Life with 4

Here are just a bunch of random pictures from the rest of September that I don't feel like putting in chronological order...which I'm just going to have to be okay with.
 
I went a little nuts with taking pictures of her sleeping, but I just love it :)

One morning

Goodbye pack-n-play, we're finally in a big girl bed.  It was only 10 minutes of crying and wandering around looking for her crib.

Little miss bright eyes in the middle of the night

We had some really rough nights there for a while where she would only sleep while being held.  Jake and I took shifts, which ended up being the only way we could get any sleep.  She was funny too in the fact that every time we tried turning off the lamp she would wake up.

All I want for Christmas...
This girl is a super light sleeper and the tooth fairy attempted 4 times and went through lots of anxiety to get her job done.

I find lots of pictures of Kate on my phone

Little trip out to the shore

Lily's first bath.  Rachie had to plug her ears...her little heart couldn't take it.

Look how little she was.  I think she's already double in size :(

Mornings are crazy trying to get kids fed, lunches made, hair done, everyone dressed with shoes on, backpacks ready to go.  It's a good day when I can fit a shower in.

Jake and my mom took the kids to a local farm one day while I took a much needed nap.
They got to collect eggs in the chicken coop

...do some farm chores

and there was a school event that day where they highlighted school life in the "olden days"

Lily's such a doll :)

Tommy is doing his first season of soccer this fall and is loving it.  There are some kids that are pretty impressive and even though it's 3 on 3, he doesn't get a lot of contact with the ball.  We need to work on his speed :)  Eh, it'll come (or not) he's having fun and he knows his team "needs him"

Kate playing with her babies

Tommy's on 2 wheels!  I took a long time trying to convince him to do it.  He always complained he was too scared and would fake crash and give up lots, but once he decided to do it it didn't take long and now he is completely addicted!

Annual 5K race

Back to that same trip to the shore

I thought the kids would just wade their feet, if at all because the water was FREEZING.  That didn't stop them.  We didn't bring suits or a change of clothes.

Tea party time

Tummy time!  I honestly have not been very good at remembering to do it.  Sorry 4th child!

 

The little girlies 

First Day of School

The night before...
One thing I remember as a child was how nervous I always was before the first day of school.  I remember not being able to sleep and tossing and turning with butterflies in my stomach.  Rachel doesn't ever seem to be nervous.  She was giddy "as a school girl."  She had her backpack ready and her outfit picked out 3 days before.  Tommy on the other hand, didn't hide the fact that he was nervous.  He told us he was nervous countless times.  Rachel was great in trying to ease his worries and get him excited, telling him how Kindergarten is the "fun" year.

 A 3rd grader and a Kindergartener...I seriously can't believe it!

 Off to the bus stop

 I could have put Kate in the preschool I did with Tommy last year but I didn't even really consider it for more than a second.  I didn't want to deal with getting the kids in and out of the car and the rush hour traffic every day, especially with a newborn.  And all the other preschools are too expensive.  So I am enjoying having her around for one more year and saving $300+ a month.

 So cute!

 I was doing good until the bus drove away and I turned around to see this face.  Then I lost it!  Seriously BROKE MY HEART.

 Tommy is only in school for half day (2 1/2 hours actually).  At first I thought it would be a good transition for him, but now I really wish it was full day.  He's loving it and doing a lot better than I expected.

This is how we go to the bus stop

 This girl LOVES school!  She has an incredible teacher this year who is challenging them well, but is so sweet and fun too.

I'm grateful she's still our little girl and gives us lots of hugs and kisses.  I'm sure the day isn't too far away when that is just not cool.

Kate is 3

Kate requested a "balloon birthday."  At first I tried to get something more or different out of her, but in the end I welcomed and LOVED the simplicity of it.

This girl can eat pancakes like nobody's business

 A smile is worth a thousand words...and 4 weeks of antibiotics 3x a day.  If you can tell, her smile is slightly crooked.  This poor little girl got Lyme's disease, and Bell's Palsy with it.  We first noticed an interesting rash and showed it to our pediatrician who thought it might be ringworm.  The treatment for that didn't work and when I noticed the facial paralysis, red flags started flying and I took her in.  On my way out of the office the doctor mentioned there was a chance that her face wouldn't recover.  I took it pretty hard at first, especially feeling guilty I hadn't taken her in sooner.  But after a priesthood blessing and talking to another doctor I was very hopeful.  This girl has a smile that can light up the room and we're so grateful it's back.  Luckily, she didn't suffer from any other symptoms with the Lyme's.

 

This is just a few days earlier (at the hospital)

A week and a half earlier (at an Orioles baseball game)

    To celebrate her birthday, we went to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe

 

Kate ate every last noodle of her large plate of mac n cheese

 Kate got super shy when the waitresses came out singing for her.  She is always reserved when she meets new people but usually warms up after a while.

 

These kids were excited about the gifts they got her.

 

Lily, 5 days old

Party pooper

 Kate got her own scooter (she was always stealing Tommy's and making him very upset), a bunch of princess things and I can't remember what else.  I know, it wasn't that long ago.

 Cupcakes with lollipop balloons.  Lollipops are another favorite of Katelyn's

 The kids seemed to like their suckers more than their ice cream.

A few things about my little girl:

• She has the cutest voice.  We get comments about it everywhere.
• She loves to sing.  Her current favorites (and ours) are "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel" and "If you chance to 'me nut brown'" (meet a frown)
• She is very independent and has been buckling herself, putting on her shoes, etc. for a long time
• She knows her colors and a lot of her letters and sounds
• She can ride her scooter fast.  She scares all of our neighbors.
• She loves playing tea party and picnics
• Loves following, doing and copying anything the big kids are doing.
• She's addicted to the iPad (I have to put some serious limitations to that thing)
• Is great at saying, "thank you" "your welcome" and "sorry"
• She's my best sharer
• Has facial expressions that kill me :)
• And it's a good thing she's so cute with those curls and blue eyes, because 3 years old can be really terrible