LITTLE BROTHER PROBLEMS

BIRTHDAY FUN

We had Caroline's birthday the weekend before the actual big day! Of course that still means we have to do something on her actual birthday. We saved her big gift for her actual birthday. Oma came up and stayed with us, so I was able to take Caroline out to do some fun things without little brother. We started our day off getting pedicures and manicures, then we went to see The Secret Life of Pets, and finished our day off at Chuck-E-Cheese with all the cousins! Fun filled day for our new FIVE year old!

5!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Caroline!! I cannot believe this little girl has been in our lives for five years! The time has flown by. I love that saying "the days are long, but the years are short." Isn't that the truth?! She is such a little blessing! She adds a lot of sweetness to our family, and a little bit of sass for sure! A parent's love for their child is something that cannot be explained.

Some updates on our girl...

Loves playing with baby dolls

Loves playing outside with the neighbors- ha!

Loves anything crafty - writing, coloring, stamping, cutting, etc.

Very OCD. Girl loves a schedule. Very routine oriented.

Has really progressed with swimming this summer. Feels pretty confident swimming without her floaty in the shallow end of a pool.

She isn't really picky in the food department. She will eat just about anything.

She won't touch mashed potatoes which is so funny to me. Girl loves her some french fries but don't even try to get her to eat those potatoes mashed.

Loves going to school. A lot of her friends from school will be going to kindergarten this year, so it will be a little bit of an adjustment. 

Enjoys dance, but is loving gymnastics right now

Loves dalmatians and dolphins

She is the best big sister- she loves to "mother" Will

Loves to help cook

WELCOME MARGARET ROSE

 Caroline and Will got a new baby cousin yesterday. Margaret Rose was born on July 25th at 7:30am. She is beautiful and looks so much like her biggest brother, Henry! Caroline is so excited she is finally here. She might be a little obsessed! After we got word that she was born, Caroline wanted up to that hospital ASAP! She just wants to hold her. After we saw her the first time, Caroline asked me if I would just leave her at the hospital for the afternoon. =)

Her dress from when Jack was born still fit - now as a shirt

Staring at Margaret Rose's first picture

Finally there to hold her!

I took these four crazy ones to Imagine to play. Thankfully, we had the whole place to ourselves. They all had a blast.

CAROLINE'S 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Yesterday, we celebrated Caroline's birthday with our annual water party in our backyard. I have said this the past two years that Stephen enjoys setting up all the inflatables as much as the kids like playing in them. Ha! Will's morning nap normally would have happened during the party, but when he saw what was in the backyard he wasn't about to miss out on the fun! We rented a slip-n-slide/water slide combo. Because Caroline is all about dalmatians these days, that was the theme we went with this year. We kept the decoration and food simple which was fine because we had a surprise visitor at the party! Mr. Gorden and Mrs. Jessica brought their dog, a real dalmatian, Boone! Caroline was in heaven!

PLAYTIME WITH FRIENDS

We are loving summertime, and the lack of routines around here. We had a couple play dates with friends, and the kiddos had so much fun. We went to Little Giggles with Annabel, Whitt, and Mrs. Lindsey. The kiddos had a blast like always. Annabel and Caroline didn't want to leave. Will loved his first trip there. He is definitely a fan of the fun play places around here! =))

We also went swimming with Henry, Landon, and Ava. The kids had so much fun. Caroline came home saying Landon wanted to marry her. HAHA!

Lieux Redneck Riviera

We had a fun Sunday afternoon. After church we grabbed lunch, then we came home and decided to have an afternoon in the water. I named it the Lieux Redneck Riviera - between the inflatables and Stephen holding the ghetto umbrella. Then we decided it was definitely redneck when our cups cost more than our pool. Ha!

Play Time at Imagine

Yesterday was Will's first time to really go somewhere at play. We have a couple little play houses that Caroline just loves, and yesterday I decided we would take Will with us. He loved it! I love it too because they can make as big of a mess as they want and someone else cleans it up. Ha! 

Cousins

Most weeks include lots of playtime with cousins, and this particular week it included playtime with our cousins from Maryland.

Caroline and Henry at the Amazeum

Mimi and Papa took Caroline, Will, and Henry to Chuck-E-Cheese

Fun time at Oma and Opa's house with Andrew John and Ella Grace

Wordless Wednesday