Caroline, Ellie & Lindsay
I guess this means back to school. Yikes! Where has the summer gone? Not that I am going to complain or anything after having spent more time outside of Arizona in the past 4 weeks than in the state! (Watch for our blog essay titled "What I did on my summer vacation" for more fun details!) Our big girl starts 2nd Grade today. I say today because it is 1:30am and I should be in bed getting a good night's sleep but alas, Here I am. I am sure by mid morning I will have added some more pics of Lindsay off and running. We are so proud of her. I cannot believe that when we moved into our home a little over 6 years ago we would have such a grown up daughter. A constant refrain in our home comes to mind: "Don't grow up too soon!"
Time to wake up, get dressed, eat some homemade waffles (because Eggos just aren't the same on such an important day), new backpack in order, fix hair & brush teeth, and Smile!
Mommy and her Mini-Me!
Lindsay and Ellie - they both chose the same first day outfit, just accessorized a little different! Their mommy's shop together...can you tell?
More Special friends...clockwise from top left: Hannah & Ethan, Abby, Lizzie, and Paige.
Oh, my heart was aching inside as I watched her walk away with this worried face. I just wanted to hug her one more time and say "Baby, Mommy and Daddy love you and are so proud of you! I know you are a little nervous but I promise you will have a great day! Just keep being the sweet girl you are and nothing can go wrong. I promise!"
I have a cousin named Neil and he lives in New Jersey. Neil just turned 18 last week and is a great guy. During our family reunion in Oregon, our kids all grew quite fond of him. In fact, early on in our trip, the kids named him "Fatty." I am guessing it has something to do with his hefty size! LOL! Anyway, the name stuck! Neil was such a great sport with all the little kiddos. He played games, watched movies, played at the beach, supervised all the children in the hot tub, (He is a lifeguard after all!) and even sat with them for meals on occasion. I know little kids can be a drag sometimes, but Neil didn't seem to mind, as long always has he had his phone near by so he could txt msg all his peeps in NJ! Neil stayed in Portland several days later than the rest of his family so he could "study" with his sister Alison for the SAT. During that time, we spent more time Fatty - he came with us to see the Dam, Fish Hatchery and Multnomah Falls and we rode the light rail train from the airport back to Beaverton after dropping the rental van and getting Steve off to catch his flight. Things we will remember about Fatty: Sunglasses. Hoodies. (When he wears them together he looked like the Unibomber and he doesn't even know who that is!) Skinny and tight jeans. text messages. Crazy shirts. Swooping hair. Wearing Lindsay's Hannah Montana Wig. Spilling caramel corn on the floor and eating it.
As of yesterday, our baby girl is now 2 months old!!! I cannot believe how fast time goes by. I really cannot imagine our life without her. Lindsay put it best when yesterday she said "Ever since she was born, she is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night." Obviously, she is in love with her baby sister. We all love our baby Katers...she is starting to smile and coo and is finally coming out of her "sleep all the time" phase so we are getting more awake time with her. She is up to sleeping about 8 hours straight through the night - we love that! I cannot go anywhere without getting comments on the girl with all the hair. My mother in law Shirley calls her the little girl with the big hair! All that hair comes at a price...constant bed head! If I spray it down once in a while, it does OK. But, if we are constantly petting her head, well, it sticks strait up!
(Kate and me on the left) Where Kate spent much of her time while out and about in NC...in her Peanut Shell Sling! She loves it in there ...it is a great tool for a baby that loves to be swaddled - we flew on the plane and went sightseeing and hiking and to a baseball game with her just like that and she was never happier or more content then when she was in her sling.
Kate and her cousin Cozette who is 10 months old - we had to get a picture of both pretty babies in their 4th of July finest! (With my sister in law Jeannie, Brad's wife. )
Couldn't leave the handsome daddy's and their baby girls out of the action! (Steve and his brother Brad. )
My friend Katrina was motivated to join a gym post baby #3 (her Sam is 2 weeks older than Kate) and asked for my advice, knowing we belong to a gym. I gave her all the advice I could and told her I was ready to get my butt in gear again and promised to join her if she chose my gym! Tonight she called me and asked "So, tonight do you want to go to Barbell Strength or Cardio Kick-Box Jams?" In my pre-preggo life, I really liked the Strength class and kick-boxing was never my thing so I voted for the Strength class. Katrina, bless her heart, had not done anything like this since high school but she was a trooper and wants to do it again! It is going to take a while to get back into shape but now, here I say it, I am gonna get my body back! 12-14 lbs to go to pre-pregnancy weight and another 5-10 of bonus pounds I would like to lose too. Soon, hopefully I will feel more like this:
ETA on Thurs: I promise, I win NO gold medals for being a super fit mom! I seriously needed a milkshake after that class and eventually today, Sonic won my business! I think *I thought* I could keep up at my former level, minus being able to jump worth a darn but alas, I went again today (to a Rock n' stroll class where you can bring the babykins) and it was a step/strength training cardio class with a stroller by your side. Oh my gosh - this morning (36 hours post strength training class Tuesday night) I could not sit on the toilet, get up and down off the couch, fold laundry, or lift my arms enough to eat cereal or brush my teeth! I am so pathetic. So, I guess the moral of the story is I need to work out but take it easier and take off the cape and own my jiggly belly (and butt and legs...) I did see several friends at the gym so that was a plus...one additional besides Katrina who too was having her first workouts post baby #3. I guess we should all plan to hit the Sauna together afterwards...how do babies like that? ;) I also went to Urgent Care today for what turned out to be Tonsillitis and that pain coupled with the workout pain, I feel I need to be on bed rest, but who has time for that????? We need to get packed for our trip to Asheville, NC. To quote my nieces, who blog too, only 3 more days 'til Asheville!
I take it back. I found one today when I was trimming a very tall shrub in the front yard. It is not quite 6 feet tall but pretty close! (Though much more slender than you fat weed...the only thing fat is me in my schlump-a-dump sweats!) We will be gone for the next 4 Saturdays so like it or not, 100 degrees at 10:30am, we needed to get the yard spruced up! (ETA: it was concealed inside the large shrub...not visable at all until I gave the bush a hair cut.)
