Blake's 5th Birthday, Soccer, & Preschool Graduation!

Ever since it turned June, Blake has been counting down the days until it was finally his birthday!

Preschool had ended for him the week before and he was able to have a day for them to celebrate. We brought the class cookies, and he had his favorite book read "Go, Dog. Go!" where he knew almost all the words :)

Here is a picture of him on the day they celebrated his birthday at preschool, and on his last day of school. Grown and much more confident than when he started!

His birthday  fell on a Monday this year, just like the day he was born! So we celebrated as a family a little bit on the Saturday two days before. First, Blake had his last soccer game of the season. It was his first time playing and he had a fun time trying something new! He had a great coach, made some friends, and occasionally kicked the ball too, ha!

His first game he worked hard and scored a goal, and while he mostly lost interest in staying with the ball the rest of the games, he did his best, and we're glad he worked hard and had fun!

That Saturday we also went out as a family to go mini-golfing. This was Blake's choice, so we went to a fun pirate themed one and even though it was hot the boys loved it!

On Blake's birthday that Monday he didn't have school so I decided to treat him to the movies and his request was to see the Angry Birds movie! I had tried to talk him into seeing Finding Dory, but since Jacob already got to see Angry Birds at a birthday party Blake wanted a chance to see it too. So we made a day of it and had a good time! Ava could have been better but there was only one other group in the theater so hopefully they didn't mind Ava's whining halfway through.

The night of Blake's birthday was also special since he had his preschool graduation ceremony too! It kind of felt fitting that as he was turning a new year he was graduating and really getting ready for kindergarten and a whole new year ahead.

And he looked so grown up and cute I could hardly stand it!

The ceremony was very cute as they got to sing some songs, one even in spanish, and then got their little diplomas. I was proud of my big boy and all he had learned this year in preschool! Sometimes it wasn't easy getting him down to Saratoga every day, and having Ava sacrifice naps, but I'm so grateful for the progress Blake made in his two preschool classes this year- it was all worth it to get him ready for Kindergarten! He loved preschool so much!

So after the ceremony I took the kids to a nearby park and Luke picked up some pizza (Blake's request) and we had Blake's birthday party there! The playground was quiet and it was a nice night to be celebrating. It was perfect!

All day Blake hadn't believed it wouldn't really be his birthday until he got his presents. So after dinner when we finally sat down for him to open his gifts, he opened one and then said "Ok I'm definitely 5 now!" He was so excited, it was too cute!

His favorite gift, one that he had been asking for, was a "Frank". He had a great birthday!

We drove everything home and then had our cake there- of course it had to be a blue cake!

My little boy is growing so fast! You may have noticed from some of the pictures he also recently lost his first tooth when he was still 4.  On May 17 it came out when I was brushing his teeth, and he lost his second one soon after!
Blake is such a sweet boy and I love how he's so good at expressing to family how much he loves us. His laughter is contagious and he is becoming much more independent too. He still loves playing with trains and cars, TMNT, building Legos, and playing with his brother and he's great at making new friends. I love watching him grow up but wish time could slow down a little bit. I'm sure 5 will be a great year for Blake!

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

We made a lot of memories this Memorial Day weekend, and this month!. Saturday night we had a barbecue and set up the tent in the backyard. The kids were very excited to camp out for the first time at our new house!

We stayed up late and did smores, and Jacob tried telling scary stories. We put Ava to sleep in the house and then we all slept in the tent. The boys took forever to wind down and get tired enough to sleep, and I don't do so well sleeping other places... Luke was disappointed when he woke up to see that I wasn't there in the tent- but someone had to be with Ava in the house, right?

Sunday, sort of last minute, we threw together a barbecue potluck with some friends from church, and we had a great time! My friend Karen got Ava to try ribs for the first time and she ate at least 2 completely clean, and several plates of food- I was impressed!

Monday, on Memorial Day, Luke was off work so we took a drive near Lake George and went for a hike! We first made it to this fun waterfall where Jacob ended up taking a swim!

The bottom of our trail led straight to the lake and the boys were tempted to swim here but we agreed to take them to a sandier beach to play. So after the hike, the boys got to play on a playground while we got changed, and then we found a quiet spot on the lake for the boys to play for an hour or so. The water was still pretty cold but they had so much fun they didn't want to leave!

 Ava didn't do any swimming or playing on the sand this day but she still enjoyed being out! It was such a fun weekend together!

 As the weather started to warm this month, I enjoyed taking Ava on walks while Blake was at school, and going to the park with friends some mornings too. It got hot quickly, but we really loved having the warm weather!

Back on Mother's Day, one of my gifts from Jacob was him showing me that he had learned to ride his bike on two wheels! I was so excited that he had learned, not just for him, but that also meant we could finally go on a family bike ride together! I think this is my favorite thing to do!

 Now that Jacob can ride on his own, the younger two can fit in the bike trailer. Ava is not a fan of wearing a helmet but she does enjoy the ride!

We used the beautiful nights to go for rides around the neighborhood, and one Saturday we went for a walk on a trail and let Jacob ride his bike and Blake rode his scooter. Jacob did great on his own, we just had to keep reminding him to slow down so we could still see him!

This was the only nice trail I've found in the area, and I love the quiet trees and the stream that follows the trail. Proud of Jacob for learning to ride his bike, and love family time in the spring!

Ava's First Birthday

Ava is already one year old! While this last year has seemed to fly by quickly, it has also been quite an eventful year and thinking of Ava being born last year also feels so long ago! And fills me with too many emotions...

 But just in time for her birthday, just 5 days early, Ava finally started crawling! And not just scooting backwards or in circles like she's been doing the last few months, but actually moving forward! This is exciting but also extremely exhausting trying to make sure her path is clear of small legos, or stacks of papers, and so on. It feels harder keeping things out of the way with the third child than it's been in the past. But she is obviously proud of her new freedom. 

You may also be able to see she got a new second tooth on the same day she started crawling. Her first tooth popped through right after she turned 10 months. She's slowly growing up, but I'm glad she's taking her time as I adjust to her not being my little baby anymore!

And seriously. These faces. She is such a little cheese and loves getting attention! She is very well aware when strangers or anyone is complimenting on what a cute baby she is, and she loves to get as many smiles and eyes on her as possible. She is also good at waving on her own all the time, and sometimes it sounds like she says "hi" too- more like "haah".

 She also has found her voice and is very chatty and babbly, and often squeals and screams when we're not giving her what she wants. Pretty normal for any baby, but newer for us since she has so often been the quiet and soft crying baby. So she does give us attitude, but is overall still a great baby.

At one Ava is a great eater- she eats anything we give her and it still never seems to be enough! She's small but still growing well. She also takes about 2 naps a day and is wonderful sleeping through the night and patiently plays in her crib in the mornings until I'm ready to get her- which I love! She likes me to read her books before she goes to bed (she looks to her shelf and says "bb" which I've interpreted as "book". She can also say "nana" for her favorite snack (banana) and says "dada" quite often- but not mama! She also seems to refer to her brothers and other people as "dada" sometimes too.

 She loves her pacifiers, but hates hair bows even though I insist on them. She also likes taking bottles of water, and has started sippy cups of milk, both of which she can hold up on her own.

She loves to giggle and laugh and be silly. She has an awesome deep woman laugh, or at least that's what I call it. She gets especially excited with her brothers around, and seems to like to be in on whatever is going on. She loves the extra attention they give her! She knows how loved she is in our family.

On the morning of her birthday, the boys and I came in to sing to her and gave her a big birthday balloon. This is her shy smile, she loved it! :)

It was a simple birthday- she was sharing the day with me after all, since her birthday fell on Mother's Day this year. I was more than happy to celebrate being a mom by also celebrating my little girl!

We had just a small party that evening, and since there wasn't much she really needed in terms of gifts, we went with the idea that since she is one, she gets one present! She actually figured out how to rip the paper off so fast I could hardly get this picture before she opened her gift!

 And here is her cheesy smile showing how happy she is with her new toy!

The boys reminded me there was actually another gift for her- one that I bought at a consignment sale before she was born and had been hiding under her crib for over a year, so we finally presented her this cute little riding toy too!

 Even the boys had fun trying out the new toy with all the buttons and sounds.

Of course we had to give Ava an opportunity to try some birthday cake, and Ava has very little patience when it comes to waiting for her food, so this is more of a painful smile as we sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. But as soon as I removed the candle and placed it in front of her, she immediately grabbed it and dug in two handed.

 It was a yummy, squishy, fun mess!

We just love this girl to pieces! I know it sounds cheesy, but literally every day I think how grateful I am that Ava is a part of our family! She brings so much happiness to our life, particularly mine because I love the time that I get with her right now and I try to enjoy every little milestone as much as I can! We're happy to see Ava growing up to be a beautiful, funny, silly, and happy girl and look forward to all that she will learn and do this next year! Happy Birthday Ava- we love you!