Tomorrow's the big day...I'm not ready!

*sigh*

My baby boy starts pre-school tomorrow morning and I am not one big happy about it. Well, I take that back, I am happy for him, not me. He is so excited that he can barely contain himself. He has looked forward to this day for so long. He started saying toward the end of the last school year that he wanted to go to school. I sent my oldest right around this time because he was shy and we really did not live around other kids his age. I took him in the first day and he cried like he was dying, so I stayed, volunteered and eventually got a job there. With the next boy, I did not start him until he was 4. I had no intention of sending this one this year, he had other plans.

We went last week to meet his teachers. He was so excited about getting to go to his classroom.



He stood at the window, waiting his turn to get a chance to go inside to check it out.



He got to tour the playground and play in the classroom while I met with one of his teachers. He loved playing in the kitchen area. It is funny because a few years ago when "I" was in pre-k at this school, the kitchen was his favorite area too.



One of his favorite things to play at home is restaurant, he gets paper and a pen or crayon and "takes your order" then brings you your food.



He was more than delighted to find cars, trucks and trains to play with as well.



I know he will have a great time. It hurts my heart to let him go though. He is still my baby and I am not ready.



They start school with gradual entry, meaning tomorrow, he will only go for an hour and 15 minutes, then Friday, he will go for 2 hours, next Thursday, we will be up to the full class of 3 hours.



I cannot believe that my baby boy is old enough to go to pre-school, and I really cannot believe that he wants to go! He is so different from the other 2 boys, he is independent and they really were not.



He is funny. I have no doubt that he will make friends quickly.



He is silly, other kids will love him.



He is sweet and tender hearted, I am afraid that the other kids will change him. I do not want him to be taken advantage of. As a mom, I know that is one of our biggest fears when we send our babies off on their own. I know he will be fine, but he is my baby.



He loves to have fun.



He loves to make people laugh. He is friendly and loves people.



He's adventurous and doesn't let anything stand in his way!



He is so excited, and I am excited for him. Kind of. I love my babies dearly and cannot stand the thought of being away from them.



We were asked to bring a photo of our family for the first week of school, I could not decide on just one, so I picked these.





I am blessed beyond belief to be the mommy to this special little boy. I love him with all of my heart. I cannot wait to see the wonderful things God has in store for him. He makes my heart smile. He is filled with love and emotion and I love that about him.

Happy Birthday "E"

It seems so hard to believe that it has been 3 years since you came into our lives. It seems like only yesterday in so many ways, yet it seems like you have always been a part of our family. You light up the room when you walk in. You are the love of my life, my youngest baby boy.

On the morning when you were born, I only saw you for a split second before you were rushed away to the NICU. You were nearly a month early and were having trouble breathing. My heart stopped when they took you away.

After you were born, I did not get to see you right away. They wisked you away and I had to wait a while before I could go see you. It broke my heart into a million pieces. I just wanted to know that you were ok. My precious baby boy was down the hall and I had no way of getting to you.

The first time I saw you with all of the breathing machines and tubes, I cried. I just wanted to hold you, hug you and kiss you. We were not even allowed to touch you for the first few days, it seemed like a lifetime.



Every day I came down to sit with you. I sat beside your bed and talked to you. I told you how much I loved you and how much I wanted to pick you up and take you home with me.



It broke my heart not having you in my room, in my bed and in my arms. I could only sit near you. You got stronger by the day. I will never forget having to leave you at the hospital when it was time for me to go home. I cried all the way home, all the way through dinner and cried myself to sleep. I did not want to leave you there. It hurt my heart.



Soon, it was time to bring you home. You were a tiny little baby. The smallest I had ever had. You weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces when you were born but when we brought you home, you were barely 5 pounds and a few ounces.



You were and always will be the love of my life, my baby boy.



You are growing up way too fast.



But you told me that you will always be my baby.



It hurts my feelings that you are getting to be a big boy. Even though you are really not that big, you are still my, "little guy." Or "Wittle guy" as you say.



It seems like only a few months ago, we were taking your 18 month pictures.



You still make this face.



You still love trains. As a matter of fact, I think you love them more now. We have to pull over when we get to the rail road crossing to wait for choo choos because you love to see them pass.



You are quite the funny little guy. You make us all laugh.



You love to play and have fun.



Especially with "I" he is your best friend. It warms my heart to see how much you love your brothers and sisters.



You are Mommy's little monkey.



You are beautiful, inside and out. You will be the first to tell someone, "I cute!"



Sometimes I tell you that it is a really good thing that you are cute. You are nothing like any of your siblings. You keep us on our toes and we wouldn't have it any other way. You are busy, you are all boy. You get into everything. We cannot turn our backs on you for a second. When we do, you come out of a bathroom naked and covered with diaper rash cream, or silver sharpie...



I won't lie, I was afraid of how you would adjust to having a baby sister around the house. I had no idea of how you would react. I worried for nothing. You loved your baby from the moment you met her. You adore her.



You hug her, kiss her and want to hold her. You play with her, you scold me for not getting to her fast enough and tell me, "Mommy, "L" wants you." Or if you do not think I am getting to her fast enough you tell me that I need to feed her.



You knew she was your baby from the moment you laid eyes on her. You protect her and love her. I love to see you with her. I love when you ask, "Can I kiss her?" It melts my heart.



You truly are the sweetest baby boy ever.



You were a happy baby boy. I do not think you ever cried. You loved to smile.



You make me smile when I think about you. You are confident. You are loyal. You are kind. You are caring. You are sweet. You are loud. You are crazy. You are silly. You are one of a kind.



You love Disney World and you have been 3 times. You did not want to come home from our last trip. You still ask daily when we get in the car if we are going to Disney World and you tell us that you, "Want to take a picture with Mickey Mouse." You are obsessed with Mickey Mouse. All things Mickey Mouse. I think you have a crush on Daisy.



You are sure of yourself. You are brave. You like to play alone. You love your toys. You love everything choo choo, Mickey Mouse, animals and especially dogs and cats.



I never would have imagined that you would be going to pre-school this year, but you begged. You cried to go to school. I cannot imagine how hard it is going to be on the first day when I have to drop you off and leave you there. I am going to miss you terribly but I know you are going to have a great time. You love to make friends and play with kids.



You still love cake.



I love you more each day. Some days my heart hurts because I love you so much. When I think of how fast you are growing up it makes me sad.



When someone asks you how old you are going to be on your birthday, you tell them either, "18" or "6" years old. You crack me up.



You are a wonderful little brother, you love your older siblings so much. You have a special relationship with each of them.



You make my heart smile.



You have "H" wrapped around your little finger. He will carry you wherever you want to go, for as long as you want him to.



You are a rough and tough little guy. You have had more bumps, scrapes and bruises than all of the other kids put together I am sure.



You are the sweetest little guy ever. You are cuddly and snuggly. I hope you never change.



You are the center of my world and I love you with all of my heart.



You are a photo crasher! And a camera ham.



You love your mommy.



and Daisy Duck.



You love your daddy too.



You have the sweetest little face I have ever seen.



Your favorite thing to is play with your brothers. It makes me smile.



You make me smile. You are my hero.



I hope you are always as happy as you are now. You enjoy life to the fullest and have no worries. You love to have fun and you are considerate of others. I am not sure how that is possible at your age but it is true. You have such a sweet spirit. You give to others to make them happy. Your voice makes my heart skip a beat. Your laugh warms my heart. Your smile makes me weak in the knees. Your hug tells me that all is right in the world. Your kiss lets me know you love me.

I hope one day you will know just how very much I love you, how happy I am that you are mine and how I would do anything for you.

I never knew what real love could be until I was a mother. Nothing else in the world matters.

I love you with all of my heart and soul.

Funnies from around the house...

Ok, so I have not done one of these in a while. I cannot call them Boogisms anymore though because the little man is quite the funny character these days too!

On the way to school this morning, "E" kept asking, "Mommy, where we going?" like over and over and over and each time my answer was the same, "We are taking the boys to school." After my answer, each and every time, he would ask, "Why?" I finally ran out of reasons why we were taking them to school. So finally, after the last time he asked why, he answered his own question, with another question..."Mommy, where we going? To take the boys to school? To eat lunch?" So apparently, he thinks that the only reason we take the boys to school is so that they can eat lunch! hehe

So, we make it to school and "I" is telling me that the teacher separated him and his best friend. I asked him if they had been talking and he answered, "Yes, but I was trying so hard not to." We continued our conversation and I asked him who he played with at school, and he answered, "Gabriel, Dylan, Matthew and Awkward Sam." I said, "Who?" and he named them all again, "Gabriel, Dylan, Matthew and Awkward Sam, but that's not his real name, I just call him that because he's just weird." Alrighty then...I nearly wrecked!

We finally get pulled up in front of the school and I am trying to hurry them out of the car, well if you know "I" very well, you know that hurry is not in his vocabulary. He moves more sloth-like than an actual sloth I am sure. He is trying to slither out of the car, taking his ever loving sweet time and I hear from the back seat from one super sweet little 2 year old (who will be 3 in 2 days!!!) "I love you "I" !!" Awww, made my heart melt.

My day was far from over though, we get home and are hanging out in the living room, watching tv and talking and "E" says, "Mommy, can you get me a wipe?" I answer, "Why do you need a wipe?" To which he answers, "I'm gonna change the kitty's diaper!" I did not hand over a wipe, so he carefully keeps one hand on the kitty that he now has laying on her back in a chair, reaches over to open the wipe box, removes a wipe and proceeds to wipe the kitty down, butt and all. All while the kitty just lays there and lets him.

Tomorrow, this guy...

Tomorrow, this guy will be in high school...



Tomorrow, this guy will be in 1st grade...



Tomorrow, this guy will be sad and lonely...



These are my guys...



I cannot believe how big all of my boys are getting. My first baby will be in HIGH SCHOOL tomorrow morning! It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home, all 7 lbs 9 oz and 19" of him. I will never forget what it was like seeing him for the very first time. For my entire life, the only thing I could ever imagine being when I grew up, was a mom. I honestly do not remember ever wanting to do anything else. Sure, I had jobs that I thought of doing, but they all took a backseat to wanting children of my own. I always said growing up when anyone asked, that I wanted 6 kids. I got pretty close! This boy has been the joy of my life for the past 13.11 years. Becoming a mom nearly 14 years ago is by far the very best thing in the entire world, I cannot imagine my life any other way. This guy will be on the varsity soccer team this year. This guy is growing up way too fast. This guy is still his momma's guy. He might not always admit it, but he is. This guy makes me happy. This guy makes me want to pull my hair out. This guy is the light of my life. This guy is a fantastic big brother. This guy loves his siblings more than he might like to admit. This is my big guy.

My second baby boy will be in 1st grade tomorrow morning! I cannot believe that my baby is going into 1st grade! That seems so grown up. He likes to say, "On my next birthday, I will be 7, then I will be 8, then I will be 9, then 10, then 11, then..." When he does that, I still think of him as my little guy and nearly argue that there is no way that on his next birthday that he will be 7! That seems so grown up! I mean, I know he is 6, but turning 7 on his next birthday? No way! This guy LOVES school, I hope it stays that way. He loves to learn, he loves to go to school and have fun with his friends. This guy is a good boy. He is laid back and care free. I wish I was this guy! He makes me smile. This guy is funny. He is loving, caring and the light of my life too. This guy loves his family. He would rather be home with his family than doing anything else in the world. This guy is a pleaser. He loves to make us happy. This guy wears his feelings on his sleeve. This guy makes friends wherever he goes. This guy has my heart in his pocket. This guy was hard to come by and had a rough start in life. This guy is my world. This guy is his mommy AND daddy's baby and we would not have it any other way. This guy loves to be around people. This guy is an amazing big brother, he loves his little people like you would not believe. This guy, who is normally calm and sweet can grow fangs and be in kill mode in 2.5 seconds if anyone messes with his little people. This guy LOVES cheese quesadillas. This guy can read. This guy can do math. This guy amazes me every single day. I am going to miss this guy tomorrow. It killed me to send him to pre-school 3 days a week 2 years ago, kindergarten nearly sent me to the crazy house last year, and 1st grade is making me cry. This guy is my best friend. This guy is everyone's best friend. This guy has his very first non family best friend. This guy will have a great day at school tomorrow.

My smallest baby boy will be 3 this month, in 17 days to be exact. You have got to be kidding me. There is no way my baby will be 3! He is still too little to be 3. I call him my little guy. He says, "I not a wittle guy!" Unless it works in his favor, then it is "I just a wittle guy!" This guy is hilarious. This guy is his own little person. This guy has a totally different personality than the others. This guy is independent and hard headed. This guy begged to go to school this year. This guy will be starting pre-school next month. This mommy is not happy about that, but I know he will have a great time. I had no intention of sending him at 3, I figured I'd wait until he turned 4, he had other plans. This guy is the sweetest baby ever. This guy is beautiful. This guy is a wonderful big brother. He loves his baby sister with everything he has. He talks to her, he kisses her, he wants to hold her, he gets upset when she cries. He wants us to always make it better so she will not cry. He asks, "I kiss huh (her)?" This guy also had a rough start. This guy scared us. This guy continues to scare us. He is a daredevil, he has no fear. This guy has had more knots and bruises on his head than all of the other children combined. This guy is tough. This guy has a mind of his own. This guy will give us a run for our money. This guy is mine. This guy loves all things dog, cat and Disney World. This guy loves ALL THINGS DISNEY WORLD! ALL THINGS!! He loves trains, trucks, firetrucks, garbage trucks...he is a man's man. This guy loves to get dirty. He loves crocs. He loves cheese. He loves life. He loves his people. He does not meet a stranger. He makes friends with everyone. This guy has my heart. This guy pads his pockets with rocks. This guy will be sad tomorrow because his 2 best friends are going back to school. This guy will cry and say that he wants to go to his school. This guy loves his big brothers. This guy makes me smile.

I am the luckiest mommy alive to have these guys in my life. They (along with their sisters *and daddy*) are my life. I cannot imagine my life having turned out any other way.

Tomorrow, I will be sad too...

Notebooks...

Ok, so I seriously think that I need to start carrying around a notebook everywhere I go. If for no other reason at all, I will write down every single funny things that my kids say! When it happens, I swear with out a doubt that it was so funny that I will never forget it. Then...2 seconds later, they open their mouths again and top the last funny thing they said, resulting in me forgetting both things!

I think that "E" is going to be just as funny, if not more so, as "I" is. Tonight, we had Back to School night at the kiddos school, yay what fun! That means that our summer as we know it, is officially over. We start back to school Thursday. Ugh, not impressed. More on that later..Back to my story. So, the thing was from 6-8ish, but we had to be there early to take care of a few things first. Well, there is no way we can (or would want to for that matter) eat dinner and be at the school by 5:30, so we just plan to grab something on the way home. After the meeting was over, we were invited by some friends to hit up the local pizza joint so we headed that way. On the way, I have flashbacks of the last time we met these friends at this pizza place. It did not end well. The kids were all acting like wild animals and running around and their little girl fell while holding a glass cheese shaker and it busted and cut her all up. We got her cleaned up and bandaged, finished our meal and rushed out, agreeing that meeting there with the kids was bad luck. So...I mention this while paying for our food and we laugh.

We had no more sat down with our food, when their middle child starts coughing and hacking and ends up puking. Yay! At the table. But not to worry, we have 5 kids, we have seen everything so we continue to eat and go about our business, no biggie. Our friends start packing up their food to go and the oldest boy, age 6, "I's" best buddy, looks at his dad and asks, "Where's my food?" to which his dad responded, "I packed it up, we will eat at home." Right at that very moment, I could see that "I" and his buddy were about to go into full meltdown mode, so we volunteered to let him eat with us then bring him home. No one heard me the first time, so I said, "Why don't you let him stay here and eat with us and we will bring him home after we are finished, no biggie. I do not want "I" and "G" to have a cow." Everyone was minding their own business, they agreed and left. Not too much time had passed before "E" looked at me and said in his sweetest most serious little voice, "We gone have cows in he-uh (here)? Mommy? We gone have cows in he-uh?" Needless to say, the hubs and I looked at each other and nearly cracked up.

These kids keep us on our toes for sure! Man I love them!

7 months...

My pretty little princess is 7 months old. How on earth did that happen?!? I swear it was just last week that I took her to do her 6 month shots and now, here it is a month later and I have not even posted pictures from that shoot.

She is a tiny little thing. She weighs around 14 pounds. She has to be the sweetest baby ever. I know I probably said that about the other babies too but she really is. She has such a sweet personality. She is already fun and man is she loud! She loves to talk. She gets excited and squeals. She thinks that "I" is the funniest thing she has ever seen. To this day, he is pretty much the only one of us who has really gotten her to do a full blown belly laugh. He dances for her and she loves it.

She loves to smile. She is such a happy baby. I cannot believe that time is passing by so quickly. It seems like she was born last week, then on the other hand, it feels like she has always been here. She has the most beautiful big brown eyes. She makes people smile wherever she goes.

She is the light of my life. Of course I feel that way about the other children too, but she is new. I am pretty sure that I am the light of her life as well. She loves her mommy! That makes me happy!

Promises broken

Ok, so I promised when we moved to this blog that I would not fall off of the face of the earth. I guess I might have let a few of you down. This past month has been a whirlwind adventure and I am just now sort of stopping from spinning.

We just got home a little over a week ago from our family vacation. We had an amazing time. I have been trying like crazy to catch up around here. I have to sort through pictures so I can share. Between the pictures we took with our personal camera and the pictures we will soon have on cd, we have well over 1,500 pictures! Yikes!

My baby girl is nearly 6 months old. Summer seems to be flying by. My baby boy will soon be 3.