and she's out....

A peek into how Harlow gets in/out of her crib and surprises me in the middle of the night and tells me, "all done nigh-nigh".....

more life with harlow

She loves to have fun and is fearless. She wants to do everything herself with no help from anyone.

She gets into trouble A LOT!! Here she was playing by Grandma's Christmas tree and every once in awhile, she'd look out to see if Grandma was coming.

She has such a personality and little attitude. I asked her to show me her pretty smile, and this was the face she gave me. She knew full well what I meant and she did this on purpose.

She puts on quite the show! The girl needs a stage and she decided to make her own with this stool.

She can't sit still for anything! I can't remember the last time she sat through a meal. Strapping her in just ticks her off so she gets freedom and this is how she chooses to eat. So be it.

She does enjoy being "pretty". She let Aunt Vicky braid her hair, twice, just because she enjoyed that attention and compliments of how cute she looked.

She can throw herself a wild tantrum. This one was over Daddy shutting the candy drawer because 8 o'clock in the morning is just too early.

She's always willing to go bye-bye no matter where to or who with. And she's cute as a dang button!

She recently learned a new trick that she likes showing off. 

It's often difficult to find words to describe this girl, but today I'll go with a beautiful, exhausting, tornado of a whirlwind that's worth every minute of loving her. 

Angry Birds Party

Packy requested an Angry Birds themed party for his 4th birthday. He was extremely excited to see the long awaited cake and I think he was more than pleased. With how it looked AND how it tasted! 

My little crew. Of course Harlow is the one that wouldn't listen and sit nicely for me. She likes to be difficult on purpose, I'm pretty sure she gets pleasure from it.

We got in some Lincoln lovin'. He'll be bulldozing over Harlow in no time! Good thing she's a tough cookie and should be able to handle it. 

Packy was such a sweet boy and handed his presents out to siblings and cousins to help open. That garbage truck is his favorite. He parked it by his bed to sleep next to him. (Little does he know that once he fell asleep, Hudson grabbed it and played for awhile. I was sure to return it to the parking spot before morning!) 

We had a pinata for the kids in the basement (laundry/storage room). I think this will be a necessity at every birthday party from here on out. Even Harlow got a chance, although I think it was Hudson's swings that took the pinata down.

The excitement of candy!! 

Hudsy and Lincoln. He's always so sweet and gentle with babies. Apparently that ends once they reach toddlerhood. 

Traditional kid picture on the steps. 

Packy is FOUR!!

Our sweet Paxton turned 4 years old on December 28th. Once again, it seems like he's been 4 years old for awhile now. I think because he's so close with Hudson, he always seems a bit older than he really is. Jamie put a different spin on our balloon tradition and set up a balloon tunnel to greet Pax when he woke up. Both the boys thought it was the coolest thing ever! 

He was so excited to be four years old. Before he fell asleep the night before he asked if he'd be 4 when he woke up, and it was his first question that morning. "Am I four now Mommy? Will I always be four now?" 

And let me tell you, he is the sweetest four year old that ever lived!!! I can't get enough of him.

He chose swimming for his birthday afternoon activity, so we went as a family of five. 

Afterwards, we headed to Mankato to eat at Mexican Village and (finally) drive through the Kiwanis Lights at Sibley Park. 

Paxton opened a Spiderman mask from Aunt Sheri and Uncle Arnie but Harlow had the honors of wearing it during supper. She also got her very own slushy drink which she LOVED to say the least! 

It is so much fun honoring this boy with his very own special day. He's always so content with everything, it's easy to forget that he needs attention too. 

And there's so much to love about him, here are my top four reasons:

1) He is so affectionate. Always willing to give you a kiss and hug, and usually the one to initiate it. He snuggles me throughout the night, and if he wakes up to find himself too far away, he will come closer and throw an arm around me. And every night he sleeps with me, I wake up to kisses, a little hand rubbing my cheek, and "I love you Mommy" whispered in my ear. The other morning he told me that he loves me so much he's going to keep me forever, and then warned me that he'd be kissing both of my cheeks. I realize his affection won't last forever, so I am cherishing these days while I can and getting in millions of kisses and hugs. 

2) The boys lives in his very own little la-la world. Usually completely clueless as to what's going on around him. He has no concept of time, as to him, everything that we've ever done in the past happened "last year", when likely it was either last night or last week. He believes that the house we stayed in while we vacationed in Florida is his "old house" and wishes we could move back into our "old house". He hurt his finger at hockey but if you ask him how it happened, he will go into this long, completely made up story because he just doesn't know what actually happened. You can't really believe anything he says. If you question it at all, it usually means its not true. And it isn't because he's lying, he just doesn't know the real truth. He never knows what day it is but always knows how many nights he has left to sleep in his own bed, before he can sleep with me (on weekends). 

3) At hockey practice, he looks for me in the stands. You can see him on the ice, scanning the bleachers until he finds me. And when he does, he smiles and waves. Then throughout practice, he will periodically wave and always smiles as he skates by. And everyone watching practice notices. 

4) His smile. It melts my heart in an instant. It's genuine and shy and makes me fall to my knees. 

(We had an Angry Birds birthday party for him this weekend, pictures to come.......)

Christmas Day

Santa filled the living room with gifts for the kids on Christmas morning. The boys knew what to expect, but Harlow, her reaction of pure joy and excitement was too much! 

They each took turns opening, letting Harlow go first since she couldn't contain her excitement any longer. 

Hudson was very excited about his new Flipees hat. Something Mommy wasn't nearly as happy about, as Mommy doesn't particularly care for these Flipees hats, but they boys had been asking for them for months.

Harlow continued to open after putting on her new Minnie Mouse costume.

Paxton prayed to Santa, thanking him for all of his presents. Ha!

And just as Daddy suspected, Harlow got INTO her new doll crib. In the new crib, with her new doll, while wearing her new costume and new necklace. She just loved everything!

And they cleaned up pretty nicely as well.

Ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Sister's expressions were just too much. Opening presents from her godmother, Hunter.

Paxton with his godmother, Logie.

And Hudson with his godparents, Maddi and Zev. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013

Christmas Eve

We had a pajama Christmas Eve celebration, a little different than years past, but opening lots of presents from Grandma and Grandpa stayed the same! Harlow really got into opening this year. Like, seriously crazy about it! She ripped into every gift, took a quick glance over it, and went on to the next one. In fact, she opened all of mine and Jamie's presents, not even caring that they were shoes, clothes, and perfume. The only presents that ever slowed her down were baby dolls, because that is her favorite.

The boys enjoyed their kid wine, a must have each year.

And they enjoyed a lot of it! Down to the last drop.

They each got Spider Man wrist, web shooter-outers or something like that. Notice Packy needed a bathroom break!