F O U R.

At long last, I am playing a teensy game of catch up on the blog.  With our move, four birthdays, and Christmas around the corner all in under two months time, it’s been a challenge for me to keep up with daily life (or, rather, figure out what daily life looks like in this new space and place) and this little ole blog has been neglected a bit (that said, if you are so inclined, I am loving some instagram these days, and you can follow me there:  shannonreppard).  Because Christmas is upon us, I had to not wrap presents and, instead, write about my babies--Who are FOUR.  I have no idea how it happened.  I have threatened them with my Nana’s words of putting bricks on their heads to stop them from growing up so fast, but they don’t love that idea for some reason! 

while I remember the days were long and bled into one another, I so wish I could scoop up these tiny things one more time and smooch them!

one.

two.  (I cannot even stand the chub!)

three.

I don’t know how my tiny babies who were 6lbs, 12oz and 5lbs, 11oz are now FOUR and talking and debating and giggling and making jokes.  While there are definitely some crazy moments involved in raising two energetic boys who no longer nap and who really thrive by destroying things, playing loud games of pretend (most of which involve rescuing someone or something) and climbing up things that no one should ever think of climbing, we LOVE watching these two interact, seeing how their little minds work, hearing how they think about things (when there is enough silence for one of them to actually start and finish a sentence without being interrupted, that is!), and we adore their smiles and laughter.  These two are quite hilarious, and the amount of energy they have truly amazes me! 

it is quite challenging to get two four year olds to smile for a picture.  welcome to my world.

priceless.

saying cheese does not actually equal smiling . . . interesting thought . . .

50% smiling . . .

and . . . RASCALS!

The boys’ birthday was on a Sunday this year, and we had a great little morning of opening gifts as a family.  Anna had decided that she wanted to get her brothers umbrellas for their birthday—they had seen them in the store, and there was much excitement to be had.  One of the sweetest things to me about this morning was that my boys felt fully celebrated and Anna was SO VERY PROUD to give her gifts—oh, I loved it!

the anticipation.

the joy.

the thrill.

the pride.

for their birthday, I went into their classroom to read this book—of which they got a copy for their special day.  I had one of those “I can’t believe I am doing this—I am actually a mom—moments.”  It was so fun and so sweet, and the kids loved it.  Hudson may have played with the hair of a little girl sitting next to him (which was SHOCKING to me!) and William may have had a hard time not interrupting me every page, but all in all, it was very fun and a sweet thing to do. (miss jenn, this picture is for you.  they were BEYOND EXCITED about this!)

daddy wanted to get his boys their very first super-hero action figures.  I think that Batman was well received . . .

sister was there and enjoying it all!

later that day, we had a “things that go/construction” party for them.  dear friends of ours borrowed a digger (YES:  BORROWED A DIGGER) from another friend and brought it to our house.  I thought my boys’ eyes were going to explode.  They could not believe that a digger was at their house.  And, they even got to ride it.  It just doesn’t get any better than that!

william taking his turn.

so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself!

hudson’s turn at the wheel!

    

even cousin charlie had a ride!  Anna and Jake decided not to ride, but they agreed to pose instead!

    

MY BOYS!

our littlest digger!

this big ole boy is so much fun.  Hudson is quite energetic, but very sweet and compassionate.  I have loved seeing how he cares for his sister or for other people in this past year—it is so dear to me to see that God has gifted him in this way.  He is a big ole boy with a huge heart.  He loves to pretend he is a lion, dress like spiderman, read books, sing, practice writing the letter “H” on my furniture (!), and he is a great helper and encourager.  I adore this strawberry blonde boy of mine! 

 

this child of mine, is definitely mine.  he is a lot like me, so I hear.  he talks up a storm and is happy to chat with almost anyone who comes across his path.  we love seeing how he thinks through things, and mr. william asks a lot of very detailed questions in order to fully understand things.  he is full of energy and love to play hide-and-seek, dress up like superman, carry around tiny things, paint, sing, take pictures, negotiate and debate, and help lead the troops.  william likes to know what is happening around him, and he seems to be somewhat fearless little leader.  it is so neat for us to see how God has gifted him with the ability to reason in a way that is sincere and genuine and thoughtful.  this boy is driven and determined, and I love that about him (except when he won’t do what I am asking him to do!) 

and, while we are not in a single picture with our children, we were actually present for their birthday.  our budding photographer, william, took these gems!

and, well, as for us . . . we continue to be two tremendously grateful (albeit somewhat tired) parents of three little ones who keep us on our toes (or scrubbing crayon off the walls.  again.) and keep us laughing A LOT.  william and hudson, I have a hunch that FOUR is going to be SO MUCH FUN!

 

Technorati Tags: william and hudson

home.

we are settling into our new house and making it feel like home.  I am more and more convinced that “home” is where “our people” are, but having our stuff and kids and dog all underneath the same roof is certainly a nice feeling!

SO, without closing on the house we were selling . . . and with the goal of putting some stress behind us . . . we went out and celebrated Hatch’s birthday.  It was so much fun, a great distraction from the house stress, and a great reminder of God’s gift to me in blessing me with my hubby.  We celebrated, and we spent our last night at our house on Seminary Avenue.

the next day, we did indeed close on our old house . . . and we also celebrated our baby girl turning TWO.  I felt like I was doing just fine until we showed up at music class and all of her friends sang to her.  “Happy birt-day ME, Mommy!”  and the tears began to flow.  Oh, my baby girl!  Growing up so quickly and so beautifully and with such sweetness and sass all rolled into one.  Oh, how we love this precious surprise baby of ours.  She is so dear to us!  And, she can certainly hold her own with those rascal brothers of hers!

Miss Ash came over with some hand-made morning birthday treats for Anna!  Oh, how sister loves her new tu-tu!  We celebrated that day and that evening with a party at Sugie’s, and as a gift to Sugie and Bumpa, we moved on in with them for almost two weeks!

We were supposed to close on our new house on Anna’s big day, and we had to move the closing of our new house to the following day (which was a Friday . . .)  It was stressful and touch and go, but in God’s perfect timing, we closed at the very. last. possible. minute.  the celebration began . . .

and, so did the work!

we may have had a meltdown or two, but we did our best to keep it together!

While the work was happening, we made some use of our new backyard!  (this is a horrible picture, but we watched the man build daddy’s shed over lunch.  It doesn’t get any better than that!)

Sister tried out the new swing . . .

We took about 78321 trips to the hardware store . . .

And, we continued to celebrate little miss!

We then began our race with Hurricane Sandy—our goal wasto move in before she landed . . . so, we made things as complicated as possible and moved out of our old house on Saturday . . . we did what any parents would do, we lined up our kids with some shows at Sugie’s and we raced to move before the rain fell!

it was wild seeing our empty house . . . it held so many sweet memories for our family . . . so much change, so much life.  it’s just crazy that we moved into the house having been married just a few years, and we moved out with a different job (or two) for hatch, three children under four, and an enormous dog.  that little house will always be special to us.  and, our neighbors . . . OH, how we will miss our neighbors!

and we continued our race against Sandy and moved into the new house on Sunday . . . well, actually, the movers and I moved into the new house on Sunday while Hatch waited in line for 6 hours to buy a generator.  Exciting times!  Since Sandy came and went without much more than some wind, a brief power outage and some rain, Sugie and I were able to power through and unpack and unpack and unpack.  She worked her magic on our closets (we removed the doors from this one due to smashing tiny fingers) . . . can you guess whose closet this is?

some treasures were uncovered in our packing . . .

and, we eventually made enough headway in our unpacking to bring home the troops.  the little ones hadn’t been inside yet, and they were SO EXCITED.  Anna was most excited to see that her play kitchen from our old house had, indeed, followed her here.  Since moving in, these little ones wake up and scatter to play . . . and I chase them around to get clothes on, diapers changed, and sweaters on before we dash out the door! 

Our first morning at the new house!

First Yunch!

And, our second night in the house was . . . HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween dinner with our crazy crew!

then, life continued as we know it . . . you know, when daddy says to the kids “here is all of your candy” and then heads out the door to work!  thanks, daddy.  THANKS.

Anna began scaling the furniture for her “trick or treatings”  . . .

and, well, most of the boxes are unpacked . . . this house is feeling more like home, and we are doing our very best to settle on in for the long haul.  we are SO THANKFUL and so glad to be here!  God is generous and good to us . . . and, in hindsight, we can see that His timing is (indeed) perfect, and we are so very grateful!

y’all come visit!