2 Years Old

Asher, wow, these two years have flown by!  Ash is growing and changing every single day and it never ceases to amaze us!  He is so good with Eli and Cora and absolutely loves them.  Asher's whole world revolves around them and what they are doing.  He is always ready to join in on the fun and has always been carted around to all their activities and events and loves to be a part of it all.  I think he has grown up a lot faster because of it all and insists he is turning "THREE".  Asher is my sweet snuggle bear and I love his personality.  At two Asher:
1.  Is mostly sleeping through the night.  He gets up early and often snuggles up with us in our bed for a while before the big kids are up.  He has NO PACIFIER anymore, but I do love to snuggle and rock him before bed.  There's almost 100% chance that I will still be rocking him to sleep when he is ten :-) (Eli would never let us rock him so it is a special treat for me).  He likes to sleep with his froggy or doggy stuffed animals most nights, but sometimes chooses a little action figure or even a book to sleep with.
2.  Loves going to the zoo and has a great love for animals in general.  He loves helping to take care of our animals and can't get enough of gorillas, monkeys, tigers, elephants, etc.  He especially loves petting the goats at the zoo.  He also loves my Mom's cats Rabbit and Eeyore and still picks them up even though they are about the same size as he is now.  He loves collecting the chicken eggs or picking dandelions for the rabbit.  Every day he carries his plate of scraps out and dumps it to the chickens.  It is so cute!
3.  Is my little monkey.  He climbs everything and doesn't have a whole lot of fear.  There's nothing more terrifying than being in the middle of cooking and looking back and seeing him teetering on the edge of the couch or table or something.  He loves jumping off of things too.  He is my only kid that is a crazy climber.
4.  Responds to the nicknames of:  Ash, Ash man, Asher smasher/crasher, monkey, and snuggle bear.
5.  Loves running, taking walks, walking the dog, bike trailer, going to the playground which he can do all on his own now, playing with cars, airplanes, chalk, trampoline, farm toys, bubbles, kayaking, and swimming or anything that involves water.
6.  He is a great communicator.  He can talk amazingly and uses full sentences and even strings sentences together.  It still blows my mind after Eli's speech problems how good Asher can talk.  He can make all the sounds easily that Eli really struggled with and I do not take it for granted!
7.  He loves music and dancing and will sing his little heart out in the car.  He loves kids praise songs and Frozen songs.  He also loves playing drums, shakers, and other musical instruments to music.
8.  He is down to one afternoon nap.
9.  Has only had one ear infection since he got tubes in his ears last fall!  Praise God!
10.  Loves picking and eating strawberries out of the garden.  He loves eating and is a great eater.  His favorite foods are all things Italian:  pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, etc.
11.  He loves playing active games like wrestling, hide and seek, tag, Star Wars fighting with light sabers, jumping.
12.  He loves the outdoors and goes around smelling flowers, pointing out any animal he can find, examining bugs, and birds.  He loves all the geese in our neighborhood especially.
13.  Wears 2T clothes with super short little legs.
14.  Is very affectionate and gives a lot of hugs, pats on the back, and kisses with a big "MAH".  He loves to snuggle us or the other kids.  He is very gentle with the dog and babies and pets their heads and pats the babies gently.
15.  Asher's best friend is Brody Owens who he calls "Bro bro"
16.  Loves going out on dates or adventures.  He loves going to get donuts at the Donut Whole, going out for ice cream, or eating at Jason's Deli.
17.  Hates getting into his carseat and that has definitely been a struggle over the past few months.  Now he gets a tic tac if he gets in without a struggle and that seems to be working.
18.  Pees in the potty at least once a day.  I plan on fully potty training him after our vacations this summer.
19.  As of June 12th, he has been without diapers for a week!
20.  Had a monkey themed birthday party with Braggs, Cormans, and Donna.  He had a great time eating monkey cupcakes, punch, making pizzas, and jumping at the trampoline park!

Cora is 4!

My little sunshine is four!  She has grown up so much this year.  She started school and made some great new friends.  We have had a lot of fun adventures this past year and played a lot of girly games and toys!  She is such a great combination of girly and tough.  She can easily play dress up and have tea parties and the next minute be wrestling one of her brothers down on the trampoline.  We love her and her happiness and light are contagious to all of us in this family!  I am so thankful she is mine!  At four Cora:
1.  Started preschool two mornings a week.  She has the same preschool teacher that Eli did (Ms. Ladonna and Ms. Jennifer).  She is "advanced" for her age in a lot of areas and has really grown in her shyness towards her teachers.  She made some great friends this year at school especially her identical twin friends Joy and Jenna and another friend named Emberly.  I have seen her writing improve so much and she can sound out words because she knows all of her phonics.
2.  She loves to color with markers, pens, paint, etc.  She loves all art!  She loves to draw rainbows and suns right now.  She also likes playing with kinetic sand and playdough.  She loves crafts and anything artistic, which is fun for me!
3.  Loves animals.  She helps me take care of all the animals and loves playing with our rabbit Carrot.  He chases and follows her all over the yard and they are best buddies.  She enjoys collecting the eggs every day and giving the chickens a quick pet.  She also LOVES cats.  She has had a blast over the past year helping to take care of my Mom's kittens and enjoys frequent visits from Rabbit and Eeyore even now when they are grown.  She mothers them like crazy and they love it.  She gives Rica a lot of attention and loves birds too.
4.  She loves jumping on the trampoline, wrestling, biking (NO TRAINING WHEELS EVER), playing with My Little Pony toys, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, barbies, dolls, jewelry, clothes and dresses.  SHe will only wear her hair in braids or down with clips.  Even mentioning a "pony tail" will bring tears lol.
5.  Is super silly.  She reminds me so much of myself at her age.  She is goofy as all get out and will do silly voices and giggle a lot.  She likes to dramatically lip sync music (especially Frozen songs or kids praise songs).  She also likes to write little songs (about rainbows, rain, birds etc.)  Her latest enjoyment is singing duets with me.
6.  She is a little helper in all ways.  I am so proud of her servant spirit and loves to cook, garden, clean, etc.  She always is helping us out with a willing and joyful heart.  She always helps her brothers without us even asking her to.
7.  She planted all of my garden with me and loves to help in any way.  She loves weeding, watering, mulching, etc.  I let her plant two big smart pots full of strawberries and she loves checking on them every day and picking and eating them.
8.  Says she is going to marry "Daddy" and that I have to share him.
9.  She is super affectionate and loves snuggles, hugs, and kisses.
10.  She prays so super sweet.
11.  Has a couple of nicknames being Cora Lou, Cora Bell, and Cora Ellie
12.  Has an ear piercing girl scream when playing hide and seek or other games.
13.  Loves playing animals and has worn holes in all of her pants crawling around playing cats on her knees.
14.  Loves roller coasters and other rides and has no motion sickness.  She also loves swinging at the park.
15. Has a best friend, Avary Owens, from church, and we have many playdates where the girls completely trash her room and cook us "pies".
16.  Loves having tea parties and had a fancy dress up tea party with her friends and cousins for her fourth birthday.  We had tons of finger foods, punch, tea, scones, and crown cupcakes.  The girls had a blast making teapot necklaces and playing.
17.  Is the most beautiful girl both inside and outside!

Eli #6

Oh my Eli.  This past year has been one of the craziest times.  I feel like I have been holding my breath all year and have just now exhaled!  Juggling therapies, new school schedule and adjustment, learning the ropes of public school, Cora starting preschool, Asher's ear struggles and subsequent surgery for tubes, etc.  It was amazing to watch Eli grow into a big Kindergartner and embrace school with all the passion he's always held for life in general.  He loves school (is sad that it will be ending soon), loves his teacher, and has made tons of new friends (especially Gabe, Henry, Colton, and Brody).  I consider this year a miracle year.  Eli officially graduated ALL speech services at Heartspring (we were driving and squeezing in speech two mornings a week before school and then he was doing one session of speech at school a week).  All of his teachers tell me all the time how smart he is and how much they love him and love having him as a student.  This year has been more than we could have ever hoped for and I am thanking God for his faithfulness and his mercies that are new every morning.  At six Eli:
1.  Loves space shuttle launches.  He knows all the shuttles and loves watching their launches online.  His favorite shirt is his Colombia shuttle shirt.  He has all of his friends playing a "spaceship game" out at recess with him on the playground equipment and likes playing with space toys.  His whole room is decorated with space stickers, shuttle poster, etc.  He was born to fly!
2.  Lives to do model rocket launches.  He likes to take his friends too and the whole family enjoys them, as well.
3.  Likes all things pirates.  He likes playing with pirate ships, hunting for treasure, etc.  He also loves Star Wars and Clone Wars and playing with light sabers.
4.  Favorite restaurant is Jason's Deli or Picasso's Pizza.  Both places have great GF food.
5.  Still loves flying in airplanes and loves traveling.  It doesn't matter where we go, but his favorites are:  the farm, Texas, Lake Tahoe, and Kansas City to Great Wolf Lodge.
6.  Likes riding on the 4-wheeler, kayaking, playing on the playgrounds, going to movies, wrestling on the trampoline with Dad, jumping, running, computer games, star wars games, collecting the eggs, picking strawberries or other goodies out of the garden, sledding, eating snow, and more.
7.  For his birthday at school he had a space theme and gave out space goody bags.
8.  Is reading amazingly and loves it!  He can read paragraphs and has grown so much this year in both reading, writing, fine motor skill etc.
9. Bothered once in a while by his wheat allergy.  He still is a great sport about eating differently than the other kids, but has mentioned more than once this year that he wishes he could eat wheat and hopes he will be able to eat it in Heaven.
10.  Scared of the dark once in a while and sleeps with 5 items:  three stuffed animals and two balls.
11.  Has a great sense of spirituality and always asks great questions and can add to the conversation.  He prays for his friends and is always thinking of his friends when they are sick etc.  He is very caring and loving.
12.  Hard working in school.
13.  Very affectionate lately, especially with Cora and Asher.
14.  Still has sensory issues with smell (don't even try to open a banana near him).
15.  Can still have some not so fun emotional outbursts especially when tired, but with a good routine and structure he does great.
16.  Loves all things nerdy.  He loves math and science, but has made me very proud this year in stretching himself and actually really enjoying art and music, as well.
17. Passionate about life and inspires me in so many ways!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was SO much sweeter and fun with three little kids to celebrate with!  School parties were great and the kids loved their little presents, treats, cards, and balloons.  I went to breakfast with my friends for my birthday and Brandon and I had a great date night out to Public for supper.  We have a lot of love for each other in this family and I am grateful for how close we all are and pray it continues forever!

New Years Party

Brandon and I have always dreaded New Year's Eve.  It is just not a holiday we have enjoyed in the past since we have usually been stuck home with little kids or are unable to stay up late.  This year our kids are old enough to celebrate and we had a little family party!  It ended up being a blast!  We had pizza (which is a special treat in this household), sparkling juice in flute glasses, ice cream with candles (where we sang Happy New Year to the world), a family dance to "Celebrate", and did some sparklers and snakes in the backyard.  We ended our night with snacks and watching The King of Egypt as a family.  It was the first time we have actually had a blast on New Years!  It was so much fun to have kids who could understand and celebrate!  We took a lot of time to talk about the past year and highlight the ways that God has blessed our family.  The kids came up with some awesome memories and we all prayed for the upcoming year.  Happy New Year!