First day of FIRST Grade

AND SO IT BEGINS...

I was a little worried about how Connor and the end of summer and beginning of another year of school would go. But it went just fine, with mild/heavy complaints in August proclaiming his dread and hate for all things school, I was a little worried. But with school shopping, finding friends in his class, and attending meet the teacher; he got more and more excited. And I haven't hates any complaints yet. Although I'm sure they will come, I will bask in the glory of fun days and happy mornings.

Meet the Teacher the Friday before school starts, full of
"nervous bubbles" and he kept telling me they were going to
make him throw up. He wanted me close the whole time
 and practicaly clung to my leg wherever I went. Mrs. Foley
seems experienced and a little strict so I'm wishing this boy a
whole lot of obedience and happy first grade days ahead of him. 

First Day of First Grade

August 22nd
Per tradition he got to shop for his own breakfast (toaster strudels) 

and lunch for the first week and Mom made cookies (peaunt butter blossums).

Afterschool we had our first day celebration, just like last year, and went to chick-fil-a for dinner and the school goer got ice cream!

He is already talking about friends in his classes and that is his highlight of school so I think this year is sure to be a hit!

End of Summer Pool Party

Just like last year we celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of another school year with a pool party at the Martins.

It was HOT and WET.

Afterwards Amberlee pulled out all the stops and gave everyone a fudgecicle (childhood flashbacks and all).

And I was very worried about Piper getting burned and lathered her up but forgot all about Sydney and she got the worst burn of her life and probably the worst burn I've seen. Blisters and sleepless nights, aloe and ibuprofen, cold compresses and bandaids (liquid bandage worked great, don't try pulling it off after application though) it was rough I felt like the worst mother ever. Not to mention the Stanger Reunion was around the corner so everyone knew my sunscreen sin. 

"Dad your getting old"

Shea turned 31 years old and quite the weekend we had!
Five Guys burgers, cake and candles, cards and presents, Dave and Busters arcading, shark drinks at Friendlys and a Star Wars Movie Night.
Being a daddy to 4 meant everything was accompanied by tantrums, tears, time outs and loads of birthday snuggles.

This little family of ours couldn't do it without daddy. He keeps us strong and smiling. He is constantly cuddling and loves us unconditionally. He keeps us genuinely faithful. He leads and supports. He is ours and he keeps us, us. We are so thankful he was born 31 years ago and that we get to spend all his many birthdays to come with him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

And as Connor puts it "Dad your getting old."

5 Monther

UPDATE

Well things have gotten away from us as of late so her monthly post is a bit behind and I barely caught it before she turns 6 months. Her bald little head that is irresistibly kissable and big wide eyes and pointed little lip and tongue remind us of a birdie; along with her amazing neck flexibility that makes us think that sometimes she can turn her head completely around just to get the best observatory view. So as you can guess her newest nickname is "birdie". I seriously can't get over her pointed lip that makes me think of a beak every time she does it. Everyone comments on Piper's alertness which at this stage doesn't seem that surprising but I think it's those wide eyes and quiet composure. She can't quite sit up yet but mainly because she's more interested in her new motor skills. So every time we sit her up, about 3 seconds later she's on her belly rolling around, rocking on all fours, scouting backwards with her head (like Connor did when he was small), or doing her new found almost crawl (all fours, moving her knees, lunge and drop). She is super into toys and playtime; which puts extreme incentive into her crawling technique because she will do anything to get her toys. Suffice to say she will gladly play on the floor for extended periods of time. Piper loves to smile with a bit of attention you can almost always pull a smile out. Laughs are far less common. She's ticklish but it usually makes her angry so she gives bursts of angry giggles as she squirms. She is also taking more of interest in Mommy and Daddy's whereabouts.

In terms of size, Piper is bulging out of size 1 diapers as we try to use the last ones we have before we go to size 2. And she is too tall for many 0-3 mon clothing so she rocks any summer clothing in that size and is wearing more and more 3-6 mons which is a bit big but she can pull it off. 

Her sleeping patterns are getting better for the most part, she is officially done the swaddle stage and actually has been done for about a month. She is sporting long stretches at night when she sleeps one her own, waking at 4 am some nights for a feeding, if I fall asleep while nursing and keep her in bed with me then her stretches are only a couple hours and we both don't get much sleep. Nap time she usually snuggles with me and I'm hoping to rectify that and get her sleeping on her own for naps. She usually takes two one short morning nap and a long afternoon one. I'm also the first to admit that I failed at the "eat, wake, sleep" routine I did so well with Sydney; so yes we have a "I can only go to sleep if I nurse" child (well with mom)... Or if I get back pats.

LIKES

She has favorite toys like her frog and her rattle ball, and this musical jungle square she's obsessed with.
Daddy's voice is extremely distracting when she's nursing. She can't help but smile, and turn all around to find him and get up just to make sure he's there. Most times when we're talking in bed or something I can't nurse because she wants daddy!
Her Thumb! Her most recent discovery. She tries so hard to suck on her thumb whenever it gets close.
She LOVES sucking on her toes if they get near.
Playing peekaboo.
Being put in the bumbo as long as she gets lots of attention, if not she will kick and scream till she squirms her way out. Time to buy a high chair, to keep this girl upright and happy.
Her kicknplay gym is still one of her favorites, she by far has loved it the most out of any kids. But now that she's a mover she gets stuck in some odd places with it sometimes as she tries to leave and go play independently.
Spit bubble battles with her siblings are hilarious.
Mornings she wakes happy and plays quietly till someone joins her. And the. She's all smiles.
Sitting up in the stroller like a big girl.
Getting little licks of food.
Using her new grabbing skills to bring everything closer, including full drinks.
When someone is walking around while holding her she always perks up.

DISLIKES

Shopping
Car seat
Getting a water bottle, on hot days when we're out and about I bring water to give her. She takes it eagerly but much prefers mamas milk and let's me know it when she's hungry.
She hates getting sweaty when she's eating. She hates blankets and such when I try to cover up when it's hot.
Sydney growling. While Bella tries to sing Piper to sleep, especially in the car, Sydney will wait till her eyes are closed and then growl really loud at her to wake her up?!? Which is often followed by Piper wailing again and Sydney's prompted half hearted "sorry Piper".
Sydney likes to snuggle with Piper, but snuggling with Sydney is rough and usually ends up with Sydney's foot in Piper's face or Sydney rolling all over Piper. Piper is not a fan.
Light when she's sleeping. She's kind of a light sleeper.

FAVORITES

I love when Piper smiles and laughs and stares up at me while she's eating, it melts my heart!
Daddy loves getting her giggles. And her lingering baby smell. Daddy also loves her long toes and says they are just like his.
Connor loves holding her even when she isn't in the mood... And he loves kissing her when she's sleeping.
Bella loves when someone is pretending to make Piper "talk". She can't wait for her to talk for real and is constantly telling me "Piper said her first word mom!"
Bella Ioves singing to Piper and she feels so proud when she can calm her down and if she goes to sleep she gets so excited (since she hates the car, we're all appreciative of Bella's efforts).
Sydney loves telling Piper, "we're best friends", "I'm your best friend", "best friends?". Sydney always has a smile for Piper even when Piper takes her spot next to mom or she's getting more attention she will snuggle right in and give Piper a big grin and tell me how cute Piper is or how silly she is. She loves her sister!

Just Keep Swimming

Swim lessons for this year started for Con right after the fourth. And Bella started swim lessons this year too. Connors were for a full month and Bella's were every other week of that month. 

Connor was excited to start swim lessons this year and didn't even care about wearing his goggles, and the girls gladly watched ... on occasion :)

The weeks Bella didn't have swim class we played at the park next door and had lots of 90-100 degrees of hot and sweaty fun. These silly girls love to play even in the hot hot heat. 

This Sydney girl loves the swings and loves to go higher higher!

This Bella girl loves the seesaw and would keep an eye out for anyone willing, Sydney was very nervous on it and here you can see her tense little body SO scared to fall she wont even look at me to smile, most times she screams if I'm not standing behind her to "help".

Piper loved the stroller and was super awesome and on occasion she did get enough but for the most part she basked in her new found big girl seat. 

We were prepared... most days and to combat the heat we had plenty of water, and crackers to snack on. 

 Bella was an amzing listener and I never had to worry about her, it was fantastic. Sydney on the other hand... well she is 2 I'll give her that.

A few days were too hot, and Mom wasn't up for that 100+ heat, so the girls gladly watched movies in the car while the AC blew proudly in our faces. Heavenly.

Finally it was Bella's turn, she was quite the swimmer and was itching to start from the get go and every morning she bounced around with excitement ready and anxious.

For Bella's first week Connor and Bella were in back to back for lessons so that meant Connor had some time to play too!

But he wasn't as big of a fan of the heat as the girls and usually asked to sit on the bench or in the car, saying it was too hot to play and he was too tired.

They both loved the last week because they had it at the same time so they got to wait together and wave to each other during their lessons. 

And on the last day of swim classes they were supposed to have fun day together and Connor kept telling Bella all the fun stuff they would do together. So the day began and everyone had fun day except Bella's class that went over and did the "diving board" the entire time. Poor Connor was the sweetest and came and watched and played in the deep pool waiting and waiting to play with her until finally it was over. I warned him at the end from the sidelines so he got a few minutes in to do something else, but my mama heart broke a little as he watched and waited to play when it never happened. 

Connor loved the pool, he never complained about going (okay maybe once), he was a champ and although he still struggled with getting his face/head in the water he did awesome and rocked Session 2 and is ready to rock it again next year. 

Bella was SO excited to be big enough to do what brother was doing and mastered the preschool swim class on the first day pretty much, what can I say maybe she's a natural or maybe mostly everyone was 3, either way she is ready for Session 1 next summer.