Happy 9th Birthday, Maizey Rae

Maizey, Maizey, Maizey.

NINE YEARS OLD. 

Sheesh. 

Every single year of your life, I have thought that it couldn't get any better, but every single year it has. Goodness I just love being your mom, so damn much. 

You continue to be kind, friendly, helpful, curious, outgoing, adventurous and a real treat to be around. You also, in my opinion, feel like you are older than you actually are, and want to be a part of every adult conversation you can. I am constantly trying to find a balance between letting you be in the conversation and sending you away. We are also currently working on the concept of eavesdropping!!

Your adventurous spirit still cannot be contained, but you are a little bit pickier about what you do now. On occasion, it's hard to get you excited about doing anything strenuous, but once out there you always kick ass at it - small hikes and biking as an example. Its fun during, but getting you to go takes some convincing. You love camping and want to do more of it - we will definitely try and make that happen. Your favourite part is being curled up in your sleeping  bag reading by way of head lamp/flashlight. Which reminds me that your love of reading has grown to a point I didn't know possible. You check out many books every week from both the school and public library yet never seem to have anything to read?! You start your day reading and you end your day reading. I love love love it. You absolutely love the Land of Stories series and have read them all and even re-read the 1st book twice.

Your patience for Winnie and Jace has worn a little thin over the last year. I mean, you are still exponentially more patient than most people I know, but there have definitely been times where you have had enough and you have chosen screaming maniacally as your way of letting them know that. Its not annoying at all. Kidding, its incredibly annoying. You still have the patience of a saint for others though - like Henry and Franklin. You can still read them endless books, help them, play with them. I'm hoping with time that Winnie and Jace will get less annoying to you and that you will go back to being very patient pleaseandthankyou.

You did very well at school last year and were absolutely adored by your teacher, Ms. Maitland. She mentioned to me in your parent teacher interview that she was so glad to have you in her class for a second year because she loved having you so much the year before. That definitely made my mama heart swell... when other people see how special you are it gets me right in the heart. You havent made a solid little group of friends, you seem to have friendships in a variety of different groups, but none that stand out more than any others. Maybe this will be your year for that. Or maybe not, thats ok too. You seem to do just fine anyhow. That being said though, the friendships that seem to be the most important and comfortable to you are the ones you have had your whole life. Those are the ones that you can just be yourself in. I adore those relationships and promise to work hard to keep those up for you for years to come.



For some reason, you have decided you think it is cute and funny to talk in a baby voice regularly. Its terrible!!! Seriously. We are alllll over you about it and want it to stop now!!!  
 You are still a collector of stuff. Rocks, sticks, bark. yep, all of it still. Seashells, empty jewelry boxes, tin cans. You want to bring anything and everything you find home. It makes me absolutely crazy. Your room is a giant mess all the time and you insist that you love it that way and have no intention on changing that. Consequently, I got tired of cleaning up all your crap and you got all your clothes but one small drawer full, taken away. It has helped, but to be honest, you just still have stuff all over the floor - I don't even know where it all comes from??!! I am interested to see if you will outgrow this, or if you are destined to be messy forever? Time will tell!

You claim to have no favourite foods currently, as well as no favourite music. I call shenanigans. You still want sushi all the time and literally lick your plate clean when we have chicken pot pie, so I say with confidence that those are still your favourites. You love almost any songs sung by Kelsi Ballerini, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Sam Hunt. You also love the Greatest Showman soundtrack, Brand New eyes from the Wonder sountrack and a spotify playlist called Movie Music: Kids Classics.

 

I love how helpful you are. You switch over loads of laundry without being asked, you load the dishwasher, scrub the stove, were eager to learn how to clean the bathrooms, help Winnie get dressed/comb her hair/brush her teeth, do up seat belts. You on occasion get a bit exasperated by it, but you still do it. We are working on the other kids to be as helpful, so hopefully you will get a break soon. haha. You really love starting the truck right now too, which is fun to watch! You get to sit with Dad in the drivers seat out at Nana and Papas are practicing "threading the needle" (pull into their driveway) by yourself. You are actually pretty good at it and rarely need help from Dad.

 

This past year has been crazy to watch you grow and change. You love staying home alone and have even done a bit of short babysitting, which I completely trust you to do. You are super trustworthy and have been known to be a really good decision maker. You are certainly quickly becoming a big kid and I love it. But also, it kind of kind of kills me. Its complicated. But what isn't complicated is how much we love being around you, taking you on adventures, showing you new things, and watching you continue to grow into who ever it is you are becoming. We hope you always know how adored you are and how fiercely loved you are.
Happy 9th Birthday, Meemsicle.
I can't wait to see who you are at the end of this year.
Love, Mom and Dad.

p.s as your birthday present, you get to get your ears pierced. You went from ecstatic, to saying you actually aren't ready after all, to on the fence, back to ecstatic. I suppose the next 2 weeks will tell if you are able to go through with it. Good luck! 

10 Short Years

Ten years ago, I woke up next to my little Hummel before the crack of dawn and whispered giddily Im getting marrrrriiiieeeeddd . I hope I never forget that excitement and love. I remember feeling like my heart could about burst with all of it. We drank coffee and Baileys, I gave Brian a pep talk over the phone about how he was going to get through the day and I waited nervously for the time to come.



If I could go back today and do it differently, the only thing I would change would be apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. And I'd run down that grassy isle rather than walk.



Ten short years. Every time I think it legitimately can't get better, it of course does.
I love you more now than I did then.
Even though you don't know the difference between a sausage and smokie, I'd still choose you every single damn time.
Happy Anniversary, Bri.
I love you.

Happy 6th Birthday, Buddy

Dear Jace,
   Today you are six years old.
WHAT?! That means that all the things that *I feel like six year olds should do on their own, you are going to start doing, right??!! hahaha, we can all just have a good laugh at that.
For real though, I love that you are six and I am so looking forward to this year of your life. I am certain its going to be your (our) best one yet.
Your favorite place to be right now is sitting on the kitchen counter (feet and all) or standing at the sink washing dishes. I love letting you help do the dishes. You are chatty and funny while doing it, plus you do a really good job.



Your current favorite songs are Blackbird by The Beatles (Boss baby version), I'm Still Standing by Elton John (Sing version) and True Colors by Justin Timberlake (The Trolls version) .... so pretty much you are obsessed with movie sound tracks right now and those 3 stand out. We listen to a lot of the music from those movies and you love it! If you could just sit and listen to it on my phone all day, you would be happy.

I am going to say it - I think you are a bit of a home body. And that is terribly hard for your extremely extroverted mom to wrap her head around. I mean, you like going a few places in town, and over to our friends houses. But, out of town? Oh you never want to do that. You are not a road trip fan and if given the choice you would almost always stay home. You also still get terribly car sick, so that doesn't help. Last October we finally got you prescription nausea meds and it helped 1000% .... you were like a new kid on road trips, but then you decided you don't like the taste of it and now won't take it. We've forced it a few times, but have since given up. We *may* have found the answer in the form of pressure point bracelets and essential oils on your tummy. Fingers crossed.



Your favorite food is fruit. Thats it. Although you do pretty much eat everything, fruit is your go-to #1 food. I am perfectly fine with that.

You love playing made up games with Maizey and Winnie. "lets pretend Im.... and lets pretend you're.... " and that can go on for hours at a time. Usually an unbelievably big mess accompanies that, but I usually just have to take what I can get. I will take playing with no fighting with a mess. I think you just like it best when you are playing with them. Or when you guys get to watch a movie/show together. I will find all of you huddled in the corner of the couch, under one blanket, happily snuggled up. Its one of my favorites to see.

You don't get to watch a ton of tv even though you love it. Pretty much just a movie on Friday nights. Your behavior goes a bit off the rails if you watch too much, so probably about 6 months ago, we had to shut it down completely and have slowly let it back into your life. It was a great reset for you.

You absolutely love "relaxing baths" ; epsom salt and lavender oil. It's made a huge difference in your life. I love putting a calm and relaxed Jace to bed at night.

You know how to read. You just refuse to do it for me. I have overheard you many times in the last few weeks reading books to yourself, but when I ask to sit and listen you clam up, say you don't know how and beg me to read it to you. I'm proud of you. Also annoyed you won't read to me. haha. I want to hear you, so come on already!!!



We have spent a lot of time this year just trying to figure out what makes you tick. How to speak your language. How to get you to do what you need/we want you to do without it always being a huge freaking fight and ending with everyone in tears. We have tried to figure out how to meet you where you are at. We've come a long way and we still have a long way to go.

You are currently afraid to be basically anywhere in our house alone. Your bedroom, the kitchen, sometimes the living room. Downstairs - absolutely not. Outside - nope. It has been incredibly frustrating because it feels like we've gone backwards -back to helping you get dressed, supervising your every move outside, feeling like you are always clinging to us. But we had to let it go, and like I said, meet you where you are at. Ok, you currently don't want to be alone. So rather than arguing about it and then ending up being there with you in the end, we ask you to do it and when you ask us to come, we do. Its cut down on fighting and time wasting and it's getting done and we are hopeful that one day soon you will move on from this. Please, go back to being independent and capable. Please. Until then, at least I still get to pick your clothes - so I suppose that's the up side!
We have also worked a lot on talking about controlling emotions. Ohhhhh man, do you know how to show us a lot of emotions. Some times all of them at a very heightened level and all at once. It's intense. You cry a lot. You argue a lot. You fight a lot. You laugh hysterically a lot. You go from here to there and back to here very quickly and loudly and often. You often feel misunderstood - meaning when we think you are being mean, you are just trying to "play" (your words), so that has lead to a lot more talking about being respectful about what the people you are trying to play with are saying to you. When we say STOP, you should stop, because that's respectful. Blah blah blah. You've heard it all a million times and you will continue to hear it until you finally start doing it. But that being said, we have also tried to, again, meet you where you're at. So if you are getting rowdy and wanting to play in a rougher way, we try and be silly with you. I suppose we have worked on trying to play the way you like to (while of course still being appropriate and kind), rather than just the way we want you to. Does that make any sense? I hope so. We really just want all of us to be having fun and getting along. Thats legit all we are trying to get at.



The truth is, we've had some hard days this last year. Some not very proud moments for Mom. Some very bad moments. But at the end of every day, we just always wanted you to know, that despite those tough moments, you are very very loved. We all get upset, we all cry, we all have emotions that we need to work through, and at the end of the day, if you go to bed knowing we love you, then thats all that matters. We are pretty sure the rest will sort itself out with time and patience.

You are our favorite Buddy, Budski, Buds, Jace. You make us laugh, you make us crazy and you have the absolute most genuine smile. You mean it when you smile and I love that about you. You give really good hugs and like to hang on for a long time. You get up before 6:00 every single morning and really prefer if I am up before you. I oblige and we spend mornings together, playing cards, eating breakfast, going for bikes rides. You like a good breakfast sandwich and oatmeal full of fruit and chocolate chips, a big plate of fries, and sushi. You like to say everything you drink is coffee or beer and its basically always water. You don't like cold or slippery clothes and you love wearing gloves. You refused sandals all summer. You know who you are and are unwavering in that.

I can't wait to see what your sixth year brings. I'm hoping for lots of laughs and adventures and some good friday nights, watching movies.

We love you so much, Buddy.
Happy happy happy birthday.
Love, Mom and Dad.