Swamp Stomp

Dear Connor and Hunter,
I know I've told you before about the Swamp Stomp exercise video I bought you. You have to parade around like animals as a means of working out. You both love it, but in different ways. Here's an example of how one workout session goes...

Picture this...Hunter jumping up and down while Connor is sitting on the couch watching intently.

Connor- "You're doing it wrong Hunter."
Hunter- "What?"
Connor- "See, you have to walk, walk, walk. then jump."
Hunter- stops, watches the tv for a second," OH! Like this?" Walk, Walk, Walk, Jump.
Connor-"Yeah, like that."

Good Job Connor. Way to coach him through that!

Although, Connor is at least helpful. Mommy just gets in the way.

Mommy- "Hunter come here please."
Hunter- "I'm exercising."
Mommy- "I just need to comb your hair before it dries silly."
Hunter- "HURRY UP! I don't want to miss the kangaroo!"
Mommy- "Never mind..." 

Oh you two make me laugh so much. You are so full of personality. Never change.
Mommy

Group Hug!

Lindsey

Dear Hunter,
At the beginning of the year I asked you who you played with at preschool. I've been getting little pieces of information each week, until this week. This week you told us everything!

At first we just knew that you played with a kid named Josh. Then we learned that Josh and you play with the girls. After awhile we found out that these girls have pretty shoes and that's who you play with, but you don't know their names.

Then on Monday you got in the car and you told me that Lindsey liked your Batman slap bracelet.

Mommy- "Who's Lindsey"
Hunter- "A girl, I play with her."
Mommy- "Is she one of the girls with the pretty shoes?"
Hunter- "Yeah. She likes my bracelet. She thought it was cool."
Mommy- "It's a pretty cool bracelet."
Hunter- "yeah... I want to give her some of my quarters."

So, it's started. I knew the girls would go crazy over you, I just didn't realize it would be when you were three. You are so cute, there are no words to describe. I love you!
Mommy

Dear Kaylee,
You change so much every day. Every day you say new words and you show us more of your personality. You have revealed to us that your favorite color is blue, for sure. You always point it out to me. You love Yo Gabba Gabba, but even more so you love Dora. Dora has become pretty big in this house, against my better wishes. However, I should have known as soon as you fell in love with Barney that you would like everything I don't. I recall my mother and I having the same issue!
You pick Dora shoes whenever you can, and you walk around the house singing, "Back Pack, Back Pack." It's pretty adorable and I've come to appreciate Dora just for the simple reason that she makes you so happy.
You still try to keep up with your brothers as much as possible. When we took you to the dentist you did so awesome! Largely because you were doing everything you saw your brothers do. Connor and Hunter got x-rays taken. You were too little, but you refused to leave the x-ray room until you got some pictures taken. The hygienist was super nice and he picked you up and put you in the chair, then he moved the camera into your mouth for pretend and we all told you what a great job you did. I wish I had my camera in the x-ray room, but because I didn't I've taken a mental picture and I'm holding onto it with everything I have. At one point when he had the camera by your mouth you pursed your lips right at the camera. It was so stinkin' cute!
Today we took Connor to the doctor and he had to take his shoes off to weigh in. You stood and watched every move he made. When he got off the scale you got up on the scale. When I told you to get down that it wasn't your turn today, you gave me a look like "Oh, you're right. I forgot to take off my shoes." You jumped off the scale, plopped down on the ground and started ripping off your shoes and socks. No amount of convincing would work so I had to pick you up and carry you into the exam room.
We got to have a special morning together the other day. That doesn't happen a lot. I took you to Frost Me Sweet. Did I already tell you this? Well, just in case... You love that store. You picked a cupcake and went to town on it. It was a really fun morning with you and I enjoyed every second of it. We had the almond joy cupcakes, which I have to say were divine! 
You have started playing pretend with babies. You chose two teddy bears to be your babies. I think it is hysterical. You have twin brothers, and so you pretend with two babies. Coincidence? I don't know, but it's really cute. You don't play with them all day, but you want them when you go to sleep. The last several days I've had to rock you and two babies to sleep! This morning you woke up at 5 am and wanted juice. I knew Daddy was in the kitchen making his lunch so I said, "Go tell Daddy." You climbed out of bed, grabbed both your babies and a sippy cup and strutted down the hall to see him. Daddy thought you were so cute with your bed head and arms full of babies that he of course filled the sippy with juice. He then delivered it to you in bed and kissed on you and your babies to which you thought was the best thing ever. It was really cute.
You've started saying "Pizzpa." Which is pizza. We had pizza delivered the other night and you just yelled it over and over again. You were so excited. I think we've found one of your many favorite foods. You're a girl who knows what she likes! I'm contemplating having your birthday party be a Kaylee's favorites theme, but I have a feeling Dora may push her way through and steal the show.
I love you kiddo.
Mommy

Shirt Wars

Dear Connor,
Since the day you were born you've been a little "anxious". You come by it naturally. We've been through so many phases with you. Some were challenging (I can do it myself phase) and some we thought would be the end of us (backpack phase). However, we've gotten better at this parenting game, because when you hit the shirt phase we only fought it for a few days before we realized how to handle it. This new phase you're in we like to refer to as the "little shirt" phase. One day you told Daddy that you didn't have any cute shirts. This became a great topic of conversation in our house for days. Daddy asked you what kind of cute shirt you wanted and you said a shirt with no pictures and with no sleeves. In an attempt to bring peace to the house Daddy brought home a 5 pack of Hanes undershirt tank tops. You fell in love, and that was it. You would no longer wear anything but that white tank top. At the beginning of the month I banned all shorts and flip flops. You had a hard time with that but it comforted you to know that we would not be banning the "little shirts." Whenever someone asks you if you want a new shirt or if you like a shirt, you ask them in response," Is it little?"
Life was going pretty smoothly for all of us until preschool announced it was color month. Every day was a new color and your teachers were encouraging you to wear that color to school each day. I know that it would not have been a big deal if you wore your white shirt all month long, but I was so afraid that you would go to school and everyone would be wearing brown (the first color) and you would be sad that you didn't.
The van was broken the next day (Saturday) and Daddy was working overtime. I didn't have a way to get to the store so I Googled dying shirts brown and learned we could do it with coffee. So we did. You thought it was fantastic! Hunter loved it too, but you were really thrilled that you had another color "little shirt." When you wore it to school your teachers were thrilled and you told them all about how you made your shirt with coffee. After I dropped you off at school Kaylee and I went to Walmart and bought every color fabric dye they had. We've been dying shirts for over a week now and you love each one! Your dresser drawer is hilarious. It is full of multi-colored "little shirts."
Picture day is Friday. I've been going back and forth in my mind if I'm going to have a shirt war with you. I decided no. My mother gave good advice. She said it would be a picture that would show exactly who you are right now. She's right. I think you're an adorable little boy, who is so full of life and energy it just pours out of you at all times, and you like "little shirts."
Nothing wrong with that.
I love you sweet boy! Thanks for making the "littlest" things fun.
Mommy

PS: You did so great at the dentist this week! What I particularly liked was how stinkin' cute you looked during the x-rays. You are a very cute little boy!

Good at finding pumpkins

Dear Hunter,
You have been cracking me up lately! You say the funniest things so sincerely. Here's a story to illustrate. Several months ago Grammy had you help her plant pumpkin seeds in the garden. All three of you were planting seeds and you were all very excited so I'm pretty sure about 100 pumpkins were planted that day. Which, if you know anything about gardening (which I do not), then you know that the pumpkins will not grow when you over plant. So here we are in October, and there are no pumpkins. Knowing that this would disappoint you, Grammy and I went to the store and bought pumpkins of all different sizes. Then we snuck them into the garden when you weren't looking. After lunch yesterday Grammy asked if you wanted to go check on your pumpkins. When you walked off the porch you saw the big orange ones immediately. You all ran over there and started getting the pumpkins. Connor and Kaylee had fun, but you really took ownership over this project. You climbed right into the garden and found all the pumpkins. As you were finding the pumpkins you announced,  "I'm good at finding pumpkins."
You even pointed out the pumpkins that were actually trying to grow and you told Grammy that they weren't ready yet, so we can't pick them. 
Then we had to move all the pumpkins to the car. You took this job very seriously. You wanted every pumpkin in the car, and you were quick to alert us of how strong you were to be able to carry these pumpkins. When you were putting a pumpkin into the car you noticed a yellowish pumpkin that you had clearly told Grammy not to pick.
"Hey, that pumpkin isn't done. I said don't pick that one."
"It just fell off the vine, so I brought it over here." Claimed Grammy, half scared of the repercussions she was going to face. Instead, you just looked her over and then said, "Well, alright then."
Whenever you are proud of yourself, or feeling like the big boss on campus you put your hands on your hips and stick your chest out. It is the cutest little stance. I wish I could capture it on camera.

You went to the dentist the other day. You had such a great time. You were so excited to sit in the chair like a big boy and show the dentist how brave you were. This was the first time we could get you into the chair so it was pretty exciting for me as well. You did a great job getting your x-rays too! I thought you were pretty cute sitting in that big chair with the camera right in your face. You had your "I'm being so brave right now" face on. You also enjoyed showing Kaylee what she was suppose to do. The dentist asked you to sit next to Kaylee in the chair and show her how to do it and you happily obliged. However, while she was examining Kaylee's teeth you held your mouth open too. It was pretty cute. You didn't have any cavities and you were pretty excited about that because you got to get a free ice cream card and a toy. Equally as exciting was the toothbrush and little floss-er that they gave you.  The dentist is just the best place in the world!
I love you so much. I'm so glad that you get so excited over the little things. I hope that never changes.
Mommy

The Country Bears

Dear Hunter,
You are the sweetest boy in the world. Today you made an excellent behavior choice. When Daddy came home and I told him about it Daddy was so proud of you that he decided to reward you with the ultimate reward around here. A trip to blockbuster! You love that store! Everyone was going to get a pick, but you got to choose what we watched when we got home as part of your reward. You were feeling so on top of the world that you even put your Thor costume on. We headed to blockbuster, Thor cape and all, and talked all the way there about how we were going to let you bring your pillows and blankets into the living room and stay up late watching your pick. At Blockbuster, within minutes, you ran over to me and showed me your pick. It was none other than The Country Bears. You have been picking this movie for a year and a half. Every time we go to blockbuster this movie grabs your attention. Some days I can talk you out of it, but most days we end up taking it back home. You love it so much. Tonight I just told you that was a fun movie and that I was excited to watch it with you.
I was excited to see you so excited, but The Country Bears is not a movie that I enjoy seeing repeatedly. Don't get me wrong, with a high profile cast such as Queen Latifah, Elton John, and Christopher Watkins, it is mildly entertaining.
When we got home everyone scurried around trying to get ready for movie night. It ended up being you, Connor, and me because Kaylee was needing to go to bed so Daddy went to sleep with her. It was nice snuggling the two of you. Every few minutes you would look at me and say, " This is a silly movie," or " I like The Country Bears."
Every few minutes Connor would look at me and say, "When can we watch my pick?" or "I can't watch this anymore."
The best part of the night for you though was climbing into Mommy's bed and snuggling with me to sleep. You love that and haven't gotten to do it in a long time. I loved it too.
I love you so much! Thanks for making good choices.