Derek's 5th Birthday

We had so much fun celebrating Derek's birthday tonight! He was so excited to see his cousins since they were in Washington for almost a month. Grandma got the grandkids Nerf style bows and arrows and we had fun using them to shoot at balloon targets to earn chocolate treats. Later in the evening, Mitchell and Austin had fun sending arrows zinging through the house at each other. Thankfully, the kids didn't get hit but they had a lot of fun retrieving arrows for the uncles. Derek chose a Lightning McQueen decorated rainbow cake for his birthday cake and Grandma came up with a really cool cake. Derek got lots of cool presents from everyone and he was pretty good about sharing (with a little bit of coaxing). A remote control F-14 Tomcat, a Lite Brite (didn't even know those still existed! Awesome!), a Deadly Nadder/Toothless/Monstrous Nightmare combo, How to Train Your Dragon the book, an automatic plastic gun, Avengers figures, and a cool jet airplane shirt! We were so happy to share this time with family and are so blessed to live so close. 

Katelyn quickly picked up on the bow and arrow

All the kids were really excited when Derek unwrapped the Avengers!

Derek loves airplanes, so the jet shirt was really exciting

Clara was so excited when Aunt Amy was swinging her around that she kicked her legs like a frog!

This kid loves dragons. Loves.

Remote control F-14

So excited when he realized it was remote control!

He loves Cars, too!

Happy 5th Birthday Derek!

FAMILY!

Nana, Bryce and Emeri

Waiting to light the candles and sing "Happy Birthday"

Whew!

Everyone eating rainbow cake!

Yum!

"Look, Mom! I'm big enough to wash my hands at the sink! Take me a picture!"

Uncle Austin fires off a round at Mitchell

Derek put his hockey mask on and joined the action with his automatic plastic gun

Mitchell had really good aim and landed several hits :)

Aunt Amy cuddled Andi, Liz and Austin's new Goldendoodle. She's so adorable!

Mitchell upgraded the hockey mask to a paintball mask for all the kids

I was a little afraid for my life (ok, my face) to get this shot!

"Now that we have masks, we can shoot each other in the face!" - Isaac. Well, that escalated quickly.

Ally was so good with Clara! None of Mitchell's family recognized her because she has grown up so much!

Unwrapping a Present

This kid has been five for three days and he still hasn't unwrapped a present because nobody has been home at the same time. So, I grabbed the opportunity tonight to let him unwrap one of our presents while Mitchell was home. He loves the massive Bewilderbeast (called The Alpha) from How to Train Your Dragon 2, and I couldn't find any toys of that dragon that looked cool....but I finally found one! I don't know who was more excited for him to open that present, me or him. As you can see from the picture, he was pretty thrilled when he saw "THE ALPHA!!!" Hehe, point for mom. Bryce thought it was pretty cool, too, and Derek is such a good sharer. He didn't mind letting Bryce play with the Alpha as long as they were playing together. Can't wait for him to see what he's opening on Saturday!

 "Mom, it's the ALPHA!!!"

He tried briefly to figure out the packaging before he impatiently handed it over to an adult, lol.

Derek's First Hockey Game

I rarely have to fight the urge to wake Derek up after he's gone to bed, but I got the coolest phone call late Sunday night from Nana and Aunt Val. They had scored tickets to the Dallas Star's hockey game and wanted to take Derek with them to celebrate his birthday. So cool! Nana told him this morning when she facetimed with us and Derek has been wearing his hockey pads and mask off and on today. He begged to wear his pads and mask to the game, so I packed them in a backpack for him to take with him. When Nana showed up at the door to pick up Derek for the game, he was all smiles and so excited to go. He gave me a hug and a kiss and not a thought more after he climbed in the car. :( My baby is growing up so fast! Nana and Aunt Val and Rob made a sign for Derek to hold while watching the hockey players warm up. It worked and Derek got a puck from Nana's favorite player, Trevor Daley. He skated over, dribbled the puck a little and then popped it over the glass divider for Nana to catch. Derek came home so excited to show me the puck "his number 9 guy" gave him. (He talked about "my guy" for several days after.) I'm so glad he had this wonderful opportunity. Thanks Nana and Aunt Val!

 Derek likes to be dramatic

 He likes to strike poses and say, "Take me a picture, Mom." I think he means, "take a picture of me."

He loves to wear this hockey mask Aunt Val and Rob got him for Christmas

Sitting in Nana's car about to head off on an adventure!

They got to the rink early enough to get front row seats for the warm up

Awesome sign! 

Thank you, Trevor Daley!

What a cool souvenir!

Happy 5th Birthday Derek

Derek is five. DEREK IS FIVE?!?! This last year has been full of milestones for you, sweetpea. You can count to 20, know your letters and their sounds, and you're quickly picking up on writing both upper and lowercase letters. You can write your name and you love to play the what-does-"something"-start-with game. 

Oh my dear, sweet boy. How are you already FIVE?! You have grown so much in the past year. You wear size 7 clothes now and you love everything dinosaurs, dragons, cars and trains. Your favorite movies are How to Train Your Dragon, The Polar Express and occasionally Kung Fu Panda. You like to play your monster truck and dinosaur games on my Ipad. You love to run and be active, especially when your cousins come to play. You are so incredibly kind-hearted. You are quick to share with others (at church, at home, in the store - wherever you see someone who needs help). You recently got so excited about helping a little girl at Kid to Kid figure out how to turn on a Finding Nemo toy. You constantly help Bryce with a toy, or help Clara out of her crib (sometimes that isn't the best thing, but you are so darn CUTE about it.) You are wonderful, Derek. You are such a special boy and I know you are going to grow up to be a GOOD man. I can't wait to see what you do this year, sweetheart. We love you so very much. You are our Derek and we can't imagine this family without you. Keep making good choices this year, sweetheart. You are a GOOD boy. 

Tractor Ride

The kids looooove the tractor Nana got them for Christmas! Derek has figured out how to pedal the tractor in a circle around the patio. Bryce has yet to figure out the pedals as well as Derek has, so he usually climbs into the trailer and lets Derek do all the work. :) The boys have a blast racing fast around the patio and yelling with delight.

Got a quick cheese from Derek before he tore off again

Chauffeur Derek does a good job driving Bryce around

 

*screeching brakes* Derek always makes the sound effects for the brakes.

Happy faces!

Goodbye Cook Children's

We loved Dr. Lizzy Varughese (VAR-geese)! We are sad to leave, but our new pediatrician is just down the road instead of all the way out in Lewisville. We are so grateful for the wonderful care we received from all the staff at Cook Children's. The nurses there almost always took Derek and Bryce to the nurses's station to color while Clara got her shots. We rotated them through so they didn't have to be distressed watching their siblings get shots. What seriously awesome people. We wish them all the very best!

Thank you Dr. Varughese!

Family Pictures!

The lovely and talented Kim Rose from our ward was kind enough to take our family photos today. I am so excited! We haven't taken professional pictures since Derek was about a year old. The kids weren't very cooperative, but I was so grateful for her commitment to getting good shots. It was so fun to pick coordinating outfits and have a reason to buy new shoes! I love how they turned out, too.

 We are a happy fam-i-ly!

 We see this cute little tongue a lot! Clara still doesn't have even a hint of teeth.

 Another cute family pose

 Love this one

 Six and a half years, and still going strong!

Mitchell and Derek - Derek loves to watch Mitchell play/paint Warhammer and  he especially loves to "play" video games with Mitchell. It's sweet to see him so excited when Daddy comes home.

 Mitchell and Bryce - this kid is a Daddy's boy through and through. He loves to wrestle with Mitchell and usually can be heard yelling, "Daddy!" and running from wherever he is in the house the minute Mitchell walks in the door.

 Mitchell and Clara - she loves her Daddy. He flips her upside down and tickles her neck to hear her sweet giggles. Her first babbles have been "da-da-da."

 When did my boy get so big?!

 My second-favorite shot! My very favorite is the picture behind the blog title. :)

 Look at these cuties!

 Oh, how I love being Mommy to these three wonderful blessings!

 Curly hair never looked so cute

My sweet Derek - he is my right-hand at home. He's always ready and wiling to help with anything and he loves to play with his siblings. I love my Derek!

 My Brycie Bryce! He loves to read and read and read. He loves to cuddle with me on the couch while he cuddles a stuffed animal. He and Derek have a blast running and chasing and playing together.

 The best surprise of my life. We are so glad to have this sweet little girl in our family. She loves to hold my hand and walk around the house in circle after circle. Clara is a pretty picky eater and prefers a peanut butter sandwich to anything else. She also loves to play with and chew on her baby dolls.