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

Prime Day Things

This is the first year I've ever bought anything on Prime Day-- I think. I read lots of blogs about good deals, made lists of what I'd like & what we'd need, and culled and shortened those lists.

I thought about buying Christmas gifts, but the blogs I read from moms who did that kind of stuff highlighted gifts my kids aren't that into and I didn't feel like sorting through the million sales to find things that appealed to my kids. Aaron and I are an odd couple who don't really buy each other gifts, and we're not very much into name brand clothing or skincare/bath products so there weren't many things that I thought were too good of a deal to pass up.  As I perused fashion blogs, I paid attention to items that were only a Prime Day deal.  I saw so many things I liked and had even been on the fence about (we've been on one income for 14 months, so I've been really cautious about purchases), but if it wasn't a Prime day deal then the price should be the same (or quite similar) on any other day. I also paid attention to how much percentage off each item was. If I was only saving a couple dollars, I didn't seriously consider the purchase to be worth it.

I ended up buying 4 things and I kept three of the four.

The first thing was this brown belt with a gold double-circle buckle. I have seen this belt on Cassie from the Hi Sugarplum blog, which I love (especially when she does Amazon, Target, Walmart & LOFT posts!).  In some weird way, I got it in my head that the belt was super pricey but I must have had it mixed up with a belt from a designer store on a prior post. Anyway, this belt was included in Prime day for $10 (initially $14). So yes, it was only a four dollar savings, but the percentage off was pretty good and I thought $10 for a nice neutral belt that I'll wear every other day was a good deal.  I've purchased clothing items from Amazon before (mainly after reading Hi Sugarplum's posts and cross-referencing them on Erika's blog since she is long-waisted like me and sometimes sizes up in clothes because of this) and have ordered one to two sizes up.  I've always felt that the sizing on belts was weird & a little off. I like to have some belt left over to tuck into belt loops and it feels weird to me when the belt just barely barely fits. It's like a little subconscious jab every time I put it on like 'will this even buckle next time?' and I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. :) So I've sized up in belts for years. I read the reviews on this one and debated sizing up two sizes but stuck with sizing up one size. The belt fits great but I surely couldn't have gotten away with my normal size.


The next thing I purchased was this dryer/volumizer. I had read about this tool months ago but couldn't justify it. Since then, my hair straightener went on the fritz and I had priced out new ones but hadn't purchased one yet. I thought if I bought this dryer combo then it would help straighten my hair since it had a brush attached to it.  I also thought it could cut my hair fixing time in half if I didn't have to dry then straighten. It was much larger in person than it looked online. Aaron teased me that it was the type of dryer that Gina Giant from Wallykazam would use. :)  I tried it out the very next morning and it was awful. It took three times longer to dry my hair and left me with a frizzy mess. I knew right then it would not save me any time getting ready in the mornings, so I cleaned the brush and immediately initiated the return process on Amazon. I chose the return option where I could just take the product in its original box to UPS and they'd scan a code on my phone, package the product, and send it back for me. I took it to UPS that very day.  This dryer/volumizer is the same one my mother-in-law uses, I found out and it works well for her and all of the women on the blog posts I read who use it. I'm truly happy it works well for some-- it just didn't work for me.

We also took advantage of this Keurig and this air fryer.  We had replaced our Keurig with a very basic model for $80 a year or so ago when our other Keurig stopped brewing the middle sized cup which is the one I use the most. When I saw this upgraded Keurig for $100 (which was almost half off) I figured that I could take my basic one to my classroom desk and upgrade ours at home. This model can make a shot of coffee which Aaron likes to put in his cold brew iced coffee.  It can also steam & foam milk when we want to be fancy & make cappuccinos and lattes-- which is not often but it might be fun on hot cocoa this winter. :)

We had talked about air fryers in the past and had reconsidered them after Aaron's brother got one. I looked at them in Target and didn't want to justify the price tag.  However, I saw a different brand offered during Prime day and it was so user friendly, almost half off of its original price, and $10 cheaper than the one at Target. I had considered an instant pot because I wanted something to make dinners faster when I get home from work in the fall, but I was still a little skeptical of its safety since it is a pressure cooker.  After researching the air fryer and seeing how it could cook things faster than the oven, I decided to get one and try it out. It arrived on Friday last week and Aaron got home from a trip on Saturday and we tried it out that night and have used it everyday since then. We've made wings, steak, pizza rolls (yes, we're 12), broccoli, popcorn chicken, etc.  I plan to make muffins, mini loaves of banana bread, and even poach an egg in a ramekin soon.

About a week before prime day, I was pricing the dvd box set of The Office. If you haven't heard, it's leaving Netflix in 2020 or 2021 so I felt compelled to get it on dvd. Initially, the series was divided in two dvd sets (seasons 1-5 and seasons 6-9). Total, it would be $85. I chose to wait. A few days later, I checked again and it was $55 for the complete 9 seasons so I jumped at it. HOWEVER, I learned my lesson about buying things before prime day.  It's like buying yourself a present the week before Christmas or your birthday. Aaron's cousin got it for $35 on prime day and I'm kicking myself for spending $20 more than I had to! Lesson learned. Wait for prime day.  (Also, I see that it's offered for $49.99 right now, so I missed out on multiple fronts.  Such is life.)  :)

Did you buy anything on prime day?


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Sayings of My Children

The boys & I read back through little snippets of conversations I've written down over the years and it was so funny to see their expressions as we talked about what they said as toddlers and preschoolers.  I've still kept record of funny quips they make and here's the latest edition.

For reference, Michael is 6 (nearly 7) and Noah is 5.


Noah: (singing) I'm so skinny! You can see my skin!


Michael: Mario has a hundred and one. Luigi has a hundred and one too. Not a hundred and twelve.
Noah: we know that. Everyone knows that.

When Noah talks about kickstands, etc, he says "stable riders" instead of stabilizers. It's so cute and I'll miss this when he pronounces this correctly.

Watching a show about a rhino who needs glasses and Gideon (my 6 y.o.nephew) tells me that this rhino is "ear sighted, which means he can't see."

Noah: (came in from playing outside) mom, do you have a metal detector? Michael can't find his dime.

Noah: I want to watch them go through the cold-desac. But is it actually cold there?

Noah: (playing with a cowboy outfit) I had to get a bear.
Me: (gasp) what kind?
Noah: a grizzle bear


(On May 4th)
Michael: Happy graduation day, Mom!
Noah: Happy Easter, Mom!

Noah: Akuna is wet
Me: Akuna, how did you get wet?
Noah: He doesn't know; he can't talk!

Noah: (pretending to be a dump truck by laying on the floor and pressing the couch cushions up with his feet-- he accidentally toots while doing this)
Me: Uh-oh. Sounds like you have engine trouble.
Noah: No, that was just my Jake-brake

Noah: is Mickey Mouse real?
Me: he's just a character.
Noah: well, I think he IS real because he's in the movies. Does he live in Disney World?
Me: yes. I think in the castle.
Noah: I think he lives in the clubhouse because he's in the clubhouse in the movies. Does he have a garage?
Me: I think so.
Noah: he does. It's in the boot of the clubhouse. It's called a boot garage.

Michael: dad, name 5 Italian foods
Aaron: pizza, spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, ice cream
Michael: you lose. I said Italian!
Me: those are Italian
Michael: ice cream & pizza are not Italian!

Michael: my favorite color is red.
Noah: I like red, white, AND blue
Michael: oh, you will LOVE the American flag

(I told Noah he could have cheez-its after breakfast.)
Noah: remember about my cheez-it cheez-its?
Me: yep. Do you remember?
Noah: nope.

Avery: (puts toy vacuum partially under yoga mat, then runs through the room and trips on it)
Me: Noah, could you pick up the vacuum under the yoga mat?
Noah: Yeah. Why is it called a yogurt mat?

Noah: (shows me his paper plate butterfly he made in Vacation Bible School crafts) I made this today in Craps class

Noah: what do you call a horse that drinks from a swimming pool?
Me: I'm not sure
Noah: a drinking swimming pool horse

Noah: (as I pour orange juice) Orange! That's actually juices squirted from an orange. I wonder if that's why they call it orange juice.

Noah: (pretending to be a dog) what if I scratch off all this stuff covering my bones?
Michael: you mean skin?

Note: When Noah says "L" words, it sounds exactly like how his "W" sounds. I'm typing this how it sounded in conversation.
Noah: mom, how do you spell wait?
Me: wait or late?
Noah: wait
Me: w-a-i-t
Noah: oh, I thought it had an "L"

(Michael was up late watching "Forged in Fire: Knife or Death" with Aaron and myself, and the competitor did something so fast)
Me: oh my gosh!
TV host: oh my G**!
Michael: (gasps) that should say "oh my boop!"

Noah: I love you so much that I'm going to hug you everyday and every mother's day

Michael: we're playing "family." I'm the dad & avery's the mom.
Noah: I'm the grandpa and you can have whatever chocolate bar you like.
Michael: what kind of grandpa is that?
Noah: a working grandpa.

Me: tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to at 4 o'clock.
Noah: is it America's?

Michael: akuna (our dog), you stink. Take a bath.
Noah: cake a bath! You know? Because we're having cake at the party later?
Michael: (laughs) oh yeah, that's funny! Cake a bath.
Noah: (proceeds to repeat his joke about 6 more times, looking at Michael to see if the laugh will continue to be reciprocated).

Noah: (still not able to say the "L" and "R" sounds) Have you seen the white ball?
Me: White ball? No.
Noah: Not white ball! White ball!
Me: (remembering the red & blue markers Noah stuck together to make a police car) You mean light bar?
Noah: Yes, I just can't say those words so I can just say white ball. 

(Noah sits in the way back of our van and he likes to make up songs as we drive.  Here is what I heard to and from church this past Sunday:)
Noah:  (on the way to church) we love Jesus even though He is invisible!
(on the way home) Michael, Michael! You love me and I love you!

Oh, it's so fun to read through what they've said.  These are memories being made and they're good reminders about what precious gifts our children are.


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Brushing Teeth

Avery has recently discovered the joy of brushing her teeth. Now we can hardly walk past the hall bathroom without her saying "teeth, teeth."  So we oblige and enter the bathroom. 

She climbs up the step stool, I hand her her My Little Pony training toothbrush & she brushes her teeth! I don't put her training toothpaste on the brush every time-- sometimes I just get the brush a little wet from the sink and hand it to her. She doesn't care at the moment.

As I hand her the toothbrush, I'll say "here you go" and she responds by handing me the soap dispenser and saying "go."

I'll let her brush for a minute or so. While she's brushing her teeth, I'll comb her hair.

If I lean in toward the mirror to look at my eyes or hair, etc. then Avery will also lean in toward the mirror. :)

When her minute isup, I'll hold out my hand wide and I'll count down from five and then point at her toothbrush. I take it, rinse it, and put it away and Avery proceeds to fake cry for 1.3 seconds until we leave the bathroom and then she's fine!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Family Ice Cream Outing

Last week, we went to a local ice cream stand with my parents.  This is almost like a three-tiered park in a way.  The upper level is a playground and lighthouse fountain that the kids always throw a penny in (and Michael's wish is always that Pokemon were real), the mid-level is a farmer's market, restaurant, and ice cream stand with covered porches and rocking chairs, and the lowest level is a park with walking paths and a man-made small pond and some porch swings.  Here's some photos from our trip after dinner one night last week!

We tried out pig tails on Avery before we left.  They didn't last the 20 minute drive.

There was a big sand pile at the playground and of course all three kids thought it was the best thing ever.  Avery kept sliding down it an inch at a time saying "wheee!" Michael is the ever present encourager of other people doing hard things-- like small Avery climbing the pile.  You can catch a bit of Noah's facial expression as he jumps (another Noah behavioral-constant) and shouts in glee.

When I went down below with Avery, Aaron, and Michael after ice-cream, my parents sat in rocking chairs and watched Noah play on the vintage tractor that's cemented in front of the ice-cream stand.

Avery will get herself into all sorts of dangerous positions like crawling under moving swings.  She's certainly not shy about potential hazards.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Letting It Go

As I'm home with my kids this summer, I'm trying to be more focused on being intentional with my time when I'm with them and also furthering and encouraging imaginative play.  Sometimes this means letting them make harmless messes and waiting til they're really done playing before I jump in to tidy up.  This is really a lesson in letting go for me because my tendency is to immediately want to clean it all up.  But it's actually somewhat freeing when I leave the mess alone until they're really finished.

Here's some picture proof of what they've been up to.

They were making soup with "zests and seasonings."  Once Avery saw her brothers mixing and stirring, she was quick to join in the fun.

On this night, I needed to tend to the oven and stovetop quite heavily while making dinner, so I set Avery up in her booster seat with a yogurt and some shredded cheese so that she'd be happy & content as I did what I needed to do. I forgot that Noah had placed an entire deck of Go Fish cards on the table, and I also wasn't factoring in Avery's ever-growing reach. She got ahold of the cards and thoroughly enjoyed herself as she tossed them all around her chair. I chose to just go with the flow & let her fling cards since she wasn't harming anything and it was keeping her entertained while I needed her to be.

I'm more so writing this post so I can refer back to it at a future date when I might need a reminder to relinquish control. :)

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba