Cinco!

Where the heck did five years go!  I'm really not kidding.  How did this beautiful face.....

...turn into this beautiful face seemingly over night?

And I knew that turning five would be a momentous event, but Koen really took his excitement to the next level.  For the past week, everything that he's done has somehow been tied to his new age.  He truly believes that he grew noticeably bigger overnight, and that his abilities to do things like jumping higher, and running faster also improved overnight.

I also love what Finn has been telling him all week, "Koen....you're OLD!"  Koen will usually respond with, "No Finn, I'm five.  Next year I'll be six."  Then Finn says, "No, Koen...you're OLD!"  It's this whole back-and-forth routine that they've started.  Pretty funny.

We gave Koen a scooter for his birthday and he instantly took to it as if it were another limb.  The kid is a natural on that thing.  I was quite surprised given his tentative approach to riding a bike.  Koen has zero fear about the scooter, and can hardly hide his giant smile as he rides it around.  Perfect gift!


This is Koen first thing in the morning as he discovers his new scooter sitting on the table.  :)  Pure joy!

 No birthday is complete without the 'Special Plate'

A candle in a blueberry sourdough pancake shaped like a five.  Yummy!!

The Darth lunch box doubles as a mask and went with him to school that very day....

and every day since Nov. 1st

I took the kids to the park to play and ride bikes and scooters.  The nice weather inspired me to also take a few 'birthday photos'.

Cute Finnie and his pink, flowered helmet.  He loves that thing.

Shhh....don't tell Oski that his birthday was two days later.  

He turned 8... but he didn't get a scooter.  :(

We celebrated with his class at school, taking cupcakes to share.  All the kids got to make birthday wishes for Koen.  Every last wish had a Star Wars theme.  Hmmmm....I think they know Koen pretty well there.

For his birthday dinner that night, Koen chose to go out for Pho.  I was happy with his decision...so was he!

Then we wrapped up a perfect day with Theo Chocolate from Molly Moons.  Heavenly!

Happy Birthday, kiddo!  We love you more than you'll ever know!  

11.1.11

PEPS Birthday!

Four years gone since our babies were truly babies. We celebrated together by taking the four year-olds out for a special dinner date with the mommies. The night was filled with play, laughter, hide and seek, and scrumptious Trophy Cupcakes! So fun.

Happy Birthday PEPS kiddos! We missed those of you that couldn't make it, but, as always, you were there in our hearts!

4 is a lotta BIG!

It has happened. Koen has officially turned four! A major event at our house. We somehow ended up celebrating his birthday for an entire week. As a result, Koen is somewhat confused about when his actual birthday was. But that's o.k. An entire 'birth week' sounds better anyway.

His actual birthday started with a few presents and some very nice phone calls from family. When he talked to Nana that morning, he told her (with gusto) that "four is a lotta big!" You got that right buddy. He is rather obsessed with getting 'bigger' and asks us each night at the dinner table if we can see him grow with each bite.

I didn't realize how serious he was with this question until one day I jokingly told him (after he refused to eat his lunch) that I thought I saw him shrink a little bit. You've never seen a smile drop from a face so drastically. He sat staring at me, and then the wall for what seemed to be ages while I cleared our dishes from the table. Soon he began to wail, telling me to bring his lunch plate back so he could eat and grow.

Don't worry, I sat down and told him that what I had said wasn't true and that he wasn't going to shrink. Yikes! I need to be more careful with my jokes! He is a 'Literal Lou'.

After breakfast, we headed over to the gymnastics academy for some indoor romping with our friends. Wouldn't you know, the day before and the day after were terribly gorgeous and summer-like, but the day of his birthday was pouring rain...all day!

The boys in the foam pit.

Finn has gone kamikaze lately on the little slide that drops into the pit. I can hardly keep up with him...up, down, up, down. He goes so fast, that he sometimes starts sliding before both of his feet are in front of him. Needless to say, he's done a few trips down the slide with his legs in the splits.

Koen is getting more agile and daring with each visit.

It's been wonderful for his coordination.

But then again, he is a big four-year-old now!

He spent some time in front of the gym mirror,

checking himself out to see if he looked older that day. :)

Fearless Finn.

If I turned my head for a split second, he'd be at the top of a ladder.

We definitely have a climber on our hands.

After the gym, Koen spent an hour out in the rain trying out his new alligator umbrella that his friend gave him. He felt very special...and big, of course.

And, naturally, it wouldn't be a celebration at our house without an ice cream outing. We have a new place we like to go for frozen custard. Koen only gets chocolate anymore. That's my boy!

Midweek, we invited Collin and Shandy over for pizzas, cake and ice cream. It was low key and perfect. Finn and Collin logged some serious cuddle time. It has now become their little ritual, I'd have to say. Once Collin gets Finn into position, Finn doesn't move for at least an hour (or as long as Collin can stay put). He also doesn't make a peep. It's like Finn disappears into his uncle's lap. Very tender.

Mmmm...chocolate cake!

And to wrap up the 'Week of Koen', we threw a little birthday party at a local community center for a few friends. We ate, we sang, Koen opened gifts, and then we chased the kids all over the play gym. Koen loved every minute of it. And he was thrilled to be able to hand out balloons and handmade bookmarks (made by Koen himself) to each of his guests as they said goodbye.

Our beautiful, BIG, birthday boy!

You may be getting bigger, but you'll always be my 'baby boy'.

Love, Mom

One Year of Finnegan!

Just one year ago, on a sunny, warm and beautiful May Day, my water broke. After an amazingly perfect labor and delivery, Finnegan joined and completed our little family. This year has flown by, as they all do. And today, we can scarcely remember life without this precious child.

Finnegan Brady Greenleaf

Then...

...and Now!

We celebrated his very first birthday last Saturday. It was a fabulous party, if I do say so myself. The day was filled with family, friends, food and fun...all for Finn (I love alliteration). Nana came to town for the event, and she was instrumental in helping us put it all together. The house was decorated with balloons and photos of Finn throughout the past 12 months.

The spread included delicious Greek Turkey pita sandwiches

with tzatziki sauce and a Greek Rice Salad.

Finn got his very own 'healthy' cake (shown above), made with bananas, tofu, almond butter, millet and such (tasted better than it sounds). The rest of us enjoyed Peanut Butter and Chocolate cupcakes. Check out these tasty little goodies I made. The recipe is definitely a keeper! Sooo good!

The following shot was taken just after we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Finn.

Notice that he was not crying or in any way traumatized.

(If you attended Koen's first birthday party, you might recall the terror.)

Finn was nice enough to share with me. Yum!

Oh yeah...this boy was headed straight for the bathtub, no doubt about it.

Even his shoes were caked!

Happy Birthday, Finnie!

You are such a happy little boy

and we love you so much!

Love,

Mom, Dad and Koen