Max and Claire ~ 5 year old edition!

I blinked and my babies turned FIVE! It's hard to believe how fast these years go by and I'm sure I'll say that each year, but it's true! Four was the hardest year for me so far.  Not only did we have a lot of family changes (pregnant, house on market, sell house, have baby, move to rental, Justin traveling, move again....), but they have really mastered how to work as a team and against me.  Claire is a teenager in a five year old's body (read: attitude, thinks she knows everything) and Max has bit of a temper. BUT they have also been so much fun to watch grow and turn into the coolest little people.

We were supposed to have a Chuck E Cheese birthday party on their actual birthday (Jan. 22), but thanks to the snow storm.... that was postponed.  They were equally excited to have a snow day with Daddy home from work! Buds was a machine out in the snow and loved every minute of it!
We started the morning with cinnamon roll waffles! Had hot chocolate after the snow and cupcakes after dinner! Sugar high all day!

The Buds!

 My main man, Max!  Buds can still be the sweetest, cutest, most snuggable little boy. When he is sweet, he is the best.  He is a big helper, always takes his dishes to the sink, will help when asked and loves his sisters! He also has a bad temper. If he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, or if he is in a mood and doesn't get what he wants... watch out. We are working on how to handle our feelings and the appropriate way to act when we are upset.  Taking TV away has helped a lot.  During the move and since Kate has been born, there has been way too much tv and shows that we shouldn't have let him start watching (Ninja turtles, power rangers, spider man..) Now that we are getting settled in our new house, I have really started giving him more one on one time.  Last week we played cards for hours.  He had so much fun and was such a good boy! I have high hopes for FIVE!

Buds loves to be outside and to be doing anything active.  He is very competitive and determined when it comes to sports. He can do a lot of tricks on his bike (he has already outgrown and needs a bigger one in the last year) and is now learning tricks on his new scooter ~ which scare me! He loves, and is really good at, basketball!  Justin got him a basketball hoop for his birthday which we will set up once this ice melts.  He makes friends easily.  His new teacher said he jumped right in with a group of boys at school.  It's funny, I thought he would be shy!
Some rough stats:
Weight: 53 lbs
Height: 48 in!
Shoe size: 1.5/2
Clothes: 6/7
Has lost two teeth and permanent teeth are already in!

Trying out his new scooter Christmas morning

5 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color?  Blue, like Trevor!

What is your favorite toy?  Transformer

What is your favorite food? Granola bars

Who is your best friend? I have two, Trevor and Ellis

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Go to a special treat place

What is your favorite cartoon?  Transformers

Claire Bear

Oh, Claire Bear! My mini me!  Claire is such a little mommy.  She literally follows me around all day.  If I'm watching the news, so is she.  If I'm doing a workout video, so is she. If I'm cleaning, so is she (well only if I'm wiping down counters!) If I'm with Kate, so is she. She loves to go to the grocery store or shopping with me! My sidekick.  She is obsessed with Kate.  I often don't give her enough credit for how good she is with her.  She is in her face way too much and does everything for her which is why I get frustrated.  I tell her Kate needs to learn to do things for herself just like you did! She loves to hold her, especially standing up (supervised).  She loves books, coloring and anything art, swinging and playing with her babies. She is very smart! Grandma bought the book, "How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" and she is doing great!  Such a good little student!
Claire is also working on her attitude and how she talks to us. She has gotten very sassy and talks back a lot... again, acting like a teenager! (which scares the crap out of me for the future years!)
Some rough stats:
Weight: 43 lbs
Height:  44 in
Shoe size: 10.5
Clothes: 5/6
Just lost 1st tooth!

5 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color: rainbow

What is your favorite toy: she said remote control car that comes in the mail today!

Favorite food: apples with peanut butter

Best Friend: Lily James

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Color and play games

Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Go to his office

Favorite cartoon: Peppa Pig 

Claire lost a tooth!

Last night Claire lost her first tooth. On the eve of her birthday eve! haha! January 20th, 2016
She is so excited to catch up with her brother, who has lost two teeth!  What's funny is that she is terrified of the tooth fairy! Sometime last year we were reading a book and it had a tooth fairy in it.  She started crying saying she didn't want to lose her teeth and didn't want the tooth fairy to come!  It didn't phase her when the tooth fairy came to visit Max, but last night she was crying and didn't want to go to bed!

We ended up writing a note to the tooth fairy saying her tooth was under my pillow! My mom suggested still leaving the $ under her pillow so she would see that it isn't scary or a big deal. So, that's what we did. Her tooth under my pillow (which actually made it easier!) and when i went to check on her before bed, I slipped a dollar under her pillow!

She woke up around 5, coming into our room waiving her dollar! She was so excited.... and thankfully went back to bed!

Kate ~ 8 months!

Here we are again... another month has flown by for Miss Kate.  She is still the happiest baby, only crying when she is tired or hungry.  She is definitely mobile.  She doesn't do the traditional crawl, but does a reach and pull that gets her where she wants to go....especially on hardwoods!

8 Months!!

She is still exclusively breastfed and I am starting to introduce more foods.  She will eat baby food, but really likes when I give her big people food.  She likes - toast, eggs (yolk), sweet potato, broccoli, banana and carrots.  I bought a steamer bag of mixed veggies that we will try this week.

She has tried sippy cup and hasn't really caught on. Sometime if I help her, she just keeps it in her mouth, but doesn't swallow.

Still on the petite side.  She can still wear the majority of her 3-6 month outfits from Gap. Footed PJs are 9 months and most everything else is 6-9 months.  I haven't set the kids up with new pediatrician since we have moved - need to get on that! Melisa (our good friend and ped. back home) said we could come back for her 9 month and M and C's 5 year.

She loves bath time.  She likes to splash more than anything and gets mad when bath time is over!

Kate loves when we go to the park.  Swinging always brings a smile!

Still working on sleeping through the night :/.  We were starting to make progress before we moved, now she is back waking every 3-4 hours.  I said I was going to make her start CIO, but that hasn't happened yet. She is a good napper.  She usually takes 2-3 naps a day lasting around two hours each time!

She is very loved by her brother and sister.  Claire can't keep her hands off of her... wants to hold her, pick her up, hold her standing up.... 24/7.  I try to tell Claire that Kate needs to learn to do things herself, just the way she did.

Absolutely love my little punky punk more than anything.  She is such a blessing to our family.

The big move!

Hello there! It's been a while! We made the big move to Cary on the 6th.  The movers came on the 4th, packed the house, loaded on the 5th and delivered on the 6th.  I will never move us on our own again.  It was so nice having someone else do it! Unpacking was/is a different story!

We have met a few neighbors and they are all awesome and so nice!  The neighborhood has a few greenways, perfect for running/walking and has two parks and pools for kids! Summertime should be fun!

We are still unpacking.  We have unpacked most of the important things, just need to do some organizing and straightening up.

We have been eating on the floor bc our kitchen table and chairs have not arrived.  I ordered from Wayfair and so excited to see it! Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week!!

Cheers to new beginnings!!

.... and this little cutie turned 8 months on the 4th... just need to find her monthly stickers so we can do her eight month post!