St. Patrick's Day!

 Even though we don't do a lot for St. Patrick's Day, we have tried to start some traditions for each holiday.  We have a few decorations we put up.  The kids love the rainbow, which I recycled from my mom, because they get to find a pot of gold under it on St. Patrick's Day.

 But to do that they have to catch a leprechaun first!

 The kids made a few different traps, but only caught the leprechauns hat and some notes and footprints he left.

 So I helped them build this trap.  We used his hat as bait and lucky charms to lure him in.

 It worked!  We caught a leprechaun.  Then each of the kids made a wish: Vaden wished for a pot of gold, and Asher wished for $100.  On St. Patrick's Day we looked under our rainbow and the kids found their prized, though that leprechaun was pretty tricky.  He gave us a pot of Chocolate Gold and $100 in monopoly money.

 The kids had a great time.  I also made some bags that we secretly delivered to some of our neighbors and then each of the kids got on their door knobs with something green to wear in them.

We love our holidays!

March Madness

 March Madness is not about basketball for us, it just us being crazy busy.

I'm a cub scout leader so I helped with the Blue and Gold Banquet.  We had a carnival theme and I was in charge of helping with decorations.  This was how we set up.  Food booths, tables with centerpieces, and small booths with games.

 My Webelos Den had a ring toss that we made (with the help of my dad).  I also brought a Prize Wheel that the scouts got to spin.  They really loved it.

I had my dad come and teach one of my scout dens.  The scouts got their Earth Rocks pin and we learned all about geology and rocks.  It was a great lesson.

A different week we took the scouts to a firestation for their First Responder pin.

 Ryan played ward basketball every Saturday morning.  Then they had their tornament in March.

 The kids love going to watch dad play, though they mostly just play with their friends.

 The kids love going to playplaces.  When it was too cold, we take them to indoor playplaces like McDonald's or Burger King.  Of course, Kelen loves to play with the kids too but he has a hard time climbing around.  Next year he'll be a little bigger and able to keep up better.

 When the weather is good we like to go to the park.  There are several different parks in the area and the kids love to try out different ones.

 The kids are great friends.  I'm so glad they have each other.

 Cute Vaden!

 Adventurous Emmet!

 Fun Kelen!

 Active Asher!

 Kelen loves his Daddy and feeling like a big boy.

 We also have a playgroup for all the kids weekly.  They love to play with friends and go to other people's houses.

 My kids are entirely predictable too.  Kelen found the baby toys and later the sandbox.

 Emmet went off on his own and played in the rocks and sandbox.

 Vaden stayed at the snack table for quite a bit of playgroup, then jumped on the trampoline and played on the swings.

 Asher found the cars and played with his friends all playgroup.  I love that they each have their own personalities, and that I know them so well:)

Kelen has discovered that he loves to be outside and he loves to help me.  He is growing up so fast!

Vaden Girl!

 Vaden is such a silly girl.  She has such a love for life.

She loves to have girl day with me and playing with all of her girl friends.

Here is Vaden playing with all of her friends at playgroup.

She loves to make faces and have me take pictures of her.

She drew some pictures to show off.  I love that she draws hearts and happy people!

Even though she is my girly girl, she still loves to play with the boys and make messes.

Emmet

Emmet is a special kid!  He is athletic and passionate and loves to play with his siblings.  He is a smart and happy boy.  At the same time, he is my most difficult right now.  He doesn't talk, so communicating with him is hard.  He has learned to take us by the hand and show us what he wants.  He is trying a little harder to say things, though whether he just can't say things or won't is hard to know.

 He calls Asher 'Car' and Vaden 'Kay'.  It took us a while to figure that out but now we know and he consistently uses those words for his brother and sister.  We tested Emmet at the Early Childhood Development Center and he has a communications delay, meaning he isn't communicating at the level he should be.  We'll have some in home training to help us teach him better.  Hopefully we make some progress soon.

 Emmet loves being a big boy.  He wants to be included with everything that Asher and Vaden do.  He has started sleeping in Asher's room with him and Vay.  They also like to have sleep over's in Vaden's bedroom on the weekends.  Ryan and I joke that we could have saved money on a smaller house since they all sleep in the same room anyway.  Though I'm sure as they get older, they will be glad to have their own rooms.

 Emmet won't go to bed unless Asher and Vaden are with him.  Even at nap time he is asking for 'Car' and 'Kay'.  But he still sleeps really well and naps for 3-4 hours every day.

 At gymnastics, Emmet is in an indepedent class.  However, he won't go by himself.  He only participates if he has Asher or Vaden helping him.  The gym has been really good to allow them to help during his class.  He is very active and physical so gymnastics is great for him, especially play time.

 The kids have really gotten to be best friends.  They love to play together.  They love to wear the same things together.  They love to watch show together.  They love to play games together.  They just love being together.  Emmet loves going to school with them.  He even wears a little backpack and acts like such a big boy.  He gets really upset when I take them and he has to stay home.  Next year he'll even get to stay for preschool:)

 Emmet loves cars.  He has always loved playing with cars for as long as he could play.  He will sometimes just lay down and roll a car back and forth in front of him.  He loves playing with trains too.

 He still doesn't eat all the time.  He sometimes eats nothing and other times eats lots.  It is hard to feed him because he is always changing what he is willing to eat.  He just has to decide and we never know what he wants.  I'm not sure he knows what he wants.  

Emmet loves to play outside.  He will spend hours in the sandbox just digging and throwing sand around.  He likes to put sand on top of Kelen.  He also loves to ride bikes and his scoot car.  He is crazy unafraid, which makes me very afraid.  He is a fun, happy, crazy boy.  We love him and all his energy!

Kelen is 15 months old!

Kelen is now 15 months old and he just keeps getting bigger and more grown up.

Kelen's Stats:

Height: 32.7 inches (95%)

Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (60%)

Head Circumference: 18.5 inches (50%)

Kelen is such a handsome boy.  He is happy and healthy.  He walks now, though at times he is pretty wobbly.  He loves dance parties with his siblings.  He dances by putting his hands in the air (it looks like a gorilla:).  I love it!  Kelen has 6 teeth still.  He loves, loves, loves to eat!  He eats all food, so I try to feed him healthy things. 

Kelen also likes to get into my kitchen cupboards.  He always pulls stuff out and is always stealing my kitchen towel.  Sometimes he takes it and acts like it is a blanket, while other times he will take it and 'wipe' up the floor with it.  It is amazing how much they learn just by watching others.  Kelen has learned to love his blanket from Emmet.  He's learned to give hugs and kisses from Vaden.  He's learned to play cars from Asher.  He has also learned to talk a little bit.  He is making sounds, baby sounds, but he is learning to imitate us and is using the sounds repeatedly.  He says "nana" for food.  He started using it when we gave him a banana, but then expanded it to mean all food:)

One of Kelen's favorite things to do now is to climb up on things. 

He climbs on the couch all the time, but lately he has learned to climb on other things.  He likes to climb on Vaden's vanity and enjoys the mirror.

He also likes to climb on the kid's desks.  Anytime the kids don't tuck their chairs all the way in, he can climb up and does.  I often find him getting into all their homework and crayons.  He is a little trouble maker.

The other day I heard the water on and found Kelen 'brushing his teeth' and getting water everywhere.  He also loves to play in the toilet so I have to make sure the bathrooms doors are always closed.  He has learned a few of these things by following Emmet around.  When those two are together and it is quiet, they are usually up to no good.

Here is another place I found him.  On the kitchen counter.  I just can't leave him alone!  He was in his highchair, but crawled all the way across the counter and stove to get some snacks. What a rascal!
He loves bathtime and playing in the water.  He is getting to be really good friends with Emmet, though is sometimes terrified of him.  I can't really blame him since Emmet can be pretty rough and mean at times.  One time I caught him smothering Kelen with a pillow.  Kelen was super upset.

Kelen absolutely loves his Daddy!  He is a Daddy's boy and loves to rub it in.  He is always giving me knowing looks when he goes to dad or does something fun with him.  He loves to play with his siblings, especially Emmet.  They are going to be such good buddies (of course it probably helps that they are about the same place with talking and communicating).  

We love our baby boy!  He is so special to our family.  He loves to play with balls and cars.  It is fitting since he is our 'sports baby' (as the kids named him before he was born).  He is always happy and loves to have a good time.  He still cuddles and loves to be part of the group.  I am so glad he has such good siblings to be best friends with and to look up to.  And he can always be a daddy's boy if it means he will grow up to be like his dad!