Matthew is Five!

These past few weeks have been busy here at the Sharktank!  First, Matthew turned five on February 24th, then we had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and then we had his kindergarten registration a couple days ago.  Our first born is already five years old and will soon be preparing to ride the big yellow bus to go to school every day.

Matthew woke up on his birthday to find a special set up at our kitchen table.  I recently bought a helium tank to make sure we can have balloons at any time (I mean what kid doesn't get excited about floating balloons... I still do?!).  So, his chair at the table had balloons tied to it and his place setting had birthday plates, an early morning gift, and cupcakes for after breakfast.

We have told Matthew that he could have a real birthday party when he turned five years old, so when it came time to pick a place to host the festivities he chose the glorious Chuck E. Cheese.  I remember as a kid enjoying my time at the local Showbiz Pizza (now named Chuck E. Cheese), but I also remember the crazy number of kids, the lights, the noise, and the madness that goes on in that place lol.  Mr. Sharktank and I made the reservation for his party, although we knew we would be leaving his party exhausted that day!

Overall, the party was great for the kids!  Matthew loved it all and the fact that we did not have to do any prep work at our house was fantastic!  The birthday boy was given a crown, a birthday medal, tons of tokens and tickets, and chance to grab as many tickets as he could in the ticket blaster machine.  Neither of our children had ever been to a Chuck E. Cheese before, so their excitement about the day was wonderful to see!  We were so happy with the number of friends and family who could come to his party!  On our way home Matthew told us his birthday "was the best birthday and day ever!"

My loves before the big birthday party! 

NAS was clearly not a fan of the giant mouse!

The birthday boy ready to play games and win some tickets!

Matthew blowing out his candles on his rock star birthday cake! 

Grabbing his tickets in the ticket blaster!

Matthew's kindergarten screening went well.  He was super excited about seeing his new school and was very eager to show the Parents as Teacher testers all he knew.  I was not surprised to hear that he did great with his number and letter identification, but I was shocked when I was informed he did not know how old he was!  We just had his birthday, as well as a party, and he was so excited about turning five that I did not understand why he told everyone he was still four.  I just chalked it up to him getting overwhelmed with all the questions at his screening, until we were at home the next day and Matthew was choosing not to listen to me after I asked him to help me clean up the puzzles he was finished playing with.  I had asked him three times to help me clean up his puzzles and he just sat at the table looking at me.  He finally said, "I am not going to do it."  Trying not to get mad I replied by saying, "Yes you are.  You chose to play with these, so now that you want to do legos you have to clean up these first.  You are a big five year old who can make good choices, so help me and we can get out the legos." Well, I was not ready for his smart response.  

"Mom, I am not five years old.  I am four.  I don't always listen and have to make good choices, so I am four.  I am not kidding... I'm not!"

That kid can leave me speechless. I had no idea what to say, so I walked out of the room to collect my thoughts and not laugh.  I did of course return shorty to try and convince him to clean up, but I am pretty sure I am not going use the "you are a big five year old" line anymore!

I am ending this post with a baby picture of Matthew (as I plan to do every time the kids turn a year older).  I am looking forward to watching this boy of mine grow up even more.  He surprises me every day with the way his mind works and how considerate he can be of others and their feelings.  

Slacker over here...

Well, here I am again!  Somehow, I have managed to let this blog slip away from me once again and have not done any updates in months!  I can say what everyone says, about how the holidays flew by, we were so busy, I did not have the time to type a new post, but if I said that I'd be lying.  Actually, I straight up just did not feel like it!  I have been so tired that taking a shower and making dinner requires more effort for me these days.  But... this blog is suppose to keep track of the memories and special moments of our growing family, so I need to make schedule time and continue to update this at least once a month.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were wonderful.  The kids loved being around family and of course the gifts they received, but the exciting news after turkey day was that we found out we are expecting again.  Lucky for me I can usually tell when I am pregnant early on.  Does anyone else get intense reflux only a few weeks into a pregnancy that lasts until the end, or am I the only lucky one? So, here we are again watching my belly grow and anticipating the arrival of baby Shartank #3 in August.  I am about thirteen weeks along, and they say you pop sooner with every child.  I am either proof of that or I just had too much holiday food and have given in one too many times to my pregnancy cravings that I have choose to satisfy.  Pretty sure I looked like this while pregnant with Matthew at about 19/20 weeks.  Here is baby #3 at thirteen weeks:

Coming up in a couple weeks is Matthew's fifth birthday.  He always gets excited for his birthday, but this year is especially exciting, since he is having an official birthday party (his first one since turning one).  Call Mr. Sharktank and I mean, but we agreed to only do first birthday parties and then start doing them again for the kids once they actually ask for them.  We all know first birthday parties are more for the parents' enjoyment, so we are looking forward to Matthew getting a party with all of his friends at a place he has been begging us to go.  Chuck E. Cheese here we come!  I am not sure if he knows what he is in for.  He is looking forward to the cake, pizza, games, and prizes, but I am not sure if he is aware of the giant mouse that sings on the stage.  Anyone who knows my children knows it takes them a while to warm up to anything that can possibly be scary.  We shall see how it goes...

I am signing off with a couple of my most favorite recent pics.

This is how we announced our pregnancy to our families at Christmas time.

Matthew and Natalie getting ready to go sledding at our friend's house.  The frigid temperatures here have prevented us from going outside a lot, so we got lucky when we had a Saturday in the upper 20's!

Almost a month late, but here is Halloween with the Shark Tank!

The Fall season has become one of my favorites with the kids.  They absolutely love the pumpkin patches (and we have quite a few good ones in this area) and picking out the Halloween costume is always a fun time!

We started the season by going to our local favorite farm, Rombach's.  I waited until a late afternoon on a Sunday and it was a success.  The place had very few lines and parking was for once not insane!  We brought along one of my cousin's kiddos (Matthew's BFF) and they had a blast.  After seeing the animals, funnel cakes, fresh squeezed lemonade, picking out their pumpkin, playing tag in the "pick you own pumpkin field," and playing on the playground it was dark and time to go.  I always love bringing along a friend for the kids to make the pumpkin patch even more fun for them!  We also visited Pumpkins Galore with one of my in home daycare kiddos and we just may have found our new place for Fall.  Not only were they cheaper, but they still had a ton to do and was not too far from the house!

Matthew with his cousin!  They loved the firetruck this year!

Natalie was only content if she was pulling the wagon into the field towards the end of our time there.  Such an independent child!

This year it took Matthew three tips to Walmart to finally decide what he wanted to be for Halloween.  He went back and forth between a Transformer, to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, to Captain America, and to a pirate.  He finally decided on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and it worked out well since his neighbor also chose to be one!  

We lucked out with Natalie this year.  She loves dressing up and all things sparkly (she is very into the princess theme these days), so when Mr. Sharktank's mom brought back an outfit from Turkey when they visited we knew she would love to wear it.  Covered in bells, gold, and bright pink, Natalie loved calling herself a "Tur Tur princess" on Halloween (we could not think of a name for her costume, so we told he should was going to be a Turkish Princess).  Almost everyone's door we arrived at that night called her a gypsy or a genie, but we didn't care because she looked cute and loved the costume!  

It was a bit rainy that night, but the kids enjoyed the time with the neighbors and Natalie's godmother.  Nothing like a great kid friendly holiday to spend time with friends and neighbors!

Going to end this post with our most recent family photo.  I have a friend from college who regularly takes our pictures and once again we had a great session. My kids love her, and so do we.  Happy holidays!

Busy family!

Yes, every family is busy!  How can you not be busy when you have a family?  I somehow let this blog slip my mind and the documenting of our lives stopped for a couple months.  I must make a mental note to do a better job!

The past couple months have been emotional, exciting, and full of energy.

As a couple, Mr. Sharktank and I have never had to deal with a death in the family until recently.  Our beloved Grandma Irene passed away August 22, and although it was expected, it was not any easier.  Mr. Sharktank's grandma was a fabulous cook, a great mom, loved her grandkids, and could always make a joke without even trying. I had the pleasure of knowing her for almost nine years and would not trade a moment of it.  The number of people who showed up at her funeral in such a small town showed what kind of woman she was!  Although she is gone and in a better place, we will make sure our kids never forget her name, what kind of person she was, and the legacy she has. "Amen!" (which is what she always said at church at the perfect moments lol).

We love you, Grandma!  Hope you are teaching everyone how to cook Cajun style in heaven!

We tried soccer with Matthew this Fall.  Things started off so great! He really loves to kick around the ball and can even bounce it on his head!  His first game he was thrown into the goalie position for the first time ever (without any practice) and only let one goal in!  A couple of weeks later he even scored a goal!  

After his first game!

He loves to play soccer on his own time, but practices and games put him into such an anxiety attack that he refused to practice or play in the games after a couple of sessions.  After over a month, we decided to pull him from the team.  He still loves the sport, but playing as a team is not for him right now.

Natalie is still our spitfire of the Sharktank clan.  I hate to say it, but her new favorite thing is to take her clothes and diaper off and run around naked.  God help me!  She is also very brave and it seems like nothing scares her.  Natalie has no problem opening any door and running outside.  I am about to lose my mind as a parent and daycare provider because of this, but we love her :)

In Decatur visiting K and K!  The kids had so much fun that weekend!

Mr. Sharktank and I took our official last vacation without the kids at the end of September.  Leave it to our family to have the Mr. puking the evening before hours before our flight to the Dominican Republic left.  I begged neighbors for Zofran (to help him stop throwing up), made multiple trips to the local Walmart for Sprite, anti nausea meds, Pepto Bismol, and anything else I could think of!  I ended up having to pack for him while he layed in bed trying to focus on what was needed for a trip for a week.  

The morning of he woke and pushed on, so that we could enjoy our trip with our great friends who just got married.  We boarded the plan with the new Peggs family and I prayed he would recover fast!  Not our luck... he got sick again and we ended up at a Dominican "farmacia" (pharmacy) hoping for help!  We got it and thank goodness!

We spent the rest of the week taking a catamaran cruise to Saona Island for a day of fun, drinking, eating, and relaxing.  SLEEP was the most important part of the trip!  I do not think either couple stayed up past eleven eastern time.  We definitely left well rested and loved our time with the newlyweds.  What a great couple to go on a trip with.  We are close enough to spend lots of time with them, but had no problem when we all needed time alone!  Here are some pics from the "honeymoon" lol.

Matthew is in the middle of diagnostic testing at our school district's early childhood center these next two weeks.  We are hoping (and not hoping at the same time) that he qualifies for some services within their program.  If he qualifies for educational services he would get free bus transportation and education until kindergarten.  We are seeing what our tax dollars are paying for and we can honestly say that we are very impressed with the staff and educators that we have met thus far!  Matthew seems to enjoy the program he is trying, but we will find out later in November whether or not he is a candidate for services.  I just hope all this will help us and point us in the right direction for him and his future!  He is such a loving and smart child (I know that every parent says that, but he scares me with what he picks up on ha) and we only hope that he succeeds in his school years.

We have a lot of great things coming up... HOLIDAYS, so I am sure the blog posts will be more frequent!  Celebrating with kids is almost as exciting as being a kid yourself!

Big news in this house... no we are not pregnant!

Yesterday was a day we were waiting for!  On June 1 of this year (his birthday) Mr. Sharktank took the level three exam of the CFA.  He has been trying to reach his goal of becoming a CFA charter holder for seven years now.  I know in my heart that he could have passed the test one, two, three in a row if we did not get married, did not get pregnant, then decide to move to St. Louis, then decide to move again, and then get pregnant again.  All those life changes and moves do not provide a good environment with ample amounts of study time for someone taking these tests.

Every Winter and Spring, since Mr. Sharktank and I lived in Chicago, he would spend countless hours studying at work (or the library on the weekends).  During the Spring months it was rare if he would come home from work before 7:30 (and keep in mind he leaves for work at 5:45 am).  He also spent every Saturday at work and half of his Sundays at the library.  He had to pass on important weddings, events, birthday parties, family get togethers, and pretty much anything that did not focus on work or this test.

So, yesterday morning we both were a nervous wreck waiting for the results.  If anyone does not know about the CFA just google "CFA pass rates."  So many people give up, but not the man I married... he kept going.  No matter how frustrated or challenged he was, he knew he had to keep trying for his job, for us, and because he knew he wanted this charter!  Eight o'clock approached (when results are emailed to all test takers) and I turned my phone ringer on.

At 8:02 I got the call.  Not only did I interrupt a mom of a new toddler being dropped off at my house for the first time ever (in home daycare), but I almost started crying in front of her due to my overwhelming nerves.  I answered the phone knowing it was Mr. Sharktank and cannot remember what I said.  All I heard was, "I am done, I am so done," followed by a ton of yelling.  Not only did my heart sink, but my eyes filled with tears.  No!!!  Not another year of this exam!  My husband needs to enjoy life and not be glued to his books is what I kept saying to myself!

Well, then Mr. Sharktank was more clear with his words, "I passed!  I did it!"  Wait, what?  Yes, he passed!  In a matter of weeks (after all the formalities within the society are done) he will be a CFA charter holder!  All these years of struggle, effort, and faith paid off.  This will open so many doors for him and we could not be more proud of him!

We celebrated by taking the kids to our favorite family friendly restaurant for some terrible Mexican food and drinks.  For those of you in the area... El Maguey.  The waiters know us, know our drink orders before we speak, and recognize our kids, so of course it would be our dining spot of choice lol.

Things are looking up for us!  With so much heartache and sad things going on in the world and in our families' worlds right now this was news we needed to hear!  Congrats to Mr. Sharktank!  You have a ton of people very happy for you! We love you so much!

How is it already July?

We have been BUSY! Our calendar is so full these days that we passed through the month of June in the blink of an eye!  We attended two of the four weddings we have this summer and enjoyed every minute of them!  There is something so wonderful about watching two people who are meant to be together say "I do" in front of all of their loved ones!  Both weddings were beautiful and the brides looked gorgeous!  I also successfully gave my first (and probably only) maid of honor speech without bawling like a baby or passing out.  Congrats to both couples and we cannot wait to see what is in store for them... bring on the babies!

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs B!  Loved being a part of your special day!

Congrats, K and K!  Your wedding was beautiful!

Now that Natalie is bigger, we can go to the pool more often. As of today she finally put her entire body in the water!  It took her two years, but I think she has finally discovered that the pool is more fun if you get in the water (instead of sitting on the edge with your toes in the water).  Matthew just loves going and would go every day if we had the time!  Most of the kiddos that I watch are older these days, so I am able to do water days at the pool when my numbers are low!  I really enjoy loading up the wagon and letting the children have fun with each other in a new environment.  Watching them play reminds you of how long Summer used to last when you were little and how much you looked forward to it.

Right now life is good.  Mr. Sharktank is not studying as much, and he has more time to spend with us.  The summer may be flying by, but I am pretty sure we are enjoying it as much as we can.  We are looking forward to the weekend, as it is the Fourth of July and we will be spending with our neighbors ("The A Team" and "The Bushwacks").  Our kids will surely have a good time together and we cannot beat temperatures in the low 80's for Missouri weather this time of year!

Natalie is 2!

Our precious baby, Natalie, turned two on the 25th!  These past two years have flown by!  I feel like I was just in the hospital recovering from my c-section and getting to know our little girl, but here she is growing up right before our eyes!

Our first family picture two hours after she was born.  She was born at 9:41 am on May 25, 2011 and weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz.

Adding Natalie to our family has been exciting, exhausting, and so very enjoyable!  She has been feisty from day one and has always kept us on our toes (especially since she did not consistently sleep through the night until 15 months, no matter what we tried).  She is very stubborn and always wants her way, yet can manage to be so lovable and turn on her smile when she knows we need it.

We spent her birthday weekend attending a family baptism, which is always fun in our family, since the kiddos can all play together.  The next night I took the kids to meet some new children their age and to have some fun outside and by staying up late.  Overall, the weekend did not consist of any extravagant parties, but I know both kids had fun together and enjoyed the holiday weekend, which is all the matters.

Natalie is becoming a little lady these days (unless she is being her tomboy self ha).  She loves to take care of her baby dolls by feeding them, changing their diapers, walking them in her strollers, and putting them to bed.  Natalie also loves to help me with whatever I am doing.  She helps me clean, unload the dishwasher, fold unfold the laundry, and take care of the babies I watch on a daily basis.  Our little girl is quite the animal watcher.  She will sit and stare out our windows looking for the "Bushwack's" dog, Winston, squirrels, birds, and bunnies.  If Natalie is ever upset we know that taking her to look for animals will make her happy no matter what.





I cannot believe our baby of the family is already two.  She has changed our lives in more ways than we can count, and we cannot wait to see what she grows up to be like.