Our ONE year old

Lincolns birthday was something I had avoided planning.  

I wanted to pretend that he wasn't almost one. 

 He wasn't walking.  

He wasn't feeding himself.  

He wasn't down to nursing only a few times a day.  

He was my baby.  

Not just "my baby" but he was actually a baby.

As the days came closer and I started to look through his baby pictures I bawled.  Like, really.  

From day one, little Linc and I have had a really strong bond.  

He actually creates that bond with almost anyone he meets. 

He is cuddly, sweet, loving, funny, smart and everything else that is good.  

In my mind, growing up meant change.  Growing up meant letting go.  And I DIDN'T want to. I wanted to freeze the stage he was in and continue to enjoy every second of it.

Have I mentioned I don't like change?

The day of Linc's birthday came and thankfully my anxiety was gone.  I realized a # would not change who he was and that I wanted to soak up every second and every memory.

 I was ready to celebrate the best one year old around.  I was ready to praise this stage, thank God for giving me more time with him AND PARTAY!

He woke up happy.  Proud of himself for being born :) And literally played every second of the day.

We are so lucky to have Lincoln.  We couldn't imagine a better addition to our family.  Only he, could make our family feel complete.  We love you Lincoln James! Happy happy Birthday!

Preschool Peeps

Avery was SOOO excited to start preschool.

She kept saying, "You're not going with me right?"

Unfortunately the first day was at our house hahaha.

These kids melted me with their excitement.

They were shy, silly and totally ready to be "big kids"

But I will continue to make them be little kids for just a little longer :)

Summer Teething

Our Summer teether is lucky enough to have his very own pool to distract him from his aching gums.
Luckily for us, it doesn't take much to make this sweet thing happy...but this did the trick for hours.

Kindergarten 2015

Kai has been "patiently" waiting for this day for so long.  He has had a plan.

The night before we would have a special dinner; in his mind, that meant we HAD to go to IHOP.

The next morning we would have breakfast (a special one of course), go to the park and tell every single person he came in contact with that it was his first day of Kindergarten.

I had been asked many times, by many different people if I would cry.  

Was I sad?  Would he cry?  Would he miss me?

And the answer to all of those answers were...no :)

Don't get me wrong I was going to miss this high energy boy and I would be ready to pick him up at the end of the day. But the truth of the matter was, we BOTH needed this school time.

Kai needed to feel independent.  He and I have our ups and downs.  He needs me, but REALLY doesn't want to. He needed to know that I trusted him to be safe, smart and a good listener. He needed to be told "no" by someone other than me.  He needed to make friends, have disagreements and solve problems without his Mom around.

And I needed it as well.  I needed to feel like I could put my energy on the other little bundles we created.  That I could sit back and pray that all that I had taught him would be put into practice. And to be very honest I needed to miss him.  I needed to be excited to experience new things with him.

Each day that he goes to school my anxiety tells me I need to let go and each day I pick that munchkin up I pray that he is excited to see me again.

This school thing has been a transition for us all. A good transition. And some days a bad transition. But aren't all transitions that way?  We take the goods and bads and together we move forward.

I love my Mr. Independent...watch out world, Kai is coming and he isn't looking back!!

A Sunday with our Favorites

Some days you just need nature.

And I think nature needs us too :)

McKee Family Pictures