Kindergarten here we are

Big things happened this week:

Owen and i worked all year on a 100 lessons to learn to read. He finished a couple days before kindergarten started and he got a shopping spree at toys r us.  

Sadly, they do not carry all the power rangers in the store so thankfully Amazon has been delivering all week keeping the fun alive. 

We met his teacher who is awesome it is her fourth year and we feel she is a great fit for Owen. There is also a little boy named Parker that we have deemed fun! 

It is only day 2 so the new schedule feels more like camp than our norm, but I am already excited at the things I want to get done around the house. 

Jesse enjoyed the day playing trains and having some special mommy time. 

Second day of kindergarten and he rode the bus home! I was so proud of him and thrilled to not have to attempt the pick up line again. 

Stories from the bus. Day 1:

M: How was the bus ride?

O: great!! 

M:do you want to ride it tomorrow?

O: yes, but I almost cried

M: what! Why honey?

O: I was missing you and it was a long ride with my backpack on the whole time. And I thought I was on the wrong bus. 

M: 😥

Later:

M: did you sit next to the window or the isle?

O: next to a GIRL!

M: oh really, from your class?

O: no, but she did take a nap ON THE BUS!!! Bahahahahahaha 

M: 😂😂😂

Emma Jean 6 months

This gorgeous darling girl,my gerber baby doll, is 6 months old today!! I can't believe it! She prefers solid food from my plate instead of the puréed.  She sleeps in a swaddle still and has started rolling over and wiggling all over her crib. She loves the water at the pool, splash ground or bathtub! Her chubby double chin and chunky thighs get lots of pinchs she is pure squishy sweetness. 

She isn't completely sleeping through the night, but is getting better! She has never met a stranger and smiles hugely at everyone. She is almost sitting up and can hold herself for a good bit as a tripod. She babbles dada and it's adorable.  I can't find a diaper that will hold up to her blow outs, but that's ok we like having 2-3 outfit changes a day! She will cackle at her daddy when he sings the "daddy's dancing" song and acts like a goofball, but then usually we are all laughing too! 

Her brothers love her so much and she lights up when they pay her attention. But sometimes they request for me to make her stop crying that it's too loud.  Thankfully she will sleep in the car as we are on the go, but takes a great afternoon nap in her crib too.  Baby girl how you have been in my arms 6 months? That time slipped away so fast. I love you my sweet girl and can't wait to see what you do next!

Emma Jean: 5 months

I have such guilt about not blogging and I know my memories are hard to hold onto so looking back at these thoughts will be priceless. 

Emma Jean is so wonderful. She makes our days even busier, but it is a special time when there is a young baby in the house. 

Around 4 months we had a definite decline in sleep. But finally after some rough nights and getting over some snuffy nose she is back to only up once a night.  Just in time to go on vacation. 

Emma Jean is NOT interested in solid food. She gags and spits it out or lets the food drool out. 

Emma Jean is almost 15 pounds and wearing size 6-12 month clothes. She LOVES her brothers as much as they love her. One of my favorite times of day is getting her out of her swaddle sack. She stops crying when the light goes on and by the time my head pops over the side of the crib she is grinning at me and her whole body tenses with joy! 

She is an efficient nurser and this is great because being the 3rd child she doesn't get a lot of time to slowly eat. 

Recently, Jesse has learned to say her name correctly; it saddens me that "Em-Jean" in his little deep voice won't be heard around my house anymore. 

Emma Jean has her own little personality already and individual traits that make her HER! One being if there is poop in her diaper she will let you know and cry till she is changed. Sometimes when changing her she will go 180 from red faced crying to smiling like hello you figured it out!! She loves to be able to see her brothers and if she can see them she is more content where ever she is. 

She is so much better at sleeping in the car and on the go! It cracks me up when she will fall asleep and then wake up and we are grocery shopping and she makes this little face like "where are we, I am scared" then she will see me and smile so huge and sometimes go back to sleep!  

Just a glimpse of our life right now.

Jesse is in the 1s class and Owen in the 4s at the local church Playschool. Jesse attends Wednesday and Fridays and Owen all week. 

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday's we drop Owen off at school and usually head home to play. At noon it is pick up time and boys need lunch in the car! Apparently they are starving after school. These days we usually head home finish eating and then it is nap time for Jesse. If Jesse doesn't get enough Energy out he has a hard time napping these days. Once Jesse is down for a nap it is quiet time for Owen. We usually do his reading lesson and then he has quiet time which he picks between several activities: tablet time is usually the favorite, but cutting with sissors, watercolors, play dough, little Legos and other things we don't need little brother involved in!

Jesse will nap till 3:30-5pm and then it is dinner time which I begin to sound like a broken record "take a bite, one-two-time out on 3 if you don't eat, good boys!l"

After dinner we play until 7:15 when we start getting ready for bed. Usually, the door is shut and 2 boys are in bed at 8 pm. Owen will pass out to the sounds of Jesse kicking the walls and talking and Jesse will Waller in his bed till 9-10 sometimes.  

Owen: 5+

Owen is 5! 

We are registered for kindergarten in the fall. He can ride his bike (let me tell you that story!) he is learning to read (15 min a day we are working through the book-Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons). We are about halfway through and I am hoping to finish the book before the fall. He can do simple math and is learning how to use his fingers to figure it out. His brain is working over time and as much as kindergarten might make me sad I also see how ready he is to learn.  

Here is what he read today: the only words he had to sound out were did, feel and sad. Reading the "fast way"!!!

This morning on the way to school Owen told me he needed to tell his brain to remember to bring his show and tell.  I told Owen to tell his brain to wait till Thursday or Friday for show and tell. So, he gets silent, but thoughtful look on his face as "he's talking to his brain" and then announces that he told his brain. at this point I want to die laughing. I informed him those words in his head are called thoughts. Owen and his brain do a lot of thinking and a lot of talking. These were Big thoughts on the way to school today.

Learning to ride his bike.  We had recently purchased a bike trailer for the kids to ride in and we hooked it up to Owen's bike! It was hilarious to see Owen pulling Jesse in the trailer. Then daddy suggested taking the training wheels off and having a lesson. Owen was all game until he realized it was a little scary. The lesson may have been a lot of stern talking from Chris saying "listen to me, petal when the bike starts moving, I am not letting go, etc". Owen was a whiney brat. I tired to remind them both it was supposed to be fun. Soon the long 15 minute lesson was over and we parked the bike for another day.  

Another day, I suggested Owen ride his bike with me to the mail box and he didn't want to because the training wheels were off.  I mentioned to Chris we may need to put them back on, but it was rainy and then we have been inside a lot due to pollen and my allergies. So the bike was left alone for several weeks. 

Our amazing niece was in a local production of pride and prejudice and so Chris and I had a day date! When we arrive home from the date we were amazed to see Owen riding his bike!!! He just hopped on and took off.  Even now we go outside and I am amazed he just does it! I guess it's true you don't forget how to ride a bike. 

Jesse: 2.5 years

Oh Jesse! You are our little joker! You want to make us laugh and I can't wait to see how funny you will be! You are all trouble too! You don't mind and often do the opposite of what I ask.  But then there are moments where you are a big "helper boy" and amaze me! You don't sit still and eating is a chore because you want me to spoon feed you or you want off the chair to go play. You Iove to grab Owen's favorite toy of the moment and run off with it taunting him! You love to tackle Owen and wrestle even though one of you seems to end up in tears. You love your new little sister and I think you are amazed she came out of my tummy and still tell me often "Em-Jean out your tummy". You have started telling me you love me unprompted and it melts my heart!  You actually like lots of foods, but because Owen is picky you think you must complain about them.  You are such a mommy's boy and after naps you want to snuggle with me or have me hold you for several minutes. 

I love you son! 

Mother's Day 2016

Mother's Day. A day that has been so hard and one that has been so good.  The truest definition of bittersweet. This year it has been wonderful. Chris cooked 3 amazing meals, full breakfast and then had his parents over for roasted cabbage, grilled chicken and baked potatoes. Dinner was delicious a nice filet, more cabbage and grits. 

After church my kids actually took a decent photo with me! Only took like 300+ pictures to get one of each of them!! Actually the out takes are just as funny! 

 

They share their lovies with her! 

I posted this today and my husband got all sappy on me. I can't let these words get lost. This is almost better than a paper card because it is heartfelt in the moment.