Magical Mackinac Island on Kate's 4th Birthday

When you move to Michigan you start to hear about Mackinac Island. It is this magical little place that transports you through time. You hop on a ferry boat to get there and once you arrive you won't find any vehicles. There are horses, carriage rides, bikes aplenty, but NO motor cars. The main street is lined with hotels, fudge shops, souvenirs, and the hustle and bustle of foot traffic. While Main Street was super cute, we much preferred the back half of the island.

We took a two hour bike ride around the entire island. The high lights were throwing rocks into the water near British Landing, Arch Rock, Kate peeing in the woods, and picking wildflowers. Vince got a real kick out of riding a tandem bike with me.

ON the Island we enjoyed playing and eating ice cream at the Grand Hotel. Kate also chose to get three flavors of fudge to celebrate her birthday: blueberry, mint, and caramel. Incredibly delicious but also incredibly painful. It only took a few bites to get a belly ache! We wanted to go on a carriage ride but it just never worked out. Instead we saw the Governor's Home, military buildings from the war of 1812, and a beautiful old church. After all the site seeing we let the kids be kids and concluded our time on the island by playing at the school playground.

Following the ferry ride back to the mainland, we found a restaurant that served pasties-- a traditional food that miners would eat. The kids stuck with Mac & Cheese but Paul and I liked trying something new. While at the restaurant we took time to open presents and sing to Kate. She is such a smart four year old. She is reading like champ, rides a bike like there's nothing to be afraid of, gives me all the cuddles, loves to "chat" while she takes ALL DAY eating her meals, cares for baby dolls while simultaneously destroying stuff with her big brother, hums so loud that she misses half of what we say, has the brightest eyes you've ever seen, and has a heart of gold. She loved her magical birthday on Mackinac Island.

It's a GIRL

On Friday, June 22 the five of us filed into the ultrasound room and waited eagerly to ensure this baby was healthy and to discover the gender. I felt a wave of relief and excitement as the technician revealed that we would indeed have another daughter coming to our family this November. 

The anticipation of waiting 20 weeks to know my child's gender has been excruciating. Thankfully the other three littles have been keeping me occupied. I'm not sure whether Paul and I will choose to add any more children to our family after baby #4 so I was especially hopefully to have another girl. From the beginning of this pregnancy I had the feeling that this little one was a girl. Vince was the only one who guessed it would be a boy this time. He was open to the idea of a sister though, stating, "If we have a sister we will have 3 boys and 3 girls," and that just made sense in his head.

Kate has been referring to my growing bump as "Baby Sister" ever since she found out I was pregnant. I continually reminded her that it could be a baby brother... but she remained confident that it was a girl. 

Drew, of course, has no idea what's going on. 

I cannot wait to swaddle, rock, and love on this baby girl. She is going to be adored by many.

 

Vince's Golden Birthday (#6)

Happy Golden Birthday to my Golden Boy!

Vince is SIX years old! He has been so excited for this birthday because he turned six on May 6th. We celebrated with all things golden. Golden vanilla ice cream, gold candles, decor, wrapping paper, and treats. His favorite gift was the transformer Megatron. He also loves his razor scooter, costumes, legos, and books. To make it extra special, Paul and I created a scavenger hunt for Vince to find each of his toys. It was amusing to watch the wheels in his head turning until he figured out the hiding locations. 

How would I describe my Golden Boy? He is playful, social, a gifted reader, stubborn, loving, and ...did I already say playful? He lives to play with friends, ride bikes, and make believe. He hates to play alone and will beg for friends or family to play with him. He took a reading test in Kindergarten which placed his average reading level at that of a 2nd grader in their 6 month of school. He can read above that level but his comprehension begins to decrease after that point. We enjoy reading Secrets of Droon and the Magic Tree House together. Although he has difficulty keeping his hands to himself, Vincent is a wonderful big brother. He always keeps an eye out for Drew and he often helps Kate as she learns to read. We love our Vincey Boy!  

Bebe #4

The Fourth is With Us

13 months

Finally going down the stairs!

5 teeth (3 up, 2 down)
Says:
Dog (Dagh)
Dada
Mama
Ball (bah)
Outside (ow-sigh)
Night- Night! (nigh-nigh)
Light (height)
Banana (uh na na)

What does a ____ say?

Lion: hahhhhh
Cow: Boo
Dog: huh huh

Loves to wrestle with daddy by flopping onto him and crawling all over him.
Never stops walking
Chases the ball around everywhere
Totally addicted to Mom. Cries when she's gone.
Knows where he's not supposed to be and tries to get there (laundry room, fridge, behind the couch)
Where's Andrew? (Smacks chest)
Still a terrible teether. DRAMA KING

Body parts you know:
Nose, mouth, tongue, hand, head, foot

 I opened up the 12-18 month clothes and found one of Daddy's childhood outfits. You looked simply darling! Love you, Sweet beebee!

Andrew: 1 year!!

Your first year has flown by faster than your older siblings. I blinked and now here you are starting to toddle.

At the beginning of your 12th month you took a few quick, unsure steps. You naturally want to sit or crawl so it was tough convincing you to move your little legs. At end end of the month you had gained enough confidence to let go of chairs, couches, etc. and take a few steps before plopping onto your cute little bum.

We discovered that you LOVE slides. You're still a little unsure about swings.. but slides? Oh man, you laugh and immediately try to climb back up to slide again.

We went to the beach and it seems like you're slowly catching onto the fact that not everything should go in your mouth. When you tried to eat a rock I told you no. You looked at me than back to the rock.. and then you started shaking your head no. You looked at me again, the back to the rock, then ever so slowly you began to raise it to your mouth. Hahaha! It was darling to see this internal dilemma unfold. You shaking your head no but wanting so desperately to put it in your mouth. Otherwise, you loved kicking around in the sand and squeezing it in your fingers. You especially like trying to grab it when I let it pour from above you.

You're learning how to wrestle Dad. You crawl on top of him and bury your head into his chest. Your face is always full of joy and wonder. We love getting down on the ground to play with you because it instantly makes you happy.

You puked after having eggs again. We're going to take a bit of a break before trying them again.

Andrew, you're a thrill seeker! When I hold you chest to chest, you purposefully lean your head back until you go upside down. You laugh and laugh and then throw you head back again! It's hilarious!

You're currently in love with lights. When we turn on the light you reach your hands up and say tuh, tuh (light). You try turning pages of books, get super wiggling during church, you bang your hands on any surface you can find (windows, doors, table tops, the seat of the chair), you crawl up the stairs in a jiffy, you walk holding on to one hand, and you can pound half a PB&J in no time.

Dad and I love watching you on the baby monitor. You plant your head and walk forward until you practically do a somersault! Once you're really tired you cram your head into the corner and snuggle up before you snooze off. You perpetually toss out your pacis but then holler because you can't sleep without them.

You still kick your legs like a wild child. Whether it's a diaper change, the bathtub, or when I'm trying to put your shoes on. It's really quite dangerous for me and Dad!

Your hair is getting long and when it gets disheveled we call you Raggedy Andy. It got to the point where we decided you needed you first real hair cut. Daddy did an amazing job and you look SO big now. Stop growing up, Angel Boy!

Andrew: 11 months

Since you no longer spit up we've let you take a stab at crawling up the stairs. Things were a bit rocky at first but once it clicked you started giggling and breathing excitedly as you scurried upward.

You cruise along furniture like it's your day job. You gracefully lower yourself from standing nowdays. No more plopping down without control. Your ability to get down to the ground easily makes me wonder whether you'll feel the need to start walking anytime soon. You have crawled longer than your older siblings and are by far the fastest of the bunch.

Slowly you are learning to fend for yourself. When Kate steals from you it makes you fuss. And you totally start crying when Vince tries to lug you around the house. You aren't saying all the sounds like you used to. You never say buh buh buh anymore. And mommmm is rare... usually just when we're being a little too slow at dinner time. You babble dah dah dah dah at everything. It's cute to hear you add syllables though. When you see a banana you purposefully say dah, dah dah to mimic me saying BUH nana.

Still only 2 teeth. Your top two teeth are visible through your gums but they're being stubborn and haven't broken through the skin yet. I wish they would so you could stop fussing!

You're getting a bit more difficult at church. You usually refuse to nap in arms unless you're truly exhausted. On the days you won't nap at church you just take one giant nap afterward. I haven't been able to get to you nap like that during the week, but man I cannot wait for you to take one huge nap everyday!

You got sick and threw up for the first time. We wonder if you're allergic to eggs because that's primarily what you puked. It was sad and you took three baths in one night.

Love you so much, Little Dude!