Happy 9 months Emily

Today Emily turns 9 months old. She makes me smile every time I look at her beautiful face. Her personality is starting to emerge and she's quite a character already. Now that we hit the dreaded 9 month mark, I'm watching and praying that she doesn't get the courage to try to walk. Dylan was an early walker and back then we were so excited and thrilled that he walked so soon. I'm not feeling the eagerness for her to grow up as much as I was with the other two. Em climbed up two stairs yesterday and it's a matter of time before she's going to pull herself up on the couch in the living room. She's pretty fearless and quite frankly scares me. She's a little love though and I'm so glad she is in our lives.

Birthdays...

Here is just a random thought I was having this morning after I dropped the kids off and I had 5 minutes of sanity before going to work. My baby is going to be a year old in 3 short months. How did this happen? Then I thought about Dylan's first birthday and how much he has grown into a little man. The realization that he's my only son and will always and forever be my only son sank in. He amazes me everyday how intelligent he is. He was talking about the solar system yesterday. He is very mechanical and likes to watch how things work and how to put things together, I think that is the engineer in his blood. He's also shy but not to the point where he couldn't take charge (believe me the boy can take charge). He's going to be 5 soon. Holy moly I've been at this parenting thing for almost 5 years!

Then I thought of tiny Brynnie. My true peanut. She's a fiesty little devil who is more independent than I would like her to be, who battles me on a daily basis but when I look at her little face, with her glasses perched at the tip of her nose, I can't do anything but smile. She's going to be 3 soon and I honestly don't know where the time has gone. She exhibits everything you hear a middle child is but I hope that her personality now is going to make her a leader and a strong-willed, independent woman (I truly pray).

Then there's Emily. My sweet Emme who came into this world a little bit earlier than planned, who scared me to death and made my faith in God stronger, is going to be a year. She's the happiest baby in the world who can sit for hours and entertain herself with any toy you put in front of her. She's patient and I can tell going to be a little mush. She's into everything now and I watch her as she's getting braver and braver. She's starting to stand on her own without holding anything and it won't be long before she's sprinting around my house.

I want to savor every single minute of their lives but there's just not enough time. If I could, I swear I would freeze time so they could stay this age. Being back to work full time, and having to put the girls in daycare everyday and Dylan being in school has me torn. Am I doing the right thing? Am I spending enough time with them? Do they miss me as much as I miss them? The guilt really consumes me some days. I shared my feeling yesterday with my best friend and she said "it's not about the quanity of the time you spend with your kids, it's about the QUALITY". I never thought of it that way and honestly she made me feel so much better.

I'm not saying having three kids is the easiest thing in the world. If anything, it's the hardest job anyone could have (and I know my husband agrees with me about that). Another birthday is coming. Another party to plan. But this one is a special one and the last first birthday party I'll ever plan.

Soccer

Sundays in our house are now going to be a little chaotic. Sunday School in the morning, grocery shopping, lunch then Soccer! Dylan had his very first game yesterday and it was the cutest thing to watch. He was laughing and giggling, running around the field (without a clue) chasing the ball. He has never been to a practice yet since we didn't have a schedule so I have to say he did quite well for never playing in an organized game. He was having the time of his life until he fell and got kicked in his little temple. He didn't want to play after that (and of course milked his injury with his coach). He looked adorable in the oversized uniform. I think I'm really going to enjoy watching him grow this fall.

Amish bonnet

Emily hates this hat but I have to say its soooo cute!

Dutch Wonderland

So the last stop of our weekend trip was Dutch Wonderland. I don't know how I feel about this place. It's a little different than Knoebles, a LOT different than Great Adventure but nicer than a town fair. The park has a castle and is pretty much geared towards little kids. I did see some teenagers there but most of the rides and attractions are for kids 8 years and younger. Brynn wanted to go on a roller coaster with her daddy and was devistated that she was too little to ride. Dylan, my tough, strong boy immediately chickened out of going on the ride when he saw how high he was going to be in the air. There were trains (oh yes, more trains for our weekend get away), a Princess and Knight that walked around and took pictures and interacted with the kids, pedal trains (which had to be the favorite of my little ones--8 times over and over again we did that ride) and of course carnival-type vendors. I could take or leave this amusement park but my kids had a great time there. It's too bad the ride to go home was so long because we had to cut our time at Dutch Wonderland a little short. Dylan had school the next day and we had to get the kids back home, in bed at bedtime so they would be able to function and actually wake up happy on Monday.

Swiper no Swiping

For those who know Dora the Explorer you know the saying "Swiper no swiping!". Miss Em is into everything these days. There's no keeping her still. She's very quiet as she sneaks upon things and swipes them away. You cannot take your eyes off of this little devil for two seconds because she puts everything she can get her hands on right into her mouth. I caught her Saturday night after dinner playing with Dylan's toys....I love the grin she gets when you say "Oh Emme what are you doing?". "Swiper no swiping!". She's just too cute.

Horse and Buggy

My daugher Brynnie is REALLY into horses lately. She fell asleep as soon as she got into the car when we left Strasburg. I made a quick B-line to Pottery Barn Kids Outlet to do a little shopping and when I got back into the car, Stephen and I thought that we should find a Horse and Buggy ride so Miss Brynn could do something she would enjoy doing. Dylan DID NOT want anything to do with going on a buggy ride but after we literally dragged him onto the buggy and the horse started trotting down the road, his tune changed. Brynn absolutely loved every second of this ride. We stopped at an Amish farm that had a little store (of course I bought Emily a bonnet) and the kids were able to see all kinds of animals and Dylan got a chance to pump water for the horses in the barn. Such a different, interesting life the Amish lead....makes me appreciate the finer things in life (like electricity!)

Strasburg Railroad

This has to be Dylan's most favorite place in the world! What could be more exciting for a train lover than a railway ride AND a train museum right across the street where you can actually see and touch antique trains! Brynn followed her big brother around the museum which was so adorable. She was as enthused about being at the train museum checking out all of the locomotives as Dylan was. Em sat patiently in the stroller looking around, taking everything in. It's a very interesting place, even for parents--I'd go back there again.

Lancaster '09

Stephen and I have been together for almost 13 years now. I still find that incredibly hard to believe, but it has been that long. I remember years ago we talked about going to Lancaster eventually for a vacation. I took a quick trip (if you can say 4 hours one way is a quick trip), when Dylan was 2 years old to Lancaster for a Day out with Thomas with my very close friend and her little boys. Since we have had such an extremely busy Summer, Stephen wasn't able to take any time off from work but finally was able to sneak away from the office for a couple of days so we said why not go to Lancaster for another Day Out with Thomas. So that's exactly what we did-- it was such a great weekend and the kids are still talking about how much fun they had.

Fall evening....

While dinner was in the oven last night, the kids and I played outside. It's hard to believe that summer is over. I had to find jackets and put SOCKS (can you imagine) on the kids so they were warm enough. We signed our little boy up for soccar this fall and I was practicing with him while Brynnie ran around and Emme sat and played in her exercauser. My baby girl is getting so big that she has almost outgrown this baby item too. She looked way to cute not to take a pic....

House for Rent

Here is our playhouse that Uncle Bob built for the kiddies at the beginning of the summer. Dylan and his buddy played in this house for hours over the holiday weekend. We keep joking that it's big enough to rent out and I have a funny feeling that Dylan will want to rent this house when he's a teenagers so he has a place to hide from mommy and daddy. He already put his picnic table inside and had us hang a train picture. I hope my kids realize how lucky they are to have something so cool in their backyard. I always wanted one when I was a kid but had to settle on using my imagination and playing in the corn field across the street with the neighborhood kids....ahhh to be young again!

First Day of School '09

Today was the first day of school for Dylan this year. We had a bit of a difficult morning but once he realized that he was going to see his friends that he hasn't seen all summer, his attitude changed a bit. I took the girls to daycare and drove Dylan to school. I was very impressed with how well the drop off went this year. There were no tears, no screaming fits and he wasn't clinging to me like he did last year. He simply walked in, took his backpack off, put all his belongings in his cubby and played with his friends. My little boy is growing up so fast. Here's some pics from this morning. I wonder how well pick up is going to be????

Benji and Jakes...

Nina's, the restaurant that we were so fond of, unfortunatley closed at the beginning of the summer. I was honestly devistated when I heard the news since that was the closest restaurant for take out, and the easiest place to take our kids out to dinner, especially since they are so little and you never know how they are going to behave right around dinner time.

Stephen and I checked out Benji and Jakes a couple of weeks ago and were waiting for a nice, warm night to take the kids there for pizza when we would be able to sit on the deck and enjoy the view. I have to say the pizza at this restaurant is excellent. The fact that the pizza is called "the T-Rex" made Dylan's night. It was enjoyable taking all 3 kids out to dinner and not having to worry about noise or behavior issues. The gelato was fabulous and the breeze off of the lake was nice. The kids now have a new request one night a week..."Let's go for T-Rex pizza!"

Emily is 8 months old!

How could I possibly forget to post a Happy 8 month b-day to my baby girl? Bad mommy!!! I thought that once Em got a little bigger life would be easier...couldn't be further from the truth. Emily is now 8 months old. She's 19 pounds, has 6 teeth and is finally starting to grow some hair. The little booger is crawling, says "ma ma" (LOVE IT) and adores playing and chasing Dylan and Brynn around. The kids are enjoying the fact that Em can actually sit and play now. Dylan was waiting for Emme to interact more with him and I was surprised how sweet he was with her on Saturday when my little swiper grabbed one of the trains right off of his track and his response was "oh baby you can't play with that". There was no screaming fits or tattling. I was impressed. Brynn loves crawling around chasing Em and playing ponies. We are having a little sharing issue with the girls but eventually Brynn will get the fact that baby toys are for babies and she's a BIG GIRL now.... Anyway here's a pic of my little beauty.