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.

Pedicures

Dear Kaylee,
Every day you grow up so much more. You are my little sweetie pie. You're also giving me a run for the money. Today you threw yourself down on the floor and had all four limbs thrashing around in true tantrum form. I didn't personally witness the thrashing but I could hear it in the kitchen. You have such a temper. At dinner tonight you were mad and threw yourself backwards hitting your head on the wall. That only infuriated you more. You are probably the queen of tantrums. And then, in the blink of an eye, you are my sweet baby girl giving me kisses and snuggling into me. You give the best kisses. You come towards my face super slow and then plant a big one right on my lips. I love the anticipation. I'm not sure if I'm going to get slobbered on, a nice kiss, or head butted.
Today I wanted a pedicure so I took you to the mall. I knew it would be risky but I really wanted one! You were very good. The last ten minutes you were done and I had to pull out every trick in the book to keep you calm, but overall you did very good. You stood in the water and leaned against my legs. Every time I had to pull my foot out of the water, you did too. You copied everything I did perfectly. You even let them give your calves a massage and paint your big toes. Yes, only your big toes.
When were done I let you ride on one of the rides and we went and got some pretzel sticks. You were pretty happy. You don't have any pants so I went to Children's Place to find some great deals. We found some really cute pants for $4. I wanted to get one in every color, you wanted blue. I tried to talk you into the other colors but you just grabbed two blues and headed to the counter to pay. I traded one of the blues for a pair of purple stripe pants. You're not thrilled, but I think they're cute! You definitely know what you like.
You say everything is blue, or "boo." You really like the teal and aqua colors. You pick them out of your drawers whenever they are available!
You love the show Yo Gabba Gabba, I think it's because of the Dancy Dance. You love to dance and still ask every day if you can.
You love Ben and Ethan, but particularly Ethan. You call him Eeefee. It is the cutest thing in the world. Whenever he's not around you look for him. Today you even had Grammy buy him suckers.
You already tease your brothers. I have to stop you before it gets out of hand. You will push them until they are completely melting down and I have to remind them that they are twice your age and height. You typically give them a sly smirk and then give them back whatever it was you took. It drives them insane, and I think it's probably only the beginning. Regardless though, you three love each other to the moon and back. You copy everything they do and they love to teach you things. They always run to your side and defend you. You are very lucky to have such sweet caring older brothers. We are very lucky to have you.
I love you!
Mommy

Her new "Boo" pants.

Edible Crayons

Dear Bubbas,
I love you! We've been having such a great time the last few weeks. I think I've decided that none of us our hot weather people. We struggled during the summer, but now that the new school year is here we are all in much better moods. We've are babysitting two friends this year. Ben (5) and Ethan (3). It's been really fun so far and you three love it. Every day you run to get dressed so we can go to their house, and every day you cry when their Mommy or Daddy comes to pick them up. I love watching the five of you interact. Kaylee laughs so hard at you guys. She throws her head back and belly laughs in her car seat while you guys are making jokes on the way to preschool.
We took the boys to preschool orientation the other day. Kaylee got to play outside with Daddy for an hour while the boys were meeting their teachers. Your classroom looks fun, and I think you're going to have a great year. We had to miss the first day of preschool because Connor and Kaylee had the stomach flu over the last weekend. Hunter got lucky and didn't get sick....at least yet anyway!
In honor of school starting we made some edible crayons. My friend Rachel posted the recipe and pictures of the ones she made and I was super motivated to give them a try. I ended up going to four different stores to get all the supplies, but it didn't damper my excitement. You make them by dipping pretzel rods into chocolate and then wrapping a crayon wrapper around it. So the night before I made all the crayon wrappers and prepared all the pretzel rods. The next morning I let you guys dip the pretzels. You had so much fun! You love colorful food! You didn't dip deep enough though, so I tried to redo some of them. However, when I redid them the chocolate got really thick and the crayon wrappers wouldn't fit around the pretzel. I tried for awhile and then got irritated. I ended up making one cute bag of crayons and then letting you all eat the chocolate dipped pretzels. I don't know when I'll learn. You had the best time dipping, and I should have left it at that!
We bought our Halloween costumes about a week ago. I know it's still September, but you were really excited. You've all been wearing them around the house a ton! Kaylee is Cinderella. Connor was super impressed that he found a Cinderella doll's dress and it MATCHED Kaylee's dress. He told her quite a few times that it was "a match." Connor and Hunter are superheros. I have no idea which ones. I think one may be a transformer... Regardless you three look adorable running around the house in these outfits.
I'm really thankful to have such fun kids. You make every day exciting! I love you three so very much.
Mommy

Best Aunt In The World

Dear Kaylee,
You have the best Aunt in the World. We went down to the beach at the campground. It was a decent walk away from our site. Since you've been in pull ups and you learned quickly how to potty in the great outdoors I didn't bother to take a diaper bag. What were the odds that you would poop? Well, pretty good apparently. Poop you did. We had only been to the beach for a few minutes. We were ate a crossroad. I knew you were super excited to be at the beach. You practically ran down the path and were ripping your shoes off far before it was time. If I were to walk you back to camp you would completely melt down. However, I couldn't let you play knowing that you needed a new pull up.
That's when Aunt Diane said, "Wipe as much as you can with the diaper and I'll rinse her off in the river." Now, I would like to say that this is something I thought of, or at least would have been willing to do, but I was very relieved that I did not have the appropriate footwear to be walking into the river to clean a babies butt. Aunt Diane was wearing flip flops so I took her up on the offer.
I wiped as good as I could, but it was a pretty full diaper. Aunt Diane carefully picked you up by the armpits and carried you a good arms length away all the way to the river. She then began dipping you and letting you sway back and forth in the water.
We all thought you would scream because the water was so very cold, but you giggled with glee. At that moment Aunt Diane was not only the best Aunt in the world, she was also your very best friend. And mine too, because it was one less butt I had to clean that day.
You owe Aunt Diane a pretty big thank you hug next time you see here. It probably wouldn't hurt if we got her a Starbucks too!
Love You Kiddo,
Mommy