Ellie is SEVEN

 Welp...another birthday during quarantine 😭😭 I really thought that we were going to be back to our lives by now, the kids could play together again, and that we could plan a party for Ellie.  Thankfully she has accepted whatever this is and was able to enjoy her birthday.

She wanted to spend her special day in Ellensburg, so we headed over the day before so we could wake up and have a wonderful day celebrating her and doing her favorite things: riding bikes and playing at parks.  If I took a guess at her top two love languages they would be: Receiving Gifts and Words of Affirmation.  Watching her grow and become who she is has been so perfect.

Last photo as a Six year old

 

We got up in the morning, had doughnuts and opened her presents.  She was so excited about all of them and couldn't wait to test everything out...unfortunately we had to head back home because Thomas started feeling very unwell and needed to get into the doctor.  So we packed up all our stuff and made the drive home.  While Thomas was at his appointment, I got Ellie's tent all set up and ready to check out and play in.  It was a total hit for all three kiddos.  Thomas got back home (he ended up with a uti) and we finished up Ellie's birthday celebration.  We apologized to her for having to change our plans for the day and promised her we would return to The Grey Cottage as soon as we could.

a couple days later we made good on our promise and she got to go out fishing with Dada for her very first time! He said she did so well, was very careful and a good listener.  She caught her first fish with Dada's help and was just thrilled with the whole experience.

 

Sweet Ellie, I am so grateful for you.  You are kind, adventurous, a thrill seeker, silly, inquisitive, and personable.  You have a zeal for life and thrive off of being around others.  Your light shines when you are being praised and you are always wanting to have attention.  You are strong willed, sassy, and love to be in charge and ensure that rules are being followed, we call you "the enforcer".

I love you with all my heart.  Happy 7th Birthday my Ellie.

XOxo,

Ashley

Finnley is FOUR

Oh my dear sweet Finnley, you are FOUR! 

 

 

 

 in tradition: last photo as a 3 year old

 

We celebrated your birthday here at home, definitely not how we had imagined this day would go. Thankfully you didn't seem to be bothered by it and enjoyed your day.

 

We did all of your favorite things:

 

pancakes for breakfast

playing outside

chocolate cake for dessert

Dada home all day

 

 

 

 if I were to guess what your top two Love Languages would be, I would have to guess that they are Words of Affirmation and Physical Touch and that Receiving Gifts would be the very last one...though whenever you do receive a gift you are so elated and so very gracious.

 

My dear Finnley you are so so sweet. You are kind. You are goofy and silly. You have so much energy and love to laugh. You are a great sleeper, a wonderful helper, a super picky eater, have lots of emotions, and you are such a joy.

 

I am so grateful for all this time with you and that we get to all be home together.  I am choosing to focus on the positive, but I know how much you are missing out on during this quarantine.  You were making such strides at Preschool, being so brave and energetic, and thoroughly enjoying life as it was intended...just how I've dreamed for you.  I hope that you'll get to return soon and continue to grow.

 I love you so, my darling sweet Finnley.  Happy 4th Birthday!

XOxo,

Ashley

So this is 36

I did NOT expect to be celebrating my birthday while we’re in quarantine.  We had big plans for celebrating this year - out to eat at an Irish restaurant, complete with singing and all the things.

 

 

 

I was supposed to have a party at my house this last weekend but chose to cancel it because it just seemed like the safe thing to do.  I absolutely hated canceling...and then I started coming down with a cough and I guess it was good I had cancelled. It's nothing more, so please just CALM DOWN!

 

So, we just laid low for my birthday.  We hung around the house (because we literally cannot go anywhere right now) and I rested a bit.  We got some Indian takeout for dinner...and absolutely no dessert 😭😭😭

 

I love being with my family and that was all that I needed this year. 

 

*gosh the world is really crazy right now and I just don't know how I feel about it.  School is cancelled for 6 weeks, businesses are shut down, and it's all so so weird.

XOxo,

Ashley

Séamus is ONE!!

OMG!!! how is Séamus ONE?!!! this year has gone by so incredibly fast and I have enjoyed all of it!  We celebrated our boy big today...and can I just say that today was so much more enjoyable than his birthday was last year?! 😂😂😂 Don't get me wrong, finally delivering him and having him in our arms was so amazing but getting to see him walking around, laughing, and doing all the fun things was so much better than being stuck in a hot, sticky hospital recovering from a cesarean delivery...plus we already have this nursing thing down so it was way more fun too 😉

We did our very best to celebrate this day to the fullest!  The weather was absolutely beautiful. We went to the waterfront where they have an awesome splash pad, and it was so fun to see Séamus walking around and having the best time. Then over to the playground, where he mostly just ate all the wood chips 🙈 and then out to lunch.  Back home we did a photo shoot, sang him happy birthday, and ate cake.

My heart is so happy that he is here.  Séamus is everything we could ever imagine.  He filled a void in me and has allowed for so much healing to happen in my life.  

Séamus, you are goofy, a turd, so full of energy and light, you love to laugh, are so easy going, and are obsessed with the boobies.  You have 4 teeth, are walking, and still the tiniest little peanut.  You love to feed yourself, can barely sit (or stand) still...always on the move.  You get into everything and are so brave.  You can climb up into the trampoline all by yourself, can maneuver your way out of the infant swing on our swingset, and try to climb into the hammock.  You are enamored by fire, don't like it when we take things away from you, and are very very vocal.  Your favorite things to do are to suck on charging cords, hold our phones or the remote for the tv (and you know the difference between a fake one), and being around your sisters.  You look up to them so much and now that you're walking, you are trying to keep up with them in all the things.  You are a world traveler, love Mickey Mouse, and have that easy going nature about you 90% of the time.  We are so blessed by you and I am forever grateful that we attempted IVF and were able to bring you into this world.

I love you, Séamus. Happy First Birthday to my boy!

♥ Ashley

Happy Birthday Ellie!!

Ellie is SIX!!

I remember so much about her so vividly:

+ the drive over to Spokane the day before she was born

+ the stop at McDonald's on the way to the hospital (that took 45 minutes to get our food)

+ waiting in our hospital room for them to bring her to us

+ hearing her cries as they brought her down the hallway to our room and the tears that flooded when they placed her in my arms...I was finally a Mama!!!

As her birthday was approaching this year, she had a much better grasp on time and dates.  Despite my joking to just skip Tuesday altogether so she would stay 5, she would have nothing to do with it and was adamant that she was turning 6 no matter what!  She wanted us to crawl into her bed in the morning to wake her up and be sure to sing the birthday song! The sweetest ever!  Her joy, excitement, and enthusiasm for her birthday was so heartwarming and fun to experience.  This has been the best year yet and I have a feeling things are just going to keep getting better and better!

We stopped at the doughnut shop for her classmates on the way to school. She was sure to tell everyone in the shop "It's my birthday today, I'm six you know!"

 I dropped her off with a big kiss and told her I would see her soon!

Finnley had swim lessons, then we went back home for a little bit before it was time to go back to Ellie's school for her classroom party.

We passed out doughnuts, her class sang to her, there was an assembly she wanted us to attend, and then we joined her for recess! We hung out in her classroom a little bit longer and then when she was dismissed to her reading group we went out into the car to watch a movie (we only had 30 minutes until school was out) before she got into the car.

Her dinner request was the Spaghetti Factory and all she really wanted was the sourdough bread and ice cream!  She made sure to let our hostess and waiter know that it was her birthday and was so worried that she was going to miss her Birthday Song while she was in the restroom.

We stopped at Target on the way home so that she could pick out an LOL doll because she's been wanting one for 100 years! and could not wait to get home to open it!

When we got home it was cake and she got to open her LOL doll.  We finished off the night with some Masha and Bear.

It was so much fun! I can't believe she is already 6 and only 6 at the same time, it feels like she has always been here with us.

Sweet Ellie Faith, I love being your Mama and celebrating you is one of my favorite things to do!

♥ Ashley

Finnley is THREE!!

My sweet sweet Finnley girl is THREE years old!!

I can hardly handle it because she is so ready to be three!

Finnley has had quite the year as a two year old.  We have battled with some serious emotions, meltdowns, fears, insecurities, among other challenges and have seen some major improvements with our oils, specifically our Unicorn Blend.  She moved into Ellie's room, out of her crib and into the bottom bunk of their bunk bed, she became a BIG sister, and is our first child to have broken a bone, her cousin broke her collar bone barely 2 weeks after Séamus was born.  She stopped sucking her fingers, plays independently both inside and out, and she started Preschool!

Finnley loves to play outside, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, is starting to show a slight interest in potty training, and is almost as tall as Ellie.  Her favorite foods are chicken nuggets, smoothies, milk, graham crackers, and pretzels.  She actually likes chocolate!! and turns her nose up at anything green...unless its a gummy.  She loves baths, does so well at gymnastics, and is even starting to like the pool!

She knows her colors, can do some counting, and says letters. She insists that we are all living in "her house", her brother is Shamey Schu not Séamus, and that she can put her oils on all by herself.  She will spend an hour looking at our photo albums naming all of the people in our family, putting legos together, and loves all the littlest toys she can find.
 

Finnley has been known to eat paper, her favorite word is still "NO!!!!!", and her vocabulary is growing every single day.  She participates in circle time at school, loves to sing songs, and now with our Unicorn Oil she will even participate and play at the Library play group!  She refuses to wear her hair in a ponytail or clip/bow, runs circles in our house every night, and tries to do everything that Ellie does.  She loves to be "First" for everything and refuses to concede that she is in fact not first.

It blows my mind every day at how completely hilarious she is.  Like how does she even know how to be as funny as she is?  She makes the best faces, flutters her eyebrows, and is just 100% goofy.  Though her emotions be strong she is a server at heart.  She lines up our shoes, loves to do all the chores, and I can pretty much count on her being the first one to help start cleaning up.  She is also fiercely independent and likes to do things all on her own: her shoes, her clothes, the door, her seatbelt...and even though she can't quite do them on her own, she will fight you for the opportunity to try it first and is adamant that she can do it herself and does not want any of your help....until she does! 

My sweet sweet Finnley Ann you are everything I hoped for and dreamed of.  You sure do give me my run for my money but I wouldn't want it any other way, because of you I am a better Mama, because of you I am learning so much more, because of you I see so much growth.  I love you sweet Finnley.  Thank you for being you!! Here is to Three!!

Finnley's Birth
Finnley's 1st Birthday
Finnley's Second Birthday

♥ Ashley