Brotherly Love

I have completely failed on blogging this year, but it has been quite a year and so I need to give myself some slack.

The boys have always been each others shadows but now their relationship is truly building and deepening. It is the sweetest thing to watch and I pray they always remain as close as they are now. One of my favorite things to do while driving is to listen to their conversations in the back. Quite often it is Asher asking Chase random questions and hearing Chase explain all he knows to his brother is very heart warming.

Recently Chase asked Asher if he could borrow one of Asher's toy cars. Asher's response was "of course Chase I'd do anything for you". I mean......

Now, its not all rainbows and sunshine between the two, however 6 out of 7 days a week they are THE best of friends and miss the heck out of each other while they are separated because of school.

Forever Home

Back on New Years Eve 2017 I said "2018 bring it", well it certainly has. This year has been insane all for all involved. We've been faced with tough decisions, our old normal is no more and we've all had to find a new normal. It hasn't been easy but between our faith and each other we've made it through.
If you had told us we would be buying our dream home this summer, I never would have believed you. But through all these circumstances that have gone on this year it has lead us here. To our forever home. We can't wait to raise our family here until they are grown. We are excited to have room for all of our family and friends. I am very excited to not have to move again for a looooong time!

Hayley Ann Mae: Twelve Months

We made it!!!! Actually Hayley was the easiest baby yet so getting to one year was a breeze. It's just such a bittersweet moment. I love watching her little personality develop but it's really hard knowing we are done with the whole baby stage forever...*sigh*.
I was so nervous right before Hayley was born, about having a girl, that my experience so far had only been with boys, and how different would they be to raise? Would I be good handling a girl? I laugh now because, while she has been different to raise, it hasn't phased me in the slightest. She is just the sweetest girl around, she loves to give hugs and be hugged in return. Her favorite thing to do is climb and be attached to me at all times. She has the brightest smile in the world and makes friends with everyone that crosses her path. We prayed so hard for baby #3, we just knew we were meant to be a family of 5, but the wait was tough, long and discouraging at times. Yet God knew what he was doing. He knew the perfect timing for the final addition and not only that but a little girl. He knew that my heart needed her, that James heart needed her. A spot has been filled that I never knew existed. She is my sidekick and I am thoroughly enjoying building that mother/daughter relationship.

Stats: 22lbs 2oz (80th%) and 29.5inches tall (58th%) so healthy girl all around

Sleep: We are in a great groove with sleeping. She takes one long nap in the afternoon, normally around 3 hours long. Then sleeps a solid 12 hours at night. 

Social: She is such my mini me in that Hayley will make friends with everyone and anyone. She ADORES babies especially baby Andie and instantly goes to hug any child that is her age. I'm hoping to start taking her to story time now that she's a little older. 

Diet: Still loves ALL the food especially anything dairy and meat related. She is drinking cows milk but refuses to drink it from her sippy cup so we are still hanging onto the bottles for a little while longer. 

Skills/Milestones: Waving hi and bye and saying both of those words. Cruising and climbing. Is starting to use a spoon when feeding herself. Gives hugs and kisses. Can say dog, more, Mum and Daddy  

Favorites: Mummy, Daddy, Chase, Asher, Cisco, looooves music and being sung to, enjoys bath time, playing in the refrigerator, babies (real and dolls)

Winter Onederland

Every birthday needs a party, especially when you are my child, there is no way a party isn't happening. After throwing 5 parties for the boys, I couldn't wait to plan something girly for my favorite girl. I decided to go with Winter Onederland for obvious reasons but added a little glitter and rose gold because, well I could lol.

We invited all of our nearest and dearest, that live stateside to celebrate with us and that made the party! We had a ton of food, a chili bar, cold cut sandwhiches and chips and dip. And of course cake. With a smash cake just for Hayley. The older kids played a few games; pass the parcel and pin the nose on the snowman, and ended with a dance party. My favorite part was all of us singing Happy Birthday to the main star. I hope all of the people that were at her first birthday stay in her life so she can feel as blessed as we do now to have these people in our lives.

ONE

A whole year has officially passed by since our little girl was born. How can that be? They say time moves the fastest while watching a baby grow and they sure aren't wrong, especially when you have two more you are keeping track of! I will completely own the fact that I was dreading the day our last baby turned one. Sure, the sleepless nights aren't fun and teething can be a nightmare, and who really looks forward to numerous bottles to wash every single day? But the smell of a baby, their little coo's , those major milestones you witness through the first year, to never have that again, to me it is bittersweet, very much so. When we bought Hayley home from the hospital I vowed to myself to take this year slow, to just enjoy the time and not worry about social calendars and being involved in a million things. I am proud to say I did just that. I really enjoyed the moments, the big and the small and it has been the most wonderful year. Not just with Hayley, but all five of us. We all fell into our new roles seamlessly and with the most love we had to offer.

As you all know I love any reason to celebrate; holidays, job promotions, because it's a day ending in y lol, but there is no bigger celebration than birthdays! Her birthday fell on a Friday so the day was low key but when Daddy was done with work, we met him, Grandma & Grandad Smith & MomMom at our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. We ended the day with presents and cake for all. Including Hayley, it was her first taste of cake, though she really was a fan and preferred to just destroy the cake instead. All in all the day was perfect for our Lady Hayley.

December Festivities

What a whirlwind December was, but soooo much fun! And some great memories were made...

On December 1st an elf visits our house and leaves some goodies for the kids to kick off the Christmas celebrations. Besides the annual Christmas pjs, new books and advent calendars, the elf also left numerous things for the kids to do leading up to Christmas Day. The boys absolutely loved waking up in the morning to find out what they were to do that day. We did a candy cane hunt around the house, made cookies and delivered them to our town policemen, made Christmas cards, a snow globe craft, and decorate a gingerbread house. We did skip out on our Christmas train ride as Hayley would never sit for that long but we did throw our yearly Christmas party and we went to our Santa brunch with friends. We all look forward to those two events.

For the past few years we have attended our church's events Lights in the Village; They Santa, Christmas carolers, the town of Bethlehem that you walk through, superhero's (which Asher was soo excited to meet), and of course lots of Christmas lights!! It's a fun night out and the boys were pleased that their good buddy Cole came with them this year.

We love to watch Christmas movies. As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is cleaned up we turn on the tv and watch our first one of the season. The boys have gotten on board with our tradition, and as a treat we took them to the movies to see The Star. Awesome movie, it was the Christmas Story told by the animals. It was hilarious, Biblically true and most importantly the boys really got a great understanding of the story.

Our last activity was to drive around and Christmas lights. The kids wear Christmas pjs, we load up the car with munchkins and hot chocolate and Christmas music and have THE best time. Except, this year the evening went downhill quickly. We were all in the car, when Asher couldn't stop coughing, at all. So much so I had to call the dr, and was told we needed to take him to the ER asap. Turns out he had low oxygen and a severe case of croup. The poor kid was miserable and we felt terrible he was in such a bad state. We were sad to miss one of our favorite Christmas activities but were so thankful Asher was ok.

With all of those activities and then some, we were all fully feeling the Christmas spirit by the time Christmas Eve was upon us.