March 19

What a busy month!  March definitely came in like a lion; let's hope it goes out like a lamb!  We've had lots of fun but we've been busy, busy, busy!

In Houston, the end of February and beginning of March mean one big thing...Rodeo!  And our Little Sweetie took every opportunity to show us her cowgirl ways.

     

Grew out of her old western shirt and had to a new...blue of course!

     

     

All dressed up for Big Brother's Go Texas day!

     

     

     

Yippee Yi Ay!  Cowgirl enjoying her Western Day at school!

Little Sweetie's amazing preschool class!

Enjoying the tractors at the real rodeo.  She loved watching the events too!

Besides the rodeo, we had lots of other fun celebrations this month!  

All smiles for Dr. Seuss Day!

Our favorite leprechaun! 

     

Getting ready for Easter!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday!

We were also very fortunately to celebrate another birthday...Ms. A had her baby, R!  Little Sweetie was so thrilled to hold a new baby!

      

My beautiful baby girl holding another beautiful baby girl!

And even when we don't have a special occasion to celebrate, we find lots of ways to have fun and keep ourselves busy!

Baking Minnie cookies and blending up milkshakes from her cookbook!

Fun times at Kanga's!

     

Helping Daddy get the seedlings ready for the garden and assisting in the patio remodel!

Celebrating her shiny teeth after another successful dentist visit!

All of that deserves some rest (except Momma's afraid to move)!  She still naps ok most of the time, but I think we are slowly moving away from naps, which makes me want to cry, lol!

Height and Weight

She's just a smidge over 40 inches and weighing in at 38.4 lbs.  One day she'll break 40, maybe!

Personality

She's a rock star.  What more can I say?

     

Loving life and living the dream!  Please let her always be this confident and self-assured!

Developmental Milestones

Her imagination never stops and I really think I am missing out by not writing down many of her made up characters to use for children's books.  Right now she is very into pretending to be a "baby cat dragon."  I think there could definitely be a market for a book series about a baby cat dragon!  She's overall very interested in babies right now too.  Her stuffed animals are all her babies and she's working on being a very diligent momma to all of them!

In terms of her fine motor, I have to admit that even I'm impressed by her cutting skill!  She's really getting proficient for a pre-schooler.  And she's been working very hard on puzzles and delicate finger skills, like the balancing puzzle we have.

She worked SO hard and kept trying and finally got all the pieces to balance!  Never give up!  She was so proud.

The other big news?  Someone is starting to read.

This makes my heart want to burst!  The beginning of a lifetime of loving to read, hopefully!

Fun Tidbits

Because every sweet moment she has with her big brother is one I will forever treasure.  She may be the little sibling, but she's becoming a Big Sister and caretaker to her brother in so many ways and I cherish her kind heart. 

     

     

So much Love.

I love every day with this girl.

See you next month, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma

WILLPower at The Woodlands Marathon, 2018 Edition

Each year, we utilize our local marathon events and its Charity Challenge to spread WILLPower in our community and each year's surpasses the last.  This year was no exception!  

One of my favorite events of the race offerings is the Kids 2K!  Little Buddy, Little Sweetie, and their friends from Run Club work hard all season long to earn their last mile and their Kids Marathon Medal at this event.  And it's amazing to watch our next generation of WILLPower leaders start to understand the importance of advocacy and caring for others!

     

Brother and Sister racing duo are ready to go!

     

Little Buddy's spring allergies were not on his side for race day, unfortunately!  Luckily Daddy was there to keep him motivated!

She's work so hard this season and is ready to show it off!

Running buddies!

The boys are ready to race!

Ready, set, go!

WILLPower runner, E, is on the move!

Go L!

Little Sweetie powering through!

Little Buddy and Daddy, keeping the pace!

Little Sweetie's best race yet!  I am so proud of how hard she worked this year!

     

Little Buddy coming into the finish!

Cool down walk with Ms. M!

     

     

Beautiful, joyful friendships!

     

Proud of himself!

Debriefing with Daddy about the race!  

Showing off his two medals!

So happy to see Aunt J!

The four amigos!

The four amigos, adult version!

There's a lot Little Buddy won't be able to do, but all these medals?  He's earned every one of them and we couldn't be prouder.

A week after the kids' race, it was time for the Charity Challenge results!  The WILLPower Team had been working overtime trying to hold on to some of the top places for challenge and...WE DID IT!!!! Little Buddy came in first, Uncle M and Aunt S came in third, and three other runners of ours came in the top 20, which meant over $7,000 extra for the Foundation!

Accepting FIRST place!

WILLPower never stops!!!

     

Thank you to everyone who helped us make an impact in this year's Charity Challenge!!!

     

Team WILLPower ready for our next challenge...the marathon events and cheer tent tomorrow!

     

WILLPower runners, ready for tomorrow!

Ready to run with WILLPOWER!!!

5K team on the move!

Meanwhile, the Cheer Tent was warming up for action!!!

Sun rising on the cheer tent!

Literally putting some WILLPower on the course!

Getting set up!

     

     

     

     

Only the coolest kids cheer for WILLPower!

     

Locked and loaded and ready to cheer!

Ready for the runners!

Here come the runners!

     

Our Cheer Tent was AMAZING!!!

     

     

Secret weapon this year?  Puppy (WILL) Power!

     

Cheering for the WILLPower runners!

The best cheer tent in the universe!  So grateful for so many that have taken up our cause!

Ready to cheer at the finish line!

Uncle M coming into the finish!

     

     

Our WILLPower runners ROCK!!!

     

Charity Challenge awards ceremony!

     

Customary post marathon Chuy's lunch celebration!

An amazing picture of these amazing WILLPower kiddos!!!!

Another wonderful and successful set of Marathon events for WILLPower!  It means to much to see how many people love our boy and our family and are fighting by our side for him and so many kids like him.  And I am so impressed both by how hard Little Sweetie worked on her running and how much advocacy is becoming natural to her and ingrained in her heart.  She is beginning to understand more about what her brother faces and she's becoming one of his most ardent supporters.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

With WILLPower, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma