Busy, busy, busy

Ooh boy, is this kid busy!  I am constantly amazed at his speed and determination.

Thank goodness he is a super duper sleeper and naps most afternoons for 2-3 hours...that help me recoup (on the days that I get to be home with him) (and I wish that were everyday!).

He is a few weeks away from turning two and I cannot believe how fast this time has gone.  He is talking so well and is very adamant about what he wants and does not want.  And he is busy.  Have I mentioned that?

He has ZERO interest in watching television.  I honestly don't know if he has slowed down enough to watch more than 5 minutes of a show.  Nora was a television lover early on in her life (and still will watch ANYTHING), Elyn would watch television, but not with the same intentness that Nora did.  She would watch for about 15 minutes and then tire and be ready to come be next to me.  Rives is my child with the LEAST interest in television.  (Although, he does think remotes are terrific and loves to turn the t.v. on and off).

His favorite thing is to "see" whatever I am doing in the kitchen.  He will go into the 1/2 bathroom, off of the kitchen, and get the stool in there and drag it right beside me to watch.  I have to watch him like a hawk though because he is fast as lightening and can grab a knife or pot on the stove, basically from across the room.  I still don't know how he can be so fast.

He has gotten into the games many, many times and just last week, I found him throwing pieces of Hi Ho Cherry-O down the floor vents.  Sigh.

He squeezed almost an entire tube of toothpaste in the sink right after I found him reaching for Matthew's razor.

He ruined a chair of Nora's by drawing all over it with a dry erase marker (this happened on Matthew's watch-not that I'm pointing fingers-ha!).

He LOVES to throw a ball...any ball!  We found him throwing golf balls the other day (where in the world did he get the golf balls?) but thankfully got them away before we had to replace any windows.

He LOVES to run.  He is always saying, "watch, watch" and then running at full speed across the house.

He wants to do everything HIMSELF.  He will say, "Mine!  Ribes do it!".  Cute when he says that but frustrating to wait FOREVER for him to do the task.  He insists on getting into his carseat himself and insists on getting out all by himself too (saying, "watch, watch", the whole time).

He gets so annoyed at Nora and Elyn for taking something from him or when they treat him like a baby.  He will look at them and scream "No!" and then come to me and either say, "Dora!" or "Ewen".  Haha!

He adores his daddy!  Loves him SO much!  He wants to be right beside Matthew as soon as Matthew gets home from work.  It's so super sweet!

He has fallen down and bumped his head more times than I can count.  He usually comes up to me and says, "Kiss." and then when he receives the kiss on his head is fine and run away, usually for it to happen again.

He is so funny!  He makes me laugh with his little facial expressions or his JOY for just about everything.  He loves to wake up in the mornings and play with his animals in his bed.  I went in the other day to get him up and when I walked in he said, "Hi Mommy!  Watch!"  and he took his little stuffed horse and galloped it down the length of his bed.  And then laughed.

I do not want him to grow up.  At all!  Although, I love watching him grow up and learning everything new!

He is a precious precious boy!  I am so happy to be his mama, even though I am worn out each evening and know the next day will be a repeat of exhaustion.  We are blessed with our boy!

Septic

We had to have our septic system worked on a few weeks ago.  Not a fun bill to pay, but very necessary!  We are thankful that everything is working again.

On the plus side, Rives and Elyn had a good time watching the work being done.  Kind of expensive entertainment-ha!

It's all coming back to me....

It has been over 3 years since we have had a two year old in our house.

Even though he is one month from turning two, this morning he reminded me what life with a two year old sometimes looks like:

This is going to be a busy year :).

-Dallas

So pretty!

The girls went to a "fancy" birthday party last weekend.  When I went to pick them up, I stopped and talked to some of the moms while I was waiting for the girls to get their things together.  I heard someone say, "Oh no!  Look at Rives!"

He decided to get fancy too :).

Ha!  Won't he love these pictures one day *wink*.

Nora's first soccer game for the spring

It felt like it took forever for Nora's first soccer game to get here.  Her first game was rained out, then she had a bye week, and then the entire league had a week off.

Matthew had to work at Harding on the day of her first game.  That was sad.  For two reasons.  One, he missed the game.  Two, I had to get Nora to her game and Elyn to her game, on the opposite side of the of where Nora was playing.  But, we made it work...all while lugging my 25 pound dead weight on my hip.

Nora always amazes me with her ability to play soccer!  It is like she is a new kid when she is on the field.  I, in my head, always say she is pretty good.  I watch her run and go after the ball and think "man, where did she learn to do that?  It looks so natural!".  I always wonder if she actually IS good or it is just the mom in me.   Then I hear other parents tell me that Nora is so good, so aggressive, has so much control of the ball and I think-well, I guess I was right-ha!

And honestly, whether she is any good or not, she LOVES the game and, in the 2.5 years she has played, ever complained about going to practice or to a game.  She actually complains when she DOESN'T get to go.

Okay, enough talk and on to the pictures (that are unedited BTW, I can edit or blog, not both):

 
Both girls are on the red team this year and they are both #3.  Sweet sisters!

 And it was SO COLD at both girls soccer games on Saturday!  Rives was a trooper for them both.  Here he is, snuggling up to Nora for Elyn's game.

Hiking

Our friends, the Smith's, invited Elyn to go hiking with them at the beginning of this week.  Elyn was so excited!  She woke up extra early and the first words out of her mouth were, "Is today the day I get to go hiking with Audrey?"

Ryan and Audrey picked up Elyn from school and took off for their hike.

When I picked up Elyn from Audrey's house that afternoon, Ryan said they had hiked 5 miles!  I was impressed.  Elyn did fall and scrape her knees (which resulted in MUCH drama later on that night while getting a bath) but the thing she was most talkative about was the snake they saw on the trail.  Yikes!

Elyn had a great time and it was nice for her to get to do something that was just hers, not something that she shared with Nora.

These are some of the pictures Ryan took while they were hiking:

Audrey and Elyn

Investigating Elyn's injuries

At the TOP!

Elyn loved the waterfall!

lunch time!

Pictures

One pretty afternoon, Elyn and Rives watching a house across the street get a new roof.  Exciting times!

All three, in bed, watching cartoons

We ate lunch with Nora one day, almost everyone liked it.

Same pretty day as above (too lazy to rearrange pictures), stacking dishes boxes

I had to be at church earlier than everyone else one Sunday.  I laid out what Rives was going to wear.  When everyone got to church I saw his daddy had decided to match him.  Sweet boys!

Hmmmm, I wonder who did that?

Matthew has been teaching a class, on SATURDAYS.  This particular Saturday was a doozy.  No one was happy.  Fighting sisters and a grouchy baby make for a tired mama.  Thankfully on Matthew's lunch break we had lunch at a park.  Very windy and kind of cold, but a break for me.  I laugh at this picture because it doesn't seem as if anyone is happy to be there-ha!

We went to our friends adoption of their son, Jay, this week.  He is now their third child and first boy.  Ryan and Jolene are precious and have hearts of gold!

Ha!

What you can't see when you see this picture is me, shaking my head and sighing.  I HATE a starter.  So high maintenance.  But such yummy bread in the end!  Wicked love/hate (mostly hate) relationship.

What Rives does at soccer practices.  I have no idea if Nora or Elyn are even good this year.  This guy takes all my attention.

He will miss her so much next year.  So will I.

I made dinner this week.  And that dinner included chopping veggies.  A rarity on these busy "soccer practice three nights a week/work meetings/tutoring/get home at 5pm most nights" days.  Nora kept going on and on how much she loved the meal (corn chowder) and kept thanking me for dinner.  I should do this more often!

The preschool I am director for had spirit night at Chick Fil A.  He has spirit!

My little kitchen helpers.  Making some whipped cream.

Nora turned SEVEN! (in February)

Nora Elizabeth Henderson is SEVEN YEARS OLD!!!!!  I cannot believe that!  I remember her birth and the first few weeks of her life like it was yesterday (and PRAISE GOD it was not yesterday...I don't want to be that crazy new mom again).  I love this girl so much it hurts.  I am amazed at how she is growing and how she is becoming a person, her own person.  She is my first girl, the one who made me mom, the one who has taught me everything.

A few days ago I was reading an old blog post about her and felt like I was experiencing the same things with her, just 2 years later.  Matthew and I laughed about how this post could have mostly been written now...guess we know what her personality will be like, huh?  But then we talked about what a GOOD girl she is!  She really is and I need to remind myself of that daily.  She has a good heart and is a good friend.  She LOVES Rives and like Elyn most of the time.  She STILL needs an extraordinary amount of sleep (can't blame her) and when she has had enough rest, she is delightful to be around.  But when she hasn't...oh boy.  We do what we can to get her in bed as fast as possible.  I guess we have learned a bit in the past few years too.

The other night Nora said something that broke my heart.  She was out of the shower, dancing around naked in her room (like all nights) and laughing.  She all of a sudden and said, "I don't like when my legs jiggle like that."  Break. My. Heart.  I wanted to start homeschooling her that second and get rid of all forms of media.  I also wanted to be 100% okay with my own body and never complain again about anything.  Being a mom (and dad) to a daughter is HARD.  I have prayed ever since that I make her feel beautiful and loved.  Because she is both and so much more!

Here is my beautiful, amazing SEVEN year old!

The day before her birthday (Friday), we went to eat lunch with her

Decorated the outside of her door the night before.  When she got up when heard her say, "Wow!"

 Her birthday was on a Saturday, and that meant the entire day was dedicated to her!  We started off with presents.

 The favorite gift was (and still is) Wii Just Dance and Wii Karaoke.  Nora has several dances memorized and we all try our hardest to get 5 stars on karaoke!

 Breakfast was donuts, her choice!

 After breakfast, shoe shopping!  TOMS for Elyn and running shoes for Nora...my girls :).

 

And just like when she was 3, 4, 5 and 6, she wanted Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.  Sigh.  I guess I should start taking her there more so it is less of a "special" place.  Because I would LOVE to go somewhere else when she turns 8.  Sushi maybe?

 But they had fun, that's all that matters.

 That night, we had Gram and Grandpa and the Grahams over for dinner and games.  Nora's favorite foods: ravioli, green bean bundles, steak and bread.

 I had bought a white cake mix to make for her birthday...uh oh, white cake is MY favorite.  Not hers.  So, I made a homemade chocolate one.  (And killed it.)

 Nora's favorite show is Minute It To Win It.  She LOVES it!!!!!  So, the activities that night were Minute It To Win It style games.  It was super fun!

 Sleeping 7 year old.

We are going to have a larger party with her school friends in June.  We are very excited about the swim party and I hope that I am able to blog about that when it happens-ha!