TENLEY JAMES

Ohhhh, Tenley James. 

Tenley has definitely been my do it in her own time child. From the moment we unexpectedly found out we were pregnant with her to being my only baby to put me into labor on her own. This girl is sure to do things when she's ready and that's that. I have a confession to make....and I've never told anyone this (except my husband). I lied about the dates of my last period to move up her due date. Isn't that terrible? It was only by a couple days and she always measured right where she should but I selfishly did it so I would have her before Easter. Well, it wasn't selfish it was for her siblings. I wanted to be home with them Easter Sunday and I knew if I was due on Sunday I would be induced the Tuesday before like I was with Logan and Kensington. So, we scheduled our induction for March 22nd. We were supposed to be at the hospital at 6 am and you know what? At 11:30 the night before I went into labor. That's Tenley! My girl! As luck would have it, or as Tenley would have it, I would've ended up having her that day anyways. Maybe I wasn't lying about my dates? Who knows? I mean truthfully I wasn't 100% sure, like I've said before said she wasn't exactly planned so I wasn't really tracking that stuff. 

Tenley is 11 months old and still only does an army crawl. She's extremely close to the real thing. She gets up on her knee's even moves her legs and arms correctly but doesn't actually put it in drive, then goes back down on her belly and army crawls across the room. She can get herself from her belly to a sitting up position and back down again but doesn't want to do a real crawl. I think the army crawl is pretty cute so I'll take it! Walking is NOT in our near future, that's for sure!

Tenley has two teeth, both smack dab in the middle down bottom. I keep looking for more but nothing yet.... But she LOVES food and there isn't anything, not a single thing, she hasn't refused yet.

There have been nights where Tenley has slept through the night and nights where she has not. Back to the teeth subject I think she might be teething and thats why we are so all over the place wieth our sleeping. But I am getting more sleep than I use to, so...we just go with it. Hopefully soon sleeping through the night every night will turn into a pattern.

She reminds me a lot of Kensington in some ways. The whole taking her time thing is definitely a Kensington trait who waited until she was just about 18 months old to walk. Unless Tenley shocks me, which she very well could, I think we're going to have another late walker. 

Tenley isn't really sure about strangers and even family & friends she hasn't seen in awhile. She's definitely happiest in mama's arms and has been that way since she was born. Tenley LOOOVES her "ah da" (dada) and LOVES her big brother and sisters. She sits back and laughs at them all day long. Tenley is my youngest to say "mama" and pretty much just says it when shes upset. Is she smart or what?

When I think back to finding out I was pregnant with Tenley it was definitely a scary time. Truthfully, we didn't have the money, the time, the patience or anything you really needed to bring a new baby into the world. We had absolutely no business doing so. But, God knew better. He knew we needed our Tenley James. All of our lives are better because we have Tenley in it. And to think its already been just about a year since she's been here is INSANE! Tenley was definitely the missing piece to the puzzle that is our family.

We love you Tenley James!

KENSINGTON BREE

Kensington is without a doubt the sweetest little thing I've ever known. Kensington is as girly at they come. From her big green eyes to her long eye lashes, her excitement over new outfits and shoes, her love of her pink minnie mouse sippy cup (that she refuses to use anything but), and her sweet little giggle, I don't know that I've ever met a sweeter more girly little girl. Shes loves to carry around a little purse and if it has sparkles, all the better! It is rare you will see Kensington without some form of pink on. She LOOOVES pink!

Kensington is OBSESSED with puppies! O B S E S S E D!! She's either snuggling her "flat puppy"- that she took the stuffing out of, just like a puppy would, or she's pretending to be a puppy. Down on all fours panting and barking (well, more like yipping). This girl cracks us up! Mike is greeted daily when he gets home from work by Ryker, Gretzky and Kensie. (WOOF WOOF WOOF!)

Kensington is a night owl. I have her on such a good schedule, as I have all my kids, that she asks to go "nuh nuh night" at noon time and 6:30pm, but she goes up to her crib and plays. Sometimes she will go right down but majority of the time she's up there having a party. The funny thing is if we kept her downstairs any longer she'd be cranky and miserable. Trust me when I say miserable is the only way to describe it. When that girl is tired WATCH OUT! Believe me, you would put her to bed also. The whine she has is just maddening. So we just go with it. As long as she's happy. 

She just melts us with the little things she does on the daily. If she catches Mike give me a hug or a kiss you'll hear the sweetest "awe" and she'll come running over to join in. This girl loves LOVE. There is not a shy bone in her body and she loves all people. Kensington is extremely easy going. She can entertain herself for hours. 

We joke and say Kensington is going to be our vegetarian. She would eat fruits and veggies all day everyday. She has never cared for any type of meat and is even picky about her snacks. 

If I could use one word to describe Kensington it would be "SWEET". She is just always aiming to please, gets her feelings hurt really easily and loves to be around people. Kensington Bree really is as sweet as they come. Mike has deemed her his "favorite" and with good reason. (Don't worry shes not really his favorite, we don't do that around here) Kensington Bree certainly is everything a little girl should be, sugar and spice and everything nice. It seems God was feeling extra loving the day he made our Kensington. I love her more than words can say and I really do feel so blessed to be her mama. 

We love you Kensie Bree!!

LOGAN MICHAEL

Today its all about Logan --

I remember the day vividly. It was Valentines Day 2012... Mike & I were headed in to our BIG ultrasound to find out if we would be having a girl or a boy. I was 100% without a single doubt convinced we would be having a girl. Mike however, had been praying hard for a boy.

The ultrasound tech turned to me and said "Would you like to know what you're having?" I said "Sure, if you can tell." And she said "Looks like a boy to me." I looked at Mike who I could tell wanted to jump out of his seat in excitement. I was smiling but I was in shock. I could not believe it and honestly did not believe it until they double and triple checked.

I want to smack that girl who thought that baby should've been a girl. She was wrong...SO wrong!

Logan is the gift from God that I didn't know I so desperately needed. I had no idea how much I would absolutely LOVE being a boy mom! Being Logan's mom is the BEST!

Logan is extremely smart and amazes me every single day. Ask him pretty much anything about an animal and he'll be able to answer it for you. Logan likes to spend his time watching youtube videos about animals and animal documentaries on netflix. He is a sponge and dying to know more. Maybe he'll be a zoologist someday?

This Fall Logan will start Kindergarten. A decision we struggled to make for a little bit but after consulting with Kamryn's Kindergarten teacher we decided, together, the best thing for Logan to do is to go to full time Kinder in the fall. I sign him up next week!! Logan cannot wait to go and meet some new friends and, you guessed it, learn.

Logan has a love/hate relationship with the big brother role. He would rather his baby sisters leave him alone but does love them a whole lot at the same time. Sometimes you'll catch him playing with those babies and other times he's begging me to get them away. LOL! Kensington loves to get under his skin so I totally understand why he gets a little crazed when it comes to her. I think the babies are just too unpredictable for him at this point. I've always heard of the protective big brother thing, we haven't experienced that just yet. I'm sure it'll happen though. But, he absolutely LOVES his big sister Kamryn. Logan's favorite part of the day is when Kamryn comes home from school. Then he's begging her to play with stuffed animals, what else? Oh! And Logan asks me daily for a baby brother. Sorry pal....can't promise that to make that one happen.

Logan definitely does not like to be pushed to do anything before he is ready but once he's ready he never looks back. As of lately he tells me he wants to play football (gotta wait a few years bud) and he'd really love to learn how to skate. He is 100% a mama's boy, mama has to do everything, but one of his favorite things to do is play with Lego's with his dada right before he goes to sleep. Logan loves to help and no matter what I'm doing, laundry, dishes, cleaning up toys, etc etc, he is ready and wanting to help.

Logan gives the best hugs. Of course those hugs come in different forms, most recently we've been getting "polar bear hugs". HA! This boy cracks me up and absolutely melts my heart. He is happiest playing outside and would be totally on board if I told him we were moving somewhere warm that he could play outside all year round.

Logan's temper is getting better. For awhile there it was something else. I blame that on the Italian side. But we're learning how to curb that anger and it seems we are doing a good job with that. You can tell he's definitely growing up and leaving those toddler tantrums behind. Thank God!!!

We've got a big year coming up and I can't wait to watch Logan grow and mature into the little boy he's going to be. It's definitely an exciting time. I just know he's going to do great!

We love you Logi-Bear!!

KAMRYN ALEXIS

I never knew love at first site until they handed her to me. My Kamryn Alexis. My first born. 

I was just a kid when I became a mom. Only 23 years old and when I think back today at how giant that responsibility was I can't believe we actually did it. I had no idea what I was doing. She came a week early. After 36 hours of pitocin induced labor along came Kamryn. Kamryn was always an exceptionally good baby though. She made motherhood, dare I say, easy?  She slept through the night at 3 weeks old and was always as happy as can be. She made her young mama look good!

Her energy and personality has been infectious since she was a teeny tiny little thing and still is today. Kamryn is a people pleaser. She has a gigantic heart. She never wants to disappoint anyone. Mike and I find ourselves sometimes treading lightly when it comes to disciplining her. We just don't want to dull that light of hers that shines so bright. If Mike or I loose our patience with her she remembers and she allows it to sit with her for days, weeks even. So we try really hard to not do that as much as we can. Lucky for us she's a great kid and its pretty rare that she gets into any kind of trouble.

I've said it before but Kamryn was meant to be a big sister. I watch her when she thinks I'm not looking...shes so gentle and sweet with her little brother and sisters. She is so excited for Logan to start Kindergarten next year and is always talking about how she will walk him to his class everyday. Kamryn is always calling me into the room to show me something cute Kensington or Tenley is doing. As the big sister of 4, needing to share her mama and daddys attention, she even til this day tells me I should have another baby so Logan can have a brother. That's just how caring Kamryn is. Always thinking of others before herself. 

That's not to say there haven't been challenges with Kamryn. She's never cared for bed time. I was actually just talking yesterday about the many songs and dances I've had to do over the years to get this kid in bed. She is the kid that comes downstairs at least 2 times every night for a glass of water, just one more hug, to tell me something that happened that day and sometimes claiming shes had a bad dream (but I know she hasn't even fallen asleep yet), etc etc. Ohhhh....Kamryn.

Kamryn is doing great in school. She's really getting so much better with her reading and really enjoys math. Math is definitely where she excels. Just last week Kamryn was selected to walk a red carpet at school and was recognized for being an AWESOME LEADER to the students at her school. We couldn't possibly be more proud!!

Being Kamryn's mom is an absolute joy and an incredible honor. There is rarely a dull moment and she definitely keeps us on our toes. Right before my very eyes she is changing from our baby girl into a beautiful young lady. Which is exciting and scary at the same time. I'm excited to sit back and watch her take on the world. But until then I'm happy to say she still loves to wear pincess dresses around the house and occasionally will let me put a bow in her hair. Only with the right outfit of course....and NEVER on days when she has gym class. ;-)

We love you Kam! 

Yarmouth

This past weekend we headed down the cape for a long weekend of family fun! It was the perfect way to kick of February Vacation for Kamryn.

We didn't sleep much (Kensington and Tenley were all out of sorts) but we still made the best of it. I give those of you who travel with babies and toddlers SO MUCH credit. It is NOT easy!! 

We stayed at The Cove in Yarmouth. Thank you to Mike's godfather, Jay and his wife, Maureen for giving us a weekend away and for all their help with the kids!

The kids had the best time! 

Lots of swimming, ice cream sundaes, video games and even a ceramic class for Kamryn!

As per usual we didn't take nearly enough pictures. But at least we documented it, somewhat. 

I keep saying to Mike I won't be going away again with all 4 kids until Tenley is at least 4. HA! You think I'm kidding? I'm NOT. I'm still exhausted.

But in all seriousness it was great to get away with the kids. Mike and I are already talking about maybe taking the big kids away somewhere this summer. Possibly with Kensington and Tenley too if they promise to sleep. HA! ;) We're thinking Kamryn and Logan would really like Story Land AND if we left the babies home with a sitter we could all ride the rides together. We'll see! 

Thanks Jay and Maureen for a great weekend!!

The Sass kids go to the dentist!

I really do feel like lately I live at our pediatric dentist office. I guess this is just part of having 4 kids..... SO. MANY. APPOINTMENTS.

First up was Kamryn with her second round of dental work. She did AMAZING! Even Dr Brian told her he wished he had patients like her all day. 

I took this picture of her in the waiting room before we went in. So brave!!

Next up was Logan. He did awesome but has two itty bitty cavities that will need to be filled next week. I'm hopeful that appointment goes as well as this one did. 

He looks like such a big boy laying there with his feet crossed.

Annnnnd Kensington. If you don't know Kensington in person you are missing out. She is an absolute riot! This girl beats to her own drum and is so much fun. She had everyone in the office cracking up. She did so well for her first time and I couldn't be more proud.

Kensington landed herself in the no cavity club! 

Tenley needs to get more teeth before her first visit. Baby Girl will be 11 months old tomorrow and still only has 2 teeth. :)

Next week I take Kamryn back to put her spacers in and she will get fitted for her retainer. Two days later I'll also bring Logan in to get those two cavities filled. After that we will only have one more visit for Kam to get the retainer in place and then we are good until August!! (I think) I love our dentist, he's absolutely amazing BUT I'm looking forward to not planning my weeks around dental appointments.

S N O W

Ahhhh.....just as we all knew it would come. SNOW!

We got hit with a pretty decent sized snowstorm yesterday. School was canceled both yesterday and today. More snow is possibly coming tonight, just a few inches and then blizzard conditions again Monday morning. GREAT! The kids were insane yesterday and have been much MUCH better today. Can you say stir crazy?!? Its so cold out I can't even really let them go outside and play in the snow. Plus they don't even want to when its this cold. UGH! Its going to be a looooooong weekend! But, Kamryn is really excited about that! No school....woo hoo!!!

I took this picture of Kensington right as it started to snow yesterday. I just love how she says "snow" in her little voice!! I wish I had a video instead of this picture, ;) Right now if I were to take this picture again, you wouldn't be able to see our deck, just the path Mike shoveled out for the dogs.

Spring where are you?!?!?!

Have I ever told you how much I hate the snow?

Positivity

YES.