Big Birthday Gift

Logan's big birthday gift this year was a ballet barre installed in her room.  She had no idea it was coming and hadn't even asked for one, but with as much time as she spends dancing around, we thought it would be a fun addition.  So, Brody and daddy spent an evening working on it while she was at dance class.

And she was BEYOND thrilled when she got home and found it!!

Here's to years of wearing that barre out with all of the dancing.  

Logan is SIX!

I'm not quite sure how this happened.  She was a baby not even an hour ago, it seems.  But, here it is. Her sixth birthday.  I'll admit, this one has not been as traumatic to me as five was, but it's still another year older, another year passed, another year closer to being fully independent.  Parenting is so bittersweet.

Logan's been up to a lot this year!  Here are a few of the highlights.

Logan "officially" started school, as in, she was of age to start kindergarten, even though we finished that last year.  She learned to read and is reading longer books (and starting chapter books), she can do double digit addition, and has learned to do subtraction in her head.  

Her favorite subject, currently, is science.  We're doing a study on the solar system and it seems to be one of her very favorite things to talk about.  She soaks the information up like a sponge and knows more facts about the planets than I ever knew.

She loves to play outside.  Her favorite toy to play with outdoors is her bike.  She learned to ride a two wheeler this year and is so proud!  It's fun to watch her excel.

She also loves to play inside with her American Girl dolls and her brothers.  They love to play "secret spy" and sneak around taking notes on different subjects.  

She loves to dress up and play princess.  Her favorite princess right now is, of course, Elsa from Frozen.  

Her favorite food is mac and cheese.  Her favorite veggie is broccoli.  She's learning to love a variety of foods though.

She LOVES to help me bake.  Her favorite thing to bake is probably banana bread, though it may be a tie with chocolate chip cookies.

Her favorite color is pink, but she's expanding her color palette and will wear other colors now.  (does anyone remember the phase she went through where if there wasn't pink, she wouldn't put it on?)  

Her favorite movie: Frozen

Her favorite toy: Isabelle, her AG doll.

Her favorite game: Uno

Her favorite pasttime: dance

Her favorite book: The "I can read" Tinkerbell books.

Her favorite TV show: Sofia the First and Wild Kratts.

Her favorite restaurant: Chick-fil-a

What she wants to be when she grows up: a dance teacher

What she looks forward to this year: Losing more teeth (she has two that are really, really ready to come out)

Logan is a huge help around the house.  She is especially helpful with her baby brother.  I'm so thankful for her maturity and willingness to help when it comes to him!!

Logan is a joy.  We have moments.  We butt heads.  But she is so much more than I could ever have asked for or wanted in a daughter.  She refines me daily as a mom and as a child of the Lord.  She shows me beauty in things I wouldn't otherwise see as beautiful.  She loves passionately.  She is joy embodied and I'm so thankful for her.

This year, I learned to relinquish control of the birthday traditions.  We've always gotten whole food cakes for birthdays because they're a special treat, they are SO yummy and it's easy.  But, Logan really wanted a Frozen barbie cake.  So, I stepped out and made it happen.  It wasn't beautiful to me, I saw all of the flaws, but she didn't see any of them.  All she saw was the cake she asked for and was as excited as I've ever seen her.  

Happy Birthday, little love!!

About Lincoln

This blog has sorely been neglected since the birth of our third child.  I've had to prioritize a lot of different areas of our lives because it got really busy really fast after he entered our world.  But I don't want there to be a lack of pictures or stories as they all grow up and so I want to make sure to capture him in as many stages as I can, like I did with his siblings.  So, here's a post all about Lincoln.

Lincoln is another really snuggly baby.  He's busy, and crazy, but he loves nothing more than good hug and frequently will crawl into your lap with a blanket to snuggle you.  It's so sweet, and we are so thankful for moments like that among the chaos.

He LOVES to be around his siblings.  There have only been a few times when Mike has taken the older two out and left me alone with Linc in his short life, but when they're gone he walks around aimlessly looking for playmates.  I'm so glad they have such a special bond with each other and hope it cultivates and grows through the years.

He has an extra special bond with his big sister.  He loves to climb into her lap to read, or hug her, and frequently asks where she is in his own little language.  

Lincoln is by far my best napper.  When he stopped taking two 2 hour naps I was sure we were doomed to have him only napping an hour every afternoon like both of his siblings did.  But, we cut out the morning nap sometime after his first birthday and he naps a solid 3 hours every afternoon.  It's awesome!

He also has an incredible temper.  He hates to be told no!  What kid doesn't?  But this is the reaction he likes to give us.  This was after being told, "No, you can't stick your hand up the vacuum."

He is adventurous as they come.  This kid will climb ANYTHING!  I swear he will be our first ER trip for an injury.  He is fearless and does not like obstacles so he works to conquer them all.

He loves pirates, and super heros and all things boy.  It's fun to watch he and his brother dress up together and play.

His middle name may as well be trouble, because he often finds himself in it.  :)  He's quiet and stealthy and things like this will happen in a matter of seconds if I'm not paying attention.  Mind you, if I could just pick those cards up and restack them, this wouldn't have been a huge deal.  But that's 385 sight words on the ground there that are ordered in a very purposeful way!

I'm so glad God gave me another little boy to love.  They challenge me and take me places I never thought I'd go (to the back of toilets, can I get an amen?), but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Wait For Me!

This pretty much sums up the life of a third child.  :)  I wonder if there will be a similar picture when the older ones start driving. 

Christmas 2014

Christmas seemed like such  blur this year!  But here were some of the highlights:

Logan got to actually dance in the Christmas parade this year!  In years past she hasn't been old enough and has only gotten to ride on the float.  This was a huge treat for her.

We put up Christmas decorations and wore fun, festive clothes all season.  It was really fun dressing up two little boys this year and seeing some of Brody's old clothing items cycle back through.

  We had several mornings where we woke up early to make fun breakfast treats.  This was some kind of chocolate concoction we added to some waffles.

Christmas Eve we made our traditional Danish dinner.  The kids helped a TON this year!  I actually let them do the batter other than whipping the egg whites.  

Yum!!

The kids opened their Christmas PJ's and we got our pictures.

 It took a little bit of coaxing to get Lincoln into the shot, but once he got in he was all smiles.

Christmas morning brought lots of fun surprises.  Logan finally got her Isabelle doll!  She's been asking for it and reading through the stories.  She's a blond, blue eyed ballerina, perfect for our little ballerina.

I found this awesome car at a garage sale and it was a great deal, so we built a little garage for it outside and the kids were SO SURPRISED when they got to see it on Christmas morning.  It was a fun surprise!!

This was my favorite ornament this year.  I haven't had the kids make a whole lot of ornaments, but I wanted to capture Linc's chubby little hand, so I made some salt dough and did an impression.

We're looking forward to getting things back to normal again after the craziness of it all, but we had such a great Christmas and love each year getting to spend it with our kids more and more.

Light Em Up 2014

This was our third year doing light em up projects with the kids.  We have made an effort to use the holiday season to love others, since it so easily lends itself to loving ourselves and over-wanting.  We try to find weekly projects that we can do with the kids to give back to people so that they recognize the love that Jesus had for others when He came down to earth to give his life for us.

I didn't get pictures of most of our things, but I did capture a few.  

Our first project was Operation Christmas Child, both older kids got to pick out all of the items in their boxes and got to help pack a third for their brother!  It's fun to take them shopping, give them money and watch them thoughtfully pick items for other kids.  We even tracked our packages this year!

We did our annual baking for our community workers, as well.  We made cookies for our doctors office, the fire fighters and I believe we hit the library, as well.  Lincoln had a great time watching.

Our favorite project, by far, is putting things out for our garbage and recycling men.  They get so little recognition and have such a dirty job!!  We got them donuts this year and made them big cards again.  The kids LOVE watching out the window to see when they arrive.

This year they were quite late, so the kids wanted to get a picture out by their handywork.

We did a few other odds and ends, next year we're going to actively look for a few new things to do!!

Happy First Birthday!!

Lincoln Jude is ONE year old!  We cannot believe how quickly this year FLEW.  I say this with every kid, but it just seems to get faster and faster.  I look back at pictures of our hospital stay and still feel like it was just a couple of days ago.  

So, what's little Jude bug up to?

He is:

22 lbs and in the 70% for his weight

He is in the 50% for his height and the 50% for his head.  He's gone down on the growth curve just a tad, but we know it's because with him being up and walking he's shedding a little bit of that baby weight.

He is wearing:

Size 9-12 month clothing but he is starting to wear some 12-18 month stuff.  

Size 3 shoe

He's on the medium snap for his cloth diapers.

He wears a size 4 or 5 disposable diaper depending on the time of day (nights he wears the bigger size).