Happy Birthday, Tucker!

Dear Tucker Shay,

Today you turned five years old!  We are in the middle of the second biggest blizzard Kansas has ever seen and Daddy couldn't wait for you to wake up today!  You came out of your room with a smile on your face, like you always do.  You are such a morning person!  I have no idea how that happened.  You were wearing your "bones" jammies, which are black pajamas with glow-in-the-dark skeleton bones on them.  You usually just sleep in your underwear so you must have been cold last night! 

You climbed up on my lap and sat with me in the rocking chair for a few minutes.  I decided to ask you some questions about what it was like for you to be five, the conversation went like this:

Mommy:  How old are you today, Tucker?
You:  I'm five!!!!
Mommy:  What is your favorite color?
You: Orange (this was a first, you usually say blue!)
Mommy:  Who is your favorite friend?
You:  Garrison (a boy in your preschool class)
Mommy:  What is your favorite food?
You:  Grapes  (Seriously???  What about pizza, PB&J, hamburgers, pancakes, etc.!!!)
Mommy:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
You:  A Dad.
Mommy:  Oh really?  How many kids would you like to have?
You:  One.  A boy baby.
Mommy:  What would you name him?
You:  Austen Scott. 

You are so cute!  Thank you for letting me interview you.  I interviewed you again later in the day with the video camera.  You pretty much stuck to these exact answers though, only exchanging grapes for oranges! 

You spent the day mostly playing in the snow.  Daddy pulled you and Chloe on a sled with the 4-wheeler and you had a great time!  You wanted to go to Pizza Hut for your birthday dinner and luckily they were open!  Most places were closed due to the snowstorm. 

After dinner we came home and you opened your presents from us.  And this is where I beamed with pride.  You were so excited and gracious about every single gift you received.  I was worried that I didn't get you anything really cool, but as it turns out, plastic bugs may have been the coolest gift ever in your little mind!  You thanked us for each thing and showed genuine enthusiasm even when you opened sweatpants.  You are such an exceptional boy!  You are also really excited to start the piano lessons I told you about.

You told us you loved us about a million times before bed and you even indulged me in a hug and kiss at 7:15pm, the time you were born.  I am so proud of you, Tucker.  I am so lucky to be your Mom.  You physically favor your Dad but you have mostly my personality.  You are a little OCD, very organized, you have to know everything that will happen ahead of time, and you ask a bazillion questions a day!  You love preschool and will be our little student.  The sky truly is the limit for you!  I love you so very much baby boy (yes, I still call you that!)! 

Love you forever,
Mommy

Sprinkle Toes

I am loving my idea of using my blog as a replacement for my kid notebooks!  Sorry to those of you who would rather read other ramblings! 

Chloe was sitting at the table for lunch today when a look of panic and pain washed over her face.  She looked down at her foot, looked at me, looked down at her foot and I could tell she was disturbed by something. 

"Chloe, what's wrong with your foot?"

"It's sprinkling!"

Poor dear had been sitting on her foot and it fell asleep, haha!

I'm So Over It.

I realize I am in the minority here, because according to Pinterest and my Facebook feed, these things are on trend.  All they do for me is make me wish I could fast forward to the next new thing.

My "What the Poo?" List:
Chevron pattern.
Fingernail art.
Rockabilly.
Toms shoes.
Most of the art made from foot/handprints (some really is cute).
Body by Vi (or any other multi-level marketing business).
Headless photography.

Boon!

I was rocking and nursing Austen tonight before bed.  I could feel he was fighting sleep, I could feel his head get heavy with sleep and quickly snap back up as he fought dreamland.  The lights were low, the tv was on and I was deep in thought about something I don't even remember. 

Out of nowhere, Austen sat up and yelled, "Boo!"  I laughed, thinking he was playing a game with me but then I realized that floating above our heads was his helium balloon from his party three weeks ago, he said "boon!"  How cute! 

So This Is Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a couple of quick Chloe stories for you!

Last night, Chloe was up later than the other two.  She was so sweet, she laid on the couch with Ryan for about an hour looking at books and then she came and snuggled on my lap, repeatedly giving me hugs and kisses and telling me she loves me.  She really is so sweet and affectionate, I love it! 

Then she came to me, wearing her blue Cinderella costume and asked me to dance with her.  In the dark living room, with the tv flickering in the background, we slow danced while she sang "So This Is Love" from Cinderella.  Cutest.Sweetest.Thing.Ever  Melted my heart! 

Then tonight, she got in trouble at dinner for tipping her chair backwards.  Ryan had already given her two warnings so she had to go sit on her bed.  When she got out of time out, I noticed she had some snot that needed wiped up so I grabbed a Kleenex and wiped her nose.  Then she looked at me and asked me to wipe her "cry water" off her eyes too.  Precious girl! 

Coco

Chloe-isms overheard while playing:

"Run!!!  It's a ci-wotey!"  (coyote)

She also calls Snoopy, "Snoofy"

Me llamo Tuh-Tuh

I have a notebook for each child that I bought last year when I was pregnant with Austen.  I had grand ideas of writing to each one on a regular basis.  Insert Mommy Fail.  I have written to Tucker and Chloe once, and Austen's book only contains his footprints from his first week of life.  Sigh.

After I realized I was not fulfilling my intention of filling the books of heartfelt words to each of them, I decided I would have just one notebook for all of the kids and I would fill it with all of the funny and sweet one-liners they come up with.  Insert Mommy Fail #2.

The problem with this is that I forget in the moment, it never gets written down and then inevitably I forget what was even said.  That makes me sad, that I'm forgetting some of the hysterical, smart, quirky things they come up with because my notebook is out of sight, out of mind.

Enter my computer.  My laptop sits open in our living room on an end table and is on all day long.  I hop on and off throughout the day to check email or Facebook so I think I may be able to post all of the things originally intended for the notebooks.  I will tag them with each child's name involved in said conversation or story so they can easily be found later.

Which brings me to this mornings "ism" as I like to call them.  This one was a Tuckerism..

I was in the rocking chair this morning with all three kids and we were trying to get Austen to say their names.

Me:  Austen, can you say "Tucker?"
Austen:  (pointing at Tucker) Tuh-Tuh
Me:  Tucker!  Austen just said your name!!!
Tucker:  (raising one eyebrow) Was he speaking Spanish?