Alexia Turned Eight

Baby love is eight years old today. We had a few of her friends over for a fun party. The girls each decorated their own purses and with all of the ironing (of iron-on sparkles), hot gluing and fabric painting I was so glad my two sisters Melissa and Rebecca were there to help out. Here are a few pictures from her day.

This is why I had kids

Our lawnmower has been on the fritz until recently (thank you Jerry!) and so we borrowed a friend's self propelled mower a few weekends this past month. Darren took advantage of that situation to let Parker have a taste of what is to come...for forever.

Look at the concentration on that face.

And then I step inside and find this?

Yep, we're all about breaking child labor laws around here.

MISS-PRO-NUN-SEE-A-SHUN makes me giggle (on camera too).

How could I not include this video? If you know me at all you know I really had no choice. Seriously. :)

Birthday Follow Up

Elijah was so fun this year on his birthday. The first words out of his mouth when I got him out of bed were "Eat cake?" He was finally old enough to appreciate that this was a different day. We went Lightning McQueen themed this year mostly because I've had my fill of Thomas the Train and it was a huge hit.

Two weeks ago Parker asked if he could buy a toy truck with his own money. I do not buy toys...evva! But it was his money so if that is what he wanted to spend his money on, so be it. We went to Walmart and hit the toy aisles. Lije zeroed in on "Queem Mac" and held it for ten minutes. There was no way I was going to buy him that toy just two weeks before his birthday so while he slid down the slide on the off limits swing set in the middle of the store, I hid Queem Mac behind some other toys. He cried for 20 minutes and Daddy eventually had to remove him from the store while I checked out. Now a smart momma would have headed back and picked it up and hid it at home for the next two weeks. It took me a few stores and I finally found it the day of his birthday, took it home and wrapped it. He was so excited when he opened it. It totally made the hunt for the stupid thing worth it.

Happy Birthday Elijah!

Holy cow looking at these two pictures makes me baby hungry. Lijah you were such a pretty little thing. So little compared to the other two. You were 8lbs 5oz at birth and you came home at 7lbs 12oz. We almost didn't know what to do with you.

I can't believe it has been three years! You make momma smile. Everyday is an adventure with you. What are we going to do when it isn't just you and I anymore? Happy Birthday sweet baby boy!

I'll Be Back Around Again Soon

I haven't been on blogger for a very long time. It's amazing how a plus sign on a plastic stick changes things. I'll resurface in a few weeks I'm sure.

Special Christmas Gift for Kid # 2

These pictures were taken the afternoon of January 2nd. While Darren had Alexia and Elijah off somewhere (seriously can't remember where), Parker decided to interrupt my pieces of quiet by asking, "Mom, will you play with me?" Normally I would put him off because of something else that needed my attention, but this time I put what I was doing aside and asked him what he wanted to do. He received a science kit for Christmas this year and so we decided to be scientists together. He had the kit and I grabbed the camera in order to document his findings. Together we roamed our yard and then the neighborhood looking for cool things to take samples of, draw in his notebook, and take pictures of.

Scientist Parker off to explore the world around him. Mom, why do you have to take my picture so much?

Look at these cool things that are falling off of our trees in the front yard. I'm not sure what kind of seed these are but I sure have found a lot of them in my kids' pockets.

Why do angry ants advance across all Arizona? :) (just a little mom speak there)

It's very important to document everything properly.

Good thing for gloves in prickly situations.

We found this cool leaf that Parker thought looked like a dinosaur claw at the park.

Dinosaur claws/weird earrings ya know, whatever.

I know I shouldn't include this picture of our afternoon of fun but here is my boy after hearing that it's time to go home. He was a very sad little boy at that moment. Don't worry Parker, we'll play again soon.

Some favorite recent pictures of Elijah

This one was taken at Grandma Stewart's house on Christmas day.

I love how red his lips are...

...and his blue blue eyes. I call Elijah my pretty boy. I swear he could have passed for a girl as a baby. You don't know how many times I was tempted to put him in one of sister's dresses. I didn't okay? I just thought about it...many times.

He was running from Aunt Missy in this one. I hope I look that happy when I smile.

Elijah loves his Elly or Ellio. They are good buddies.

And this picture is for Aunt Alena. Couldn't you just squeeze this little Yay-who! He calls cowboys "yee haws." We passed two guys in the parking lot the other day who were wearing cowboy hats. Of course he had to point and say "Momma, Yee haws, yee haws."

Now this is fun!

Parker has been asking about playing baseball for forever. Seriously. I can't remember when he didn't want to play. It's his daddy's first love - no I mean it - and I think it has rubbed off on his boys. Even Elijah is always ready to go outside and play some "ballcatch" as he calls it. I've been promising Parker he could play coach pitch ball for a while now. He never batted off of a tee so starting them there seemed a waste. He is finally old enough and the weather is cool enough so we signed him up. It took me finally calling the league to find out what team we were on. It seems they had overlooked putting him on a team, so I actually got to choose and picked the one with practice right up the road and on Fridays, so no fight to get homework done first. The countdown to baseball practice was nerve racking. "Not today right mom?" But Friday finally came.

His first game was the next day - and his momma had a blast. I know he did too. Watching this little boy of mine be so excited about something is so much fun. All the fun being had out their on that field makes me giggle. Repeatedly. It makes his daddy grumble. Repeatedly. Baseball is serious stuff remember.

So forgive my lack of video camera skills - after all, I'm still a mom trying to watch the game too.

This first one is of Parker in the field.

The rest are of him batting and running the bases. The second in this group shows Parker's preoccupation with his uniform. Most of you know Parker takes his costumes and dressing the part very seriously. I couldn't help but giggle as I watched him at every base pull his pant legs up higher and higher. Darren couldn't stand it and I couldn't stand still for the giggles it was causing.

I asked Darren if maybe he had thought about coaching Parker. He told me maybe in a few years when the kids are a little more serious about the game. Not enough competition going on out there for my hubby.

As we left the park and walked back to our car Parker held my hand. "Momma, today my dreams came true." How's that Parker? "Now I'm a real baseball player."

Alexia loves...

...her Let's Play Music classes. My friend Renae teaches the music classes and she is so good at it. I can't believe how much Alexia has learned and improved since she started with Renae. This will be her last semester and she has started writing her own song. When she's finished I'll video her playing it. Here is a picture of her with Mrs. Renae at their recital last summer.

...clogging. This has been so much fun for Alexia. I think she may have stumbled upon a serious love here. It's so fun watching clog around the kitchen to the radio while emptying the dishwasher. Her recital was in December and we all went to watch the fun.

This is Alexia with her good friend Kalissa (Renae's daugher)- and yes, they are the same age. Now that I think about it if it were Renae and I in this picture the height difference would be pretty similar. ;)

Miss Maddie is Alexia's teacher. Alexia loves her to death.

They Change so Fast

I ran into these pictures the other day. The first one is of Alexia on the first day of Kindergarten. The second on is of her on her last day of Kindergarten.

She grew up so much that year. I put her in the same clothes on purpose so I could later compare. Now I am sure the clothes shrunk a bit in the wash but she also grew three inches that year. I'll be interested to see how much Parker changes this year.