Half Birthdays

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My Favorite Little Man is TWO and a HALF:

My FIVE and a HALF year old Princess:

My Loves:

Fall Family Photos

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Trav and I have a tradition of spending each of the kids' birthdays with just them. We take them for birthday photos, lunch, and then an activity of their choice. It is fun and we are really glad we started that tradition. It is a great opportunity to spend some time focusing on JUST them and to reflect on how much they have grown in the last year. The only drawback to it, is that we don't get family photos done at the same time - because we only have one kid with us at each time and I think that might be weird...

Oh well, we can work around it. We decided we would just go again at some point in August and get family photos done. So, a week before Halloween (heehee) we went in and got them done! I was really happy with them!




And the bonus to getting them done in October is that they could show off their costumes as well:




The next week Abby had her school photo done:




Then, a few days later, the gal at JCP suckered me into coming back for a free sitting in order for them to help train their new photographers. It was painfully slow (and a little embarrassing for me), but Abby and I had a GREAT time just hanging out and being silly. Abby was just glowing with the excitement that Mommy dressed up with her this year.




Anyways, lots of photo shoots within one week of time. But, really... Knowing me. Is that really that suprising? Didn't think so...

Papa Turns 60!!!

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Papa turned 60 on the 14th of October!!! The kids were VERY excited to celebrate and even managed for Papa to buy THEM dessert for HIS Birthday. Only grandkids... Only grandkids.

Happy Birthday Dad - Love you! ~Dani

And so it begins...

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09/08/2011. The day my life changed forever. The day I became the Mommy to a "School -aged" Child. As I'm typing this post I find myself at a lack of words. What direction do I take with this post? Part of me is overwhelmed by the change. Part of me is excited. Part of me is sad. Part of me is in denial. But most of all, I am proud.

There is never a child that can touch your life so deeply as your first born, because with all their firsts, come your firsts. I'm also starting to realize that there is never a child that can touch your life so deeply as your last baby, because with all their firsts, come your lasts. As I'm sending one off to Kinder and another is leaving "babydom", I have never been more aware of this fact. My heart is currently in three pieces, and two of them are walking around outside of my body. Part of me wants to pull those pieces back in and hold them here, within these four walls, forever. The other part of me knows that they are amazing people and I need to share them with the world.

On 09/08/2011 I shared with the world - or at least the Hillsboro Public School System. :)

Every step of the way the past 5 years I have looked back and just been amazed, felt blessed, and enjoyed the feeling of my heart bursting with pride. Every time this happens to me I feel I will never feel this feeling again. I will never be as in love with her as I am in THIS moment. THIS happiness. Not true. Every time I reach a major milestone with Abby, I'm surprised by my level of love for her. Amazed by this wondrous child that I have been blessed with. This day was no different.

Here she is, my Kindergartner:




She was VERY excited and I feel it showed. I was so happy to capture these moments and faces!

We took a few more photos "for mommy". I needed to get in some cuddle time!!!




Then it was "off to school". We all piled in the car, kept our smiling face on, and headed to school. Here she is. Could she look anymore grown-up, yet so small, at the same time?





They filed us all into the cafeteria and we found the "K" table. There we sat - or stood rather - there we stood. And hovered. They didn't want us to leave, yet we had no purpose. We all chatted and smiled and laughed and introduced. We pretended that we totally knew what was going on and that we were totally okay with it. Ahem.

Finally, the principal dismissed all the classes one at a time. He waited until the very end to dismiss the Kinders. Then. Then that blessed, wonderful man asked us to escort the children to their classroom and get them settled. Thank the Lord - because I needed to leave her at a desk. A desk contained in a room with four walls and a door. I needed to know where she was going to be!

As we made that walk I was so proud. Abby was one of the few walking in line behind the teacher. Abby was walking with her class. She as not holding my hand. She was not pulling back. She was not fearful. At that moment I was VERY thankful for Preschool. She was READY. She could do this. More importantly, I could.

Abby found her cubby, unpacked her backpack, found her table, and was seated at her chair before Travis and I (bringing up the rear) even made it into the classroom. She was ready.




I could do this. I really could. I could totally leave her in this room. She was excited. It was very similar to Preschool. It was fine.

Then it happened. I leaned over to give her a kiss good-bye.
Me: "I love you honey. Have a great day, and Daddy will be here to pick you up at the end."
Abby: "But Mommy, Rachel is riding the bus home. Can I ride the bus home?".
Me: PANIC!!!!

I was NOT prepared for that. But, I WILL say, I handled it well - I think. Actually, I have no idea. It was all a blur. I will spare you the blow by blow of changing the "transportation plan" at the last minute. But, needless to say. She rode the bus home!!!

Here she comes:




Here she is acting all silly because we are ALL there to greet her.




Here is the money shot - and of course it is blurry - errr!




And here she is all acting cool and jumping off of the bus.




Then she fell in the street. It was awesome. Mostly because it made me laugh on the inside. I was a good enough mommy I didn't laugh out loud (this time).

Andy: 25 Months and Potty Trained!?!?!?!

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Have I told you lately how much I love this sweet, sweet boy?




No? Well, let me fix that... I love this sweet, sweet boy. I love that he can fall asleep ANYWHERE and actually prefers to cuddle up on me while doing so. His sweet cuddles and loves and kisses are priceless. Just priceless. I love that he loves "Cars" and "Thomas" and "Elmo" and Rocks and Dirt and Animals and Bike Riding. I love all the "little boy" stuff about him - so far anyways...

But. The whining. The whining is about ready to send me over the edge. Jump off the cliff, lock myself in a room, run away type crazy folks. This child is going to be the one. He is going to be the one that sends me to the nut house.

A few weeks back (August 24th) in fact. Andy turned 25 months old and mastered the whining. He spent the majority of the previous 24 hours whining. Just whining. I could have given him away. I'm serious. You laugh. But, I'm serious.

I think he sensed my frustration. What? My mood was readable by all around me? Me? Not good at hiding my emotions? Not good at being "fake"? Me? Never. ahem.

Anyways... where was I? Oh Frustration. Yes, the brilliant child of mind sensed that he had to do something. Something to right this wrong. Some men send flowers. Some gravel. Some buy gifts. My little man? My little man PEE-PEED ON THE POTTY!!! Yep, you read right. He peed on the potty and never turned back. Not once. Not once.

The next day we got out the Elmo and Thomas and Lightning underpants and spent the day drinking fluids, peeing on the potty, and calling everyone who would listen to share our excitement. Andy WAS POTTY-TRAINED!!! A 25 month old BOY. "They" said it couldn't be done. I had my doubts as well, but in the bottom of the 9th he knocked it outta the park. It was definitely a "pee or get off the pot" type situation in our relationship.

The following morning him and Daddy did some lawn mowing. Apparently, he was on the potty, heard the lawn mower start up, and took off. He was so excited to help daddy he might have forgotten to pull up his underpants. Oh well, give him a break. He is new to this! ;-)





So, anyway... Andy is 25 months old. It seems like FOREVER since I have done an "Andy update" post. What is Andy up to besides relieving himself you ask? Honestly, I don't know. I'm so overwhelmed with that excitement and new found love for him that I can't think straight! NO really. Let's see...

I think the whining is 1. He is two, and 2. He is teething. Not sure which it is more, but I don't really care at this point. Why you ask? Well, because he is potty-trained!!!!

Since turning two, he learned to ride his strider bike. He is a make-believing fool. Loves puppy. Loves all things "Lightning/Mator". He is SMART. He has an arm like you wouldn't believe. He has a girlfriend (ha-ha). Loves Camping. Sleeps like a champ. Travels well. Loves swimming. Is a "Mommy's Boy". I could go on and on. But then no one would feel bad for me about the whining. What? You don't. Well... humph.

Andy's TWO Year Photo Shoot

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He did A-MAZ-ING. I sure love this photogenic little booger!

As always... send me your photo order via email...

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#14

Abby's FIVE Year Photo Shoot

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FIVE! WHAT?!? How can that be... Honestly?

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Get that boy a haircut!!!

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Okay, Okay, Okay. I got it done. We got Andy a Haircut. St. Patrick's Day was a big day for us, or shall I say Andy. We started off the day trying to find something green to wear. Who knew that would be the most difficult thing of the day? Heehee! :)

We took the kids to the dentist first - Andy's first trip. He did GREAT! We had Abby go first (perfect report by the way) and Andy was all excited to sit in the chair next and watch the TV on the ceiling. He was so advanced for his age - they don't even sit in the chair on the first visit...

After he was done playing in the chair they had him lay across mom and Dr. Carloyn's laps so I could hold him and she can look at him easier. So, needless to say. He will be ready when it is time to graduate to the Big Boy Chair! He also got a good report on his teeth.

After the teeth appointment, we headed over to "Pigtails and Crew Cuts" to tame his wild hairdo. He was AMAZING. Not one tear. Not one "no". Nothing. Nada. He occasionally winced, or looked perturbed. But nothing exciting to report - woohoo!

He sat there like such a big boy and watched the TV. It was hard for ME to watch. My baby was getting his baby hair cut off. I almost teared up. I'm not kidding. Getting him out of bed after nap, and checking out the hairdo because of, is one of the highlights of my day. I will definitely miss that!

And, I mean really - are you old enough to get your hair cut if your feet don't even reach the pedals on the little kiddy car?




Just like that, his long, fuzzy locks were gone - gone I tell you! Did I mention it was hard for me?




We did get over it long enough to laugh at him a little:




Are you ready? Dun, Dun, Dun.... Here is the new streamlined Andy!!!




What a handsome little man! Could he BE any cuter? I think not!

They said next time they will try clippers because he did so good this time. Stay tuned. Maybe the next haircut post will be more exciting! :)