Halloween 2012

It was a cold one (low 40s), but the kiddos still had fun! Ashley was a little under the weather, recovering from a bad cold, so she stayed bundled in the wagon most of the time.  

This is the crew that we went around with.  The girl in black and the boy in red are twins that live 3 houses down and are in Andrew's class.  They adore Andrew and Andrew adores them.  The others are friends of the twins' family that we met that night.  Austin had already given up and was sitting in the wagon eating candy with Ashley. :)

the official Kindergarten picture

but he looks so much older!!!

rub-a-dub-dub

3 kids in a tub!!

I'm not sure when they will outgrow this.  Maybe they already have.  Andrew is starting to prefer to take his bath by himself, or he takes a shower.  Austin sometimes likes to take a shower as well.  There have been nights where we have one kid in each tub and the other one in the shower.  It's nice that the older two are becoming a little more independent, but it's also sad that nights like this have become few and far between.  Maybe I'm weird, but I still think it's cute to have them all together. 

a little fall fun

I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday that I was snapping pictures of the kids playing in the backyard pool.  No more than last week.  I feel like we said goodbye to summer and helloooo to fall overnight.  Austin helped me rake when we first started (with his little kid rake), but then after about 10 minutes he stood to the side and politely said he would wait until I was done.  That was a lot of leaves!  I raked all of the frontyard leaves into one massive pile and let Austin have his long awaited fun.  And then we loaded them up into two trashcans.  Don't worry, there are plenty more left on the trees.  :)

movie night

The boys are enjoying their Costco popcorn and their movie, Cars 2.  Ashley is off playing with Mommy's wallet, the kids' toothbrushes, and she has her pj pants most of the way off.

Sounds about right. :)

"Mommy, I. need. wipe."

I was about to throw away one of those heavy duty plastic zipper bags that once held a new pillow sham from Bed Bath & Beyond when (lightbulb!) I realized it could be used for other things.  

"Austin, would you like to take this to the basement and fill it up with toys?  Maybe some cars?"

"Oh, yes!"

Austin races to the basement and comes back within about a minute with a full bag of cars.

"Mom, I want to paint my cars."

"Uhh...I guess that would be okay."

*note:  to Andrew painting cars (when he was into that) meant painting with cars and he would drive the cars through a pool of paint making paint tracks from the wheels onto the paper.*

But, this isn't Andrew.  This is Austin.  When Austin says paint my cars, he means paint my cars.

Right.

Well, Ashley was napping. Austin was content, quiet, and busy.  Occasionally he would show me the car he had just painted.  I was getting some work done.  It was so quiet I had to turn the radio on for a little noise.

I made one trip upstairs to put some clean clothes away.  

I came down and then made a 2nd trip upstairs.  While up there I heard Austin call for me a few times.  I was trying not to respond (because I would have to holler) for fear of waking up Ashley.  As I entered the kitchen I heard Austin say, "Mommy, I need wipe."  His back was to me.  He turned around.  

"Mommy I. need. wipe."

Uhhh...

The more I laughed the more he got mad at me.

Right.  Of course.  Right away...(after I take this picture.)  

Ashley, her first 18 Months - at a glance

birth through 8 months

 9 months through 17 months

18 Months

Is Peter Pan Sad?

Austin - "Mommy, you know what Peter Pan lost?"
Me - "No, what did he lose?"
Austin - "His shadow"
Me - "Oh.  Is he sad?"
Austin - "No. He isn't sad.  It doesn't cost money."

Ashley Grace is 18 Months Old

First of all...a little collage of pictures from her 18 month solo photo shoot.  Andrew was in Kindergarten and Austin was at preschool.  It was just a very busy Ashley, Mommy, the photographer, and a quiet portrait studio on a Tuesday morning.   Ashley didn't give us her big cheese-ball grin, but I was thrilled she didn't cry like last time.  

a little of what Ashley is like at 18 months...

not very talkative, but she does have a decent amount of words...
Daddy
Mommy
thank you
uh-oh (her favorite)
ball
bye
dit (not sure what this means, but she often says "uh-oh, dit")
cheese
hi
bubba (brother)
mine
no
baby
many things I don't understand (random jibber jabber that makes sense only to her)
and maybe more that I can't think of right now...

-she climbs
-she loves Mommy's wallet (and iphone)
-she loves putting on everyone's shoes, and occasionally her own
-she hates zip-up footie pjs
-she crawls up and down stairs with ease
-she spins around while dancing
-she climbs up the slide and up the ladder of our playset
-she recently hates to swing
-she pushes the chair with her booster strapped to it around the kitchen, climbs into it and fishes things out of drawers and pulls things off of the counter top
-she has a hard time staying dressed (meaning she loves to take her clothes off if she can)
-she stays up 1-2 hours later than her brothers
-she takes 1 1/2 - 3 hour naps in the afternoon
-she eats gogurt, yogurt, Nutrigrain bars, cheese, chicken nuggets, watermelon, grapes, cantelope, apples, oranges, strawberries, club crackers, animal cookies, veggie straws, applesauce, blueberries, mac 'n cheese, cheez-its, and not much more.
-she climbs (did I mention that already?)
-she likes umbrella strollers and doll strollers a lot (she once fought with a little boy her age over a doll stroller at a playdate)
-if she notices Daddy's iPad laying on the couch she immediately grabs it and walks it to him

So, to summarize...Ashley climbs, she's particular, she's a busy body, and she loves fruit. :)

Oh, her stats (moving up on the charts!)...
Weight - 19.8 pounds (14%)
Height - 31 inches (23 %)

our new pet, sort of

We walked out of the school after Austin's speech session this morning. I opened the front passenger door, Austin climbed in and crawled to the back, and started buckling himself into his carseat. I put some things down in the front passenger seat, turned to grab Ashley's door and Agh!! What IS that?!

Oh, it's just a katydid. I love katydids. I think they are so pretty and it helps that they seem to be pretty chill insects. I told Austin to get out and look at it. He was pretty hesitant and didn't quite share my enthusiasm, but he humored me a little.

Our new friend managed to stay put on the door handle when I opened and closed it. I asked Austin, "Do you think he (we decided he was a boy katydid) will stay on there all the way home?" Well, he did. The drive was short and just down the street. I could see him hanging on through the side mirror. I thought we were going to lose him a couple if times, but he hung on for his dear little life.

We decided to bring him inside and give him a new (most likely temporary) home.

Austin's first day of preschool as a Bumblebee

Austin's first day of preschool was yesterday.  It was a busy morning.  We put Andrew on the bus at 7:50.  We rushed Austin off to speech at 8:00 (it was a makeup day), we came back home briefly, and rushed off again to his first day of preschool.  He will go every Tuesday and Thursday.  He was so excited, and he had a fabulous time. Austin is getting to be such a big boy!

summer splash park fun

The splash park season has come to an end.  I have to say, we are very lucky to have so many splash parks to choose from around here.  We usually gravitate to our favorite one - Inlow.  Love, love, love it!!

a postcard from the teacher

Andrew came home last Thursday excited and said he did something really good and that he got a postcard from the teacher. He searched his backpack but couldn't find it. I didn't see it either when I looked. I didn't know what he was talking about exactly and he didn't seem to have the details straight, but this postcard came in the mail on Saturday. :)

sandbox

Dear Daddy,

Thank you so much for spending most of one of your "stay at home days" building this awesome sandbox for us to play in now that it isn't too hot to be outside. We will spend many hours building castles and throwing sand at each other. Thank you very much! You're the best!

Love,
Andrew, Austin and Ashley Grace

Austin's Preschool Playdate

2 days after sending Andrew on the school bus for the 1st time, I took Austin to his preschool playdate at a local park.  It's an opportunity for the kids to meet the teachers and some classmates.  Austin is going to be a Bumblebee this year.  Both of his teachers are new to the preschool, but one of them happens to be the mother of one of Andrew's T-ball teammates, who we met over the summer.  She is very nice, and so is her co-teacher.  Austin knows most of his classmates from last year.  He starts preschool the Tuesday after Labor Day, and it will feel a little strange dropping him off by himself (he went with Andrew last year) after taking Andrew there for 4 years.  I know Austin can handle it and will be just fine.  He is getting to be such a big boy!  

Austin's 1st Swim Lesson

Andrew started swim lessons at Stony Creek Swim Center in April 2011.  He made a lot of progress and he continued through March 2012.  We decided to take a break over the summer, but when we decided to sign him up again we thought it was a good time to sign Austin up as well.  He had watched Andrew for nearly a year and said he wanted to go to "swim class", too.  We started them both at the beginning of August.

It's amazing.  The same kid that wanted his Daddy to carry him through a parent participation soccer class at the age of 2 yrs, 9 months didn't look back when he went to his first swim lesson at the age of 3 yrs, 4 months.  Austin has grown up a lot in the last 6-7 months.  He listened to his instructor, he did what he was told, and attempted everything that was asked of him without a parent next to him - and he loved it!  

Andrew starts Kindergarten

August 15th was the first day of school - Andrew's first day of Kindergarten.  Can you see his excitement?? He had been looking forward to this day for a good year or so.  It was bittersweet for me, but mostly sweet.  I knew Andrew was ready and he was SO excited, I couldn't bear to be sad.  Orientation was on the 13th.  We met his teacher, rode on the bus, saw his classroom, he went through the lunch line.  It was a lot easier to picture him as a Kindergartener after that.  I knew he was going to be in excellent hands.

Getting on the bus...I envisioned hugs and kisses and well wishes as he walked up to the bus for the first time.  Instead our very nice neighbor (a non-English speaking Chinese grandmother of a 5th grade boy we have watched get on the school bus for several years) saw Andrew eager and ready with his backpack and she got SO excited.  She grabbed his hands and started saying things I really wish I understood.  She was practically dancing with Andrew when the bus pulled up.  I'm not exaggerating either - it was quite the sight. 

Andrew hurried onto the bus and off he went - to the big, bad exciting, wonderful, 'full of adventure' world of Kindergarten. 

All day I anxiously awaited for 2:51 to come, so I could hear about Andrew's day.  He was so happy to get on the bus in the morning, but he was also excited to see me when he came home.  (Yay!)

This new routine has definitely been an adjustment.  Instead of relying on one of the kids to wake me up in the morning, I have to set my alarm now!  I know, it's horrible.  I set my alarm for 6:45 so I can make sure Andrew is up by 7:00 (sometimes Austin is kind enough to wake me up before 6:45, though).  Andrew gets on the bus (in front of our next door neighbor's) at 7:48.  He has had a hard time falling asleep most nights because he is so excited, and, as a result, has been a little grumpy at the end of the day.  Oh, and the Kindergarteners eat lunch at 10:15!!  That's crazy.  They are given a snack in the afternoon, but he still comes home a little hungry, so I make sure I give him another snack when he gets home.

We are adjusting, but so far Andrew has loved Kindergarten.  His teacher moved from first grade to Kindergarten this year and has taught for a long time.  She is very experienced and knows what is expected of kids going into 1st grade so she can properly prepare her Kindergarten class.  I have heard only wonderful things about her from others I have talked to.  

It's an exciting time! :)

I'm back! (hopefully, maybe)

It has been way too long since I last posted anything on here.  It isn't because we aren't interesting or haven't done anything interesting.  It is simply because I have been busy - we have been busy, and posting on the blog has, quite frankly, moved to the bottom of the priority list.  But, I am going to try and be better (pretty sure I have said this before) about posting about what we have been up to.  Hopefully I can stick with it!

I can't possibly recap the past 6 months (yes, it has been that long, and I did think about trying), so I will start with the present (roughly) and go from there!

Valentine's Day

I was so proud of Andrew for filling out all 17 of his Valentine cards for his classmates and teachers.  I just told him how to spell the name and he wrote each letter.  I only needed to help him with a couple of letters, but he did all of the work.  

It was a little challenging fitting the letters in the small spaces provided, but he worked it out.  In case you are wondering what the names actually are, I included them below this picture.

(Landon, Cohen, Cammy, Braylen, Brooklyn, Caleb, Cecilia, Zach, Luke, Raniya, Liam, Keira, Mallory, Noah, Owen)

I tried to take a few token pictures on Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure how well it worked out. :)  The boys were wearing red for their preschool Valentine's parties.  Ashley was sporting her new head band.  Grammie sent the parts and I was very proud of myself for stitching it together in about 5 minutes.  However, she wouldn't leave it on for anything.  (She did leave it on for her 11 month picture, though!)  

Camping - Andrew & Austin Style

This all started a few weeks ago.  I don't remember how it all started, but the boys decided they wanted to sleep in their sleeping bags one night.  We, a little hesitantly, let them.  Well, Andrew slept in his sleeping bag and Austin slept in mine since he doesn't have one yet.  They slept in the middle of their bedroom floor.  I was afraid they would both be up in the middle of the night, waking up uncomfortable and confused, but they both did really well.  If I am remembering correctly, Andrew slept 13 1/2 hours that night!

They wanted to do it again the next night.  We let them.  However, it didn't go quite so smoothly.  I don't remember the exact details, but I know that Austin woke up really early and Loren went into their room and he said they were both up around 5 or so that morning.  We decided that we would limit "camping night" to one night a week.  We decided it would be on Saturday night and that we would make it more of a true camping experience...as much as we can in the middle of the winter.  The following Saturday we pitched a tent in their room.  How cool is that?   

They were very excited and did a fabulous job sleeping.

saying goodnight...

4 hours later...

 

These pictures were taken on 2/12.  The following week (this past Saturday) we were at a friends house for dinner and got home pretty late, so we skipped camping night that night.  I'm sure we will revive it again this weekend...perhaps it will include songs around a pretend campfire and s'mores roasted in the microwave. :)

11 Months

Seriously.  Where did the past 11 months go?!  11 months...Ashley Grace is 11 months old today.  In one short month we will be celebrating her 1st birthday.  Unbelievable.  She is walking (which is the cutest thing ever!) and, most recently (as in Saturday), she started crawling up the stairs making me wonder if I need to go on anti-anxiety medicine...or maybe we just need to put the gates up again.  Baby proofing is hard, though, when you have a 5 year old and almost 3 year old constantly running around the house and up and down the stairs.

Ashley is, as you know, walking and crawling up the stairs.  She also waves.  She says "Da-ee" and I swear she has been saying her own name for awhile now...A-dee...A-dee.  She says it while babbling in her carseat and after we say her name out loud.  Ashley / A-dee...what else would it be??

Ashley is sleeping through the night.  Woo-hoo!  She started to shortly after her 9 month check-up.  After 3 weeks or so she got a couple of bad colds and started waking up a couple of times at night again.  About a week ago I got her to sleep through the night again.  It's a wonderful thing.

At 11 months old, Ashley doesn't have a single tooth yet.

Ashley is a very picky eater.  She does like bread, mac 'n cheese, oranges, watermelon, yogurt, Nutri-Grain bars, Cheerios, crackers.  She loves crackers.

And we love her!

Look at that face...she is a pure joy!!

...and I am in complete denial that she will be 1 in just one short month. :(

Test

Trying out the Blogger app from my phone.

shopping at Costco

My main motivation for taking these pictures was the fact that Ashley was sitting up front in the Costco shopping cart for the first time (and looking oh-so-cute!).  She has sat up front before, but only when she was the only one shopping with Mommy or Daddy at Meijer.  Costco is unique in that you can put 2 kids up front. Usually Andrew and Austin are up front and Ashley is either in the main part of the cart inside her carseat or strapped to me in the Bjorn.  This was a special day.  Austin and Ashley were up front and Andrew was in the main part.  I know this may all sound silly, but, to me, it was a big day.  Austin loved sitting right next to Ashley.  He kept hugging her (a little too much) and Andrew enjoyed having much more space than normal in the main part of the cart.  Shopping with 3 kids can be a little tricky sometimes, but on this day (Friday, Feb. 3rd) it was pretty fun!  

last Saturday

These pictures were taken last Saturday just before Loren left the house to drive to the airport to board a plane (via a connection in Philly) to the UK. He will be back late tommorow night. This was the shortest of his most recent trips, 6 1/2 days versus 12 1/2 and 10 1/2 (yes, the "1/2" is important!), but it felt longer for some reason. I imagine it's my fault for thinking it would be a breeze after the longer trips. It's not that it was too difficult or anything, but for whatever reason it felt longer. No big deal. My help will be back soon!
I know I will be happy...and a certain 5 year old (nearly 63 month old? that sounds weird...), 34 month old (to the date) and 10 1/2 month old will be, too. :)

They aren't her first steps...

but they are the most she has taken and the first time they were finally caught on video!  She may be a little peanut, in the 6th percentile for both height and weight at 9 months, but nothing stops this girl.  She has taken a couple/few steps periodically for probably close to a month now, but this was different...and more.  At the time I thought she was so distracted and in a zone with Andrew's watch that she had no idea what she was doing, but later on throughout the evening she continued to practice her skill.  She still prefers crawling, but it won't be long... (and she's only 10 months old!)

Click on me! I'm a video of Ashley walking!

lovely weather

Ahhh...January 31st.  You would think we would have a foot of snow on the ground.  Instead, it was in the mid to upper 50s.  I don't know how high the temp actually reached; I do know that it felt wonderful.  Austin was very eager to get outside.  Andrew, for some reason (I'm not sure he was feeling 100%), took a little persuading.  Ashley was napping for most of the fun, but she was able to get some fresh air as well once she woke up.  Austin was so funny.  He kept saying, "Mom!  The slide!  Remember that?"  "Mom, the ladder!  Remember that?"  Funny, funny kid.  Look at the picture at the bottom right of the collage where Austin is swinging on his tummy.  He ran and literally jumped right out of his boots!  I didn't realize it until after I took the picture.  The boots are kind of oddly wide (probably why they were on clearance for about $6 at Target), so it didn't surprise me, but it was still hilarious.  I laughed pretty hard and then Austin tried to recreate it several times.  Also, the picture in the top middle of the collage cracks me up.  Andrew is looking at Austin waiting for him to shoot so Andrew can shoot at the exact same time and mess up Austin's shot.  These boys are SO competitive sometimes!  Ashley is happily waving at us all.  She was watching Austin on the swing in a half-stupor when I was trying to take her picture from a distance.  I started waving my left hand while holding the camera wanting her to simply look at me, but she started smiling and waving (while looking at me the same time!) in response.  Too cute!

It was a great afternoon and a great way to say goodbye to January.  The past couple of days have been nice as well.  It's amazing what a little fresh air can do for everyone, but it makes me long for spring and summer...

PS- It was pajama day for Austin's preschool class :)

Kindergarten?!

Last Thursday, Loren and I went to the school for a Kindergarten info session.  Kindergarten?!  Kindergarten?!?!  Yes, Kindergarten.  Andrew will be going to Kindergarten next year.  Next August.  His summer will be nearly a month shorter this year since preschool starts after Labor Day.  Regular school starts mid-August.  CrAzy.  On one hand I can't believe our first baby is growing up so fast, but really...  he is attending his fourth year of preschool.  He wants to call preschool Kindergarten.  He likes to play school and started calling me Mrs. Garrison (on occasion and mostly when he is school mode).  He dreams of riding the bus.  Every bus we drive by is his bus.  A year ago I envisioned driving him to school every day for Kindergarten.  He told me NO.  He wants to ride the bus.  I asked him one day when we were talking about Kindergarten, "What if Mommy wants to drive you to school?"  He said I could...but only 4 days.  Really.  Our first born child is Mr. Independent.  It's okay.  I imagine I will be a complete wreck on his first day of Kindergarten (ugh...I can't even think about it without tearing up!), but I have warmed up to the idea of him riding the bus.  It picks up and drops off right in front of our house.  He will only be on the bus for maybe 10 minutes or so.  All of the Kindergartners sit up front.  He. will. be. okay.  I have to keep telling myself that.  Aside from the whole bus thing, I am actually very excited for him to start Kindergarten!  The school is awesome.  He is going to love, love, LOVE it.

and now Andrew's new look!

First it was Austin with his new hair.  Now it's Andrew with his new glasses. Stop growing and changing already! :)

the new 'do

He was begging for a haircut.  Seriously.  "Haircut like Andrew!"  When I said I didn't think we could go that short he said, "Yes!  Look!" as he took both of his hands and pulled his bangs straight back.  We waited a few days and made sure he really did want a haircut...and not just a little trim.  He still insisted.  

a few days ago

Today...Austin's new 'do! 

It isn't as short as Andrew's, but he was happy.