Rugby {Noah}

Noah played rugby this summer, and it was SO fun!  He has been begging to play football, which I'm not really thrilled about, but I was willing to let him play rugby with all the boys in our neighborhood.  Their coaches were our two neighbors who used to play rugby, and they were so great with the boys.  They taught the boys so much about the game and they made sure the boys were really prepared for their games.  And it worked...they did so, so, well at their games.  By the last game of the season, it was evident that they were working well together as a team, as they won the best team in their age group.  It was pretty fun!

A week after the last game, we had a big pizza party with all of the families.  The coaches handed out trophies to each of the boys and we were able to get a group picture.  And then the fun really started when we had a boys vs. moms game!  Oh boy...it was SO fun!  The moms, of course, let the boys win ;).  Good times!  We look forward to playing again next summer!

Itty Bitty Soccer

I have been looking forward to signing Isaac up for Itty Bitty Soccer for a while now.  He had to be three years old to participate, so I was really happy when I saw that it was being offered after his birthday.  He has been looking forward to going all summer...  He was pretty thrilled when the day finally came!

I didn't know what to expect on the first day, but he did so great!  He was listening so well to his teacher...he really wanted to learn!  Isaac is a pretty obedient little boy, and it was so funny to watch him look at the other kids that were running around and not listening.  It confused him to why they weren't doing what they were supposed to do...made me smile.  He also would get a little irritated when the kids would pick up the soccer ball.  He knows that you are NOT supposed to touch the ball, so he would go up the kids and say, "put it down...we're suppose to kick it, NOT touch it"!  He really said that...over and over.  It was hilarious!  

On the second to last day, he was not having much fun.  I think that all of the kids there just overwhelmed him and he did not want to be a part of it.  He opted to sit on my lap most of the time, which was fine.  He didn't want to leave early because he wanted his sucker at the end!  

Due to his behavior on that day, I was a little nervous to how he would act on his last day.  He actually didn't want to go at all, but after talking to him, he told me that he'd go as long as he could wear his new shoes!  We were saving them for school, but I totally caved and let him wear them if it made him happy!  And it did the trick!  He was SO happy the entire time!  He had fun playing two soccer games, duck duck goose, and just playing hard!  

They even had Lenny the Lion come and see the kids, which was a huge hit!  I thought Isaac would be scared, but he totally wasn't...thank goodness ;).

And then he got his Itty Bitty Soccer Certificate.  He has it hanging in his room and talks about it often. I look forward to the many soccer related things that we will have in the future with this little guy.  Soccer runs in his blood...that's for sure!

Kate {at 15 months}

 

 Our sweet baby Kate is 15 months old!  The 3 months since she turned one flew by way too fast for me!  A 15 months, Kate...

...is finally walking!  It took awhile for our girl to get a hang of it, but, with due time, she figured it out all on her own.  It seems like she didn't want any coaxing and when she was ready, she took off.  Her right foot curves inward a bit, so we need to keep an eye on it, but our doc said that she should be just fine.  I'm sure she'll be running around in no time!

...can climb up and down stairs with no problem and no help.  She actually will push you away if you do try to help her.

...is very independent.  She does not like much help and prefers to do most things on her own.

...is a cuddler.  Whenever I am sitting on the floor while we are playing, she'll always climb over to me and cuddle up in my lap....every time.  And if the other kids come close when she's sitting there, she'll become very protective and push them away.  It's pretty funny to watch.  She also loves cuddling up when she's in our arms and puts her head down on our shoulder all of the time...especially with Doug.  So sweet.

...loves her blankets.  She's not attached to any specific blanket...she loves them all.  And she is known to grab a handful at a time and drag them around the house with her.  She loves curling up and snuggling on them.  Pretty cute.

...is, by far, our best eater.  She will eat anything!  And she *loves* to eat.  There are some times when I am feeding her and I will feel like she has eaten way too much, yet she's still hungry!  She's our little bottomless pit.  I guess the one thing that she doesn't really like is baby food.  She likes food with flavor, and there's not much of that in baby food that is watered down.  I'll usually make my own purees for her and she likes those just fine.

...is oh so silly.  She is quite hilarious and loves to make us laugh.  She will laugh at pretty much anything, and she loves to laugh as much as possible.  She's also very, VERY, ticklish and loves it when I tickle her chunky thighs or belly...her laugh is definitely contagious!

...loves to play with her toys.  She is known for sitting in her room, or going downstairs, all on her own to play with her toys.  She will pull everything out and just play, and play, and play.  I love sneaking in on her and watching her explore everything...and she'll usually babble all the while.  It's adorable!

...loves books, just like her siblings.  She loves to pick out certain books and will bring them to me to read.  Love that she loves to read!  Hopefully it sticks.

...is our little dancer and loves music.  Whenever music comes on, she'll stop what she's doing and come and dance for us.  Oh my...it's so precious to watch her wiggle her little body.  And watching her in the car is just flat out hilarious!  There's this One Direction song that she just loves, and whenever I play it she pretty much freaks out.  I need to get it on video...

...is so loud!  She babbles and talks all of the time, and she's not quiet about it at all.  If she wants me, she'll scream "MOM" at the top of her lungs over and over again until I come to her.  She takes after her sissy!

...can say mom, mommy, mama, dad, daddy, nanny {banana}, hi, that, boo, and....Isaac!  She won't say Noah and Leah {the easy names}...but she'll say Isaac!  It's so cute when she says it to cause you don't expect it from her.

...love to play peek-a-boo.  Will wave hi and bye to people.

...knows where her eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, and teeth are.

...is a great little sleeper.  She started to have a hard time with 2 naps about a month ago, so I took away her morning nap and now I just put her down at 12:30 and she sleeps for 3 hours.  Then she'll go to bed at 8:00 and sleep until about 7:00 the next morning.  Thank goodness she's on a sleep schedule...that's always a good thing for this mama.

We all love this girl SO much!  She has been the best little addition to our fam and we just can't get enough of her!  Love you to the moon and back, little one!

 

Sharing with Kate

We love snowies in our family...like a lot!  They are definitely one of our favorite summer treats.  We don't go and get them too often, but when we do, oh boy, we love every bite!  Noah was kind enough to share his yummy treat with Kate today, and she, too, loved every.single.bite.  We have yet to find anything that this girl won't eat.  She loves it all...especially a snowie!

Great Grandkids

I have 20 cousins on my dads side of the family, and most of them have kids of their own. As of now, there are 25 great grand kids...all 9 and under!  Makes for some fun get togetherness!  I have always been close with my cousins, and I just love when we all get together. I only have one cousin, Jessica, who lives out of state, so whenever she comes into town, we make an effort to all get together. It was so great to see her, as well as all my other cousins and their kids. I'm lucky to have them in my life.

Kate had fun running through the water :). She's my water baby!

Third child...

There's a little joke in Doug's family that the third child is the most accident prone.  Well, Isaac has proven this to be true in our family.  It totally sucks too because anything that involves broken skin and blood is something that I just can't handle.  Isaac fell and got stitches last year on his eyebrow, and that was enough for me to pass out!  I held it together, but I have to admit, it was pretty hard to.  

This summer has proven to be pretty bad for Isaac in the accident department.  I think he has some sort of quota to fulfill, because he keeps hurting himself.  And every accident is on his face!  Drives me nutty!  First he fell and hit his head on the TV stand...that resulted getting the gash glued shut.  Then he biffed it and crashed, head first, into the driveway...this resulted in him hitting his front tooth and getting scrapped up all over his hands and knees.  THANKFULLY, he just bruised his tooth and there was no sign of him breaking it.  Oh boy...that was close!  And THEN, he crashed, again, on his bike and hit his chin!  That resulted in a nice, OPEN, cut that had to be fixed with 7 stitches.  That experience was up there as one of the worst experiences of my life!  Do you know what they do when the give stitches to a 3 year old who won't sit still?  They strap him down!  And then they have a nurse hold his head still while the doc does the stitches!  It's horrible!  And all I can do is look at the floor and rub his legs and tell him that he's ok...when in reality he's totally not ok.  It's the worst feeling EVER to have your child in that position.  But, on the bright side, Isaac was as happy as can be as soon as they unwrapped him from the mummy hold...all he wanted was an ice cream cone!  And he totally got one too!  

He's a pretty brave kid.  I just wish he'd learn not to hurt himself so much...this momma can't handle another trip to the doc for stitches, or worse... 

Little things...

Sometimes the littlest things makes my kids so happy.  We were at Target one afternoon, and Leah and Isaac were begging for these sippy cups.  I caved and bought one for the 3 littles...this was back in June and they are still a favorite item among these three.  Go figure!

Heaven...

There was one day this summer...ONE DAY...when all of the kiddos slept.  It was a little piece of heaven, right in my house!  Noah had been sick that day, so he was up for a nap, and Leah was pretty much forced in to it, because, well, everyone else was going to sleep, so she was too!  And the little ones take naps anyways, so they were obviously easy to put down!  They all slept for 3 hours...THREE HOURS!  I actually laid down with them for a while, but then I woke up and just relaxed...it was totally dreamy!  Man, I love these littles to the moon and back, but sometimes some peace and quiet is what this mommy really needs...even if it was for only one afternoon ;).

Fun in the water!

I don't think that we will ever get sick of playing in the water!  It's one of my summer activities, as well as the kiddos :).  It has been especially hot this summer, so going to the splash pad, pool, and playing in the water in our yard has been a regular occurrence.  Love it so much!

Fun at the splash pad...

The pool is definitely our favorite place to go.  Isaac is not a fan of the lazy river, but he *loves* to play in the kiddie pool where he can touch the bottom.  And Kate...well, she just can't get enough of it!

Kate really is our water baby.  It's pretty normal in the evening to strip her down to her diaper and have her play with the hose...or just spray her with it.  She loves it either way ;).

Water balloons were a favorite among the kids this summer.  They would spend so long filling them all up, just to throw them all within minutes.  They sure loved playing with them...but I wasn't too eager to buy more once they were gone since they were all over my yard for weeks.  Tough love.

We have *loved* playing with our sweet neighbor friends this summer.  One day, they decided to have a huge water party, so we pulled out the water slide to play.  Good thing it was fun...it totally messed with my grass, which I got over fast.  Oh the things we do for the kiddos ;).

Kate loved screaming at the kids through her window...so silly, that girl!

And, of course, we LOVE running through the sprinklers in our clothes!  One night we were trying to fix some of the sprinklers, so, of course, Leah and Isaac had to jump at the chance to get wet.  So fun!

I seriously have always loved the atmosphere of being at the pool and relaxing.  Good thing my kids know when it's time to simmer down and just relax a bit at the pool.  

And here's one more of Kate playing in her little pool.  She makes me smile!

Face Paint

Our sweet neighbor girlies pulled out some face paint and went to town on all the little kids. It was fun to see their little creations. I ended up joining in on the fun and painted Isaac's face as Spiderman, and Jacob's with a fun eye mask ;). Noah had the girls do his and it turned out so cute. Good times!