Monday, December 29, 2008

All about A!


 
Today we've successfully completed A.'s 5 year old Well-Child exam and immunization schedule, so I thought this would be fun to post some stats about my big guy...

(he's helping me with this...fyi)



A. is 47" tall and weighs 51 pounds...that's 98 percentile across the board.
Apparently, he's going to be tall like his daddy. :)
At this rate, we can get rid of the booster seat sooner than later! Yipee!


Adam is in the ECSE program in our school district this year for speech and language development. This is great for him, but we've lost some fun words over the past year. My favorites include:


  • Kimmie Mouse (Mickey Mouse)

  • Eseven (eleven)

  • cake-n-pans (pancakes)

  • wishy (bushy) i.e.- "Dad, you need a hair cut, your hair is all wishy.

  • Grandma Commie (Grandma Connie)

  • Chu-fren-fry (Chicken and french fries)

While this list is not all inclusive, these are things he's outgrown over the past year that I'm finding I think of fondly when I remember them.


I asked A. what he wants people to know about him, this is what he said:


  • I can write my first name. (we're working on the last name)

  • Jacob and Matthew are my best friends.

  • I like to work with daddy- when he lets me.

  • I like chocolate and candy and cookies and chocolate milk and broccoli

  • I like trucks, excavators, backhoes, loaders, pavers, graders, bobcats, concrete mixers...and there's more too!

  • I can spell trucks, "t-r-u-c-k-s." Daddy taught me to read "fire engine" last night too!

  • I like to play with my Thomas tracks

  • I can hop on one foot, but not for a very long time.

  • I know all my letters- big and little

He's going on and on, but I think you get the point. :)




Things I've really enjoyed about A.:

  • He loves to cuddle, be held, have his back rubbed, etc.

  • He loves to have fun! He loves to laugh and run, and tumble like a little kid should.

  • He's tolerating his little brother :) Most of the time its tolerance, but when C. is hurt or crying, A. always brings something to C. to make him feel better.

  • He really tries to be a good boy. He does struggle with impulse control- but I don't know many little boys that don't.

  • He loves to take care of people- when you're sick, he'll cover you with a blanket, he loves to serve people pretend food, and if he accidentally hurts you, he'll kiss it to make it all better.

  • He says his favorite color is red or blue, but he will grab the yellow crayon (or anything colored yellow) first every time.

  • He's learning how to pray on his own.

  • He tends to be timid in larger group settings, and doesn't like attention drawn to himself.

  • He loves to be mommy's big helper.

  • He loves his grandparents!

  • He will mimic everything Dave does- from the way he sits in a chair to his choice of pajamas....when I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, he said "my daddy."

  • We're teaching him the value of money, so we sometimes ask if he's saving for a car (jokingly). He responds, "No, I'm saving for an excavator....but, you know, mom...I'll need a truck and trailer to pull it to the job site too." I love it!

  • He's incredibly ticklish! (From what I understand, most Hop boys are)

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas, everyone!
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, it seems that everyone has different traditions with their families...who we celebrate with...when we celebrate...how we celebrate. I'm amazed at all the small and large traditions we make without realizing it. Many people have asked me how our schedule pans out over the few days of our Savior's birth, so I thought I'd give you a photographic timeline:
Christmas Eve:
Family Worship at church
Off to the Dave's  family celebration at Marianne and Greg's house:

Poppa Hoppa with A.


A very tired Dave- he had been plowing since 1 am, and hadn't slept yet...not to mention he was plowing the night before as well....and the night before...and the night before...need I continue?

A. and B.- cousins



The family gathered around the living room


E. was very attentive to C.. This was great because I didn't really have to worry about him! I could have adult conversation, and E. took care of the little one. Thanks, Em!

Ryan and Nicole up from North Carolina
Christmas Day:
A. woke us up at 5 am...where we let him crawl into bed with us just to get an extra hour of sleep. Except we really didn't get to sleep much when ever 30 seconds, our 5 year old was saying, "Mom, is it morning yet?"
So, we got up to see what Santa brought the boys.

A. was very excited about his new construction equipment! Molly was equally excited about her new bone! (Which lasted all of 10 minutes...)

C. trying to eat his way through his stocking
Then we have a breakfast birthday party for Jesus. It's important to Dave and I that the boys realize what the Christmas season is really all about.
Adam blowing out the birthday candles. We thought three candles was an appropriate amount. :)
Then we have a family gift opening (in the addition....see previous posting for that pic)
Then its off to Grandma Connie's and Papa Ken's (my parents) for Christmas crab legs and steak! Dave and I look forward to that meal every year! Plus, we have a great time chilling out with my parents!


I love this look on C.'s face! It's funny- he's wearing different clothes all day. The shirt he arrived in, he made a mess of at dinner- so this is his onsie. Then, he had a messy diaper, so we had to stick him in some jim-jams that Grandma and Grandpa gave him for Christmas!


A. got a remote control Monster Truck. Grandma had been playing with it before she wrapped it to "make sure it worked." But she showed A. some pretty sweet moves...I think she was making sure it worked for some time. :)
Well, that's our holiday schedule! We feel very blessed to have family and friends that we can celebrate the birth of our Savior with. Jesus is born!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Lonely little tree

Well...here we are.
We had hoped to be in the addition by this time of year. As a matter of fact, I distinctly told Dave that I wasn't going to set up another Christmas tree in our love shack, and I meant it....
So, the tree was set up in the addition. Dave took some old carpeting from an old job, laid it down and pulled out the tree. Now it sits all alone in the addition. What a lonely little tree. It's taunting me..."come to the happy side of the house, Hops...."
On the plus side, I don't really have to worry about Colin tearing the presents or the ornaments this year.
Merry Christmas everyone!
From our home to yours....
The Hops

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The BIG 0-5!

Wow, I still can't believe that A. is a 5 year-old now. It seems like yesterday I was battling a 22 1/2 hours of labor and two and a half hours of pushing to have a baby boy... It saddens me to think that the toddler years are over, but then I think about all the blessings we've been given and how may more God has in store for us with A. in our lives. It's been an honor to be his mom, and its so much fun to watch him figure things out and see his faith grow...


This is A.'s birthday outfit-of-choice. (before mommy intervened, of course). Why this boy wants to wear shorts in the winter and cords in the summer is beyond me. :)
A. helped me make his birthday treats- reindeer cookies! His teacher said that they were talking about reindeer this week- so it turned out to be great timing!

Blowing out the candles on his "construction site berfday cake." He only wanted this because the day after his birthday last year, he saw a fancy construction site cake in the Meijer bakery. Well, he never forgot about it. So, when his request came up this year, I thought...cake mix, can of frosting, some whoppers, and some John Deere cars....construction site cake done!
A. wearing his warm birthday jim-jams and wearing the birthday crown from school.



A. was jazzed to play with all his birthday loot! He keeps switching between the Leapster, the tower crane, and the spider man rocket. About every 5 minutes he goes down the line. Quite funny to watch!
I think about how much he has changed since turning 4, and am amazed at all the blessings God has placed in our lives. I'm so thankful to God for letting me take care of His child.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Cousin's pilgrimage to the zoo

****FYI: These pictures we taken in Audust of 2008. This late posting is a result of a roken digital camera and hving to use 35 mm film. Yes, I am just now getting around to developing pictures from August.***

Each summer, Marianne and I get the kids together for a pilgrimage to the zoo. The kids LOVE it. They love to spend time together, and Marianne and I get a chance to hang out too. Fun is had all around!

At the beginning of the summer, we had originally intended on bringing the kids to a bigger zoo- a littler farther away. Well, busy schedules being what they may....a week or two before school began, we decided to make our goal the local smaller zoo. It ended up being the perfect day! We packed a picnic lunch, C. wasn't over stimulated, and we finished off the day with some yummy ice cream and play time in our back yard.


All four cousins with John Ball.






E. was the first to get a budgee on her feeder. Notice how B. is trying to entice her budgee to come see his feeder. Very cute. :)


I LOVE this picture of B.
P.S. He didn't end up "stealing" E.'s budgee. Another one thought his feeder looked yummy.


E. was a huge help with C. She helped push the stroller, and she made sure he was safe on the train.



Thumb-sucker extraordinaire

At the sting ray and shark pool.

Each child (except C.) felt one, but they didn't have the gumption to feed them the fish we purchased. So, I did....really weird feeling.


What a fun day!