Halloween 2012

 Ready to go Trick or Treating!

 Driving from house to house to trick or treat...there's no better way.

 Taylor and Isaac at gymnastics...best friends!

 Cubby and Jake ready for the school Halloween party.

 Pumpkin Patch!

Halloween 2012 was a fun time!  We had a few different celebrations leading up to the actual day, which was extra fun for the kids because it meant they got to dress up multiple times.  It all started with a party with Isaac's school friends, there was lunch, a bounce house, and pumpkin decorating...plus everyone in costume!  Oh speaking of costumes, this year we had Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), aka Isaac, and his buddy Cubby, aka Luke.  Hannah was none other than the sweet Minnie Mouse.  The next party was a birthday party for one of Isaac's best friends, and again they got to go in costume.  Isaac's Jake hair was a hit everywhere he went, and he loved wearing it!  The birthday party was fun, turns out Spiderman is a huge hit with Isaac's buddies at school, it was the theme of the party and 4 of the kids were dressed up as him!  The boys had a blast running, jumping in the bounce house, and just playing with all their friends.  The day before Halloween Isaac got to wear his costume again, to gymnastics this time.  It was a great Halloween themed day of fun.  Finally, it was Halloween!  I told Isaac the day before that it would be Halloween the next day and he couldn't believe it!  He was thrilled and so anxious for the day to come.  On Halloween day Isaac had a Pumpkin Patch day at school.  Thankfully, I was able to go volunteer and get in on some of the fun.  I love watching him with his friends and seeing him in that environment.  I started the morning helping the PE teacher with games, I got to help with the 3 and 4 year olds.  It was a blast!  Isaac was more outgoing than I expected, he really enjoys his school!  After that Isaac and his class was headed to chapel, so I snuck in there...they've always said parents are welcome to attend, but because of the little ones I have never been able to do that.  It was a special time, and I'm so grateful that I got to experience that with him.  That day they happened to be learning about Hannah and her prayer.  What a great day for me to be there!  Isaac was over the moon to see me there, I sat behind him, he could hardly focus he was so excited.  Later I helped out with crafts in a couple of classes, then headed out to the pumpkin patch to help Isaac decorate a pumpkin and watch him play with his friends on the playground.  He was really into the sandbox that day, so I helped him build a sandcastle.  I love seeing the kids play, there are so many different personalities!  After school we tried to take it easy and relax a little to get ready for the evening fun.  The Stocktons came over for a pizza dinner, which was a fun treat for all of us.  Then we all got ready to head out!  Isaac and Taylor were so excited!  Taylor was dressed as a Texans cheerleader, and I must say she was the cutest one I've ever seen!  Luke was ready to go, too, even though he didn't really understand what was ahead of him.  Our friends from the neighborhood, the Parkers, came over to trick or treat with us...and to our suprise Ella (Isaac's friend) was dressed up as Izzy (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates)!  We had the whole gang!  After a little photoshoot, the kids loaded up in Isaac's Jeep and Ella's Gator and we headed out for some fun!  Daddy put a light on the Jeep so Isaac could see, it was the coolest thing in Isaac's world!  The kids did great driving around, we stayed out for an hour and a half, stopping at every house that had their porchlight on!  Luke started saying, "Happy Halloween!" that night, and he told everyone!  Hearing him say that was my favorite part of the night...I still ask him daily to say it.

Growing and Changing

 Hannah was sitting here watching the boys bike, she was hollering at them, I think she wanted to join in the fun.

 I don't think I gave him permission to get this big...he's growing too fast!

This boy loves to be with the big kids, even if he's on the tiny bike, he's in his happy place when he's outside.

The kids are all growing and changing each in their own way.  Hannah is our social butterfly, she talks and smiles at everyone she sees.  She loves to grab things, especially hair and necklaces.  She hates to lay down, she wants to sit up and play.  If the boys get to close to her with their toys she reaches out and grabs for them...this doesn't always go over well.  Today I took Hannah to the doctor for an immunization, she was amazing!  She grabbed the nurses thermometer to help her take her temp, then she smiled and didn't even flinch with the shot, and after the shot she was Miss Happy as the nurses passed her around and loved on her.  Her joy is contagious!  Isaac wants to bike all day every day!  He loves to ride in the driveway, on the street in front of Oma and Opa's house, and even around  the block in the neighborhood (a whole mile!).  He has always been a talker, this has not slowed down, but lately he has really gained a big interest in learning Dutch and Spanish more thoroughly.  His memory amazes me!  His favorite word is "Boca de incendio" or fire hydrant in Spanish...he yells it out everytime he sees one.  Luke is Mr. Copycat...he copies everything that Isaac does, it's pretty funny.  He is becoming a real boy now, not a baby boy any more.  His newest joy is driving the PowerWheels vehicles, especially the jeep.  When the battery starts to get low and the jeep slows down he yells, "Go, go, go!!!"  He has a need for speed, just like his bro and his daddy.  He is talking more each day, I love to hear his little thoughts and to hear him try to form new words.  I am so proud of him for the leaps he is making in speech!  His newest phrase is "No way."  It's pretty funny, he says it all the time!  He has finally decided that he likes Sunday School, and now tells me when we drive by, "Mama, me go school."  This makes me so happy because he cried every Sunday for over year!  Whew, glad that's over! 

7 months cutie

Happy Hannah is now 7 months old!  This is not a 7 month picture, this is actually about a month old, but my most recent pictures have not been transferred to the computer yet, and I thought this was a fun picture to share.  This was taken on our trip to Disney World, the three little ones had a great time and were ready for another fun day when I took this picture. 
Hannah has earned the nickname Happy Hannah because she is overall a very happy baby!  She smiles so big when you give her your full attention and she just loves to watch her brothers play!  She is starting to get really curious and wants to get right in there with them.  She has started rolling around and has figured out that she can roll herself over to their cool trucks and cars...so far the boys think it's great, but I'm sure they will soon get annoyed by her trying to get their toys. 
Hannah has a tooth!  She has not been sleeping well the last few weeks and I was trying to figure out what I should do about it.  She typically doesn't cry when she wakes up, but will talk very loudly in her crib for up to an hour in the middle of the night!  Then a couple of days ago I realized that there may be a little tooth poking through, sure enough there is!  Only she had to be different, she got a top tooth first!  I think the other top one and the two bottom ones are very close as well, so I'm thinking that all of the teething is what's been messing up our nights.
She has started to eat solids, and she does better everyday!  At this point I think bananas are her favorite!  She is definitely not a big fan of the cereal.  She still will not take the bottle, actually she now refuses it and gets very upset when you try to give it to her.  Oh goodness, did I mention we have a bit of a diva on our hands?  :-)
Hannah loves to be outside!  The other day I had her outside in her jumper while the boys biked and drove vehicles on the driveway, she was on cloud 9!  She was laughing and hollering at them, it was precious!
She is sitting up really well, can basically sit unassisted.  She is not trying to crawl yet, but I think it will come soon. 
These months go by faster and faster, before I know it I will have to start planning her first birthday party!

6 month old Hannah

Hannah Grace is now 6 months old, half a year already...it's just not right!  She is growing, learning new things, and changing daily.  Some of her favorite things are sticking out her tongue, "talking," watching Isaac sing and play his guitar, jumping in her jumperoo, and being outside.  She has started sleeping on her stomach, still in her swaddle blanket (with her arms out).  She is very ticklish, she laughs so hard when you tickle her!  She is still a very mellow baby, which was such a blessing on our recent trip.  We went as a family to Disney World, and she was the best baby!  She slept most of the flight on the way out there, she was very chill in her stroller all day everyday, and she adapted very well to all of our crazy adventures.  Another thing she loves, is big Disney characters!  She gave them the biggest smiles and reached out to them everytime they came near her.  It was a precious sight!  On the flight home she talked a lot, a lot!  After landing, the man behind us said, "That was quite a dissertation you gave us."  I tried giving her baby cereal a few weeks ago, but it didn't go so well, so we gave up.  I started again yesterday, but she still needs practice, her silly tongue pushes all the food out.  This past Sunday she went to the church nursery for the first time, granted, Carl and I were in the same room the entire time, but she was by herself and did great!  Baby girl is growing too fast, so we are trying to savor every moment with her, and enjoy all the sweet baby things. 

1st day of Pre-K

The summer has come to an end, and school is officially back in session for Isaac.  I hadn't really dwelled on this day too much, we were having a good summer and were staying busy enough to keep us all entertained.  This summer was a big one for my big guy, he learned some new big skills!  The three main things he accomplished are:  1.  He learned to swim!  He is a fish!  2. He learned to write his name...it's not perfect, but it's legible and pretty cute.  3.  Just last week he learned to ride his bike without training wheels!  He calls it his motorcycle, even turns it on/off with his pretend key and makes engine noises as he drives.  It was a fun summer, we made many good memories with family and friends! 

Now it's back to school and a good routine.  Isaac was a bit hesitant at first, but then found out that he would have one of his teachers from last year as his main teacher this year and he was thrilled!  He was so excited this morning as we were getting ready and he walked right in to his class with little hesitation.  Today was only a gradual entry day, which means the kids were only there 1.5 hours and we stayed in a meeting the majority of that time.  Isaac had a lot of fun during that time, they painted and played.  I am excited about the year that lies ahead for him, I am confident that he will learn a lot of new academic information and will grow spiritually as well.  I am so thankful he is in a school where God's truth is taught in all they do.  I will admit though that it hit me hard today, this is his last year as a preschooler, his last year of "freedom."  My heart is a little sad, my baby is growing up so fast!  My prayer this year is that he has a wonderful year, full of growth and fun, and that the Lord prepares my heart for the next step (I think I'll need the entire year to prepare for sending him off to kindergarten).

Rockstar/Worship Leader

Isaac has always enjoyed music and singing.  He got a guitar for his 3rd birthday and has played with it a lot over the last year.  Lately though, it has gotten a lot of playing time.  He has discovered YouTube videos of his favorite songs, one in particular, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh."  He will only watch the videos that show someone playing a guitar.  He plays the video, stands in front of it, with his guitar in hand and often sunglasses on (every good rockstar needs glasses).  He will sing and play the guitar to his little heart's content.  He tells us he's on stage and he's the worship leader.  He gets very into this!  This past week he was able to be with us during worship at church, so he saw it all first hand.  This spurred him on even more, and he had all kinds of questions about why things are done certain ways.  Even though I get really tired of hearing the same song over and over again, I do love watching him enjoy music and worshipping so much.  Maybe he will be a worship leader  one day or do something else that involves music.

Little fears...

Okay I will have a confession...I HATE roaches!  Growing up we had roaches in the house at times, and I always hated them.  I think that as I've gotten older my fear of them has gotten worse.  Last week my parents came home after a 5 week vacation, so when returning to their house their were a few dead roaches.  Isaac saw them, and did not like them.  I can handle a dead roach, so I did not show fear, it was all on his own.  Well, since we've lived in our house we've had very few roaches, and the majority of them have been this summer.  Today we had some friends over, we were getting Hannah up after her nap and I saw a dead roach by her bed.  I was digusted, how could there be a roach in her room?  Did it get in her bed?  Is it the only one?  Yuck, I was not happy.  My friend picked it up (because I had my hands full holding Hannah), and we all headed to the gameroom.  Isaac was still by her room and he yelled, "Mama, a roach!"  I thought he was kidding, but I could tell by his behavior this was no joke.  I grabbed a shoe and started searching.  I saw it crawl behind the changing table...eeewww!  So I did what any good mom would, I called for daddy.  He came to our rescue, but we had to hunt that thing down.  We finally found it, after only a few screeches from me and the kids, Carl killed it and we all moved on.  WELL, apparently I've scarred Isaac.  Tonight after having been in his bed and quiet for about 30 minutes, he calls for us.  I went in and he hollered, "There's a roach on my blanket!"  I tried my best to stay calm, flipped on the light (Luke was already asleep, but I had to have full light to find this thing.), and looked at the blanket.  Then Isaac said, "Oh no, it was just this light on the firetruck picture (on the blanket)."  I told him I had killed all the roaches, he didn't need to worry about them...only a little white lie, then kissed him and came downstairs laughing.  Thankfully Luke slept through the entire situation.  I learned my lesson today, stay calm even when scared/disgusted by a bug.  I'll try my best to do that next time, but I can't promise that.