On September 7th, Michael turned the BIG FIVE.

I'm still recovering.

The fact that I am now a mother to a five-year-old (and one-year-old) is a little... shocking, to say the least.

I imagine I'll be over it by the time they're six and two. Then that's a completely different hurdle.

But, turn five Michael did and we made quite a day week out of it. From camping the weekend before with dad, and Marmee flying in the evening before his big day, to donuts for breakfast, a zoo trip, chick-fil-a, and wrapping it up with a Zootopia-themed evening, it was marvelous.


Michael's Fifth Birthday Interview


What's your name? Michael Clark Dunn

How old are you? Five!

What date is your birthday? September 7th, Wednesday.

What's your favorite color? Green!

What's your favorite animal? All of them.

What's your favorite book? Dinosaurs! (oooooh)

What's your favorite movie? Zootopia, and also Jimmy Neutron!

What's your favorite song? The Zootopia song. (Try Everything by Shakira)

What's your favorite food? All of it! OR Birthday Cake!

What's your favorite drink? Purple Flurp! (Grape Soda)

What's your favorite breakfast food? Toast and fruit.

What's your favorite dinner? Chicken.

What's your favorite snack? Goldfish.

What's your favorite thing to wear? Surfing shirt and light brown pants.

What's your favorite game to play? The Disney game (Disney Scene-It).

What's your favorite toy? All my birthday presents!

Who's your best friend? All my best friends are my best friends! (followed by a nudge from Clark and the answer: Dada.)

What's your favorite thing to do? Play!

What's your favorite thing to do outside? Play!

What's your favorite holiday? My BIRTHDAY!

What do you like to sleep with? Wrinkles and Alaska.

What's your favorite place to go? Ice cream! (Baskin Robbins)

Where do you want to go on vacation? Disney WORLD.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A police officer!

And, what's today? MY BIRTHDAY!


For his birthday this year, Michael's big gift was an Amazon Fire from us and his Marmee and Papa.


It has awesome features, including read-aloud books that make putting his brother down for a nap a little more do-able-- plus it works with our homeschooling reading time, too! This is not to say he doesn't use it for shows and games, too, but we're working out a routine.

At his doctor's appointment he weighed in at 48 lbs and measured 46 inches tall. That's three pounds heavier and 4.75 inches taller. (See Michael is 4! for last year's birthday.)

This kid, I tell you. And I'm pretty sure he's growing-- again. Why does he have to do that?

We have landed in Arizona, which now means I can share bits and pieces of our journey with you! The New Year is approaching and I appreciate your patience as we get things together in our new home and I then proceed to get the blog back in my routine and running!


Our move began a bit complicated. We had a friend watching Michael one day to load our trailer, only to discover it wasn't enough room at all. The next day we had to switch out the trailer with a truck, and our moving plans altered completely. A very long drive that was supposed to take a certain amount of time with switching drivers switched gears and extended (only by a day!) when we both had to drive the entire journey. But, as you know, we survived.

Our first stop was Fayetteville, NC to see the in-laws. Not only were we celebrating Clark's birthday and an early Christmas, but we had stuff stored there. Another reason the switch to a big UHAUL truck was definitely needed.

It was a lot of fun. We are so excited that we are now only five hours away from Clark's brother and (almost) sister-in-law. We'll be taking another trip in barely any time to get to their wedding in CA!

Here's what you're here for... pictures!








The last picture is my absolute favorite. Trying to get a picture of four men-- that's it. Clark's maternal grandfather, PaPa, is looking at Michael/the cake, Clark is looking at his Mama's camera, Pop (Tim-- Clark's dad) is also watching Michael, and Michael is trying to blow out the candles. Classic.

Almost Clark's entire family is settled in NC. His brother is in CA because he's in the USMC, almost a sort of "family thing". But it's a pretty big deal for us to be moving. The only reason there weren't crazy, tearful good-byes is because we're seeing them again soon. I don't know what it's going to be like then!

We decided Michael turning two was the perfect occasion to finally get his haircut. It took some convincing Clark (see this post and scroll down to number 16 to read about that), but eventually he finally saw the light and agreed we could take Michael to our local barber shop the day before his birthday.








He really did so well once we convinced the barber he didn't need the cover/cape on to protect his clothes and such from falling hair. It was the only thing that really freaked him out. Afterwards we walked downtown to our local gelato shop and got a special treat. I mean... come on... it was his first haircut!

Three days following the haircut (with his birthday and our friends' wedding in-between), we went apple picking. It probably wasn't the best idea on my part to go after we had a few eventful days in a row as it was, but in the end Michael had a blast. He enjoyed the animals more than the apple picking... but we can give him a year or two before he starts enjoying the challenge of getting apples from the top of the trees.












There always seems to be food at the end of our adventures. This orchard had freshly made apple cider donuts (as well as other apple treats) ready for you before or after your picking. You also had the option to just buy apples and not pick them, which we also ended up doing since Michael was super enthusiastic about the actual apple picking part (did you sense my sarcasm there?).

More fall adventures to come! We definitely have a lot I want to check off of our Fall Bucket List this year.

If you missed my post on Michael's birthday, make sure to check it out! I still have a hard time admitting he's two. TWO.

We decided we wanted to do one excellent gift, and then some awesome family/quality time. Since Dada is always on the road, we thought that would be extra special.

So we and both sets of grandparents pitched in to buy Michael his very own train table. I highly doubt we will ever regret this decision. His birthday morning we had his bedroom door closed, balloons and banner at the ready, and let him in after some chocolate chip pancakes.


He played with it for two hours straight. Which was perfect because it gave us time to get ready. Our friends (who I mentioned in at least three posts (one, two, three) got married on the 8th, the day following Michael's birthday, so his birthday was actual the rehearsal/ lunch/ early celebration. Luckily they didn't mind sharing the spotlight with Michael (see extra pictures of his awesome cake here).

I will stop jabbering now. Here are some of my favorite pictures from his special day(s).









I will share more of our adventures which included his first haircut, apple picking, his first movie, and going to the fair!

This has been a week for the books. It feels like it's been going since last Thursday. Granted, we've "stopped" since then a couple of times... but when Clark is home, time just runs together. It's wonderful and almost sad at the same time.

Dear Michael, I'm sorry for getting upset when the only person you want is Dada. It should make me SO HAPPY that you love your Dada (and it does), but I selfishly get hurt feelings when he comes home and you want nothing to do with me. You'd think the break would do me some good, but honestly it just makes me appreciate all our wonderful together-time. Don't get me wrong. I want your Daddy home. I will just be one happy camper when it's a little more of a consistent/normal schedule... someday.

We had so much fun celebrating your birthday ALL. WEEK. Going apple picking, going to see Planes, and the plan to go to the fair today... it has just been awesome.

Dear Friends, Forgive me for going MIA whenever the hubby is home. We try to squeeze so much quality family time in that my phone tends to be forgotten and the internet abandoned (except for work). I appreciate your patience and love, and I hope you don't think of me as a fare-weather-friend.

Dear Cold, Please go away. This is referring to HAVING a cold, not cold weather. I am over being sick and not being able to breathe. You've made life a bit difficult. So... if you could just be done with... I'd appreciate it.


Have a happy weekend, my friends! Here are some things you have to look forward to.


Michael's Birthday, in review.


Beer Bread.


#TBT: Yummy Corn.


PS-- just realized it's Friday the 13th. Weird.

The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

In case you missed 20 things about Michael on his 2nd Birthday, make sure to check it out!

Last Saturday was Michael's birthday. Though this may not qualify as a true "TBT"... I HAD to go ahead and share a picture of his outstanding cake.

My friend Allison from Bailey Family Bakery invited me over to help decorate it! I was so excited to work under her tutilage. Though I made the actual cakes (Bottom Layer: Chocolate Fudge with a Chocolate Buttercream/Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumbles filling; Top Layer: Funfetti with Buttercream filling), I only did what she assigned me to do for the cake decorating, haha.

So, when you look at the picture-- remember that I dyed/made/rolled out the blue fondant for the top layer, the "borders", and the yellow polka-dots for the bottom layer. Everything else was Allison's magic.


Michael couldn't keep his eyes off of it, either.


We brought it to our friends' wedding rehearsal since it on the same day. They were wonderful enough to share the spotlight with our little two year old.

Two years old... still weird.

An in-depth look at Michael's birthday celebration(s) will be posted next week!

When did we get here? How did this...
Michael, three days old- September 10, 2011.

Turn into this?


People aren't kidding when they say enjoy it because it changes in the blink of an eye. I must confess sometimes I have those wonderful parenting moments where I think, "Seriously? It couldn't go any slower." But those are usually rough days, and then other days I regret my ridiculous thoughts.

Well, here goes.


1. Michael is around 30lbs and I have no idea how tall. (I promise to share the specifics when we head to the doctor.) Since he started out having trouble gaining weight, I seem to never want to ever deny him food. I'm just now learning to say no to another cookie when he asks.

2. While Michael loves sweets, his favorites are in the fruit variety. 99% of the time he will not say no to any fruit. His favorites are: blueberries, apples, strawberries, and pears. Sadly blueberries (out of all things) tend to upset his stomach.

3. Rather than saying "Popsicle", Michael says, "Pop-icicle". I personally think it's the cutest thing ever.

4. Michael loves his cars. I have a pretty bad habit of every time we have to go to Target or Walmart I will let him get one (or two...) to add to his collection. My defense is that he plays with every.single.one... so it's okay that he has a ton... right?

5. Favorite shows these days are: Sesame Street, Thomas the Tank Engine, Veggie Tales, and Mater Tales.

6. Favorite movies are Monsters Inc., Lilo & Stitch, and How to Train You Dragon. We are taking Michael to see Planes for his birthday and we could not be more excited! He already knows the characters Skipper, Dusty, and Lead Bottom thanks to Papa :).

7. Michael does not have one favorite color. He loves them ALL. He likes to tell you what color everything is you come in contact with. He does seem quite taken with purple these days, but it used to be all about blue. We will see where that goes!

8. To go with his color obsession, Michael loves art. Sidewalk chalk, Sidewalk paint, finger paint, crayons, markers, bathtub paint... seriously anything he can make a picture with or color a picture with, he loves it.

9. This baby favors his left hand! While his right hand still gets some use, he tends to switch over to his left for the difficult jobs. He would come by it honestly. Clark and I both have lefties in our family history!

10. Introducing Wrinkles the Bulldog, aka Michael's lovey! Ever since we traveled to Iowa he has asked for Wrinkles whenever he is sleepy or getting into bed. I'm so excited! Praying Wrinkles paves the way to Michael sleeping in his own bed.

11. Michael is still nursing and sleeping with us. He is a cuddle monster. He would probably sleep in his own space if I could make a comfortable mold of my arm to place under his head. Pillows or blankets are a no. He hates being covered up and only wants me to prop him up. This year should be an interesting and challenging one in this area.

12. Michael loves to tell you when he's happy. Usually he only tells you it when he's overjoyed. The other night we had eggs for dinner. His dialogue went like this:

"I so happy. Happy Eggs. Happy Mama. Happy Dada. Happy Nuna. Happy Marmee. Happy Papa. Happy Maile."

So... he lets you know when something happens that really makes him happy.

13. Going to church, out with friends, and to friends' houses are Michael's favorite things (close-to-home-wise). Telling him we are going to church, or going to see Porter, or walking with Makenzie make him light up and willing to do just about anything so we can ride in the car to one of these destinations.

14. This boy is one picky eater. We are still on things like fruit, cheese, beans, tuna, and "snacks" (crackers, cookies, muffins, etc.). I was overjoyed when he started eating eggs, and will be even more excited when he actually decides to nibble on some veggies.

I can convince him to eat carrots sometimes if they are slathered in hummus, and he ate squash/zucchini the other night... but I must confess it was actually breaded/fried (this is when the hubby was home). And if he's in a REALLY good mood he will chow down on some green beans or lima beans.

But anything else? Forget it. No meat beyond tuna (and pepperoni on pizza). Nothing on his toast except butter or peanut butter (seriously... the kid won't eat jam). I'm really hoping this year brings less of his picky-self and more of the yes-please-I-will-try-it attitude. Wishful thinking?

15. Michael is a people-person. Though he may appear shy at first, just play with him a little and he will take to you instantly. If you're really special, he won't mind waving good-bye to mama or dada; however, this only happens if we aren't at home. Leaving him at home with a babysitter is never easy. Ever. There are always tears.

16. Haircut? What's that? It took me forever to convince Clark to finally let us cut Michael's lovely locks. The fact that they were getting into his eyes in the front and growing in a mullet/rat-tail form in the back was enough for me, but clearly it took a little persuading for dada (as in, "I'm going to put clips in Michael's hair if you don't let us cut it"). It's not that I didn't LOVE his hair, I just wanted to even it up a bit so it would grow in nicely.

This was just yesterday, by the way.

17. Some words, more than others, are exceptionally hard for Michael to say still. He especially struggles with words that have a twist in the middle.

Words like, Marmee (he usually calls her mommy or mimi right now), ballon (he says "ba-woon"), McQueen (he says "a-keen"), and Porter (he says pah-yer).

Sometimes it's adorable (like ba-woon, or when he says "Kenzie" because Makenzie is too difficult)... but other times I honestly wonder why it's so hard. Maile, Marmee, and Mater are what baffle me... but maybe it's just the M's with a twist in that case? No idea.

18. Michael has a stubborn streak. It is definitely coming more to the forefront as he hits his terrible toddler years. I tell him not to do something, he does it. He shrieks then exclaims, "I share!" but he doesn't actually do it. He lays down on the ground if I tell him we are leaving or going somewhere in an attempt to prevent it from happening (with tears, of course).

But my favorite? He now makes this face (this picture is the closest I've gotten to capturing it, but it's not quite "the face"), shakes his head and says, "Uh uh, no." This is after I say his name in a certain way, and is what I used to do to him before he started doing it in response to his name. The little bugger.


19. He has the sweetest heart. Regardless of being stubborn, he loves to love. It's a little different with kids his own age, it takes a little more prompting. BUT he clearly loves them because he always asks for them after (like Porter, Makenzie, and his cousin Maile). And when it comes to adults, if you play with him, take him outside, give him a few hugs/kisses, and maybe sneak him something sweet (but this last one is truly optional), you are friends for life. (Sometimes this worries me.)

20. Last but not least, there is one thing that has never changed. Michael loves the outdoors. I am so thankful that we instilled this love in him, but I think it was already a part of him at his birth. Hiking, running, parks, lakes, soccer, bubbles, pools... my goodness, this list would never end. He LOVES being outside. While sometimes I must confess I'm not in the mood to face our neighbors or the bugs or what have you, I always make a point to suck it up-- because I WANT Michael to WANT to go outside over everything else. It is so important that he would rather play outside than sit in front of the couch to me. I want to keep him active. So if it's raining (with no thunder) and he wants outside... the rain jacket goes on, the rain boots slide over his shoes, and we dance in the puddles.

Happy Birthday my sweet, darling, adventurous cuddle bug. Your Dada and I are so thankful that God put you in our lives. We are truly blessed with your love and presence, and still have a hard time believing that we are the ones who get to be there for you through all things. May the Lord bless you and keep you and help you grow into a man after God's own heart.