Happy Eight Birthday Amelia Rose

Every year when my kids are approaching another birthday, I get very emotional and nostalgic. I look back at the previous year - what did we do, how did we celebrate it, did i take enough pictures (always a no!), what will they remember most? it seems like the year has flown by, but it passes just the same as the others - one day at a time. Today we celebrated this girlie - hard for me to believe she is now eight. I wonder what she will remember about her year of being seven - that she was able to master riding her bike with no training wheels? that she broke her arm on the monkey bars? that she finally put her face in the water and began to try to swim? that we went to lunch at Fitz's and Chuck E Cheese for an arcade day? That I drug her around this entire campus taking pic of her trying to capture THE picture? Only time will tell what she remembers. What I want to remember is how much more I loved this girl than even the day before. How she's such an animal lover, sleeps with a different stuffed animal each night, how some things come so easy for her and other things she really struggles with. I want to remember her sweet giggle, her lisp and her hatred of anything that would contain her hair. She has big dreams right now - she wants a puppy, another kitten. a bird, guinea pig or a hamster. Today she asked me to help her design a swimsuit that turns into a mermaid tail. Amelia is also a night owl, always trying to stay up late. She is independent, smart, relentless, inquisitive, she is colorful and imaginative and she loves facts. Getting her to read a chapter book can be quite a task, but give her a book on facts? she can get lost in those! NATGEO's kids almanac, books on animal facts, continents, the solar system - she loves it. And she's a wee bit of a TV and video gaming junkie - she comes by it honestly. One of her favorite shows this year was Cosmos. She would spout facts for days afterwards. She definitely has an opinion on what she wears now, if her shoes match her outfit and has ditched her dress up clothes for a red devil costume. When I asked her if she would be wearing her last two dress up costumes this summer, she hesitated with her answer. She then quietly replied "if you want me to." She is very hesitant to express her opinion if it will hurt your feelings. She has always loved music, but now she's establishing her own taste. She recognizes who is singing on the radio and asks for "her" music to be put on her ipod.  Seven has been a wonderful year, full of memories. It makes me wonder, what will eight bring?

Free bowling, shoe shopping and Willoughby farms!

every summer we sign up for the free bowling program! this was our first time going this summer - always lots of fun. The kids are pretty good too! 

For Amelia's birthday she received a new pair of Toms. We tried several sizes and styles, but her foot is in a weird stage right now, so we opted to skip the toms and get some Chucks!! they are absolutely adorable, and I assured Amelia - they go with EVERYTHING! And what would you expect an animal lover to pick out but black flocked cheetah print chucks. that's my girl! 

This is willoughby farms - there was a lot of new animals to see, lots of things to climb on and areas to explore! we are coming back here when we have a little more time!! we did squeeze in a hike though! 

Whitaker Music Festival, take 2!

First day of my staycation  - i have 14 days (nights too) free from work!!! I am excited to have some time with my family!! So we decided to take another trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens! This time Darrin and Amelia were able to join me and Lucas, plus the Harris kids!! The music was a blue grass/americana group! they were great!! It was pretty crowded, but with all the great weather we have had this summer, I'm not surprised!!! I hope the great weather stays!!!

Goodbye old friend

It's with a very sad and heavy heart that i share this - we had to put our beloved dog to sleep today. His hips and legs finally gave up on him. Victor Hugo Griffon was as much a part of our family as the rest of us! He was an incredible dog & a gentle giant. He tolerated the kids, never growling or biting anyone. He would have been 12 in august. He was loved greatly and will be missed even more.

Swimming!!

This year is a first for Amelia. We discovered the secret to her not wanting to swim late last summer
- water in her nose! so we bought her a face mask that covers her nose and viola!, she's putting her face in the water and actually trying to swim!!! and check out that cannonball!!! Amelia's is pretty good too!!

3 months

Another hidden gem i found while looking in my draft folder!! Oh the sweetness! 

 

almost 4? make that almost 8.

i remember the first time i held her. she was all squishy, her hair was darker than i thought it would be. and there was way more of it than i had imagined. her face was round and her nose was a mirror imagine of mine. she was covered in vernix. and as i looked at her i fell in love. what a gift she was. did i ever mention she was the first girl in 75 yrs on Darrin's side?. that is a whole lot of boys. and now, she is almost 4. i have had so many days of wonderful with this girl. so many days of snuggles, kisses and love you momma's. Getting to experience her independence, strong will, and sass. I have so many hopes and dreams for her. I hope she is kind to others, i hope she is honest and caring. i hope she keeps her curiosity and sense of adventure always. i hope she is gracious and kind, loving and forgiving. More than anything, i hope she is forever happy.

I wrote this almost 4 years ago. i found it in my drafts when I was going to edit some new posts. I still look at this girl with adoration and love. She is as independent as ever, and is exerting it quite a bit these days. There's a lot of sighing, head lag and blank stares coming my way. But there is also a lot of learning, trust and a whole lot of love. I still have the same hopes and dreams for her, still hope we are shaping her to be a kind and caring person, and of course, forever happy. Happy almost birthday Puddy - I think you are the bees knees and I love you more than you know!

Bedroom makeover

I surprised Amelia with a bedroom re-do! She has had her other set for about 5 years. I didn't want to paint her walls so my options were limited. Her walls are a light lavender - but everything i could find that i liked was pink,pink, pink! Until i found this - super cute and fits my animal lover perfectly - or purrfectly! 

Adoption day & family fun night!

Since we are St. Louis Zoo members, they like to send us updates on what's new at the zoo! One of the newest acquisitions our zoo has made are African Painted Dogs. Of course we received information on adopting them. Amelia was in love at first sight. She HAD to adopt one. She counted her money and found ways to earn more. For her birthday her friend Madison gave her $20. She was ecstatic!! Right away she announced she could now adopt her painted dog!!! Here are some pictures from the big day!! 

After we got home and picked Lucas up from summer school, we decided to take the kids to the O'Fallon sportsman park splash pad. Only problem is mother nature wasn't on board - as soon as we started on our way, it started to rain. so we turned our lemons into lemonade and went to Alphonso's and had a great dinner and played some games in their arcade!! take that mother nature :)

And I'm back......

I decided when Amelia turned 6 to shut down the blog. Why? I really felt no one was reading blogs anymore. Facebook had taken over. But I miss it. I miss being able to go back and see the fun things the kids did or said. So for now, I'm back! We're back!!! My current plan to catch you up?  Blog the current, throw in the older posts when I can. That's all I can do!

the neublits, May 2014

Whitaker music festival

Since the weather was cooperating and I had the night off, Lucas and I joined the Harris family at the Whitaker Music festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens! It's free to enter the gardens after 5pm, and the children's garden is free as well. We jot there at 5, went straight to the splash pad and hung out until 645, then we found a spot and had a picnic! The kids really loved it too - running about, dancing to the music, catching fireflies. This won't be our last time going, in fact, we may try to go next week too!

Super secret birthday-slumber party!!

For months and months all I heard about was how much Amelia wanted a surprise slumber party or a surprise party, or even just a slumber party!! She wrote out agendas, who to invite, what they would do!! So I started brainstorming and planned a surprise slumber party to celebrate my girl turning EIGHT! I invited her friends, planned activities and ordered up two dozen cake pops! I picked out a theme - hot pink & zebra, and secretly bought things. I decided on games; musical nail polish, duct tape water bottles and a super cute coloring activities personalized for the girls! It came together without a hitch! On the day of the party, darrin took the kids to the show to see how to train your dragon 2 so I could decorate! My friend Angela came to help & she brought the cake pops! (The best ever!!) While we were waiting on the girls, Angela took Amelia for a pedicure!! Once the girls arrived & we went to get dinner - pizza & cheese sticks. They were so excited for Amelia to arrive & yell SURPRISE!! Amelia was quite surprised when she arrived!! She didn't know what to say or do! It was a fun filled night and I hope it was one all the girls enjoyed!!

summer time

Just some random summer pictures! Lucas on his scooter and being super sweet bringing me a flower! Amelia helping hanging our new suet feeder and our hummingbird feeder - we are really hoping to get some hummingbirds this year! We had some when we lived in Dupo, but so far none here! One of our last pictures of Victor Hugo, happily laying in the backyard - i think he looks like he's smiling! I love summer time with the kids! it's my favorite!!

Cheer camp!! Maybe not.

I signed Amelia up for cheer camp at our local church. She was so excited, picked out her cutest cheer ensemble, and we were off!!! Only problem? The cheer coach was sick, and with no replacement we had to choose a new sport. Soccer? No. Basketball? No. Volleyball? YES!!! And she loved it. Loved!!! We may have to find a local team for her - she's been asking to play and asked for a volleyball for her birthday!!

St. Louis Zoo & The New River's Edge

As a birthday gift to the neublits, their Nana gets them a zoo membership every year. We love it and use it as much as we can! Last year the zoo redid their river's edge, including a habitat for 4 painted dogs, an Andean bear and a sun bear. We received an invitation to go preview the new river's edge and off we went! It was a great day and the painted dog puppies were adorable!! I took a ton of pics - it was such a great day!!

School's out, schools out!!!

School is FINALLY out! With almost the entire month of January off for snow & ice, we had to suffer through the end of may into june (JUNE!!) to finish school. I was *almost* more excited than the kids! i have a whole calender full of things to do with them! i was ready! We celebrated the last day of school with some friends at DQ! nothing says summer time like ice cream! 

Fun with friends!!

The History Museum was hosting Babaloo so we headed over with our friends maddie and ty to check him out. I think Amelia was at the top end of his perfect audience, but she still had a great time! They were able to dance, run around, chase toilet paper and play the drums!! Afterwards we headed over to forrest park and had a picnic. We wrapped the day up playing at the park - was a great day!!

recital time

It was recital time for Amelia - I was lucky enough to get a vacation day and I'm not sure we could have survived if I hadn't!! We had a dress rehearsal at the studio, full dress rehearsal at the gymnasium and then recital night! it was a busy week! I am not the best at fixing Amelia's hair so I had to practice, practice, practice! I think I have the ballerina bun perfected - i did it about 6 times that week. here are the pictures I took - I get so weepy when I see my little girl up on stage dancing in the recital even though I have seen her dance the same dance so many times before. There is something special about seeing the whole performance come together and seeing your baby be a part of it!! Now, to get her to smile more when she is doing it!

bikes and scooters for everyone!

Another fun day at the Graff Ranch enjoying the great weather! 

Art on the square

for the first year, we were able to go to Art on the Square! I have heard a ton about it, but it always falls on my weekend. Since my weekends are rotating, I was off! I took the neublits and we spent the afternoon there! They really enjoyed looking at all the art work and playing in the kids area. 

Saying goodbye to mr. turtle

Every summer the kids find a turtle at the Graff Ranch and hold him hostage keep him as a pet for a bit. Amelia really looks forward to it - they paint their initials on the shell in case they see him or her again. This year was a little rough on Amelia - she was attached to Toby the turtle! There were a few tears shed over setting Toby free, and everyone took a moment to say what a great turtle Toby was. Hope Toby comes around again soon to see Amelia, but I can't say I would blame him if he didn't!!

father daughter dance

I love these pictures of Amelia! but it makes me realize how fast she is growing up! 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!!