Connor is 4

Connor,

I can't believe you are 4 years old!  You have grown so much in the past year and it's been so much fun to watch all the new things that you are doing!

You are the best big brother!  You love Emery and are always so great at letting her crawl all over you. You are always making her laugh and you guys both get so excited when you see each other!  She is going to have a rough time when you start preschool (and you are too…ha…you've already told me that you don't want to go to school)!  You also love playing with your big sis.  You guys love wrestling, playing bad guys, or doctor.  

You continue to follow my sleep cycle and enjoy sleeping in each morning.  We've recently stopped making you nap and you tend to pass out by 7:45 or 8 each night.  There are days when we have to wake you up at 8:45 or 9 and other days you are up by 7:30 (this is early for you though).  You still sleep with your nineys and typically rub them while you fall asleep each night.  If you nap, you stay awake until 10:30 or 11, which is why we've cut out your nap most days.

You are playing flag football this fall and you are so, so excited!  You love riding your bike and also love swimming!  I'm convinced that sometime in the next year you will be swimming without floaties and riding your bike without training wheels.

As long as you aren't extra tired, you are relatively easy.  You love playing with your toys.  You love your race cars, planes, ninja turtles and still will pull out your trains every once in awhile.  You are picky, but will typically eat what we put on your plate (and half the time its a struggle, but you eat…..). I feel like you could eat an endless amount of cake, ice cream or any sweet for that matter.

These days you are so, so silly!  And you are loud!!  We are definitely seeing the 'boy' in you.  You are so rough with Emery and we are constantly telling you 'be gentle.'  

Connor, you are the coolest little boy!  You make us laugh each and every day!  Happy 4th Birthday to you, Bubs!!

Emery- 12 months

I can't believe Emery is already 1 year old!  I cannot believe how fast this past year went!!  

Emery is now standing on her own and walking along furniture!  She prefers to crawl, but will walk while holding onto our hands.  Emery loves going up the stairs.  She will look at us when we tell her 'no' and then she starts racing up the stairs while giggling.  

Emery still goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 each night and will sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning.  She loves her pacifiers and still needs to sleep with at least two (one in her mouth and one in her hand). She also loves her blankets and always puts her head on one of them while she sleeps.  She rarely gives us difficulty going to sleep and many times, we can't tell when she's awake because she doesn't make a noise.

Emery is signing 'more' and her version of 'all done.'  She tries to bark like a dog and will say 'beh beh' (we think for bell-bell….which is what we call Bella) when she sees Bella or another dog.  She can identify her teeth, tongue and occasionally her belly.  Emery loves dancing, music and brushing her teeth.  She always giggles when we put the toothbrush in her mouth. 

Emery is officially done with bottles!  She loves drinking out of a straw cup.  We transitioned her from breastmilk to whole milk two days before her 1st birthday.  She did relatively ok with it, but had some constipation issues.  Emery is somewhat picky and definitely has her favorite foods.  Some of her favorites are: chicken nuggets, pasta, mac and cheese, bananas, veggie straws, and goldfish.  

Emery has a bad case of stranger and separation anxiety.  As soon as I walk into the room, she immediately wants to go to me.  She also loves being around her big brother.  Whenever she can get him within her reach, she instantly starts giving him hugs and kisses.  

Here are pictures of Em on her first birthday.  She was enjoying her cupcake and then she opened up a gift from us!

Happy 1st Birthday Emmy girl!!

Emery's Birthday Party

We celebrated Emery's birthday on August 2nd at my parent's house!  I didn't necessarily have a theme for this party….just basically shabby chic & roses.  

 Her monthly pictures lined up.

 Miss Emery in front of her gifts before the party started!

 Emery's cake

 Her smash cake

 We had a brunch for her and had her party starting mid-morning.

 Opening presents….she had a lot of help from her siblings & cousins….

 Riding on her new minnie toy….

 Singing to Emery

 I think her favorite part of her party was eating the cake.  She loved it!

The kids also played in the bounce house and we introduced Emery to a game of kickball.  She loved playing and even tried to kick the ball with her foot.  

We had a great time celebrating this girl's first birthday!!

Connor's birthday party

We celebrated Connor's birthday on August 1st at my parent's house.  Connor had been talking about his birthday and party for months prior to this!  He requested a race car themed birthday party this year.

 My dad rented a bounce house for the party and it was a huge success.

 All the cousins (minus Emery) lined up getting ready to jump!

 We played corn hole….

 We had relay races (and had candy for prizes)

 Connor's birthday cake...

 The spread….

 Unfortunately, the birthday boy got stung behind his ear….he recuperated relatively quickly!!

 Opening his gifts….

 He had been asking for a rescue bot….and he got it!!

 Singing 'Happy Birthday' to him….he always has this face when he gets embarrassed!

 Blowing out the candles….

 The kids even got to swim in a pool in the afternoon!

It was a fun day and Connor had quite the celebration for his 4th birthday!!