Christian's 3rd Birthday Party - Videos

Happy Birthday Christian!

Christian got a new bike for his birthday from Ryan and I and Grammy and Grampy Chatt. I thought he was going to be really excited about it because he's been talking about wanting a bike for weeks and he even told us he wanted a bell on it. Much to my dismay he took one look at his bike and then went right back to playing with his dinosaur sand toys that Grandmom got him from the Dollar Store. Yup, that right...he prefers the dollar dinos over the beautiful bike we got him. That's a three year old for you!

Yum Yum

LOOK who tried rice cereal for the first time!! I don't think she actually ate that much. Her little tongue was so busy pushing it out of her mouth that I doubt she swallowed much at all. She had fun with it anyway! I'm sure she'd figure out how to swallow it if I gave her something a little more tasty, like bananas. Maybe sometime in the next few weeks!

You never want to hear this:

Abby yells, "Auntie Judy, the boys have your blue hairspray and they're getting it everywhere!"

3yr Old Photographer

This is what you get when you give your three year old your digital camera so he'll be entertained why you try to get some stuff done. I told him to be careful and he told me about 15 times that he was being careful. I think he was afraid I was going to change my mind and take the camera away, since it's usually a "no touch" item.

So which one is your favorite? I think I like the feet the best. I think it's hysterical that he took a picture of his own feet. He actually took about 30 pictures of McKenna. I think she was entertained by it all. He also took tons of pictures of the carpet, but I didn't want to totally bore you. This post is boring enough!

In case you've been wondering. This is the first day that I can say McKenna is actually feeling better. We've had some scary moments over the last few days since she's really had some difficulty breathing. I've had to do breathing treatments at 3 am, but she seems better today. Still not sleeping well, which is wearing on me, but I know that things are improving.

The Strawberry Patch

Look at this sign that greets you when you arrive at the strawberry patch! Notice the second to the last line...it that hysterical or what? Of course I read this to the children as a reminder to behave.

We've been wanting to go strawberry picking for about a month now. We tried to go on Memorial Day but the strawberries weren't ready yet, so we finally made it back today. We had a long beautiful trek out to the strawberry patch.
These two little boys are becoming true buddies. I think they've realized that it's a lot more fun to get in trouble as a team than to bug each other. The past two days they have been quite the troublesome duo.
The only reason we were able to go to the strawberry patch today was because Grandmom was with us. My sister is out of town for a few days so Grandmom is here to help out.

Notice the "prize" strawberry that Emma is holding. She and Abby were in constant competition to see who could find the biggest strawberry.

Christian was soley focused on picking strawberries for about 20 min. then he and Nate decided that running around and finding rocks and sticks was more interesting.
Nathan didn't pick, he just ate. Notice the red stained chin!
After about his 15th strawberry we told him not to eat anymore because we didn't want him to get sick to his stomach. He didn't listen, he just shoved them in his mouth when we weren't looking.
Abby had a great time and told us over and over how fun this was.
Emma insisted on wearing her bonnet and a skirt today. I guess she was going with a "little house on the praire" look. She totally created this outfit on her own.
Abby and Nate were happy to head home so they could eat some more strawberries. Christian and Emma didn't want to leave because the fun part for them was the picking. Even with lots of coaxing and sugar they won't even try one. In case you're wondering; McKenna did go to the strawberry patch with us but she slept the entire time in her stroller.

Grandmom, Abby, Nate and I just enjoyed some strawberry shortcake after dinner! Maybe one day Emma and Christian will realize what they're missing.

Happy 3rd Birthday Christian

Christian turned 3 this past Saturday, June 14th!

He doesn't know that he actually turned three because we're not going to celebrate until this coming Saturday. Thanks to Grammy & Grampy Chatt and Mommy and Daddy he's going to be getting a bike. He's also going to have a firetruck birthday party with just his 3 cousins. I just couldn't handle a big party this year. He had one last year and I don't feel the need to do something major every year, so it's going to be rather low-key this year.

Hope you enjoy walking down memory lane with me!

My "little" baby boy. 9lbs 2.8 oz

Christian's delivery was definitely not picture perfect. After 18 hours of labor we almost lost him, but God had bigger plans for him and used some awesome doctor's to keep him with us!

One of my all time favorite pictures ever!

5 months old

Christian's first Christmas at 6 months old. This is when he got his first Thomas Train. Ryan thought every little boy needed a train for his first Christmas so we got him one and he hated it. It was a battery powered one that went around the track by itself and whenever we turned it on he cried. Who knew that just a year later he would be completely obsessed with Thomas.

Christian's first birthday was an Elmo party with his friends Dave and Katie McNair. I made red icing for the cupcakes. What was I thinking??? Christian's face was red for days, but you'll notice that I didn't learn my lesson (see the picture of his 2nd birthday).

1st Birthday - Checking out his present.

We had quite a time getting Christian's one year picture! I didn't take him back to get his picture taken for 6 months after this terrible experience.

Christian was literally beside himself with excitement when our friends the Hortons gave us their train table. 1 1/2 yrs old

Hanging out with Daddy in the "tiny" house. 1yr 9months
Christian's 2nd Birthday was a Thomas the Tank Engine party. It was especially memorable because all of Christian's grandparents were there!

Summer 2007 - 2yrs 2 months old

This picture was taken last Saturday on his actual birthday! He was zipping down the hill at Grandmom and PopPop's house. I can't believe how the past three years has flown by. This little boy has completely changed my life and brought his daddy and I so much joy. I can't imagine life without him. What a blessing it is to be a mommy to this little guy!

Wondering?

Are you wondering how I'm able to post on my blog in the middle of the day with 5 kids in my house?? Two words: SAND BOX

Thank you again PopPop!! You've made my life so much easier!

Playground

I am learning the art of bribery, but we'll just call it positive reinforcement to make me feel better. I made a little sticker chart this morning and told the kids that as soon as we got five stickers we could go to the park. Sticker #1 Everyone (including me) has to be dressed. Sticker #2 Everyone has to eat all of their breakfast and clean up their place at the table after they're done. Sticker #3 Everyone has to do one chore. Etc.... We were at the park by 10am!! We might try some more bribing urr... positive reinforcement tomorrow.



I think I'm finally getting the hang of having 5 kids. I know that there are lots of moms who do home daycare who probably have more than five kids. But I don't view my gang as a daycare situation. Emma, Abby and Nate know that my house is their home too. They still come when they're sick, they get baths here if they need them, they have clothes and toys here, they invite their friends to come play here, if we go to Walmart and Christian gets a toy then everyone gets something, etc. And I want us to be able to go and do things like any other family. I have no desire to stay home all the time, so we keep trying to have successful outings. I really want to take everyone strawberry picking, but I just haven't been brave enough yet. Plus it's been way too hot to have McKenna outside, so we'll see if it happens.