FOUR and FROZEN

Kenley turned 4 last Monday, and the weekend before we had her Frozen birthday party.  It was so much fun, and we enjoyed celebrating with family and friends.  (Although, we really missed Go-go who was really sick that weekend.)  Queen Elsa made a special appearance, and it was definitely the highlight of the party for the kids and adults.  Of course, we had a sing along to, "Let it go," and it was priceless to see how happy Kenley was that the ice queen had showed up. She had no idea that we had planned this, and she was truly surprised when she opened the door. They had a special moment downstairs where they were just laughing and smiling at each other.  It was a really fun party, and a great way to celebrate!

On Monday, her actual birthday she had such a busy day!  She went to school to practice for their holiday musical which was that night.  Then, they had their parent viewing and last ballet class before the holiday. Kenley ended up with only 4 girls in her ballet class, so they really got a lot of personal attention.  She did an excellent job, and I can really tell she is learning a lot and improving from last year.  The best part was at the end of the class where they did a little dance to, "You are my sunshine."  Just precious.  I'm so glad Kenley has been enjoying learning to dance, and she is taking a combined ballet/tap class starting in January.

A few hours later, she performed with all of her pre-school friends in her first school musical.  All of the children looked so adorable dressed up in their holiday clothes. They all did really well, but of course my eyes were focused on Kenley singing her little heart out to "Frosty the snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." It was a very fun and busy day! 

Kenley had been talking about having a Frozen birthday since the summer, so we have had a lot of time to plan her party.  She also knew that I was "sad" she was turning 4, and would ask me every day leading up to her birthday if I was happy or sad she was turning for.  But, she reassured me that she would still love me even when she was four!  Ha, ha...Now, she keeps reminding me that she can do things on her own since she is four. This kid has always been so independent, social, chatty, outgoing, demanding, and funny, and it is just so amazing to see her personality developing more every year.  I love this girl to pieces, and I am so happy and proud that she is my daughter!

Autumn

My new niece, Autumn Elizabeth is here!  She was born on Nov. 6th, weighing in at 7lbs, 11oz and is 20.5 inches.  Everything went really well for my sister, and she is happy to be home and adjusting to life as a family of 4.  I rushed up to the hospital as soon as I finished working, and I couldn't get there fast enough.  I was giving a quiz in my classes that day, and I was checking my phone every 5 minutes just waiting for a picture.  I was so happy when I finally got there, and I was able to hold her.  She is precious.  I'm excited for our whole family to have another baby in the family, for Kayla to be a big sister, and for my kids to have another cousin!

We had a great weekend, and it was one of the first weekends in a long, long time that we had absolutely no plans.  All four of us were home together, and it was kind of nice to just do whatever we wanted.  Sunday, we spent a few hours at the mall.  Unexpectedly, we ran into Santa!  We didn't even know he was there this early, but as soon as Kenley saw him, we knew there was no turning back.  We were just going to wave to him because the kids definitely weren't "picture ready."  Charlie had smeared chocolate chip cookie everywhere, and Kenley insisted on dressing herself that day, and was wearing a shirt about 2 sizes too small, and she had what we call "crazy hair." But, as soon as Santa saw us, he walked right over!  He wasn't busy at all, so he talked to Kenley and she sat on his lap in with a shy sense of awe and talked to him for a good 5 minutes.  He suggested I put Charlie on his lap to warm him up a little for when we do come back for pictures, so I brushed off as many crumbs as I could and put Charlie in Santa's lap.  He loved Santa!  I was surprised he wasn't afraid, and he was snuggling into his lap with the biggest smile. We will see if they are both so happy when we go back for another visit and get a picture.


We've had a few really good weeks. Kenley and Charlie are starting to actually play together a little bit, and it so cool to watch them having fun together. Charlie just turned 15 months, and he is talking a lot, but not walking so much. He says so many words, he says, mama, mommy, dads, "ne-ne" for Kenley, all his grandparents names, "Go-go, Mimi, and Papa", bye-bye, funny, and repeats Lots of other words.  This week, as we were listening to, "Let it Go," in the car and Kenley and I were singing, he joined in singing, "go! Go!" It was so cute.  He's really getting into music and dancing. He is still working on walking, but he is making progress. He's a pro walking around and holding onto something, but he has only ventured out to about 3-4 steps on his own.  He finds a way to get into everything though, and he is quite he climber!  Kenley is doing great in school, and she has made some new friends this year.  She is also is having a great time in ballet class.  She has her first little Christmas musical coming up in early December, and I can't wait to see her perform.  She's also very excited about her birthday party, and has been talking about it for months already!  It's going to be a fun couple of weeks coming up!

Trick or Sleeting and Snowing

It was really snowing on Halloween here in Chicago!  Crazy!  We still took the kids out even though it really was snowing during the time we were out there.  I remember some chilly Halloween's, but never snow before. You can see the snow on Charlie's stroller! Kenley could have cared less what the weather was like, and there was nothing stopping her from trick-or-treating.  I'm pretty sure Charlie was happy with the amount of candy we got too, and he has definitely had his fair share of it!  It was pretty hard to see their costumes under winter coats and layers, so I'm glad that I had taken a bunch of pictures of them and my niece in their costumes a few weeks ago. We celebrated Halloween pretty much the whole week of Halloween.  Kenley had a party at school and at ballet, and I took the kids to a party at Ray's work. The morning of Halloween we went to the gym, and all the kids in the childcare center wore their costumes and trick-or-treated around the building.  Then, we spent the rest of the day staying warm at home until Ray got home and we went trick-or-treating.  Kenley was just as excited about passing out treats as she was to get them.  She was so disappointed that we didn't have any visitors during the first two hours that she kept going out our front door and yelling, "It's Halloween everybody!  Come to our house to get candy!" And, she was very happy when we finally did get several groups of trick-or-treaters throughout the day/evening including our friend Jackson, and our neighbor, Sophia. 

Now, that we are into November, in my eyes the holidays have begun!  I am already preparing for our soon-to-be 4 year olds birthday party, and I have been ordering invites and already going a little pintresty crazy with decoration ideas.  Unfortunately, I'm not that crafty, but I try. I really have fun doing these things, and Kenley is having a great time helping with a few little crafty things for her party.  Of course, I already have Christmas on the mind too.  Not to overshadow Thanksgiving, but since I don't have to do much to prepare for this holiday besides show up and bring a dish, I am already Christmas shopping.  When you are busy and have little kids, it takes a lot of time to prepare for the big holiday. I have taken down my Halloween decorations, only left up "fall" and "Thanksgiving" decorations, and I am already thinking about when I can start putting up Christmas decorations. I usually put them up the week of Thanksgiving so that we can enjoy them as long as possible, and so we can have them up for Kenley's party. It might sound weird, but these things make me happy! From here on out, we will be very busy through the holidays.


2 more days till I get to meet my new niece!  Wishing my sister a healthy delivery and recovery!  We can't wait to meet our newest family member. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our family photo session a few weeks ago!

5 kids on a plane!

Last week we travelled to Naples, Florida with our friends and their 3 children. As Melissa put it, we had a newborn, a 1 yr old, 2 yr old, 3yr old, and a 4 year old. We flew down together, and believe me, we were quite the site to see at the airport. I was a nervous wreck the days leading up to the flight because Charlie is just at that age where he does not want to be still for any amount of time, and he will let you know when he is not happy. Luckily, it went pretty good, and we were able to keep him (fairly) happy for most of the time with lots of suckers, twizzlers, and other various snacks.  Believe me, I would have given him anything he wanted during those 2.5 hours. Kenley loved the plane, and was great. It was so fun experiencing such an exciting "first" with both of them.

We had a great time, and all of the kids were really good on the trip.  Yes, it took us about 2 hours to get out the door each morning, but we did it! The kids had a blast swimming and playing. They loved the beach, and I had so much fun watching them play in the sand and look for shells. The guys went golfing, and Melissa and I got massages at the spa. We actually managed 3 dinners out with all of the kids with no major meltdowns! I think it helped that we got to eat outside since the weather was perfect. We had a really nice time, and we are very greatful our friends invited us on this trip. The plane ride home went pretty well, and Charlie even slept for the last half hour.  Ray and I have been talking about planning a Disney trip in our future now that we conquered our first plane ride!

This week we are preparing for Halloween with all things pumpkins, dressing up, candy, and lots of parties!  Kenley has a party for ballet, pre-school, Ray's work has a party, and the gym is having a party.  So, we hope we can make it to all of those.  The kids will be getting a lot of use out of their costumes.  I'm also super excited because my sister is having my new niece the week after! 

6 week catch up

I was going to title this blog end of September, but then I realized it's already halfway into October! Halloween will be here before we know it, and then full on into the holiday season!

So, in the 5 weeks I celebrated my 32nd birthday with a weekend getaway with my husband. So fun, So relaxing, and much needed! Ray planned an amazing weekend in Geneva. We shopped around, had some drinks/lunch outside, and had a romantic dinner. I was really able to relax and took full advantage of the awesome whirlpool tub in our room, and I even got to read out on our balcony. Call me boring, but it enjoyed every second of it!  Of course, we also celebrated with the kids earlier in the week too.

It's been a challenging few weeks with Charlie, and he been throwing some really bad tantrums, and when he is mad, he bangs his head on the floor. he's had black and blue marks on his forehead for weeks. I've been told that it's normal for a 1 year old, but I hope he grows out of it soon.  We were kicked out of the gym 2'days early last week because he was throwing bad tantrums in the childcare room. I even tried taking him to the doctor to check if maybe he had an ear infection or something.  Nope, just a case of the fussies. I wish there was a medicine for that. I was afraid to go back to the gym, so I stayed away the rest of the week, which was NOT good for my mind or body. I guess it's a good thing that I actually feel a need to workout, and I know that when I miss a few days I start getting cranky. A cranky baby and a cranky mama is no good.

Then, once I decided I was going to suck it up and try to go back, I got the flu. So, the past 2days I've been mostly sleeping/laying around in pjs. I had to force myself to go to work yesterday even though I was so sick. I really don't know how I made it, but I knew I had to go because I will be missing class next week for a much better reason than being sick. I've always been a strong believer in going to work sick and using sick days to do something fun:). I'm feeling better today, and I am hoping to get out and about tomorrow because 2 days of being cooped up in the house is more than enough for me.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch last week, and we have an exciting week ahead, which I am looking forward to.  We also had a family photo session, which turned out amazing.  It was our first time getting professional pictures since Kenley was one.  I am so happy that we got a lot of great pictures of all four of us.  I'll be posting pictures soon!

This guy

I wanted to do a little post all about Charlie! I still like looking back at my post from when Kenley turned 1, and I want to do whatever I can to soak up these baby memories! It's no secret that I always dreamed when I was younger at I would have (at least one) daughter. But, I was not surprised at all when Ray and I found out that we were having a boy. I just "had a feeling" early on, and I was excited at the idea of that being "new," but I really didn't know how it would be having a son. I also felt so blessed to have one of each, even though I would have been happy with 2 girls too. From the minute he was born and I saw his beautiful face and that blonde hair, I knew I was meant to be a "boy" mom too.

Charlie definitely put me through a lot this first year, especially those first 7-8 months. There were many days it was not easy having a (very) fussy baby and a toddler. But, I tried very hard to soak up and enjoy those infant stages. I love the bond that we have formed, and I am so lucky that I've been home with him for his first year of life. Even on days when I thought I would lose my mind, I was always greatful to not be working. (Otherwise, I probably REALLY would have lost my mind!) Charlie finally got used to constantly being in and out of the car, and going out just about every day. he has done a lot in his first year! He's been exposed to a lot of "kid" activities, and it is getting more fun now that he is able to join in a bit.

As the months went on, his hair grew blonder and his eyes bluer, and I really don't think he could get any cuter. We constantly have strangers stopping us to comment about his gorgeous eyes.  He's like a little, tan, surfer boy. I also love the bond him and Kenley have. She definitely looks over him and takes on the "big Sister" roll well. She has been his biggest cheerleader in all of his milestones, whenever he learned something new she would say, "great job, Charlie! Mommy, can you believe he knows how to roll, crawl, stand, etc.?" She gets so excited when he learns something new, and she can't wait until he is walking, I know soon he will be chasing after her!  He thinks Kenley is hilarious, and he is always entertained by her. Every morning, she climbs into his crib with him and they play until I come in to get him ready. Sometimes, I just like to listen to them playing, and Kenley talks to him, and they laugh together. It's really sweet.

I wouldn't describe either one of my kids as snugly, but Charlie is a little bit more snugly with me recently. He is pretty attached to me, and likes me to be within eye site ;) He likes to be carried around and rocked, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, he will snuggle his head on my shoulder. He recently learned to give kisses, and he will spontaneously give me a nice slobbery kiss. I hope he doesn't outgrow this stage too quickly!  He also has the funniest little laugh, and he sounds very devious sometimes. He can say mama, dada, baba, up, bye-bye, and he has repeated a few other words back to us. I can't wait to see what his other "first" words will be.

This year has gone by too fast, and I knew it would.  I love this little guy, and all he has brought to our family.  Although I am sad that a year has gone by, I know how much fun the future holds for us.  My biggest hope is that Charlie and Kenley are friends by choice throughout their lives, and that all 4 of us remain close.  I know I am SO lucky that I have parents and a sister who are my best friends, and that are always there for me.  I can only hope that they have as close of a relationship as they grow older.

Vacay, and end of summer

We went back to Wisconsin Dells again this year, but it was quite different with 2 kids. Last year, I was almost 8 months pregnant, and we talked about how the next time we came back we would have Charlie with us.  We stayed at the Chula Vista in a condo, and it was the perfect set-up since the kids had their own room, we had our own room, and we had a small kitchen area. We crammed in so much during the 5 days we were there. We did the water-park, deer park, zoo, circus world, shopping, rides, games, trampoline park, candy stores, restaurants, ice cream, and probably even more I don't remember. It was pretty much Kenley's idea of utopia, and she kept saying that each thing we did was her favorite thing ever. She got picked out of the crowd to help during the circus show, which was one of the highlights of the trip. Charlie had a great time too, and he was such a trooper for not really getting naps. He seemed to really joy the circus show, petting animals, and splashing at the water park.

It was a great trip, and it was our first real family vacation with all 4 of us. Ray and I enjoyed having 5 days of family time, and we loved seeing the kids have fun, but we were exhausted by the end of the trip! We would take turns between going with Kenley down the water slides, or on rides, or whatever she was doing, and the other would keep Charlie happy and play with him, or push him in the stroller to try to get him to nap. It was also a little crazy eating out every meal now that Charlie is grabbing/throwing everything, and Kenley always seems to have to use he bathroom right when we get our food.  I know it will get easier traveling with them in a few years!  Ray and I need a vacation from our vacation!

Kenley started school last week, and she is in the 3year old class now. She walked right in like a pro, and she seems excited that she moved up to a new class. This week was also my first week starting my new job at the community college. It went well so far, and we're just adjusting to our new "routine."  It's been good so far because I planned for Kenley to go to preschool the same mornings that I work, so those are our busy days.  I'm sad that summer is basically over, and it really was not a hot summer. We really didn't have many days that we were able to go swimming or do water activities, but we still had a great summer. I'm also looking forward to going to the pumpkin festivals that are coming up soon! I've really learned to love the fall over the last few years.

I've also managed to add to my never-ending pile of fall decorations, and my sister and I have had several discussions around when it's appropriate to start putting them up.  I'm especially excited about a 3 foot light up pumpkin that I bought at one of the estate sales I worked at over the summer. I also have a few new fall outfits to wear, and many things that seem new since I wasn't able to fit into any of my fall clothes last year after having Charlie. So, I'm not quite ready to say bye to summer yet, but I'm preparing myself.  Also, not to end on a bad note, but did you see that they are predicting this winter may be even worse than last winter? NOOOOOOO!!!! But, then again, I never trust the weather "experts" anyway, since they often seem to be wrong, and I'm hoping this is one of those times!