Happy Birthday Lauren

Five years ago on February 25, 2009 God blessed us with our first and so far, only little girl. What a joy she is to our family. I dedicate this post to our sweet daughter, Lauren Jana.

.....your 5th birthday was a special one

.....you were allowed to finally chew gum when you turned 5

.....you love to ride your bike

.....you love all things girly

.....you are very fun to be around

.....you are excited to start kindergarten in the Fall

.....you have lost 2 teeth so far

.....you like to play legos with your brother Nate

.....you like to sleep in

.....you don't cry anymore when I brush your hair 

.....you love to color

.....you love icecream

.....you love to play outside 

.....you are in the children's choir at church

.....you love babies

.....you love to swing high on your playgym

.....you have lots of little girly friends

.....you still take a nap on most days

(you still sleep with your "woof" and "bear")

.....your Daddy built you a beautiful oak baby cradle

.....your brothers got you bride and groom build-a-bears

.....you have a wonderful imagination

.....you were excited to get your ears pierced

.....you picked out pretty pink diamonds

.....you call our time together, "girly time"

.....you were so brave and didn't flinch

.....you smiled the whole time

.....you still love pink

.....your favorite animal is a horse

.....you are not a picky eater

(thank you for that!)

.....you love to play chess with your brother Noah

.....you love to have your nails painted

.....you are very motherly

.....you and your brother Luke are very close

.....you are Daddy's girl

.....you are excited for another baby brother

.....you love to bake with me in the kitchen

.....you love to clean and are very helpful

.....you kiss and hug my growing belly everyday

.....you were excited to be in the 5 yr. old class at Sunday School

You truly are a sweet blessing to our family. I am so thankful for your heart and how you are so good about remembering to pray for people. God has been most gracious in giving us you for a daughter, and it is a true delight watching as you grow and mature. Daddy and I pray that God will guide us as we raise you, in hopes that you will grow to be a godly woman.

Us in Autumn.....

Our traditional family fall drive was long overdue. So much in fact that we had not taken a drive to look at the pretty colors since we moved to Indiana over 2 years ago.....and boy have we been missing out!

We really enjoyed driving through the White Mountains every October while living in New England.  This past month we were happy to discover a beautiful area with lots of color, not far from our home.  Somewhere we will visit each year I'm sure.

We drove through a state park, stopping along the way so the kids could run around and explore.  When we pulled into the first lookout area, Nate shouted, "Look...it's a real Lincoln Log house!"  They were all so excited...and were slightly annoyed that I made them sit so I could get a group photo before we released them.

Of course Noah tries to give me a heart attack within the first five minutes we are there.

Nate is our leaf man....he has been raking leaves in our yard and playing in the pile for weeks. He was overjoyed to play in some while we were out.

Some photos of the sweet men in my life....

Inside the Lincoln Log house...a steep staircase, which was very much appealing to the boys....of course.

Here's the cute sister to all of these boys.

Me and my sweet baby boy....well, not so much a baby anymore as he is a full fledged toddler these days.

This was the view from the lookout.....gorgeous.

I am in love with the colors this time of year!

All of our kids are curious and enjoy checking things out wherever we are. 

This is how Adam hitches a ride with his big sis....so funny how she manages to carry over half of her weight on her hip.

This little man had a blast exploring, climbing and jumping off of everything he could.

Nate's infamous wink with a thumbs up...someone is having fun.

The above is one of my favorite photos of our kiddos.

Daddy with his boys...

Mama with her girl.

I was losing light as the day was coming to an end, but I was happy to capture a pretty view of this lake.

Finding this playground made the perfect end to our little trip.  The longer we live here, the more we love it....it has to do mostly with the people we've gotten to know and love.  We certainly do appreciate our surroundings, with plenty of beautiful areas to enjoy. God is so good!

We all love this time of year and are looking forward to the upcoming holidays, a couple of trips to PA to see our family, and yes we are all excited for the snow!!

Good Times.....

So this year we had a Football Player, Spider Man, A Snow Princess, A Ninja, and Winnie the Pooh....

After traveling through our neighborhood with some of our closest friends, the kids managed to acquire a ridiculous amount of candy.   Jared charges them what he calls, "The Daddy Tax" each day, where they have to pay up with the sweet stuff....smart man.

And So The Fun Begins.....

Happy Birthday Adam

One year ago, on October 15, 2012, God blessed our family with our 5th child. I can't imagine life without this little guy.....and I can't believe that our baby just turned one. Such a joy he is to our family. I dedicate this post to our son....Adam Jared.

.....you had many siblings very excited for your big day

.....you are on the verge of becoming a full fledged toddler

(taking lots of steps and letting go of things)

.....you have the sweetest smile

.....you were given the nickname "Fuzzle Wuzzle" by Noah which is now shortened to "The Fuzz"

.....you have 6 teeth

.....you cling on to your big sis's hip like a little monkey

.....you have the least amount of hair at this age of all of our kids

.....you have dimples

.....you love to play with cars, and make the cutest car noises

.....you are obsessed with the phone, and try to snatch it any chance you get

.....you love books

.....your first word was Mama

(actually it was the word Abba...which means Daddy in Greek. But I am claiming your first word in English as Mama :)

.....you wore your first pair of shoes last week

.....you are still nursing

.....you shake your head when we ask you if you are silly

.....you babble quite a bit

.....you can say "ball", "book", "Mama", "Dada", "what's that?" and "Uh Oh!"

.....your favorite foods are bananas, cottage cheese, PBJ and spaghetti

.....you have such a sweet laugh

.....you love to play ball

.....your crib is the same one that your four older siblings have slept in

.....you fall asleep in my arms everyday for nap time

(and I wouldn't have it any other way)

.....you have a little monkey that you are attached to

.....you use a pacifier when you sleep

(we call it your nucky)

.....you have a special bond with each of your siblings

.....your big brother Noah gets you out of your crib each morning and after your nap everyday

.....you and Luke play cars together

.....you love it when Lauren carries you around the house on her hip

.....you like to lay on Nate and make him laugh

(he is so ticklish)

.....you wrestled with your big brothers and Daddy for the first time yesterday

.....you still stick everything in your mouth

.....you love going for walks around the neighborhood in your stroller

.....you absolutely love to be outside 

.....you like the taste of crayons

.....you have a superman shirt just like your big brother Luke

.....you give out a yell if you want someone's attention

.....you loved loved loved your birthday cookie cupcake

(I think you were surprised that we were actually letting you eat it)

.....you loved to be pushed in your swing

.....you get the most compliments about your big blue eyes

.....you look most like your Daddy out of all of the kids

.....you just started trying to climb up on things

.....you still wake up about twice through the night

.....you get so excited when Daddy comes home from work

.....you are our latest walker

.....you like to rummage through the lower kitchen cupboards

.....you are oh so cuddly

.....you like to pull out all of the clean laundry from the basket

.....you like to pretend your calculator is a phone

(so cute how you hold it up to your ear and babble)

.....you try to get into the dishwasher anytime the door is open

.....you love giving kisses

.....you like to wave to yourself in the mirror

.....you are going to be a big brother

What a true blessing you are to our family. Having thought we were done after 4, we are so very thankful that God softened our hearts, helping us to understand what a gift children truly are. Your name is very special, as you were named after a close friend. We love his family and God used his dear wife to speak truth to us about the blessing of children. We are very grateful for your precious life, and prayerfully press forward each day by God's grace, trying to raise you in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Happy Birthday Adam

I Love You,

Mommy