Grateful

I am grateful for...

The Public Library

I am grateful for several computers located near each other.

The fact that my kids picked 17 books, 3 movies and 1 CD.
I am also grateful that my baby was like this the whole time...

While the other 3 babies were screaming their heads off!

I am grateful that my kids couldn't wait to read their books so we had to stop outside and read them for 20 minutes.
I am also grateful for the view.
Bust most of all I am grateful that our city is building a brand new library less than a mile from my house. It is in my neighborhood actually, walking distance! So, even though it is a 25 minute drive to this library, and even though the construction is such a pain right now near my house...I am so grateful that in November it will all be over and we will get to enjoy the new library just like we enjoy College Hill.

Our Day

Was a whole lotta this...

then this...
(I love that my toy room was trashed...it means they had fun right?)
finished up by another half an hour of this...
Gosh I love summer, and friends who live close by! Thanks Anna for coming over...next time we will have to have your Mommy and brother stay and play too! :)

3 pounds and shots

That is the difference between Lucas and Bridget...3 POUNDS!! I know this because today was his 3 year check up and she would not let him have all of the attention, so she was weighed and measured too.

Lucas is in the 120th percentile, measuring in the 4 year old's category. If he was 4 he would be in the 98th percentile for height. He is 40 inches! He weighs 35 pounds which is more than he was about 3 months ago, but he has grown in height so she assured me that it was normal. They did a knowledge test and they asked Lucas if he liked preschool because he knows 24/26 letters, their sounds and can count up to 20. I told them he has never been to preschool and the doctor was pretty shocked. Lucas then showed her that he could write his name (minus the a) and she was very impressed. He also told Dr. Campbell all about his firetruck party. I guess he really liked it! :)

Bridget weighs 38 pounds. Yes MORE than Lucas. Considering that he is 8 inches taller than her it seems as though we are waiting for her thinning out period, since she is as stalky as a boy at her age! Bridget looks like an eskimo above.

Scarlett is 14.2 pounds and 27 inches. She is progressing nicely. :) She did an awesome job with shots. I guess our girls have my pain tolerance, which means they can have two babies without an epidural and a c-section with a spinal and 1 Motrin! Hahaha.

HERE ARE ALL 3 BABES at FOUR MONTHS

Too Big

I was going to wait to give Scarlett cereal, but she looked like she was ready to eat every time we sat down for dinner and I felt guilty.

She is sitting up so I thought I would give her cereal to see how well she did. This is around the same time I gave the other two cereal so I thought it shouldn't be too bad.
And I was right! She didn't cry like the other two. She was patient and happy that she was sitting up in the high chair and that she was eating like the rest of us. It was so cute. Here is a LINK to the other two at this age. It is hard to believe that she is getting so big. I want her to stay little forever. Tomorrow is her 4 month appointment and Lucas's 3 year check up so I will post the stats of all that tomorrow but still she is too big for my liking. :(

She is so smart too, this is how she tells us she is done.

I love it. She did a really good job with the yucky Baby Alive Paste (aka rice cereal) and I think we will start doing it every morning!

OMG!

So there is this really cool blog...



That was launched - oh, about 2 days ago and has hit up by some sponsors to giveaway some cool stuff. I just thought I would let you know, 'cause I am your friend...and wouldn't want you to miss out.

:) Valerie

Here are some other cool blogs that are also worth mentioning...

She made the cool button above and this one of course, I am lucky enough to "know" her and think you should check out her site.

and more...

This one is self explanatory if you check it out. Natalie is the coolest and put this one together with her friends, and I have to say that I look at it almost as much as I look at the Toddler Boredom Busters Blog! :)

And if you are in Colorado and like saving money Lisa is where it's at...


I just thought you'd like the information because, well, I like you!
Now go ahead and check the links already!

Baby Garli-tt

Bridgey-Lou is getting better at saying her sister's name. It is now Garli-tt, instead of Garlic. Cute. Well, I had to show this to my family, and I thought, I will post it to everyone. Believe it or not, Cory and Liz bought this shirt not the nerds at Nathan's office. Weird. But cute. Here is the video...(did I mention that Nathan is ALWAYS a goof?)




And here is my baby. I am enjoying her more than the others, except that she is a movin and a shakin way too fast for me. She can already army scoot to where she wants to go. I loved and enjoyed the other two but I wanted them to hurry up and grow and hit milestones and Scarlett I am waiting patiently and enjoying the everyday. Partly because the other two don't need me anymore...*sniff* oh well. Here is the latest pic of my sweet lil' red head.

She is my red head because Lucas will tell you he has orange hair!

Gym Socks, an inspiration

I don't know who this dude is, but when I googled gym socks this image was the first to come up. And you know what it looks a lot like this...

Enjoy the BIG REVEAL of his new room! Minus 2 pictures that I am putting up tonight.
He has firetruck sheets...
and other little firetruck details throughout!

This is Lucas's new big boy room...because he is 3! Today! We did the usual singing to him in the morning...Here is ONE, here is TWO and here is THREE. (Scarlett is laughing in the THREE video) Nothing could have prepared us for the emotions that we felt the day he was born, and now the handsome and sweet lil' man he has become today. Last night we did cake and candles and this is a video we had to post...

Happy 3rd Lukie Lao!

This is me 3 years ago...

This was my LARGEST pregnancy. I was smaller with the girls...weird.

I didn't realize his room looked like Gym socks till it was all done, and you know what...
I REALLY LIKE IT! How about you?

Launch

I have a new blog that is for ALL of our activities! It is for mainly 5 and under but many of the activities listed anyone can do! Check it out.

HERE

The best thing is that once I get 25 followers I can start doing giveaways!!!
I have 3 companies who offered to sponsor me to do these giveaways, so check out the site, become a follower and if I hit 25 followers by the end of next week, I will have my first giveaway! WAHOO!

If you would like to contribute to the blog, or have ideas or questions please email me at
valeriewitte(at)yahoo{dot}com

I would love to have anyone who wants to participate to do so!
I am also working on getting a button so you can add it to your page!

Please browse and comment on the projects you see, if you want.
My goal is to post daily a new activity of some sort so add it to your blog roll as well!

Thanks for your support!
Love, Valerie

P.S. Crayola is one of the companies!!!!

Easter in July

Well, I bought these dresses in February expecting Scarlett to be a fat chunk like her sister when she was born, but she wasn't so we had to wait to put the dresses on. I decided to do it for Lucas's 3 year old pictures and they just look so cute. Scarlett is just about 100% on her own for sitting up, she was tired of sitting up in the last picture so Nathan is holding her up. Aww.

Bridget is in this dumb smiling stage but it still is cute...to me, you know since I'm her mom.
I love this one of Scarlett. She is so goofy.
The best picture of six tries.
I'll take it. :)

A Letter to my 3 year old!

My Sweet Lucas,

Words cannot even convey how much we love you! Your sweet smile, big hugs, willing kisses and your seriousness for life make every day the best day ever.

You are so kind and don't understand why people need to be mean about things, and I really need to say that I love that about you. You are so smart and so willing to please anyone around you and when you don't get your way you usually aren't nasty about it, you just want to know why. You are the light in your father and my lives. We always tell each other how much we love you, and how lucky we are to have you in our lives.

You love to sing to yourself and seem to always have a song going in your head that you’re ready to burst out at any moment. I love how you get mad that Bridget doesn't know the words to your songs. You sing the Alphabet song ALL day to calm down Scarlett, just like we did to you when you were a baby. We like to show off your huge brain to others.

You are so loving and affectionate to your parents. Multiple times a day you say to me, “Mommy (pause), I Love You, so much”. It is SOOO sweet and it makes my day every time you say it to your dad or me. You are so compassionate to your sisters, hugging them when they are sad or whispering to them that it will be okay. Anytime they want to read a book, you are so happy to accommodate.

You have lots of friends and cousins and love to play with them. Everyone likes you, you are so easy to get along with. Even the parents of your friends think you are a sweet little boy.

You’re the busiest little bee and you don’t like to just sit around and do nothing. You have to be exploring or reading or very quickly running away from me and dad. Life is so exciting to you and you don’t want to miss a moment of it. You love to know what's going on and we love that about you. You always seem to "Have a job you've got to do" and you really like to fix things, like Daddy.

You have always been so obedient. If we tell you why you can't do something that is usually enough. Like potty training, once we explained it to you, you got it in 3 days! Through the night even! You always follow the rules and are always telling your sister, "We have to follow the rules Bridget!"

You’re super funny. You love to be a part of the laughter even if you don't know why something is funny. Watching any sitcom is funnier because you are laughing with the laugh track.

You’re SUCH a good big brother, and you welcomed Bridget and Scarlett into our home with big kisses and lots of hugs. You can’t get enough of them. You love to lay on the floor with them and give them high fives and kisses. Luckily after Bridget choking on raisins you have stopped giving babies food.

I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since you were born. These 3 years have truly been the best of your daddy’s and I life. We love you, our little Lukie Lao, and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives with you.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

So instead of "I two, I two" you can now say "I am three!"

{Party Time}

Wayne's World {Party Time} excellent! (air guitar)

It finally came and went. Lucas was very polite and patient all morning while we picked up Larke (Kathy had her baby last night.) Larke, Lucas and Bridget helped me set up tables and then we headed down the large hill, I didn't really realize how large it was till all of us had to hike up it after the tour.
Anyway...here are pictures because that is what you all want to see right?

Fireman Mark handed out fire hats while we waited for Robert to get there. We had fun playing and picking the flowers off of the bushes. Hahaha.

(Don't worry I am printing the pics for everyone because they are ALL cute)

We went inside for a tour of the house, and then we got to see the Ambulance. The kids learned a little and then got to go inside of it. They thought this was pretty cool.

I have to say it was so cute to see everyone in their hats following the fire dudes around. Bridget did not wait for the fire man to help her up, she did it "all herself"


One of my favorites...

Then we went to the firetruck and they learned some more and they were able to go inside the firetruck, on the other end they got a Badge!


Fireman Martine (cute Italian) explained a few things about the truck and Lucas was telling him all that he already knew about firetrucks. He would ask a question and Lucas knew it. Then Lucas would ask a question like, "Why are there so many hoses, there is only one fire at a time" It was so funny to see Martine's face, like a 3 year old really asked me this?


He wanted the kids to try out the hose so they could see how heavy it was. Anna opted to stay with Veronica (my sister in law) and that was A-O-K


They showed us all of the bells and whistles of the firetruck too.

But the pièce de resistance was that each kid got to shoot water out of the fire hose and see how the firemen really do it. And this my friends was Lucas's DREAM COME TRUE!

Every kid liked it but this was a moment for my little boy. I even took Elijah and made him do it and I told Anna that we should do it together.


If you click on Bridget you can see that she is just as dark as Mr. January ahem, I mean Martine. Hahaha.

They asked if Robert and Bridget were siblings because they were together the whole time. I said no, he is Lucas's best friend which means Bridget likes him a lot too. :) They also asked if she was related to Noah and I said they were just cousins. I think Bridget is a chameleon like my Dad...she blends into her surroundings. Hahaha.
The firemen had set up several photo ops for us and then we headed up the hill for the usual...presents, lunch and cupcakes.

Nathan grilled some Hot Digity Dogs. Scarlett was happy just standing watching the kids.

I have to thank my mother in law who took care of Scarlett the WHOLE time. I couldn't have done this party without her help with my bebe.
While we were waiting for things to cook Lucas opened his presents. He was shocked to get them because all he really wanted was a party. He did tell me later that his did want presents too and was glad they came on the same day.

This present was really for me. I know it was.
He loved everything, but this I thought was so cool.

This was Nathan's favorite book when he was Lucas's age. It has some scribbles in it that Nathan drew himself. Grandma Witte wrote a cute note in it and Lucas has only asked me to read it 6 times since we have been home.
We did the cake thing. He couldn't decide chocolate or vanilla so I made both...a swirly cupcake. We went ahead and used 4th of July sprinkles...he wanted all stars so it worked.


He looks pleased.

Bridget is just a mess.
We played on the playground but it was a little too hot so we played Red Light, Green Light. Which turned into this...


The girls just watched the boys in puzzlement.
We tried to play one more game but Nathan totally ruined it. I can say that because I am married to him and I am still mad about it. :P Just Kidding.

We came back to the tables to play with our goodie bags.

Then it was 10 minutes till pick up time so we read Nathan's book. Lucas was so happy that his friends came and that they had fun. They crashed on the way home so Nathan and I picked up some Sonic slushes and when Lucas woke up he had something else waiting for him...




A HELMET and FIRETRUCK SCOOTER from Grandpa and Grandma Horn!
This is where my son is right now. He won't get off of it. Haha.

I am glad everything turned out well and that everyone but Emily could come. He is really lucky to have such great friends. On the way home he told me that Robert colored the paper just for him and that Anna wrote him a special note. They are in his treasure drawer. Aww.

I hope you don't get sick of Lucas because his birthday isn't until Wednesday and there is more to come. My baby is 3 people this is a BIG deal! Every picture is clickable so have fun checking them all out!