The big news of the weekend: Dawson lost his first tooth! He may try to tell you a story that Mom ripped it out, but this is simply not true. It happened in Pittsburgh while we were visiting family for a dual graduation party, and the tooth fairy found him with three dollars!
There is something about a toothless grin that is so adorable. The one next to it is very close to falling out as well.
Owen was snuggled and loved and fawned over the whole time. He loved it!
The kids asked to go to a Memorial Day parade so off we went! The kids loved picking up candy and watching the fire trucks and the twenty one gun salute.
This sweet little boy loves his wash cloths. In fact, Meme told me that I should leave wet wash cloths in his crib at night in hopes that he will sleep better. A couple of things that I forgot to put into his 9 month old update: he is now saying dada, baba and mama. He will also answer uh-huh when I ask him questions: Owen, do you want a wagon wheel? Uh-huh. He also tried to imitate the meow of a cat.
The big kids love to play with their little brother.
Mike made three happy kids when he found fidget spinners at a gas station. What a crazy fad!
Carter made his rank of Bear this past Sunday. It looks like Daddy is going to be the den leader next year. Baby Owen doesn't like to be put to bed by anyone but Mommy, so its going to be a team effort. I will do the preparation and Daddy is going to lead the meetings.
Pinning their parent
Crossing over to become a Weeblo.
We're proud of you!
Carter is very excited to attend Weeblo resident camp with his Dad this summer.
Little O and Big C
Mom and Baby O came to watch the ceremony. Ava and Doc were home with a baby-sitter, they really don't like sitting through the long ceremony.
On Monday we joined Dawson at school for his end of the year kindergarten celebration. It was very cute, and the students had obviously been practicing very hard. There was a Doctor Seuss theme and with the students reciting portions from a book.
Dawson recited a portion from "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish." He was really nervous! He almost leaves but then realizes he has to say one thing he learned in kindergarten. If you can't hear him, he talks about learning to do the monkey bars.
Here are some additional songs. I have to apologize in advance because they aren't the best quality because we were juggling a squirmy nine month old and trying to see his face between the other kids.
All the songs were adorable but the parody of Uptown funk was hilarious.
Dawson, we are so proud of you. Mrs. Badger stated one thing about each child that she would miss and she said she "would remember Dawson helping all his friends in class." I'm so glad to hear this! You already told me that you are nervous about going to first grade because there will be more homework. But don't worry, you are one smart cookie and I'm sure you will do equally well in first grade. You have been so excited about this performance and Daddy and I enjoyed every second. We love you baby boy!
Nine months ago our little Owen James came into the world. Our life has been so different, in the best possible way.
Our little chubby bubby is not mobile yet, other than rolling around and spinning around on his belly. I know it's coming soon, you are getting up onto all fours and rocking back and forth. You can also get up onto your toes and hands in a plank position. You seem to be following the same developmental path as your big brother Carter, he started crawling around nine months.
Now you are eating three meals with solids and purees. Some of your favorite finger foods are beans, puffs, lunch meat ham and strawberries. You are starting to loose interest in purees, and would much rather be eating the food you see on our plates.
You LOVE to watch the fish. We go there at least once a day and you squeal and shriek and giggle. It's also good standing practice for you. Other favorites? Well you love a book called In the Forest that has a finger puppet deer in it, you love the popcorn shakers and the trains. Owen you are still a terrible sleeper. Every two to three hours is the norm. Every once in awhile you help me out and give me a 4-5 hour stretch. Let's make that the norm, ok?
Do you see this face of genuine joy and love? It's not directed at me, your big brother Carter was coming over to smile and talk to you. You adore all of your older siblings.
He was so sweet grinning at his big brother, I had to take a picture of the two of them together. By the way Carter has had two hits this season! Go big brother!
Right now you are wearing 18 months clothing and you weigh 24 pounds. I haven't gotten the official weight yet because your doctor's appointment isn't until june.
Our world is about to change because summer break is coming. I'm looking forward to all the coming adventures. You seem so happy and content outside, whether it's at the baseball fields or the park. Hopefully you will stay that way. Right now you have two teeth on the bottom, and four on the top. You won't show them to me, so this is how I have to look for them:
Little baby giggles!
OOO, snuggle puppy of mine, everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are, I love what you do. OOOOO, I love you!!
That little song is Snuggle puppy by Sandra Boyton. It's a special book to me because I've sang this little song to all four of my sweet babies.
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in our lives namely Meme, Grandma, Aunt Margie and Aunt Tiffany. I had a wonderful day! The kids made awesome gifts at school and they made me breakfast before church. The Mom's special breakfast was frozen waffles with whipped cream, syrup and a danimal yogurt. As always, my kids also made me some gifts from home including homemade #1 Mom awards, a piece of wood that says Mom on it, and my favorite pieces of stones with a note that says "you're a gem." What a sweetie!
After church we ate lunch and went up to Cuyahoga Valley National Park for a fun afternoon together. The twins go everywhere together, often times holding hands.
We did the ledges trail, it was beautiful!!
Owen was an absolute angel baby! He wouldn't nap in the backpack carrier but he was a happy boy the entire time.
The ledges had all kinds of rocks for the kids to climb and nooks and crannies to explore.
Dawson always makes Mike nervous because he wants to get as close as possible to the edge of the ledges.
We took our time and explored plenty. It's nice because a two mile hike was very enjoyable with them!
I'm so thankful for these four kiddos that made me a Mom. Spending a day exploring with them was icing on the cake.
There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than seeing two of my babies snuggling.
This is true love in year 12 of marriage: Mike volunteered to go through Carter's room. This job took two days, over eight hours and three bags of trash. I'm still trying to teach him (Carter) the family motto: We don't keep trash. But seriously Mike, thank you so much.
Recently Dawson was student of the week and he made an "all about me" poster. He wanted to make a timeline and I had to find a picture of him with a broken arm. I think it turned out pretty cute!
Owen, there is nobody in the world that can make you laugh like your big brother Dawson.
So last summer, I half heartedly worked with Dawson on learning to ride a bike. But I didn't put too much effort into it because being pregnant and bending over a bike for long periods of time don't go well together. So, I just recently asked him if he wanted to practice some more and the boy literally got onto his bike and rode away. We no help from me!! Thank you Dawson for teaching yourself to ride a bike!!
Dawson is holding an Oscar statue because he is the student of the week. So he will take pictures with Oscar and write about their adventures together. They had a great time on Sunday with the beautiful weather and they got filthy dirty helping me weed the garden. Although they didn't so much "weed" as they did "roll in the dirt."
We taught Carter how to mow the grass, and he didn't do too bad! In fact, he mowed the front yard for nothing more than a gatorade.
Watching the draft with Daddy
This guy and I made a quick road trip to Dayton and he had a blast playing with Meme!!
This year Ava decided all she wanted for her birthday was a trampoline. So in addition to some money the kids had saved from Christmas she got her wish this weekend! It was funny watching Mike put it together with EIGHT children (including our three) watching its progress. They have enjoyed it so much already, they get off the bus and run to our house to jump on it immediately.
And Ava's other birthday gift:
Hermit crabs!!
Ava loves her hermies and wants to play with them constantly. She has two crabs Hannah and Kolbe. She asked me to take this picture so we could print them out and bring them to school. She thinks they are so cuddly and cute, what a strange little girl!
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep! I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep "Song for a Fifth Child"
