FIVE

Addy is our firecracker, busy little mama, ball of energy; chatter box, Frozen II fan, muscle girl; creative, pretend play, story-teller;  ballerina, night owl, morning grouch; littles leader, eager helper, backyard camper; stubborn, strong-willed, roller coaster of emotions; loving, sassy, miss personality; big smiles, mess maker, play leader; fancy dress ups, outdoor biker and scooter girl, giggler; feels big feelings, strawberry lover, baby holder . . . and she's FIVE!!!

Happy Birthday Addison!
She's a WHOLE HAND :)

*All day she kept holding up her hand to show her age, but kept forgetting to keep her thumb out . . . "I'm Five!" - while holding up only four fingers (!)

We love this fiesty little girl.  God has blessed Addy with a strong personality and we can't wait to see what she's able to accomplish with His gift.  We are so thankful she is a part of our lives - she sure makes our every day interesting ;)

 

Addy's favorites at 5:

food: strawberries

drink: orange juice

dessert: ice cream, I like the strawberry ice cream that's at Milk and Honey

fruit: apples
veggie: cucumbers

princess: Elsa

superhero: Spiderman

movie:  Frozen II

game: puzzles

color: blue and purple

clothes:  my Frozen II dress ups

toy: my Frozen II doll and the Water Spirit horse

animal:zebras

flower: roses, red roses

activity:  the park, I like to go on swings and the slides and the monkey bars

song: "Into the Unknown" (Frozen II)
 "I can hear you . . . everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls . . . into the unknown"

book:  Ariel (Little Mermaid)

activity inside:  kitchen toys and jump on the couch

activity outside: ride my scooter and go camping

with Emmy:  play doll games

with Maclaren and Dabney:  play with baby Alarie

with Dukes: play Rody's
 with Hiwot and Maegli: I like to sleep in their room

with brothers: watch a movie
with dad:  I like him to throw me on the couch

with mommy:  hold baby Alarie and cook in the kitchen

what are you going to be when you grow up: a mom

what are you going to do: I'm going to drive a car

where do you want to visit: grampa and gramma's house and Atlanta at my family's house

best thing about me:  me painting

what I want to learn: I want to learn how to turn on the TV and to ride Maclaren's bike (without training wheels)

what makes me happy:  doing bubbles and playing chalk - the things you color on the driveway

loves: ice cream, seeing baby Alarie, flowers and sunshine, daddy-long-legs, camping with marshmallows, music, coloring, planting flowers, go to the beach,

dislikes: spiders, bumble bees, milk, bugs stinging me, when somebody tells me to go away, scary slides, rotten apples

best thing about being FIVE:  having a blueberry cake, playing with baby Alarie when she grows up, playing outside

Addy had her whole birthday planned weeks (months?) in advance - everything in details: the cake, decorations, and movie.  Little one was so excited for the big day, she hardly slept the night before.  

"After this night I'm going to be five!"  

For this special 5-year-old princess' birthday:

french toast and strawberries

FaceTime with Atlanta

riding bikes and scooter

pink balloons

Frozen II movie

pizza dinner

double layer "Frozen II" blueberry cake 

with blueberry sauce filling and blue vanilla buttercream icing

. scooter . Frozen II figures . Elsa dress-ups . twirly dress . 

. swimsuit . pjs . necklace . crown . 

Addy adds so much to our world.  We love you!

Best Gift

Twelve-day-old Alarie arrived home just in time for Dukes and Addison's birthdays - best gift ever!

12 Days in Atlanta

We got the call early early Mother's day morning that mama was heading to the hospital and heard at 8:15 am that a sweet little girl had been born - our Alarie.  We left home to drive down to Atlanta with Addy and Maclaren a few hours later. 
Traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic made things a bit different.  We quarantined in a hotel, and texted and FaceTimed with mama while she and Alarie were in the hospital. We got to meet our little girl in the hospital parking lot two days later.  I (along with my big helper Maclaren) spent the next 10 days in a hotel bonding with my newest beautiful girl, visiting with her mama, and FaceTiming with siblings back home.  We were so excited to bring her home May 22nd - she is a gift. 

10-1/2 hour drive to Atlanta on Mother's Day (Alarie's birthday)

Mommy, Daddy, Addy, Maclaren

double rainbow

hotel stay

Desta Ethiopian Take-out

hiking

face masks

new carseat

FaceTime

daddy long legs

creek

meeting Alarie at the Hospital

newborn snuggles

Indian Food

first family 

Daddy and Addy head home

11 days in a hotel

big helper Maclaren

painted nails

walking for take out
bottle feedings

more first family get togethers :)

foot prints and photo books

bubbles 

first bath

Centennial Park

snuggles and bottles

outdoor shoppes

ice cream

hiking

hotel movies

crochet

baby wearing

social distancing
daily hikes
ICPC approval!
long drive- 2 days to home
overnight with grandparents
 homecoming!

THREE

Our baby boy is THREE!!!

Dukes is our Mr. Personality, dinner-time entertainment, belly laugh (Tigger laugh) ; "time get up, mom?" waker, busy naptime mischief maker, laundry chute filler; radio music dancer, fast runner, bike peddler, couch jumper; naptime window watcher, gorgeous curls, mischievous grin, sparkly eyes; sink faucet play, dinner table clearing helper, front door escaper; big puppy hands and feet, lap seat claimer, busy boy . . . and he's THREE!

Dukes is such a cutie!

We are so thankful to have his precious boy in our lives.  

Favorites at THREE:

food: um drinking milk and my juice

drink: ah water

dessert: um dookies (cookies)

fruit: apples an nana (banana)

superhero: duperhero my room is batman my bed

movie:  I watch a movie a night, I like a baby, baby watch a movie, I wanna watch Pokemon

color: green

toy: Legos and dolls (knights)

animal: my anmals and doggy and Yesyay (Tesfaye) and baby

song: dance

book: read my book and read it, you read it, I like my bed, duckor (Tractor) book my bed

play inside: Addy

play outside: snowman
with dad:  dad wanna read it

with mommy:  you wanna read it

what are you going to be when you grow up: um grow up get big

where do you want to visit: outside

best thing about me:  Yesyay (Tesfaye)

what makes me happy:  dad

loves:  birthdays, Yesyay (Tesfaye), Dabney, Davis and Mommy, and Henick, snakes, I like dwagons (dragons), "roar" I be a dwagon, dampa (grampa), baby Owie (Alarie), Wiwot (Hiwot), I want sleep downstairs

dislikes: um nufin' (nothing)

 

For this 3rd birthday boy:

new baby sister!  (home the day before)

 front yard dodge ball

bike riding

 backyard grill out brats and dogs

double layer chocolate cake with blue buttercream and chocolate ganache

 balloons

. new big boy bike . mini basketball hoop . hotwheels and track . 

. swimsuit . Nike clothes . "Young Wild and Three" shirt .

Happy Birthday Dukes!  

Three is going to be a great year - his big personality developing more, new skills, more words, potty training (!), new jokes, lots of hugs (and kisses!) and lots of laughs :)

Welcome Home - Family of 15

Twelve days after her birth, and ten days after taking custody in Atlanta, we were thrilled to bring our sweet Alarie Adeola home . . .12 older siblings were very eager to meet this newest little sister!

Kids were running out of the house as soon as our car pulled into the driveway, excited to lay eyes (and hands) on this precious new baby.  She is a gift. 

Welcome home and welcome to the family Alarie - you are loved! 

Our family of 15 . . .
God is so good!

Introducing

It's a girl!!!

A new little one has joined our family and stolen our hearts:  Alarie Adeola

Surprise!  :)

Alarie was born in Atlanta on Mother's Day and forever joined our family two days later.  We are feeling incredibly blessed (and still can't believe we now have 13 children!!!).  Alarie is a gift.

We're grateful to be in this new-baby-bubble, soaking up and marveling at all this lovely newborn sweetness, and treasuring every sleep-deprived moment.
Alarie is so very loved by so many.

We are thankful.

Children are a gift from the Lord.  Psalm 127:3

Dukes

This sweet guy is going to be three soon!

Dukes keeps us on our toes and cracks us up with his antics, deep belly chuckles and hip-shaking dances.  We love Dukes.

(He's back to sporting his double earrings.  At 13-months of age, Dukes came to us with pierced ears.  We removed the earrings, but recently put them back - he wears them well.)

Handsome boy!