Daniel is 5!

Daniel is 5!!! I can't believe my baby is 5- it just doesn't seem like he can be that big yet!

His birthday interview:

Favorite color: Red and blue
Favorite toy: teddy
Favorite food: peanut butter and honey sandwiches
Favorite fruit: mango
Favorite vegetable: spinach
Favorite animal: bears
Favorite song: Kiss the Girl (little mermaid)
Favorite book: Winnie the pooh
Favorite movie: Toy Story
Favorite thing to do outside: ride bikes with Liam
Favorite holiday: Halloween
who is your best friend: teddy/ Kyliah
Favorite place to go: Barrett's house
Favorite treat: ice cream
what do you want to be when you grow up?: bridge builder

- One of Daniel's biggest accomplishments this past year was getting potty trained! It was a happy day when we could stop buying diapers and pull ups for him. He only wears one at night.

- Daniel also finished preschool this past year. He did so well in school. He started in a traditional preschool and was doing well but was put in a special speech program. He was in a small class that focused on speech but he also practiced writing and counting and his letters. He loves school!

- Daniel has gotten tall in the last couple months but he is still so much smaller than other kids his age. This doesn't seem to bother him though. He is definitely the class clown. He likes to make people laugh and to get a reaction out of people. This has caused some problems because he thinks everything is funny. We've got to work on empathy a little bit.

- Daniel loves to play outside and after living in Vegas for just a few months he has gotten right back into hiking mode. He is a very confident climber which scares me to death sometimes. He also loves riding his bike and of course digging in the dirt.

- He knows all of his letters and can count up to 50. He can also write his name. He has started being able to read some books that he has memorized but he's so proud of himself because he can say all the words.  He still loves books and reads all the time. He is so ready to go to kindergarten. He loves mommy and daddy and is always checking that we will all miss him when he goes to school but then he'll tell us that he can't wait to meet his new friends!

- Lately Teddy has become his best friend. He talks to teddy all the time which is adorable to listen to the conversations they have together.

- Dan thrives on routine and doesn't handle spontaneous change well. He can be emotional sometimes and sometimes needs time to himself to calm down but lately one of his fears is being alone so it can't be for very long because once he calms down he doesn't want to be alone. He does great though if he knows whats coming!

- Dan is the class clown. He loves to laugh and to make other people laugh. The problem is he thinks everything is funny and laughing is sometimes how he deals with uncomfortable situations which some people don't always like to we're working on when laughing is ok and when it isn't.

- This kid also must have gotten a traveling gene because he is always asking when we are going on another trip. He loves going out and doing new things.

-Dan has also gotten more adventurous with eating and with cooking. He likes trying new things and is a good helper in the kitchen; he's also pretty good at it.

Dan was super excited the morning of his birthday! He couldn't wait to go to the store to get donuts for breakfast and to get a balloon. Liam had gotten a balloon for his birthday and for the 3 days between their birthdays Dan did nothing but ask when he would get one. I'm pretty sure he would've been fine if we had just gotten him a balloon.

He wanted a sleepover with teddy on the floor

We spent the morning at the park and then Mike came home for lunch and took Dan out for lunch. They went and got pizza at Costco. That evening we had Stacey and Doug come over and we had cookie cake and ice cream. I did a Winnie the pooh theme because this kid loves Winnie the Pooh!

Happy Birthday Dan the man. You drive us crazy sometimes but we wouldn't trade you for anything and you make us laugh a lot. You also remind me not to take life to seriously and that life really is simple. Thank you for reminding us to appreciate the little things- like a balloon.  You have such a tender heart and a sweet spirit. I hope you are always kind and want to help everybody- never underestimate the power of being kind :) We love you Daniel!

Liam is 3!

I can't believe my baby is already 3! He reminds me daily that he is not a baby anymore :( This little guy brings so much joy and attitude to our family. He makes us laugh all the time but can also drive us a little crazy but our family wouldn't be the same without him.

- Liam is our talker. He repeats anything he hears and since he can talk so well he is always ready to tell anyone exactly what is on his mind. One of his most common phrases is "I am almost calm". He says this when he's upset. If we try to ask him if he's ready to go do whatever it was we were trying to do he will respond with "I'm almost calm".

- Thanks to nursery Liam has become quite the music lover and loves to sing. Every night before bed we sing. His most frequent requests are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Popcorn Popping, I'm trying to be Like Jesus, Snowman song and the Winnie the Pooh song. He even sings along which is the most adorable thing ever. He also requests music in the car. His favorites are anything from the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, lion king and Alvin and the chipmunks. He sings along to most of these songs too.

- Liams favorite Disney songs by name: Sha lalalala kiss the girl (Kiss the girl-little mermaid), scar song(Be Prepared), I Just Can't Wait to Be King, Belle song

- Liam loves to play outside just like his brother. He loves the park and is fearless when it comes to slides (he often just flings himself down head first even if he can't see the bottom) and going down hills on his race car. He loves to dig in the dirt and loves to play every sport he can but hockey and t-ball are his favorites. Now we just need to get him used to hiking again.

- He has become quite the night owl lately. He is usually awake until 10 but he stays in his room and talks to his puppy. He does this even if he didn't have a nap that day so maybe he just feels like he's missing a party at bedtime.

- He is super friendly to everyone and will go up to anyone and start playing with them. He says hi to everyone in the store and loves to give anyone a big smile.

- Liam likes to help me cook in the kitchen, he helps clean (as long as it isn't his toys), he loves trucks as much as his brother and he also loves building things with legos. Most of the time he builds trucks or airplanes.

- Liam can be a very sweet boy but when he is mad you will know and is becoming quite the manipulator. The terrible 3's are upon us so some days are great but some are very difficult with a stubborn little boy who knows what he wants and has a very short fuse. His hugs and snuggles and little "I love you's" during the day for no reason at all and his laugh usually make up for it and I'm pretty sure he knows it.

- He loves Toy Story and plays with his action figures a lot! He also loves building with blocks and legos.

Birthday interview

Favorite color: Blue and orange
Favorite toy: trucks and Buzz
Favorite food: cheese slices
Favorite animal: puppies
Favorite song: twinkle little star
Favorite book: Daniel Tiger (he always loves his most recent library pick)
Favorite movie: Lion King
Favorite thing to do outside: ride my race car
Favorite holiday: birthdays
who is your best friend: Daniel
Favorite place to go: church
what do you want to be when you grow up?: bridge builder

Our Birthday

We had a lot of fun celebrating over birthday weekend. We went hiking, bowling, shopping, baked cookies and did lots of other fun things. It was super relaxing and we had perfect weather. It was barely 70 degrees all weekend and sunny so it was perfect.

I wanted to go hiking for my birthday so mike found a hike near red rock. It was a pretty hike and easy enough for the boys. Liam made it about a half mile and then got in the backpack. Daniel was crazy- he'd be pretty good at bouldering. It was a beautiful hike! The end of the hike was the highlight for the boys. They got to feed some horses near the trail which they thought was so cool.

After the hike the boys and I made oatmeal cookies because dan wanted to take them to neighbors.

On our birthday we had a nice day. We had a Toy Story party for Liam because he loves Buzz. It was simple but he thought it was cool.

We filled the living room with balloons which he loved! Then we had cinnamon roll pull apart rolls for breakfast. It was so yummy!!

After breakfast we went to the mall and I went shopping and the boys played on the playground.

We ended our morning of celebrating by going bowling at red rock. The boys had never been and had the best time. I'm not a great bowler but I did beat Liam. It was so cute watching how excited Liam would get when the pins would fall over and Daniel got lots of spares which he thought was cool. I did get a strike on my first throw of the game but it was all downhill from there. Liam even suggested I use the ramp- which I did.

We ended the day by face timing grandparents while we opened presents and had dinner and dessert. We made Liam chocolate chip pancakes since Liam loves anything breakfast. We made him a Toy Story cake and he loved it.

He got lots of cool presents and it was very toy story themed but he also got a new bike which he was super excited about! He has already watched Toy Story 3 (I'm writing this the day after his birthday) and wanted to sleep with his new action figures.

I got some cool presents too but Mike's hasn't gotten here yet but he did watch the boys while I went shopping which was awesome! I also got the rest of the Aladdin trilogy from my mom and dad :)

so yummy!

Liam was so excited about his cake that he had trouble going to sleep the night before because he wanted to see it. I hope he was happy- he certainly seemed happy. He ate that cake so fast! We made 3 small cakes so one of them was mine. Since Liam's was toy story themed- Mike put Ariel and Jasmine on my cake since they are two of my favorite Disney princesses.

We ended the night with the kids by watching toy story 3 with 2 additional guests ;)

After the kids went to bed, Mike and I ate dinner, watched Harry Potter and had yummy cheesecake! It was a wonderful birthday. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Here's to 29 and 3 being a great year for me and my birthday buddy!