Merick Turned 4!

Merick finally turned 4! He has been looking forward to his birthday for soooooooo long. His birthday is the last one in our family so it is hard to watch everyone else have a birthday every year! Merick was so funny because when I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted to do the same exact thing as last year: cupcakes and a movie. Everytime we pass the movie theater he talks about how we went there for his birthday and lists all his friends that came. This year I thought I would be fun to go see the 3-D movie Disney's A Christmas Carol. BOY was I wrong. The movie was NOT kid friendly and we ended up leaving early because it was freaking the kids out! I felt so bad, who thought I would have to do research on a G rated Disney movie? So Merick's birthday was not the success that I wanted, but Merick had fun. His friends got to come over and play, eat cake, open presents, and get 3-D sunglasses. All in all Merick's birthday party wasn't a total failure that I thought it was at the time.

The next day we had Uncle Danny and Aunt Ashley over for a family dinner. They were so nice and bought him a Mr Potato head that he has wanted for a very long time. THANKS PIONKE'S! We gave Merick his very first bike! When we brought it downstairs (we had him close his eyes because who can wrap a bike?) Merick couldn't stop screaming, "YES! YES! YES!" He was so super excited about the bike because he has been asking for one for ever! We let him ride it in the middle of the street at 8:30 at night. He was that excited.

The next day Merick asked me where we bought his bike. I explained to him that when we were at the store we bought the bike when dad told him that he had to go use the restrooms. Merick thought this was the funniest thing and said,"Dad tricked me." I guess we are still smart in our 4 year olds eyes. He still laughs about it to this day like no one ever in the world had ever tried to surprise their kids on their birthdays!

My thoughts on Merick turning 4 - wow am I old enough to have a child who is 4? Yes, I am definitely old enough - I just don't feel it I guess. Merick is generally such a good kid that I don't give enough credit too. He loves his family so very much. He is very open about saying it - which I love! He gives me kisses and hugs whenever I need one - we'll see how long that lasts. He surprises me every day with how smart he is and how much he does understand and take in. Merick has had a fun year with his first year in Primary, his first Pre-School class, getting a full sized big boy bed, his first bike, becoming an older brother, having his first sleep over, and becoming way more independant. Michael and I are so proud of Merick Daniel and love him with all our hearts. We never knew how much we could love another person until we added Merick to our little family.

Happy 4th Birthday Buddy!

Dinosaur Exhibit

Michael took the kids to the Dinosaur exhibit at one of the casino's a month ago and I keep forgetting to post the pictures. I was having a "day" so he decided to take the kids all by himself. What a good husband huh? I think that was the first time since Harley was born that I was in the house all by myself!

Merick was super excited to see the T-Rex. He said that the T-Rex and the big fish were his favorites.

I love living in Vegas where they have such fun things all the time! It is very entertaining for my kids!

P.S. Sorry the pictures aren't that clear - Michael took them on his cell phone!

Merick's 1st Day of Pre-School

I FINALLY signed Merick up for a little pre-school class through our Rec Center. He has been bugging me to go because all his friends and cousins go to school already. He was super excited for his first day. His teacher is named Ms. Angel and he is learning all the letters and their sounds in this class.

I thought when I dropped him off it wouldn't be a big deal because this class only 45 minutes twice a week. When I gave him a kiss and said good-bye I got a lump in my throat. I realized that he was growing up and this was the first step I guess. I still see him as my little buddy. I later talked to my sister about it and said I know it isn't a big deal, but I still remember every moment after we brought him home from the hospital. I remember what he and I were wearing, my feelings, the smell of our apt, and putting him in his crib for the first time because he was asleep. This was just a big step for me.

I love my little buddy so much, letting go is just a hard thing for me. This was more of a big day for me then it was for him...

She's Going Out

Lately Harley has been coming up to me and saying,"Bye bye mommy" and giving me a kiss. I think she thinks that she can come and go as she pleases or something. Also, whenever I tell the kids lets get into the car she sometimes goes and gets this purse out of my closet. So this morning I heard her playing in my closet and she came out saying bye bye again. Only this time she had on a random bracelet, one of my shoes, and the infamous purse-she was serious about it though. It was way to funny to let it pass without pictures...

Carving the Pumpkin

We finally carved our pumpkin the day before Halloween. Merick was all excited until Michael got the stem off and could look inside. After that he wanted nothing to do with the carving process. Michael blames that on me because I never want the kids to get dirty. What can I say? I'm a girl. Anyway, he had no problem sitting there the entire time until it was done. He was quite happy with the results though. GOOD JOB DAD! Your art stills came in handy!

Oh, I also forgot to post a picture of Merick in his costume...so that is why there is a random picture of Merick at the end.

She really is so funny lately...

I know I have posted before about how funny Harley is, but I am honestly not kidding. She is such a handful all the time, but then she just has these moments of pure hilarity!
Is she trying to play hard to get...

Farrah Fawcett would be so proud

Craig is her favorite. She has nicknamed him Deedee. Here she is with his snow hat on and thinks it is so funny...

The new trend: Sink Swinging

One day Harley was in the bathroom with me and she started to hang a little from the sink. I didn't think anything of it because she is little and I didn't think she would be smart enough to go any farther right? Then after a few days she would hang from the sink a little longer. Then the other night I hear Merick and Harley LAUGHING so hard. Michael called me downstairs to see what our kids were doing. I promise we aren't people who let their kids do this all the time because we know it will pull the sink from the wall, but the one time didn't hurt! They are so funny! Oh plus monkey's are Harleys favorite animal right now (she has to have her monkey & blanket to go to sleep), so this just fit her perfectly!

Maybe I shouldn't be egging her on, but it was too funny...