Since It's Not April Anymore...

My Little Sweeties,

I am a bit behind. I have good excuses! Illnesses, Weddings, Communions, and general lack of sleep... what better excuse could there be for being behind on blogging? So, my dear children, there are no April Letters from Mommy... instead I'm just going to make a general list of April 2009 moments/milestones I don't want to forget.

Kirsten
- You were adorably excited about the Easter Bunny. He "woke you up" in the middle of the night and we had no choice but to explore your basket in the darkness

- At an Easter Egg hunt we had pictures taken with the Bunny. After catching a glimpse of his neck and zipper you whispered that this was "NOT a real bunny" but "a human!". You were thoughtful enough to make sure that none of the little kids heard you, but concerned enough to need to discuss it immediately. I explained why the bunny would need helpers, and the benefits of the impersonators and you were satisfied. After all "no human could hide eggs around the whole world in one night!". I love you.

-You are doing really well with your violin lessons and earned a spot in the school's Spring Concert. This is a very big deal.

-You excel in gymnastics. Your new trick is one-handed cartwheel (aerials?) and you somehow convinced Uncle Jeff to do them with you on the beach at Uncle Greg's wedding.

-You danced ALL night at the wedding. ALL night. As I was getting ready to leave I looked up to see you leading the Conga Line. You had a major case of Flower Girl envy, but you handled it like a champ.

-You are becoming a bit of a fussy eater. All of a sudden you demand the crust be cut off of all your sandwiches. I find this both very endearing and very frustrating.

-You began taking a shower before school each morning this month. It seems to make a HUGE difference in your mood in the morning. You are a lot like Daddy in that you could stay in a hot shower for hours!

-You are still amazing with your brothers. You love them so much. You've been teaching them to say their prayers and you still pick them up (which they love!) 100 times a day even though they weigh about 60% of what you weigh each.

-You were precious, and fun, and exhausting this month. I don't think you'll ever be described as an "easy child" but you are often described as "amazing", "charismatic", and "beautiful".

- I love you more than you will ever know.

Matthew
-You are growing up much too fast! You pretty much forced me into taking your crib apart and are now in a big boy bed. You fall out of our bed regularly and like to knock on the door to your room when you want me to come get you.

-You really enjoyed hunting for eggs this Easter. I couldn't believe how quickly you caught on! By noon on Easter you were taking eggs out of your basket, hiding them around the living room, and then hunting for them. It was really, really cute.

-You still love to jump on the couch and run through the blinds. You often enjoy your moment of naughtiness and then happily put yourself in time out (with a very satisfied look on your face). It seems as if you are thinking "totally worth it".

-You cover your mouth and say "Excuse Me!" in an adorable voice whenever you burp, sneeze, or cough. Cute.

-You love to be tickled and often tickle yourself. Super-cute.

-You love hats, glasses, and props of any kind.

-You love water... at the beach, in the tub... anywhere you can find it.

-Yo love music and are positively obsessed with guitars. You are the cutest, most charming, beautiful child I've ever seen. I love you.

Daniel
-You have become such a little person this month! You have all these ideas, and such a personality! You are speaking in sentences almost all the time and I love, love, love to hear you talk.

-You love to play "boat" in a laundry basket. You often try to capsize the boat when Matt is in it so you can have it to yourself. (Little stinker)

-You got crazy excited about Grandpa's Birthday Cake. I was surprised you even really knew what it was, but the entire day you were talking about cake and yelling "Yea! Grandpa!! Grandpa! Cake!"

-You enjoy taking baths and hog the faucet. I have to leave the water dripping the entire time you are in there or face your wrath.

-You've become very silly recently and think it is hilarious to joke about biting. You bite your toys and tease them about it "Ha! Bear Bear I bite! I bite you Bear Bear!". You'll also come to me with fake tears, make me kiss your boo boo, and tell me "Bear Bear bite. NO BITE Bear Bear!".

-You refuse to stay in your bed. It's a losing battle. You are in bed with Matt all the time. (It sounds very sweet... and sometime it is... but often you are terrorizing poor Matt... stealing his water, his blankie, his pillow...).

-You love, love, love birds. Seriously you LOVE birds.

-You've come up with some funny expressions recently. You think it's funny when I call you "my baby" but you often hug me saying "Mama... my baby" and positively MELT MY HEART. I love you so.


And so, my sweets, I love you. April 2009 was not an easy month. We were so busy and so exhausted... and we managed to create so many precious memories. I love each of you so much. You are everything to me. Everything.

From the Mouthes of Babes

Sometimes I think my kids are hysterical. I'm sure no one thinks they are as funny as I do (...part of my job as Mommy). However, some of this stuff is just too good to keep to myself!

In the last few days the boys have come up with a few laugh out loud moments.
- You saw the Potty Post right? Well, the seat has pictures of Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster on it. Before sitting down Danny addresses each character with very specific instructions. "Bird, No bite." "Elmo, No bite." "Cookie, No bite Cookie!!" I have no idea what made him do this the first time... now he probably does it because it makes me fall over laughing every time :)

- The boys both LOVE to play with Brian's harmonica. It goes missing quite frequently. We found it in the ball pit this week and the boys are playing with it all the time! Danny blows into it and then shoves it to my mouth saying "Wanna try?". Probably funny only to me but I think it's soooooo cute. Especially because it goes on and on and on and on. He blows one note then asks "Wanna try?". I giggle and blow, he grabs it back, and we repeat.

-In the bathtub tonight Danny was pouring water from his plastic Easter eggs (doesn't everyone use them as bath toys?) into a large cup. Each time he got the water into the cup successfully he'd declare "Oh Baby!" in the FUNNIEST . voice. I called out to Brian asking if he'd heard that and Brian said he must have gotten that from my dad. I asked Danny "Does Grandpa say that?" He laughed and said, "Yea... Grandpa... Oh Baby! Oh Baby, Grandpa!" (Again it went on and on and on.... and I laughed and laughed and laughed.)

- And my sweet Matt hasn't made me laugh out loud but he's made my heart smile. Matt now says "Bless you!" when I sneeze, "'Scooze Me!" when he burps, and "Love you!" (My favorite, favorite, favorite phrase).

My Daniel,

You, my sweetness, are a very determined little boy! I think this will be a wonderful character attribute 99% of the time. The 1% of the time it is not quite as positive has been very evident this month :) "NO!" is your favorite new word. You say it about 500 times a day. Sometimes it is very cute when I ask you a question and you answer with such assurance ("Danny are you ready for a diaper?" "No."). It's not as cute when you repeat it at the top of your lungs when I'm trying to talk to you. You will only eat a banana offered to you in the peel and you refuse to eat raisins that are not given to you in your own little box.

You have come up with quite a few really funny things this month. You are CRAZY for cheese. You say "Cheese Please!" at least a dozen times a day... and it's never enough! Last week you found a yellow Post-It pad. You squealed with delight and declared "CHEESE!". You carried it around with you for the rest of the day pretending to eat it. So cute!

As I've mentioned before, you and your brother are quite the climbers. I saw shirts recently that say "I have my own stunt double" that I need to buy for you two! When you are getting ready to flip or jump you say (in a very excited voice) "Five... Six... GO!!!!" and then proceed to do something very dangerous that you are not allowed to do.

We've began "prepping" for potty training. This mostly involves a lot of "potty talk". You are terrified of sitting on the potty and REFUSE to get up there... but you love to cheer for anyone else who uses the bathroom. You'll come running across the house screaming "YEA!!!! Pee Pee!" if you hear the toilet flush.

Your language skills are just amazing. You are speaking very clearly recently and using lots of 3 word sentences. You are starting to pretend and you really seem to enjoy antagonizing your brother. You love slides, birds, and shoes. You still pull your left eyelid (very hard) when you are sleepy. You are smart and sweet and I love you with all my heart.

I love you always,
Mommy