Birthday girl!!!!

Five years!  It is so crazy to me how quickly time passes. Kayden is a firecracker.  Full of energy and emotion.  She has one of the kindest hearts and busiest minds around! She is stubborn beyond belief. That is going to be a very useful skill as she grows up....She is incredibly creative and can twist logic around on you to prove her point more times than not.  She has probably taught me more about myself than I have taught her.  Her giggle is infectious and her eyes sparkle with curiosity and excitement.  She is an amazing observer and she wants to watch until she can do something perfectly herself the first time she tries.  Already she is reading books, determined to keep up with Keeley.  At school she loves to work on maps.  We are in love with this sweet girl!

We got her a reading pillow since she loves to read in bed before she falls asleep.  Hot pink in color because her favorite color is still pink!

  

This year she got glasses and had been doing an amazing job taking care of them and wearing them all the time.  I didn't think she could get any cuter but somehow the glasses do just that!  Dr. Terry said she looked very healthy at her check up - 39.5 lbs (50%) and 44 inches (80%) - tall and skinny!  She is a great eater and she and I have made big strides in the drama in our relationship.  We struggle with sleep still and are working on that (if she wakes up at night she cannot go back to sleep for 3-4 hours).  When we discussed academics, the doctor's response to what Kayden was doing right now was, "Wow.  That's half way through kindergarten curriculum".  So, all in all, great report for my sweet girl.

Butterflies!

The girls received butterfly nets and coupons for butterflies for Christmas.  We are just now finally settled enough to start the project.  Here is what arrived - caterpillars in some food substance.

 

 

 

Update: May 3 - Chrysalids are ready for transfer.

Trouble.

 

I moved those packages inside.  Killian moved the little one off the big one and set it right next to the big one as a step stool so he could play with the lights.  Busy, busy boy.

Killian's birthday!

For Killian's birthday this year we just invited a few of our friends that had kids his age.  Of those, only one family was able to come but it was the family that he has played with the most so it was perfect.  That family has two older kids so it worked out amazingly well.  Killian is obsessed with trucks so we had a truck themed party. 

Dump truck cake!

 

Construction hats to hold the favors.

  

 

 

 

 

 

In his little bounce house.

  

Such a cutie!

All the big kids

Killian and Nate.

    

"truck!!!"  Grandma's present was definitely the star of the show!

  

I love that little boy so much.  He blew his candles out before we even finished the song !

Sister's playing with his new toy.

Ireland

So, Kelly and I went to Ireland with his family for a few days and it was AMAZING.  I'm terrible at remembering names and haven't really had time to talk to Kelly about these to properly document the trip.  However, I wanted to just throw a few out there.  This is only the first half of the trip because I left and Kelly stayed a few extra days.  I know even less about his pictures...

Carrick a Rede (or something like that)....tiny bridge WAY too high up that I actually crossed.    It was worth it though.

 

 

Giants Causeway

 

Castle we took pictures of but didn't get to see.

Really old and famous bar we stopped at on the way home.

 

Learning to pour the perfect pint of Guinness.

  

Success!

  

 

Doesn't even look real!!!  I kept thinking that as I looked out on the countryside.  This was quite a hike  but it was totally worth it.  SO beautiful.

Celtic cross.

It was really neat to learn so much about  history on the trip.  Also very interesting how differently it is portrayed than some of what we learned in school...same events, different take on it.  I definitely want to return someday with the kids.  Everyone was nice, food was decent and the scenery is amazing.  

Two!!!

Two years has flown by with this little guy.  He is truly the sweetest little boy.  We are all so in love with him. He is also adorably cute which just gets all of us into trouble because he gets away with way too much.  Right now he loves trucks and reading. He is an impressive climber (and this is after having a big sister that is a climber...I'm still surprised where he ends up sometimes!).  He loves to take baths and often spends all day in pajamas.  His favorite pajamas are monster pajamas and he sleeps with a million "snuggies" in bed.  Now that he has started "reading" his own books he often has several of those in bed too.  He loves bubble baths or baths with shaving cream to play with.  His vocabulary has exploded since his tubes but he is still the most powerful communicator with that cute little face.  He loves to wave "hi" when he sees you.  I am absolutely his favorite person and get the most snuggles from him.  If one of his sisters is sad he will go over to them and try to comfort them.  If someone is crying, he'll go get tissues for them.  He is a great eater and thinks that anything I have is fair game for him.  His loves are a bit random when it comes to food - cheese sticks, carrots/cucumbers and ranch, pistachios, pirates booty.  "Mine!" is a word he quickly figured out both to lay claim to things that are his and to inquire where his is if both his sisters have something.  At dinner sometimes instead of eating he'll run laps around the table stopping to wave his little hand and say "hi" to everyone.  He also likes to count, "One, two, fwee" right before he throws things and say, "Stop!  Fweeze" with his hand up like a stop sign.  A little parrot of what he hears all the time, he'll come to me and wave his finger saying, "No, dir (sir)".  Often he will clap and say, "great job!" for himself or for other people.  Sometimes he'll stand up in his chair and sing the "hot dog" song from Mickey Mouse and do the dance.  Both of which make everyone laugh which totally reinforces bad behavior.  I had to start sitting across the table from him because if I sat next to him he'd slid his food, drink and napkin in front of me and climb in my lap to eat in my lap for the entire meal.  We can't wait to see what the future holds for us with this sweet little guy.  He's been too busy to eat lately and his weight is only in the 20% at 25.5 lbs while his height is in the 63% at 34.5 inches.  

 

 

Loves those sweets!

  

 

I thought he was going to like throwing paper more than his present, but he didn't.  He was really excited about all the truck books!