Sugar Cookie Pops

Dear Bubbas,
There are two things in this world that turn your world upside down with excitement.
 1. Baking or Cooking (doing it on your own!)
2. Brightly colored sprinkles

This is why when I saw Mrs. Rachel's post on facebook about the sugar cookie pop she was going to make I just knew it was going to be our next activity together. It was extra fun because Daddy was home unexpectedly so he was able to help us. Grammy came over to help too. Ok, Grammy came over to make the cookies! Your Grammy is the best cook/baker in the world. I'd like to think that her abilities are hiding somewhere in my blood and one day they'll show themselves. Until they do, we need your Grammy to help us! As you'll notice in the pictures my cookie pan has been burnt a time or two!

You three had such a great time watching the KitchenAid mixer work its magic. Kaylee was scared of the noise it made and cried every time we had to turn it on. You absolutely loved making a mess of the sprinkles. You checked on the cookies through the oven door, which was stinkin' adorable. It was a great afternoon. I love you! Thanks for making the simple things so wonderfully exciting!
Mommy

Kaylee broke an egg before we even started! We were both upset about it!

Kaylee crying while the KitchenAid was running.

You'll notice Pooh Bear is helping make cookies. He doesn't leave our side these days. We have 4 of them. One for each boy and two for back up that I hide in my purse!

Driving us Crazy!

Dear Kaylee,
You've been driving us crazy. When I say us, I mean all of us. Today felt like we were constantly asking you to stop, or telling you to get out of things. For example, you climbed on top of the table at least five times, you got into my stack of newspaper clippings and spread them all over the dining room floor, you turned off the dvd player while the boys were watching a movie, you sat on top of their coloring books multiple times while they were coloring evoking a huge outrage from the boys, you grabbed a box of dryer sheets off of the top of the dryer and pulled each sheet out of the box one by one in a matter of minutes, you snuck into Mommy's room a dozen times and brought me laundry or books that I would have to take back to the bedroom...literally, the list goes on and on. You're just so interested in everything this house has to offer. You no longer want to play with your toys, you only want to explore every corner of this house. At one point you got into the bathroom drawer and brought me six toothbrushes and a bottle of toothpaste. The thing is, I don't know how you're reaching half of the things that you are getting into. I know you push chairs and climb up, I've seen you pull yourself on to some pretty tall objects, and you can sneak around a corner faster than I can blink an eye. You are so cute though. The look you give me when you hand me a pile of toothbrushes or when I walk around the corner to see the dryer sheets all over the floor is priceless. It's hard to make you understand that you are being naughty when I can't look at you with a straight face. I love you so much and you are so stinkin' cute I just can't help but laugh. The boys are a little less lenient on you. They have a low tolerance for when you knock over the castle they just spent twenty minutes building out of blocks, but we just remind them that you're a baby and we are still teaching you. You're mad at us because we won't let you onto the t-ball field when the boys are playing. It's just one more thing that you've added to your list of "I can't wait fors."
The cutest thing you are doing lately is loving on your blanket. It's your bedtime blanket and you just love to snuggle in it. You do not like to share it though. We're working on you with that, but every time one of the boys tries to sit in the blanket with you, you get really upset. We'll keep showing you how to share. Eventually it won't be so hard.
You're getting your pictures taken tomorrow in your Easter dress and new shoes. You're going to be so excited to put on your new pretty outfit. I can't wait to give you your purse on Easter morning. You're already such a little girly girl. I don't know where you get it. I sure never was into pretty clothes and shoes. I still rarely do my hair and makeup. Hopefully, I can stay one step ahead of you so that I am able to make your hair look as cute as you want it.
I love you. I'm sorry if it feels like we're on your case all the time. Tomorrow we'll do something fun and messy. I'll even let you sit on the table!
XOXO
Mommy

BASEBALL!

Dear Connor and Hunter,
Tonight you had your first baseball (t-ball) practice. It was an adventure! First we went to the wrong field so we were about twenty minutes late to the park. Who knew there were two Badger parks? When we got there you both froze. In fact, Connor sat right down and said, " I changed my mind... I don't want to play baseball."
Hunter wanted to go out into the field but he needed Daddy to go with him. So for the first ten minutes I let Daddy stay in the field with Hunter.The two of them stood there, talking, but not really sure what to do. Then I made Connor go stand out there with them. A few minutes after I sent Connor out, the three of you came back to me and Daddy said, "They don't want to play." So I had to take you out there and make you see how fun baseball was! Daddy played catch with Kaylee, who was feeling left out, and he took pictures and video of the the three of us playing.
The first time Hunter hit the ball I had to hold the bat with him and then I had to carry him while we ran the bases. The second time he hit, I had to hold the bat with him and then I held his hand while he ran.
The first time Connor hit I held the bat with him and held his hand while we ran the bases. The second time Connor hit, he did it all on his own, and I held his hand while we ran the bases. You were pretty scared of even the bases so I had to show you how to step on them as we ran by.
Your favorite part was when the team stood in a circle and the coach tossed a ground ball to each of you individually. You were told to put your mitt on the ground and use your hand to catch it like an alligator. That cracked you up. You also thought it was really funny when some of your teammates would dive for the ball. It looked like they were catching it with their bellies and we had a good laugh about that.
Overall, it was a good first practice. By the end the two of you weren't scared anymore and you were excited about all the new tricks you learned. You want to practice at home, which I think is a good idea since the better you are at baseball the more confidence you'll have to interact with the team. Daddy and I decided that every night after dinner we're going to go outside and play family baseball.
I love you guys!!!
Mommy

 Just a little excited!!!

 I changed my mind... he says. =0)

 

 I love this picture... all three of them have this look on their face that says... I really don't know what I'm doing. 

 I'm giving them a pep talk... you have to run TO the ball! 

 And then they made me run with them, TO the ball. 

 Using our alligator hands to catch the ball

*There are no pictures of batting because I had to help the boys bat and Ben was recording it.*

Slow Down Little Girl!!!

Dear Kaylee,
Since the day we brought you home from the hospital you have watched your brothers in a awe. You have worked so hard to keep up with them. I have worked so hard to keep you my baby and it's just not working out for me! The most recent example of how you are trying to grow up too fast was yesterday. You have been watching your brothers potty train. Yesterday, three times in a row when Daddy changed your diaper you brought him a pull up. We just laughed it off until the third time and then we let you try it on for fun. You thought it was so cool! Then you walked to the bathroom. As you were walking away from us we could see your little butt peeking out of the pull up because you were trying to pull it down. I told Daddy to sit you on the toilet to see what you'd do. You freaked out. It was still too scary. So I showed you the little potty chairs. I told you how Connor and Hunter used the potty chairs when they first started going potty on the toilet. You listened and watched me set the chair up and then you sat down on it like a big girl. That lasted a second and then you started crawling all over it, trying to figure it out. You are still too young to even think about potty training, but you want to do it. If you had the bladder control I would think about it, but I know physically you just aren't there yet. So... in a way. Mommy wins this battle. You can be my baby girl for a few more months yet!
I love you!!
Mommy

poor baby girl

Dear Kaylee,
You have strep throat. You are the most miserable I think I've ever seen you. That says a lot considering you had pneumonia when you were seven weeks old. But at least then you were in the hospital, with an IV, and sleeping a lot. Now, you're hungry and tired. Your throat hurts and you're hot. As a result of how miserable you are you have been clinging to Mommy. I have to say I kind of love it. I love how you snuggle on my lap and watch Rapunzel, and the way you you fake cry and stick your lips out when I set you down. You've been in my arms for three days. Nights are the hardest because you still want held. Every time I try to lay you down, those big beautiful eyes pop open and you stick your lips out. So, we slept in the recliner together for two nights. Night three I couldn't take it and I put you in bed with me. That was slightly more comfortable, but not by much. A one year old laying on top of you all night makes it hard to sleep, no matter how you swing it. The boys at this age would lay next to me, but you want to be right smack dab on my chest with your face nuzzled into my neck. Even though this routine has made me so very tired I have enjoyed every second of it. As I write this you are sleeping in your crib for the first time in three days proving once again that these moments are fleeting.
You have so much personality. You make me laugh so many times every day. You've started dancing. It is incredibly adorable and I've tried countless times to catch it on video, but you don't dance long and it's only to select songs so it's very hard to catch. You like to have your butt patted while you're falling asleep, but sometimes when you aren't ready to go to bed you play around to keep yourself awake and you will hit your own butt with your hand.
You absolutely love to get new clothes or shoes, which makes it so fun to get them for you. The other night I felt bad that you had such a fever and I went to Costco to buy you some pajama shorts. I bought a Carter 3 pack which has matching shorts, pants, and shirt. You were so excited but insisted on wearing all three pieces. I couldn't get you to change your mind, until I realized that you were only interested in the pants and matching shirt. I ended up pulling your pants off after you fell asleep, totally defeating the purpose as I could have done that with any of the pajama pants you already own! One of the cutest things you do lately is coming over to me and plopping down on your butt so I can change your diaper or so I can put on your new pajama pants. It's adorable how you are trying to do things all on your own. Daddy loves how you can throw away your own diapers now.
You're very into reorganizing things. I'm not sure if I told you this already but one night at Target you moved all the jars of peanut butter to a new shelf. When we told you it was time to go, you quickly moved them all back to their correct spot. You rearrange your toys, our fridge, the clothes I just folded, etc. It's fun to walk into a room and see what you've moved around or to open up the pantry to see that you thought your toothbrush would be best by the crackers rather than the bathroom.
I wish that when I took a mental picture I could send it to Costco for a hard copy, because I just know I'm going to forget some of the adorable expressions you make. This morning I had put you in your crib after the boys woke up. You made it less than ten minutes before you woke up. When I went in to get you I had to take a mental picture of how adorable you were. You were so frustrated, lips out, eyes squinty, and trying your hardest to get the blanket back over you.
You've learned the art of fake crying and use it to your advantage as often as possible. It's very clear when you're faking it and we have to try hard not to laugh at you. You purse your lips out, look down at the ground, and say "ahoo, ahoo, ahoo."
You still flop down on the ground, throw yourself on your belly, and kick your legs and cry when you are really frustrated. We ignore it. Besides those tantrums you are such a good girl. You haven't really started any behaviors yet that warrant time out. However, one night Daddy told you no and you started crying so hard. Then you put yourself in a time out. It was pretty stinkin' cute!
I'm going to wrap this up as I'm sure you will be awake any minute. I love you and your adorableness.
Mommy

Kaylee's toothbrush in our pantry...

reorganizing the fridge...

Kaylee's new Pajamas. She crying because I took her pants off.

She doesn't want to wear the new shorts, she wants the pants.

Happy now that she got her way...

This is when Kaylee put herself into time out... so funny.