7 years of wedded bliss

and I love him more now than ever before!

My birthday princess

So my girl is 5. She totally rocks. That's all I have to say about that...


She's a whole handful now!
I've got sunshiiine, on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May... (I'll stop now)

Being doted on ll day is exhausting. hehe.

The Party!
Her special outfit... the skirt lasted about 5 minutes, ans the tiara got broken after half an hour.
Oh well.
Was it the most beautiful cake ever in the history of the world?
Well... Lucy thought so. And she is all that mattered!
see?
Can't you just feel the anticipation?

make a wish!Awww...

Stinky baby is 11 months!

I guess I'll just skip the 10 month post. Whoops. Oh well.

So we have exactly 1 month until the big ONE!
Weird, sad, scary, and exciting.

He is still crawling that same goofy crawl. And FAST!
He is cruising like a maniac, and will let go of things and just stand there... thinking... before slowly sitting down.

He eats anything and everything, but he still primary nurses. Food is just for fun, and BOY is it FUN!
He can drink from a straw, a sport bottle, and also from a kool-aid jammers bottle (we discovered last night- oops).
He's learned to beg, and will follow us around or hang on our leg and smack smack smack his lips until he gets a bite. The kids will yell "Momma! Sam's begging!" And I have to remind them "He is your brother, not the dog. Give him a bite." Haha!

His curls are longer and I swear to you... I have NEVER seen a kid with hair as cute as his. It just totally rocks. Best hair ever.

His little personality is in full force. He flirts. He squeals. He wants to make us laugh. He gets very very angry. He shows off. He waves to random people in restaurants. He tells the cashier at the grocery store "bye-bye" with an adorable wave.

Man I love this kid.

He has slowed down on the growth, finally. He is hovering around 24lbs, and can still wear most of his 6-12mo clothes, although his 2-18s fits perfectly as well!

He has perfected "Dada," and YELLS it when he hears the door open. Loooves his Daddy!
He has also perfected "Mama," and when I sing "Saammmmy..." He'll sing" MAAAmmmaaaaa" right back to me. Melt my heart.
He also says "Papa" now, which is pretty cool. We can get him to repeat "Nana," and he looks at her when we say it, but he doesn't say it spontaneously.

He is still my little Peanut, or Peanut Butter, Junior or JuniorJunior, and Stinky has been added to his list of nicknames. The child's toots smell like an old man that's been eating cabbage. Haha! And they linger, too. It's lovely.

He is OBSESSED with balls, and will entertain himself for an hour just throwing a ball and chasing it down. Footballs, soccer balls, and of course his big green ball that he got for Christmas. Big balls, small balls... he loves them.
And he likes to make NOISE. Banging his cup on the high chair tray is awesome.
He also loves to stand next to the tub while we take baths, and especially if Lucy is in there- because she splashes him. The flood my bathroom and have a grand ole time!

He looks more like Cotton every day, although he is starting to show a few features that look like Jacob (so indirectly- ME). Most of all those gapped front teeth, but maybe the nose...? I dunno. He has Cotton's hands.

As soon as we are finished with Miss Baby's party this weekend, I'll be planning Sambo's birthday full force! I'm hoping the weather cooperates and we can do it at the park Yippee!

She's 5.

For five beautiful, love soaked, hug filled, exhausting, laugh until my belly hurts years... I have been the mom of Lucille Grace.

The sweetest, most affectionate person I have ever known.
The cherubic face, framed by soft spirals. And liquid brown eyes that have always shown a beautiful soul. The pinkest little rosebud lips, always ready to smile, and those thick black eyelashes...
The little NUT who would do anything, anything, to get a laugh out of me. And the belly laugh that comes so easily, and gets us ALL giggling.
The little sister who will lie and suffer to keep her big brother out of trouble.
The big sister that can make Sammy laugh better than anyone else on earth.
The one who's bed Emmitt sleeps next to every night.
The little angel who stole her Daddy's heart so completely...

What a precious gift my girl is. She is truly a special, amazing, giving little person. I love her so much that it literally makes my chest hurt.

And five years old... what a milestone. Every trace of that little baby has gone. She's a big girl now. Long legged, free thinking, amazingly capable of expressing her thoughts. I'm not sure when she got so big, so grown-up. I must have missed it. I still think of her hanging on my legs, snuggling down in her sling, or dancing in her high chair.

I hope that we can always be friends, I hope that she will always trust me. I hope that when she is blessed with a baby of her own, she will know that I did the best I knew how to do for her, and she will understand how I would lay down and die for her happiness. But I get ahead of myself.
As a child I was very close to my mother. Even as a teenager. As an adult, she doesn't even know me. I want better than that for my girl!

We are starting her first season of soccer, and she is shining! I always suspected she would be an athlete, and the potential is there!
I am already thinking about kindergarten. Just a few months left to wait. I know she is ready to go, she NEEDS that stimulation. And I need the rest, haha, but then my heart seizes up in my chest when I think about dropping her off every day!

I'll come back and add pictures soon.

Happy Birthday, my angel. I love you!