More May Happenings

May is always such a busy month for us between birthdays, end of school year events, holidays, and the extras that always seem to happen.

Like having to take a saxophone to an instrument shop for repairs.  And the lovely man at the shop sent these two home with kazoos.  Oh boy.  That was a long forty minute drive home.

The sax was fixed just in time for Trenton's eighth grade band concert.  It. Was. Awesome.  The band teacher at Fox Ridge Middle School is amazing!

 Colson had his last 6th grade band concert that night as well.  It's amazing to hear the difference in their playing from the beginning of the year to the end.  They were amazing!  

Best little buddies.  I love how they are holding hands in this picture.  We sure miss living across the street from the Lee family!

Someone is a monkey!  She figured out how to get out of her high chair buckle, and that brought on a whole new set of safety issues.  As if we didn't already have enough to worry about with this girl and safety!

All winter long, this tractor was parked in the parking lot of the apartment complex we lived at, and being that Preston still loves tractors, he would frequently ask me to take a picture of him with it.  This boy would really like to have a tractor of his own someday.  I honestly won't be surprised if he becomes a farmer just so he can drive a tractor every day.

Guess who made another mess?!  She is so fast!  It takes her no time flat to make these kinds of messes.  And she usually does it while I'm busy and distracted cleaning up a previous mess she has made.  I am writing this months after this picture was taken, and I can honestly say not a whole lot has changed.  It is so exhausting, but I would much rather have messes to clean up than not have this cute girl.  I love her, messes and all!

Another move.  This time across the country!  The nice thing about this one is we didn't have to pack anything up or load the truck.  The only thing we ended up packing were the suitcases full of clothes we needed while we stayed with Trent's parents for a few weeks until the kids were done with school.

Vivian and I went to the "Women in Leadership" night that Mr. Kennedy helps put together every year.  These are just some of the friends from her class.  They were all so upset that Vivi was going to be moving so far away!  On more than one occasion they begged me not to take her.

Guys night out!  Trent's friends were so nice to take him out for some fun and food.

With all the changes, Lou had a hard time sleeping the first couple of nights at grandma and grandpa's.  "Shaun the Sheep" was the only way I got some sleep those nights.  Whoever dreamed up that show is one of my favorite people ever.  That show is what has made it possible for me to take showers, sleep, get a few loads of laundry done (okay, more than a few), and even get through the grocery store on several occasions without a major melt down.  To sum it up, this show has been my saving grace!  While she is finally branching out and watching other shows, for months she was faithful to only "Shaun the Sheep".  She still loves it though and comes back to it time and time again.  And who can blame her?  It is the funniest show around!  

Another airport goodbye.  As I look back, I wonder how I made it through everything going on during that time with this guy gone 5-6 days a week.  I'm so glad we don't have to do that any more!

This was a bit of exciting news.  The rain stopped long enough (it rained all Spring and Summer long here in Atlanta!) for them to be able prep for the foundation.  Yay!  One milestone down in the whole long process.

My girl and I, hanging out with all the kiddos at the park.  I've said it thousands of times, but I really don't know what I would do without this girl of mine!  Love her to bits!

Something inside me must have known I wouldn't get to see a sunset for months because I have a lot of sunset pictures from the months before we moved.  

 My Buds and I.  He was insistent that I wear this princess crown and that we have a picture together with it on.  Just looking at him with that smile, and the glasses… Melts my heart like butter it does!

Birthday Girl!

Back in April, our sweet little Jillian turned 2!  We are so grateful for the day she came to join our family.  She brings so much joy and laughter into our home.

I didn't have to do any decorating for her birthday.  Vivian took care of everything in that department.  She made the streamers and everything!  On the left, she wrote some things about Jilly.  The signs read:

"Cute baby girl"

"So silly and loves Shaun the Sheep"

and, "Snuggles a lot with others"

She sure loves and knows her baby sister!  Vivi was especially glad for the day Jilly was born, after begging for a sister for years.

We had a homemade mac and cheese dinner and cake and ice cream over at grandma and grandpa Stock's house with everyone.

This was Jilly trying to blow the candle out.  She had her lips pursed tight and would try to blow through them.  I think a sibling ended up helping her out. ;)

Yay!  Wow, I forgot just how dirty her clothes were that day.  Ah well.

That's some serious static electricity!

Opening presents.

She thought her new dolly needed a taste of her lollipop.  Such a good sharer!

The balloon launch.  Jilly was so excited for the "doons", as she calls them.

Hooray!  Jilly kept saying, "Bye doons!"

The whole fam damily.  We were so happy that grandma Chapman was in town and could celebrate with us.  We were glad we were still in town too!  Our original move date had been April 8th.

A little fun in the back yard together.  We decided to ditch Jilly's clothes since they were so filthy.  She was much happier running around practically naked anyway.

Jilly is the most loved little girl I have ever known.  Her older siblings are always there loving on her, and they all help to take such good care of her.

So Jilly has had a few fetishes in her life.  Her first was her belly button.  She loved to dig in her belly button for the longest time!  If she had a onesie on, it drove her crazy because she couldn't get to her 'belly butt', as she called it.  Next was her nose.  She had her finger in her nose an awful lot for a while there.  Then it was her eyelashes.  She would, ever so softly, rub her fingertips along her eyelashes when she was tired.  Lately, it is her nipples.  The second you take her shirt off, that is right where her hands go.  I won't even tell you what she does when you change her diaper.

There she is again, hands to the chest.  This girl is a crack up!

Here are a few things about our little Lou:

She is so gross!  When Colson was in preschool, there was another mom I had gotten to know pretty well.  She had a daughter that was in Colson's class, and boy did she have some stories to tell about her little girl!  She had been dubbed with the nickname of Poocasso because she loved to make lovely art creations on the walls with her poop.  At the time, I remember thinking, “I’m so glad my kids don’t do gross stuff like that".  Eight years later, that thought has come back to bite me in the butt.  While Jillian hasn't resorted to drawing on the walls with her poop, she does like to dig around in her diaper.  I have just been lucky enough so far to have caught her in the act, and it has gotten no further than her hands.  I also had to buy a garbage can with a lid that locks, and not because she would throw everything away in it.  It was because she kept pulling things out of it to eat.  I think we have finally gotten through her toilet obsession.  On more than one occasion I have either found her playing in the toilet, or drinking out of it.  Ick!

She says “Hi mama” in the sweetest voice you have ever heard when she knows she is about to get in trouble.  And then guess what?  She doesn’t get in trouble.  Because it is so cute and so sweet, it melts my heart like butter, and there is nothing I can do except mug on her.

The other day she started saying, "Happy day!"  Except she says it like it's all one word.  "Happyday!" And now all of us go around saying, "Happyday!"

She has the best belly laugh ever.  I have several sound clips of it recorded, and if I'm having a down day, all I have to do is listen to that, and I can't help but smile and laugh.

She is very sweet, but she also has quite a bit of spunk and sass in her.  I’m telling you right now, you don’t’ want to cross her!  She has recently figured out how to stick her tongue out, and she does exactly that to anyone who is doing something she doesn't like.  Either that or she'll blow raspberries at you.  Little stinker!

She gives the best snuggles.

Her favorite thing to do at the park is swing.  The slides are a close second.

I love how she says please.  It's not just the word please.  It's, "Please, yeaaaaaah".  And she signs it as she says it too.  I hope she never stops saying it like that!

She loves her books.  Especially "Blue Hat, Green Hat" and "Moo, Baa, La La La" by Sandra Boynton.

She has the cutest, biggest, bucky beaver teeth!  I love to see her smile!

Her favorite show is “Shaun the Sheep”.  This show is my saving grace.  It is the only way I can get things done some days.  You know, like taking a shower and maybe getting dressed.

I am so glad we had her.  There was a lot of debate whether we should have baby number five.  And Trent and I were never on the same page about it. Either I was ready and he wasn’t, or he was ready and I wasn’t.  Until one day, we were both ready and we both knew it had to be then, or never.  When we first told the kids we were going to have another baby, Trenton said, “Another one?”  He was less than thrilled.  But by the time we had her and he came to the hospital to visit us, he was a changed boy.  He sat down to hold her and said, “I wish I could hold her forever!”

I can’t imagine life without her.  She completes our family and has brought all of us closer together.  Every one of her older siblings dotes on her.  She brightens our world in a million different ways.

Random Pictures

Here are a few happenings from the month of November:

 The big boys' favorite new homework spot; my bed.  They crack me up!

 Snuggles with my Buds and his bear, Chaucer.

 Preston came up to me one day, holding a pencil in his hand, and said, "Mom, there is something that I've always wanted to try.  I'll just have to take my glasses off to do it."  Then he removed his glasses, and put the pencil behind his ear.  He informed me that he saw he preschool teacher, Miss Jen, do this all the time, and he thought it was really cool.  I sure do love this kid!  He is always making me laugh!

 On November 17th, we had the opportunity to go to a CU game with Vivi's class.  Her teacher, Mr. Kennedy, got free tickets for his class members and all their families, along with free kids meals.  It was such a fun day!  Mr. K is the best!

After a long and busy day, (doing I don't remember what) this girl completely crashed.  We got home, carried her inside, undressed her, changed her diaper, put her pajamas on, and laid her in bed, all without her waking up even the slightest.  That's when you know she's tired!

Little Climber

Jillian loves, loves, loves to climb on the table, any chance she gets.

Little monkey.  

Photo Shoot

Here are a few photos that I took of my girl when she turned 18 months.

I can't believe she is already so big!

Silly Girl

Here are some random pictures of my Jilly girl:

 Playing peek-a-boo!

She was in desperate need of a nap when I snapped this photo.  She was laughing hysterically and bawling her eyes out at the same time.

 I have mentioned many times before how much little Miss Bean loves food.  Not only does she love to eat it, but she loves to make a mess with it too.

She just can't help, in her quest to get every last bite, getting food all over herself.

 And here she is with her first pony tail.  I know, it's not much to speak of, but it's there!  One of these days her hair will grow.  Hopefully before she turns 5.