Reidees Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Reid a day before his birthday because Christian had to take off for yet *another* business trip and wouldn't be able to celebrate on the 25th.  Reid was not upset in the lease, and I think to him it's just multiple birthday celebrations and what could be bad about that?! haha

Birthdays are such a big deal to me and I had a blast putting together gifts and cake and cards and fun surprises for our crazy middle child. Thankfully it was a beautiful day and we were able to celebrate indoors and outdoors!  The boys are also having a combined birthday party mid-May, so the festivities will be carried out one more time. Reid's favorite gift (and really, Micah's too, lol) was the ATV.  Watch out drivers, we have a crazy 4 year old at the wheel!

Happy Birthday Reidees!  We love you "all over the world" and "to the moon and back."

And then he was 4!!!

Dear Reid,

Well here I am again, a whole year later, wishing you a happy birthday. How in the world you are already 4, I'll never understand! This year has flown by and you are blossoming in to such a handsome little guy. Your personality continues to thrive with your infections giggle and smile that could turn the saddest frown face in to a smile. You live life hard Reid. You're independent and stubborn and drive me crazy some days as you think that rules are meant to be broken, lol. But you're also so sweet Reid. The way you sweetly take your hands and rub my face and hands, baby boy you are going to make a girl melt some day a looonnngggg time from now. You have the sweetest little voice and are able to make the most of whatever situation you are in.

Year 4 has been BIG, as in you learned some big boy things! The most recent and probably the most memorable is you learning how to ride a two-wheeled bike a few weeks back. What an amazing accomplishment Reid, a big passage way in to childhood and I couldn't be more proud of you. You also started preschool this year, and what a joy to see you own this part of your life. You love preschool and thrive in the setting!  It has been so fun watching you get your own friends, and not just playdates with mommy's friends or micah's friends. You are a leader Reid, and I pray you are able to hone those skills in and use them for good. Other kids look up to you and you bring them chaos and laughter and fun. They want to be where you are (most of the time...) and I love watching you play with your friends.  You also started your first soccer class this past spring and I think you're going to enjoy it. You've had a little bit of time watching Micah so I'm sure that has helped with the game knowledge. I still look at you and think you are "all boy" as you are so clumsy, dirty, stinky and smelly.

You and Gemma have really formed a sweet bond this year and it melts my heart to watch it. Your only time together, consistently, is from 12:30-1 when Micah's gone for school an before your nap times. What a sweet pair you have been to watch interact. You love making her laugh and work hard to be successful at it. Micah...your big brother whom you look up to and love to fight with but also love to play with almost all.day.long. You miss him dearly when he's at school and run up to him when the bus drops him off every day yelling, "Micah!" As a mom, I always envisioned my kids being close and I think it's safe to say that is true. Now it's just a matter of time to see where that goes from here.

We love you Reid. Thank you for bringing such joy and feistiness and love and loudness to our family. I can't imagine a day without you being right next to me and I hope you've had an amazing birthday feeling loved and special. Four buddy, you are four!!!

Love,
Mommy

(dr stats: height - 3'6", 83%; weight - 37lb4oz, 60%; BMI - 14.84 kg/m2, 23%)

CUBBIES!!!

We had a great night with good friends. Maria and Jay kindly invited Christian and I to go to the Cubs game with them and after a bit of some crazy to figure out childcare, we were able to go and had such a great time! And big thanks to my friend Kim for taking on our 3 kids in addition to her 3 kids, too. Yay for date nights (in this case, double date nights!) out!

Blogging Revival

I'm getting back in to blogging...it's going to take some time, and I'll be back dating my posts to the correct month, but don't give up on me!  :)  So if you're reading this, and haven't read anything in January - March, go back to the beginning of January.  I'm starting with our Disney trip and there will be lots to catch up on!

Bike riding 3 year old!!

Today started out as a quite typical day - church, naps and birthday party...and then the most awesome thing for my 3 (almost 4) year old!  Reid learned how to ride his two wheel bike and I just can't believe it!  I felt the same excitement and overall pride for Reid just the same that I did with Micah last year at this time. Reid learned almost a full year ahead of Micah and I highly attribute it to his balance bike he's been on since he was 2. What a great day! Great, great day!!

 

 

Random March

A fun tower building, lego building, free ice cream and chick fil a kinda month (with a little Reid scrapes and bruises mixed in!) We also had some random dogs end up in our back yard one morning which had me quite freaked out, until I realized it was our neighbors dogs and they got in through our broken fence! Up next month, a new fence :)

St. Louis Trip

I don't have many pictures to document our spring break trip to St.Louis, but we traveling through some crazy storms on the ways down and more rain on the way back. It was great! The kids don't really sleep well in the car, but we are usually guaranteed 20-40 minutes at least, haha.

We left after our Easter lunch and arrived right around dinner time. There was some March madness on TV and my dad commented about how calm my boys seemed. While I should have taken note there, I didn't think much of it and put the boys to bed. Sure enough an hour later Micah comes downstairs and says his tummy hurts and then throws everything up! Reid had a low grade fever and I thought, man, sorry Mom and Dad!!  Thankfully it only lasted for about a half day and no one else got sick.

My mom was not on spring break herself and my dad and Christian were working too, so it was lots of time with me and the kids. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and parks and playing outside which was a wonderful thing! It's always nice to break up the routine every now and then. :)