FOUR

Okay, why does this keep happening??  Wasn't I just here?  Doing this thing where one of my babies gets a little bigger?  Hrumph.

Yes...today The Pea turned FOUR!  She was literally JUST born!  I can't believe it.  She is officially a Big Girl.

We had a good day today, but unfortunately the poor baby was sick!  On her birthday!  This is how she spent her afternoon:

 Curled up in the chair, watching football with Daddy.  
Before she really started feeling badly, we had a little celebration with Grandma, Grandpa, Nana Dee Hailey and Zoe.  It was big fun...Hannah loved the Ariel cake:

 She also lovvvved her presents.  Matt and I decided to go with the My Little Pony theme.  It was a huge hit!

 I am so proud of my big girl.  But I gotta say...I wish she'd stop getting so big!!

Also:  GO DAWGS.  We just pulled off a beautiful win against Florida.  Happy Birthday Hannah...I don't think a proper Dawg fan could ask for a better gift :).  

This is what he does when he is tired...

He will just lay down and roll a car back and forth on the carpet.  I actually put him to bed with three or four cars and buses in his bed because this is the best way to get him to relax.

NINE

In honor of my oldest turning NINE, here are nine things to know about Caitlin.

1. She used to be shy.  Bigtime.  In preschool it took her 3 weeks to feel comfortable enough to play on the playground with the other kids.  But now?  She has become confident, poised and very un-shy.  I'm proud of this!

2. She is a reading maniac!  I usually go to the library on Monday to pick out books for the kids to read for the week...and by Wednesday, I'm going back for more books for her.  Right now she likes Beverly Cleary, all the American Girl books, and the Nancy Drew (clue crew) books.  She also likes to re-read books.

3. She still wants to be a chef in Charleston.  She and Matthew have created this huge restaurant idea that involves aquariums, slides and seafood (Matthew plans to be the fisherman to catch both the food and the aquarium animals.).

4. Her favorite food is popcorn shrimp.  Though fried catfish is a close second.  Ew.

5. She is still very fashion-savvy.  When she was little, she was always very opinionated about what she would wear (remember the hats?)  These days she is just as particular...she knows what she likes and has no problem pouting if you try to divert from what she likes.  Yesterday I had to go shopping for her church clothes without her and I was so nervous!!  I was so relieved when she actually liked what I chose.  (I did involve both sales girls in the decision which took at least half an hour).

6. She thrives on routine...one of the many ways she is like her father.  She wakes up in the morning, eats the same breakfast every day, same lunch every afternoon and follows the same afterschool regiment: get home, do the checklist (wash hands, do homework, give mom agenda, put lunchbox away and refill waterbottle).  She comes home and gets it done.  At night time I don't have to remind her to lay clothes out...it's part of her routine and so it's done.  Matthew, on the other hand is the opposite (he's more like his mom).  If something becomes too routine, he finds a way to keep it interesting.  Sometimes this is a good thing, other times it gets him in trouble :).

7. She still thinks that boys drool and insists that she is NEVER getting married.  (again, a striking contrast to her brother who has several girlfriends.  Who have no idea that they are his girlfriend.)  If you suggest that a certain boy might be"cute", she goes bananas.  Hoping I have at least another 3 years of this.

8. She is still a major rule follower.  The idea of getting in trouble at school is unthinkable.  She is the only student in her class that has never "moved her stick" (the discipline system this year).  Last year she did get in trouble ONE TIME...and it just about sent her over the edge.  She insists that she was falsely accused. Knowing how much a rule follower she is, I actually believe her.

9. She loves birthdays as much as her mama.  Especially her own. And she fully expects a fuss made.  In the weeks leading up to The Big Day, she dreamed on several occasions that either mommy or daddy had forgotten her birthday.  "It was a nightmare!", she said.   And so, we make a fuss.  We always try have a celebratory dinner at the beach, and this year she also got to have a spend the night with her best friend.  They got to stay up late, eat by themselves at the Mexican restaurant, and have their hair curled.  Later in the weekend we had a family celebration complete with cake and presents.

I could go on and on about my girl....but I'll leave it at nine.  Till next year :).  Here are a few pictures from all the fun:

 With her "bestie" before a shopping trip from Nana and Dee

 Sitting alone at the Mexican restaurant.  (We were just a table away).  They even wore matching outfits!

 Caitlin opening presents.  Wearing clip in hair feathers.  Fashion trends are so weird these days!!

 Being sung to...which embarrasses her to death!  We did it anyway.

This is the face you will get if you say something about boys or boyfriends.  Utter disgust!  Daddy is so proud.

So, We Went To the Beach…

and here are the pictures! Which I am in a hurry to post because I have some very very sweet pictures from Caitlin’s birthday celebration  (SHE IS TURNING NINE.  WHERE DID THE LAST EIGHT AND THREE QUARTER YEARS GO?) 

This year we went to Navarre Beach Florida.  One of my girlfriends who goes there every year told me the it was one of the most natural beaches around……and it really is!  However, this year was a bit more natural than we were expecting…the jellyfish were EVERYWHERE!!  But did this stop Caitlin and Matthew from getting in to collect shells?  Absolutely not!  In spite of minor stings (and a possible allergic reaction) they managed to collect a million shells and have a wonderful time in the waves. 

I would love to share some pictures of the kids with their nets collecting fish and shells and jellyfish (the latter of which they carted off to bury in the sand.  I almost felt sorry for the jiggly monsters.  Almost)  However because Ben and Hannah insisted on dragging mommy to the pool and skipping the jellyfish infested waters, I did not have much opportunity to snap pictures. 

I did however catch a few pictures during one of our early morning walks.  One of the best parts about going to the Gulf for vacation is that we get to switch time zones, which means that we never (thanks Ben!) missed a sunrise. 

Hannah and Daddy.  Side note: Matt decided (much to Caitlin’s chagrin) not to shave during vacation this time.  That’s why he looks a bit scruffy.

Hannah, Matthew, Caitlin.  Ben refused to leave mommy’s arms so he didn’t make the kid photo.

I fixed my hair for the occasion.

Mommy and TheBen.  Sunrise in the background.

 

During the week we went to the “Gulfarium”, (THANK YOU NANA AND DEE!) which had sea life shows..so much fun for the babies!

Zach the dolphin…who’s show inexplicably made me cry. ( Also not the first time.  I think it’s because growing up I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer.  Turns out I was not smart enough.  Also turns out that training kids is a very close second )

Seals Sea Lion, balancing a soccer ball on her nose

We also managed to find a playground that was just over the bridge.  It had a duck pond, a dock and two play sets.  Big fun for everyone!

My sweet girls

Matthew and Mama feeding the seagulls

 

Daddy and TheBen

He slides by himself these days

We also found a restaurant on the beach that served kids meals in bright pink frisbees  The meant lots of after-dinner fun!

Pictures at Sunset:

My shy girl-ha!

…still crazy, after all these years.

A Bedtime Story

...courtesy of Matthew.  He wrote this book, and put it together for Ben and Hannah one night.

 (Goodnight For Littles)

 (First you brush your teeth)

 (then you say your prayers)

 (then you may get to read to your parents)

 (then your parents will tuck you in)

(then you will fall asleep)

I have beach pictures coming soon...

Vocabulary

When Caitlin was about 18 months old, we started her in speech therapy.  She had been diagnosed with a speech delay (which, it turns out, was less about ability and more about willingness.  She’s been strong willed from the get-go).  She is completely fine now, of course (in fact, a little too fine if you ask her teacher, ahem).  However because of her issue, I found myself worrying about Hannah and Ben’s speech around 18 months as well.  With Matthew, though, it was different.  Whether it was his proximity in age to Caitlin, or an inherent need to communicate, by the age of five, the boy had mastered a pretty darn good set of words.  He was talking about “Cessna airplanes” and “Monster Trucks” by the time he was two.  I loved to hear him talk, and it was such a relief not to worry about his vocabulary.
Until now. 
This past weekend on our way to Elachee, I heard Matthew, in a sweet sing-song voice, chanting, “F---er! F---er! F----er!”.  I think it had been going on for a while before it registered for Matt and me…but when it did  Matt nearly drove off the road and we both exploded at Matthew:
“MATTHEW!  WHAT??!!  ARE!!  YOUSAYING!!??!!?!!!  WHY?  NO!! BAD!!  NO!!  WE DO NOT SAY THOSE UGLY UGLY WORDS!!  WHO/WHERE/WHEN DID YOU HEAR THAT WORD!??!!”
Poor Matthew, who had no idea what the hell was going on (I’m a grown up.  I can say that) looked so confused.  However he had picked up on the fact that perhaps he had done something wrong and was hunched down behind Caitlin waiting for the inevitable (but confusing) grounding from baseball.  (The poor child thought he had just made up a clever new word.)  Eventually we calmed down and explained the whole thing to him and expected that we had done the trick.  There would be no more potty words from him.
Not so much.
This afternoon he came home from school, and in the middle of grammar homework (how fitting) asked me if ‘B---h’ was a bad word.  (I’m starting to wonder if I’m getting played here.)  Apparently he had learned this little gem from a friend at school. 
Parent conferences are this week…I have a feeling I may be in for something special.  I’ll let you know. 

Labor Free Day

What a great weekend!!!  We got to look forward to a Saturday football game, (which admittedly could have gone better) and then a magical Sunday and Monday.  Magical because Matt’s parents offered to take ALL FOUR MONKEYS Sunday morning and keep them until Monday morning.  So Matt and I got 24 blessed hours kid free.  Don’t get me wrong…I love my babies…but our time to miss them is minimal.  And those 24 hours meant that Matt and I got to drive around in our carseat-unfriendly car, go run together right at naptime and then go out for dinner without worrying about being home at any certain time.  (of course we were home and ready for bed by 7:30, but we didn’t HAVE to be-).  We enjoyed every minute of it!!  And, when the kids came home it wasn’t a minute too soon.  I missed the little stinkers (the majority of Matt and my dinner conversation was about them). 

I hope my in laws know how very much we appreciate the time and effort that goes in to providing such a break for us…and as much as we enjoy it, it’s nice to know that the babies enjoy the time with Nana and Dee even more.