Four.

Max's "birthday week" was awesome.  There's nothing better than seeing your kiddo beaming with happiness.  And I love that his favorite things were wrapped up in family fun and giving to others rather than actual wrapping paper.

School Party + Show-&-Tell:

Max's little heart bursting with pride as Dad read the book he brought to share with his class.

The other special show-and-tell items he chose were his ViewFinder (I order new slide each year), his favorite toy car and a little chick that he got for Easter last year.

{this year's ViewFinder slide}

His little friends loved passing the ViewFinder around and looking at his pictures from this past year.

As a fun surprise I wrapped all of the food in his lunchbox on the day of his birthday.  

He was thrilled.  It's the little things that matter most :)

Family Birthday:  

I asked Max what theme he wanted for his family b-day and he said he wanted a Spider Man/Toy Story party.  Hmmm...ok!  So I decorated a cake with Toy Story characters and bought a Spider Man puzzle for us to do after dinner.  Both themes covered!  He got to pick whatever he wanted for dinner too...and he chose Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup and grilled cheese.  I told him we could get food from ANYWHERE he wanted, but he stuck with his choice :)

Family puzzle time after dinner.

Earlier in the day, we gave Max his birthday gifts...

 A brand new bicycle, a lava lamp and a Leap Reader w/books.

Very excited about his Leap Reader!  He has been begging me to learn how to read and I thought this might assist us in helping him take the next step.  So far, so good.  He's been very studious about using this new tool :)

Bowling Party:

This was Max's first "friend party".  He got to invite his pre-school class and his cousin's to go bowling.  This is also the first time we've had a party outside our house.  I'm learning to let go ;)

This awesome cake and cupcakes made by Suzette at The Cupcakery.

Sneaky Sully blew out Max's candle halfway through the birthday song.  Oops.  So we had a do-over :)

For the fourth year Max collected donations for the Ronald McDonald House at his birthday party. 

And again this year the happiest I saw him all week was when we dropped off the items he collected.

 I'm so proud of his generous heart and the little man he's becoming. 

In the words of Max..."I'm four years old now, which means I'm pretty much an adult." :)

{Max's 3rd Birthday}

{Max's 2nd Birthday }

Love Hangover

I look forward to holidays (even the ridiculous ones like Valentine's Day) with my kids so much. Mostly because I use it as an excuse to do one of my favorite things...plan a party.  Putting together these little surprises is a creative outlet for me.  I hope they never outgrow their excitement for my efforts because I really want to do these things until they're in high school :)

That being said...I'm really sick of hearts, sugar and the color red right now.
Ugh.  Love hangover.

They each got a small surprise, a card from Momma and a little note from Dad.

Donuts and yogurt w/strawberry sauce.

 Making Valentine Slime for their playgroup.  It's so easy they did it themselves (minus the measuring)

For our playgroup Valentine's Party.

For Sullivan's class.

For Max's class.

  Fletcher went to his very first Valentine's Party too!  We started going to a playgroup on Tuesday's when the big boys are in school so he could make his own "friends" and I could spend some quality time with him alone.  The Saturday before V-day one of the babies hosted an awesome party :)

Ready to go!

I love these little valentine's of mine...

We hosted playgroup on Valentine's Day at the Vintage House and celebrated Max's birthday too.

Cookie decorating and strawberry milk.

So much fun.  So much love.

The Fox | 3 Months

My dear,

You're now three months old.  

You're still sleeping at my bedside, even though you're sleeping through the night just fine.  When you fall asleep in my arms at the end of the day I don't want to put you down.  And when I hear you stir in the middle of the night I peek into your bassinet, half hoping you're awake.  I've been known to pick you up even if you're not, just to kiss the top of your head, trace the outline of your face and stroke your chubby cheeks.

I love our quiet moments together.  I can feel our hearts being woven together so tightly when its just the two of us awake in the dimly lit room.  Solidifying a bond that will last forever.  Sadly our nighttime rendezvous are getting fewer and farther in between.  I guess I should be thankful you're such a champion sleeper.

However, in the light of day, witnessing your personality unfold is equally gratifying.  You're also starting to engage your brothers with your babbling, cooing and smiling.  They're so thrilled with these first signs of reciprocation.  

Every time you smile at Sully, he'll excitedly exclaim..."Fwetch WOVES me!" And then Max will say "No...he love ME!" :)

You're creating magic in our lives, sweet boy.  And we love you so much.

My whole heart, 

Momma

Olympics XXII

The Winter Olympics hold a special place in my heart because the 2010 Olympics coincided with Max's birth. 

The night we went into the hospital was the night of the opening ceremony in Vancouver.  Billy and I watched it as we waited to meet our baby.  We realized that the next time we witnessed the Winter Olympics we would have a four year old child.  A FOUR YEAR OLD!  I remember looking down at my big belly, which held a tiny baby, thinking that was impossible.  

My nerves and excitement matched the nerves and excitement I saw on the faces of the athletes as they entered the arena.  I was about to do one of the most important things of my life, as were they.  I realized my life as I knew it at that moment would never be the same. And the memory of the opening ceremony marks that turning point.

What would we experience in the next four years of our lives?  Happily, the answer to that question can be found within the pages of the
"Murray Party" blog(s).

Friday we spent the day with our big four-year-old boy.  He had his check-up with Dr. Kate (btw, let the record show...41 lbs, 42 inches tall, 90th%).  Billy took they day off work so he could come with us and then treat Max to lunch.  Just the three of us. We told Max the story of watching the Olympics in our hospital room.  And how the early days at home with him were spent watching the winter games in the middle of the night since it was the only thing on TV.  I remember it all so vividly.

Dad and Max at his 4-year doctor appointment.

Max loves to write his name.  And his other favorite letters are S, P and R.  I'm not sure why.  He can write the whole alphabet, but these three letters are his favorite for some reason?  He writes them over and over.

 Max was so intrigued with all of this talk about the Olympics that we ended up watching some of the trailers and the P&G spots featuring athletes and their moms.  Which...if you haven't seen those...watch them with a tissue nearby.  Then Max decided that he, obviously, was going to be an Olympic athlete.  He felt snowboarding would be his game :)

The opening ceremony this past Friday could not have come at a better time.  With Max being so intrigued with the whole thing and Sully just happy to get excited about something when Max does, they couldn't wait to watch the ceremony that night.

We did a little Olympic art and then we let them have a special treat while watching the ceremony...

Olympic Rings...

Passing the torch...aka mango sorbet.

After we told them about the torch and how it's passed to light the cauldron they began running around the house with their ice cream cones.  It's one of those parenting moments when you're sure you should tell them to stop, but they're just having too much fun.  Plus a little ice cream on the floor isn't the end of the world.  Unless you're the kid whose ice cream ends up on the floor.  In which case, it is very very serious and sad.  Max learned the hard way that its not wise to run on a slippery hardwood floor with an ice cream cone :)

Post bath ice cream treat!  In hindsight bath should have come after ice cream :)

 I wonder what our family will look like when the next Winter Olympics rolls around.  We'll have an EIGHT YEAR OLD!  And a 6 1/2 year old and Fletcher will be the age Max is now.  So crazy.  And the thought of all of that frankly makes my head (and heart) hurt.

Until 2018...I will cherish all that life hands to us...and I'll reflect again on how far we've come.