4 year old check

Austin had to go to the doctor yesterday for his 4 year old check, and I told him, "oh Austin there is nothing to worry about, they are just going to say, 'Yep, he looks like a 4 year old.'" I was SO painfully wrong!! He got 3 shots and had to give a blood sample.....ooopps!! He was a trooper!! Seems his iron is low so he got put on an iron supplement and we go back in 1 month to see how his levels are.......otherwise here are his stats:
Height: 42 inches
Weight: 40 lbs....according to Grandad T. that is a pound an inch!!
His BMI is 76% so we have to keep a look out on this as he is a big boy and anything over 90% is considered overweight!! We are not too concerned as he is incredibly active, but we have to cut back on things like hot dogs for dinner more than once a week....obviously a good thing!!


So later on last night, he wanted to show his "concerned face" after he got his shots and finger pricked!

But then he and Ansley just played in her room for a while...........they are doing this more and more and it is really great!!

Austin got a hair cut too (free for his birthday!! I am SO cheap) and so he was happy about that too!! Have a good week!!

My Clone

He crawled in bed this morning with me and fell asleep too....so much for him being an effective alarm clock ... kind of scary how much we look alike

Happy 4th Birthday Austin!

Editor's note: another post for our kids virtual baby book

Yippee, Austin you are 4, you made it! Here you are eating your birthday cake!! You turned blue ;)

This is your bike you got this morning from Grandma & Grandpa & your firetruck that Nanny & Grandad gave you is behind you in the picture...you opened your firetruck about a week ago when the package came in the mail and got rained on, so the box was not hard for you to open and you got to it before I did ;)

We are glad you are 4, you are pretty tall, so you have seemed like you were 4 for a while....but sometimes you don't act 4, you definitely are in the stage of you being hard headed.....I hope this phase goes away soon!! (Good luck, right?!?)

You are quite the talkative fellow, you will strike up a conversation with just about anyone, even when it is time to go! You love to call Grandad in the morning on your way to school to ask him for the word of the day, today it was delicious, and so all day you tried to use the word delicious. This is working to expand your vocabulary, as last night you were outside playing and told the neighbors that Charlie had been irritating Dad. Don't know where you learned that word!!

You love to play with trucks, any kind, any place. Fire trucks, trash trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks, monster trucks, cement trucks, bull dozers, container trucks, etc. You love to "bash" things into each other. You love to take toys to school for show & share. You love to play in the mud and the sand box, you have never met a mud puddle you did not like. You LOVE to watch your "one show" which means one TV show; you go through phases where you want to watch one TV show everyday, and then days where you don't even remember we have a TV (I like those days). You love to read books, eat cereal, play with trains, eat popsicles and hot dogs, go to the pool and jump off the diving board with your life jacket on, play with Charlie, eat yogurt, throw balls, play golf, wear pajamas, eat fruit snacks, your teacher Ms. D....You LOVE to do puzzles, we can literally do a new one everyday!! You are now able to do 100 piece puzzles all by yourself. One of your favorite sayings is "Well Mom, I am just a little hungry."

You do have some room to work on things....you still do not like to share, and you are a bit whinny!! Sometimes this drives me CRAZY!!! In fact, generally the main things you get into trouble for are not listening & whining.....part of that is being 3 and now 4, but we gotta work on it!! You do love your sister, every night you give her a hug, and you always ask if you can pick her up when you get bigger ;)

This is a picture of her eating your birthday cake ;)

Well, happy birthday little dude, I am sure glad it was a happy one!! You make us very happy and we can't wait to have another big year with you. You start pre-K in the fall, you big boy you!!

Ladies' Man

So last night we were outside playing with our neighbors, who have 2 daughters, and Austin decided to be sweet....almost. So he was playing beside a gardenia bush, and decided to pluck one of the flowers to give to one of the daughters, but in the process of picking the flower for her he fell back into her and almost knocked her down......then he decided to pick a less challenging flower for the other daughter, and went over to one of my rose bushes and decapitated one of my not yet bloomed rose buds.....the boy had good intentions, just needs to work on his delivery ;)

Needless to say, he picked nada for Ansley & I......:(

Dress up

We never really play dress up around here....but we did yesterday.....

Ansley is wearing her "dress" which is actually one of my old maternity shirts ;)

And then there is our little Tibetan Monk....I tried explaining to Austin about Tibet and the monks, etc.....he was not as interested as I thought he might be ;(

Happy Memorial Day weekend, we are thankful for those who have fought and served so that we can be free!

Birthday party fun!!

Ann LOVED her cupcake on Sunday, but she only ate the icing, she skipped the cake part ;)

She had to get a little help from Austin to blow out her candles

It was hot (for Georgia) on Saturday, so we set up their kiddie pool in the front yard

Austin kept jumping in like this into the pool....

and this was always the resulting splash. I don't know if you can see it as well, but there is water splashing up above the pool. Needless to say, Austin absolutely loved the water and ....

notice where Ansley is....that is because she wanted NOTHING to do with the water again. It did not matter if Austin was in the pool or not, she did not want anything to do with the water. Oh well.

We considered moving Ansley to her big girl bed last night, and she really was not liking the bed, so we tried to all sing her a song to coax her to sleep. It did not work and she went back in her crib. But Austin's good night song was noteworthy.......

Ode to Ansley by Austin

Goodnight Anzy

Goodnight baby sister

I missed you today

But I saw you on the playground

And Connor had poop on his back

Goodnight baby girl

Goodnight baby

Goodnight Anzy

Aren't you feeling sleepy already?!?

2

Readers note: I am not good at keeping a baby book, so this blog is my baby book for our kids, so this post is not really for y'all so much as it is for Ansley and our memories of her on her 2nd birthday)

Ansley, Annie, Ann, Ampersand, Anzy (Austin's name for you),

You are 2!! I cannot believe you are 2!! It does not seem like it has only been 2 years since you were born; honestly, it feels like 5! You are such a joy and I just feel like you have been here with us for a long time.

You are such a good, sweet child. Everyone that meets you says how pretty or cute or adorable you are, and as your mom and dad, that makes us feel wonderful inside, not because we want people to think we have a cute kid, but because other people can see how wonderful you are, and it is not just us!! Although of course we are super partial!!

You and your brother are just starting to play together like true siblings; of course you fight and argue, but you also seem to play together too! Austin has figured out (slowly) that if you have something he wants, if he just asks you for it, you will almost always give it to him. You are very giving and you really love to share.

You love to share everything, but especially food. You want to share your food and you insist that others share their food with you....no matter what it is!! You love everything dad & grandpa eat, and you like some pretty weird stuff, raw onions seem to be one of your favorites!! But you also like horseradish ;)

You love to talk, you love to laugh, you love to be tickled, you love to be silly, you LOVE Charlie like no one else, you love to pat Charlie's face & back, you love to swing and play in the sandbox, you love to talk on the phone, you love to smile, and you love to be loved. You love to wave bye and blow kisses, you say "kiss, kiss" and wave bye. You sound just like a southern belle when you say "bye" and we all laugh when you say it.

You have your stubborn moments too (don't know where that comes from) but you can get a stubborn streak in you. You have already started to roll your eyes up into the corner of your eye socket when you are in trouble, and you will refuse to look at us when we are trying to talk to you about what you did. But honestly, this happens about once every two weeks, and it usually happens when you are tired or when Austin has been picking on you! But I am not making excuses ;)

Everyone at school loves you! Numerous teachers on numerous occasions have said that they wish all of their kids could be like you! Your daily notes share things about you like: she did a great job answering yes & no questions; she loves singing her ABC's; she knows her numbers; she loved playing outside.....

We can always tell when you are sick; when you have a fever you are bright red and you are just not your normal self! I hate when you have to have a catheter put in to draw a urine sample, and you do too!! You have been better this year, and we hope the end is in sight. Nothing hurts your mother more than seeing you in pain. Every time we go to the doctor's office now, you will not let me put you down and you scream when I do, as you probably are thinking that a catheter is coming....I am so sorry for that and I am willing all I can that you get better soon.

I love you so much it hurts sometime, because I wish that your grandmother was here to see you since you would have been one of the prettiest apples of her eyes! You remind me so much of her and you are just as sweet as she was. I know she is watching over you and I hope to help you know her through me. I am just like her in many ways, as I am crying now as I write this, and I know she would be too!! We are just old softies at heart!!

You are now starting to show your loving side by patting your baby dolls on their backs and putting them to bed. After you lay them down and pat them on their backs you say "shhh" and put your finger to your lips, it is pretty funny. You also love to say certain words that just make us laugh!!

You are small! You definitely have your grandma's genes, as you might weigh 22 pounds, and that is with all your clothes & shoes on and a pretty full diaper!! You are short, but as your dad always says, you are dainty!! Since you are so small it is okay that you still love to be carried, but as you get bigger, you are going to have to do some more walking on your own!! But I will carry you as long as I can! This is not to say you do not walk on your own, but given the chance, you love to be carried around ;)

We are so glad that you are our daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece. Happy birthday Ansley!!

ps. your real birthday party is on Sunday so that the rest of your family can be here. Today your school is having an "end of the school year" party, so you will have lots of sugar at school!