Star Wars Meet and Greet

So some of you already know that both my kids are OBSESSED with Star Wars. It is scary how much Kenley can tell you about all the characters and plots, and Parker also knows most of the characters in our much-loved family Star Wars Encyclopedia. Of course the blame for this lies with my sweet, geeky husband, but I have to admit I am starting to find it all quite adorable.

So my mom e-mailed me this article about a Star Wars night they were having for a fundraiser for this little 1-year-old with a terminal illness. So of course we had to go. I temporarily forgot that both my kids are pretty reserved, and easily frightened by things like that. They had all the characters in a group and you could get your picture taken with them. Kenley was too scared to even go up to the group of characters, and Parker was tentatively okay for a moment before breaking down into sobs (he told me later he was scared of the Darth Vader). Only Claire was not at all frightened, and had her picture taken with a giant Chewbacca.

But of course, depite their fears and tears, both kids LOVED getting to see all the characters and did get some pictures with characters who were just walking around the park. After the pictures, they showed the original first Star Wars movie on the outdoor screen, and that was lots of fun.

On a more sober note, they did a little slide show of this darling little girl who the fundraiser was for, and it made me just cry and cry. I am really overwhelmed with my kids right now, but I made a goal to be more appreciative and grateful that I have three healthy, beautiful children.

First trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Last week we headed over to the pumpkin patch. As I dressed my kids in their cute Halloween shirts, I gave myself a huge lecture about not having any expectations about getting a cute picture of all three of them together. But of course I did anyway and got frustrated when Parker was a total grump. But now that I'm out of the moment, I quite love this picture BECAUSE of his cute little grump face!

Sweet Little Claire

Just a quick little update on our little Claire. She continues to be a delight to our family. She started smiling a few weeks ago, and she always has plenty of them to give. Unless, of course, I am holding a camera.

Each month I take a picture of my kids next to their stuffed animal we made them at Build-a-Bear. Here are Claire's pictures at one month and last week at two months. Seriously, EVERY time I see anyone they talk about how she's filling out. She's getting to be a chunk!



Sleeping has turned into a challenge. During out week at the beach house, Claire would wake up anytime she was put down during a nap. We sort of chalked it up to being somewhere unfamiliar, and there were so many people willing to hold her, that she pretty much got held while she slept for a week straight. So now I'm attempting to undo that lovely habit. It's hard, especially with Kenley and Parker running around all the time. I have shed many tears of frustration in the last few weeks. But, to end on a good note, the other day Kenley and Parker wandered out of their bedroom each holding a swaddled baby. They're experts in baby care already!

Meet the Hamptons - Ghostified

I was having Kenley make some Halloween decorations, and she decided to create this ghost family. Look familiar? It's James, me, Kenley, Parker, and Claire. She drew these little faces and cut them out all by herself!

The Beach House!

This year for our family vacation with Dad and Joanie, we decided to stay close to home. When planning, we knew we'd have a brand new baby, and plus the workers in the family couldn't get a lot of time off. So Joanie found an adorable beach house in Oceanside that was right on the beach and over 100 years old! We had a great time together.

Are you wondering what Cartwrights and Hamptons do when they vacation? First, lots of eating. We ate appetizers as we watched the sun set, enjoyed delicious dinners every night courtesy of Joanie, and toasted s'mores by the fire for dessert.



Second, lots of running. Running is serious business for our family, and every morning found several members of the family lacing up running shoes and taking off down the beach. Sorry, no pictures of that. Just not pretty.

Third, lots of laughing, mostly at each other (mockery is a favorite pasttime).


Fourth, lots of hours logged at the beach.



And fifth, LOTS and LOTS of sleeping.


This next picture is on the last day of our trip. I was supposed to be packing, but took a few minutes (maybe hours) to take a little nap snuggled up next to Claire. When I woke up, this was the view from our room. It was so peaceful and relaxing, I had to snap a picture.



And more picture overload!









Other than the fact that Claire was a little on the gumpy side all week, it was a wonderful and relaxing getaway. And yes, turns out October is an excellent time of year for a beach vacation! Gorgeous, sunny weather all week long, and hardly any tourists on the beach! Thank you Dad and Joanie, for an amazing week! The kids LOVED it, despite Kenley announcing on our last night that she "couldn't wait to FINALLY be free of this place!" We loved getting to spend so much time together!

Happy Halloween from the Hamptons!

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Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Girl!

In all the flurry of birthday party pictures, I didn't make time for my yearly post about Kenley. I try not to brag about her too much, but this is my blog and my kid's birthday post, so if I want to talk all about how amazing she is, I just will. :) So here's a little glimpse into Kenley at age 4...

Kenley LOVES to be with other people. If she had her way, every day would include having a friend over to our house, going to a friend's house, going out to eat, and hanging out with her grandmas and grandpas. Luckily, that's pretty much my idea of a good day as well, so she's got a happy life. She loves her friends up here in our area, and also occasionally gets very sad about her "faraway friends" Carli, Lila, Kaitlyn, Madeline, Connor, and Annika.

She remains very.... um, verbal. She talks incessantly, and has the vocabulary of an adult. She loves watching TV, which is where I think she picks up all the funny phrases she uses. Just in the past few days, she's told me, "My daddy makes the best cakes in town!" and "I know that Grandma can count on me!" and "I can't wait to finally be free of this place!" She's quite the conversationalist, and likes to ask James and I, "So, how was your day?" and listen intently to our response. Somehow she is able to both eavesdrop on EVERY word I say while not actually hearing anything and making me repeat any story I tell. One of her most-used phrases is, "Tell that story to me!" But for sure her #1 phrase, which I probably hear 3789 times a day is, "I need tell you sumping!"

Kenley is obsessed with Taylor Swift. I made her a CD of Taylor Swift songs for her birthday, and she loves to belt them out in the car. She even likes to pretend that she IS Taylor, and I get to be Taylor's mommy. Only girls with blonde hair (in other words, her) get to sing Taylor Swift songs in the car.

She's not so into letters or numbers, but is amazing at cutting. Honestly. I have spent many, many hours in Kindergarten classrooms, and Kenley puts most Kindergarteners to shame.

She is so sweet and loving to everyone in our family. She and Parker are inseparable, and absolutely best friends. She would rather pick up all of Parker's toys for him than see him get in trouble for refusing to pick up his own mess. She adores Claire and loves to coo over her "precious tootsies" and tell me that Claire is a "darling child."

I wish I could put into words how sweet this girl is. Seriously, she is so GOOD it just makes me want to cry. 99% of the time, she is obedient, considerate, kind, and polite. She always seems to know when I need a little boost, and likes to tell me that I am the "BEST Mommy ever." She is a willing helper, and the best example for her brother and sister that I could ever ask for. I will never know how I got so lucky.

Superhero

First, I have been on a posting rampage tonight, so don't stop here. Just keep on goin'!

But the real point of the post... My mom is the absolute best. Tonight I had class and James had to work, so my mom was going to watch the kids. This morning I put her on alert because the kids were puking, cranky, and horrible. But by this afternoon they were all asleep and happy, so I figured the worst had passed us by. My mom said she'd come up to our house, so I went ahead to class.

Little did I know what I was leaving behind. Kenley threw up all over herself while Claire was screaming her little head off. Parker and Claire both had blow-out poopy diapers. Claire started screaming every time my mom put her down, and she never got to eat dinner. All in all, I think the night was less than enjoyable.

And after all that, not only did my mom actually WANT to kiss those children good-night before she left, but you know what she offered? To help me clean up before she left, and that I should come down to her house tomorrow with the kids if they are sick again. Could you think of anything better than that?

I don't think I could raise these kids without my mom. I really, really don't. Thanks, Mamacita, for all that you do to help me stay sane. I don't think I could ever possibly tell you how much it means to me. I love you!!!

Kenley's Birthday, Part 4 and DONE!

If you've frequented my blog for long, you know that we celebrate every holiday in a big way around here. But I promise this is the last of my posts about Kenley's birthday festivities.

For her party this year we did a "Pirates and Princesses" theme. We had all the guests dress up, and we did fancy/crazy hair and face painting. Because of the new babe, I didn't stress myself out with games or anything, and just let the kids play. I think they had a pretty good time - they all sure looked cute!

This is the cake we made.... Of course I envisioned it way prettier in my head, but I think it turned out pretty good. I am most proud of the fact that we did about 90% of this cake while the rugrats were awake and underfoot. Kenley was soooo excited about this cake, and kept fashioning extra things out of fondant and sticking them on the cake. One of the cons of using a medium that is pretty much exactly like play-dough. She was especially excited about the doorknob and doorbell, so I let them stay. I figured a cake that looked perfect in her mind was more important than a cake that looked perfect in mine. Well, almost. I did draw the line at a giant crooked chimney. It unfortunately had to go to make room for the princesses.



Here is Kenley the fancy princess, and her friend, a crazy pirate...



And more assorted party guests...

Kenley's birthday, Part 3

For our family party, we celebrated at my dad and Joanie's house with my mom and Kirk and the whole crew. Joanie did a wonderful Barbie party for Kenley, complete with playing "beauty style."





Beauty Style...

Kenley's Birthday, Part 2

The weekend of Kenley's birthday we decided to be a little crazy.

Friday we went to the beach (Crazy I)



Then stayed at this hotel with all three kids (Crazy II)


James has a friend who is the chef at the hotel, and he sent up this plate of cookies and milk for Kenley's birthday (HATE when pictures inexplicably load sideways).


The next morning we went on a walk, the kids chased birds, and we went down to see the stinky seals


Then went to Sea World the next day (Crazy III)


Of course we were all SUPER tired after such a crazy weekend


And this was my reward...