Chase is Off to School!!

I woke up really early this morning... not sure if it was the excitement I was feeling for Chase on his first day of 4K or if it was the feeling of unbelief that this day was already here!  No more mornings of just hanging out, doing what we want, when we want.  Starting today that has all changed!

Chase had the biggest smile on his face this morning when I went into his room to get him up for breakfast!  He couldn't wait to finally go to school.  I made banana bread last night for his teachers and I made an extra loaf just for Chase so he could have something he loved on his first day of school!  After breakfast we brushed teeth, got dressed, combed hair and was ready for his first day of school picture! :)

Jacob was so excited for his brother but was a little unsure of what his mornings were going to look like without his big brother around to play with!  Jacob is excited that next year he'll be going to school too!

 Just arrived at Spring Valley Baptist Church Preschool and is so ready to go find his teachers and friends! 

 Chase walking down the long set of stairs by himself and is already so independent!  My little boy is growing up and I'm learning that he is very capable without me right beside him to help him out.  Thankful for that independence but it is definitely a little bit bitter sweet!!

Waiting until 8:50 for the doors to be unlocked.  Daddy was even able to come over to see his oldest go into class.  Thankful for late start on Wednesdays! :)

 Chase's good buddy, Mazzy, from baseball this summer is in his class!  Total God thing there... so happy that he has a good friend in his class with him.  She found him right away and they walked all the way to class together, talking about anything and everything and both very excited!

 Chase hung his backpack on a hook and went to do the very first thing of the day: the washing of hands!!  The Lord knew best when he put Chase in a class with a teacher who is as careful about germs as I am!! :)  Thank you, Mrs. Dani, for making sure all the kids knew how to correctly wash their hands!

 Chase & Mazzy were the first two in there so they found their seats together and sat down just like Mrs. Rhonda asked them to do.  They are so cute together!! :)

 Each year I am going to try to get a picture on the first day of school with their teachers and the same kind of picture on the last day of school so we can see just how much they have changed.  Here is Chase with his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Rhonda!

We both gave Chase hugs and kisses in the hall before he went into his room.  He didn't look back once or hesitate at all!  He just waved goodbye and waited patiently for his day to start!  He is such a big boy and we are so proud of him!!

I called Charles' Mom to see if she wanted to go with me to pick him up from his first day of school.  Aunt Anna had also made a trip down to Columbia today so she and Mom were able to go with me.  We got there towards the end of their recess time and it was fun spying on him and watching him play with all his new friends.  We walked to his classroom where his teacher was waiting on each parent to pick up their child and he came out with the biggest grin on his face!  He had an amazing first day of school and can't wait for many more mornings like today!  He gave school two thumbs up in the car on the way to lunch with Ginga & Aunt Anna!! :)

Chase is now in school, thankfully only half days for this year but I can't help but think about how different next year is going to be when he is in real school, in kindergarten!  Then our time really won't be ours anymore.  A few friends have asked me why I have kept Chase home until this year and then why I chose to put him in 4K this year... as a former teacher I know that once the kids hit kindergarten the time that we have with them home is gone.  The majority of their time is spent at school, under the care of another adult and with many other influences.  I have said from the beginning that I want as much time with my kids as possible.  With that said, my kids have been with me practically all the time with the exception of church on Sundays and Wednesday nights.  I felt very strongly going into this year that this was what Chase needed to be prepared for next year.  He needs to time to adjust to the routine, to being in a classroom where there are certain expectations and I felt that he needed the time away from me to learn how to make the decisions on his own that I would be reminding him to make if I was right there! :)  I also felt very strongly that Jacob needed a year to be himself, to make an identity of his own apart from his big brother.  I know it is going to be a great year... it is just going to take a little bit of time for us all to adjust and get used to it!

Luke's First Birthday Party

We had a great time celebrating our youngest son's first birthday a few weekends ago.  We had a lot of family in town so we only invited a very small group friends... hard to do that when you have so many great friends!!  I had so much fun preparing for this birthday party... I have forgotten how much fun it is to plan a first birthday party.  I thought a lot about themes... fire trucks, dump trucks, cars, trains... this was his first birthday though and I know that this is the only one where you can get away with doing a really cute theme so owls it was, using blue and green.  I loved how it all turned out.  I ordered some of the decorations off of Etsy (the cupcake toppers and the goodie tags) but the rest I made.  I learned that from now on doing it myself doesn't always turn out to be cheaper! :)

Lots of family came to celebrate with us... everyone from Charles' side of the family were there and then everyone from my side (that is local and able to be here) came.  We loved having so much family here with us and it was definitely a special day!!

Once all the guests arrived, friends and family both, the big kids went out back to play (the Lord must have heard my many prayers asking for cooler weather for that night because it was so nice outside!) and the little ones enjoyed some time to play together.  They were so cute together!!

We decided that it was going to be better for everyone if we opened presents first before doing cake.  Luke didn't really get it at first... he just wanted to go, go, go but once he realized all the fun things that were in the bags he started to stick around and help a little.

It was finally cake time.  I was not so sure what he was going to do with it.. the few times leading up to his party when he had something sweet he loved it but his personality is so much like Chase that I was afraid he would just cry and cry from being the center of attention!  While everyone was singing to him Charles had to hold his arms pretty tight... he wanted that candle!!!!  In fact, we didn't even have to help him blow it out... at the end of the song he got free from Daddy and put the candle out himself.  Oops... glad he wasn't hurt!!

I gave him a taste so he would know that he liked it... it took him a few minutes but then there was no stopping him!!

By the time I took the cake away he had gotten to most of the icing... he didn't even touch the cake part.  Maybe the next first birthday I do I'll just do a cardboard box covered in icing since that is really all they eat anyways... if there is a next one! ;)

The big kids all took a break from playing to have some cupcakes... it was so cute to see them all sitting at the picnic table enjoying their cake!

Luke got a quick bath and got all cleaned up so he could tell all his guests thank you and goodbye.  And as if the icing from the smash cake wasn't enough, his Jupe was determined to give the kid some ice cream so for about 15 minutes this is what they did:

I was finally able to stop Jupe from overloading him completely with sugar just before all the guests headed home.  I was completely surprised that he went to sleep just a short 45 minutes later!  What a great day we had celebrating our youngest gift... he is so much fun and makes us smile daily!!  We are so thankful for our Luke Thomas!!

First T-Ball Season

Chase had a great first season playing t-ball.  He seemed to really enjoy it, he learned a lot and was so proud to be playing a "real" baseball game!  This season he got really, really good at hitting the baseball (both off of the tee as well as when the ball was pitched to him), he learned the correct way to throw the ball, he learned how to field the ball, he learned about running the bases and he learned about what it means to be a part of a team.  He grew so much as a ball player this season and I can't wait for the many, many more seasons to come of watching him play ball!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this season...

I put together a video of some of the clips I took this season as well as a few of my favorite pictures.  When Chase watched this video this morning the biggest smile was on his face.  He can't wait for his next baseball season!

Bubble Bath Fun

These boys have so much fun together and I can't wait until Luke can join in on the fun too!  The big boys experience so much together and truly are the best playmates.  Having them so close in age definitely has it's challenges but it also has so many positives.  The big boys love having bubble baths so a few weeks ago when they were having fun with all the bubbles I decided to snap a few pictures of the fun!

The boys are so close and it makes my heart so happy to watch them experience life together.  I hope they will always be there to support and encourage one another!!

Fourth of July, 2011

What a fun July 4th we had this year!!  We met up at Sandhills with a bunch of our great friends from our Sunday School class and everyone had such a great time.  The boys had so many friends to play with and the adults enjoyed the time together.  We all brought some fun snacks to share with each other and the kids... the favorite treat that night was what the Beam family brought, Popsicles!  I think Caroline, Chase & Jacob were the only kids to enjoy them that night before it started raining but at least they were able to enjoy them that night! 

The Morris family brought super fun sparklers that were enjoyed by the kids... the big kids (Trey & Chase) especially!  It took a second for Chase to get used to them... the first one scared him a little because he thought he was going to get burned but once he realized he would be fine he loved them!

Luke sat in his stroller most of the evening... he was super content as long as he had puffs to eat and Ginga (a.k.a Grandma) near by! :)

The big kids enjoyed running around and playing football together.  You can tell by their rosy cheeks how hard they all played!  Sweet Halle hung out on the blanket for most of the time, Katie was passed around and loved smiling at everyone, Lucy was still pretty cozy in her mama's belly and Avery spent the evening practicing her walking skills.

A little while after being at Sandhills a storm rolled in and out of nowhere it poured on us!  We all scrambled to our cars and sat it out for a little while about an hour.  As soon as we thought it was never going to stop raining it cleared up and we all reconvened in front of our cars.  Thank goodness the Ross' thought ahead and brought Wes' truck because it came in very useful to put all the kids in.  They all piled into the back of his truck and watched the show from there!

I love all of these sweet faces and loved seeing them all experience the fireworks show!  Can't wait to do this again next year!!!

Pool & Beach Trips

We made two trips to Hilton Head this summer and both visits we enjoyed lots of pool time and a few trips to the beach.  It was Luke's first time swimming in the pool and he loved it!  The first time down to HHI the pool was still a little chilly but by the time we were there the end of July it was nice and warm!  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Luke experiencing the pool for the first time... very bummed about that but take my word for it, he LOVED it!!  He splashed and would laugh and loved "sitting" on the steps like a big boy!  The big boys also loved every second of the pool time... they both have gotten so good at swimming with just swimmies and it's kind of nice to be able to let them go in and swim without having to hang on an adult!!  We took Chase's swimmies off a few times in July and he actually got the hang of swimming on his own... although he hated every second of it because the confidence isn't quite there yet! 

This summer was the first time Jacob felt comfortable enough to jump into the pool all by himself.  He would jump, go under water and come back up!  He was so proud of himself and once he did it a few times there was no stopping him.  I love how tight he closes his eyes even before jumping!!

This summer was also Luke's first time to the beach... I was not sure how he was going to react to the waves and to the feel of the sand but he loved it!!  He would sit in the shallow water and loved the feeling of the waves coming in and water going back out. 

He loved feeling the sand in between his fingers and toes.  I was surprised that he didn't try to eat the sand more than he did.... we really only had one time and he hated it!!  He cried and cried because he did not like the sand in his mouth (thank goodness!). :)

A few times he even got brave enough to crawl away from me and head in his own direction!  One time he had a few bikers stop just to watch this tiny little thing crawling in the middle of the beach, as happy and carefree as he could be!

The big boys loved the beach, like always!  They are getting braver and braver about the waves and wanting to out deep with Daddy.  Jacob loved chasing the waves and letting the waves chase him!  They both also really enjoyed all the room to dig and just be boys!

Beach trips are hard... the time it takes to get everything together, the sunscreen, the drive, the cleaning up and changing at the showers, dragging all the gear back to the car... getting home right at lunch time... but with as hard as it is we always love our trips to the beach and we have so much fun!!

One year ago today....

One year ago today I was waking up as a  mom of two sweet boys.  One year ago today I kissed my two boys on their foreheads before walking out the door to go to the hospital to have our third baby.  One year ago today we welcomed the sweetest little guy into our family.  One year ago today the Lord blessed us with another miracle!!!

I cannot believe that it has already been an entire year!  I loved my pregnancy with Luke... it was so easy, except for the pain of my pelvis being out of whack!  He was so little and I knew he wasn't going to weigh as much as my other two.  I was nervous but so ready to see him and hear him cry!  And what joy I had the moment he was born... you would think by the third time it wouldn't affect me as much but third child or not, third boy or not, hearing their first cry and seeing them for the very first time is one of my favorite things!!  What a sweet little cry he had too!

Seeing the big boys with him was amazing.  They both were so good with him from the start... especially Chase!  They always wanted to be near him and talk to him.  I think one of the memories I never want to forget is Charles telling me about Chase in his bedroom by himself one afternoon when Luke as in the NICU.  Charles walked back there to see what he was doing and as he got close to his door he overheard him talking... talking to Jesus.  He was thanking Jesus for his baby and asking Jesus to make him better.  That still brings tears to my eyes and so much joy to my heart!  We were so grateful that the Lord healed him as quickly as He did and that we were all able to come home and be a family of five!!

Luke is a pretty typical third child.... from early on he has had to just go with the flow.  Some days he had no morning nap, some days his naps were cut short... and he just goes with it.  He is definitely laid back and as long as he is fed he is good to go!  He has a lot of Chase's personality... he gets his feelings hurt easily and has gone through some separation anxiety/mommy attachment.  Although he did not go through it as bad or for as long as Chase did he definitely had more than Jacob.  His smile lights up my days and his laugh is so contagious!

I'm so thankful for this precious little boy... I cannot imagine our lives without him!  We pray for him daily... we pray for his heart to be tender and we pray for the day he will accept Jesus as his Savior.  We pray for his future, for his health and for his happiness!  We pray for ourselves as parents to these three boys... we pray that we would never stop seeking the Lord throughout this journey called parenthood and that He would never stop guiding us.  We would fail miserably without His help.  We are so blessed.
 

So, happy first birthday, Luke Thomas!  You make this family more complete and you are always so much fun.  We are so excited to see what this next year will bring!!  We love you so much!!