Baby Lamb is FIVE!!

This day has come far faster than I imagined that it would.  I guess that happens with the second child.  Baby Lamb is five.  I'm gonna go curl up in a ball and cry now.

As always, I have to recap the past years of my sweet boy's life starting from day one.  We are gonna be pretty brief today--birthdays only!  My five year old wants to play. :)  So, here goes:

Brand new.  Sweet boy made us a family of four at 9:24am on May 9, 2011.

We were shocked to be meeting him earlier than we'd expected.  Big brother Chan was more than excited.  His first words when they met for the first time were "awww--look at his tiny, little fingers!"  Their brotherly bond was established right then and there.

One year flew by!  We quickly learned that having two boys was an adventure.  They kept us on our toes so much that we hardly even realized one year had passed.  We celebrated with a big Sesame Street bash and smash cake, of course.

And our session with our favorite photographer, Wendy Hardin.  It is always hard to pick just one favorite from a session, but this one seemed to exude all things Liam--sweet, curious, fun-loving.

If one year flew by, then the second year happened in a blink.  Pretty soon we were celebrating out little monkey turning TWO with a monkey birthday bash.  He was oh-so-lovable at this age!  And into everything.

He would run from one fun thing to the next, laughing all along the way.  Full of life, always smiling.

And then three came along.  Seemed like such a "big boy" age.  Sweet thing never stopped smiling, followed Chandler everywhere, and was showing his big love everywhere he went.

His sweet little cheeks!  I could eat him up!! 

Big boy 4!!  Rough and tumble all the time, hard to keep clean, excited about everything, 

and always eager to please.  

He was really turning into a "little boy" by four.  No more baby to our little Baby Lamb.

And now his years fill a whole hand of fingers.  And he is "so happy to be five"!  And although he may not be a baby any longer, his desire to show love and make others feel loved is still so strong--he told me just today "Mommy, you can still hold me like a baby if you want to."  So, I think I will.

My dear, sweet Liam~

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my BABY you'll be."

~R. Munsch~

Happy Birthday, Baby Lamb!  I love you to the moon and back...over and over again.

Mommy :)

Chandler is SEVEN!

Seven years ago today I was seeing this face for the very first time.

Chandler Keaton--about 2 hours new

For the past seven years, Chandler has been the reason to get up every morning, the challenge of every day, and the overwhelming joy and pride of every moment.  Seven has gone by so fast.  Here's what this kiddo has been up to this past year.

In September, he become a Tiger Cub.

As he so often does, he reminded me to stop and smell the roses in October.

He became a bona fide first grader in November with the loss of his first two (bottom) teeth.

And he got to play in snow (a bit) for the first time in a long while in December.

Carried on with his usual "Chan"tics in January.

And did some sweet snugglin' during an unusually cold winter in February.

He got pretty up close and personal with a black bear at The Knoxville Zoo in March!

And ran his first Kids' Marathon in April with a super fast time!

He became an avid tree climber in May and has since tackled many an oak and maple.

And he conquered Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during his first trip to Disney World in June.

Spent the lazy days of summer in the water one place or another during July.

And started his 2nd grade adventure in Mrs. Quinn's class in August.

And then there's today, his birthday.  Riding his new scooter since 7:15 this morning.

I knew being his Momma was gonna be a blessing.  I just had no idea how BIG!  Every day is a new adventure with this kid.  And I am enjoying every second.  (Okay, I could do without the sass mouth, but other than that ;)

Happy Birthday to the BEST birthday present I've ever gotten!!!

Love you, Chandler Man!!  Hope you're birthday ROCKS!

Mom :)

"I'll love you forever, 

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my BABY you'll be."

~Robert Munsch~

My Not-So-Baby Lamb

I would love to say that I've slowed down time and this day isn't here yet.  But, alas, I still haven't quite figured out how to do that, and it seems the harder I try the faster time goes.  So here we go again...Liam's birthday! 

As par for the course on each birthday my boys have had, I seriously cannot believe that another year has passed so quickly.  MY BABY IS TURNING THREE, YOU GUYS!!  He has seriously been practicing turning his "bunny ears" into a set of three fingers for like a month now.  (And he's almost got it down.  Almost.)  He is so super excited about his "bertday" and his "pwesents".  Can't wait to celebrate my Not-So-Baby Lamb today!

And, of course, it wouldn't be a blog post of mine if it wasn't loaded with pictures.  So, here is Liam's Year of 2 with some of my fave shots from each month:

May 9, 2013.  The day he turned 2.

June: pretty sure this fella is gonna be our party animal

July: Liam's first sounds game. He ate.  A lot.

August: one of Wendy Hardin's shots of my sweet boy after cooling off in the creek

September: playing pirate at Chan's birthday party

October: being a complete beach bum and loving every minute of it

October (I couldn't pick just one): Halloween and the cutest dalmatian ever

November: playing with his toys.  THAT FACE!!  (Liam's, not the Santa)

December: one of my favorites ever of Liam, another shot from Wendy Hardin

December (cheating again with 2): first time playing in the snow, even if it was just a little bit

January: my little boy is SUCH A MAN!!

February: first night in his big boy bed!

March: my Lamb and his Beagle

April: looking dapper on Easter Sunday

And back to May.  One whole year, just like that!

"I'll love you forvever, I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

~Robert Munsch~

Happy Birthday, Baby Lamb!  

I love you to the moon and back (over and over again)!

Mommy :)

P.S.- To see Liam's first year in months, check out this blog post: 

http://koehnkiddos.blogspot.com/2012/05/liam-by-month.html

P.P.S.- To see Liam's year of ONE in months, check out this blog post:

http://koehnkiddos.blogspot.com/2013/05/liam-is-two.html

P.P.S.S.- To take a completely unrelated look back at The Space Conundrum and the saga of the minivan (because, why not??) check out this blog post:

http://koehnkiddos.blogspot.com/2012/03/space-conundrum.html

Happy Birthday, Chan!

It is finally here.  The big S-I-X.  My oldest actually has to use two hands now to show his age.  How did this happen??

I know, I know. I ask myself that question on every birthday.  But seriously, how did this happen?  Wasn't it just yesterday that he was born?  Weren't we just rocking him to sleep, and changing his diapers, and taking note of all of his "firsts" in his baby book, like, the other day?? 

Well, ready or not for his Momma, six is here.  Here's how we celebrated the big S-I-X:

The first picture of Chan on his 6th birthday.  Little brother had to join in, too.

After school he got to open his presents from Mommy & Daddy.  He was pretty excited to get home to the surprise!

An easy button.  Easiest birthday gift ever.  He loves it.  (That was easy.)

No birthday is complete for Chan without more weaponry.

And his (and Daddy's) new favorite thing: Skylanders!

Momma & Chan on our birthdays.  Chan 6, Momma 32 29

Already getting in to the new Skylanders game.  As you can see, he has his Dad's video game face.

We celebrated with dinner at Cinco (our fave) with all the fam.  Chan, Momma, & Aunt Anna got the birthday whip cream to the face!

We had his friend party at The Koehns.  This is the goody bag & gift table (sans gifts). 

His pirate cupcakes.  I kept it super simple this year, which was nice for a change.  BTW: Thanks Publix for the black and RED cupcakes.  That RED looks awfully pink though.

His birthday invite to The Jolly Roger

Chan & Trev waiting on the crew to arrive

Chan and some of his buds playing swim/sword fight

And Liam and Harlan just cooling off in the tiny pool

Cake and ice cream by the pool

Captain Chandler's First mate

And my sweet birthday boy.  I mean "Captain Chandler".

Fun was had by all, and Momma didn't even get all stressed out and crazy about it this year.  Cause ain't nobody got time for that!  We had a great weekend of celebrating our big kid and look forward to all the fun that 6 will bring!

"Grown don't mean nothing to a mother.  A child is a child.  They get bigger, older, but grown?  What's that suppose to mean?  In my heart it don't mean a thing."

~Toni Morrison, from Beloved~

Happy Birthday my sweet Chan!  I love you to the moon and back, over and over again!

Momma

P.S.- Yes, I realize this post is a week late, but better late than never, right?

P.P.S.- Yes, I also realize that my 2 1/2 year old still has a paci, but in my defense, we have tried getting rid of it and he keeps hiding them places.  We're working on it. :)