Leah's Kindergarten Graduation

How absolutely darling is my Kindergarten Graduate?!?!  I can't believe that Leah is all done with kindergarten!  She has grown so much this past year and I am so proud of her and how dedicated she has been to learning and applying what she learns to her life.  She impresses me more and more every day...we sure do love this girlie!!

Leah was so excited to get all dressed up for her big program for school.  We went a little early so that we could get good seats to see the program...and were lucky enough to get spots in the second row!  This never happens to me!  Ever!  I always get stuck in the very back!  I was so excited...that's for sure.  

Leah was so obedient through the entire program...folding her arms and all.  She looked so grown up! 

They sang a handful of songs for us, and my favorite was when they sang their number song to the Macarena!  It was so cute!  

Here they are singing that they're excited to go to "First Grade...First Grade!".  All of the songs were just so great, and I even cried when they sang "I'm Proud to be an American"...Leah actually warned me that I'd cry.  How'd she know?!?!

After the program, we went to her classroom where her teacher had prepared a presentation and handed out diplomas to the kids.  It was fun that she recognized each one individually.  

And here she is with her amazing teacher!  We love her so much!  She's been such a great teacher to Leah this year!  We sure got lucky having her.

And here we are with our little Kindergarten graduate!  We are sure proud of this little gal!

We were lucky enough to have some family that came to the program too.  Doug's sister was there, since her little guy is in Kindergarten too :).  Doug's other sister, his mom, and my mom came as well.  It's always fun having family at events like this.  I wish that I had got a pic of Leah with Ryan...it was just so busy with all the kids running around. 

Afterwards, we went and got our first snowie of the season!  That's all Leah wanted...and we delivered!  It was the perfect end to a great afternoon :).  

A

Mother's Day ~ 2014

Word can't express how much I *love* being a mom to these precious babes. They are my world and my everything!

28 Weeks

This pregnancy will be one that I will always remember. It has definitely been a lot harder when compared to the other babies, but I'm pulling through. To know that I only have 2 months left is such a relief for me.

All of my normal symptoms have definitely been magnified this time around. It's been hard. The heartburn has really been bothersome, so maybe this baby boy will have lots of hair?  Also, my ribs burn so so badly. Sometimes it's hard to breath through the pain...this is something I've dealt with with every pregnancy, and it's gotten worse and worse with each one. Oh the joy. And the leg cramps...oh me oh my!  I have been eatting so many bananas to keep them away, but it doesn't work. My legs are pretty sore due to all the cramps at night...again...I'm pulling through. 

I do force myself to be active, which isn't too hard to do with 4 kids running around. I'm very thankful for the kids and the fact that they keep me going and keep my mind off of certain things.  I'm SO looking forward to school being over so that I can have the angels all to myself before the baby arrives. Hopefully we have a good month of summer fun before our lives get turned upside down with a newborn in our home. In my eyes, a newborn = home bound!  

The nesting instinct has kicked into full gear for me. I've been pretty into cleaning everything and getting everything ready for the new babe. Believe it or not, all of his clothes are clean and ready to go. We still need to move some furniture around to make room in our rooms, but that will happen soon enough. 

More than anything, I'm so excited to finally meet this little guy.  He moves so so much and let's me know that all is well. I'm dying to see his precious face and see who he resembles. I know that the next weeks will fly by...so exciting!

Soccer in the Rain

Noah has had a great soccer season. He is on sub a great team and they all work so well together. I'm so thankful for this experience!  Before their tournament started, they had one more game that was in the pouring rain. Thankfully, it wasn't freezing cold...just very wet. The boys didn't seem to mind, mostly because they won :). Kate *loves* the water, so she was loving every minute!  It was definitely a game to remember.

Ear Piercing Drama

Since last year...LAST YEAR...all Leah wanted for her 6th birthday was to get her ears pierced.  So, the day finally came and we all headed to the mall to, what we thought, would be a fun ear piercing experience.  It was NOT fun!  We got there, I filled out all the paperwork, we picked out her earrings, she jumped in the chair, the girls put the "gun" to her ears...and...she FREAKED!  And I don't mean she cried a little, she totally freaked out.  Like something took over my little gal and she became this person that we could NOT control.  We sat there for a good 20 minutes and we could not convince her to go through with doing what we came here to do.  It was horrible...for everyone.  So...we left...without her ears pierced.  Yet she cried the entire way home because she wanted them pierced?!?!?!  It was just horrible.  And I had NOT intentions of taking her back.  But she convinced us that she could do it, so we agreed to take her back again 4 days later.  

This time it was just me, Leah, and my mom.  I thought if we went on a weeknight and with fewer people, we would have a better experience.  I thought!  We got to the store and Leah was very confident that she was going to go through with it. Then she got in the chair...and the same thing happened. I could tell by her face that she was not going to do it. Oh no!!  Not again!!!  We tried and tried to convince her that it wouldn't hurt...and the gal that helped is was so great. Leah listened to her and let the girl *finally* just line up the gun...then...she pulled the trigger!!  Boom...one ear was done!  Hallelujah!!  And Leah even said it didn't hurt!  So you would think the next ear would be a piece of cake...guess again!!  She started to do the same thing and at this point it was ridiculous, mostly because she had one done and she knew it wasn't bad!  After 25 minutes of her refusing to let us do it, we were getting ready to leave. At this point I was pretty frustrated, and I think for good reason!  Then the gal came up to Leah with a blank piercing gun and asked her if she could just line it up to show it doesn't hurt. Leah agreed!! Then...that smart girl SWITCHED the guns, lined it up, and BOOM...pierced that other ear!!!  Leah didn't even flinch!  We were all "I told you so..."  I gave the girl a huge hug because it was a pretty traumatic experience for all!  Who knew that Leah would be so difficult...I didn't!  And I'm her mother!!  We hurried and payed and we were out of there. I was sad that this wasn't the best experience, but I was sure glad that it was over!!!  I was so hungry afterwards, so I took Leah to JCW's and we had dinner to cool down and to try and forget the drama of getting her ears pierced.

Of course, now she's as thrilled as can be that she went through with it. She's very diligent about cleaning them and looks forward to changing them out. Honestly, I can now see why people get their babies ears pierced...for real!!  I may be taking Kate sometime soon just to avoid this drama again!!!  

Cub Scouts

Now that Noah is baptized, he is now a Cub Scout!  I know nothing, and I mean NOTHING, about scouts!  This is going to be a whole to new world for me and Noah.  Thank goodness we have Doug to lead us along!  All I have to say is...how cute is he in is Cub Scout uniform!  So handsome!!