5 birthdays!!

Hi!  We made it through October!!  Whew! We celebrated 5 birthdays this month!  First, it was Addison, Emily, and Hailey's 8th birthday on the 3rd.  We celebrated by first going to their freezing cold soccer game..then out for lunch with a bunch of their teammates.  And then we went to Skyzone trampoline park with Grandpa Kim and Grandma Kathy.  We had a fun time with ALL of us jumping around! :)  I sure love my big eight year olds!  They continue to love soccer, school, and new this year, GEMS (a church version of girl scouts) :)  They are each so unique and so perfect in our family!  Love you all girlies! 

(Addy, Hailey, Em)

Then we celebrated Ryan's birthday on the 11th by watching a Packer game at Mom & Dad Dooyema's house.  Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of this incredible guy but I still love him more than ever and am so thankful we get to walk this life together! :)

And THEN, on the 30th, we celebrated Kacie Jane's FIRST birthday!  How did this happen already?! I have this feeling that even though she's going to grow up, this girl will ALWAYS be my little baby girl. :)  She's such a sweetie and cracks us up daily.  She started walking all the time around 11 1/2 months and now she's super speedy and so cute tooling around. :)  She LOVES people and loves when they pay attention to her.  In stores, she always makes this scrunched up face at people just to get a reaction and for them to start talking to her.  Then she acts all shy but then gets a HUGE smile on her face.  She's a big squealer as well.  She doesn't say any words yet...can say some consonants but no real words and just lots of shrieks and squeals. :)  She is a super happy baby and just loves watching her sisters and exploring the world.  She does have a sense of adventure I'd say as we usually find her tucked inside of buckets or baskets, hiding in corners, climbing up bunk bed ladders, and squealing on her swing - the higher the better.  :)  Kacie has never been the best sleeper...she usually goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up for the day at 4:30ish.  Then we hang out and drink coffee together and then she goes back down for her morning nap around 7 or 8 when her sisters wake up/go to school.  Kind of crazy to get up that early but it's working out because I just go to bed early. :)  I am down to nursing once a day.  Kind of hard to stop when I know this is the last time I'll ever experience it! :)  Kacie brings me more joy than I can tell you.  She is a pure delight and I thank God seriously every day for bringing her into our lives.  She just completes our fam perfectly!  Kacie you are a little angel and we are so grateful God picked us to be your mom and dad!  Love you!!!

 Kacie is in the 85th percentile for weight at 22 lbs. 6 oz.  96th percentile for heigh at 31" and her cute head is in the 99th percentile and 48.8 cm :)  She is doing great and the Dr says she's right in line with Addy's growth chart! :) (Amazingly as a preemie Addy weighed 22lbs 1 oz. at one year!)

So on the 30th we had a pumpkin party to celebrate our little pumping.  Here she is with one of her boy besties Henry. :)

 Grandma Kathy made super yummy and amazing pumpkin cupcakes for the big bash!  THANK YOU!

 She had LOTS of people in her space but didn't seem to mind a bit.  Here Kacie is doing her "sign language" that we've told her means "more please" :)

 Loved her cupcake.  She ate it pretty lady like but devoured the whole thing :)And also put some in her hair. :)

 The big kids carved pumpkins in the garage and it was a great celebration.  Love you baby girl!

 Then the next day was Halloween!  Hailey - 50's girl  Emily - Gypsy Addison - Indian and Kacie - a little piglet.  Lots of fun in October!

June/July/August Update! :)

Hi!!!!!  So summer was nuts and now the girls are back at school so I have a sec to update the long lost blog!  Not sure anyone still reads it but wanted to update it!  The summer was a busy one as usual but we love summer!  I'll give a quick run down.. :)

First we had to say good bye to Ryan's brother Shane and Jody and nieces Erin and Kate.  They moved to South Dakota in June!  It feels weird not to be living by any siblings anymore but we hope they love it there!  

Emily, Kate, Addy, Erin, and Hailey

The pics are all kind of out of order..sorry! 

Cousin Kenton and my sister Kara and Cory and my parents came to the lake in July.  It was so fun to have them there, especially Kenton as exactly one year ago he was in Kara's stomach at the lake and then the very next day he was born emergency style.  Such a blessing he was here and that he is okay now!!  These two were little peas in a pod.  :) Baby KJ's :)  (Kenton James and Kacie Jane) :)

 The girls took golf lessons this summer and had a blast!

 We also tried to get a few bike rides in as a fam. :)

 The girls read a certain amount of books this past year and then got free tickets to Six Flags so Grandpa and Grandma came with us!  The girls loved it!  It was a rainy day which we were bummed about at first but once we got there it turned out great because there were NO lines and we were able to go on so many rides! It was perfect!

 Strawberry picking with my girls..

 Grandma Kathy with her littles...Kate and Kacie

 Ry and I celebrated 12 years together at the Zac Brown Band concert!  It was a fun night and an amazing 12 years!  Love him!!

 Beach fun

 Zoo fun

 Hailey and Kacie.  The girls were very helpful this summer!  They went back to school today and I realized that I need to baby proof our house now because the girls always watched her while I showered or made dinner and now I have no one to do that!  Kacie almost 10 months and is crawling everywhere super fast.  She's pulling up on everything, pulling lamps down, opening cupboards, walking along everything, eating polly pockets, going up stairs, and standing alone.  She is going to keep me on my toes this winter!!

 Papa Hank and Pauline celebrated 90 years this summer so they had a big bash to celebrate!  Cousins Jack and Annie came into town for the big event and the girls love playing with them.  It was the hottest and most humid day of the year though but fun to run around on the farm!

 I had some friend time up at the lake and at this fun little restaurant called the Freckled Frog. :)

 Lifejackets on babies are so funny. :)  They were good sports!

 They could be siblings. :)

Kara and I took this pic exactly one year ago wearing these coverups except we were both prego! So fun to KNOW those babies now! 

 Then Kacie became a super fan of her sisters at soccer.  The girls did a soccer camp for a week and are now doing Academy soccer - 2 practices a week and one or two games on the weekends.  The girls love it and I'm learning that Kacie will sit still if I have food for her. :)

 My big girl.

 Well not quite THAT big. :)

 Some of Ryan's college friends came out to the lake in August.  They had 3 boys and 3 girls and the kids played so great together!

 Then a year ago in August Hailey broke her wrist and now this month Addison tripped over a hose on our driveway and hit her head on the cement without her hands breaking her fall sooo she got a concussion and I took her to the ER.  It was a super crazy day as I was watching 3 other kids at the time and then she started losing her short term memory so I freaked out.  She is doing much much better now.  But concussions are scary!!!

 It's just me and Kacie Jane now! At her 9 month appointment Kacie was 21 lbs. (86th percentile) and 29  (89th percentile )inches tall. She started crawling at 8 months and is now pulling up, standing alone, walking with push toys, etc.  She eats all sorts of food but has now started to become picky and will spit out her avocado and broccoli.  But she LOVES to eat.  :) She is definitely starting to get a mind of her own as a new kind of "whining" has started this week.   She usually wakes up around 5:30 or so...then goes back to sleep around 7:30 until 9ish.  Then she takes another nap in the afternoon from around 1 -3ish depending.  If her naps were cut short due to her sister's schedules or noise, then she takes another short nap after dinner.  :)  I'm still nursing her at 5:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and bedtime.  She still occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night to sneak in a feeding as well but that is slowing down so that's nice!  She is a happy girl with a fun little personality.  She's so much fun!

 This weekend we met Shane and Jody in the Dells for a little waterpark adventure.  It was good to see them and enjoy one last summer weekend!