Mathilda Rose turns 2!

Tildy is our ball of spunk and we all had fun celebrating her birthday. Leading up to her birthday she learned to say "two augus" when asked her age. Much the same as Henry did when he was turning two. Tildy loves being part of anything her older siblings are doing and especially likes following Hank's lead in getting into mischief. She watches his every move and the two of them are either loving one another or driving each other crazy. It seems only fitting that Tildy wears both Ruby and Henry hand-me-downs (as shown above). 

Everyone wanted in on the birthday action. 

Tildy loves building with legos, which is the only activity she will sit still for. I love watching her build with her little fingers and listen to her breath heavy as she concentrates. She will say, "I building a house, mom." Mathilda also narrates everything she does and her vocabulary gets bigger by the day. 

Leading up to her birthday, when asked what she wanted she responded, "Hello Kitty cake." She was pleased about blowing out her candles. 

We love you, Mathilda! Thanks for adding so much life and spunk to our family. Our family wouldn't be complete without you keeping us on our toes. 

Ruby Elizabeth is 6!

Happy Birthday, Ruby! I love how Ruby appreciates tradition. I overheard her telling a friend about some of our birthday traditions. She told her friend about the balloons and gifts she finds in her room when she wakes-up on her birthday, and how she gets to choose her birthday breakfast. A great reminder that the little things make life good. 

Ruby started kindergarten this year and looks more and more grown-up to me. I have mixed emotions about this. I enjoy watching her blossom into herself and seeing her interpret and understand the world around her. But I can't help but mourn a bit about the childhood she is flying through, and realize that before I know it she will be all grown-up. 

Ruby loves having friends and playing with them. Her ears are fine-tuned to hear when Hazel and Maren from next door are outside playing. She races out the house to see if she can join the fun. Ruby needs a constant companion. "Mom, will you play with me." "Mom, what are we going to do next." "I can't play by myself!" (insert pouty face).   

Ruby is also helpful with Henry and Tildy. Lately I love to hear Ruby upstairs teaching Henry something or instructing him how to play a make-believe game. She always want to be to the one to get Mathilda out of her bed in the morning and gets mad when I tell her she can't wake Tildy up.

I also love being in Primary with Ruby. She radiates when she sings during singing time and like a sponge, soaks up the sharing time lesson. Occasionally, we make eye contact and I wink at her and she winks back...warms my heart every time and I feel so blessed she is mine.

Three cheers for Ruby!

Mathilda Turns 1!

Peach cake for this peach of a babe! 

{peaches are her favorite}

She was not shy about her cake...also not very smiley about it either. 

Most of the night Tildy was trying to climb our cellar door like the big kids. Explains her to a T...always trying to keep up and be big.

**These gatherings for my kiddos' birthdays always remind me how wonderful family is. My kids are blessed with so much love around them and so many great people to count on. It is a blessing to me, too. I'm also feeling blessed for the little house we now call home. Nothing better than making memories in a place we hope to be for awhile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tildy! 

Your first year of life has gone by too fast and brought more love and joy into our family than I thought possible. It also brought some good lessons on how to be a more patient and loving mother as I'm learning to juggle my time between three kids. It hasn't always been easy (and there have been many rough moments), but one year later, I feel I've grown as a mom and a person. I'm feeling grateful to all three of my little munchkins for helping me be a better person.

Ode to my three-year-old. We like to call him Rascal Hank. 

He is a fun loving, wild, curious, intense, and sweet little three-year-old. 

He HATES wearing shoes, and when you ask if he needs some his response, "No, I'm fine."

He likes rice and beans, gogurts, otter pops, hot dogs, and crackers. (and up until he turned three, a big bottle of milk...he's been a champ getting rid of it.)

He loves exploring outside, is curious about everything. Likes playing with his little cars and playing inside real cars. 

He is one mean scooter rider and a great little climber. And he doesn't mind being told that "your doing a great job, Hank!" frequently.

He is also king of time-outs. But after a little pout session is quick to bounce back into action.

He insists on having his back and stomach tickled as he falls asleep, and lately prefers sleeping on the floor.

He likes reading books and is always asking "what does that say, mom" when he sees a word anywhere (billboard, sidewalks, street signs....)

We love our fun little rascal!

Ruby turns 5!

My Ruby turns 5 today. Especially since Mathilda's arrival, I look at Ruby with amazement at how old and big she is! Today Ruby is having a Hello Kitty party....which she has done most of the the planning for. It will be complete with pin the bow on Hello Kitty, face painting, a Hello Kitty cake, and let's not forget the piñata. Ruby loves throwing a good party! 

.  .  .

Dear Ruby,

Today you are five. And as her mom, I couldn't be more pleased with the young lady you are growing into. You are my little buddy, and I often ask you if you will always be my buddy. You help me clean the house, you set the table, you are patient with your little brother, and you draw the best pictures which you give freely to all of us. I especially love how you write Ruby VW with a heart at the end on all of your school papers and drawings. You also like to help me in the kitchen and make your own "stews" and other treats. You are even planning your own muffin business called, "Muffins and More", complete with a walk through window for your customers to enjoy. You love pre-school and your teachers always tell me how much the love having you in their class. When you are away at school, Henry always asks, "Where's Rube?" He loves you just as much as I do! I especially love how lately, you ask Henry if he wants to play something and then the two of you go off to your room and close the door. It means a lot to me that you like to include Hank and he couldn't ask for a better sister. Mathilda's sI love watching you dance and listening to you play piano. Your favorite songs to play include, Star Wars Theme, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Peter Piper Pumpkin Eater. 

Ruby, we all love you! Our family wouldn't be the same without your spunky and unique personality. Thanks for making our world a better place! 

Happy Birthday!

Henry Scott turned two!

And he was not pleased...at all.

Seriously, he had a blast!

In true Hank form, we had a little Buzz Lightyear swim party to celebrate. Thanks to our great families for coming and spoiling our little man. He really did enjoy himself. For Hank, nothing is better than Buzz, pizza, swimming, a beach ball, and birthday candles.

We sure love this little man...wildness and all! My favorite thing is putting him to bed at night and after telling him "I love you, Henry" having him say through his binky, "I lub you, mommy." Makes all the crazy moments from the day disappear. He wears two well!

Happy "two august" my little Hank!

Who needs gifts when you have Buzz and gang Pez? 

And a special thanks to my assistant party planner. Putting the party together would not have been nearly as much fun without Ruby's help. She was so excited for Hank's party and even more excited to give him her gift. She wanted to get him a dreamlite because Hank likes hers. We went to Walmart together and picked it out. Such a sweetheart.

Taylor Swift.

The mob of people waiting to buy shirts!


























Thanks to Hugh and his awesome birthday gift to me, Ruby and I went the Taylor Swift concert together. Both Ruby and I had been looking forward to this since my birthday back in March. In fact, when we told Ruby about it, she marched to her room and picked out her outfit. And every so often she would say, "Meg, I can't wait until June!" (the concert was on June 1st).

Ruby has loved singing along to Taylor since she was just little. More than anything, I was looking forward to sharing this experience with Ruby. We made an evening of it, and headed up early to get some dinner at The Gateway before heading over to the concert. The place was packed with concert goers and tons of little girls all decked out in their red Taylor gear, complete with cowboy boots, and even red feather flapper headbands. Against this backdrop, I had a hard time holding back tears as I looked down at my sweet Ruby in her fancy Easter dress and jean jacket (the outfit she picked) with her Costa Rica purse across her shoulder. She hardly said much as we waited in line at Costa Vida to order our food....she was soaking everything in. I'm not quite sure why I was so overcome with emotion at this point, I guess I felt so lucky to be Ruby's mom and watch her experience something new.

 We missed the opening act so we could buy Ruby her souvenir shirt, which she put on  over her dress once we FINALLY got it. There was no order to the line for t-shirts, and I thought we would never get to the front. But after much patience on Ruby's part we made it to the front and Ruby pulled her money out of her little purse and purchased her shirt.

The concert was great and I was impressed with Taylor's personality and way with the crowd. Ruby was much more reserved than I expected, but was so cute when she would get up and dance and sing-a-long.  The concert was full of costume changes, dancers, lights, and fireworks...a lot for a 4-year-old to take in. Ruby was a little disappointed that Taylor didn't wear more "fancy" dresses, and that we weren't close enough for Taylor to shake our hands. (Ruby loves to play concert and shake her "fans" hands as she performs :). But overall, it was a success and for me, a great night spent with my darling Ruby. Taylor did sing all of Ruby's favorite old songs, Our Song, Love Story, You Belong With Me, and Sparks Fly. We did end up using the ear plugs Hugh sent with us. At home, Ruby was not keen on wearing them, but once she heard how loud it got, she was all about them. She wanted me to wear them too so she didn't feel silly :). I had forgotten how loud concerts get...and even our little babe in the womb was moving and grooving most of the night.

Ruby, I hope you know how much I love you. I had such a fun time sharing this experience with you, and even now as I write this, I'm fighting back tears. I think mostly because you are growing up right before my eyes. I love watching you grow and experience new things, but it also pains my heart a bit to realize you won't be small forever. I hope you always keep your sweet excitement about life and love of being with loved ones. Here's to making many more memories together!