Birthday!

Final Florida Post

Seriously, it's taken me forever to post about our trip! This will be the last one though, so then hopefully I'll be back to just what's going on in our life.

We spent 5 days at Disney World while we were in FL. It was a lot of fun. I've always been a Disney fan and I love visiting Disney World at least as much as Caroline does, if not more. Although, she loves it now and every so often will ask when we're going back. A girl after my own heart.



Notice she's wearing a jacket? It was super cold while we were there! We had to wear lots of layers to keep warm. I think that being cold at Disney World is better than being hot though. I think I've decided if possible we'll always go during cooler months. Anyway, she loved all the fun stuff to play with in the que for the Winne the Pooh ride. We loved that it kept her entertained!





As part of our vacation package we were able to take advantage of a free deal Disney was offering. We got all our meals for free by using their promotional free dining plan. It was amazing! We ate some really yummy foods at restaurant we never would have gone to if we had been paying out of pocket. Caroline and Landon got to enjoy meeting Characters at some of our meals, which was a special treat.



Aaron and I enjoyed riding rides with Caroline and Landon.









It was a really fun trip and we made some wonderful memories! One day we were able to meet up with our friends from Kentucky, the Bouldin's, which was wonderful! Unfortunatey, I got NO good pictueres from that meal! It was fun to be with them though, and exciting that we were all there at the same time.

It was a truly wonderful vacation!

Florida Part III

While we were in Florida we got to spend time with our good friends Matt and Candee. We had so much fun with their family! After looking at each other's Christmas cards for 2 months, Caroline and their little boy finally met and had a blast together!





One of the days we took lunch to a park and let the kids run and play. The "big" slide was a big hit! Caroline cried when it was time to leave. She had so much fun playing.





Landon sat in a swing for the first time and really loved it! We took turns pushing him for about a half hour. He was so happy and relaxed.





For the record, we did not pose him for this picture. He just kicked himself back and enjoyed the ride!



The tire swing was also a big hit. Precious children.

The last afternoon we were there we headed to campus to take some pics and look around. Several new buildings have been built and it was fun to see the school grow. We looked around the bookstore and ran into one of our favorite teachers. I didn't expect him to remember us, I mean seriously, how many students has he had over the years? But, he did. He even remembered where I sat in his class and who I was friends with! Aaron wasn't with me when I ran into him and he asked me about him. He hadn't heard we got married, but he remembered we were dating. I was wearing Landon in a sling, and I enjoyed telling him that he was Aaron's son. About that time Aaron walked up and it was a fun reunion. Although it's not impossible, it's unlikely that a teacher would remember you in that way from a large school. That is one thing I love about FC...the close, personal relationships that are developed. We all serve the same Master, which goes a long way to bond people together.



Don't the little ones look a little wary of this situation?! Don't worry, we were right there and no one could have fallen. My hands are just barely outside the perimeter of the picture.

I'll try to do better about updating...I know some family members who want updates more often! Love to all!

P.S. Matt and Candee are coming to visit at the end of July! We are already getting excited to see them!