And she is 6!

Reese turned 6 on July 24 and we celebrated on the 23rd with a pool party for her friends and family at the community pool in New Glarus. It was HOT. Perfect day for the pool. Here are some pics of her fun day.

Reese chose a "Secret Life of Pets" cupcake cake, even though we havent seen the movie, lol. 

 Reese and cousin, Mekenna

 Reese and cousin, Aubrey

 Tate, sleepy as usual :)

After the pool party, we had the family back here for lunch and presents. It was nice to have everyone over, but the weather was not cooperating that afternoon. Big storms rolled through, so we were stuck inside. On Sunday, her actual birthday, we made a trip to Madison for her to use a Build a Bear gift card that she got for her birthday. She is SO into stuffed animals. It is probably what she plays with the most. She loved making her "bear" (she chose a dog and named it Fuzzy Wuzzy.) He currently sleeps in her bed every night :) We then went out for lunch for mexican food at the birthday girls request, and took a break before we then went swimming at the community pool in the afternoon. She even got a special ice cream treat after swimming. We topped the night off with board games, and Reese even convinced Kyle and I to play a round of Twister (wow, was that hard!) I would say it was a successful 6th birthday.

Her Cookie Cake after her party for the family get together.

  Cousins singing her Happy Birthday

 We have a tradition, a cupcake for breakfast on your birthday. :)

 Getting Fuzzy Wuzzy stuffed at Build a Bear

 Giving him a bath and getting him ready to take home

 All shiny and clean, and her new best friend

Kyle is traveling again this week in Bazel, Switzerland. I must say, this week is tough. Parenting is not an easy job. For some reason, the kids and I are stuck in a rut. No one is getting along, no one is listening, and they are spending quite a bit of time in time-out. We have good days and bad, but it seems like this week bad days are winning. At night, I seem to look back on the days and feel as though I have done more disciplining than I would like to, and we are just not enjoying our days like usual. The kids just cant seem to play well together, and it ends up making it no fun for anyone. I always loved when people say "enjoy every minute, they grow up so fast." Well, true, but there are many non enjoyable moments at times. And I do not feel guilty for saying that. I feel like in this day in age, moms are supposed to fill so many roles, and do it happily with a huge smile on our faces. Heaven forbid if we say things arent going well or aren't going as we planned. This week is not one I would like to repeat. I hope we can get out of our funk, and start enjoying the rest of the summer together.
I was prompted to include this in my post today after a not so great trip to Target yesterday. I, unfortunatley, do not usually get the luxury of doing grocery shopping on my own. Kyle travels a ton for work, and on the weekends in the summer we are just so busy there is no time. So that leaves me taking three kids to Target on my own. I have Reese, who is a mini mom who likes to let everyone know the rules, Preston who is a button pusher and likes to see how far he can get Reese to go before she "pops" and Tate, who is probably the best of all three :) My chilled out baby. Anyways, I saw a friend at the end of our journey in Target yesterday, and I was a hot mess. She said "I knew you were here, I could hear you guys a few aisles over!" Great. Just what I wanted. To have someone see me in my misery :) But then I thought about it on my ride home. Why should I feel bad? Being a mom is tough. Grocery shopping with three is tough. That's just life and the stage I am in right now. Three kids under 6. It is what it is. They are just kids. Learning the rules, learning boundaries, and learning how to be good to others. After I let go of the guilt of the not so great trip, I realized that this time shall to pass, and there will be more times like this ahead I'm sure (i.e. the teenage years), but for now, I will push through, try to find the good in the bad, and enjoy those moments when there is peace and we are all actually getting along. In the moments of bad, I am going to try harder to keep my cool and use them as "teachable" moments. So, there ya have it. If you have young kids and read this, I hope you too can relate and know that it's ok not to always be ok. That's life, especially life with three little kiddos running around :)

Too Little Time

I just cant keep up. Too much to do, too many kids (lol), and too little time. I feel bad because the main reason I do the blog is so when the kids get older, they can look back and have something to read and look at (since I am not the greatest with baby books.) Poor Tate is getting the least amount of "blog time" compared to the other two- I guess that's what they always say happens with the third kid, right? Maybe this fall when things slow down I will have more time. Summer has been SO crazy.
With vacation, then visitng my sister, then camping over the 4th of July weekend, then a bacheloerette party for me, then camping again this past week in Devils Lake State Park, and then having our old neighbors visitng this past weekend, I literally feel like I havent sat down in a month. The month of August wont be much different- as we dont have a free weekend now until Labor Day!
It makes summer go so fast, but the kids have fun and thats what counts. Instead of writing about all of our activities, I'll do a long picture post this time :)
Tate is still the BEST BABY EVER. This kid amazes me. He has slept through the night since 6 weeks old (9-4 or 5 am, eats, then back to sleep until 7 am), never fusses unless hungry or tired, is so relaxed and happy all the time, and has started giggling now. It's so fun to be around him and I just want him to stay this size forever. I think back to Preston at this age, and I was having a tough time. He didn't sleep (ever) and I was always so exhausted. That made it not much fun. I am so glad I am able to enjoy this time with Tate instead of wishing away his babyhood like I did with Preston. Tate turned 3 months old on July 4th, loves cooing and giggling, has started to grab onto objects, and is bound and determined to roll over soon. As soon as you lay him down, he is on his side trying to roll over. He loves tummy time, being outside, and having someone to talk to :) He nurses great and is the best snugglebug. He has been awesome when we have gone camping since he is so laid back. If I could have every baby like him, I would keep having them!

First up, our vacation to Gulf Shores at the end of June with Kyle's family. We rented a house on the beach and had a week of fun in the sun.The kids loved it, and I would love to go back as it is so family friendly and the beach was awesome.

Tate and Preston's first flight. At 5:50 am!!

We made it. The first thing they did was get their suits on and get in the water. 

 We toured Fort Morgan, which was used in the WWII, it was pretty cool, and Preston loved the cannons.

 At the Wharf in Orange Beach- an outdoor mall and eating area.

 At the aquarium on Washington Island. We took a ferry ride across the gulf to the Island and spent some time at the beach, and then the guys toured another fort while Preston, Tate, and I went to the aquarium.

 Mekenna and Reese at Fort Morgan.

 At the Naval Air Force Museum in Pensecola, Fl. It was amazing. Probably my favorite thing we did on vacation. It was HUGE, free, and really cool to see all the planes.

Vising my sister and the kids. Watermelon monsters.

 Fourth of July weekend camping. Making smores.

 Big boy turned 3 months on July 4th!

 

My best friends from college celebrating Cassie's bachelorette party in Springfield, IL.

 Winery views looking out on the Mississippi river

 

Camping at Devils Lake State Park, spending most of our time at the beach

 This past weekend we had our old neighbors from Indy visit us (minus their two oldest boys). They had never been to Wisconsin so we packed as much into Saturday as we could. Madison Farmers Market, State Street, Capitol tour, beer on the Terrace/Mendota Lake, and lunch at Ians Pizza. We then came back to New Glarus and toured the brewery. We made them eat brats and cheese curds and we had such a FUN day with them!

 Kyle and I at the brewery.

Ok, so thats a recap of our last month. Busy, right?! Reese is in tennis (her last one is tonight), swim lessons, and softball, and Preston is doing swim lessons. In August they are doing vacation bible school and Reese is doing a soccer camp, along with both doing swim lessons. I registered them both for school today (1st grade and 4K) and they couldnt be more excited for September 1 to roll around!! I'll be ready for a break by then too ;)