Life with a 5 and 2.5 year old

We now have a 5 year old & 2.5 year old in our house, but I'm not entirely sure how that happened. After Hadley was born, it just kind of felt like we'd always have a toddler & a baby. I couldn't imagine having two actual kids in the house, but somehow here we are. With a sister who is 2.5 years younger than me, I know first-hand the dynamics of sisters. But it's a whole other thing to watch it develop between your own children. As cliche as it sounds, they really and truly love each other like crazy and drive each other mad--just as sisters should. Whenever their squabbles are litterally about to push me over the edge, I remind myself that somehow my parents survived this too. ;) 

All smiles after getting their nails painted on the back porch :)

Sweet little hands & piggies :)

At the age of five, Shelby is a social butterfly and adores school & church. She is a voracious reader & writer and loves VeggieTales music & Magic School Bus books. Every night when we sit down to dinner, you always ask Daddy to tell you about his patients. I love this about you! And one of your newer favorite pasttimes is "fighting" with Daddy! Hadley enjoys it at first, but then usually fake cries until Mommy will rescue her. ;)

Shelby continues to be an amazing sleeper and is still napping, much to our delight! :)  She wakes up at 7 every morning, and since her little sister likes to sleep in late this is our undivided time together. It's such a special time! Shelby is still a pretty picker eater, but I am too. ;)  Her "favorite lunch" is peanut butter sandwich (no jelly!), strawberries, and a banana, and she literally eats this every single day. If we happen to eat lunch out, she will insist upon eating her "favorite lunch" for dinner.


She is also clearly my child b/c she already understands the value of a to-do list. ;)  We've been talking about Disney World a lot lately with our upcoming trip and what we will pack. Shelby wrote me a note yesterday and left it on the counter for me that read: "Don't forget packing!"  Seriously love her!!

This was the to-do list Shelby wrote while I was getting us
ready to get out the door for storytime one morning :)   A picture of
"Reading Club" is at the bottom of this post.

This was a shopping list she brought home from school last week that she worked on with her friends Kaelyn & Josie. (The first five items on the list were written by Shelby.) They have an imaginary dog at school named Rudy that they talk about ALL.THE.TIME. Well, apparently Rudy needs some new things from Petsmart. ;)  Shelby brought this shopping list home & told me that we were meeting Kaelyn & Josie's families on Saturday at Petsmart to buy everything on
the list. ;)  It was too much!!

Our sweet & sassy Hadley Mae, I don't even know where to begin! You seriously give us a run for our money every single day, but we wouldn't have it any other way! You are super smart & amazing at communicating! You talk up a storm! You still say "me" instead of "I" almost all the time..as in "me can do it" or "me don't like this." Shelby never did this as a toddler, and I know you'll outgrow it soon...but it's just so you! You are very particular about what you wear, and if your "dot shirt" is clean you absolutely have to wear it. The beloved " dot shirt" (pictured below) is a size 24 months, and I'm not sure what we're going to do when you outgrow it! ;) 

You are a much more adventurous eater than your big sister, and you will eat just about everything that Mommy & Daddy eat. You still love love love to eat snacks! Sometimes if you get worked up and can't remember what was wrong in the first place to make you cry, you just start asking for a snack. ;)  Snacks make everything right in your world! Already an emotional eater at the age of 2, ha! Your favorite place in the whole world is sitting atop the kitchen counter where you can taste-test everything in sight. ;)  Everyone in our family is a sucker for licking batter out of the mixing bowls, but you take it to a whole new level! ;)

You are a great sleeper & love to sleep in late every morning. You still nap most days, but not as long as Shelby did at this age! You usually nap for 1.5-2 hours and then play in your crib for a while, but I think if you had it your way you would skip naps altogether and just to bed early at night & sleep in late in the morning! ;)  Hadley, you are stubborn & feisty as all get out! I know this is a trait will serve you will in life, but it's definitely been a learning curve for us b/c Shelby was not like this as a toddler AT ALL. You will not stand for injustice or inequality--not even one little bit!!!--when it comes to you & your big sister. You are a master at throwing fake fits to get your way, and you are definitely a hitter much to our dismay. I can't count how many times Shelby has come down the stairs telling us "Sissy hit me again." You are a lucky girl that your big sister never hits you back! Perhaps one day she will, and you'll learn your lesson! ;)

This was Hadley's reaction to not getting to the kitchen sink "first" to wash up for lunch one day.
Being first to wash up is a huge deal in our house right now. Seriously?! This is what you two
want to argue over?!?! ;) 

Shelby has always adored books & being read to, and Hadley has always enjoyed it too..but definitely not as much as Shelby. That has all changed in the past couple of months. Hadley is now constantly asking us to read her a story. It doesn't matter what we are doing, it always seems like the perfect time to her for us to read her a "stowie" as she says it. ;)

Both of our girls are all over Daddy when he is home from work in the evenings & on the weekend! They definitely get the physcial aspect of their love tanks filled by their Daddy, and they crave this time with him!! Can you tell I read The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman? ;)

Shelby is texting Grammy in this picture ;)

The girls love to wait for Daddy to come home out on our front porch.
On this day, they piled in his truck before he get out of the door & demanded
he read them a book inside the truck. And thus, "Reading Club" was born.
They love to do this!!

We are all about the family dinner at our house. It is {usually} such a meaningful time of our day where we are all sitting around the table together. But it is anything but quiet at our dinner table! Family dinners, while chaotic, are one of my favorite things about this stage of our life with 2 young kiddos. All 3 of us girls are vying for Daddy's attention at dinner b/c we all have SO MUCH to tell him since we haven't seen him all day. I keep saying we need to get a talking stick to use at dinner! ;) Shelby & I usually take turns swapping stories with Derek b/c Hadley isn't quite at the age where she can string together an entire story that makes sense. ;)  But, true to her personality, Hadley will NOT stand for that. So every night she likes to retell the same story about Shelby accidentally breaking our kitchen clock. This is the most random anecdote, but I had to include it b/c I know we'll want to remember that one day! ;) 

So that's what oure life looks right now! As crazy as they make me feel some days, I wouldn't trade one minute of it! {THIS} post at Momastery is a good reminder that I'm not the crazy one--it's them! ;)