may babies

May is a fun and busy month in our house!  Big E turned 8, Miss Em turned 3, Mom turns **cough** thirty-something **cough**, and then add on Mothers Day, teacher appreciation week/end of school stuff, and capping it all off with Memorial Day! Whew! 

Here are a few highlights from my growing babies...

BIG E:

• Loves to dress in black, neon, camo, and sometimes all three.
• Loves swords, nerf guns, and spy gear. Requested a double-edged sword for this birthday, but settled on a hatchet.
• Went turkey hunting for the first time (no one was hurt - not even a turkey)
• Best friend is Kale
• Aces most spelling tests
• Super responsible kid and an awesome big brother! He makes me proud every day!

MISS EM:

• Loves to wear her "cow boots"
• Rough & tough girl. Walked in one day to find her sparring with a boy from her class.
• Loves to sing, especially Happy Birthday, ABCs, Old McDonald, and Little Bunny Foo-Foo
• Wanted scissors and candy for her birthday 
• Best friend is Sutton aka "Sutt-Sutt". Other buddies include Sibley "Sibby-rose" and Kate.  
• "Yesterday" means anything from this morning to three years ago (example: "I was at that hospital yesterday when I was a baby."
• Total daddy's girl, but gives mama plenty of hugs and kisses too. Love our baby girl!

This year the kids had a horse party for their birthdays! If you ask Em which was her favorite: the slower smaller horse, or the bigger faster horse, the answer is of course the big fast one (not pictured)!

lady bug birthday party [Emma is ONE!]

Sweet baby girl is ONE! What a wonderful year is has been. I have tried my best to soak in every single moment with my sweet pea. I average about 300 photos and videos a month (triple backed up of course), so not too many moments went by without proper documentation. 

Her birthday party theme was lady bugs.  I didn't have too much other than her shirt, cake and balloon. Everything else was just red and black, but it all looked cute together.

I got my craft on and made these ladybug invites.  I think they turned out pretty cute. They were fairly simple to make, just required some new supplies since I'm not an everyday crafter.

Our Lady Bug is turning ONE!

          Her super-cute birthday shirt custom made by The Sassy Squirrel.

Her amazing lady bug cake created by Nellie's Custom Cakes.

Cute little daisy smash cake. All white, of course.

Her party was a lot of fun with family and friends.  She wasn't too sure about everyone singing to her and staring at her to eat her cake. Once everyone started eating their own cake, she got into it a little bit.

She received some beautiful handmade clothes and fun toys. She got a little kitchen that sings a lot of cute songs and the night of her party she started dancing and hasn't stopped since! She does a little side-to-side swing move and the classic bounce.  She just can't hold it in once she hears the music. 

The next day was Mother's Day. We went to Grammy's for a shrimp boil and then baby girl played and danced in the pasture while the boys fished in the pond.

In the last month, she has gotten her two top teeth, some blond curls, started pointing and making new sounds, and... drumroll... started walking!! She started out very hesitant, but now she jumps up and goes as fast as she can a few steps and then falls. She can go the length of the driveway if she's really focusing. She loves playing with balls and bubbles.  She makes the "buh" sound for both, as well as for her bottle.  She's kind of a tom boy too.  Loves to get dirty and play with (and eat) sticks and rocks. 

The photo below was taken in April. It's amazing how much she grew in a few weeks! The new little blond curls make a lot a difference. 

This blue dress was mine when I was her age.  Mom found it while cleaning out the barn - so glad she did!  It looks adorable on Miss Em! I call it the Shirley Temple dress.

And just one more because she's so cute.  Here she is lounging while mom drinks her coffee the Saturday morning of big brother's birthday party.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you SOOO much!!

#5

Birthday party #5 is complete!

Going to need a new game plan next year. Not only will we have two party weekends in a row, but these older (louder) boys are getting to be more than I can handle! Watching the video back, it wasn't as chaotic as it seemed in the moment, and I appear to be handling it better than I thought I was.

All that matters is my little pirate had SO much fun!

how can it be? ethan will be 3!

here's E's birthday invite! mom's cheap so she uses photoshop, but i think the end result is just as good as storebought invites, if not better...

From the Lost Files

I recovered this from the depths of my computer. I started typing this in a Word doc a couple years ago. It's the beginning of Ethan's Story...

May 5th, 2006

I went into the hospital at 7:30am to be induced. They hooked me right up to the pitocin and the contractions started within a couple of hours. I got an epidural a few hours later as the contractions started to get stronger. Once the epidural was in, it was all smiles and waiting.

After eleven hours in labor, the nurse told me it was time to push! Pushing went better than I expected – I was actually enjoying it! The doctor wasn’t there yet, but the nurse said I’d be pushing for a while anyway. Then she started to see your head – she said you were bald! I couldn’t believe that my baby would be bald. The nurse asked your daddy and grandma Connie if they wanted to see your head. Grandma jumped at the chance and the next push she got a weird look on her face. The nurse quickly told me to quit pushing. I wasn’t sure what was happening – I thought maybe you were coming out too soon and I had to quit and wait for the doctor. It turned out that you were breech!

Without much time to think, I was quickly whisked into the operating room where you were going to be delivered by C-Section. The stronger dose of epidural had made me start to shake and I couldn’t stop. I was also a little scared to be in the operating room. Daddy was there by my side holding my hand the whole time. The process took only minutes and out you came and I could hear your cry. That was the best sound in the whole world. I was frustrated that I couldn’t see you right away, but Dad was able to peak around the curtain and see you come out. After the nurses dried you off, Dad brought you around and I saw your perfect little face for the first time. You were nestled in your blanket like a little burrito and you were the most perfect thing I have ever seen.

You had to go get your first bath, weighed, and measured, and I had to recuperate from the epidural. I couldn’t stop shaking from the medicine and the adrenaline. Finally about 40 minutes later, the nurses brought you in to me and like magic I stopped trembling. Wow! I notice you have my eyes right away! Aren’t you just a miracle!

Among the many things I love about you: your cute little feet, your perfect little lips, your long dark hair, your big dark blue eyes. I think you have my eyes and your daddy’s mouth, chin, and cheeks. I think I have even spotted a dimple!

Week of June 5th

We’re starting to see smiles out of you! Could be because you are now sleeping 4-5 hours at a time. That makes mommy and daddy really happy!

July 5th

Two months old today! You weigh 12 lbs and are 24 inches long. You sleep 8-9 hours through the night. Aren’t we lucky?

August 5th

Three months old! Today was your first photo shoot. You hammed it up to the camera, smiling like you were a professional baby model. Your pictures are gorgeous. Everyone says you should be a model and I agree!

Week of August 7th

Your very first belly laugh! You like to be tickled on your tummy and laugh when your head pops out the top of your shirt as you’re getting your clothes changed.

August 19th

16 lbs. You rolled over from tummy to back for the first time! You get frustrated while laying on your tummy, but laughed once you figured out how to roll onto your back.