Leo is one!

Well, our littlest tater tot turned one. On Thanksgiving! Hard to believe we've been so lucky to have this perfect little addition to our family for a full year. Yet, I can't recall in the least what it was like before Leo. Funny how that works.

Leo came into the world our smallest. Almost a full 2 lbs smaller than Scarlet and Emerson. He has made up for lost time, in the past 12 months. He weighed in at 26 lbs at his one-year well check. He's off the charts in height, trending similarly to Scarlet and Emerson.

"How big is Leo?"

Our sweet boy is just that. Sweet as pie. With 7 little chompers, he has a toothy grin that melts our hearts. He also has a way of smiling with his eyes. And his dimples match his warm giggles. I think he has already mastered a characteristic that will get him far: charm. He's adored by his big brother and sister. While they make no bones about sibling angst with each other, they have permanent soft spots for Leo. Hoping this lasts!

Lots of love in this picture.

His dark blonde curls are concentrated toward the back, and he's a little sparse still on top. His clown hair matches his personality, though.

Always playin'.

Turns out, he's as ornery as the other two. He will do anything for a laugh and gets wild on a dime. This mostly occurs at the dinner table. Despite throwing food and drink for laughs, he's still getting enough in, based on his growth chart. He's also adventurous and isn't afraid to get himself stuck in a precarious situation. He's often climbing to the top of things, then grunting until someone comes to help him down.



What a fun first year we've had with our little pumpkin. Onto the next!

Pumpkin traditions

I love pumpkins. I love fall. And I love traditions. Add all that up and I'm SO happy! Oh, and cider slushies. The best. 

We love a good pumpkin farm outing! Especially with our nearest and dearest. 

Yes, you are bigger than last year! 

I mean...come on. How cute?!?!

He found one he likes. 

Did I mention it's all you can carry for a set amount? Look at Emerson mimicking Jason. And me trying to save the little girls' lives!

These two. Buckets of trouble. 

My heart. 

And...we're out. (what you can't see, is I have Leo in the bjorn in front of me) 

Boomboxes

Most every day after school, once I've rounded up all three tater tots from their respective schools, Emerson, Scarlet, Leo, and I rowdily sing, "House Party" by Sam Hunt. We all know at least most of the words, but we sing so loudly that you really can't tell where we mess up. It's one of my favorite parts of each day.

You know it, right?

We'll have a house party, we don't need nobody...turn that TV off, break that boombox out...we'll wake up all the neighbors, till the whole block hates us...till the cops show up, try to shut us down...if you're gonna be a homebody, we're gonna have a house party..."

After about a month of routinely singing this, a "Scarlet-ism" that emerged from the front part of that chorus, and from the back seat of my Buick...

"Ok, Mommy, but what's IN the boombox?"

:)

I'm not sure we were singing "House Party" in this pic, but I love it. So let's just say we were.

An apple pie without cheese...

Do you know the end of that phrase? If you're a Flowers, you probably do. It's what my Grandpa Flowers used to say.

"An apple pie without cheese..."

"...is like a hug, without a squeeze."

I don't know if it's a Bob original, or if he learned it from somewhere. Either way, I can't eat apple pie without thinking of it. More on this in a minute.

Fall has fallen around here, and it feels amazing. Crisp air. Cooler nights. Fresh apples!

We didn't get a chance to pick yet, but have a dear neighbor who offered to pick Honeycrisp apples for us in the very short window they are available. With two giant bowls of fresh apples, I knew just what I would make. Last weekend, included two loaves of banana apple bread. Sliced with cream cheese. Amazing. This weekend, with one giant bowl of apples remaining, I got my pie supplies, pulled out my Mom's recipe box, and got to work. 

These two pies have filled the house (and maybe the neighborhood) with the most amazing smell that a Yankee Candle could never rival. I hope they are half as delicious as they look and smell. And it was a lovely treat to see my Mom's dainty and precise handwriting (just like her) on her recipe card. 

And back to that saying...we don't serve apple pie in this house without a fresh slice of cheddar or Colby jack alongside it. 

No Cavity Club...siblings allowed!

Emerson has a growing collection of No Cavity Club t-shirts from our pediatric dentist. And now, Scarlet has started her collection! 

For the love of the game.

Em loves baseball. Seriously. Loves it. 

 

It's his third season, and he's so much fun to watch. He plays hard, works hard, and has a blast doing it. 

I don't know that he has a favorite position, but he's pretty darn good at most of them. He prefers infield, but is reliable in the outfield. And tomorrow, he's pitching for the first time! We are all a little nervous. 

When I say this kid can't get enough baseball, I mean it. After a game, he comes home and throws to the pitch back. When his friends come over, he wants to be sure they are bringing a glove. And there's not an evening that goes by that he doesn't ask one of us to throw with him. 

Did I mention the boy get the bats out? Sometimes I look at him and he seems like a little kid just smacking the hell out of the ball. 

And, I'm certainly biased, but I'm confident that he has the cutest little butt on the team. Which is enough for me. 

Emerson is third from the right. This was his good buddy Will's birthday party at the Clippers' game. 

Cheering on his big brother. (See that rumpus on first base? Ser, the cutest.)

Love his energy. Love that he has fun. Love him. 

Back to life, back to reality.

Well, summer has wound down, and back to school and work we all go! Weddings. Vacations. Lots of swimming and cookouts. Fun in the sun. Bike riding. Fishing. Sigh. 'Twas a good summer for the Zielinskis. 

Mid August, Leo and Scarlet started back at preschool and daycare. Scarlet has a hard time with departures some mornings, but is operating on cloud 9 when I pick her up. She's a bubbly ball of goodness sharing with me her drawings, new songs she learned, her favorite book, and new friends she met! And every day, she sweetly tells me she missed me. Leo is also loving the social time with the other babies. He's acclimating to new germs with a perpetually runny nose. But we very much look forward to the longer-term immunities that come with it! 

Emerson started first grade this year. We're getting back into the homework routine, and some days go from bag to bag to bag with school, baseball, and soccer, but we eventually get where we are going, and everyone eventually has dinner. Who doesn't love a ballpark hot dog? 

And somehow it's now September! Which means our littlest tater tot will soon be a year old! Ack! Just need to find that pause button. 

Emersonisms - September 2015 Edition

Emerson spent an exceptionally long time brushing his hair after his shower tonight. After walking back down the hallway to see if he was finally finished, he greeted me halfway between his room and mine. He points to his slicked back hair and tells me, "They say it's blonde. But it's really gold."

Yes. Yes it is. 

Celebrating Seven

Our lucky and loved not-so-little boy gets to celebrate his 7th birthday in Florida tomorrow. We are soaking up every bit of sun and fun we can this week, and have loved the extra time with Emerson, Scarlet, and Leo. We even had a slumber party in our room tonight with all 5 of us. "All 5 of us" happens to be something I love saying. 

As he turns seven, and prepares for 1st grade in a few weeks, we couldn't be any prouder of Emerson. He's learning to be the best big brother, twice over. He is wise beyond his years. (I simply cannot answer the question, "when the earth explodes, will heaven, too?"). He loves shyly. He plays harder than I ever knew little boys could play. Until the sweat has soakcd him. Until his shoes are worn through. And until he hits the pillow with such force I wonder if he'll go clear through it. 

And in case I thought he would need me a little less in his seventh year, I was reminded how much we need each other today. Both our throats swelled when the doc at urgent care told him he had to stay out of the water for a week due to his serious swimmer's ear. Him, because of the obvious missing of the water fun. Me, because that look on my sweet boy's face. 

Happy birthday, Emerson Rex. We love you so. Thanks for letting me be your Momma. And thanks for not growing out of calling me "Momma." 

A Day Fit for a Princess—Princess Scarlet

Our little girl is three years old today. Witty beyond her years, she holds conversations that rival many adults. She loves to laugh, and incites laughter in every one she knows. As well as strangers in the grocery store. She is a big sister, and a little sister, and loves her two brothers fiercely. Even if they get into her toys and occasionally pick on her. She looks up to her Daddy, and needs her Mommy. I'm so thankful she needs me. 

Not a day goes by that Scarlet doesn't throw life and energy at full force.

She's as sweet and wild as her angelic and unruly curls. And she's three!

Happy birthday, Scarlet Catherine!

Slowing things down

It has been a busy five months since I've been back to work. While I very much like working, occasionally things get busy around here. With sporting events, three kids, both parents working outside the home, and that general craziness that we all call life, things are just busy. I've been reading so many articles online about the "busy competition" among parents. Fact of the matter is, I don't want to be a competitor. It's a game that we are all forced to play, when you have one, two, three, or ten kids. Knowing how busy we've been, I consciously took one week off this June to slow things down a bit, and remove some of the busy.

While most days still have a lot going on, I get to soak up these sweet faces a little more fully.

More time in pajamas. Lots of time on the swing set. Driveway basketball. Pools and splash pads aplenty. And precious time with each of them individually, and together.

❤️ this week. 

Football Camp

We knew going into the summer we wanted to sign Emerson up for a few camps. One happened to be football camp with 2nd and Seven Foundation. With 400 other young boys from all over Columbus, Emerson spent 3 days with OSU football players and coaches. Emerson left Jason a little nervous Monday morning after drop off for the first day. It didn't take him long to warm up, literally and figuratively. After 9 days of consecutive rain this June, we had three great days for an outdoor camp. Emerson asked on our way home the first day if he could do another camp, or if this one could be longer. He loved it. He left super sweaty, excited to return the next day, and hungry. Like, really hungry. 

Here was Emerson on the last day getting his football signed by Coach Fickell. 

We will definitely be back for more next year! 

Emersonisms - June 2015

I haven't done a very good job of logging these lately. One that I jotted down the other night is certainly blog worthy, though. True to his profound nature, Emerson recently asked me...

"When the sun explodes, will heaven also explode?"

I told him the truth. I don't know the answer to that. Then I thought about it for the remainder of the night. Huh. 

Snaggletoothed Emerson

Emerson is running out of teeth. Today he lost his sixth tooth, at age six and a half. With each tooth comes a longer note for the fairy. Partly, because he has (literally) lost two of them before he can get them under his pillow, and partly due to his analytical nature. This is the same child that asked me (at age three) who God's parents are. And while also age three, nonchalantly told us while visiting a cemetery, "you know this is going to be us one day."

Tonight's note reads as follows:

(Page 1)

Dear tooth farry

are your parents real and 

can you 

take a 

picture of 

your self please

(Page 2)

and can you 

find my tooth 

outside 

on the 

sidewalk

my passcode is

2583

What passcode you're wondering? The passcode to his iPod. So Ms. Fairy can take a selfie. 

Scooty McScooterson is 4 months old! (Tomorrow)

A day shy of four months old, our little Leo Peo checked in healthy and happy at his doc appointment yesterday. He's 25.5" long and weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs. and 6oz. Although he started day one smaller than his big sibs, he's working hard to catch up to them! He fussed, but quickly got over the sticks of vaccines. I hate shots. But, I hate polio more.

This boy is a trooper in so many ways. He puts up with our household chaos and schedules. He rests on my hip throughout a busy weekday evening. He gets toted here and there with big sibling commitments. He's...a third child. With that, though, he has the ultimate benefit of having two adoring big sibs. And they love him so. If he fusses the tiniest bit, Scarlet will bellow from wherever she is in the house, "I'm right here, Leo! It's ok! I'm right here!" Emerson loves reading and saying prayers with Leo at night, and finds his drool, his toots, and silly faces utterly hilarious.

This little boy is an easy smile, super ticklish, and has the sweetest flirty face. He's scooting all over the place and doing what can best be called "back crawling." He uses his legs and pushes himself around while on his back. He's also roly poly, in more ways than one. His arms and thighs are thickening. He's also rolling over as soon as he's flat. I start him on his back and within seconds he's on his stomach. This does wonders for his overnight sleep. He's clocking 12 hours overnight, with a 10-minute feeding about halfway through. This is fantastic, and more importantly, I can survive on this!

True to our parenting form, we started Leo on cereal a few weeks back. He was hungry, and chugging formula just wasn't getting the job done. And, he loves it! No surprise. We've also been sampling some fruits and veggies of late. Also, a big hit. I could share a million, but here are a few pictures that capture our little Leo Puh-jeo oh so well.

Chitty-chatting with mirror-Leo.

Evidence of Scooty Booty. Can't leave him on the bed unattended!

I could kiss this face all day long.

He lights up, and my heart explodes.

This face. Those lips. That sweet, bald, little head.

Smoky Mountain Weekend

Cabin weekends. For the last decade, skipping one or two years in the middle, we've been heading to the woods for a cabin weekend with friends. Hocking Hills, since it's in our backyard, has been our typical go-to. This past year, we mixed it up, and headed south. We met up with the Lipps and Sheppards for four, fun-filled days in Pigeon Forge! OK, this was 6 months ago. We've since added to our household and the Lipps are a few weeks from adding to theirs. We're gonna need a bigger cabin.

Sooo many pictures capturing our good time. And I feel like this only grazes the surface! We're so lucky to be able to travel with our good friends, and have all our kids go through life together.

Bike, check. Baby doll, check. And off we go!

Oh, Norah Jo! We love you so!

View from the cabin deck.

Kids, kids, everywhere!

Moments.

Moments.

And more moments.

Pigeon Forge was MADE for the kiddos! No shortage of things to do.

Even something for the littlest girls.

And the Dads, of course. Terra and I had to sit most of these things out, due to the in uteros.

Go, Beth!

I think B likes it!

Bumper cars...

and arcade games.

 

Craft time (read: Sit down, dear children.)

Emerson and Jason, looking out. Just six months ago, but my how this boy has grown.

My loves as we headed up the mountain on the tram.

Soaking it up!

Proud tourists!

Viking Rex and Paddington Scarlet.

Surrogate big sis braiding her hair. Love love love.

The braids on B's helmet perfectly matched Emerson's hair!

Jason was in charge of story time this night. (Wheels on the Bus)

Another successful cabin trip. Until next year!