Happy 9th Birthday Allison

The last year in single digits, I cannot believe it. You were our first and there were days that I thought you would never grow up. There were days that I thought you would never be independent. There were days I thought the fits would never stop. There were days that I thought I can't take crying anymore. Those days, those thoughts are now gone. Now I think how is it that she barely needs me anymore, how is it that she wants to go play with her friends all the time, how is it that the last 9 years have gone by this fast. You went from being my tiny little baby girl who needed me for everything, to a beautiful young girl who is starting the pulling away process. I just hope that I am ready to let go!

You are in 3rd grade this year and have Susan Lestinsky as your teacher again. You had her last year too and you absolutely love her! I worked with her before you were born and am so glad that she is your teacher. She has been great for you in many ways, she stretches you academically and has also helped you become your own person. Last year you went from being Allison to Allie, because Susan gave you the option of what you wanted to be called and you chose Allie. We had always called you Allison, but you are now Allie in almost every situation. You still love school, though you also love being home in the summer with no schedule. Some of your favorite subjects right now are art, music and science. We have also found this past year that you love reading mysteries, you are spending about an hour everyday reading right now. You are a great student and you strive for perfection in school work. As much as this is a great thing it is also a hard thing at times too. You get upset if you miss more than a few problems on a page. The tears flow and the frustration comes. I have tried in every way I know how to help you through this. You know that you aren't perfect and that no one expects you to be, but there is still that part of you that is not okay with anything less than perfection. One of reasons you love to be at school is because of your friends. All of your best friends are in your class right now, Abby C., Rebecca M., Hailey S. and a few others. You are one of those kids who has a few really good friends and that is who you spend your time with.

You have been involved in a lot of different things this past year. In the Spring you played MSA soccer and got on a great team. You have now moved with this team and are playing soccer for the Echo Academy. This experience has been great for you in that you knew none of the girls on your team and have now become friends with all of them. It has also taken you up to the next level in soccer. As always you rise to the occasion and have done great, even though you still get so nervous before your games. You also started piano lessons in January this year. You have sort of a love/hate relationship with piano. Once you know a song and can play it well you love it, but when you are learning something new and difficult you hate it. You also did ice skating, swimming lessons and girl scouts this year. This summer you went to Springhill Camp for the first time and are begging to go back. You spent 5 nights away from us, but you had your BFF, Abby, with you so all was good. You also learned how to water ski this summer. It took us quite a few tries, but you were determined and finally got up. You still dream of being a rock star or singer and you still hope to be like Miley Cyrus (we are actually going to see her in concert in November). You and I also started the talk this year about body changes and low and behold this summer I started noticing some of those changes in you, I sure hope I am ready for this :) As I look back over this past year I realize that you are no longer a little girl, you are now a beautiful young lady.

This year you have become more independent than ever, I am already starting to feel like our relationship is changing and I don't like it (but I know it is necessary). You have your own thoughts and opinions and once you have your mind made up about things you don't budge, but you also don't like to disappoint or hurt others. You are still very sensitive about things and can be in tears because someone talked to you in a certain tone or looked at you in the wrong way. You also need and want things to be fair, it frustrates you to no end when things aren't fair (we have tried to tell you that life isn't fair, but you don't want to believe us). As much as you love to be with friends and other people (I think you would be at a sleep over every night of the week if I let you) you also love to have our family together. You love and look forward to our family nights and don't like it when our family isn't all home at night. You also love to spend time with your Papa, he holds a special place in your heart. One of the things I love the most about you Allie is how big your heart is and how well you love others.

I know that when God created you that he had a plan and purpose for your life sweetheart and I cannot wait to see what it all entails. God has given you a heart that loves well and deeply and because of this I can totally see you in some sort of helping profession someday. All I know Allie is that no matter what you do or where life takes you that your dad and I will always be your biggest fans. We will always love you no matter what, I tell you all the time now and it is true, there is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you. My prayer for you sweetie is that you love God with all you have. That you trust in Him and follow Him no matter what. Always remember that He will never leave you or forsake you and that He loves you more than you know. You have asked Jesus into your heart and you love to hear stories about Him, I pray that never changes. I am so lucky that God has allowed me to be your mom. I love you Allison Lynn more than you know, I cannot imagine my life without you!

All my love,

Mom

Happy 5th Birthday Tyler

Tyler Ryan,

I cannot believe that you are 5 years old today, seriously where have these last 5 years gone. I can still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I remember seeing you for the first time, I remember being so scared when they couldn't get a good cry out of you and decided you needed to go to the NICU for awhile. I still remember seeing you in the NICU and thinking boy he is huge compared to the rest of the little ones in here. I still remember crying like crazy when we walked out of the hospital without you, you had to stay one extra night because of your collapsed lung at birth and now here we are 5 years later. I was so scared when I found out I was having a boy, because all I knew was girls, and I didn't think I would know what to do with you. Little did I know that you would hold such a special place in my heart.

Nana always used to tell me that there is just something special about little boys and their mom's and I never understood it till you came into my life and I saw the sweet natured boy that God created you to be. I never imagined my boy would be so sweet and loving, but that is you through and through. You used to be all about your mom, and even though that has changed recently you still tell me several times a day that you love me. You will just be sitting on my or your dad's lap and just out of the blue tell us you love us. You tell your sisters all the time how pretty they are or how cute they look. Anytime you see Jacob for the first time in awhile you walk up to him and just throw your arms around him. I love how affectionate you are and I hope that never changes.

This year has been a big year for you buddy. You have continued to grow like crazy and weigh has much as Rachel right now. You are our solid little dude! You can take Rachel down with no effort and with a little effort and you can also take Allison, which still amazes me. You love to rough house with us. You love it when the whole family wrestles together, you love to chase your dad around the house and try to tackle him and then we all end up in a dog pile in the middle of the family room. This year you started playing soccer, you played MSA in the spring and are playing Upwards now. When you started in the spring you would cry every time you had to go out on the field, but you very quickly become confident of yourself and by the end of the season your were our scoring machine. You took ice skating lessons last winter and can now skate on your own. This summer you did swimming lessons and we joined the pool again and by the end of the summer you were swimming totally on your own. You also learned how to do front flips off the diving board all on your own, your sisters have yet to accomplish that. During last school year you learned how to write your first and last name, I couldn't be prouder. You just started Pre-K at Mary Frank this year, you go to school every morning and absolutely love it. You love that you get to go to school everyday like your sisters. Another huge thing that happened for you this past year is that you no longer are in need of speech services, yahoo!!!!

You still love Ninja Turtles and love playing with your cars and trucks. I have found you several times recently in your room by yourself just playing with your cars. You also love to play on the computer and like your sisters have become addicted to Webkinz. You are completely self sufficient on the computer, you can log yourself in and actually at times show your sisters how to do different things. You still love to be with your best friends, Jacob C. and Carter R. You also love to play with Morgan R. and if I had to guess I think you may have a crush on her :) You love the times when you get to play with them. You have also made good friends at school and have started asking recently for play dates. Last school year you asked me for a play date with a girl and even told me that you would only go to her house for a little bit, my answer then and forever will be NO!!!! You get a little frustrated when your sisters are at friends and you are stuck at home :)

Tyler Ryan I cannot explain to you how much I love you, but one thing I can tell you is that God loves you even more than I do. I know that God has given you the loving, caring spirit you have for a reason. I know that God has a great plan for your life and I cannot wait to see what it is. Tyler, my prayer for you is that you will love God and others with everything you have. I pray that no matter what life brings that you will run after God with reckless abandon. Know that your dad and I will always be behind you and that no matter what choices and decisions you make in life that our love for you will never change. I am such a lucky mom to have your for a little boy and I thank God for that everyday.

Happy 5th Birthday sweetheart! I love you with all I am!!

Love,

Mom

Happy 8th Birthday Allison

Allison Lynn,

8 years old, hard to believe. 8 years ago your dad and I became parents, 8 years ago life as we knew it ended (life was no longer just about us), 8 years ago a little girl came into our lives and stole our hearts and that little girl is you. You came into this world at 5 lb 6oz and now you are 60 plus pounds. It is hard for me to believe that you are 8 already. I am becoming more aware everyday that my time with you is limited, which I have to admit scares the crap out of me.

You are in 2nd grade this year at Mary Frank Elementary School. Your teacher is Susan Lestinsky (I actually worked with her when I was a counselor at Moran). You also have a student teacher right now, Miss Dean, who we figured out about 3 weeks ago is living right next door to us. You were so excited to find this out. You love school and have made some really good friends. Your best friend is still Abby Callender, but you also love to hang out with Rebecca, Halie S., Haylee H and a few others. Your favorite subjects are art, music, gym and spelling/reading. You don't care too much for math and tend to get frustrated pretty easily when doing your math homework. You still don't like to get things wrong and will end up in tears because of it. Overall though you are a great student.

You are playing Positive Faith Soccer right now and also just joined girl scouts. You have become quite the little soccer player this year and are having a great time. You and Rachel and Abby are on the same team this year and that has been fun to watch. You had, I think, one of your first moments this week where you felt what it was like to get frustrated and because of this you put the ball into the net with authority. Last winter you took ice skating lessons and this summer did swimming lessons along with volleyball camp. You saw the Atlantic Ocean this year for the first time. We took a vacation to Myrtle Beach with the Callender and Ruth Families. You also went camping for the first time this year with Abby and Jacob. You love Hannah Montana right now and can sing everyone of her songs word for word. You still love to sing and will just break out in song no matter where you are at. You have your first solo in the 2nd grade musical in a couple of weeks and you couldn't be more excited.

Allison, these past 8 years have been so much fun watching you grow into the young lady that you are right now. You have gone from this little baby who needed her mom and dad to do everything to this big girl who needs us for very little any more. Though many things about you are changing you are still my sweet little girl who loves with her whole heart. You have such a big heart and are normally one of the first ones to help when help is needed. You don't like to see other people hurt and will do what you can to make things right. It breaks your heart when other people are mad at you or disappointed in you. You tend to be my rule follower and because of this you tend to be a leader. You have so many great qualities and I cannot wait to see how God uses those qualities to help you become the woman of God he created you to be.

Allison you love God right now with all your heart and are eager to learn more about him. More often than not you would rather have your dad tell you a story out of the bible rather than read you a bedtime story. You are eager to learn more about Him right now and my prayer for you is that this is the case for the rest of your life. I know that God has great things planned for your life and I cannot believe that He has let me have a front row seat. Allison I pray that you stay true to yourself and that you follow after God with all your heart and soul. Never forget that He is your best friend and that He will never leave you. Know that your dad and I love with you with all we have. We are so proud of you and cannot wait to see what the next 8 years brings.

I love you sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Happy 4th Birthday Tyler

Tyler,

Today you turned 4. I cannot believe that 4 years have gone by this fast. It just seems like we brought you home from the hospital. You are my big little boy. It won't be long and you will pass your big sister, Rachel, up in weight. I can remember telling your sister's when you were little that they better be nice because the day would come when you would be as big as them and that day is quickly approaching. You are our big boy. As Aunt Becky says, you are going to be our linebacker. Though you are our big tough boy you are also as sweet as they come, which is one of the things I love the most about you Ty.

Tyler Ryan, you are all boy. You are rough and tumble and every time we turn around you are hitting your head on this or that or falling down and scrapping your legs or arms. In the past year you have had stitches by your left eyebrow and also had a gash by your right eyebrow glued by the doctor. Your dad and I always say that you will be the first kid we take to the ER. You are constantly pushing the limits when it comes to doing things that might end up hurting you. I have learned to just turn my head and not watch, otherwise I might have to keep you locked in your room...ha! As much as I love how much "boy" you are, I also love how sweet you are. You tell me at least 3 times a day that you love me. You are always giving hugs and kisses or just wanting to be snuggled by me or your dad. You are helpful in so many ways. You never let me carry groceries into the house by myself, you help me carry laundry all the time and you are the first to want to help do just about anything. You miss your sisters when they are gone all day at school and are the first to greet them when they get off the bus. You are also the first to tell me or your sisters that you like what we are wearing or that we are pretty. Like I said I don't think you could be any sweeter.

This year you have accomplished many things. While we were in Myrtle Beach for vacation you learned the beginning stages of swimming. You learned how to go under water by yourself and by the end of the vacation you were without floaties trying to swim under water. By the end of the summer you were swimming under water. You took swimming lessons at Penn this year with your sisters and spent lots of time at the lake and pool swimming too. You also rode on the tube behind the boat for the first time this summer. You have also taken soccer lessons this year. This year you are going to preschool 3 days a week at Mary Frank Preschool. You have learned how to spell and recognize your name in print and to write the letter "T" this year. You have also made huge progress this year with your speech. You are still getting speech therapy but you are almost all caught up. You are so proud of yourself when you say something that is hard for you. Right now you love to play and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Phineas and Ferb. You just told me the other day that you wanted to get rid of your Diego bike and get a Phineas and Ferb one. You also still play with your cars and trains, and love to draw and color. It has been fun to watch you learn to draw people this year too.

Tyler I am so proud of the little boy that you have become so far. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. I know God has great plans for your life. My prayer for you little boy is that you will continue to love people like you do now. I pray that you will always be as sweet, loving, helpful and caring as you are. Always remember that God is your best friend, that He will never leave you or forsake you. I pray that you seek God's will for your life and that you run after that with all that you have. Know that your dad and I will always love you, no matter what. We will always be your biggest fans. We also promise, to the best of our ability, to raise you to be the man God's wants you to be. No matter where life takes you or what you become you will always be my sweet little boy.

I love you Tyler Ryan with all I have in me!

Love,

Mom

Happy 6th Birthday Rachel

Okay so I know this post is almost a month late, but hey that is what happens when you are on vacation during a Birthday :) So I guess it is better late than never!

Rachel,

6 years old, I cannot believe it! I can remember walking around the house with you when you were just baby thinking I have to have another one of these, she is just too cute and sweet. You were a such a sweet baby and you have grown into a sweet little girl. These last 6 years have flown by and I am so proud of all you have accomplished this year.

You just finished Kindergarten at Mary Frank Elementary this year. You were so excited to go and could not wait to ride the bus with your sister. You were in Kindergarten half day Monday through Friday and then also attended Kinderclub the other half of the day, 3 days a week. You had Mrs. Krieger as your teacher for Kindergarten and a slew of other teachers for Kinderclub. As much as you loved being gone all day and riding the bus to and home from school, you also loved the 2 days a week where I picked you up at 10:20 and we spent the rest of the day together. You made all sorts of new friends this year, though I think you played mostly with Lydia Bradford. She also rode the bus with you and lives in the neighborhood behind us. Though you played alot with her you would also come home and tell me about all your other friends. You are just one of those kids who makes friends easily and is friends with everyone, though I would still say that your best friends are Jacob and Abby.

This year you learned how to tie shoes, read, count to 110 by ones, fives and tens. You also learned about money and what each coin was worth. You became a great swimmer, learned how to ice skate completely on your own and also learned how to ride a two wheel bike (this was a tad after you Birthday). This year you participated in gymnastics, ice skating, soccer and poms camp at Penn last summer. I think one of the biggest things you learned this year was how to navigate friendships. We had many conversations during the school year about this or that person being mean to you and why they would do that and what you should do about it. You were always so perplexed by the fact that someone would be mean to you one day and then be nice to you the next. You also had to deal with the fact that Allison and Abby moved from the Penguin room at church into the Jungle room and you did not get to go with them. Your feelings were hurt and you were upset but you moved on pretty quickly.

Rachel one of the things that I love about you is your personality. You are so full of life and love and laughter. I cannot tell you how many times your dad and I have just looked at each other and started laughing about things you have done or said. You come up with the silliest, craziest things sometimes. For you there is no hiding your feelings, you can tell just by looking at you how you feel and I love that. You still love to snuggle with your dad and I and anytime we are sitting down to watch TV you are right beside us wanting to be on are laps. You love our family nights on Friday when we hang out and watch movies, you never let us forget that it is "family night". You are my petite, cute, cuddly, smart, silly, full of life little girl. There is not a day that goes by that you don't make me think of your Nana, you are her in a nutshell!

I cannot wait to see what the future hold for you Rachel Lauren. I know that God is going to do great things in your life. I pray all the time that you will follow after Him hard and that you will seek His will for your life everyday. Know that your dad and I will always be here for you, no matter what happens in your life. Our love for you will never change. I cannot wait to see the beautiful woman you turn into, but between now and then I am going to enjoy every minute I have with you as my "little girl".

I love you Rachel!

Love,

Mom