No one told me...

How hard it is to get three children to look in the same direction and smile all at the same time!

Good thing they're cute.

Corbin's Blessing

Elle is in school!

Here I am, playing catch-up again. Elle started school (really Mother's Day Out, but she calls it school) in September.  When I first took her she said, "Mom, this is my school. It's not for babies!"

And a baby she is not, but she does love playing with the babies - probably her favorite toy at school.

Here she is with her Daddy at open house.

 
Meeting her teacher.  

And this picture is her actual first day of school. She is ready with her Dora backpack, Elephant lunchbox, and of course, a  baby.

Pig Sooie!

We took the girls tailgating in the beginning of the football season. They loved seeing all of the cheerleaders, and of course meeting the Razorback. They also got their faces painted. Of all of the Razorback options, Elle chose Elmo and proceeded to play face painting for the next two months. In her shop you could choose Elmo or a Razorback, and if you didn't choose Elmo, she would choose him for you.

Pumpkin Patch

 

Our early October trip to McGarrah farms pumpkin patch.  

Pumpkin Patch (our second round)

Elle chased the goats.

Sydney thought they were stinky.

 

Elle gathering gourds.
 

And, the cow train. Daddy said it was a bit bumpy.

Frowing Up

Long story, but bear with me. It is funny in the end. The day David went back to work Elle started complaining of her stomach hurting (which more often than not coincided with getting in trouble or being asked to do something she didn't want to do.) So, I figure she isn't really sick and is just wanting attention, especially since it came and went so quickly. Sunday night she woke up crying, saying her stomach hurt again. We think maybe she is telling the truth, but she seems mostly fine the next day (again, unless she was in trouble.) Tuesday morning we drop Sydney off at school and I hear Elle in the back seat "frowing up." Great. (And this is my child who doesn't do messy.) So, we stop, do the best wet wipe job we can do, and get home as quickly as possible.

Three "frow-ups," two baths, and two outfits later, we are at the doctor (poor thing threw up a again on the car-ride down), and they start checking her. A urine test (ever had to get a two-year-old  to pee in a cup?) later, things look fine, but her Pediatrician is still convinced something is wrong. So, she checks her throat and says it is a little red, she'll do a strep test, and if that comes back negative we are off for x-rays and some dye tests to check for this whole list of random things that *might* be happening in her tummy. But, the strep test comes back positive and apparently in a few kids they will have stomach pains instead of their throat hurting. So, she is put some antibiotics, which of course entails a trip to Wal-Mart to pick them up along with some gator-juice. Walking through the baby section she starts "frowing up" again. And a lot. It is everywhere before either of us realize what is happening. Her clothes are soaked. Nice, huh? And remember, this is my kid who HATES being dirty. So, I send Sydney to the nearest rack for a set of jammies (and she picks Dora - Ms. Elle's favorite at the moment.)  We find someone to apologize profusely to for the lovely mess we are leaving them with, and go to the bathroom to change Elle. She is pretty darn excited over new jammies.

Fast forward a few days, and Sydney is complaining of her stomach hurting. Of course, as soon as we send David off for a night out at the Razorback game, she starts puking. As soon as Elle realizes what is going on, she runs over and their conversation goes like this:

E: Sydney, you frow-up


S: Yeah, Sissy feels sick.


E: (excitedly) You frow-up you get new jammies!!

Camping...

inside.

Corbin's Arrival

Baby Belly

36 Weeks (when I was sure I couldn't possibly get any bigger)

And the night before I had him....39 weeks, 3 days
(I must say, I was wrong. I could get bigger...a lot)

Yes, that is a basketball...my belly wins the "which is bigger" game. I guess that is what happens when a person less than 5 feet tall has a 9 pound baby.

We're cute!!

My kind of camping

A month or so ago we went to a charity event that included a silent auction. We came back with this- definitely a planned purchase, right? (oh, and a pony birthday party, too) 

The girls have already had friends camp over (inside, in the air conditioning) but they love it!

Sydneyism

S: I'm having a hard time going to sleep.

(This is at least her fourth time out of bed)

M: Go lay in bed, close your eyes, count to 200. If you are still having a hard time, come see me.


(Less than a minute later and she is back)
M: There is no way you had time to count to 200.

S: Yes I did. I counted by 10's.

First Day of Kindergarten

So, I thought Sydney had a good two weeks left until school started. I was trying to come up with some really fun, exciting things to do to make her last days of summer extra special. She and I had already had a mommy/daughter date to buy her school supplies - she was pretty excited. I was pretty much dreading that day - sending my oldest off to complete strangers five days a week didn't sound so appealing.

Then we got a phone message at 4 p.m. on Wednesday the first week of August, and there was an opening in the school I'd really hoped she we get to go to, but was told that it was full. Everyone else had started on Monday. So, we asked her what she wanted to do - turns out maybe she was a little more nervous about starting school than she had let on earlier. Bring on the melt down. We were debating what to do and still hadn't decided when we put her to bed (she had dance class at 8 the next morning.) Finally, at 7:40 the next morning with the kids loaded in the car for dance and David ready for work, we decided that we wanted her at the year-round school.

I called that morning to tell them we were interested and asked when should she start. (I'm thinking at least Friday...we are on the way to dance class) and they asked if she could start that day, and if not, at the latest, Friday. So, I let her make the decision - I was worried about her making friends and missing out on all of the fun stuff happening the first week of school. Well, of course she says, "Today - if we can go get a new dress like you promised first." So, I pull off at the next interstate exit, call David and book it on over to Target (where else do you get a first day of school dress at 8 in the morning!)

 

She got there around 9:30, new dress, but minus a lunch (we didn't have the time or supplies to make one that quick!)

She was glad to go. Daddy was already inside starting the mountain of paperwork to get her enrolled. I'm not going to lie, 7 months pregnant and sending your oldest to school is not the best combination, especially when you have less than two hours to prepare yourself. I cried like a baby and she smiled bigger than anything when we left her at her classroom. She was excited to be "the new student" and was happy to see a friend from church in her class as well.

She is the only non-Spanish speaker at her table, but she says they are teaching her. She loves her current teacher, Mrs. Fields, but is having a little trouble with remembering not to talk during class...can you imagine that? Her regular teacher is on maternity leave, but will be back after their two week break in October. I can't believe she is growing up so fast!

I