4 year stats

Here are some 4 year stats for ya! I love to look back at these posts and see how things have changed (or not changed!).

Anna Kate:
34 pounds- 45%

39.5"- 45%

Drew:

36 pounds- 50%

40"- 45%

They don't measure their heads anymore but I would safely say that they are still on the larger side although they both seem to have grown in to their heads a bit. I think that contributes to them looking more like little kids and less like toddlers.  They both have long, skinny legs that I have no idea where they came from.

Anna Kate is still my girly girl. She loves to wear pretty things and wants to wear a "sundress" most days. She is still very motherly towards Drew and really enjoys playing with and mothering her baby dolls. Anna Kate is a coloring machine. She will sit quietly and draw or color for hours every day. She is sassy but is no where near as stubborn as her brother. She took a serious turn in the sleeping department and quit sleeping through the night this summer. Most nights she winds up sleeping on the floor in our bedroom.  She is also the early riser. When she is tired, she will rustle and root around (we liken it to a dog doing circles to make its bed) but as soon as she gets herself to that comfortable spot, she's gone. She will pile up as many stuffed animals, dolls, etc... as she can possibly fit into her bed before going to sleep. Anna Kate comes up with some hilarious things to say and has been accused of talking a lot. She is also very insightful. She really pays attention to her surroundings and takes note of things you wouldn't think a four year old would catch. One of her favorite toys is her drawer full of hair bows. She gets them out and will dress up a babydoll or stuffed animal. She likes to come in the bathroom and put on her makeup while I am getting dressed. She is a big helper and wants to help with the laundry, dishes, and cooking. She is not a very good eater and does not like to try new things. She would live on snacks alone if we would let her. She loves to sing and will make up songs on the fly. She is a very sweet girl with a precious little heart. I love her so much and can't wait to see what a kind and caring person she is going to be.
Drew is still all boy. He is rough and tumble and has a tendency to get a little too rough with his sister. He is stubborn and not a very good listener. I often joke and say he may speak a different language than we do! Drew is a talker like his sister and only has one volume..... LOUD! Drew love, love, loves to build things. He will go straight to the blocks or Legos. And we should never dare to take his creations down. I have the feeling he is going to be an engineer someday. He will get the large, cardboard blocks at DotDot's house and his tools and will build a building/hideout/Jones Equipment. He will take his hammer and carefully hammer them in to place. Drew still loves to snuggle and is one of the best snugglers around. He loves to help his Daddy and Papaw work on cars or lawn mowers and loves going to the barn to "tinker" with his Grandaddy. His newest thing is that they need to build a "bookhouse". He says he has to get the measurements and will take the tape measure out and will measure something. Like his sister he is very observant. He will also take directions out and can put together a train track or a Lego set by using the pictures on the directions. Drew isn't a very good eater and will not try anything he thinks is stinky or looks gross. He would eat mini pancakes for every meal if we would let him. He still loves to play the drums on anything and everything. He doesn't love drawing as much as his sister but he does love music class. Drew is still very opinionated about what he is going to wear. He has a select few outfits that are his favorite and if I don't watch him, he will dig them out of the dirty clothes. Drew's laugh is infectious and I love the way his eyes light up when he smiles. I sure do love that little boy!

August

August rolled through as quickly as June & July did.  There is always such a busy time around Drew and Anna Kate's birthday.
We of course had their birthday party, they started at a new school, Anna Kate started ballet classes, and Drew and Anna Kate both started soccer.  We were busy, busy with lots of fun and exciting things!
The party was held at DotDot and Grandaddy's house again this year.  And it rained again this year. Fortunately it was like last year where it rained before the party and then cleared off.  The theme this year was Western. DotDot did a lot of work and was able to arrange for a pony to come to the party for rides.  Everyone was so excited. To keep a long story short and my blood pressure down, the pony never showed up. I am so proud of Drew and Anna Kate and the way they handled it. I think Anna Kate especially was a little disappointed but they partied on without missing a beat. They truly enjoyed their time with our family and friends and that is really what is important!

 So big! It still baffles me that they are 4!

 Cutest cowboy I know!

 She was giving a hearty "YEE HAW". Haha!

 She was seriously in rare form! I think here she was demanding that the pony be there. This was still early when we were thinking it would still be there.

What a difference?! The left picture was the Christmas after their 1st Birthday.

 Drew loves some watermelon! This particular watermelon was grown by him, Anna Kate, and their Grandaddy.

 Birthday cupcakes!

 Grandaddy got him! He got him. He cleaned all of that cupcake up. He loves cake as much as he loves watermelon.

 Sis got in on the messy cake action too!

 She was going to ride a horse one way or the other!

Drew and Anna Kate started to a new school, Wesley Day School.  Their first day was on their birthday. Since their school is where they went to Bible School this summer they call it their Bible School (They call Dotson their baby school).  They both really seem to enjoy going there.  They have both ended up going to school a day or two solo due to the other one being sickly. That was huge for Drew because he hasn't ever done something like that. I was so proud of how brave he was about it. I honestly didn't think he would stay. The teachers said he did great and they felt like he may have even enjoyed the independence!

First day of school!

We celebrated their actual birthday at DotDot and Grandaddy's house with Aunt Ashley. That seems to have become a yearly tradition.

Cake time! It was green per Anna Kate's request. Green was her favorite color for the month of August. :)

We spent more time at the lake! Drew has become a big fan of fishing and stills talks about a big catfish he caught at the beginning of the summer.  He leaves out the part of that day where he was messing with the fish feeder and leaned too far and fell in.  He handled it well but thank goodness for life jackets!

 Anna Kate loves her Daddy!

 Getting some crickets for Drew.  My girl has no fear!

Drew figured out pretty quickly if you want to catch a lot of fish, you need to stick with Caleb!

Caught one! He was so proud!

Anna Kate started her ballet classes and LOVES it! Poor Drew doesn't really understand why he doesn't have a baseball game while she is in dance class so we will definitely have to get him signed up in the Spring.

Pretty ballerina!

Drew and Anna Kate both signed up to play soccer. They enjoyed themselves for about the first 30 minutes of the first "game" and the excitement has been waning ever since.  They are finishing up a two week break and then have two more games to finish up the season. I hope I can convince them to finish out the season but the last game we went to Drew refused to even go out on the field. I think it is safe to say we don't have a future of sitting on the soccer field!

 

 See it all started so well! They were so excited to play and that their friend Gabby was on their team.

Run, run! 

I think he was giving sis some pointers!

 Pooped! I think part of the issue is that they have to run so much. They love to run, they just don't love to be made to run. Especially at 9:30 in the morning. What can I say, they are their mother's children!

June & July

June & July were pretty laid back!  We spent a lot of time at the lake and the pool. I lost a lot of pictures that were on my phone when my SD card pooped out on me! It was so very sad.

Our summer months definitely had a water theme! Drew and Anna Kate really love to swim and have no fear of the water. We worked with them on trying to swim but they both sink like their pockets are full of rocks! Hopefully we'll make more progress next summer.

Swimming at Helen's house.  They both love jumping off the diving board. The picture of Drew cracks me up! He's ready to take off!

Drew and Anna Kate really enjoyed spending time at Aunt Teresa's lake house this summer.  They love going for boat rides, swimming at the pool, swimming in the lake, and fishing off the dock.

 Going for a swim! I saw a snake in the water right after I took this picture. Aunt Teresa practically walked across the water to get back to the dock!

 Aunt Ashley came with us to the lake one weekend and went tubing with Drew & Anna Kate!  I had some fun videos but those were lost when my pictures were...

Drew and Anna Kate went to their first Vacation Bible School in June. They went to the First United Methodist Church Bible School where cousin Hayes was in Drew's class and Whitney was his teacher! this was the first time they had ever been split up in an environment like that and they both did wonderfully. Drew had a level of comfort having Hayes and Whitney with him and I was especially proud of Anna Kate who was in a class by herself.  I think she really enjoyed herself and was told by her teachers that she "had a lot to say". Ha!  

Over the 4th of July weekend we went to visit the Davis' at their temporary mountain home. Cousins Price and Hayes (sadly) moved for Virginia over the summer and stayed at the Davis family cabin in Townsend between the time their sold their house and the new one was ready. There were lots of fun things to do there. We went for a golf cart ride, swimming in the pool, and threw rocks in the river.

Hanging in the baby pool. After many attempts, this is the best I could get for everyone looking at the camera.

 Crazy cousins! Even though they are being so very uncooperative, I do love this picture!

We had scheduled a special, nighttime safari at the zoo with Price and Hayes and the Whitehead boys.  Of course, the evening we were supposed to go it came a terrible thunderstorm and we were not able to go. Since we were all together we decided we would go to Market Square for frozen yogurt.

All of the tiny umbrellas are just too cute!

 

The rain stopped so we went to explore.  I love how Anna Kate is "frolicking". She was so excited!

The boys simply could not resist the temptation and had to get in the fountains. Good thing I brought a change of clothes!

Anna Kate got to have her first solo sleepover with Aunt Ashley. It was very impromptu. We were at DotDot & Grandaddy's house one Sunday and she somehow convinced Aunt Ashley to take her home with her. She was so excited until she got in the car and then she got a little nervous. Bless her sweet heart she was trying so hard not to cry! Aunt Ashley said she quiet for the first half of the trip home but ended up doing just fine. She had so much fun and talks about going back for another sleepover quite often. I was worried Drew would feel left out but he didn't really seem to notice. I think they both enjoy getting one on one attention from time to time!

 Tea party breakfast. She made Aunt Ashley get out her fine china!

All dressed up in Aunt Ashley's jewels! Tea party and jewelry? No wonder she had so much fun!

Of course we spent our Sundays (or at least one day out of the weekend) at DotDot and Granddaddy's house for family time! Drew and Anna Kate always look forward to going over there to see Aunt Ashley.

 DotDot and Grandaddy's neighbor Julie has all kids of fun animals at her house. One of her newest additions is this precious, miniature donkey named Cody.  One of our weekend routines is to go for a golf cart ride to Julie's house to see the animals and take them treats.

Catch up!

I am a little ashamed of how I have let the blog go for pretty much the entire Summer and half of the Fall! I have all of these "We've been super busy" excuses but I'll spare you!  I am going to do a few by month updates and hopefully finish out 2014 on a better note!

A cute picture to leave you with.......

Memorial Day Fun!

We had such a fun Memorial Day weekend! Somehow we managed to pack in all kinds of exciting things into 3 days. What a great way to kick off summer!

Friday evening we were invited to go to the Smokies game by one of our vendors at work.  We got to sit in their box which was great for the kids because they were able to get up and move around without disturbing others.  Drew and Anna Kate did not watch much of the game but they did get a hotdog, got to play with some new friends (a couple of my co-workers have young children), went to the bathroom 478 times, conned Aunt Ashley into buying them some wooden bats and baseballs, AND last but not least got to meet Smoky Dog (I think his name is actually Homer Hound) TWICE!  

Watching the game. The moment it took me to take this picture was about the extent of time they sat still and actually watched the game.

Homer the Hound! The first time he came to our box, Anna Kate was gone with Ashley so Drew was the only one that got to meet him.  He was really nervous and the picture was hilarious (even better than the one below).  The little stinker kept wanting to look at it and somehow managed to erase it!

Saturday morning Drew and Anna had their end of year performance at school. I always love to go see their performances. I hear them sing the songs they learn all the time.

They're back there! I told Aunt Ashley Anna Kate won the biggest bow award!

This was the best I could get out of them for a posed picture together.

That's more like it. The pictures are blurry but this is what I deal with! To the adult Drew and Anna Kate.... when you are wondering why your mother is so senile and out of her mind, THIS is why!

Saturday afternoon we went to Aunt Teresa's lake house to enjoy the sunshine and the pool! This was their first time swimming this year and I have to say they did great! They both jumped right in like it was nothing. Anna Kate quickly ditched her water wings and swam around the pool (with someone close by, of course!) just with a noodle like she learned in the one swim class she actually participated in.

Playing a little baseball in the backyard. I love the way he struts around!

Aunt Teresa is a better pitcher than Mom! I hear she had a pretty good record with some t-ball teams back in the day.  Also please note that Anna Kate is just supervising to ensure they are doing everything properly.

On a boat ride! Drew was mesmerized bu the wake of the boat.

She was having more fun that it looked!

Helping Aunt Teresa with navigation.

Sweet riders. They remembered that there is a train bridge that goes over the lake near Aunt Teresa's house. They also remembered that last year, a train actually passed right before we went under it. They were a little disappointed that didn't happen again.

Sunday was the annual Lake's Up Party at some of the Garland's family friends house.  Daddy's band has played there for the last several years and Drew and Anna Kate went last year also.  It is a fun time and the hosts have lots of kids in their family so Drew and Anna Kate always find fun things to do.

Sassafras picked out her own outfit. She is so stylish!

All he needs in life. He parked himself here and didn't move.

Saying hello to Daddy and checking out his drums.

Monkey see......

Monkey do......

She spotted her Papaw Tim!

Monday we laid low and recovered from our busy weekend!