Happy 4th Birthday "P"!

I am going to skip a Christmas post for now (maybe I'll post something later), but this week I just had to post about Peyton's (aka "P" as I call her) 4th birthday.

The partying began yesterday with a big family party at our new house. It was so nice to have space to spread out especially for the kids. In fact, I think I barely saw Peyton the whole party as she was playing in the finished basement or her bedroom with her cousins or other family.

This year, she wanted a Sophia the First birthday party, which is Disney's latest princess. I can't even count how many Sophia presents she received but thankfully none of them were character clothing which I really despise!

Peyton's favorite part of her whole birthday party was probably opening her presents and blowing out her candles. In fact, we had to repeat the blowing out the candles with another piece of cake today (her real birthday).

I can't believe my now middle child is 4.  She has grown into a very confident 4-year-old with a killer sense of humor and a dash of sarcasm to wit.  She has really blossomed these past few months attending a school that's all her own (not with Austen) and loving it.  She has also welcomed her baby sister so lovingly, embracing her role as big sister and wanting to hold and feed Hailey.

Today (her actual birthday), we continued the celebration by going out to breakfast, seeing a movie (Frozen) and then going out to dinner (Peyton made a request for pizza). She topped off the day by opening more presents and as previously mentioned, eating more cake and blowing out another candle.

Here's to many more candles my little "P."

 

Austen Helps a Little Old Lady

So a few weeks back Austen and I were killing some time with Hailey before picking up Peyton at school. We decided to pick up a few things at the grocery store by her school. Once out of the car, I was looking for a cart to put Hailey's car seat into instead of lugging her all the way to the door and then finding one. Right away, Austen spotted a cart but it had a lady's purse in it.

"Mom, look there's a purse in that cart," he proclaimed while I was busy juggling the car seat and my heavy diaper bag. Sure enough, there was no one around and someone had pushed their cart in between some cars and inadvertently left their purse.

I told Austen to bring the purse inside to customer service so he did. I let him do all the talking at the customer service counter. He was a little shy at first but then got into telling them the story of how he found the purse. After that we were on our way to do some shopping in the store.

About halfway through our shopping, a little old lady spotted us in an aisle and called out, "were you the boy that found my purse in the shopping cart?" Austen responded yes and the lady pulled a $10 bill from her purse and placed it in his hand. "This is for your piggy bank," she said. Austen didn't know if he should take it or not but the lady went on and on about how he saved her so many headaches because he found her purse and what a story she was going to have to tell her grandkids during the holidays.

It was a great lesson for Austen to learn and we couldn't have met a nicer old lady.  We were glad Austen found her purse!

Hailey and Adler

Hailey turned two months old recently and went in for her two month check up at the doctor. She now weighs 10 lbs even and measures 22 inches long. She is a little peanut and I think will be the smallest of all three of my kids. She continues to be a good eater and decent sleeper. Not sleeping through the night yet but she is still young. Tom can't wait. She's our last so there's something about knowing this is the last time that we will have to go through this that makes the no sleeping part bearable. At least for me.

As for Adler, she continues to make herself at home in our new house. This past weekend, Tom and Austen were shoveling the snow (I think they have shoveled at least three times since we've moved in and we have a very long driveway so they are getting their exercise!), Adler went out with them and wandered around our yard. She eventually parked herself on the front lawn and watched them work. I just had to get a picture of her lounging in the snow taking in her new surroundings. It was as if she was exactly where she was supposed to be. I'm so glad we could give her this in her older years of her life although she probably doesn't appreciate all the stairs.

Life is Busy

Sorry I've been absent on here for almost two weeks. Unpacking, kids' activities and a newborn has received most of my time and attention.

On Wednesday, we'll have been in our new home almost four weeks. It has been the busiest four weeks that I have probably ever known. Unpacking is truly something I never want to have to do again and especially not with a newborn. The good news is that we are 90% unpacked and organized. It certainly is challenging though trying to get your house in order when you also have to decorate for the holidays! And, don't tell me that I don't have to do it this year because it certainly wouldn't feel like Christmas if I didn't and my kids would be truly disappointed (especially Austen).

Everyone is doing well though. The kids continue to act like they have lived in this house all of their lives and I have never seen Adler so happy and full of life - lounging in the grass or on our plush carpet and having space to run around in the house. As for me, I don't miss the city at all. At least not yet. I will probably miss it most when my commute doubles when I go back to work.

Tom on the other hand is enjoying his short commute. Much deserved after more than a decade of a long commute. As I write this, he is outside shoveling snow from our extra long driveway! I am sure he is loving being a homeowner and not a condo owner where you have a service take care of it for you!

Anyway, here are a few photos to catch you up on our activities over the last two weeks.

Some new neighbors brought over cookies and another neighbor brought us a plant. This place is like Mayberry!

Hailey Kate - Weighing 9lbs, 7 ounces at a 6-week old check up (yes, now she is 8 weeks old).

 Thanksgiving with my girls (minus Adler).

Christmas tree cutting and visit with Santa.

Peyton loves Santa.

Looking forward to making new holiday memories in our new house this season.