My oldest baby turned six

Six years ago Ellie Grey made my biggest lifetime dream come true - becoming a mother. I've wanted to be a mom since i can remember. I'm so thankful to be blessed to be mom to three great perfect children. 

This was the first time I was away from my girl for much of the day - she had school. It was sad to send her off, but I did. I was anxious to meet up with her after school at Girl Scouts. I brought cupcakes for her to celebrate with her friends. Ellie had a good day. She had a nice hat and a smile on her face. She was happy to see me and greeted me with a leap into my arms. We were both happy I was there. 

The cupcakes were a hit and the meeting was cute. After the meeting we picked up pizza and went home to celebrate with the family. Ellie asked for pineapple pizza for dinner, so tags what she got. She enjoyed opening a large number of presents. 

Her favorites were her now and arrows from Grampa, her Merrida outfit from Grannie, and rollerblades from us. She couldn't wait to go shoot the arrows. 

It was a nice evening for a school night. 

On Saturday we then had her big party. Take 3: Erika and Ellie wanted another shared birthday at pump it up, so that's what we did. This year Ellie had lots of friends there. She enjoyed everyone's presence. They are getting big, but still really enjoy their cousins, each other and this event. When I put Ellie to bed, she told me she. couldn't wait for her next party. I smiles and told her not to wish her life away. 

At six, Ellie is an artist who just loves learning. School is so great for her. She loves her baby sister and has a good relationship with her brother too. She is a mommas girl, and can also really enjoy time with her daddy. She has some good friends in the neighborhood - Ashley she calls her best friend, and she enjoys playing with Wren a lot too. She's a very smart cookie. She is a great singer. She loves spending time with her family. He's pretty adventurous, other then with food. For good or bad, she is a lot like me. My hope is that she is a better version of me, which I think is totally true. :) I love my girl with all my heart. She makes me so proud. She makes great decisions and has a good heart! Love always. 

First Parent Teacher Conference

I admit it, I was excited for Ellie's first conference today. I have to watch myself as I am already exerting my expectations of excelling academically on Ellie. I'm not sure if she knows this yet, but no doubt she will. My expectations are high. Today, I found out that she is truly meeting them. I couldn't have been prouder when the teacher told me she is going to move Ellie up to the higher reading group next week. She's reading at level 8, which is the year end expectation. This makes me so proud because this is the thing I really struggled trying to teach Ellie. But with her teacher, she is truly taking off. She's a reason machine and I'm so very proud of her. 

The report was very positive. Math "is a breeze" for her says her teacher. Soon she will start teaching a small group some diet grade math concepts. Ellie will be in that. Ellie has a good group of friends and manages to get along with everyone well. She's a star! I am a proud momma! And she's setting the bar high for her siblings. :) 

.... That's wrong of me to say, isn't it.  

My reader

Elle is taking off with reading. She's pretty good at sounding out the words. Kindergarten is so good for her. 

She's also quite the little artist. I love watching her blossom at school. She thrives learning and trying new things. I love my girl!

Ellie watched Hokie football with me for the first time

Saturday the Hokie's were playing Maryland in the middle of the afternoon. I turn the game on and Ellie was very keen to watch the whole thing with me. I was very surprised at her interest, but I enjoyed it as well. So we watched the whole game together.

Ellie was up on the score every minute. She was even tracking the score on a piece of paper in front of her. Which was quite funny considering it is always written at the bottom of the screen. She got into yelling when the guys in maroon did good and for the guys and white to do that. She even wanted me to explain some of the ways the game works.

It was a very close game. It even went into overtime. By the time we were in overtime, Ellie was actually saying prayers to God for Virginia Tech to win. I tried to explain to her that mommy doesn't usually thinks football games or something that God should be bothered with. She didn't seem to think that was right. She kept the prayers coming.

It turned out that Marilyn won in overtime. It was very depressing. After the game Ellie was upset and thought that the Maryland team had done a bad thing. It was quite funny. I tried to explain to her that they were just the better team today.

I fear that I could have just doubled the college tuition funding we will need for Ellie, As now she thinks the University of Maryland is bad and Virginia Tech of course is good.

This was a photo early Saturday morning. I thought Claire should sport her Hokie colors as we went into the local shopping center.

Family Selfie

They say the new word added to the dictionary is Selfie, so we gave it our family best tonight. There were some laughs. A brief moment of fun in the midst of a busy night...

Upside down

Max loves when David carries him upside down. The other night as we were getting ready to go up for bad I see him play his babies on the floor at the foot of the stairs and pick one up upside down and start carrying it upstairs. He proceeds to explain to me that the babies like being carried upside down like he does. He asks me to look at the baby smile on his face. Back so proud of himself.

He then walks proudly back down the stairs collect the second baby from me carries her all the way upside down up the stairs too. It was adorable!

It was even cuter considering his naked outfit after having ruined all his clothes at dinner time by spilling milk on him.

The shakes

My little Clair bear wants to hold me so bad sometimes that she visibly shakes with excitement as she dives towards me with a smile on her face! I love the love she shows me!!!!!

Always remember

Tonight I rocked Clair to sleep after a challenging day. She was unsettled most of the day. I love her dearly and it's so clear how much she loves me. Putting her to sleep and allowing we settled body to snuggle against mine is by far the best way to end a day. I love this little girl and this phase of life. It's crazy and hectic and I'm so thankful for the three little people in my life that make it this way!

Squealer!

Clair seems to have discovered her voice, specifically her ability to squeal. I have to say, I'm not a fan of it. She's starting to show a bit of a personality. So it begins. 

My cutie loves being on the floor and on her belly. I think she's going to try crawling soon. 

End of mommy milk

I've continued pumping until today. It hasn't been easy and it hasn't produced large amounts either. On top of that, Clair doesn't even like mommy milk as much as formula (thanks to the extra sugars). 

This morning I fed her the last bottle of mommy milk. It was mostly my milk and it was evident she could tell. She laid there and slowly drank the milk. She didn't gulp it down, but at least she didn't fight me. She just played and slowly took it down. There were smiles. She was pleasant. She is a big girl. She lays in my arms and arches her head back, looking around and admiring what her siblings are up to. She's a cutie!

I'm sad I couldn't make that her full source, but now that I'm only getting 3 ounces a day, I think I'm done. If I make it to bed I. The next hour, this will be the end of this phase in my life, and Clair's. I tried, the balance of time just isn't there. So I will retire the pump and try to be proud of making it to 6 1/2 months. I wish she would've nursed, but more importantly, she is happy, she loves her momma so clearly, she is healthy and strong! I love my baby girl!

Max loves to be silly

I hope max always finds joy in laughing and trying to make others laugh the way he does today. 

I wanted a serious smile photo of him last night to show his messy face. All I could at was a series of what he believed to be silly faces!

That's my boy. As soon as I put the camera away he immediately runs over and asks to admire his photos. 

The hardest thing for me about being a parent

I have always loved taking care of children. And I have always known I wanted my own children. The biggest surprise nearly six years later, even for a first born children whose used to decision making as a professional project manager, is having to make the right decisions for my children. 

I liked babysitting where the hardest decision might have been what to feed the kids, otherwise it was all fun and games. Knowing the decisions I make will shape the people my children are becoming is so stressful sometimes. I pray for guidance and good influences to learn and implement what is best more times then not. And I hope one day the kids look back on me and feel I did okay as a mom. That's my definition of success. 

Happy Halloween with our family of five

Tonight was the first Halloween as a full family. I look at these photos and imagine these beautiful little faces maturing over the years. It makes me smile. These are my favorite faces! I love them dearly, along with their cousins that join us each year as well. :)

The girls were busy and very independent. They had a blast. 

Max was a little skeptical of the dark. He grabbed aunt Katie's hand and didn't let to until we were back home. We called them the slow and steady. Aunt Katie held his had and they walked, trailing behind the girls, to every house. Max couldn't wait to get home and eat the first piece of candy he had received- a large red totsie pop! He was a happy boy. 

Clair wore Vonita's little leopard costume. She wore it well! She peacefully walked with Mommy in the baby ergo! She had a little nap as we walked around in the rainy warm night. 

A great time had by all.