Daily Dabble 5/25/12 - Summer Hide and Seek

First day of summer. It has been a doozy. The kids are trying to figure out their groove with everyone home all day. I am in the same boat. No more morning work for me. I will have to return to late night typing so I can get it done without little people needing mommy to play! The house was a tornado this morning with lots of toys and playing going on scattered with pestering, bugging, hitting, screaming, pushing, blocking, and crying. We needed to get out so we headed to the dollar theater with Shell and Hailee for some McDonalds and Lorax. The kids did great. They all LOVE popcorn!. Minus Carter needing to pee three times and Maylee once they all did super.

Funny story.

Maylee is napping. I am working. The boys are playing hide and seek together. Round one Carter is to count and Drew is to hide. Drew was stressed about not finding a spot to hide. Carter lovingly helped him hide under their bed. Carter returned to the play room to count and then set of to find Drew. I couldn't help but giggle when he walked around saying "ready or not, here I come. Now, where is Andrew hiding?" He went into his room and looked in all the other hiding spots while Drew giggled from under the bed. As if he didn't know where he was......Oh I love these boys when they play so nice together. It was the cutest thing!!!!!

Daily Dabble 5/24/12 - Kindergarten Celebration Day

Happy Kindergarten Celebration Day for our Drew!!!!! I took a risk and sat on the front row on the side, but it paid off when Drew was right on the end on the same side I was sitting! It was PERFECT! He could see me and I could see him. I wish I knew how the camera worked for the video for the first song they did because it was adorable and made me a bit emotional. He did so great up there. He was singing and doing the hand movements. Oh how I adore that little boy!

We went back to his class and got some more pictures. I tried to convince him to come home with me, but he wanted to stay to finish out the day! I am excited to celebrate tonight with a little "new fry store".

He has learned so much and come so far this year and I am so proud of him. His teacher is so sweet and is so excited to have him back in her class next year. Drew is stoked to be "Mrs.C***'s' helper" and to stay in the same room. Good thing he loves her and doesn't care about staying for another year! I am super excited he gets to keep his same aid "Ms.D*** " next year too. She adores him and he is quite fond of her too! I know this next year will make a big difference.

We love you Drew! 

Congrats on completing your first official year of school!

Daily Dabble 5/23/12

 I was finishing up a little work this morning. Maylee was eating breakfast....well, crumbling it up and stuffing it on the side of her chair. Carter was off doing his thing. I heard a little tinkering in the kitchen, but didn't think much of it. I finished and decided to check out the happenings in the kitchen. I was so surpised and my heart melted just a little to see our little four year old emptying the dishwasher without being asked. He had put away the silverware and had lined up all the cups on the counter since he couldn't reach. LOVE HIM. He was pretty proud of himself too.

We finished up together and prepped for our Costco extravaganza. We left Costco with a very full cart and at least a little relief of prep for our exciting upcoming month. Oh and exciting news - Maylee actually let me get her in the pool today. I guess it is getting hot enough outside and the water is warm enough...not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing!

Summer Hair Cut

It was adorable. The curls. They were quite cute.

They were crazy, unruly and quite frizzy come normal sweaty playtime of a little boy and then combine swimming and we had quite the crazy hair-do.

I pumped him up for his summer hair cut. He was stoked. I think daddy took the loss of curls the hardest.....

Fabulous Four!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARTER CAKES!

This little man has been counting down the days to his birthday since Maylee's. He knew his birthday came after hers, but it was my mistake that he did not realize it was not the DAY AFTER her birthday. We made a chart and put a sticker on every day. He was SO excited for his big day.

He woke up to a new car mat and cars. He picked donuts for breakfast. We had McDonalds for lunch. (Thank goodness I did not have to go in for jury duty on his big day....my group was released!) We did grilled cheese for dinner.

His cousins came over for a little party. Carter had imaged a huge party and even dictated the invitee list. He was so cute to include this cute little girl from church, church teachers, neighbors, aunts, uncles, cousins, and is own siblings. Maybe next year we will go a little bigger on the party - Presents and cake make everything okay though, right?!

He settled on a Superman cake after many other ideas.....Peep and the Big Wide World, Spiderman, Cars, and Batman. It is not the most fabulous cake, but hey - he loved it!

Carter is a smart little cookie and loves to learn. He has always been a fan of letters, numbers, and colors. For goodness sakes the child loves to play with scrabble squares. He knows pretty much all of his upper and lower letters with a good portion of their sounds. We have not delved into writing his letters yet, but he can write a "C" for Carter and "A" for Andrew. He will not go to his primary class on his own and recently told me he would go to the gym Kids Club, but I am not holding my breath for that one. He sings so sweetly. He still sleeps with his "yeow yeow" and little glowworm seahorse "baby" thing. He is a sucker for routines and rules. He is so proud when he gets himself dressed. He loves to eat waffles, pancakes, smoothies, cheese sticks, yogurt, candy, quesadillas and rolls. He is still quite picky, but we are getting there.

I gave him a little interview, in which he kept requesting more questions until I completely ran out:


How old are you? I'm four

What is your favorite color? "Grow" and blue (gray and blue)

What is your favorite animal? Cow

What is your favorite food to eat for dinner? Chicken fries and french fries

What do you want to be when you grow up? Pirate

What is your favorite book? Itchy Itchy Chicken Pox (He can recite the whole thing my memory)

How about a favorite song? Choosing the Right

What is your favorite shoe? Peep and the Big Wide World

Where do you want to go on vacation? To see the pool

If you could go anywhere where would you want to go? Disney land and the beach and Grammy's house

What is your favorite thing to play? Hide and seek

What is your favorite place to eat? Fry Store (In-n-Out)                         

What is your favorite toy to play with? Cars

Favorite snack? Crackers

Who is your best friend - Camryn (adorable little girl at church)

What do you like to eat for breakfast? Jelly toast

Lunch? Cheezits

Drink? Chocolate milk
What is your favorite letter? C
Can you spell your name? C-A-R-T-B-R (pretty good - almost there!)
What is your whole name? Carter Baker
Do you have a favorite number? 1, no 3, no 4 because I'm four!
What is your favorite sport? Soccer, no basketball

Carter is about 32.4 lbs and in the 30-50% for height. I forget what he measured in at. He was a champ for his kindergarten shots and is stoked to start preschool. He knows summer comes and then preschool. Fingers crossed he is still this excited come the first day when I have to drop him off!

Gratitude

Sometimes I lose focus. Get caught up in the hustle and bustle. The hours fly by. The days melt together. The weeks slip into months. Then for a moment it all stops. Reality. Life. It catches up with me and remember what I am doing here and the small part that I play....the part I play in the life of my children.

I like to believe that I am a grateful person and that I appreciate most of my blessings and gifts, but I don't think I ever feel such a deep feeling of gratitude as when the moment hits me and I realize how many people, amazing and wonderful people are invested in and so lovingly care for my sweet boy.

Last week I sat in his elementary school prepping for an IEP meeting. I was full of anxiety and even some dread. I really have a hard time in these meetings. It is so raw and so real, but I was surrounded by his wonderful teachers, therapists, psychologist, and TBI rep and I just couldn't help but feel such an overwhelming feeling of deep gratitude for everyone who has played a role and continues to play a role in loving, nurturing, guiding, shaping, and caring for this sweet little angel boy of mine. His spirit is one in a million and sometimes I forget that through the struggles, the ever so common power struggles, meltdowns, frustrations, and confusion...  He is so special, so very special. I know his Father in Heaven loves him dearly, more than I could ever comprehend. I know Drew is watched over and that his Father in Heaven knows him so well and what he needs. As long as this little man has been with us there has NEVER been anything Drew has lacked in care. He always gets what he needs. His school team is truly a "dream team", extended family adores him, friends cling to him, strangers are drawn to him, and doctors remember him.

I sat in the car after spending an hour discussing my very busy, charismatic, lively, sweet, tender son's educational future for the next year just feeling so overcome with gratitude. I tried to think of a way to express this gratitude to all those family, friends, teachers, therapists, medical professionals, and even strangers who have lovingly cared for and prayed for my son. I tried to think of the words that would describe what I feel in my heart and it is just impossible.

The days will continue to move on and I am sure it will blur into weeks and months as it always does, but I know I can always rely on Drew to bring me back; to bring me back to what really matters and to remember what I am doing here and what is truly important. Oh how I love that little boy and am so glad he is in our little family forever and ever.