The sleeve is finished... for now ;)

I had an appointment this past week to add the finishing touch to my sleeve, it turned out amazing.

The detail in the gates is unreal--- the pearly gates :) This was just after we got done so the skin is a little angry yet. I am so in love with all the work that Brian has done... like I said this finished up the sleeve..... but we will see if I'm done yet.

As for the kids they are all preparing for the end of the school year. They both get done June 4th, then it's SUMMER! I think they are both ready for a break and Aryssa is ready for more of a challenge. Aryssa will then be entering kindergarten and Carson will do another year of speech 2 times a week. Maycee seems to be learning new words every hour! She is repeating things after we say them and also asking what things are. When we don't understand her she will grab our hands and show us. Too smart! I can't believe she is almost 2! 

That is about it from here. If you didn't notice I added a new affiliate link on the left sidebar- Honest Company! Click here if you want to check them out!

I am very excited to get my samples to try out and review!

Until next time folks :)

5 year old!

I can't believe we have a 5 yr old!
Aryssa,
 You are 5 today! Happy Birthday!!! I can't believe it! The past 5 years have gone by so quickly. When you got up this morning I asked if you felt different you answered " yeah I feel different, and am taller." You kept saying this week once it was your birthday you would be taller :) You are loving school and were excited to bring your M&M cookies in for your friends. You loved that Ms. Liz has the same birthday as you.  Here are a couple great pics.
                                                          Of course your monkey picture

You had to have a picture with Maycee

A great picture of all 3 of you

A yearly monkey gallery

As we were talking this morning at breakfast I was showing you a bunch of baby pictures from the day you were born. You are at the age now where you really understand things. You know you had to stay in the hospital because you came out too early and I was showing you the tubes and wires that were connected to you and what they did. I couldn't help but tear up seeing how far you have come, and remembering the days leading up to and the 2 weeks after your birth. I know our situation wasn't half as scary as some people go through but to a young first time mom seeing your tiny, tiny baby hooked up to monitors and not knowing how to suck yet is a big deal. 

You have grown unto such an amazing little lady with a contagious giggle and amazing personality. You have a mommy's heart already taking care of your baby dolls and your little brother and sister. You are my little helper and love to help with supper and cleaning. Whenever you can you try and help daddy outside with the leaves or picking up sticks. You give dad lots of kisses in hopes he lets you play "daddy's game" Mario Kart 8. 

Never change for others, don't be afraid to stick up for yourself. Helps others when you can and always be there for your family. 

We love you Aryssa Roo, you will always be our little Roo Roo. 

Love 

Mommy (and daddy) 

Quick Update

I know I know it has been forever! So I am jumping on quick to post updates...
Aryssa:
Loving dance class
Seems to learn more everyday
Working on obeying the first time and sassy back talking

Carson:
Doing AMAZING with his speech- I have lost count of his new words and am so proud of his progress.
Slowly breaking out of his shell
Still my cautious little man

Maycee:
Says mama and dada
waves Hi and Bye
trying to say uh-oh
blows kisses
claps hands
slowly starting to stand without holding on to things

They are all GROWING TOO FAST!

I mean look at them!

Anyway stay tuned I have an amazing review and giveaway coming up soon for any iPhone user!!!!!

Painting on a cold day

Don't forget to enter my boubeads giveaway

It has been COLD in Wisconsin lately. Seriously we are getting excited about positive 15 degrees F lately. Today it is a high of -2 F and wind chills of -30s. BRRRRRRRR!
So Aryssa has been asking to paint the past couple days but always at goofy times. So this morning I told her after I showered we could paint.
I got done getting ready - meaning putting on new yoga pants and a t-shirt after my shower, oh don't forget the mommy ponytail. Then it was time to paint! Both kids came running ready to paint, even Carson was yelling "aint" I didn't know if he would want to paint since it always seems like he doesn't do the project at church. Although it may be because they ask him if he wants to do it and he almost always answers "no" to all questions.
Both kids sat down and away we went!

Aryssa and Carson both loved it!
Then I remembered when I worked at a daycare we used to use cars and make tracks. Well I didn't want to wreck a good car of Carson's...then a lightbulb went off in my head! I went and grabbed a cheap mcdonald's toy and let them use that to paint with. Carson thought it was really cool and if it got to messy or gross I could throw it away and not care!

I love when the kids paint, but then comes "what will I do with all these pictures?" Well at rest/nap time today I cut out the artwork and put them into frames. I can't wait to hang these beauties in the hallway when Grant gets home.


So what are you doing on these cold days?!?!? Let me know in the comments some fun you and your kids had :)

4 yr and 2 yr check ups

Today we had Aryssa and Carson's check ups. It went great. The nurse said Aryssa was able to get shots today and then be good until she was 11. So I talked with Aryssa to let her know, she was not excited about it but was ok with the fact she was going to get them. Onto stats!

Aryssa : 42 lbs 89% 

42 inches tall 89% 

Carson : 34 lbs 96%

35 inches tall 68% 

I was actually surprised with  Carson's. I thought his percentile for height would have been higher because he seems so tall but when you put his height and weight together he is at 75% so still a big solid boy. 

I am so proud of Aryssa and how far she has come. When she was born and they did percentile she was 3% or 5%, then she became tall but still low for weight. Finally when she was 15 months she made it to 82% and 61%. And now 89% for both! Amazing! She did pretty well with the shots, it was nice that she had seen me get some of mine while pregnant so I could explain that she was going to get 3 shots and yes they hurt but I will be right there for her. She cried but was able to calm down fast. She even got a little beanie baby monkey for the great job she did. She also got 2 stickers :) 

Carson has always been my big boy! From 2 months on he has been off the charts! First at 15 months he was only 94% and 92% everyone on Facebook laughed because I was excited he finally made it back on the charts lol. He seems taller than 68% but still that's above average. When you put his height and weight together he is about 75%. I talked to his dr about his talking also. I should say his lack of talking. Carson is the strong silent type.... Honestly he doesn't say much of anything. I know you are not supposed to compare kids, but aryssa was talking way more at this point. He doesn't put 2 words together and doesn't really say full words. For Elmo it is E, for Ernie (my parents dog) it is E, for Maycee it is E, aryssa is sysa, he says mama and dada but doesn't call for us with them. He will point to things excitedly but doesn't really repeat words after us. I should say he will repeat things, but won't always continue to use the word. I know he is smart he can do puzzles and can figure out problems easily but just doesn't have the communication skills. So we have an appointment set up with birth to 3 to evaluate his speech. I'm going to try and stay calm about it and pray away my fears. So if you have a second say a prayer for us :) 

So I just got a call also for carson to get a hearing test with the audiology dept at the hospital. His pediatrician wants his hearing checked to make sure he hears what he should and that there isn't an issue with hearing causing him to not understand correctly. 

So please pray if you have a second I don't think there is anything wrong with his hearing but I guess you just never know. 

So overall a great day. 

World Prematurity Day

Today is World Prematurity Day! I am a proud preemie mom to my beautiful little girl. 

Even though it was very scary at the moment I thank god for watching over us and her only having to stay 2 weeks in the Nicu. All the nicu nurses and drs were amazing at explaining everything to us and keeping us calm. I still remember the day I had to leave aryssa in the hospital.... I tried to be strong but walking into an empty house is but renching. So today we wear purple.

To bring awareness to prematurity. 1 in 9 babies are born too soon, thankfully for us it we made it to 34 weeks. With my pregnancy there were no answers as to why she came early and I went into labor. It just happened, with both Carson and Maycee I took weekly 17p shots from 16-35 weeks to help keep my uterus calm and keep those babies in! It worked for us and Carson stayed in until 37 weeks and Maycee 37w 6 days. 

I thank God everyday for all my babies and am thankful for the reaserch being done to help those born too soon.