Lucky number five!

So, the candles say 72, but Leyton really turned 5 on Saturday! [I had to get creative with the candles at the last minute. I couldn't find any in the cabinets besides these so we went with it. 7-2 = 5. It worked and Leyton got a math lesson at the same time! ;)]

At 5 years old, Leyton...

...is 49 pounds! [I think he's been 47-49 pounds since he turned 4.]

...is 49 inches [he's proportinate, right?! ;)]

...is a great big brother! I love hearing him talk to both of his sisters.

...loves sports. Baseball, soccer and football are on the top of his list.

...is finishing up his last year of preschool and will start kindergarten in the fall. Crazy!

...loves racecars and is getting his own taste of "racing" in his new go kart Pa built for him.

...is well loved!

We celebrated dinosaur style with our family and a few of Leyton's friends. I always have such a fun time searching for ideas to fit the theme the kids decide on for their special day. Leyton is loving dinosaurs so naturally, he chose a dinosaur party. Here are a few photos of our 5 year old bash!

When I asked Leyton if he wanted to play any games, he mentioned Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Since donkeys weren't exactly related to dinosaurs I changed the name of the game to Pin the Tail on the Dinosaur and drew a cute little dinosaur and cut out a few tails for the kids to pin. They had fun trying to find the perfect spot for their dinosaur tail, although it seemed the majority of them wanted to feed the dinosaur her tail.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found a lot of cute ideas for decorations. I created this cute little banner that hung from our back porch. It said "ROAR! Roar means Happy Birthday in dinosaur!"

Another idea I stole shamelessly from Pinterest was for the food table. We had food for the herbivores [veggie/fruit tray and cole slaw...not sure where my picture has gone], carnivores [hot dogs and sloppy joes], and...

'sweetivores' [cake pops, cupcakes, and dino eggs]. I snatched up some jelly bean eggs on clearance after Easter and made little bags of dino eggs for the kids. I also found little mini dinosaurs at the Dollar Tree to use as cupcake toppers.

We all had a great time celebrating Leyton! He is such a smart, fun, kind, independent and sweet little guy. He brings such joy to our lives and we couldn't be more proud of the little man he is becoming. It's hard to believe he's 5 already but at the same time, it's like he's always been a part of our lives. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years will bring.

We love you, Leyton!

7 weeks

Lyvia finally had her one month doctor's appointment this week...at 7 weeks.  We've been changing insurances and have had to wait on it all to be finalized before we could take her.  Talk about annoying, although, putting off getting immunizations has been fine with me.  That poor cry after getting poked is about the saddest thing ever.  The poor girl wimpered for quite awhile...broke my heart.  :(  But, she had a great report from the doctor...all is well!  :)  She is growing like a weed!!  She weighs 12lbs 8oz (87th percentile) and is 22.5 inches long (67th percentile).  She seems like she's grown more than an inch, but I guess it's just because she isn't curled up into a little ball anymore.  Since Leyton was a wee one, I have kept a growth chart online.  It is fun to go back and look at how each of the kids compares in size to the others.  At 2 months, Leyton was 14lbs 10oz (95th percentile) and 23.25 inches (64th percentile) and Jada was 12lbs 4oz (85th percentile) and 22 inches (46th percentile), so Lyvia falls right in the middle of the two.  I'll post more about how she's changing on her two month birthday next week. :)

20 questions with Leyton

So I joined Pinterest last night. Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe it was a good idea. Bad idea because I don't want to get sucked in for hours and hours like I've heard from other people. Good idea because I've already found some great things that I want to do with my kids, recipes that sound delicious, and great ideas for Leyton and Jada's birthday parties this year! That being said, I found this idea on Pinterest and since it's pretty close to Leyton's 5th birthday, I thought I'd go ahead and start. The idea is to ask these same questions every year on [or close to] your child's birthday and see how they change over the years. Cute, huh?! Well, here goes!!

1. What is your favorite color? "Uh, blue and green...are you giving me a test??"

2. What is your favorite toy? "Racecars and bouncy balls!"

3. What is your favorite fruit? "Oranges and apples."

4. What is your favorite tv show? "Power Rangers Dino Thunder and The Fairly Odd Parents"

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? "Let's see, enchiladas...no, no, not enchiladas! Cut that out, cut that out!! It's Little Caesar's pizza and breadsticks and the Tomato Place's [Fazoli's for those who might be wondering] white sauce spaghetti."

6. What is your favorite outfit? "My batman pants and shirt."

7. What is your favorite game? "Mario baseball for the Wii and the Cars game."

8. What is your favorite snack? "I'm not gonna tell ya, ya have to guess! Fine, it's animal crackers and jelly beans."

9. What is your favorite animal? "Elephants!"

10. What is your favorite song? "The Power Rangers song at the beginning of the show." [He then attempted to hum the song to me because I have no idea what that song is. :)]

11. What is your favorite book? "Any kind of book, I guess."

12. Who is your best friend? "Micah B. and Micah M. and Cameron"

13. What is your favorite cereal? "Cinnamon toast crunch."

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Play baseball. And play soccer. Do all kinds of sports... baseball, soccer, football...all of 'em!""

15. What is your favorite drink? "Juice and milk and water." [This kid is indecisive like his mother!!]

16. What is your favorite holiday? "All of them are my favorite. How can I choose one?! They're all the best!"

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? "Buddy [his teddy bear we made at Build a Bear for his 2nd birthday] and snakey."

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "Let's see, let's see. Cinnamon toast crunch."

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? "Cake and ice cream. That's it."

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A firefighter or a superhero."

I must say, this was quite fun. I hope I remember to ask these questions again next year!!

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend! We started the day off with a great church service, then headed to Greensburg to celebrate with my family. The majority of my family hadn't met Lyvia yet, so it was nice for them to finally get to see her. We had a yummy lunch then headed out to Gpa's for the annual Easter egg hunt.

We attempted to get a cute picture of the kids, but the sun was just too bright for their little eyes. This is the best we could do. I'll take it. :)

Leyton and Jada had a blast running around Gpa's yard "looking" for eggs. The didn't have to look far. The yard was covered in eggs. They could barely take a step without stepping on one. All the kids ended up with overflowing buckets! My sister and I were reminiscing about the eggs we used to hunt as kids. I'm pretty sure they weren't stuff with candy and there might have been a total of three dozen for the ten of us grandkids.

At the end of the day Leyton's comment was, "Mom, I will never forget what Easter is all about...the day Jesus arosed!"

A little mud never hurt anyone...

Baseball season is in full swing. We have spent many of our days cheering on the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats thanks to the great spring weather that has arrived so early. Usually it's far too cold to enjoy the games, especially with small children. This year, though? The weather has been perfect! Last week, a little rain came through and created the perfect mess for two little two year olds to enjoy at the baseball field. Jada and Nicholas had so much fun playing in the mud. I had fun watching the game pretending to ignore the fact that my daughter was covered in mud from head to toe. :)

Even covered in mud she is adorable!

.:One Month:.

Big brother love!

Two cuties!

I know, Lyvia...I can't believe you're a month old already either!

Isn't she a beauty?

At one month old Lyvia...

::eats about every 3-4 hours.

::sleeps great in between feedings and is beginning to have more and more content, alert time.

::doesn't cry unless she's hungry.

::goes to bed around 11pm and doesn't wake up until sometime between 4-5am to eat. I can't ask for much more than that! :)

::doesn't seem to mind tummy time. She has been known to lay her head down and fall asleep when she gets tired of holding it up. She doesn't really even fuss to be flipped over.

::has rolled over twice from her belly to her back during tummy time. The first time was at two weeks old.

::doesn't love her pacifier like her big brother and sister did. It helps keep her content while waiting on a bottle, but if she's not hungry she doesn't really care to have it.

::sleeps in the bassinet in mommy and daddy's room, and probably will until I go back to work.

::loves to swing.

::has definitely gained weight, but I'm not sure how much. We go to the doctor next Monday.

::is well loved by Leyton and Jada. I think Leyton proves that in the above pictures. They both love to hold her every chance they get.

Happy one month birthday Lyvia Jane! We love you!

Prayer

I love the things that Leyton says. He says some of the funniest things and I wish I would have been better at writing them down. [Note to self: do better with Jada and Lyvia!] Tonight as I was putting Leyton and Jada to bed, I asked them if they had prayed yet. They hadn't so Leyton said he knew a good prayer. This is how it went:

Leyton: "Tick, tick, tick tock. Now it's time to pray. Thank you Lord for this great day. Please help me to find my DS pens. Please help me to not have any bad dreams. Amen."

Me: "That was a great prayer, Leyton!"

L: "Well, I forgot something. I forgot to pray for everyone we know!"

M: "You can pray again."

L: "Tick, tock, tick tock. Now it's time to pray. Thank you Lord for this special day. Please help me to find my DS pens. Please help me to not have bad dreams. Please help my Grandma and Poppa to get home to Michigan safely. Help my great grandpa..." He looks at me and says, "How many great grandpa's do I have?

M: "Three. Poppa's dad in Michigan, Pa's dad in Greensburg, and Mamaw's dad, Gpa."

L: "Right, three. Please help my great grandpa in Michigan....what's his name, Mom? Who is he again?"
M: "Ray. He's Poppa's dad."

L: "Right, Ray. He's Grandma's dad too!"

M: "No, just Poppa's dad."

L: "Well, how come every time we go there Grandma says 'Hi, Dad!'"

M: "She calls him dad but he's just Poppa's dad."
L: "Oh...Please help my great grandpa in Michigan and my other great grandpa, but not Gpa, to be healthy and strong. Please help my great grandma, that's GG, to walk better because she doesn't walk very good, ya know. Amen."

M: "Great job. Why didn't you pray for Gpa to be healthy and strong?"
L: "Because he's not sick."

Love it.