Big Day

Today was a big day--two big milestones occurred.

Reid started school.  He met his teachers yesterday.

Mrs. Chasa, a.k.a. Potty Queen

Mrs. Stacey 

Reid was terrified yesterday, and he wouldn't leave my side for the first 10 minutes.  Isla, on the other hand, got down and started running around the room to play.  At one point, when Reid was playing well, I walked to the counter to fill out some forms.  Reid lost sight of me, with all the parents milling about, and started sobbing.  Mrs. Stacey had to bring him to me--it was so sad!

Look how somber Reid was, and how happy Isla was:

Reid settled in after about a half hour, so we stayed a bit longer.  I was hoping the good feelings about his room and teachers would stick out in his mind. Here's the First Day Porch picture--he seems ready to go!

Reid was extremely hesitant to go into his class, but I pushed him in after 5 minutes of standing in the doorway.  He settled in before I signed him in and left.  Whew!

Extra tidbit: I put Reid in a pullup this morning and packed more in his bag.  Mrs. Chasa, the Potty Queen, plans to work on him!  He does well sometimes, and other times can't go.  But, he has only once told me he needed to go. All my eggs are in Mrs. Chasa's basket!

The other big milestone... John got his 3rd karate belt!  He is now a green belt.  They presented it tonight, along with a trophy for best test!  Out of his whole class, he was the only one presented with a trophy.  He was so excited!  (He's had his eye on that trophy for 3 tests now.)

So she's not left out, here are some tidbits about Sissy.  First, note the shoes in the pic below.  I went to a boutique just down the road because I heard they were having a shoe sale.  When I found the bin of green and pink Puddlejumpers, Isla squealed like a Pterdactyl (that's our term for her loudest, most piercing squeal).  She continued until I found a left and a right in her size.  Ever since, she has worn these shoes with her pajamas, with just a diaper, and with every outfit.  She can put them on herself (along with Reid's socks, Reid's shoes, John's shoes, my shoes, Reid's shorts, and her tank top).  I guess dressing oneself so young is a girl-thing? Check out her strut:

On another note, we may be potty-training Isla soon also.  Anytime she has only a diaper (no pants) on, when she has to go to the bathroom, she takes her dry diaper off and squats next to it on the floor.  I've cleaned up so much #1 and #2 lately!  You might say, well just keep pants on her!  The only time we don't is when she has wet through or soiled her pants, and we are busy--running down to the bus in the morning, or cooking, or bathing someone else.  Then, before we know it... Clean up on Aisle 4!!!

First Day of School!

It's that time again.  We bought new shoes, picked out an empowering (and handsome) outfit, and mean-Mama came back out to enforce an energizing sleep-plan, and a strict schedule to boot.  Summer's over!!!

John met his teacher last Tuesday night.  She seems to be a well-balanced lady.  She's organized, she's got experience, she has laid out her expectations, and she comes with a hefty dose of love and understanding.  Meet Mrs. Grogan:

At 6:30 this morning, I was afaid that this was going to be a VERY bad day.

But John perked up quickly, and the only problem this morning was... socks.  I knew we would have at least one issue, and John took out all his anxiety on his socks.  Three pair later, and after we made it very clear he would regret it if he missed the school bus, he decided to make today a good day.  Maybe the prayer before he went out the door helped? 

For the sake of comparison...

This year

Last year 

This year seemed better than last. Maybe because John knew what to expect. And maybe because John was used to the long day.

This year right off the bus

 Last year



 Here's to a happy school year!!

Happy Birthday John!

Six years ago today, I was sitting in a room in Williamson County Medical Center, waiting for contractions to pick up and praying my labor wouldn't end in a C-section.  But things went quickly in the afternoon--I jumped from 5-9 within 30 minutes, and after they quickly prepped the room and 3 pushes later, John was here.

In this pic, we were about to leave the hospital.  You can see John's little legs.  At birth, he weighed in at 5 lb. 15 oz.  That's not a lot of weight to spread over a 21" frame.  And as you will see in later pics, not much has changed!

John loved to be snuggled!  He loved being wrapped up then, and he still does now.

1 year:

2 years:

One of my favorite pics at 2 years old:

Rob's favorite pic at almost 2 years:

3 years:

4 years:

5 years:

6 years:

Happy Birthday, Bubba!  Every day is an adventure!  I love you beyond words!!

Happy Birthday Isla!

The last time I posted was Reid's first birthday.  I've never really had a big kick in the rear to blog again, but I feel like I need to do something for Isla's first birthday.  Who knows, maybe this will be a new beginning?

We had a party yesterday, and there was only a tad-bit of drama.  Baby girl pitched a fit over coming downstairs to open presents.  She also demanded a wardrobe change, but I was happy to oblige because the first outfit was ruffly and likely scratchy.

Here is a video I put together.



I never put one together for the boys--because I could never have done this by myself and I didn't know about Animoto at the time.  Maybe I will get around to that for their birthdays this year!

Things I want to remember about Isla:
-She is extremely busy.  She pulls things out of the cabinets by reaching her tiny arms in the crack that the child-roof lock leaves.
-If you don't shut the bathroom door she is likely to crawl into the toilet.  (Rob found her perched in the toilet, drenched to her waist, and she had a poopy diaper!  Early potty training, maybe?)
-She seems to like clothes--she shakes with excitement when you enter a clothing store and she dances when she gets to pick out her clothes.
-She loves her brothers.  John really has a heart for her, and because he dotes on her, she seems to have a special smile just for him.
-She is much more interested in physical fetes rather than communicating.  She climbs everything (ahem, the aforementioned toilet), comes down the stairs by holding on to the spindles, and she is working on running right now.  She rarely says any words, but occasionally uses Tata (thank you), Mama, Dada, and Bubba (John).
-She can be quite dramatic.  She knows what she wants, and she will pitch a full-on fit to get it--including a backbend, headbanging, and screaming.  When I pick her up from the church nursery I often here comments like, "She's something else!" or "I witnessed an Isla fit today!"  But everyone must really love her, because they fight over which room gets to keep her.
-She loves to aggravate.  She will take Reid's blanket and special toys, just to hear him scream!

More party pics:

Isla's cake.  I wanted 3 tiers with a pile of roses on top and my Mema pulled it off. I made the icing, and put the dots on, but I was afraid to attempt anything else!

Isla didn't smash any of her cake.  What you see in the pic is where her Daddy pushed her hand into the cake, because she wouldn't do anything on her own.  And then she started crying, so smash time was over. 

 All recovered with clean hands.

 Party-goers hanging out at the table.

Isla seemed to like opening presents.  Notice, we had to strap her in the chair to keep her in one place to open the presents!

 She really liked her cards.  Looks like she may enjoy reading!

And here she is trying to figure out how to produce some serious driveway art.  She didn't even try to eat the chalk!  Very different from the boys...

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby Isla!

Pictures

Warning: lots of pictures.

I am aware that using a slideshow would probably be better, but I'm just not that savvy and this seemed quicker to me. Reid had his 1-year pictures, and the session DID NOT go well! The photographer was wonderful, but Reid was not himself. Turns out he was getting a tooth, and this one was hardest on him yet.


This is how Reid was for about 55% of the pictures. For 40%, he was crawling away from the photographer and banging on the backdrop. She had to be thinking, "if he breaks that, you are going to pay for it..." I was at a loss as to what to do.


Turns out a little Mommy-love went a long way. I know it looks like we're Frenching, but I assure you he is the only one using tongue. Very slobbery, but it's such a sweet phase!

Somehow, Kim Maye was able to get some great pictures out of a horrible photo session, so here are the rest (the other 5% for you math geeks):

#1

Happy First Birthday, Reid!

It's hard to believe he's a year old already. He's such a comedian, always smiling and trying to make you laugh. He's so sweet, even though he's such a mess. Just today, he broke a vase, spilled a drink, emptied my pots/pans drawer, threw his food all over the floor twice (after saying "Uh-oh!"), dumped brother's toy basket out, got in the garbage, emptied an almost-full box of Kleenex, and I can't remember what else... I guess he's just really curious!


Last year at 7:20 in the morning, he wasn't very happy. I thought I was going to have a really serious/whiny baby on my hands. Turns out he's extremely happy, just has a "bit" of a temper!



After he finally settled down, he showed his true nature: content.


Big brother has loved him from the beginning, and Reid has completely returned that love. They are so sweet together--except when John hits him in the head with a wooden spoon, or Reid whacks John across the back and yells, "Noo--ooooo!" (Um, yes, we are from the south, and No is a 2-syllable word)

Right now, I am wondering how in the world I will get this bottle away from him. But, of course, I know I will in time--just 3 months ago I was wondering how on earth I was going to wean him to the bottle because I was running out of milk. (Poor little guy is already getting the middle-kid treatment because baby sister took his milk away!) At least he has his trusty blanket--no beddy-by without that!

I was wondering when he would walk, because he has been standing on his own for weeks now. John walked at 10 months, and I just knew Reid would too, if for no other reason than to keep up with big brother. And a week and a half ago, he took his first steps!

I had to put this pic in here, because I want to remember that Reid was Chicken Little. No, I don't make his hair do that. There's no goop in his hair, and it's not cut that way. It's not static. I really don't know why it does this, but I have very recently come up with a theory. When Rob bathes him, he poors the water right over his head, many times from front to back. Since it grows toward the front, and he has a double-crown, I think that's what makes it stand up. But hey--no complaints, because John didn't have much hair at all on his first birthday! And only a little more--mostly in the back--on his second!

Sweet little smiley-boy! I love you so much and can't imagine life without you!!!