Babysitting Madelyn

Here are a few more pictures from my year with Madelyn that I haven't shared:

Sharing spaghetti with Jacob:

Learning to stand/walk:

Mr. Potato Heads:

Kithen Food:

Standing:

Snacking:

Thursday school graduation:

Moving Day for the Rancurets:

Preschool Graduation:

End of Kindergarten!

We had a major countdown going on around here for the end of kindergarten.  Hannah could not wait for summer break!  I think she enjoyed kindergarten, but it was a rough year.  She just wanted to stay home with mommy to the point that her tummy hurt almost every day.  We're hoping first grade will be easier on her!  Hannah had some dress-up days at the end of the year.  She got to wear sunglasses, chew bubblegum, and all sorts of other fun things.  She even wore her Germany dress one day for fun:

Fun Night at School:

Field Trip to Forest Glen:

 The whole kindergarten had a field trip to the Catlin park one day, so I took the babies and Jacob up to see Hannah.  Here she is with one of her best friends, Anna.

 The kindergartners liked pushing the babies on the swings!

  Jacob liked the baby swings too!

 My little girl has some sass for sure, love her personality!

 It was hot on the last day of school, so Mrs. Spezia braided Hannah's hair during recess.  Have I mentioned that she had the best teacher ever this year?  We loved her!

 Hannah got a hula hoop as a little end of the year gift.  She had been wanting one.  

She's really good at it!

 She requested a party with streamers, balloons, cake, and Aunt Emily and Grandma Teresa.  

She got her wish!

It was also a big milestone day for me.  I was done watching Madelyn!  It's so weird after having two babies on a schedule all day every day to go to just one.  We were very used to having her around here every day!  But we're very happy she's with her mommy every day now!

 Hannah, totally on her own, set up a pedicure station for me and her on one of her first days out.  She set out pillows for us to relax and put on the music channel and drew pictures.  She cracks me up.  LOVE her!

Mother's Day

I had a nice Mother's Day weekend this year.  Josh took Friday off of work to get some home stuff done, so that night, we all went to Monical's to kick off the celebration weekend.  It was my mother's day dinner and Jacob's 1/2 birthday dinner.  We chose the place together!  Jacob likes Monical's because it's the only place we let him have pop.  I told Josh we could go for pizza if he'd let me order as many toppings as I wanted, haha!

The next morning, Hannah wanted to make breakfast in bed because of a book her teacher had read to her.  Josh made bacon, eggs, and pancakes!  This is a big deal.  I don't think he's ever made me breakfast before!  Josh got me a fitbit (which I got early), and the kids made lots of cute homemade cards and things.  

On Saturday night, we went to Josh's mom's house to celebrate with her.  The kids helped her finish making a lemon cake for dessert.  And she got all of the kids some spring jammies:

Sunday was busy because I was in charge of our church's baby dedication.  We had an hour of pictures, breakfast, and prayer.  And then the families had a special part in the regular service.  After church, we went to my parents' house for lunch.  It was a nice day.  I was tired by the end of this weekend!

As I think I say each year, I truly love my job.  I am so thankful that I get to stay at home with my babies.  There is nothing else I'd rather do.  I hope I always remember how great it is to have a lap full of babies:

And I hope I remember what's it's like to go to Target and get the BIG cart, and to be full before I even get started (that's Aleah in her carseat in the bottom of the cart, the diaper bag in the front of the cart, and of course Jacob and Hannah on the "train" as they call it.  See, I'm full before I even start!

And I hope I remember how Hannah would want to dress like me:

And what it's like to have three little ones running all of the living room every night acting crazy:

And how important girl time and learning about motherhood were to me:

And I hope I remember to be silly with my kids and not take life too seriously:

Happy Mother's Day!