Its Friday!!!

I'm so thankful that its Friday! I'm thankful for a break from the early morning wake up. I'm thankful that we won't have to be dressed, ready and out the door by 7:35 for three whole days. I'm thankful for the fun times with family and friends that are sure to await us this weekend. I'm thankful to have Rowan with us all day every day. I'm so thankful its Friday.

This picture doesn't have anything to do with Friday but I think its super cute.

Cora: 11 months

Happy 11 months, Sweet Girl! I can't believe your first birthday is one short month away. 

You don't like to stay still unless I am holding you. You are such a mommy's girl and would be happy if I held you 100% of the time. You can stand on your own but have only attempted to take two little steps. You would rather get down and crawl. You love to climb up steps when we're at friends' houses. You also like to climb up your brothers' step stool. 

You love to push your doll stroller and give your baby dolls loves. You jump up and down in crib and yell, "Mama!" when I get you from naps. You are still drinking a bottle in the morning and at night. You've started drinking some whole milk and you love it. You say "mama," "dada" and "uh oh." You love to babble and make up words though. You're hardly ever quiet. You've also developed an ear piercing shriek. You scream for no reason at all. Your daddy has a hard time with it. :)

Your favorite foods are chicken, macaroni and cheese, yogurt and crackers. You don't love fruit which is a new thing at our house. You love your daddy, your brothers and your doggy. You aren't as attached to your pacifier or any specific blanket or toy like your brothers were. 

You are such a special girl, Coco. We are so thankful that we've gotten to enjoy almost a whole year with you. God truly blessed our family with the gift of you!

The three cutest 11 month olds ever... even though they look absolutely nothing alike!! :)

Big Girl

Our big girl is standing up on her own. She can also get to standing with out pulling up on anything. Coco also took two steps last night. By the reception her brothers gave her after those steps, you would have thought she was the first baby to every accomplish such a feat. We are so proud of you baby Coco. We won't be able to call you baby for much longer.

Gotta catch her quick before she squats back to down to crawl. :)

The End of our Week

We had a crazy busy ending to our week. Great Grandpa and Linda were still in town so we met them for one final dinner. The boys had so much fun getting to spend time with them and showing off all of the things they like to do. We got a great picture too! Roger and I were saying that we hardly have a picture of us and the kids that is this great! :)

Roger finally got to cash in on his Father's Day gift which was an overnight at a fancy resort. We had a blast hanging out by the pool, going to dinner, sleeping in and just relaxing. We are so grateful for our amazing baby-sitter, Taylor. I knew the kids were in great hands so our time away was worry free for me. The kids had such a fabulous time too. Taylor has been our main baby-sitter since Cruz was a year and a half old so she feels like family to our kids.

I just had to share these precious pictures of Cora. I love her big smiles. I can't believe how quickly her first birthday is approaching. Yikes.

Today we had a wonderful morning at church and now the kids are hanging out in the pool and gearing up for another week of school. Happy Sunday!

School Update:

We're halfway through the week and so far all is well. 

Cruz: He hasn't cried once at drop off but was so excited to be at school. He loves his teacher and happily gives me step by step accounts of his day. He was so excited to bring an offering to chapel this morning. Last year when he was in the 2's he didn't get to go to chapel so he's thrilled to be in with the big kids.

Rowan: Though he comes home tired every day, he's always ready to go back the next morning. He's made some new friends that he talks about non stop. He loves his teacher, eating lunch at school and all the fun learning activities that he's been doing.

It is such a relief to me to have this school year underway and to see the boys' loving where they're at. :)

School 2013

Yesterday was both boys' first day of school.

Here is our big, smart Kindergartener. Rowan was really excited to eat lunch at school and do math. He will be going to the first grade classroom for Math this year. I'm excited for him to be challenged. It's strange around the house without him. Cruz has been wandering around today, not quite sure how to entertain himself.

Here's our little doll ready for preschool in his very first year wearing a uniform. He looked so adorable. Cruz did a great job on his first day and came home singing two songs he'd learned (of course). 

We are so proud of these little boys and know that God is going to do great things through them. I am so thankful that God has lead us to another year at a great school where the boys will daily worship Him.

Last Weekend of Summer

Tomorrow is the big first day of school. I can't believe that Rowan is going to Kindergarten. I remember my Kindergarten days. Cruzy is going to be in the Pre School 3's class. 

Rowan had an amazing birthday party with his friends on Saturday. Bowling was a blast and Rowan got all sorts of neat gifts. Grandpa, Deona, Great Grandpa Baum & Linda were all able to be there too. We had so much spending time with them this weekend. Today we went to a big Baum family get together at Roger's great uncle's house. It was the perfect way to cap off our summer.

We can't forget about Little Miss Cora who is now a walker with the help of her baby stroller. She's also standing on her own for extended periods of time and can even stand up without pulling up on anything.

I'm off to bed so that I can stop thinking about my babies going to school tomorrow. I'm not sure I'll sleep much at all. Check back tomorrow for some cute first day photos! :)

Rowan's Birthday Cont.

Last Saturday my parents, sister and niece arrived to celebrate Mr. Rowan's birthday. We threw a little baseball bash/pool party. The boys loved showing off their swimming skills. 

Rowan chose popcorn, peanuts, hot dogs, chips and watermelon for his party meal. We all felt like we were at the ballpark. :) All the guests wore baseball attire as well.

Rowan has been asking for a pair of batting gloves since he started playing t-ball.

He was also so incredibly thrilled about his batting helmet.

Both boys received umbrellas and were thrilled when it rained the next day. 

We can't believe you're five, buddy! Rowan had his 5 year well check at the doctor's office yesterday. He weighed 40 lbs (43rd percentile) and was 43.5 in tall (68th percentile). He's tall and lean and staying right on the growth curve he's been on for most of his life. 

We had to grab a picture of the girl cousins before Amanda and Jade left.

The gang with Grampy & Grammy. We are so thankful for everyone who came out to celebrate.

Today is Rowan's final birthday party. We are going bowling with his friends. Grandpa, Deona, Great Grandpa & Linda will also be there. So fun. :)

Swimming Lessons Recap

Rowan:

Rowan is soo close to completely level 6 in his swimming lessons. In order to complete level 6 you need to have a solid freestyle and backstroke and a basic breast stroke. Rowan just needs a little bit more work on his breast stroke and then he'll be moving on, according to his teacher. It's so fun to watch him swim. I wish I had more videos but Cora made that a bit challenging. :) 

Cruz:

As expected, Cruz started out the summer terrified. He was scared of his teacher and didn't want to get into the water. It wasn't so much that Cruz was scared of the water but he lacked confidence in himself and trust in his teacher. By the end of his outdoor lessons, he was jumping in, swimming by himself and starting to float on his back unassisted.

Those videos were taken two weeks ago. Since then, he's had three more lessons in the aqua-tots indoor facility and is now floating on his back for 10 seconds unassisted and he can jump in and swim back to the side all by himself. Those skills, combined with his newfound confidence, got him promoted to level 4. Cruz was so proud. He's an amazing little boy.

We had Brayden over and I thought Cruz was going to explode from the excitement of being able to jump with the bigs. He's the one on the left.