Theo is 5!

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Theo,

I have been thinking about what to say in this letter to you for weeks. Your 5th birthday has been on my mind since right after Christmas. Not because I didn’t know what to buy you or where to have your party, but because I can’t believe my first baby boy is turning FIVE. It’s now been five whole years since your Daddy and I went to the hospital in anticipation of your arrival. What would your face look like? Would you have lots of hair? We were filled with excitement and worry. Did we deserve to become parents to a tiny human who depended on us for every single thing for his survival? Would we even know what to do?

Your first birthday was a hard one. I cried as we sang the birthday song to you at your party, surrounded by friends and family. The first baby year was officially over. You’d gone from a squishy pile of helplessness to a walking, talking, outgoing, opinionated little toddler. Two was hard for me, too. My baby who could barely walk a year earlier was learning and growing so fast. Stringing together sentences that were turning into conversations. Your third and fourth birthdays breezed by more easily with so many milestones and changes in between. All along reminding myself that this was the youngest you would ever be. I could never get this time back with you.

I think that’s why having a son who is turning 5 is SO hard for me. The past half-decade has whizzed by so quickly and I know these last few years are only a small indicator of how quickly the next 13 will go. I don’t want you to grow up. I don’t want you to get to a point where you are too big for hugs and kisses. For you to be annoyed when I rest my cheek on your head and smell your hair. I know once you start Kindergarten, time will only move more quickly. 1^st grade, 6^th grade, 10^th grade and beyond. Homework, class projects, field trips. Sleepovers, football games, girlfriends. Job applications, prom, college applications.

I know I can’t go back to those baby years and I’m not even saying I want to. They were just so sweet and it’s sad knowing that you get bigger and more independent every day. I can’t know when I will pick you up for the last time. I can’t know when you will sit on my lap for the last time. I’m so sentimental about where we have been and where we go next in life. It’s a beautiful pain that I never understood until I became your mother. Of course I want you to grow, learn, and explore with confidence and a passion. I want you to continue surprising and teaching me, as you have done for the past 5 years.

I hope you always love learning and building and making others laugh. I love that you love to color, write, and draw. I love that you are curious about everything. I hope you will try to do lots of things that are hard. I hope you will find things that make you feel happy and fulfilled.

I hope you love Kindergarten. So much. I hope you have a great teacher and make lots of friends. I hope you learn your way around quickly and feel at ease walking the hallways of your school. I hope you are kind to the people around you and that they are kind to you in return. I just want what’s best for you, whatever that might be. I know you won’t always choose the things that I think are best, but I hope you make the right choices for you. I hope you will prove me wrong. I hope I never say “I told you so.” I hope you learn from your mistakes. I will love you. I will always support you. For now, you are still my baby boy. You are getting big, but today, you are still little. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You are five.

xoxoxoxo forever,

Mommy

summer wrap up: 2014

Gallery posted on September 11, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

High temps are predicted to reach only into the mid-60s this weekend, so the realization that summer is ending has become impossible to ignore or deny. I always say that Spring is my favorite season because of the awesome weather and – oh yeah – my birthday, but truly it’s my favorite because it renews my spirit and gives me something to look forward to…Summer. In the same vein, Fall is kind of my least favorite season. I hate winter more than Fall for a lot of reasons but it’s hard for me to get wrapped up in pumpkin-mania and chunky sweaters when all I can think about is the fact that Summer is over and Winter is chomping at the bit to get it’s claws on me. My disgust for Fall and is something I have written about since 2010. Nothing has changed.

I guess that’s not entirely true – what’s different this year is that we’ve had less than five 90 degree days and just as it finally started to FEEL like summer, it is ending.

Regardless…that’s not the point of this post. My intent was that this would be a happy kind of post. A reminder of how much fun we packed into this short, mild summer and how many firsts we experienced together as a family. If I had made a Summer 2014 bucket list, I think just about everything would be checked off!

– The unofficial start of Summer: Memorial Day. We took a road trip to Tennessee for the long weekend to visit my mom, sister, and my sister’s family.– Strawberry goodness: Strawberry picking and a few days later, a strawberry festival that we have gone to 3 years in a row.-Theo found his way into the spotlight, singing “Let it Go” at Karaoke night at our favorite local ice cream joint.-Simple Pleasures: Countless picnics and trips to the splash pad, pool, parks, and the farmers market.

-The YMCA: Soccer Clinics & Swim Lessons -Father’s Day weekend: Spent with friends at the lake. -Family: A very special visit from my mom and grandma. That’s four generations right there.-Sunflower picking. -4th of July/11th anniversary weekend. -Mini-vacation: We went with some friends to Holiday World for the first time. The boys and I camped in a camper for the first time. -Bliss: A beautiful backyard wedding. True Love. -First time bowling as a family: -Dexter started pre-school: – The Indiana State Fair. -Time spent with my long-distance BFF.-Fun celebrating a wonderful friend’s 40th birthday. -Fun with friends on the lake. – Fun with friends at the Luke Bryan show. – Fun with family camping at a Jellystone Campground + Resort and Mammoth Cave. Looking through these memories, it’s hard to believe we squeezed so much into three months. Summer, oh, summer. Why do you have to go?

xo,

~C~

the fourth: 2014

Posted on July 11, 2014July 31, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

Huh, how about that. I guess I’ve never posted a 4th of July recap. Well, last year we were on a little weekend getaway for our 10th wedding anniversary but it wasn’t all festive with fireworks and that kind of crap.

So here’s my first real Independence Day recap. It was nice that the 4th was on a Friday which lent itself to a lovely, long weekend. Ryan’s parents live on a small lake that is perfect for relaxing, jumping off the dock, floating around, and taking pontoon boat rides. They invited us We invited ourselves to come and stay for the weekend. Ryan’s sister and her family were able to join us from Ohio as well.

Obligatory red, white, ‘n blue outfit pics.

I mean, could they be any sillier? No. Cuter? Never.

sillies Love them a lot.

They napped for HOURS every day.

Saturday was our 11 year anniversary so Nana and Pop Pop watched all three boys while Ryan and I enjoyed a rare double date with his sister and her soon-to-be husband. Dinner at FARMbloomington. farm

Their FARMfamous garlic fries. Oh. Wow. And their homemade chipotle catsup. Yes.

Our view from the “silo” table.

Neat sights at every turn in this one-of-a-kind restaurant.

Yep, even by the bathrooms.

Although it was a GORGEOUS night to walk around downtown Bloomington, which is lovely, we wanted to get back in time to enjoy the fireworks over the lake with the boys. Aunt ‘Chelle treated the boys with glow swords and glow bracelets –they may have been a bigger hit than the show.

After messing with my camera settings for five minutes before the actual show started, I gave up and put the camera down. I couldn’t figure it out and didn’t want to spoil the moment.

Sunday mornin’ cherry eating. Theo likes the “yellow cherries.”

Dexter prefers red.

There is a HUGE component of our weekend missing…. the LAKE and the sunshine that we were so lucky to enjoy all weekend. Seems like when we are all able to get together, we are cursed with cool temps or cloudy skies – or both. Not this time. Again, I chose to live in the moment and not take 500 pics. I had a drink in my hand and the sun on my skin and many long conversations with my sister-in-law. That was all I needed to make the weekend complete.

A few iPhone pics:

What’d you do for the Fourth?

xo,

~C~