Nora: 4 years old

My sweet Nora-girl,

You are a shining beauty with a smile that lights up a room. I love watching the joy that overflows in you.

You are such a creative soul. I never stop being amazed at your imagination and play. You love to play in your own little world and do not like us to watch you when you play and will get mad if we are looking at you or listening to you. You often sing when you are coloring or building things. You make up songs with tunes you know and will keep at it for a long time. I love to hear you sing and hope to continue hearing your sweet voice develop and grow as you mature. 

You love to dance, which thrills my heart in so many ways. You would wear your ballet leotard, tights, and shoes every day if I let you. You are picking up on ballet terms and practice around the house. You just started taking lessons (something you had been talking about for the last year) and it has been the most looked forward to event of each week. You are always asking if every day is Monday or how many days it is until the next Monday.  

You can be shy and quiet in a large group and often don't sing or join in with other kids during church programs. But, at home, you sing at the top of your lungs or do the motions with vigor. You do love to hug other girls though and you often request to hug strangers that are close to your age (especially if they are wearing princess dresses). You always hug all the girls from your ballet class each week and even hugged another girl when she had to leave the library today. You love having friends, but you are always a little apprehensive in new settings. 

You love to dress up like Snow White pretty much every day (I figured out that this was because it is the longest dress you own and you like a dress that comes down to your feet which is why you always want to try on my clothes). You are entirely beyond girly and will only check out books from the library that have some sort of pink or purple color and are about princesses or ballerinas (although you will read your brother's books when you at home). You want to be "fancy" and dress yourself pretty much every day. It is VERY had to convince you to wear other clothing items once you have your mind made up. You have a pretty good sense of style for a 4 year old though and you absolutely refuse to wear pants of any kind, but wear leggings with all your dresses in the winter. 

You are Miss Independent. Unlike your brother, who loves for us to do most things for him, you absolutely can't stand it if we help you with things you were planning to do all by yourself. You have learned quickly to button things and don't give up easily if a task is difficult, but keep at it until you have figured it out. You are highly opinionated about most things, which can be a challenge, but you are also learning at a fast rate (but also at a rate completely determined by you). You will definitely not be taught anything you don't want to learn (such as the letters of the alphabet). :)

You are flexible and go with the flow (as much as can be said for a preschool-aged girl). We can tell that you are going to be the peacemaker in our home. You are an excellent big sister and you love to play with Enna. I can really tell that you are going to be great at including her in your games as she gets older and I can't wait to watch the two of you together!

Nora, you are truly a delight and joy and I am so blessed to be your mom!

Love,

Mommy

My Baby Turns One!

Oh my word, baby girl, you are already a year old. Time has flown by and I am rather melancholy at the fact that my baby is growing up.

We didn't get to celebrate on your actual birthday because we were spending the day at Silver Dollar City, but the following weekend we threw you a little party. I am so very glad we did because you seemed to know it was your day. You wore the sweet little tutu Nora wore on her 1st birthday and were just adorable.

You pretty much love to get into everything right now. You aren't walking, but standing on your own pretty well and walking with assistance. You seem cautious about trying to take any steps on your own and promptly sit down if we let go of you.

The best part of your celebration was seeing you open gifts. You knew they were YOURS and you were delighted. You did not want anyone to mess with them or take them away from you and were very vocal about it. You loved the attention too!

 I made a chocolate zucchini cake and homemade raspberry icing. It was a delicious combo even though you fussed so much for a taste and abandoned it shortly after. You did demolish your cupcake though!

It is so hard to believe that you have already been here for a whole year. You are so much fun and continue to be a nice little mix of spitfire and sweetness. You definitely have some good lungs and a high pitched scream, but you are also so giggly and cuddly too. We love your fun personality and all your little dancing. You love music and you love to have fun. Watching you interact with your siblings is a daily pleasure and I love your independent spirit. You are anxious to communicate more and more and point your little finger at whatever you want (pretty much everything!). You love to eat and you love drinking peppermint tea! You constantly say something that sounds kinda like "enna" as you point at what you want. You do say: baby, bath, uh-oh, night night, mama, dada, and repeat a variety of noises and sounds. You also nod your head yes and no when asked questions and seem to know exactly what you want most of the time. You hate getting your diaper changed, you love your thumb, and you sometimes love sleep and sometimes don't. You are such a delight and bring so much more fun into our crazy family.

Love you,

Mama

One year stats: 19 lbs. 11 oz. 30 in.

Aidan- 6 years old

Aidan,

My son, you are growing up and it seems like every time I look at you I am amazed at how quickly it all happened. I used to say that I could imagine being a mom to a baby or toddler, but not a KID! Well, now I am the mom of a "kid" and I am loving it.

You have done so many neat things this last year: learning to ride your bike without training wheels, learning to swim and read, going to school twice a week, developing more of a relationship with God, and becoming a Lego "master."

I really really enjoy you. You say some really profound things and a lot of the other things you say are just hilarious. You brought something to me the other day that said, "Mom's Night Out" on it and asked, "Is this yours Mommy? Were you just longing for it?" Your vocabulary and the way you use words is constantly growing and changing and it is so fun to witness. You are always asking me what things mean...today you wanted to know what "ruthless" and "insensitive" meant-words you read somewhere (you are such an awesome reader and LOVE to read).

You love to read books, especially comic books-your favorites being old Disney ones of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. You can sit for hours just looking and reading. You also like to listen to audio books and can spend hours doing that as well. Your attentiveness to stories and your recollection of detail is astounding!

You are still pretty obsessed with Mario-Super Mario Galaxy to be correct. You would play video games all the time if we let you.

Legos have been a huge hit with you lately as well and you love to build, take apart, and rebuild. I should probably insert here that I have to take them apart and sort them by color for you, but I happily do it just to watch you sit for a couple hours and work start to finish on something. You definitely love following directions and you won't redo a set that is missing a piece so we are pretty careful with keeping them together. 

You are still a ball of energy, passionate, and full of life. You love people, are very friendly, and still very much hate to be alone at all. You can spend hours playing outdoors with friends, jumping on the trampoline or swinging together. 

You have an insane memory. I am pretty sure you got that from me. Not only do you remember experiences and details about things, you also have memorized all the verses in your Awana book and then everything that you had to do for extra credit. 

Aidan, you are so much fun to spend time with and you are so full of joy. I love to watch your face light up or hear you full on belly laugh when you think something is funny. There is a never a dull moment with you around. You have been a blessing to me and I am so happy that I get to be your mom. 

I love you!

Mommy

Aidan: 5 year letter

Aidan,

My little boy is growing up and it's really hitting me hard. I think this is the first birthday where I really felt that "please stop growing" feeling. While it is a blast getting to know you more and more as you mature and get older, I am a little melancholy that you are now more of a "kid" and not so much a "toddler/preschooler."

I always found myself looking toward the 5 year mark with longing in those first couple years of your somewhat demanding life, but now I wish that I could go back in time and just have a few days with you again as a baby, a 1 year old, a 2, 3, and 4 year old.

Beyond the reminiscing though, I have come to really like you. Not just love you deeply (which is very true), but really like hanging out with you. You are full of life and wonder and watching you learn and develop certain skills is a fascinating process. I love the way your mind works and how quickly you catch on to things I teach you. You have a steel trap memory, so I have to be careful what I tell you because you will always remind me, even days later!

Some of my favorite things to do with you/memories we have been making:

Reading the Bible together in the mornings while we eat our breakfast (you are an enthusiastic listener)
Building Legos
Teaching you to read
Reading to you (especially some of the chapter books we have recently started)
Playing card games or board games
Teaching you to play the piano

Things I don't want to forget about you EVER:

The way you giggle
Your contagious smile (you are constantly smiling)
Your sweet cuddles (only when we read together!)
The way you are always coming up with solutions to problems
The way you help me with small things (like untying my shoes)
How you just "get music" and play things on the piano or play piano songs on the recorder
The way you light up when talking about your current obsession and the way you get very serious in explaining every single detail to me
How you want to be with me every second (even when I find this a little annoying, I know I'll miss it someday)

Aidan, you are my favorite little guy! You make life fun and exciting and I love to learn things with you. Just today we were talking about pottery and stone mills and watched YouTube clips about them. It is so fun to see your fascination with learning and to learn along with you. I am excited what this next year will bring as we start on our homeschooling journey together.

You a still a very routine guy. You like to know what is coming. You don't like change all that much and you want things the same way day in and day out: like eating p.b. and honey sandwiches for lunch, listening to one song on repeat at bedtime, having your legs rubbed a certain way, and watching t.v. in the early morning.

You are starting to show a lot more responsibility at your age. You are doing better with making your bed, getting dressed, brushing your teeth, and doing other little jobs around the house (putting clothes away, emptying silverware from dishwasher, picking up toys).

You are a lover of people and definitely an extrovert. You can play outside all day in the freezing cold as long as you have a friend with you. You never get tired of being with other kids and you are always being friendly (yelling to anyone within earshot). You are very good at including people and your main goal with friends is to have fun.

You are becoming more sensitive to the Lord and I love listening to you regurgitate Biblical knowledge. You love going to church, and you also love reading the Bible. Whenever we read about the things Jesus did during His time on earth you say, "I believe in these miracles." I love hearing your statements of faith in God as you grow and mature in your knowledge of Him. I pray that one day you come to know Him very personally and intimately.

Aidan, my biggest prayer for you is that you would love the Lord with all your heart, be confident in who you were made to be, and live out your full potential. I pray that you will pursue your talents and gifts and that I will help you become the young man you are destined to be.

I love you forever and always,

Mama