Wordless Wednesday/Brothers/BFF

I'm no 'supermom'

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

It is funny when you realize that your children are watching and listening to everything you do and say. I've seen Mackenzie repeat something she has heard me say while she is pretend talking into a phone or playing store..or more recently I have heard her speak up after talking about a current situation that we are dealing with that I had no idea she was listening to.

I am going to try to remember that my children are watching me today and every day.
I need to say please, thank you, treat friends, family, and strangers with respect, and most challenging for me is to try to remember that my daughter needs to see her mother have good self-esteem. I need to not compare myself to others or wonder what they think of me.

Fun to be ONE!

I have been slacking on my blog lately..sorry to anyone out there who may be checking on it and hoping for a new post! ((I know you lurking readers are out there!...right?))
This Friday, the 5th, was my baby Holden's first birthday. It is so hard to believe that it has been a year since he was born! I can remember the day so vividly...even down to the scrubs the nurses were wearing! But, according to the calendar, it has been a year so we celebrated!
I'm not sure why but we had a cowboy/western party for him..we are not a cowboy/western type of family at all, I just thought the decorations were cute and this first birthday is pretty much the last one that the parents have the ability to pick any random theme they feel like for the party. Starting with the second birthday, it has been my experience that the child will have a character in mind and pretty much demand what their party and cake be!

Here is the Cowboy Boots cake I made..

Holden is looking at his own little cake wondering if we were honestly going to give it to him!

He loved all his presents! During all of the fun I didn't even take a picture of his present table, which is a good thing because you would feel sorry for this little guy for only getting 50 presents on his first birthday...he and his siblings have no toys and aren't spoiled at all!

This is Holden's new thing he has started (I need a video) but when you get the camera out he looks at it and says "Cheeeesseee"...it is so very cute! It is one of the many things he has watched and learned from Mackenzie.

He had a blast digging in!!

Our family felt complete to me for the first time after Holden was born a year ago, and this last year has been great! I thank God for my 3 angels....the third 1st birthday party was just as exciting and fun as the first(& second)!

Flashback Friday

In honor of Holden walking, it is only right to flashback to that wonderful September day when he was born! September 5th @ 5:47 p.m. I love being a mommy!

Kindergarten & First Steps

Well, as of today, our family has survived 4 full days of Kindergarten! It has been emotional for me, but luckily I was able to hold in the tears on days 2-4...day #1 had me bawling from the moment my back turned from the little miniature table my baby girl was sitting at with her name on her 'spot'.
To everyone else, she just looks like any other little 5 year old sitting there, but to me-I see my little 5 lb. angel baby girl who has needed her mommy and spent the entire 24 hours of the day with me for the past 5 years (and 9 pregnant months) of my life! I have a very big & soft place in my heart for my little girl and milestones like these really get to me!
Not that I am not proud of the sweet big girl that she has become or want to hold her back from the learning and simple life experiences she will learn at school...it's just hard to let go and know that my days of having her home with mommy all day long are over, and from this week on I am now forced to hand her over to another person for 7 hours of every school day.

The great thing about the last 4 days has been how much Mackenzie absolutely loves school! She loves her teacher, the school, her classroom, her classmates, her water bottle, the books that are read, the fact that "computer lab" starts on Friday, the playground, and her Hannah Montana backpack. (I tried to convince her of other ones, but I pick my battles on these types of things and she got to get whatever backpack her little heart desired!)
She is going to be an excellent student and I get more and more excited as I see her little papers at the end of each day! I am trying to let these fun moments make the sad mommy feelings slowly fade, and it has been working quite well for me. It has turned out to be a great week and I can only hope she is this excited when Junior High starts!
Here she is ready for her first day with her backpack.. (Don't mind the begging pets.. if there is not a kid asking me to feed them or get them a drink, there is an animal!)
Apples everywhere..

Spencer with his card he made for Mackenzie. He said several times on the first day, "I miss my sissy, mommy." I have been extra-loving on him this week because I understand that just as I feel like my baby is gone all day, I know his best friend and playmate is gone all of a sudden, too. It is an adjustment we will all have to get used to...

Here she is at her table..

A great first day!

As if all of this school excitement wasn't enough news...tonight Baby Holden started walking!!

Mackenzie and Spencer both took their first steps and walked on their first birthdays...then tonight while we were celebrating my step-dads birthday, he just took off! It is 9 days until his first birthday! He took a few steps, we were all shocked so we would stand him back up and he would take off again. He did about 15 steps without falling!

This was him after all of his walking..he was so proud of himself and was trying to say "Cheese" for the camera. He learns so much just from watching Mackenzie and Spencer all day!

I know that I will adjust to this new 'school' chapter in our lives as parents, and eventually might even start to like it!

When Holden took his first steps tonight, it hit me that time is going to keep marching on...and it is not going to stop and wait on me if I am not ready!

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Friday

This is a very sweet flashback for me...I can remember the day we had this picture made just like it was yesterday. I can't believe it was 5 years ago! This was at 4 weeks of age, she wasn't even 6 lbs. yet!

I realized this morning that my Wordless Wednesday picture would've been better fit in the "Flashback Friday" catergory..but I have been so scatter-brained over my Baby Mackenzie starting kindergarten on Monday that her being my baby is the only thing on my mind!

Speaking of..we went to a "Meet the teacher" yesterday with her, and then again last night for a parents meeting and I will at least say that I think I couldn't have picked a better match for Mackenzie's teacher if I had gone and hand picked one from a line up!

Her name is Mrs. Montelongo and during the parent's meeting she made several different comments that helped to put my mind at ease leaving my most cherished possesion in her care for 7 hours out of the day! Mackenzie is a very sensitive and shy-until-she-knows-you type of a girl, and I think that her teachers personality will be a perfect match to Mackenzies.

I thank God for the small moments of comfort I have felt while preparing to endure this major milestone. Yesterday, when I was feeling a little overwhelmed while walking out of the classroom and feeling my eyes start to glaze over, Mackenzie looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I love Mrs.Montelongo and I wish that kindergarten started today. I can't wait to sit at my table and learn!"

The realization that this was not as emotional for her as it is for me gave me such an overwhelming sense of relief! I don't care if I feel like crying or not wanting her to go...what is important to me is that she won't be crying and she is excited about this chapter in her life.

Last night we even went and bought school supplies...I have honestly been avoiding it, but as usual, Mackenzie was so cute about it that it wasn't sad to me at all.

Then, last night after I read to her and it was time to pray, this is how she opened.."Dear heavenly father, thank you for this day and I want you to please help Spencer not be too sad while I am in kindergarten, he misses his sissy when I'm gone and I don't want him to cry too much....."

I think you can all guess that my prayer last night opened in a big "Dear heavenly father, thank you so much for the precious gift you gave me in April of 2004. I am still learning from her every day..." She is such an awesome little girl, and I know that God has an amazing plan for her life..so I think I will learn to 'let go' for at least 7 hours on Monday through Friday and let her experience this new adventure.

...Maybe! Monday isn't here yet!