Happy 2nd Birthday Crosby James!

I can hardly believe my youngest son is turning 2 today!  Was I not just pregnant a few months ago? Did I not just give birth?  Am I not still nursing my littlest man?  Where did the time go?  

In the hospital, poor thing all bruised up!

 Just a few days old, sunbathing!

 almost one yr, July 2011, the ornery eyes already coming out!

Trying to get 2 yr pics :)

Many of you know I am not sentimental at all, so I'm not going to lie and say I am over here sobbing that my baby isn't a baby anymore.  But it has been harder this time around than with the others because there isn't another baby coming after Crosby!

Crosby is the best end to our family!  He is mostly go with the flow and tries super hard to keep up with the other bigs!  I can already see his little personality develop.  He has his ornery moments like Cole, but he is very imaginative and quiet at times like Carter, and he thinks Caden hung the moon!

I love you my littlest of littles...Happy 2nd Birthday Crosby James!

First Day of School - Big Boys

This is possibly one of the few house you can hear whopping and cheering on the first day of school!   I am definitely not one of those sad mommas!  I ready for them to move on and grow up!  I love the back to school time and I have been more productive this week than I have in a LONG time!  

They were all smiles on the first day!

Caden, 2nd grade

Carter, Kindergarden

Cole, Preschool

Ms. C, Head Start

Hope they have an AMAZING week!  I know I will!

Carter's Loose Tooth

Carter lost his first tooth just in time for school to start! It had been loose for a few days, but Caden elbowed him in the mouth while wrestling and it was ready to be pulled. I messed with it for a few minutes, but that wasn't cutting it and he was begging for Daddy.  Cory yanked on it once and the tears began to flow.  So we just left him alone.  The next day Carter would not leave that tooth alone, he was determined.  So of course at lunch in Mazzio's he pulled his own tooth.  We had to search the table and finally found it to take home.  Once we got home, he got it out to show his buddy Ben and dropped it in the driveway.  It was lost :( but we left the tooth fairy a note and she told us she found it!  Whew!  He was super excited and pretty proud of himself!

First Day of School - Cole

Free Spirit Preschool are you ready for this?!?!?!

Because he's ready for you! 

Cole's orientation was today, and once again, I got to tag along!  I loved this one on one time with him!  He really didn't need me there, he just ignored me most of the time!

He's super excited about his new backpack!

Here is one of his teachers (God bless her!)

His best friend Jarrett is there this year too.  They are in the same group and excited to be together more this year!

My favorite first day pose by the bear!  Remember Caden and Carter with the bear?

This was my highlight for the day!  Cole found some phones, told Jare to pick them up and then they had a conversation...too cute!

This is one of my favorites too...these boys are so precious!  Jarrett is more soft spoken, kind of like my Carter, and Cole is his fiercest defender!  One day at McDonald's playground some of our other friends were there and their kids were messing with Jare and Cole was having NONE of that, so he bit them.  When Jare's dad questioned him about it, Jare said "Cole's my best friend, he took care of me!"  Let's just hope Cole doesn't take care of anyone at school!

We also had our first homework paper!  I don't remember Carter doing this page, but Caden did.  It's so fun to look back and see that they are all doing similar things!  I love the that the older boys can share with the younger ones about their experiences! 

He's going to have a great year at Free Spirit! 

Pictures with Becca

Our Becca is soon leaving for college :(  Insert HUGE sad faces here!

I'm not going to bore you or sadden you with a huge long post about how much she means to us.  If you know us really well, you get it!  She knows and we know and more importantly God knows because He orchestrated it all! 

Becca wanted pics with the boys before she left for school and they turned out great!  These are just a few of our favs!

Where o where would we be without our Becca?!?!

Birthday Parties Galore - Part 2

Not to be too crazy, but we had Caden's birthday party Friday night and then Cole and Crosby's on Saturday night.  It was a little chaotic but I can't imagine spreading it all out over 3 weekends. 

 

 

Cole desperately wanted a Batman party, and of course Crosby just went along with it!  I thought it would be easy to just have a cookout, invite the families, and let the kids play in the water.  Our friends offered to let us borrow their inflatable water slide and it was the HIT of the party!

 Cole with his Batman cake.  Again, I looked for designs on a party website and this is what we came up with.  He LOVED it!

 Crosby apparently enjoyed the cupcakes too!

 We grilled out and had a great dinner for all the families that came.  Then came the cake and ice cream, then gifts.  Thsi was a little crazy!  Trying to get two kids to open presents, one of whom is two was challenging!  But fun!

 Cory got to help Cole, so I never really saw what he was doing, but I think he was loving all the gifts and attention!

 Crosby got some great things too!  He loved it all!  He got this from Grammie and Papa and is enjoying figuring it all out!

I know I threw these parties early, but it helped to get them otu of the way before school starts!  The boys had a blast and we so appreciate all the friends and family that came!  My boys are LOVED!



Birthday Parties Galore - Part 1

Each year this time of year I have to figure out multiple birthday parties.  Last year, I thought I would kill 3 birds with one stone and have a huge swim party.  We didn't really want to do that again, and Caden wanted his own party so we collaborated with ideas and this was all his idea!

 

A basketball party!

 

He came up with lots of the ideas and it was fun and easy to throw!  A win, win for EVERYONE!

 

He had lots of friends come, while they were arriving, they warmed up on the court.  Cory spent time drawing a court in chalk on the driveway.  Once they were all here, Cory had them shoot free throws for their food.  We ate pizza and had some gatorade. 

 Then the games began!  Cory split the boys up into two teams and we played 4 on 4.  After the first quarter, Cory had them sit out one on each team and played 3 on 3 with subs.  This helped them not get so tired.

 At half time we opened presents.  My parents got him the coveted Kevin Durant jersey.  We aren't sure if he will be a Lakers fan or a Thunder fan, but now he has a jersey for each team!

 To go with his jersey and basketball theme party, Daddy and I got him some new shoes to match!

 After the second half, we had cake and ice cream!  Caden and I went round and round about his cake.  I found several ideas on Pinterest but he wouldn't have any of it.  He wanted it to be an original design!  Arg!  While looking on party websites for other ideas, I found this edible cake decorating kit and he LOVED it!  Whew, that was easy! 

 After all the food, he wanted to shoot baskets again, so we lined up all the boys and played Knockout until the parents came. 

 Momma and Daddy with our 8 year old...WOW!

Thanks to all the friends and family that made the party!  It was a great party!

Last of the Summer Fun

These are just a few pics from my phone of our last weeks at home before school starts. 

I started keeping another little boy the second week of August.  He is Crosby's age and once all the older kids get in school, he will keep Crosby entertained for a while so he won't be so lonely!  Anyway, all the hub-bub of having another boy to play with all day is wearing Crosby out!  He naps hard and long each day!

Caden needed something to do this evening and he thought maybe he could cook dinner!  With just a little help from Mom, he cooked the entire meal!  It was great!

My two little imaginative boys playing Batman together one morning in Carter's room.  Melted my heart!

This picture of Crosby and his buddies is so cute!  Cason, Crosby, and Jones just chilling!

Cole is always doing something funny!  Today he put on Caden's glasses and was all giggles.  He thought he was so funny.

Trying to keep this one entertained proves interesting.  He likes to play games like the big boys, but he doesn't like to follow the rules, but make up his own.  This is always a challenge.

While we have had a fun summer, we are ready for our routine!  Can't wait until school starts!