Abe's 3rd Pirate Birthday!

I was shocked when Van turned 7-- but its equally shocking for me to fathom that our 'baby' Abe is 3!!

I kind of refuse to believe it. 

Abe is our most high strung child.  He can tackle you in fury and/or in love within the same 5 minutes. He is simultaneously frustrating and endearing. The learning curve for his personality has been a little more steep than it was with Jeanie or Van but I am praying the older he gets these strong personality traits will be for the better. 

In the car the other evening, we all took turns talking about our favorite things about Abe. Van said he loves the way Abe smells right when he first wakes up (which I totally understand) although this made me laugh-- Evans loves Abe's hugs...Jeanie loves Abe's snuggles...and I love Abe's "really fast" kisses.  

Indeed he smothers us all with so much love and we all dig it.  He was potty trained in about 2 days but I'm convinced its just because he wanted to impress Van and Jeanie. When he wants to tell us something that we don't feel like talking about, he says "But you're not hearing me. You're not hearing me at all." And we immediately crumble and listen. He tries to hold Van's big guitars and has learned most of the words to "Maneater" (because that's Van's favorite song at the moment).  He plays veterinarian, puppy, and horses with Jeanie. He's frighteningly coordinated and loves to climb/jump on everything. Abe loves all things cars, trains, and Tar Heels. (He wears a jersey every day). He cannot wait to finally get to play some sports on a real team and is officially a lefty just like his mama...

Abe's just got a sneaky little mischievousness about him and it seems to be working out okay ;-)

I don't know if I am becoming a laid back beach bum or if I'm just too exhausted to care as much, but this year we decided to keep things simple for Abe's birthday. Time with just the 5 of us seems so rare and he loves when big brother and sister play with him, so we decided to check out Pirate Voyage for an interactive dinner night in Myrtle Beach to celebrate. We all enjoyed it so I'd say it was a win-win situation. And we were able to enjoy a boat ride, balloons, and cupcakes with our cute neighbors. 

Happy Birthday Abe!! You're still my baby!!

Van's 7th Battleship Birthday!

WOW. Seven years old? Seriously-- how did this happen?!?

Every single day gets better and better. Blog posts are becoming more important to keep up with  because one of our new favorite traditions is reading through past birthdays (which were admittedly more thoughtful and planned) and the kids and I enjoy seeing just how much they have changed over the years.

Van had his first sleepover party last weekend with a few of his soccer buds and they spent the entire evening jamming out to Hall & Oates, Eric Clapton...putting together his giant First Order Transporter lego set... playing light sabers...eating an entire pizza...watching Ice Age...and that pretty much sums up his favorite things at the moment. He has really gotten into soccer this year and plays so hard! He has made the cutest and sweetest friends here and I love that he's found a good crew to play with.

Listening to Van's prayers is a neat way to see what is on his mind and what he really cares about, which are the sweetest and kindest thoughts. He recently moved to St. Mark Catholic school which incorporates prayer into the classroom.  I used to have mixed feelings about mixing church and school, but its a good fit for Van. He has enjoyed learning more about religion and between Sunday school and cub scout meetings I'd have to say I am pretty proud of the confident and thoughtful little guy he is turning out to be. Watching him experience and adapt to all of these new circumstances has literally made me feel like my heart is permanently outside of my body-- wanting to be so many places at the same time so that I can always be with him and helping and guiding him. I know the older he gets, the more this is going to sting.

Ever since we moved to Wilmington, Van has been intrigued by the battleship. He loved touring it over the summer and when he found out he could have his birthday there, it was a done deal. Since then we have checked out battleship books from the library and watched countless YouTube videos about the history of the battleship. Happy 7 years sweet Van!! I love you!!