Michael: 7 Years Old

On Wednesday of this week, Michael turned seven years old.  I find myself in this weird space-time continuum where I can fully believe he's been here seven years, but at the same time, I find myself amazed that he's nearly a decade old!  How can this be?!?!

Michael is very passionate about a few things and seems to truly enjoy being who he is, which makes my mommy heart so happy.  He is loving second grade which is such a blessing to us since first grade knocked the wind out of our sails with their behavior app at school and made us (mainly me) feel like a failure as a parent.  This year, however, he's doing so great behavior-wise and is making new friends and is actually excited about going to school each weekday!  He's always done well academically, and this year is no different.  He enjoys participating in school events (like wearing blue on Friday for spirit day and bringing a dollar to buy a special snack on certain days).  

He is very much into Pokemon and Super Mario still.  He knows boundless facts about the two things and will eagerly tell you all about them if you lend a listening ear.  His imaginative play has really soared during this last year and he spends about as much time acting like he's a Pokemon or a Pokemon trainer or Mario as he does playing any games involving them.  

He loves to read and will frequently ask if we can keep the hallway light on at his bedtime so he can lay at the foot of his bed and read stories.  His favorite series right now are the Captain Underpants series and the Dog Man series.  I'm hoping to get him into the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and to further his enjoyment of some of the Magic Treehouse books he already has.  These are all books he'll read by himself.  My grandparents purchased the Rush Revere series for him last year and we've really dug into those books together.  We'll take turns reading those aloud in the evening and he always begs for us to keep reading after we've hit our set number of pages.  

He is still quite tall for his age.  He recently went through (or is still going through) a growth spurt, so he's thinning out and I'm sure I'll find that I don't have to roll his pants up this winter!  He currently wears size 8 in clothing.  This is a medium in kid sizes and we have some large things in his drawer that we can rotate through and give us a little buffer if he suddenly has another growth spurt.  

He sleeps very well through the night, although getting to sleep is sometimes an issue. He and Noah start heading to bed at 7:00 pm and sometimes it takes Michael almost two hours to go to sleep.  He'll read for a bit and then he goes through the cycle of wanting to give us one more hug, get one more drink of water, tell us one more interesting Pokemon fact, ask us what the craziest animal is because he "just really needs to know!", etc.  

Michael is still our best eater and even the nurses at school know his eating patterns and alert us right away if his appetite suddenly drops because that most likely means a sickness is on the way.  He isn't a fan of bbq or lasagna but eats most other things with gusto.  His favorite dinner is supreme pizza-- brand doesn't even matter.  So for his birthday dinner this week, we had frozen supreme pizza and he was as happy as a clam. 

For his birthday evening cake, he chose "funfetti cake in two circles stacked on top of each other with chocolate frosting in the middle and on top but not on the sides."  So that's exactly what we had!  Some grandparents came over that evening to eat some cake with us, and we'll have his actual party next week so his school friends, church friends, and other grandparents can come.  

He received a few packs of Pokemon cards (to include some new Detective Pikachu packs related to the movie, which is one of his favorites now), a couple of books, some long sleeve shirts (Mario and Pokemon of course), a Detective Pikachu game for his Nintendo DS system, and some birthday cash.  He already has in mind what he's going to spend his money on in November when two new video games come out.  We'll see if he can hold out until November to spend it.  I'm guessing he'll be able to do it. :)

He is the best big brother to Noah and Avery.  He's really helped Noah transition well into the routine of going to school.  Noah frequently gets sad in the mornings as it's time to go, and Michael helps cheer him up and sometimes even holds his hand as they walk into school.  Michael loves spending time with Avery and will play pretend with her and watch shows with her. 

We're truly blessed that God brought Michael to us and has allowed us to be his parents!  He's such a joy and is growing up so well, albeit so quickly.  

I love you Michael boy!  You are so so special and sweet.  We love you forever!

Love, Mom

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Avery: 2 Years Old

Today, Avery turned two years old! 

In some ways, it doesn't feel like it's been two years since she was born, and at other times, it absolutely feels like two years has passed.

She's so precious and sweet.  She's developing the funniest little personality and it's such an awesome experience to be her mommy and watch her grow into who God has designed her to be.

Tonight, we kept it super simple since she won't really care if she had a birthday party or not.  I made funfetti cupcakes with chocolate frosting and we invited the grandparents over to celebrate with us after dinner.  Two grandmas and one uncle were able to stay and sing Happy Birthday.  One grampa stopped in briefly for a cupcake before going to meet the other grandpa at our church to work on a project.  The other set of grandparents have family in from out of town, so we're hoping to get up with them this weekend to do a combo celebration for Michael and Avery since Michael's birthday is next week. 

Avery's birthday kicks off a long string of celebrations around here.  We have a birthday every week from now until the third week of September! 

Avery opened up some cards and a few gifts tonight.  Aaron and I haven't bought her anything yet for her birthday since we know she doesn't really care and we're trying to see if there's anything she actually needs.  She opened up a toy cash register from my mom (complete with pretend money [hard plastic, large coins and one plastic dollar bill], fake veggies, fruit, milk carton, and loaf of bread, and a plastic credit card).  Of course the boys have decided this is their favorite toy too and Michael is now even contemplating asking for one for his birthday. :)  Avery also opened up a Minnie Mouse telephone, and some fringe booties & a little denim dress she picked out while shopping with Grandma Chips today.  My Nana sent her two books (The Rainbow Fish and an Elmo book "P is for Potty").  Avery LOVED having us sing to her and she gazed happily at her two little candles, not quite sure what to do about them. :)


This weekend, we took down her crib and put our spare queen bed in her room to prepare for when my best friend and her husband come to visit us mid-September.  We weren't quite sure how Avery would react and it went about the way we thought it might.  She acted like she loved the bed after we had set it up, but then once it came time to go in it for the night, she was not impressed.  Aaron had to lay down with her to get her to go to sleep.  She woke in the night crying, so I laid down with her til morning and she was up when I was up.  :/   Last night, Aaron still had to lay down with her to get her to fall asleep, and she still woke up in the middle of the night, but she opened her own door and came into our bedroom and stood by Aaron's side of the bed and woke us up. I brought her back to her bed and stayed with her til it was time for me to wake (about 3 hours later), and this time she stayed asleep.  She cried out a little after 6:00 this morning, which is her normal wake-up time.  As I write this tonight, Aaron is laying down with her and I'm about to go check on him and see how she did.


Avery wears size 2T clothes, and can still fit into some 18-month things. I put her in 3T pajamas sometimes just because I have some hand-me-downs and pajamas run small anyway.

She loves to wear her Paw Patrol nightgown around the house over her clothes, or she'll ask to change into it.  It's flannel, so I don't really want her to wear it all day long because it's still so hot outside down here but I think it's so so cute that she has a favorite outfit.

She is an okay eater.  We've regressed a little here.  She still takes a bottle (well, sippy cup with nipple lid) of whole milk very well, but she's become rather picky about her food.  She'll eat yogurt and applesauce no problem.  She also enjoys macaroni and cheese.  But she's very particular about meats and vegetables.  She's super selective and won't really eat much of them when we serve them for dinner.  She'll try everything, but if she doesn't like it, then she'll scrape and swat at her tongue with her hands til she has the offensive food item removed. :)

She is saying so many words now.  Here's a few I can think of off the top of my head:

juice ("jews")-- this is Crystal Light liquid squirted in a cup of water
Please
Mama
Dada or Da
Mamaw for Grandma
Gee for Gigi (my mom)
Mao for Michael
Broo for Noah (not sure why)
Kaaa for our dog Akuna
Pup Pup for any dog or puppy
Kick for kitty cat
Rocks for socks
Ewww
Uh-oh
Uh-uh
No
Bot for bottle
Meck for milk
Poop for when she needs a diaper change
Teeth when it's time to brush teeth
Hands for when she wants to wash her hands
Bath
Hair
Ope for open or up
Co for comb
Night night
Kay for okay
Pat-pat or Bee for her baby doll

She'll repeat most of what we say and can follow extensive directions ("go get your baby, she's in the kitchen in front of the stove.  Go get her and bring her back to me" and she'll do it).

She's such a joy.  She loves to laugh and make silly expressions.  She'll give hugs when asked and loves to cuddle or be around us all the time.  She's very opinionated and lets her brothers know when she's aggravated.  She plays along in their games (like hide and seek) and exudes joy at every turn.  We're so so blessed that God put her in our family.  We love you, sweet Avery girl!


Happy Happy Birthday, my dear one.  You are a delight.


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba