Owen Daniel Allen is One Year Old!

Today our sweet Owen turned one year old! Kinda bittersweet if you ask me. Bitter because we no longer have a baby in the house and sweet because we no longer have a baby in the house. (if you know what I mean ;) I LOVE it when my kids turn one though. They are just a lot more fun because you can really start to see them learn and grow and shine. Owen's personality has always been the same, easy going for the most part, but now he is gaining more confidence and exploring his new found independence which is so much fun to watch.

Here's a look at how he has grown over the past year...

To my precious Baby O,

Knowing that you are probably gonna be our last baby, I have tried to enjoy every one of your little milestones this year. Instead of rushing you to the next thing (which I may have done a little more with your brothers) I learned to slow down and take in every stage you were in as you were in it. Yes, the year still went by extremely too fast- but I know I will cherish all of the memories I have from your first year.

You're still as sweet as you have always been. I love your laid back personality and your patience with your big brothers. It's almost like you know how much they love you and know they would never intend to hurt you, even though some times they do hurt you :( You seem to somehow forgive them right away and go back to following them around.

Boy don't those guys love you so much! Both of them! I love seeing how proud they are of you. Just this week Luke ran in and said "Mom, Owen is in there laughing!" like it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. Thank you for being such a sweet little brother to them. You may not know this, but you have taught them so much. Luke can now change a diaper because of you. Brady knows to hurry as fast as he can to find a burp rag when he sees a baby spit up because of you. They know how to handle babies because of you.

Thanks for being you and thanks for your smiles, hugs, laughs, and even that precious little pout face you sometimes get. Daddy and I love you so much and are truly blessed to have you!

Kids Say the Darndest Things- Kinder Edition

This week I have been trying to get as much information as I can from Luke about Kindergarten. I have a running list and here's what he has said so far:

- the first day Luke met a friend named Zachary (but he hasn't spoken about him since and even forgot his name)
- the second day Luke became friends with the other Luke in his class...Luke D.
- Luke A. (my Luke) and Luke D. play tag at recess
- one day, Luke A. & Luke D. both wore a blue shirt and khakis on the same day (which was really cool to Luke, but it's bound to happen when you have standarized dress)
- Luke's favorite part of school is lunch- because he is "always hungry"
- on the bus you don't have to wear seatbelts
- one word to describe Mrs. Soders "beautiful"
- there is one kid in Luke's class that is bad
- that bad kid used to sit at Luke's table, but he got moved
- that bad kid doesn't sit criss cross applesauce
- Mrs. Soders wants to move that bad kid out of the class :/
- Mrs. Soders worked hard on their classroom
- Mrs. Soders likes it when you raise your hand
- there is a treasure box in the classroom and you get a treasure if you stay on green- if you get purple you get two treasures
- the first time Luke rode the bus he was nervous so he held onto Emma's shirt the whole way home
- Emma sits at Luke's table for class and lunch
- Luke likes to wear his tennis shoes every day just in case he has PE that day (even on days we know there won't be PE)
- according to Luke if I was to ask Mrs. Soders about him she would say he was really good

Brady's Birthday Celebration at School!

So today Brady got to have his school birthday celebration! We made some cupcakes (muffins- as he calls them) with icing and sprinkles on top and sent them to share with the class.

Brady was so excited to go to school today. He wanted to know "would they sing?" "will they have fire?" (candles) "will they give me presents?"

They did two of the three...they sang and the class made him a picture book as their gift to him. Each classmate was able to draw a special picture for Brady and Mrs. Symms made it into a special book. It was really sweet.

Happy School Birthday Brady!

My Bus Rider

The first thing out of Luke's mouth yesterday after his first day of school was "Mom, I didn't get to ride the bus home :(" So, since his friend Emma was gonna be on the same bus as him and getting off at the same stop, I decided to go ahead and let him ride the bus home. (not to mention the IN SANE car rider line)

So right about 3:00, the boys and I headed out to greet our little bus rider as he got off of Bus #219.

Little boys just chillin.


Then right about 3:20, we saw the most amazing sight we saw all day long! Our Lukey's bus!!!

Ladies first...there's Emma getting off.

Then Luke!

I just kept on snapping that camera ;)

Looking both ways!

and he was officially a bus rider!

Brady & Owen's First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Brady and Owen! Brady started Pre-K 3 and Owen started Mother's Day Out. The two of them will only be going on Tuesday & Thursday.

Brady with his Preschool sign

Little school boy Owen sporting his gold and green on the first day;)

We traditionally take a picture of Luke & Brady on the stairs on the first day of school, so today I tried to do the same with the younger two. Their ages aren't quiet as easy to capture cute shots.

Got my black and white backpack shot as always!

Brady & Mrs. Symms (also known as Mrs. Alissa)

Luke had her as his teacher when he was 3, so Brady is already really familiar with her. She is lots of fun!

She had the idea to have each kid sign their name on the first day... we obviously need to work on this ;)

With his name tag!

He did great! He went right in and sat down to play. No tears and he hardly even told me goodbye :(

Then it was Owen's turn. I was a little nervous about leaving him because he has a rough time being left at church.

Mrs. Gemma & Ms. Brianne are his teachers this year. They were sweet enough to stop for a quick picture amongst lots of crying kids.

Look! There's his name on the birthday chart!

Checking everything out. NO tears though :)

Hmmmm??? I wonder what's in here?

He found a truck way back in the back of that shelf and he was sold on staying!

Here's what's going on each day.

A kiss bye and I was out the door. My babies were all distributed and happy for the time being.

At the end of the day, Brady had a very good report. He had a blast and really loved his class. Owen did good too! The teacher said there were a few tears throughout the day, but all in all a great day!

Glad that part is over!

Luke's First Day of Kindergarten

My big Kindergartner woke up bright and early this morning on his own excited for his first day of school! He got himself dressed and watched a few minutes of cartoons while I was finishing up his breakfast.

Back to school muffins!

He knew today would be one of those days where I would be taking tons of pictures, so he cooperated well!

Right after I snapped this picture, he said "did you get a good one mom?" That's my boy ;)

We entered the halls of Shadycrest Elementary with one very excited and confident boy and one extremely sad mom. I did manage to choke back all of my tears so he wouldn't see.

Luke's sweet little friend Emma who he has known since they were 1 1/2 years old is in his class this year which helps a lot! I feel so much better knowing that he has at least one friend to start off with ;)

and here is Mrs. Soders! Doesn't she just look as sweet as can be? She really is. I think it's gonna be a great year with her.

~so I got Luke all situated in his seat and could tell it was time for me to get going. He was totally fine on his own. I leaned over to remind him about the kiss I had given him in his hand last night from the story we read. I told him don't forget about that...if you need me, just put your palm on your cheek and remember that kiss. At that point, I was just about to burst in tears, so I left right away and saved my tears for the hallway.

The whole day was pretty hard. I missed him so much. It's just not the same without him here. The other boys even seemed a little out of sort. Luke is usually the one who calls most of the shots (among the kids), picks what they will play (or not play), asks for all of the snacks, etc...

It was pretty weird all day long! I hated it! I really really did. I know it will get better though once I get used to it. hopefully.

To try to get my mind off of things, I let the little boys swim in the back yard and they had so much fun! Notice who is holding the hose??? That would have NEVER happened if Lukey was home- not a chance ;) Brady could get used to this big brother role...

FINALLY 2:30 rolled around, so I loaded everyone up to go sit in that car rider line. and I cried some more. I just couldn't believe it was really time for him to be in elementary and i wanted to make sure he had a good day.

He got in the car and told us it was a great day and he had lots of fun and he was sad he couldn't ride the bus home. So, maybe tomorrow he can. I will see.

Right when he walked in he found his Back to School gift waiting on his chair. A bow & arrow just like they have on the movie Narnia. Brady got his gift a day early (he got the same thing) so they were able to play together.

and all was right in the world now that I had all of my little ducklings back under one roof ;)

Twas the Night Before Kindergarten...

Luke starts Kindergarten tomorrow. And NO I am NOT ready! This is the hardest change thus far along my journey as a parent. Luke, however, couldn't be any more excited! Yes, that helps, but still doesn't make it a "happy thing" for me :(

So tonight, Luke picked out his first day clothes, got his bath, brushed his teeth, got his before bed glass of milk, and we sat on the couch and read this book. The school gave us this book at Orientation along with this little pack of tissues for the moms.



The story was sweet it talked about a mommy raccoon who kissed the palm of her baby's hand before his first day of school. That way, if he got sad at any time during the day, he could press his palm against his cheek and feel the love of his mom. Super sweet book. I kissed his palm and he kissed mine. I know I will probably be pressing my palm against my cheek more than he will with his, but that's ok. He knows how much I love him. He knows how much his Daddy loves him and he is gonna do great on his new journey through school.

After he fell asleep I packed his lunch, enclosed a note in his lunch box along with a Star Wars napkin and made sure all of his stuff was properly labeled.

Tomorrow my baby is going to Kindergarten...

Happy 3rd Birthday to Brady!

Today our sweet little B-ball turned 3 years old!


As always, we did a little birthday decorating for when the birthday boy woke up this morning. He was so happy to see everything!

He opened his gift from mom and dad then got ready for church.

Quick pic of the big boys just before we left.

Since we had Brady's birthday party a few weeks ago, he was a little confused about what today was all about. I think he quickly got used to the idea and learned to milk it for all it was worth!

Brady's all time favorite food is pancakes. So Daddy made him pancakes, eggs, and sausage for DINNER! Did you know it was possible to have breakfast for dinner??? Brady was impressed and ate 6 pancakes! He had a great first day as a three year old!

Note to Brady from Mom:

My sweet sweet B-ball. Yes, I do still call you B-ball. I wouldn't have it any other way. My favorite thing about you is your personality. You're a fun kid to be around. You say the funniest things with your little raspy voice. Lately, your newest thing to say is "Hello Gorgeous!" It still gets me every time. You still think Luke is the coolest thing around. You do whatever he does and seems like you want to be just like him. He loves you dearly too. Although you guys do have your fair share of fights, you play together as best friends.

I love how much you adore Owen. You are so proud of every one of his little accomplishments and milestones. I can see the two of you growing closer especially during the day when Luke is at school.

You're a leader...not a follower (except with Bubba). I love that and wish I had more of that characteristic. You're as cute as cute can be! You'll always be my baby even though you absolutely HATE for me to tell you that. You say "No Mom, I am your BIG boy" and yes, you are! I love our time alone together here and there.

Your favorite thing to do with Daddy is still mowing. Your fascination with mowers, blowers, and weed eaters is still going strong. You look forward to your weekly mow times with Daddy or whoever else is mowing while you're at their house (papi, papa, uncle caleb, etc..) Daddy loves you too and looks forward to seeing you when he gets home from work every day and having your wrestle time on my bed.

Keep growing into a handsome young man. Don't change a thing. I love you so much more than words could every describe!

- Mommy