What I Love About You - Reese

Reesie. Reesie Piecey. You are the sweetest, kindest, funniest little girl in the whole world.

You are a great sister. But not just in a "you don't start fights" kind of way, but in a genuine, "you want everyone to be happy kind of way."  You put up with so much from Wyatt, and you fight back for sure, but you really just want him to be happy.  We're working on that, because we would like to see you stand up for yourself a lot more. You dote on Hudson and Finley. You try so hard to be their little mommy. You've actually convinced Hudson that I am his "Mommy Mommy" and you are his "Doggy Mommy." You both go around the house on all fours, barking, and he runs up to me and says, "Mom, Reesie my mom now, okay?" You want to hold Finley and love on her all the time!

You love soccer and dance. You love to color and create. Giving you a box with 48 crayons was probably a highlight of your week!  You color pictures and assign them to people - Mommy, Daddy, Didi, Pop Pop, Mimi, Baba. I honestly have no idea what to do with all of the paper!  But you put so much work into every single drawing.  You give me TONS of information about your reasons for choosing each color.  You go through a picture before you color the whole thing, and you leave a little dot on each piece with the color you want it to be so you don't forget.  Genius!

Your favorite shows right now are Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. You play and pretend you're Doc all the time, and you're begging me for a Sofia dress.  What I love about it is that you have set your sights high for the future. You want to be an artist, a princess, and a doctor!

You are a sweet little girl.  You love your Daddy.  So much.  You would be with him all day, every day if you could.  You love your Momma, but "Dada" is your favorite.  You try your best to prolong him leaving the house in the morning.  First you ask for a hug and kiss.  Then you stand in front of the door and ask for the "password" (which is really another hug and kiss).  And then, at some point during the day, you have a "Dada" breakdown.  "I miss Dada."  A song on the radio will make you cry out of the complete blue, and when I ask you what's wrong, all you say is, "I miss Dada."  And the tears start falling.

There are times that I know you want to do "big girl" things.  You ask about nail polish and make up.  Daddy and Mommy just think you have your whole life to be a grown up girl, so we're not rushing (and definitely aren't encouraging) you to grow up any faster than you need to.  The world around us shows us that little girls are growing up faster and faster.  But you won't if we have anything to say about it (and we do)!  It may make us unpopular sometimes, and you may want to fight it, but we think it's for the best.  And you'll definitely grow a thicker skin against what everybody else thinks if you're dealing with it when you're little!

You are the silliest, funniest little girl.. You make the silliest faces.  You make up the craziest dances and songs.  I can't even describe how truly funny you are.  I always say that you're going to be on Saturday Night Live one day.  And I'm only half kidding. You love music.  You make us laugh constantly. Constantly.  There is no one on this planet who makes your brothers laugh like you do.

You question everything.  In the last week I have been told by three people that you ask millions upon millions of questions.  I already knew that of course (and it drives me bonkers sometimes), but I hope you don't lose it.  You'll learn by questioning things.  You might break the mold by questioning things.  It's a form of discovery that a lot of people are scared of, but I hope you aren't.  Ever.  

You are such a lover.  You give out hugs and kisses to everyone.  Your family is filled with lucky recipients of your love, but your favorite person to hug (besides Daddy) is probably Teddy.  That bear is your BFF.  You wouldn't dream of going to bed at night without him!

You present your challenges, just like Wyatt. Sometimes I have no idea how to respond to you when you cry over small things (which is ridiculous, because you get that from me), and I get frustrated.  And you're so good that when you're bad, I have no idea what to do.  It's like I'm ruining your whole life!  But the vast majority of the time, you're the little girl that greets us with the biggest smile and hug (or silly face) when we walk into a room.  Every single day I think about how proud and lucky I am to be your Mommy.  And I pray that I teach you to be a compassionate, joyful, kind, and patient little girl.  And I know that your Daddy wants to teach you the same things.  You are our favorite four year old in the whole wide world.  We love you Reesie Piecey!

Project 365: Week 19

Tuesday, May 7

We joined the Disney movie club, and our movies arrived.  My very favorite movie of all time is on top!  I'm pretty sure that I watched it every day for a year when I was 11!

 Wednesday,  May 8

Finley rolled over!  She has known how to do it (she's really up on all fours a lot now), but it's not something she likes to do.  She does it at her leisure.

 Thursday, May 9

I was under the impression that Brian was tucking Wyatt and Reese in.  And then I looked out the window and saw this!  He snuck out and they followed him!

 Friday, May 10

Ready for school!  She cracks me up when she insists that I take her picture in her new spring outfits!

 Saturday, May 11

Aden, Wyatt, and Hunter.  These are two of Wyatt's best buddies!

 Sunday, May 12

Just hanging out at Mimi and Baba's house!

 Monday, May 13

She hasn't been sleeping well.  At all.  I was so happy when she finally fell asleep Monday night!

Mother's Day

We had a low key Mother's Day - which is just how I like it!  Brian and Reese went and got breakfast, and then we spent the day hanging out at home.  I did a little work, did the laundry (Brian is not allowed in the laundry room), and cleaned the kitchen.  During quiet time, Brian and I caught up on TV shows.

Once we were all finally ready for the day, we decided to run a few errands and head over to Brian's parents' house.  

But not without a picture of me with all my kids first.

This is real life, folks.

 ...and this is 24 pictures later!

No trip to Mimi and Baba's is complete without a baseball and some catch.

Wyatt has been playing catch with Hudson a lot lately, and this little guy loves it!

 Seriously love this picture of Hudson!

 And this one of Finley and I!  Thanks Brian for picking up the camera - ha!

Once we came home, we got the kids ready for bed and settled in to watch the season finale of Survivor.  We are obsessed with it STILL after 13 years!  This season ended just how we wanted it to: traditionally with pizza (we do it every year at the beginning and end of the season, which is better than it used to be - every week when it came on!), and we seriously cheered each time something went in Cochran's favor.  So satisfied with this season!

I had a great Mother's Day, but any day that I get to spend with this family of mine is a blessing!

Mother's Day Weekend - Friday & Saturday

I know that I still have three posts to do to follow up with this one that I wrote about Wyatt, but I think it will be more of a weekly thing then daily.  Reesie is next up on Friday :)

Our Mother's Day weekend was definitely low key, which is just how I like it!  It was our final "normal weekend" before the water park opens, and Brian is gone all the time.  I can't believe that it's summer time again!  I feel like it creeps up on us every year.  I was making plans for this weekend, and then I realized that Brian is actually going to be at work - and I'm going to need some help to get everything done!

We spent Friday evening at a make up baseball game!

I love this kid!

 He got his practice swings in with Baba, and then he decided to sit on the bucket of balls while he waited for his at bat!

 Hitting the ball!

 He got to pitch that day, so he was in "I really actually think I'm Andy Pettitte" heaven.  The fake mechanics involved in his pitching are hysterical.

 Brian had to drag and line the fields after the game, so the kids and I hung out with friends while we waited.  And Finley had some fun watching her brothers and sister in the sand box.

Saturday morning started with 2 soccer games at the exact same time. 

Brian and I switched between Reesie's game and Wyatt's.  She played a great game! Super aggressive and she didn't back down when other kids were trying to get the ball.  It always cracks me up when I hear her coaches tell her to play like she does against Wyatt!

 Wyatt's team ended up playing a team that was missing players, and the kids on his team ended up switching back and forth to play for the competition.  I have no idea what he and his buddy Jack were talking about, but I loved this.  So far from last season when they were competitors throwing elbows at each other!

 This is what they do during the last quarter if they aren't in the game.  They stand on the sidelines with Coach  Jason watching everything and jockeying for him to put them back in so they can score!

 And we followed soccer up with a baseball game!  These busy weekends are quickly winding down, and even though it gets a little crazy, I'm going to miss it!

After our morning on the go, I was able to come home and relax before heading out with my mom to get mani/pedi's, shop TJ Maxx, and get some frozen yogurt - a pretty great Mother's Day "pre-game!"

What I Love About You - Wyatt

Wyatt.

Oh, dear me.  You made me a Mommy.  In so many ways you have been SO YOU since the day you were born.  Adorable, active, and able to function with very little sleep (you get that from your Dad)!

Every day you wake up and from the second your feet hit the floor, you are ready to play.  Hockey. Baseball. Legos.  People always say that TV makes kids lazy.  TV makes you active.  You ARE that baseball player on TV.  You keep your eye on the ball. You swing when he does.  You field the ball.  You tell every single member of our family (including your poor sister who just doesn't care) where the play is.  What the count is.  How many outs, hits, and errors there have been in the game.  CC Sabathia just threw that ball 93 miles per hour.  Do I know how fast that is?  I do, but it's more amazing when you tell me!

You LOVE sports, but you also love so many other things.  Dinosaurs are probably number one.  Your teacher told me that you were the "resident expert" during your classes' dinosaur unit last month.  You went last with each day's facts about dinosaurs because you could tell everyone things that were left out.  Or things that no one else knew!  But you are going to be a paleontologist-hockey player-baseball player when you grow up, so that all makes sense!

And animals, you are obsessed. Crocodile babies are boys or girls based on the temperature their eggs are in?  I had no idea.  Bats, bugs, dogs, giraffes...I can't keep up with it all, but it interests you.  You soak it all up.  And Legos.  I had no idea that you would wake up at 3:30 in the morning just to put a truck together.  But it happened.  It actually happened.  

You like school.  You have a talking problem (you get that from me), but you love school.  And I love helping you read.  It starts as sight words, and then sounding out words, and it culminates with you shouting, "Mommy, why does that sign say....?" from the back seat.  I love that!  You have no idea the kinds of adventures that lie ahead of you in books.  I get so excited when I hear you reading in your room at night after tuck ins!

You are the most competitive person I know.  While it's no surprise (let's just say that your Dad and I have the same tendencies), it is a little crazy.  You're mostly just competitive with yourself (can you make that play better the next time, hit the ball farther, finally turn that elusive double play? You did!), and you have been known to throw a glove on the ground when you miss a ball.  And then Daddy just slides you right to the outfield.  Your drive kind of amazes me (but it also totally frustrates me, too).

You are a great big brother.  To Hudson and Finley, anyway :).  Your relationship with Reese has it's ebbs and flows, but we all know you love her!  You know how to irritate the mess out of her, but you also hate to see her sad.  Being a big brother is so complicated!  You love to teach Hudson (your current favorite is hockey), and you adore Finley.  You hate to hear her cry, and you will stop whatever you're doing to help her.  Or play with her.  She just loves you.  You make her whole face light up!

And you are an amazing friend.  Last week when your friend Jack was upset that he didn't get the game ball at baseball, you put your arm around him and told him that he shouldn't be sad, and that you would help him get it at the next game.  I don't know what your plan is to help him get that ball, but I was amazed when his Mommy told me the story.  She said you made him feel so much better.  And because I never get to see that kind of interaction, I think I told you a million times that day how proud I was of you!  And then today you really wanted to buy the last snake at the school store (with money you "earned" yourself) , but you let Alex have it because he wanted it, too.  I love that!

None of this means that we don't have our moments.  You aren't perfect.  I know I'm not.  Neither of us operate with an abundance of patience.  You like to use words you shouldn't use, especially in front of your little brother (Although I secretly love that you told me that the "S" word is the grandfather of all bad words.  And you were talking about "stupid."  That's as bad as it gets around here). You have a tendency to hit your sister. But I can't let the fact that you're a little boy who's just learning how to be a good person get in the way of the fact that you are my sweet little boy, and it's my job to teach you not to do those things!  I am so proud, and so lucky, that I get to be your Mommy.  And I know that your Daddy, who you think is your "best buddy in the whole wide world" feels the exact same way.  You are my favorite six year old in the whole wide world, bubs!  We love you!

Project 365: Week 18

If you follow me on Instagram, there's a very good chance you've seen all of these.

Tuesday, April 30

I continue to be amazed at how well Wyatt follows the directions that come with his Legos.  I'm more amazed at his patience level when he sits down to put these together.  This is *not* typical for my six year old during any other activity!

 Wednesday, May 1

Big day!  Reesie got her seventh reader and Wyatt got his twentieth.  These two love to read.  Wyatt's even been reading books on his own before bed at night.  He always tells me that he read a book, and he didn't even get any words wrong!  

 Thursday, May 2

Love these two sweet and silly girls!

Friday, May 3

Brian and Wyatt after Wyatt's spring program!

 Saturday, May 4

Reesie getting out of the van after soccer and baseball.  Always entertaining, this one.

 Sunday, May 5

This little one's eyelashes astonish me.  They are sooooo long!

Monday, May 6

Sweet sleeping Reesie.   She actually fell right asleep after I tucked her in, which almost never happens!

Spring Program - The Performance

This is mainly so I have this to look back on when my sweet little kids aren't so big anymore, but here is the "finale" of their spring program.  A rousing rendition of "Butterfly in my Soup."

It was a little windy that day, but you can probably hear that :).  Wyatt is between the bunny ears in the back, and Reesie is on the very end on the right!