5 Years.

Oh man my baby boy? Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's the eve of your 5th birthday. Little did we know that you would make this grand entrance into the world on November 28, 2009 nearly 3 months early.

You astounded us when you took your first breathe and cried. This was the most encouraging beginning to your almost 8 week stay in the NICU. During this time, it was both the scariest, yet happiest time in our lives. All 3 pound 3 ounce of you taught us just how incredible such a small person can be. Your presence everyday is a reminder that we have proof that miracles do happen.

In the last year you have grown up so much. This summer you shot up at least couple of inches in just those few short months. They always say, don't blink or you'll miss something, I now know that is positively true. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been home with your for the last year. As a parent, we spend so much time working and don't realize what we are missing until have it.

Your imagine makes me want to be 5 years old again. You come up with the most wildly incredible scenarios and at least several times a day your assign me, daddy, Miles and Violet to be a Ninja Turtle, Transformer or Super Hero. I must admit I do favor being the purple flower truck Transformer.

If you aren't busy being Super Hero, fire fighter, cop, or garbage truck driver you are building, anything and everything. If I had to describe your imagination in two words I would 1. inventive 2. builder. I just love watching you build and create incredible things.

You are also very organizational which obviously an asset to all of your creations/ideas. Grocery shopping consists of your organizing items so that they precisely line up in the cart, almost as if you were building with blocks.

When you aren't being a Super Hero, rescuing, or building something you love playing on the i-pad. The i-pad is pretty awesome, ok... REALLY FREAKING AWESOME.

Since you turn 5 tomorrow, you now have 2 years of BIG BROTHER under your belt. I am not going to lie (because this is your birthday post), most days around here are war zone. But when it comes down to it, you do love your brother and your little brother and he pretty much thinks you are the coolest kid EVER and spends his days trying to compete and keep up with his awesome BIG brother.

Speaking of AWESOME, you are AWESOME. Since I could pretty much go on and on about your awesomeness I am going to grace our readers (and you some day) with 100 bullets of your awesomeness.

1. You call me your best friend.
2. You have this weird habit of rubbing your cheek up against people when your your feeling lovey (I'm convinced you learned this from the cats).
3. You can count to 30, even 40 but ALWAYS miss number 13. (I guess I don't blame you, there is a reason why the 13 floor is almost non-existent). 
4. You still take 3, even 4 hour afternoon naps.
5. You really think the Ninja Turtles live in our sewer.
6. You love sweat pants. I have to bargain with you the days I want you to wear jeans.
7. Your current obsession (started two weeks ago) everything Batman. (Now don't change your mind before Christmas- Santa has already started shopping).
8. You call the color brown, black with no fail. In your world, brown doesn't exist.
9. You look incredibly cute in your glasses.
10. You love to be surprised (if fact you said you don't want to tell Santa what you want because you want to be surprised).
11. Your favorite snack is vanilla yogurt with mini M&Ms.
12. You are follower, not so much a leader.
13. Your favorite game is hide and seek,
14. You get into Miles crib almost every morning to jump with him.
15. You love shoes (specifically fast shoes---tennis shoes).
16. You love building forts.
17. You have the most incredible memory.
18. You always want to help, not matter what I am doing as long as you get to help.
19. You think monsters still exist in your closet....sometimes.
20. You ask me to cuddle everyday.
21. You are cautious about your brother's safety.
22. Your imagination, ROCKS.
23. You love singing songs.
24. You don't dance (it's probably genetic, don't worry).
25. You love closing your eyes for surprises..
26. Your favorite TV show is Jake.
27. You aren't into the fad toys.
28. You think Tator Tot hot dish is the best food ever.
29. You love to be read to.
30. Your favorite color (this week anyways) is red, because fire trucks are red.
31. You always up before 7 am.
32. You don't like pop or anything with carbonation.
33. You could eat cereal or pancakes for every meal, everyday and be totally ok with this. 
34. You still need me to remind you which shoes go on what feet.
35. You love pretending to read.
36. The circle store (Target) is the best store ever (and mommy agrees).
37. You love surprises.
38. You still sleep every night with your yellow blanket and puppy.
39. You only asked for one toy for your birthday (Hot Wheels Fire & Rescue---and your getting it) 
40. Your favorite movie is Planes Fire & Rescue
41. You are not much of a morning person and bargain in to staying up later.
42. Your favorite thing to do outside in the winter is shovel.
43. You take AMAZING photos now (well, when you want too). It's 180 from last year and 360 from the year before.
44. You talk about Whitney Dog is heaven and that makes me happy. I want you to remember her.
45. You always ask for Ice Cream before we leave Grandma's house, never fail. Thank goodness she always has some for you.
46. You love taking baths, showers still scare you a bit.
47. You used these 3 phrases the most, "I don't want to frustrate you," and "I'm going to be good, now," and "I didn't do nothing."
48. You love being the leader and showing Miles how to do things,
49. You jump on the living room furniture every chance you can get."
50. You tried riding your bike without training wheels this summer, but then decided you just want to keep your training wheels on forever (and that was a direct quote).
51. You have a hard time saying no, instead you always say, "Maybe next time."
52. You love having one on one with mom or dad.
53. You try so hard to misbehave sometimes, but you are such a good kid---it usually only lasts a few moments and you are immediately SORRY.
54. You think by saying, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore," will some how chance the the situation into your favor.
55. You have one sure way to get to a time out with this quote, "Momma, you need a time out, you are naughty." This one buddy, oh it's Momma's button that shouldn't be pushed. 
56. You are just figuring out this Santa Claus business. I hope the magic lasts a long time for you.
57. You randomly talk about dying Easter eggs, for like every holiday.
58. You love doing puzzles, cutting paper and writing letters.
59. You play with trucks in oatmeal....This reminds of my own childhood, where stuff kids played with was so simple and not everything needed a battery.
60. You love playing with people, specifically adults. 
61. Your favorite game is Hide & Seek.
62. You don't like lettuce, but you do eat Tomatoes from neighbors garden.
63. You love hugs.
64. You talk about saving money in your piggy bank a lot to go to hotel with a pool and to go to a cabin again.
65. You caught your first fish this summer while at cabin, Then you caught a few more.
66. You love being outside every chance you can get.
67. Your favorite thing to draw is daddy's work building.
68. You love giving people presents.
69. You call blankets a "key, keys."
70. You aren't in a hurry to grow up (and I think that is just awesome).
71. You gave me instance coolness when I bought you your first pair of character light up shoes this year.
72. You make your own bed (and sometimes mom & dad's) and do a pretty decent job of it."
73. You really could care less about the movie, "Frozen." I am pretty convinced we will be the only house without something "Frozen" underneath the tree."
74. You call all of your friends, "My best friends."
75. You love living by the fire station and we have to drive/walk by the station regularly to see if the fire doors are open to the fire trucks.
76. You don't like to let go of old things or things you don't play with. Momma convinced you that all the toys we sold this fall that you didn't play with anymore belonged to Miles. And... this worked.
77. You love money, specifically change (nickels are a favorite).
78. You like seeing picture when you were little and watching the videos we had made for your first and second birthdays (obviously we have slacked for 3, 4 and now 5). The other day you asked, where are my other videos? #parent fail
79. You are Momma's thrift store buddy. 
80. You always eat pizza in this order. Meat, cheese and then crust.
81. You love having responsibility and helping.
82. You like Jake & Neverland Pirates, Paw Patrol, Noodle & Doodle, Fireman Sam, Handy Manny and Bob the builder the best and he just added Team Omi-Zoomie and Super Why oh and don't forget the Magic School bus and Mickey.
83. You like to paint vs color.
84. You get excited anytime you see a digger working or fire truck, ambulance or police officer go by.
85. You like to play with empty laundry baskets and boxes.
86. You asked for Batman cake for your 5th birthday.
87. You like to cook and help in the kitchen whenever you can.
88. Your favorite cereal is Fruity Pebbles.
89. You like to pretend to play games by yourself.
90. You like monster trucks.
91. You always travel in blocks not miles.
92. You just started using the word, "Awesome."
93. You love living by the "ice cream place." (The Zesto)
94. You like classic shows like the "Smurfs, Flintstones & Jetson's
95. You love it that the kitties finally like you, or more like you finally decided to stop chasing them. 
96. You talk about when you were a little baby and pretend you remember things from when you were a little baby. 
97. You actually ask to have your picture taken these days.
98. You have the wildest ideas... This year you were asked how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner at preschool, this was your response, "Dad and I go to the barn, catch a turkey with a net, bake it in the toaster, microwave and oven for 10 minutes and we will have applesauce and corn."
99. Your heart is pretty much stolen by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 
100. You have the way of making life so awesome, even on the hardest of days. 

I had this wild a crazy hope of editing your 5 year old pictures in time for your 5th birthday post. We will chalk this up this fail to  #parentfail #familyfallpictures #busyseason #photographerfail

Next up for edit is the Christmas session I did with both boys, summer of 2014, fall 2014 and the trip to the cabin. It's just a few 100, 1,000 photos to sort through.

Here is quick preview at his 5 year old portraits:

Happy 5th birthday buddy!

Goodbye Curls.

It happen... First hair cut. Technically this was his first professional cut. He had a couple of mom hair cuts done in the bath tub over the last year.

Our two boys are continuing to prove being opposite in every way.

They say you should expect the unexpected right? Still... I glanced at my camera on the way out the door that morning and thought, ahh no... I can live without bunch of screaming photos to remember this experience. And plus if I don't bring my camera with he will probably rock it then.

He rocked it.

He not only rocked it, he rocked and rolled. Not a single tear, not a single scream. He sat nicely in the chair all by himself for a dum, dum with a few utters of "all done."

 So here is an istagram post to give a peek at his awesomeness.

If it's going to snow, you might as well build a snowman.

First snowfall, November 11th. Its a sad thing for most adults, but for kids, this begins.

Hot Chocolate.

There is just something about a true sign of the warmer days behind us when the first cup of hot chocolate is served for the season.

The other side of the camera.

It's true... Once a year I manage to get in front of the camera.

I am not a fan of what time is doing to me, so you will rarely see me in a selfie or in any photo at all.  The hardest part is the wrinkles followed by my gummy smile. I guess I think backwards a few years--- I didn't think you lost youth so fast. I'm pretty sure I aged 10 years in the past few. I joke sometimes when I see people from high school looking so young and then I remember... "Oh yeah they don't have kids." This means they get enough sleep, have time to work out, have more disposable income to dress more stylish. Meanwhile I wear my yoga pants and sweat shirt with my hair pinned up everday.

This has been such a busy fall, so I scheduled our family photos back in September when A. I knew it would be warmer. B. The leaves hadn't changed yet.

We have done photos in the spring, fall, winter both early and mid summer so this was the in between. As much as I like fall portraits... I am not a fan of leaves as a backdrop come February. By February I am ready for summer and summer always looks fabulous on the walls.

Speaking of walls... Our whole downstairs is getting painted this winter (really Doug it is). It's been 10 years and 2 kids later and our walls show pen, dings, and unremoveable grim--they are gross and I am so ready for a make over; I just need to get the hubby on board.  I plan to paint our living room a shade of blue actually the paint sample reads, "blue willow." Over the last few weeks I have moved most of the kids living room toys to the play room. This has been an awesome decision.  Half of the toys would just get dragged out and never played with and just created a huge mess. Since moving the shelves up to the playroom, it's opened up a whole wall in our living room. I am planning to get some eclectic frames in various colors and make it our photo wall.

You would think being a photographer and all I would have these giant awesome prints on my wall. I have one and we own 4 small canvases. The most recent photo in our living room is small 4X6 family portrait of us when Miles was 6 month old, so that was only 1.5 year ago. I am a horrible printer and I hate it. I am so excited for this can of paint. I think it will be a whole new beginning to this room in which we spend most of our time. With the paint, some new toss pillows, a throw and wall of photos will make our living room the only room I will want to be in.

Here is a peek at our family mini session. I didn't order any prints of Harrison since I just took his 5 year portraits which I fully intend to get edited by his fifth birthday, FOR REAL. And you'll see a few more of just Doug and I in this series. I expressed to Karin that I wanted some good couple shots and  one I could blow up HUGE for our wall. I want to blow all of these images up huge.

Imagination is AWESOME.

This kid, his imagination & blocks.

We were outside this afternoon enjoying one of last fall days of 50s in Minnesota.  Harrison decided to rebuild our front steps (which ironically need to be rebuilt sooner than later).

The whole time he stacked the blocks meticulously he sang "Bob the Builder, Can We Fix It? Yes, We Can!"

He lives and breathes, building & constructing.