Hudson's First Soccer Game

Hudson had his first soccer game last Monday.  He's signed up for the same soccer program that Wyatt and Reese played for at the Y when they were three.

She was very excited to take him to his game.  She is an awesome big sister!

 After sitting on sideline watching the kids play sports since he was teeny tiny, he was so ready to play!

 It took him a few minutes to warm up and head out to the field on his own.  He completely understands what you're supposed to do in soccer...

 But he isn't always aware of where the ball is.  He's more into running around with the group.

 They spent the first few minutes practicing their goal kicks.  Hudson felt like he needed to give his family a high 5 after he kicked it in.

 Ready to say the Y pledge.

 It was definitely fun to watch him run around the field.  Occasionally he remembered that he was supposed to be kicking the ball, but he mostly just spent the first game running around with the pack!  We're excited to watch him play soccer this fall!

Behind the Plate!

Wyatt's Fall Ball is officially back in swing!

His first game was last Wednesday.  Brian actually makes the baseball schedule, so he coordinated game days with the times that his coaches had availability, the day of the week that Hudson has soccer (only Mondays thank goodness!), and Wyatt's soccer practice (Thursdays).  The only thing we didn't know for sure was when Reese would have soccer practice.  And it turns out her team practices on Wednesdays.  Muh.

We went to her practice (where she did a fabulous job), and then I texted one of the other moms to find out which inning they were playing at Wyatt's game.  It was the third, so off we went.

I'm so glad that I did!  I completely forgot that Brian had Wyatt penciled in to catch in the fifth and sixth innings.

I got there just in time to see him walking out of the dugout in his catcher's gear, and to see him helping his coach warm up!

(Yeah, this fence is going to be a problem for me)

 He had so much fun behind the plate.  After that inning was over I had to run over and grab a shot of him in his catcher's gear!

 He hit two doubles that night!  He really seems to be excited that we're really "keeping score!"

 He was back behind the plate for the final inning!  It really is so fun to watch him back there.  He likes it because when he's catching he really gets to be a part of  every play.  At one point a kid on the Orioles hit a foul ball that looked like it was going to be fair.  Wyatt hopped up from behind the plate to field it, but he needs more work with the catcher's gear on. It slowed him down a bit!

 As Hunter's mom said, I'm sure this was an intense conversation.  These boys are all about baseball.  Okay, with some silliness thrown in. Ha!

We are so happy to have baseball season back in our lives.  We were worried because this is the first year that he's playing coach pitch: which meant a real draft, and Wyatt and his friends weren't guaranteed to be on the same team.  Fortunately Brian was able to get four of the boys that he coached last year, and I know Wyatt is so happy to be back together with them.  He was very torn about how he would feel about getting Aden or Hunter out!

I know that Brian and my brother both made life long friends when they were playing baseball as kids.  I'm so excited to see my boy forming those friendships now!

Project 365: Week 33 & Week 34

Tuesday, August 13

Hanging out at our last week of swim lessons.  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I took these kids to swim lessons!

Wednesday,  August 14

Hudson had an appointment with the Pediatric Dermatologist about a little bald spot he's developed in the back of his head.  It's a mild form of alopecia, and they gave us some topical ointment and said it will grow back.  He was so good during his appointment, and he got to ride in the Jeep for the first time afterwards!

Thursday, August 15

Going on a bike ride on his sweet Schwinn.

Friday, August 16

Wyatt has started coach pitch baseball this fall.  He needed a new, bigger bat.  Brian ordered this for him online after reading about 8 million reviews and checking 4 different sports stores for this specific bat.  Fortunately we have our Amazon Prime account and Wyatt's new bat was here in time for practice!  He named his new bat "Lightning."  If you're gonna be like Babe, you've gotta name your bat, right?

Saturday, August 17

Hunter's birthday party!  Best buddies!

Sunday, August 18

Practicing the piano.

Monday, August 19

Katie and Stevie were leaving for college, and they came to say goodbye before they left.

Tuesday, August 20

Me and vampire baby.  If you can believe it, she is actually filling that little gap in the top if her mouth right now!  The two middle teeth have cut.

Wednesday, August 21

Getting crafty for our trip to Disney World!!

Thursday, August 22

Good morning Finley!  Nice photo bomb Reesie!

Friday, August 23

Bath time baby!

Saturday, August 24

Getting in her playtime, and working on her standing skills!

Sunday, August 25

Happy Birthday, Reesie Piecey!

Monday, August 26

On his way to his first coach pitch scrimmage game.  I can't believe that he's big enough for "real" baseball now!

One Year Old!!!

It's that time of the month again.  The time where I say that I really, truly, honestly have no idea how this little girl is a month older.

And not just one month older.  This baby girl, this little sweet girl who was once the teensiest and tiniest of my four babies is now a one year old.

Finley is a light in our family.  Plain and simple.  Her smile lights up the whole room, and she instantly makes a cranky pants attitude better (no matter which person is being a cranky pants).

She is constantly on the move.  If she's not in her high chair eating, all bets are off. She might be in the kitchen or living room, but the chances are good that she's in the playroom getting into something.  Or maybe she's by the shoe bins taking shoes out and throwing them on the floor!

She has been almost exclusively in cloth diapers since Hudson started using the bathroom.  That makes us all (but especially her) very happy campers.

She's not into weaning at all, so we're still breastfeeding about three times a day.  I haven't pushed it much, partly because she's perfectly happy and healthy, but also because when she's done, I'm done.  I'm just a bit sad that she's the last baby, and I'll feed her as long as she wants me to!

She has 7ish teeth.  Two are actually cutting right now. She doesn't deal well with teething pain, and it tends to make for a fussy few days!

She took her first official steps on August 27th.  And she is a walking machine now.  She pulls herself up and moves right along.  She loves to dance, so as soon as she's standing, it's not uncommon to see her dancing and boogeying down!

She is wearing mostly 12 months sized clothes now, but she also wears some 18 month outfits.

She says, "Dada," "Mama," "splash," "uh-oh!," "more!," and "hey!"  She also signs "more" and "all done."  I think she's on the verge of "bye-byes" with waves.  We have a lot more time to practice now that the big kids are in school!

I love this little girl so much.  People always say things like, "How do you handle four?," or "Four seems like a lot of work."  And the truth is, it totally is.  Sometimes we don't go to birthday parties because it's a lot of work and stress when it's just me during the summer.  Sometimes my house is an absolute mess and there are laundry piles.  Sometimes I almost miss Wyatt's first time catching at baseball because Reese has soccer practice.  And I've definitely missed one or two things because I'm off somewhere breastfeeding the baby.  Sometimes I even lose my patience and put everyone to bed a little early.

But two wasn't the right number for us.  And neither was three.  And I get teary eyed when I think about what our lives would be like if we didn't have this precious baby girl who smiles every time we walk in a room.  What if I'd actually taken the things people said to heart when they asked me, "So, are you done now?," after Hudson was born? I am so thankful every single day that we weren't done, and we got this little surprise! We are so blessed to have our Finley Quinn!

Eleven Months

Ten Months

Nine Months
Eight Months
Seven Months
Six Months
Five Months
Four Months
Three Months
Two Months
One Month
Brand New

First Day of School!

On Tuesday morning we got up bright and early to get this little guy off to his first day of First Grade!

 And when I say bright and early, I mean bright and early.  Seriously.  We have to leave the house at 7:30 to get him to school on time!  It's not a problem for this guy who is up with the sun everyday, but it's not that easy for his mommy and daddy who were sleeping in a bit over the summer.  Fortunately for me, Brian's been dropping him off in the mornings while I get the other two ready for school.

He was very excited to start the new year, and I'm pretty sure that he ended up with the first grade teacher that was meant for him.  I think he is going to learn so much and have a blast in the first grade!!!  I asked him what he thought about his first week last night and he said that it was great!  I was worried about sending him off to a new school, but he already knows so many kids from his old school and our neighborhood and baseball and soccer, so he's actually listing off who he saw at school every day when he gets in the car.

This little miss was off to her year of Pre-Kindergarten!  She is going to school 5 days a week this year for half the day.  I know that she will learn so much, and she is already having the best time!

 She kind of insisted on having a "hand on  the hip" pose after she put her chalkboard down.

So there's that.

 And this little guy started school for the first time ever on Tuesday!  I can't believe that he's old enough for school!  He's in the same 2 day 3 year old program that Wyatt and Reese were in, but they actually let November babies in. He'll stay with the same group of kids until they separate for Pre-K and Kindergarten.  He won't meet the age cut off for Kindergarten, so he'll head off to Pre-K, just like Reese!

 He was so, so excited to go to school.  He wanted to get his picture taken with everybody, he wanted to leave the house with Wyatt, and he wanted to make sure that under no circumstances was he left at home. 

I was worried that there might be nerves of even some crying, but there was none.  He walked into his classroom, and only looked back once.  Then he moved on to washing his hands (yes, he likes to wash his hands!).

 I think the fact that his amazing big sister was there helped him some.  He loves knowing that she's just down the hall if he needs her - and she definitely didn't stop reminding him that she was only a few steps away!

The first week of school was a little crazy for us all (one new school, 3 new schedules, 2 different drop offs and pick ups, soccer starting, baseball games, and on and on and on), but we had a lot of fun.  I'm so excited to see where the new school year takes them!

Open House

On Wednesday night we went to Open House at Hudson and Reese's preschool.  I can't believe that we took Hudson to meet his teacher, and I'm still in a bit of denial about the fact that our biggest boy isn't going to school there anymore.  Insanity!

Open House is fun, and it's exciting to meet their teachers, but man is it crowded!

(Previous years - 2010, 2011, and I apparently forgot to blog about 2012.  Oops. Let's blame pregnancy brain. And the fact that I had a baby that week.)

My middles on their way to school!

 Shouting "Open House!"

Yes, Hudson is wearing the exact same outfit that Wyatt wore to his first open house at school. Isn't that part of the fun of having kids?

 She was excited, but I think he was a combination of nervous and excited  Fortunately for us, his teacher is the mother of one of Wyatt's really good friends, so there was no nervousness for Mommy!  I know that he is going to have a fantastic year in Ms. Michelle's class.

And Reesie was giddy waiting to see her new classroom and meet her teacher - even though she already knows her!  She is very excited for her year in Pre-K with Ms. Cathy!

 I can't believe we're getting ready to start a new school year.  It seems like we just finished the last one.  

But I mostly can't believe that the little boy in the middle right there, is getting ready to start school.  He wasn't even born when Wyatt started school - and now he's about to start school himself.  Insanity, I tell you!

Seriously time. Slow down.