Students

The first day of school has come and gone and I believe my K and 2nd graders are going to do awesome. I really had that thought as I was about to leave Mya for her first big day- the thought that she's going to do awesome. That is all a mom needs. A little reassurance when you are dropping one of your babies off into the big world of public school. And the first day was great! As Jake and I were taking the girls this morning, I told Mya that she was going to be a "student" from now until she was like 20-something. Wow- that is a long time.
On Friday we had "Meet the Teacher" where Mya was a bit shy, taking it all in. Elle got to perform her first Coyote Council duty and go early for a meeting, tour the school, and manage a hallway during "Meet the Teacher". They both got in great classes- Mya knows one boy from church and already made a new friend. Elle knows a ton of kids in her class which makes it fun.

On Saturday Mya and I went for our traditional pre-Kindergarten pedicure! It was a lot of fun and I think she really liked it. I told her we would get matching colors, and she even got her fingernails painted for free.

Saturday night we tried to have a little fun (since the week wasn't all that great due to the sicky baby) and met up with some friends for dinner at a BBQ place and then headed to the pool.

Monday morning started off with some healthy donuts! Definite brain food. I think the girls were a little nervous- Elle had a hard time eating which is not like her.

The boy didn't have a hard time eating! Rash-free and looking good!

Off to school!

They got to pick out their dresses and backpacks for the big day. Elle wanted Mya to match her and they looked pretty cute! Hard to think that it won't be long before Jada joins them at school.

I told them to hold hands so I could take a picture, and after a little bit I think it was Mya who asked "Can we be done?" I guess she was over the hand holding thing. Jake got to go into work a little late and helped drop off the girls.

I asked Jada a couple of times what she thought Mya was doing at school and she said, "Probably still coloring her picture." That would be a long day of coloring. I told Jada something like that one time and she thought that Mya was done with her first picture and was coloring another one. So in Jada's mind, Kindergarten must = coloring all day. Sign her up!

We then spent the morning playing with friends and decorating cookies that my friend Nicole was so nice to make.

And now begins my days with a 3 year old and 1 year old again. It's kind of weird to revert back to those days of just having little ones around. I'll have to get creative and hit up the parks and library and all that fun stuff again. And I'm sure I'll get to pick up lots of messes just like this. Jada is in a dumping phase.

These little two will become best of buds (if Jada doesn't drive him crazy first!)

And according to Jada, she and I are going to "play a bunch of games" while the girls are at school.

I'm excited to see what the year brings. It will definitely be a little less crazy than last year with a newborn, but life is always busy and I'm sure this year will be no different!

And lastly, a couple of fun times and pictures of my little Boo. I stole the first pic from my friend's blog- just a little jumping time at Pump-it-up...

And a "Blacklight Bowling" date with daddy! We've been making an effort to go on "dates" with the kids, and Jada really wanted to bowl. She loved it!

Red Lobster

What did you do on your last week before school began? I had grand plans of spending lots of time at the pool, letting the kids have fun and soaking up all the sun we could get before next summer. Unfortunately the Red Lobster made a house call and all that changed. But more on that later.
I gave Jake a hard time awhile back about his PJ selections for Cole. For whatever reason, he and I don't see eye to eye when it comes to matching. Because of this, he now purposely tries to put Cole in mismatching PJ's just to make me happy. (See above photo.) Never mind the fact that he has soccer PJ shorts in that exact print or a onsie that looks really cute with those pants. Oh well.

My girls have taken a liking to creating experiments that they put in the freezer. We've frozen all kinds of things this summer, including pink yarn in water, a bouncy ball in water, an empty and full water balloon in water, and Jada most recently glued some paper, wrapped it in a towel, and froze it. Good times.

Jake also has made it a goal to read all the "Magic Tree House" books to the girls, starting from the beginning. He loves these books, as do the girls, and I just finished number 11 with them last night.

It rained on Monday (thank goodness- our grass was about to wither up and die permanently) so I let the girls have a little fun and Cole watched from the window.

And now for the Red Lobster part. See, this is the nickname the girls started calling Cole when he took on this appearance...

About a week after his 1-year old shots he broke out in this horrible rash. He started with a slight fever on Monday, which then turned into a full-on rash the next day and blazing hot temp of almost 103 on Tuesday night. I've made six trips to the doctor's in the past three days doing various things to make sure my little one is okay. Final verdict- either a reaction to his MMR vaccine or a rash called HSP that can also be triggered by the vaccine. The rash has spread all over and even turned into bruising in some places. We had to run several urine samples to make sure it wasn't affecting his kidneys, and now we just watch and wait. The rash is still here, but not near as "angry" red as it had been. It could take up to a week to clear so we've been a little cooped up with our Red Lobster friend.

Another summer activity has been watching "Wipeout"- a new favorite show of the girls.

The girls got a little creative in our boring time at home with a sicky and decorated their room with a "Paris" theme. They've started planning a trip to Paris when Elle is 18 and Mya is 16 with their Aunt Jessica and have been researching Paris in library books and looking at pics of the Eiffel Tower.

My personal fave by Mya...

Jada loves lip gloss a little too much...

And Cole spent the day half-dressed (I just couldn't bring myself to put shorts on his little rashy body).

The kids are bored. Cole is fussy at times. I am bored. It's been a fun week.

We've done lots of engaging activities just like this...

I'll admit I haven't been the most creative mom this week. I actually feel bad and sad that our last week before school hasn't been what I expected. I definitely could have done better at making our time at home a little more fun. But honestly, try taking care of a sick baby who hasn't been sleeping great and making six doctor runs in a period of three days all while tracking doses of Tylenol, Motrin, and Benedryl while it is blazing hot outside and you can't go to even the pool. I don't think you'd be in the best mood either. Or maybe you would because you are that much better than me. Either way, I vow to do better tomorrow. At least we have "Meet the Teacher" so that will get us out of the house for awhile. Hopefully Cole's rash stays down so I don't have to fend off several wayward glances at the Red Lobster!

Let him eat cake!

So the big boy had a big birthday last week! I love one year olds and first birthdays are so fun to celebrate. It really is more of a celebration for the parents because the babies could care less, but it feels like such an accomplishment to make it through that first year of a baby's life. We love our little man and are so happy to have him in our family. It is so fun to watch him come alive and start to respond to the world around him. The Monday after Jake and I got back from Hawaii, he started standing up by himself again and again. He would fall down and just pop right back up in the middle of the floor. He got lots of applause and encouragement from all of us and so, in turn, kept doing his trick time and again. It was so fun to see!

He also does this crazy thing with his eyes that we call "tricky eyes" that looks something like these two pictures here...

Besides standing on his own, he actually is taking some steps (but more on that later). It really feels like not that long ago that he began crawling. I don't know that I am ready for a walker yet! He is the ultimate scavenger and has learned that if he hangs out around the table, he'll get fed. Safe to say that his sisters spoil him with food, love, attention, and an overabundance of carrying (too much at times).

A few things about the little man (or Cole Cole, or Coley, or Colio, or Little C, or you get the picture)- he was around the 25% for both height and weight (weighing 21 lbs.) at his one year check up, but his head measured around the 90%! He eats a ton of big people food which makes life kind of easy- quesadillas, sandwiches, yogurt, nutri-grain bars, fruit, chicken nuggets, etc. He has finally become interested in books, especially the "lift the flap" or "touch and feel" variety. He'll go down fairly easily for naps and bedtime most nights, but still struggles on occasion. He's not known for his long naps (unfortunately) but sleeps through the night most nights. He babbles a ton, but the only real words he knows are "ball" and "bye-bye" which both sound pretty similar. He's got the waving and the "buh buh buh" down pretty good and started that about a month ago. He loves to play with balls and to push trucks around the house. And he likes to dance and play peek-a-boo. He is such a sweet, clingy boy and we just love him! So onto the birthday...

He had to have a birthday tradition like all of the girls so I decided to decorate his door for his b-day. He got a comfy new carseat (much needed) and some presents and balloons for the big day.

We started the day with a trip to the donut shop (because I believe in only feeding my kids health food) and also spent some time at the pool.

Elle came up with the idea of a basketball cake which actually was pretty easy and turned out kind of cute!

Loves playing with the balloons!

Jada did my hair with some beautiful clips. I was looking good for the party!

And Cole practiced talking on the phone. It's so fun to see him try and imitate what we do, whether it's talking on the phone or brushing his hair with a brush. Such a fun age!

He loves playing with balls and loves his basketball toy Mya gave him for Christmas, so we thought it would be a fun party game.

He really had little or no interest in opening presents and actually seemed a little overwhelmed by it all. I don't know if he didn't like all the paper or what, but it's a good thing I have three other little helpers who are willing to step in. He did have a good time playing in his carseat.

Jake's mom loaded Cole up with some Saints gear for the upcoming season (already football time again???), Jada captured a few model shots of Jake, and Cole endured some b-day daddy tickle torture.

And onto the cake, and more cake, and more cake. But hey- it's his first birthday. Isn't it all about the cake???

We decided to end the night taking Cole for a spin in his new carseat in our newly fixed van. He didn't really love it (I think he was tired), but was okay once Jake started being silly out his window at the gas station.

Cole's best buddy Trent (arranged best friendship- they've spent lots of time together including time before they were born at Schlitterbahn and hanging out, Thanksgiving, Easter, and many other times- they've even seen a movie together- "New Moon"- I think they really liked the werewolves- don't you think they should be best buds?) Anyways- their birthdays are exactly a week apart so we thought it would be fun to do a joint little birthday celebration.

We invited a few friends over for some dinner, cake, and birthday fun!

Cole head butted with his party guest...

And tried his first hot dog (not his favorite)...

And have you ever tried to get a bunch of one (or almost one) year olds together for a picture? No easy task!

And then it was time for some more cake! My friend Candis made these cute banana cakes for the boys.

We loved celebrating this little boy's birthday! The day after he turned one, we decided to see if he could walk between us and he could! We've practiced some with him and the most we've seen so far is 9 steps (although most of the time it is just a couple and then he falls).

I love this little boy and can't wait to see what the next year brings! It's been a hard year, but a good year and seeing this little boy grow makes me so happy!