What's Not to Love About This?

The Lazy Days of (the End of) Summer

Picture Time!

We've had a great September so far...it's hard to believe school is back in full swing and it's going to start getting cooler. We're enjoying as much outdoor time as we can. And Bailey is enjoying wearing dresses, skirts and flip-flops. The dreaded days of jeans and tennis shoes are around the corner!


This is how the kids eat ice cream treats....wedged into a chair they both claim as their own and with Nolan eyeing Bailey's. He's scheming about how he can distract her and get a second cone!

We took a trip to Clinton where Bailey got to show grandma and pa pa her improved swim skills and relax with grandma and a good book. That's Conner trying to take a nap beside them. Good luck!

Also in Clinton....Nolan thought this was both fun and funny. He spent probably 20 minutes letting the air blow his hair, face and belly. He's naked because, while Bailey was in the pool, he proceeded to muddy up every bit of ground he could find with the water hose. Thus, he got a quick bath.

This is how I found the kids one day when I got to Jeanne and Phil's after work. They jumped up and down and were excited to see me. It was so nice!

I think I've mentioned Nolan's obsession with his toy mower. When Jason mows, Nolan will trace every line that Jason does. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!

Nolan's first movie! He did pretty well while the popcorn flowed. He got bored toward the end. It wasn't even a cartoon, as we saw the 2nd Night at the Museum movie.

We went to the tea room with Jason's cousin Lisa's kids from D.C. and Jason's cousin Michael's daughter, Anna.

L to R: Anna, Skyler, Bailey and Stefan

Nolan thoroughly enjoys making cupcakes.

And, finally, I just think this picture is cute. They are definitely the dynamic duo these days...and I love it!

No Time for a Siesta, We're Having a Fiesta!

In addition to the craziness of starting Kindergarten, we have also been eagerly awaiting Bailey's 5th birthday. I don't know about you, but turning 5 seems like such a significant milestone. Now that she IS 5, she pretty much adds "because I'm 5" to the end of any sentence, whether it makes sense or not. It's sort of like the fun and juvenile game you play with fortune cookies by adding "in bed" at the end of any fortune. Errrrr, maybe it's not so much like that, but it's the correlation that came to my head. LOL!

As you can tell, we chose to have a fiesta this year. We were excited to dress the part, serve great Mexican food, have a pinata and drink Corona and margaritas. Of course, those last couple of things were just for the adults - because nothing says 5th birthday like alcoholic beverages! :-)

I wish I could scan and include the invitation, but I'm not that skilled. The invitation really sets the tone for my signature birthday parties. I had Bailey choose from several invitations, and she chose the only one that "sort of has girl colors." She's very anti boy colors these days. Sometimes I wonder how she determines which colors go in which category.....but I digress.

Here we have the dress-up part of the big show:

This theme made it hard for Jason to dress up, but I'm sure he wasn't too torn up about that. My parents, however, are really getting the hang of it, as you can see below.

The kids had fun with the pinata.....I keep telling people that I'm sure they didn't appreciate the fact that I stuffed it with authentic Mexican candy, but this was very important to me at the time.

I didn't get a picture of the food or the table before everyone came. I don't feel like I did a great job as a photographer this year, as it was just too crazy! If I were rich, I'd hire someone to take great pics at birthday parties! Anyway, my friend Liz's family has a taqueria so I asked her to provide the food...it was yummy and felt very authentic! I do know that anyone who was congested needed only to take a bite of the salsa to be cured!!!

Here's the cake/singing portion of the big show.

And, a few pics of Bailey opening presents.

The kids had fun at the end of the party "skating" on the ice Jason dumped out of the cooler. Simple pleasures, I suppose. Don't ask me why, but Bailey had changed into another dress at this point.

Who had more fun with the Hannah Montana wig?

Bailey making a cupcake with her brand new cupcake maker.


I realize Nolan isn't represented in these pictures. Truth be told, I think he was outside mowing the yard with his play lawnmower for 3/4 of the party. And, when he wasn't mowing, he was trying to wrestle the mower away from the other little guys, Owen and Joseph. The kid loves his mower!

We had a good party. I always feel a sense of letdown afterward, but the good news is that Nolan's birthday is quickly approaching. Anyone have any good 2nd birthday ideas for me?

K

Off to Kindergarten.....Really?

It's official....Bailey has started school. She has already made a friend, wooed a mowhawked boyfriend and learned that Kindergarten kids do NOT play on the green toys when they go to recess. Beyond that, I have no information as she's already tired of answering questions about school.

She is excited, but also made the observation that "we don't really get to play as much as I thought we would." Oh, Bailey...I think life is all play for you right now! Enjoy it!

We'll start with "Back to School" Night. This is Bailey with her school supplies.....posing. Smile.

This is Bailey as I attempted to get her up on the first day of school. This is hard work in our house!

Eating her breakfast before going to grandma's house. We don't have full-day kindergarten, so she has to spend the morning at grandma's before starting her school day at 12:45 p.m.

Biding time with project. Thank you Aunt Susan for the first-day-of-school diversions - she loved them!

And, here we get into the obligatory family portraits on the first day. Jason's are in the morning, and mine are right before school....as you'll note the outfit change.

And here we go to school. We got there early, so tried to take a few pictures. The sun was glaring so Bailey has the scrunched nose syndrome in most of the pics.

She got a new school bag for her birthday, but the first day was just prior so we used our King's Gate bag from last year. Imagine how much bigger it must have seemed when she was a year younger!

Sitting in the circle when we first came in. I see you, little girl, glaring at Bailey. I'm watching you.

And, here, it's Bailey's turn to stare at one of the kids. Hey, getting to know new people requires a good deal of checking things out!

This is one of my faves....but only because of the background. So, the teacher told all the kids (sitting on the carpet) that she was going to take each kid one-by-one to put up their bags....so they would know where their cubby is in the future. In the meantime, the kids were instructed to pick a spot at a table with various manipulatives (blocks, cars, animals), etc. Bailey hung back for a moment while the other kids scrambled for their favorite kind of toy, and then promptly chose the table with all the boys. Sigh....

Note the previously referenced kid with the mohawk. Jaaaaacob (said in an "I think he's so cute" sing-song). Double sigh.....

Peace.

What is Nolan Doing, You Ask?

Apparently, he's getting a foot massage from his big sister.

I'm amazed at how much Nolan is learning and doing. I'm so worried I will forget the little cute and funny things. I tired to document well with Bailey, but I have forgotten so many of the things that I just knew I'd remember forever. So, while some of these things seems trivial, I'm trying to remember that, in 10 years, I will never look back on this and wonder why the heck I wrote something down. I will only be filled with joy at discovering something that I had long since forgotten.

First, while most people probably can't understand the majority of what he says, Nolan really can say a lot of things. He can repeat most anything and really works hard to communicate with us, even when it's frustrating for him (or for us). I would say he regularly uses 20 words and can repeat another 20 or so. He has a handful of 2-word phrases, including love you, my turn, want drink, bad boy, want plate, that's mine, get down, went poo poo and brush teeth.

He is definitely in the "that's mine" stage. EVERYTHING is his and he gets really agitated if he doesn't get his way. We've seen a few little tantrums and, for whatever reason, he's actually started hitting himself (not hard) when he gets really worked up over something he wants and can't have. Right after he does it, he'll get that mischeivious look in his eye and kind of smirk like he knows that wasn't a good solution to his problems. Usually he'll come hug me next. He's also learning how to get his way. When he wants something from Bailey, he'll first get upset and try to pull it away from her. When I say, "ask nicely," he'll change his tune really fast, put his hands out and innocently say, "peeese." It's funny when she refuses, he switches back to aggressive mode really quickly....clearly the nice act was just that, an act.

He has taken to holding my hand and walking me to my car in the mornings. I think it helps him to not be so upset when I leave. Sometimes he tries to carry my purse and is so proud of himself for helping. This morning he worked really hard to put my computer in its case. Sooo cute!

His eating is still pretty sporadic but I think he could enter and win any oatmeal, yogurt or pancake eating contests. The kid eats 2 whole oatmeal packets each morning and sometimes 2 yogurts each day. And, when we make pancakes, he eats as much as I do.

He really doesn't like the heat. He says, "hot" and acts miserable when and if we go play outside in the heat of the day. Bailey and I got in her blow-up pool on Saturday and he wouldn't get in. Instead, he went and sat in the shade by the back door until I felt bad for him and took him inside. Now, he DOES like to swim, but he prefers night swimming.

We are in the beginning stages of weaning him off the pacifier. My goal is to have it gone by his 2nd birthday. Right now, we're limiting use to bed and nap time. This did not go over well the first couple of days, but he's asking for it less and less during the day. The worst time is in the morning when I have to take it away. He usually flips out right at first until he's distracted by his oatmeal. However, I did notice that he left it in bed this morning when I asked him too.....I think we're well on our way.

I'll post Bailey kindergarten and bday pics soon! See ya!

Pray for Kate McRae

This is what a mom's broken heart looks like....

Today Kate was supposed to start kindergarten. Such a new chapter for her brother and sister, and an unexpected chapter for Kate. Today it has been 6 weeks since we came in for her initial CT scan. 6 weeks ago, our pediatrician told us to come to this place as she wanted to rule out a mass because of slight tremors in her right hand. I decided to go then, one less thing to think about or worry about that night. We left lights on, food on the counter, dirty clothes on the floor. I left quickly, with only my keys and Kate's kindergarten application in my hand. Kate and I have not returned since. How quickly things change. Entering the hospital armed only with Kate's application, we will return home briefly with a central line catheter, a wheelchair, leg brace, hand splint, a balding head and broken hearts. Only to know we won't be starting kindergarten this fall. The most unsettling thing is that the moment our lives changed was only because the tumor was made known to us. They think probably Kate had the tumor cells since she was born. It could have been growing slowly all this time, and then something may have caused it to become aggressive. It is so weird to think that for the past 5 years it has been lurking, with us never knowing.

(portion omitted)

Many mothers today are sending their children off to kindergarten with tears. Tears that their children are growing up. We are not sending Kate to kindergarten with tears. Our tears are hoping our daughter gets a chance to grow up. So, please continue to pray, pray, pray for this chance. A chance to grow up healthy. A chance to one day go to school.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Training Wheels

After weeks of throwing around the possibility of removing the training wheels from Bailey's bike, we finally got around to doing so this week. But first we had to scour the entire house for the knee and elbow pads given to her at some point. Finally, only missing one elbow pad that couldn't be located despite best efforts, we set out to teach Bailey to ride her bike like a big girl. I won't lie - I expected scraped legs and fingers getting caught in spokes....that kind of thing. The reality was that she was fine. She was scared at first, but she gained her confidence pretty quickly. Thus far, she hasn't gone any great distance but it's super exciting to see her spreading her little wings.











And now for the blooper reel....