1 going on 6

Dear Russell,

You are such a fun little boy! Most people think you are two years old the way you run around with all the other kids and the fact that you are a giant. You are scared of nothing!

Your first birthday was a lot of fun! I really wanted you to tear into your cake and go nuts. You didn't want your hands to get dirty. You were much happier with the cookie that I gave you. You love those cookies. I love how you love my cookies. It makes me want to just give you one all the time!

It was fun opening presents with you too. You took the time to look over every present that I was opening for you. It was adorable the way you inspected everything.

You loved the bounce house we had set up. I need to set that up more often because you had so much fun! We stopped setting it up because the other kids have almost outgrown it. We didn't realize you would love it so much. 

You have the funniest little tantrums right now. You lean to the side and you stomp your feet in a quick circle. We laugh at you when you throw a tantrum and half the time you stop and laugh with us.

You are growing so fast. Every time I look at you I see a little boy where my baby use to be. I love you so much!

Mommy

The Sandlot

Dear Bubbas,

The other day Connor and Hunter had to go to the dentist. They needed some work done and I knew I wasn't going to be able to contain Russell while we were there. I asked Leanne to watch Russell and Kaylee . Connor was so upset that those two got to go play at the Taylors while we had to go to the dentist. So, while we were sitting there at the dentist Leanne and I texted a plan. We were going to have a sleepover. I'm sure you kids know that your mother loves a theme and so The Sandlot night was born.

After we had naps and slept off the medicine they gave you at the dentist we went to the store and bought old fashion coke in bottles, cracker jacks, peanuts, and Baby Ruth candy bars. Kendall, Clayton, and Tripp came over and the fun began.

It was fun for me to watch you guys watch the movie. Hunter got scared when they were describing the beast, everyone loved the line "YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL", and Kendall was thoroughly embarrassed when Squintz kissed the lifeguard. Connor said, "oooh looks like someone is in love!" and Kendall instantly turned bright red and yelled, "BE QUIET! NO! DON'T SAY THAT!"

The movie was a huge hit. You all had so much fun. What I love even more than a Sandlot movie night was that you guys have the best friends in the whole world to share these moments with. You don't realize how lucky you are!

I love all you crazy kids so much! 
Mommy

Silverwood

Dear Bubbas,

We went to Silverwood for the first time this weekend. You had such an amazing time. Russell was too little for any of the rides so he got to stay home and spend time with Grandma Karen and Grandma Darrlyn. He went to the retirement center with Grandma Karen and played ball with all the grandmas there. They loved on him and I'm sure he made their day as he makes mine all the time. He also got to go to the toy store with Grandma Darrlyn and made a few picks.

Silverwood was even better than we hoped it would be. In fact, we probably should have stayed for two days. We didn't have nearly the time to do all the things that we wanted to do. We went down the log ride twice which was one of my favorite rides as a kid. The three of you loved that ride. Kaylee made me hold her tight the whole way down. I kept pretending I was going to put my hands in the air and she wasn't going to have it. She just grabbed my hands and held them tight around her.

We got soaked in the bumper boats, we spent WAY to long waiting in line and riding the farris wheel, we ate a pretty amazing ice cream cone. I think food always tastes better in theme parks! We rode the train. All three of you LOVED the train. It was a really good show this year. The robbers were hilarious. Kaylee loved the marshal on the train. She even said she was going to miss that lady when we were driving home. Hunter got scared at one point on the train and covered his face with both of his hands. Kaylee made us laugh the hardest though on the train. The marshal pretended to push one of the robbers down a well. The other robber was on a high platform and asked the train riders "did she push my friend down the well?!" Everyone on the train yelled "NO!" The robber said, "I heard some YESSES!" and started firing his gun at the marshal. Kaylee panicked that we were going to get fired on and screamed "YES! SHE DID!" She started crying and we had to overly reassure her it was just an act. It was probably the most adorable thing ever.

We also went to Boulder Beach. It was probably the most fun. We wish we would have spent more time there. The wave pool was super fun and we went down Avalanche Mountain in a giant tube and totally loved it.

After Silverwood we drove to Sandpoint and had dinner with Aunt Chelsea. Hunter was sick and ended up falling asleep on my lap at the restaurant. I think that he had a little bit of a virus and a little bit of heat stress.

On the way home we stopped at a new restaurant. We were hesitant about it. It was the Golden Corral. It ended up being so yummy! It was a breakfast buffet. They had the best food! All three of you were thrilled about getting your own plates. They even had a chocolate fountain, a white chocolate fountain, and cotton candy! Connor made the table behind us giggle so incredibly hard when he came to our table with a cup full of chocolate from the fountain. Just full to the brim. He had every intention of drinking it. I told him we were not going to do that and sent him back to get some dippers that he could dip in it. It was pretty comical really. We liked the restaurant so much we had Daddy take a picture of us in front of it. The only picture we got on our whole trip.

I love taking vacations with you! I can't wait for the next one!
Mommy

Kaylee

Dear Kaylee,

You are such a sweet little girl. You are all girl too. You are filled to the top with emotion. We've been working on helping you cry less. It seems like everything from a wet skirt to not finding the right swimsuit will bring you to tears. I keep telling you to be tough and shake it off. I don't want you to be a stone wall. We're just trying to reduce the number of major meltdowns a day.

You realized this week that your Miche purse can change covers. You are thrilled! You have been taking your purse everywhere and changing the covers daily. You get very angry when Hunter takes your purse and teases you with it. I informed him  yesterday that his life would go better for him if he stopped touching your purse.

You had a great time at VBS. This year our family had a cookie auction to raise money for the offering. You were so adorable on the micorphone. You were making everyone laugh. You kept woo-hooing and tapping the mic. We were able to get a small piece on video thankfully because it was so adorable.

You decided not to finish out your summer preschool. I think it was partly because they wouldn't let you wear sandals and partly because your boyfriend broke up with you. You were pretty upset about that. You came home and told me, "My boyfriend cut me off! He said he liked me and wanted to marry me and then he changed his mind! He said he likes the girl in the blue with her hair tied up now." I didn't even know you had a boyfriend to begin with. We took the opportunity to tell you how beautiful you were and we talked about how we don't need boyfriends until we're ready to get married which is years and years away. You felt much better but you still wanted your hair tied up the next day.

You love snacks. Absolutely love them. We were at a bridal shower and you made it 15 minutes before you had Grandma Karen cutting you a slice of cake. We had a family movie night the other night and you were just excited about all the snacks we had. You'd been eating for over half the movie when you turned and told Daddy that you were just going to have one more snack. He started laughing and told you that you could eat whatever you wanted. You were thrilled to have free reign!

I love you sweetie! Thanks for being you.
Mommy

Such a Lover

Rusty,

It's almost your first birthday. I can't believe it! I feel like this year has just flown by. Why are the funnest years always the fastest? I have loved every minutes that I've had with you and can't wait to see what the future holds for you. I know it's going to be great. One of the things I love the most about watching you is the way you love everyone around you. You are constantly hugging your siblings and your friends, trying to wiggle in for more snuggle time, and just soaking up all the love we can give you. Sometimes when I have to wake you up I sneak into the room and then quietly lean over and kiss you on the cheek repeatedly. You love it. You lay there with your eyes closed but a big smile spreads across your face. It's adorable.

You love balls so much! Hayden has a ball pit at her house and you just love to sit in it and throw the balls all over the place. After you have had your fill of throwing balls you lay on your belly and just roll around in them.

You are the most independent baby I've ever met. You follow the big kids outside and you just go about your business playing and having fun. You are confident in yourself and the fact that if you need us we are just a sad face away.

I can't wait until your party. It's going to be a big one! Mommy has been busy planning up a storm. I'll give you a hint.... there's going to be a ball pit!

Love you!
Mommy

all boy

Russell,
You are all boy. It is so fun to watch you play in the mud, follow the big boys around with sticks, and chase after balls. You absolutely love to be involved with everything the others are doing. You also love playing catch. You would throw the ball all day long as long as someone threw it back to you. Sometimes you want to play and we aren't looking. You throw the ball anyway and we get whacked in the head with a big rubber ball. It's pretty funny.
You're saying words but not really knowing that you're saying them. You've said your name before but you haven't said it a second time. I think you're just experimenting with making sounds and getting really lucky. I know when you start talking you're going to have a lot to say though because right now you just grunt all day long. Whenever you see something you want you point to it and say "pss, pss, pss" as quick as you can until we figure out what it is that you want. Normally, it's a cookie or food of some sort. Once it was a giant sandwich on a sign at Walmart and we had to buy sandwich supplies to make you one when we got home.
You are so fast these days. You practically run around the house. It's really cute to see your short little body zipping around the house.
You got your first haircut to get ready for your baby dedication at the church. You did an amazing job sitting still the whole time. We gave you a sucker to distract you and it worked like a charm. Although when you ate the sucker down to the stick I took it away and threw the stick in the garbage. You were so upset. You started crying and then you just stood by the garbage staring into it until the stylist laughed and gave you another sucker. 
You have a fake cry. You use it when you are not getting your way. It is the funniest cry. You literally just scrunch up your nose and make a " aheh aheh aheh" sound. It doesn't even come close to sounding like a real cry. Grandma says if you aren't careful it will turn into a laugh. It always makes us laugh when you try to use it.
I love you little man.
Mommy

Costume Guy

Dear Hunter,
You haven't been sleeping well for a long time. I've seen it in the dark circles under your eyes and in your behavior lately. You told us a few times that you have been having bad dreams or that you lay awake at night when we're all sleeping. We didn't really know how much to read into it and just kept reassuring you that everything was ok. Well, last night it all came out.

You were afraid of the Easter Bunny climbing through your window and stealing you. You told us that Uncle Wade told you about that. We had you call Uncle Wade and talk to him about it. Uncle Wade has no recollection of what you're talking about but he did a good job talking to you on the phone about it. Then we went upstairs and I showed you how your windows lock.You said you still didn't want to sleep by the window so you moved to Rusty's part of the bed and slept next to Kaylee.

As I was turning out the lights we had a little talk about the Easter Bunny. I kept telling you that he wasn't real and that we were pretending and you kept telling me that you knew it was a costume guy. Then it finally made sense... You thought a man in a bunny costume was going to climb up the house, through your window and steal you!

After we understood what you were scared of we were able to have a long conversation. Turns out you thought Mommy and Daddy had been letting in some strange man dressed up like a bunny to fill up your Easter Baskets every year. We explained to you that we buy your presents and hide them in the closet and then after you fall asleep we fill your baskets up. You were so thrilled. It was the best news you had ever gotten!

Daddy came upstairs and was talking to you about it too, and this time Connor was in the room. Connor asked, "Wait... what about the pajama fairy?!"

You were so excited that Mommy and Daddy were the Easter Bunny, Pajama Fairy, and Santa that you closed your eyes and sighed happily as Daddy left the room.

Daddy and I had a good laugh about the whole ordeal. Suddenly your fear of costumes makes a lot of sense. I'm sorry you've been so afraid. I'm glad we could relieve some of that fear for you. Just so you know.... Mommy would be pretty scared if a strange man came into the house dressed as a bunny too!

I love you!
Mommy