Four Years

Dear Leland,

Sweet boy, this week, you turned four years old. The last four years have gone by so fast. Each year when it gets close to your birthday, I start to reminisce about the days leading up to and following your birth. I look at pictures and just can't believe that it was that long ago. It feels like I just blinked and you went from my teeny tiny preemie to a big, strong, healthy preschooler. You amaze me, Leland. Every single day, you amaze me.

You are one of the greatest joys in my life. We have some pretty great conversations. Lately, you've been telling me you want to stay little, and so a lot of our conversations revolve around that. While most kids can't wait to get bigger, you tell me that you want to go back inside my belly. But you also ask me questions like, "How do I get to be a dad?" So at least part of you wants to grow up. But I'm totally okay with you staying little.

You are still very into tractors, trucks, and all things that go. You have recently started to get interested in puzzles. You like to do them all by yourself, but you want me nearby to watch and help if necessary. And for Christmas, you got your first set of Legos - regular ones, not Duplos - and you're having a lot of fun with those. You like to watch Paw Patrol and Blaze and the Monster Machines, and lately you've been really into Christmas movies. You also love books - lots and lots of books!

Your favorite color is pink. If there is ever a color choice for anything, like cookies from a bakery, you choose pink. You even got a pink firefighter hat at the fire station the other day. We get lots of weird comments from people about this, but I love that you know what you like. You don't care what anyone else thinks, and I adore that about you. I hope you always stay true to yourself and like what you like regardless of what others think or say (as long as you're not hurting anyone else).

Your favorite food is still peanut butter and jelly. You ask for that every single day. And you always want to sit on the counter to watch me cook or pack lunches.

We had your well check today. You weigh 35 lbs (50th%) and you stand 41.25 inches tall (75th%). You wear 4T clothes, though you could probably still fit into 2T pants if they were longer. Ha! You're tall and skinny.

You sing all the time. Right now, your favorite song is "Buy Me a Boat" by Chris Janson. You also sing lots of songs from school, but when you know someone is listening, you get embarrassed and start acting silly.

You love to be outside as much as possible. In the summer, we ride bikes and take walks, and now that there is snow on the ground, you like to shovel, make snow angels, throw snowballs, and just tromp around the yard.

You are equal parts sweet and sassy. You love to hug and snuggle me (and Daddy and Alden), and you have a smile that lights up the room. You ask to sit on my lap while you eat dinner and always want to sleep in our bed (we let you sometimes). Basically, you love to be near me and Daddy as much as possible. You always want Alden to sit on your lap, even though he doesn't want to. You tell him he's the best brother and your best friend. In these moments, my heart melts. But you also have a bit of a 'tude that gets you in trouble pretty often. More so at school than at home, but we see it too. You have a big heart, but your four year old self is still learning about being respectful sometimes. You're very good about apologizing when you've hurt someone's feelings though. Like I said, you're very sensitive to others and want to be a good friend, but...you know...you're four. You slip sometimes. I do hope this improves soon though, at least at school. I mean, I have to work there, man.

Leland James, you are my sweet little sunshine. You love your family and friends. You are excited about life and enjoy being silly. You bring immense JOY to our family and so many people around you. I am so blessed to be your mama.

You may not be a baby anymore, but you'll always be MY baby. I love you to the moon and back.

Love,
Mom

Leland Turns Four

Yesterday, my big kid turned 4! This year, we decided to have a small birthday party at a local fire station with his friends from school. Since all of Leland's school friends are teachers' kids, it worked out fine to have his party on a Monday, since they were all off work too. Unfortunately, a few kids couldn't make it, so it was smaller than anticipated, but Leland just loved hanging out with his school friends again.

We planned to do a little sledding and then come in for pizza and cake, but Mother Nature did not cooperate and we didn't have any snow for his party. I was pretty bummed about that, but the kids had fun anyway. We got a tour of the fire station and the kids got to sit in some of the trucks.

Apparently, only the birthday boy gets to drive.

Paw Patrol Cupcakes

My friend sent me a recipe for birthday cake "pup-corn" - Alden is obsessed with the stuff.

When the fire fighter handed Sophie a pink hat, Leland said he wanted a pink one too. The boy loves pink. :)

We attempted to play on the playground outside, but it was SO cold so we only lasted 5-10 minutes.

Later that day, we had our usual grandparent birthday dinner. Leland fell asleep 30 minutes before grandparents were supposed to arrive. Once he's asleep, he's out. There is no waking him up, at least not without lots of whining. So he slept through about an hour of the "party."

Once he woke up, he was all about opening some presents.

He's been asking for this book (Bad Boys Get Cookie) for at least a month.

Legos! Regular sized Legos are new to this house as of Christmas. We've only ever had Duplos or MegaBloks)

Any shirt with a truck is a winner.

After presents, it was time for cake! Leland requested a Paw Patrol cake. I love to make and decorate their cakes myself. It's fun for me to plan it out and try to be creative (and the kids get so excited if there are toys on their cakes). I wasn't sure how I was going to do a Paw Patrol cake though until I saw a picture online of a dog bone cake. So I went that route. I'm definitely not super talented with cake decorating, and my calligraphy is kind of terrible, but I still thought it turned out cute. Leland dug it.

It was a busy day with TWO parties, but it was a good one. We are so thankful for everyone who helped us celebrate Leland's special day.

Christmas 2015

I have been looking forward to Christmas for months. I'm worse than a kid. I think about it and plan gifts way ahead of time, imagine the magic and fun of the morning, and even have a hard time sleeping the night before. Leland is at a really fun age, where he actually "gets" Christmas now, so he's been counting down with me.

My kids woke up extra early on Christmas morning (like most kids in the world) and they were so excited to see that Santa had come. They had so much fun opening presents. My mom made them an advent calendar where they opened a small toy every day for the last two weeks, so they've been all about presents. I was a little worried that, because of this, they would just tear everything open in just a few minutes and it wouldn't be special. But they really took some time and enjoyed each gift for a few minutes before moving on to the next one, which I loved. Especially since we don't do a whole lot of gifts. Usually four from us, one from Santa, and then stockings. Though this year, they only got three from us - we decided not to give them their sleds yet since we have no snow. It'll be a fun surprise for when the fluffy white stuff arrives.

Christmas Eve jammies

Fun from our Christmas Eve box - new jams, new movie (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), popcorn, and hot cocoa.

They each got a personalized book; "Leland the Little Digger" and "Alden the Talking Tractor." They loved them and insisted on reading them before opening more presents.

They also took the time to check out each other's presents, like Alden's dinosaurs.

They both got some new blocks. Legos for Leland (his first set of regular ones instead of Duplos), and Bristle Blocks for Alden.

Leland got his most desired gift - a Rescue Squad Mater. Santa had his work cut out for him finding that one since they don't make them anymore. But he came through and Leland was a very happy boy.

Stockings! Some stocking stuffers this year: coloring books, Cars diecast characters, bath toys (more Cars characters), toothbrushes, small puzzles, and some candy. While we weren't looking, Alden unwrapped like five Hershey's kisses and started shoveling them in his mouth.

The boys really enjoyed their new toys. Several times throughout the day Leland said, "Mom, I'm so happy," or "I really love this (toy) and I'm so glad I have it." Now, is Christmas all about presents? No. We definitely talk to our kids about the true meaning of Christmas, but I just love how happy my kids were this Christmas. They were truly over the moon excited about their gifts and shared them nicely all day. Dave and Leland spent some time building with Legos together too, which I think is pretty special to both of them (and special for me to witness).

After gifts, we had breakfast and we played with new toys all morning before heading out for Chinese buffet for lunch. It really was a magical Christmas. Oh, how I love my little family.

Operation: Do ALL the Christmas Things (part four)

I think this is the last of my "Christmas things" posts for this year...except for actual Christmas. It's our tradition to make and decorate cookies for Santa (and ourselves) on Christmas Eve. This year, we had some friends join us for the fun.

Leland was really into cutting them out. Fischer was the king of decorating. And Alden and Otto enjoyed the frosting and mini m&m's galore. It was a good time.

Cheeeeeese!

Otto loved the frosting.

Cuties!

I've been meaning to make a "Cookies for Santa" plate for about two years now. I finally got around to it this year. Leland was so excited about it.

Christmas season as a kid was pretty magical, but Christmas season with kids is a million times better. I love all of our fun activities and adventures together, as well as creating memories with our own traditions.

Gift Idea

I always struggle a little with what to give friends and co-workers for gifts. I love to give personal gifts that they will enjoy and that will actually get used, but I don't want to break the bank. 

Last year, I did some homemade bath and body gifts (sugar scrub, body butter, and bath salts). I did those again this year for a few people that are new to my list. But for the people that got those last year, I wanted to do something different. I always love mason jar gifts though. So after a little pinteresting, I found a pretty fun idea: DIY etched glass!

The etching was super easy. I bought a package of Armour Etch Glass Etching Cream from a craft store and used some contact paper and my cricut.

I used my cricut to cut the stencils out of contact paper. I suggest using contact paper or some other sticky paper. I tried it with card stock first but the edges of the letters didn't turn out very crisp that way (because the cream leaks under the paper). 

Here is what it looked like with cardstock taped to the jar.

And here is the much nicer version when I used contact paper.

Then I stuck the stencil to the jar, painted the cream on and let it sit for 30 seconds. 

Then I rinsed it off, removed the sticker, and voila! An inexpensive, personal gift. 

For Leland's teachers and a few friends, I etched their initials in mason jars and filled them with different things. For most friends, I filled them with Ghirardelli chocolates and added a gift or gift card. For example, for one friend who loves Christmas socks (like, serious obsession),  I filled hers with two pairs of socks and some nail polish. For another friend, I made a "hug jar" which included uplifting notes and quotes about friendship and added a Starbucks gift card. I thought it was a fun way to personalize a gift without breaking the bank.

The only issue with these jars is that the etching doesn't stand out a lot, so some friends didn't even realize they were etched at all until it was pointed out. But I still think they turned out cute.