Something is missing...

Something is missing at our house...

Can you guess what it is?

This little lady lost her first tooth today. 

Oh my.... why is it so hard for a mama when they loose that first one? 

You remember when they still fit in your arms and you would run your finger back and forth on those slimy gums just waiting for that first little poke of white to break through.

There was the crying, yucky diapers, and days of them just not being themselves as those sharp, little things pushed their way up.

There were mornings and evenings of brushing, and singing songs so they would stay at it long enough, and teaching them to spit in the sink.

And before you know it, there is the joy and excitement of that first wiggly tooth.  And you check it with them every few days to see how lose it is. 

And one day, there it is... in the palm of that little hand.  And as a mama, you smile and cheer, but deep down in your heart there is that ache that comes from time ticking by that no mama can stop.

It's one of those moments, when time stands still... and for just that moment, you soak it in... because a mama's heart needs to remember... they were once just babies.

And because I don't want to forget her story... Ainsley was determined to pull this tooth out by herself!  On Sunday, her tooth was super lose, so she crafted a "tooth puller"... complete with a string attached to a pink, plastic glass slipper shape in which she decorated with sequence.  (So Ainsley!)

She actually let me tie it around her tooth and pull it... twice.  The first time it slipped off.  The second time, it pulled... and hurt a bit.  It left her tooth hanging by a thread, but since it didn't feel the best, the "tooth puller" got retired!

She spent all day yesterday wiggling and trying to pull it out.  I have never seen a tooth so lose.  I even checked in her mouth before I went to bed, because I didn't want her to swallow it.

This morning more wiggling... and then finally with kleenex in hand, she pinched it hard and out it came!

She was SO excited!  There was jumping and screaming and giggles everywhere!  She was excited that it was out, and she was excited that SHE had pulled it out!

Her big tooth is already half way in, so you hardly notice the gap... but I must admit... it does make her sweet smile even sweeter!

Tonight the tooth got put in our silver Hippo Tooth Holder (a keepsake gift Liam received as a baby) and then slipped under her pillow!  Her Bunny was going to guard it... and she was going to stay awake to catch the tooth fairy... I think we all know how this story will end!
 

His Birthday Day

He had been waiting for this day to come for weeks, and the day had finally come!  He was so excited that it was his birthday!  A smile beamed across his face from the moment he woke up!  And he knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate... he wanted to have a Car Transporter Birthday. 

For this mama who loves "theme parties", you can't just run to Hobby Lobby and pick up some Car Transporter birthday fun!  But with a little thought and creativity, we made this a super special day for our super special boy!

Here's a look at Kallan's super special #3!

Lots of giggles of glee came from this little boy from the moment he woke up! 

He had to show us how many fingers he was... and then enjoyed a special little breakfast!

(Chocolate Doughnuts... the breakfast of champions!)

We spent the morning at our Homeschool Coop group.  Kallan got to stand up front and have the whole group sing to him and two other girls who had birthdays that day.  He beamed the whole time!  We had a guest fireman come to talk to us and show us his gear which I thought he would love.  Instead, Kallan was a little intimidated and nervous as he sat quietly and watched.

After coop, a special lunch out at McDonald's! 

More smiles and giggles!  I even got a "Mama, this is so much fun!"

We sat by a window that looked out over the busy drive through and a busy Omaha street...

so there were plenty of cars and trucks to admire and stare at!

I only had to remind him to eat a couple of times! :)

After nap, it was time to party! How do you make a Car Transporter party?  By taping pictures of car transporters on party blowers and hats of course! My car-loving guy was thrilled!

After our yummy supper, it was time for some presents!

Liam and Ainsley were so sweet with Kallan! 

They had both spent time making special gifts for him. 

Liam made Kallan's name out of Legos.  We then took a picture of it, and he put it in a card along with a car transporter picture he colored. 

Ainsley made him green binoculars and a picture of a green car transporter.

My kids have a way of melting my heart!

Of course we have no trucks at our house... so we decided to get him a few more! :)

And then one more to play with outside this summer.  He was slightly excited!

Kallan's favorite part of the day was his birthday cake!  He giggled and laughed at it with delight.  He kept looking over at it during the party pointing and exclaiming... "A Carrrrr Transsss-Port-terrrrrrr!"

Over and over and over. 

Best part of my day... delighting my little guy's heart! 

Before I knew it, my little guy was blowing out his three candles...

and my heart smiled and sighed as I watched him turn from toddler to little boy.

What a super special day it was! 

It was the best Car Transporter party I've ever been to! 

Happy Birthday Kallan!

We Love You! 

three.

My Sweet Boy Kallan,

          Today you are three.  And as I sit down to write a note to you, I don’t feel like I even have the words to describe who you are to me and the place you have in my heart.  My heart just smiles at the thought of you, your sweet face, and your precious words.  I love you sweet boy… so much!

Your name, my son, means JOYFUL.  I have never thought much of a person fulfilling the meaning of their name until you came into my life.  Everything about you is just pure joy.  You have a sweet personality that loves others, forgives fast, and embraces life with excitement and happiness.  You are always smiling.  From the day you were born you have been super content with life.  You go with the flow and are pretty laid back which surprises me since you are so "routine" and love consistency.  You are happy almost all the time and few things really upset you. 

 

Your smile can light up a room and your giggle is contagious.  Your light blonde hair and big eyes turn people’s heads and we get lots of comments about them.  You love others and will often hug my legs and say, “I wub you Mama!” or will exclaim, “I wub my fambily!”  Kallan, I pray that this joy in your heart will continue to grow and have an influence on the people around you.  I pray that you will know your true source of joy is always Jesus, and that you will always share His joy with others.

You have many loves in your life.  You love the color green.  You love to play outside.  You love your big, red car.  You love milk.  (Did I mention that you love milk???)  You drink at least a gallon a week sweet boy!  You love Liam and Ainsley… a whole bunch.  You love your Bible.  You love to play the ipad.  You love your Thomas Pillow.  You love books.  You love your “didty” (aka: blankie).  You love to sing and be sung to.  You love your family.

 

The three biggest loves in your life… Cars and Car Transporters, Letters, and Lines.  Oh my Kallan, these three things are your world!  You are obsessed with Cars, Trucks, and Car Transporters.  You make mini transporters and digger transporters with your toys.  You load up as many cars as you can on whatever vehicle will carry them and exclaim, “A Carrrrr Trans-Porrrrr-Terrrr!)  And let’s not even mention what you do when you see one in real life! J  Pure love and joy… and just a little excitement! 

 

And your love for lines causes you to spend hours lining up your cars in all different ways… sometimes by color and sometimes by type of vehicle.  Sometimes by size and sometimes because that is just where they fit in the line.  I love it!  Love it!

Letters are another love that fills your life.  You will spend hours lining up letters, arranging letters, “spelling” words, and writing messages with them.  You love to spell the letters on signs and shirts… on buildings and in books.  It delights me to see your love for letters. 

 

You know the entire upper and lower case letters in the alphabet, as well as the sounds each one makes.  You want to know how words are spelled and are trying to sound out words.  Slow down little guy… you are growing up too fast when you do that! But it does make me smile because that is just your thing… and one of your loves. 

 

 

So here we are at three years old… and I truly want to freeze you right now.  I don’t think that of too many ages… but who you are right now just melts my heart!  Things I don’t want to forget about you as you turn three…

*You say “up-tavator” for elevator

*You crave milk and will say in your most exasperated voice…. “I need ‘melk’”.

*You will talk about something and then say, “That makes my heart happy!”

*You have to sing “The B-I-B-L-E” song before you let me open your Bible at night.

*Your favorite song right now is “This Little Light of Mine”

*You say “oh-tay” or "tay" (OK) all the time!

*You are delighted by your new Thomas pillow and every time we put you down in your crib you say, “I love my Thomas pillow!”

*You are a carbon copy of Liam with a little third child thrown into the mix

*You wake up between 6:00 and 6:30… you nap from 1:00 to 3:30… and go to bed around 8:00.

*You still fit in my arms and give the best hugs

*You love to line up letters in a row and make "words".  Before you went to bed tonight, you wanted to read me the new "word" you made.  You told me it said, "Thank you God for my birthday."

 

Kallan, every day I thank God for giving us YOU!  You are beyond a blessing to us… and we love you so much!  Happy 3^rd Birthday sweetheart!

Know you are loved!

Mama

Our Valentine's Day Tradition - How it all began

We have a Valentine's Day tradition at our house and most of our friends and family know about this certain tradition.  I'll even get a "Happy Valentine's Day" e-mail from some of them and then a "p.s." of, "we hope you enjoy your pizza and cookie!"

Yes, the pizza and cookie... it is a tradition at our house going on for about 14 years now, and it all began when Tim and I first met. 

Our first time hanging out together was January of 1999.  I invited him over for lunch after church.  The next week, he invited me to go to Applebee's and then come over and watch some movie he had to watch for a class.  So after a few weeks of "hanging out" Valentine's day was quickly approaching, and I was at a loss of what to do.  We hadn't had the "DTR Talk" yet (Define The Relationship Talk) so I didn't want to get him something for Valentine's Day and totally freak him out.... but I didn't want to not get him anything and have him think that I wasn't "interested".  Oh yes, the days of dating... never again!

So, I came up with the idea of making him a giant, frosted chocolate chip cookie for Valentine's day.  Thoughtful... yet not over the top.  Nice... but very non-committal.  And you know the way to a man's heart is really through his stomach!  He really liked it, and he even gave me something too that Valentine's day... a nice balloon.  I think we were both thinking the "non-committal thoughts but interested in you".  Two weeks later we had the "DTR Talk" and 10 months later we were engaged.


One of our first pictures together... Spring of 1999

Fast forward to Valentine's Day of 2000.  Tim is working at Gallup.  I am teaching preschool in Lincoln.  My husband-to-be shows up at the preschool just as my morning class is getting out with a yummy heart-shaped pizza from Valentino's.  We sat in the little kitchen at the church and ate our pizza together on that Valentine's day.  Later that night we shared a frosted chocolate chip cookie together.  Simple and low-key... just how we like it!  And so our tradition began.


Valentine's Day 2001 - Our First Valentine's Day together as a married couple.

We loved the idea of doing this because it was simple and easy.  No other gifts.  No making reservations at a restaurant.  No expectations.  Just a pizza and a cookie.  Lots of yumminess and lots of love.

Over the years, we have kept our tradition alive and it has looked a little different every year. 

Valentine's Day 2004 - Tim is knee deep in studying for his Oral Comps for his Doctorate.  We offer to babysit our niece since we'll be hanging out at home anyway.  Tim takes just a long enough break to enjoy his pizza and cookie then heads back into the office to study while I hang out with our little niece.

Valentine's Day 2005 - We are due with our first child in March, and have a birthing class on Valentine's Day!  I make a cookie and pack it in a tupperware container.  We head to Lincoln where we enjoy our heart-shaped pizza in the Valentino's restaurant itself then head to our class!


Valentine's Day 2005 with baby on the way.

Valentine's Day 2006 - Our little guy is almost 11 months old... and he gets to try pizza for the first time!  Yummy!

 

Valentine's Day 2007 - A Valentine's Day we will always remember.  We put Liam in a big brother shirt and sent out some extra special Valentine's to our friends and family that said this...

Then we enjoyed the evening celebrating with our little guy and smiling at the fact that we were going to have a new little one in our family to love!


Valentine's Day 2007 - He loved his pizza!

Valentine's Day 2009 -  I now had two helpers to assist me with making our special dessert... and it made my heart smile!

 

 

 

Valentine's Day 2010 - another one to remember!  I was two days over due with our sweet #3.  There was a blizzard that day and I was sure I was going to go into labor!  I had made two cookies about a week before and stuck them in the freezer in the event that we would be at the hospital over Valentine's day.  That way we could enjoy our pizza and cookie there... and the kids could have one at home.  But, since that didn't happen, we enjoyed our day with be being 40 weeks pregnant and enjoyed having our 2nd cookie a few weeks later with a baby in my arms.  We also realized that with our growing family, the heart-shaped pizza didn't feed us anymore... so we went with a large pizza... still from Valentino's!

Valentine's Day 2010

 



Oh... so yummy!  Note the "to-go" container for the cookie! 
Yes... I can be die hard with traditions... especially ones that are so delicious!

Valentine's Day 2011 - This little guy did not get to enjoy our pizza or cookie for his first Valentine's Day... but he did enjoy his puffs!

Valentine's Day 2012 - Just enjoying our pizza and cookie with my crew and loving how they fill my heart with joy!

So our tradition lives on!  Today we will enjoy another heart-shaped cookie... decorated entirely by Ainsley and sink our teeth into our favorite type of Valentino's pizza.  We will laugh together, celebrate each other, and remind one another how much we love them.  It will truly be another Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day at our house...

We've been getting ready for Valentine's day at our house... but not the way we usually do.

Our days have been full and busy, and I haven't put up one decoration from my big Valentine tote.  

 

But I did make this as my token decoration for the year...

(before you think I'm super organized and "with it"...

we made the salt dough hearts two years ago and I bought the frame last year...

yeah, it only took me two years to get it done!  But it's done... and isn't it cute?!?!)

 

And we made these cards to give out as Valentine's...

 

My favorite Valentine cards ever!  So cute!  So easy!  So fun to give away!

 

I even made this cute Valentine shirt with my crafty girl! 

(Another craft project that only took two years to accomplish!)

 

I coordinated two Valentine's Day parties... one for my Homeschool Coop preschool kids,

and one for Ainsley's preschool class.  We had so much fun!

 

And in preparation for tomorrow... our traditional Valentine Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Been thinking alot about His love lately!  What it looks like to truly love God... and love others.

 

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others,

I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans

and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains,

but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  

 

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body,

I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

 

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-7 NLT

  Praising Him for His love tonight.... and excited to celebrate His love tomorrow!