Saturday evening, 6:30PM

..... is it too early to put 2 little boys to bed??????

Eric spent all afternoon outside with the boys while I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned! It feels nice to have a clean house, but I really hate the process of cleaning. This morning, Miles had his first swim lesson (at the Y). There are 10 kids and their parents in the class. I guess at $30 for several months of lessons, I can't complain. But, that is a lot of kids! He seemed to really enjoy it. He was just really tired towards the end and fell asleep on the drive home.

Have a great, long weekend! Happy Labor Day everyone!

Pics of Miles' hair - first haircut

He was more excited about the sucker than the haircut!

CURLS!!!

As promised, here are pics of Miles - post first-haircut. He still has curls, so I am VERY happy! The top is loose curls still and the back is tight ringlets. Now, maybe it will all grow out together evenly so he won't be accused of having a mohawk anymore!
OK, well, I have tried for 15 minutes to get the pics uploaded and blogger is just not letting me upload. I'll try one more time, but you may have to wait to see them!


Oh, and just for the record, I LOVE car lines. Mason's school does carpool lines. I was unsure of how it would work, especially with a 3 year old. Let me tell you, it works well! They have 6th graders (and a teacher) at the drop-off point and the pick-up point. The students get the kids out of the car and walk them to their class in the morning. Eric is taking Mason to school this morning (thank you, honey!) and doing the carpool drop-off for the first time, so I am anxious to hear if it helps distract him from the fact that he is at school and will keep him for crying. In the afternoon, I pull up to the curb with my number (identifying Mason) hanging from the rearview mirror. A student brings him to the car, helps him in and also buckles him in. I never even have to get out of the car. HOW GREAT IS THAT??? I don't have to get out. I don't have to get Miles out. Life is great!!!


OK, I have to go get Miles up. Today is his first day of school at CCDS. 6 hours..... 6 hours of quiet! All for me! :)

Haircuts

Today, we get haircuts. Yes, that is plural on purpose. Miles is getting his first haircut. I have had far too many people call him a "her" lately. When Mason's teacher asked me yesterday how old "she" is, it put me over the edge. So, we are going to get a trim today. But, if those curls go away forever, I will be SO mad at myself for cutting it and not letting him be curly a while longer.......... let's hope for the best! I'll post pics later today (hopefully).
We are also visiting Miles' new mother's day out school this morning. We'll see his class and meet his teachers. Should be exciting. He starts tomorrow. I will have 6 hours (almost) of non-kid time. This will be the first day since July 31 that has happened. Not that I am counting....! :)
Mason had a great day at school yesterday. He laid down at nap time and even fell asleep. (Friday he got in trouble for not wanting to stay laying down - the teacher had to count to 3 - Mason told on himself on the way home Friday.) There were no tears at drop-off, so he received a new train for being a really brave boy, just like the engines are really brave. :)

New school

Wednesday, Mason and I visited his new school and his new classroom. We met his teacher, Mrs. R. She is fabulous and she also has 2 boys, so I feel like she will be great with Mason. Thursday, I attended orientation and picked up our car line tags. I am SO excited about having the option to pick up Mason in car pool line. I will no longer have to get Miles out of the car, go in the building, get all Mason's things and haul all those things plus two boys, my keys and usually my phone back to the car, buckle two boy in their seats and finally leave. I usually have worked up quite the sweat (who needs a gym membership when you have kids???) -- especially in the warm (HOT) summer months!

Today. Well, today was Mason's first day of school. He woke on his own at 7am. I woke Miles up a few minutes later. I fed both boys breakfast and then Eric dressed Mason while I dressed Miles. We took a few pics of the boys:

What a difference a year makes. This was the boys on Mason's first day of MDO last year:

Mason rode in Daddy's car and was excited to walk into the building. We were a few minutes early, so we stood in the hall for a few minutes. Mrs. R met Mason at the door. We hung his backpack and lunch bag on his hook. Mason started figuring out that mommy, daddy and Miles were about to leave and he was NOT happy. The water works began. We said quick goodbyes (this is always the easiest on everyone) and then of course stood in the hall for a few minutes. Ms. Burns, the admissions director, was outside his class and said a quick prayer over Mason and that he would be comforted and have a great first day. That was when mommy's water works started. I had to pass his classroom a few minutes later and he was sitting in Mrs. R's lap, but he was no longer crying. I went to my very first room parent meeting (more on that later!) and again had to walk by his classroom on the way to the car around 10am. He was sitting in the circle on the floor listening to Mrs. R read a story. By the time I got Miles in the car, Mason's class had gone out to the playground, which I was parked right next to. I moved the car a little in hopes he would not see me. He seemed hesitant and a little stand-offish for the first few minutes. He did climb up and started going down the slide before I left, so that was a good sign. I just realized I did not make him go to the potty before I dropped him off, but I am sure he was still in the same clothes on the playground. So, hopefully he was not too shy to go to the potty there or tell his teacher he needed to go....!!!!

I'll report on the remainder of the day's activities this weekend.

Busy week

Mason starts school on Friday. I can hardly believe it. Because the school he is attending (Grace Academy) goes from K3-6th grade, it has PTF, lots of activities and fun field trips. We are officially entering the world of school tomorrow. We go to meet his teacher in the morning. Thursday morning, the boys are going to stay home with a sitter while I attend orientation and find out about fun things like car pool lines and car pool tags. (I am actually really excited about this because I won't have to get Miles and myslef out of the car to take Mason into the school and pick him up from his classroom!!! The 6th graders walk the k3 kids to and from their classroom!) And Friday is his first day of school. I am excited but a little nervous about how he will adjust to a new school, teacher, friends.
Miles starts his new school next Wednesday and we meet his teachers next Tuesday. He is so fussy the last few days. I think he might be trying to finally cut some more teeth. He still has just 4, so we are due. Past due. I keep saying that, but he actually has a runny nose and is waking in the night. So maybe. Just maybe! :)

Nennie

Just a quick prayer request this morning. My sweet, amazing grandmother, Nennie, is 87 years old. She is needing to have a knee replacement done. For the first time ever, she is having to use a walker to get up and down from sitting and around her home.

She was required to have a stress test (chemical, not on the treadmill -- that would be crazy!) done prior to the surgery to ensure that her heart would carry her through the surgery. Let me say again that she is 87. And, she does have a known problem with her heart (one of the valves does not close all the way, causing regurgitation of blood backwards.... that's my total non-technical, un-educated version of the problem), but some other problems showed up in the testing earlier this week. She is seeing a cardiologist this afternoon to discuss the findings and see what course of action should be taken (for her heart only -- the knee replacement is on hold, if not cancelled all together).

She does not yet know most of this as my mom did not want her to worry prematurely (she has extreme high blood pressure as well and is a worrier.... apparently I get it honestly!).

Please say a prayer for my Nennie, my mom (who will be taking her to the dr this afternoon), and for the doctor - that she will have answers and careful words when explaining to my grandmother the problems and possible solutions/outcomes.

I am not trying to be morbid, but again, she is 87 years old. She has lived a long, healthy (until the last few years), full life. She is an amazing woman of God and an amazing prayer-warrior for our family. I always know that she is behind the scenes, alone in her apartment, praying every time that Miles has a doctor appointment or even just a fever (which still makes my heart skip a few beats, even 2 months later). She does this for each and every member of our family: 3 kids (one of which lost her battle with breast cancer 14 years ago) and their 2 spouses, 9 grandkids and their 7 spouses, 9 great-grandkids and 1 spouse, and one great-great grandson on the way.....that is a lot of prayers, time and love for her family!!! (I think I counted correctly.... don't shoot me if I didn't!!!)

Selfishly, I am not ready for her to leave us yet.

If any of the family is reading, I encourage you to write down your thoughts about our Nennie or leave a comment here about here.

"I want to go running"

Now, normally the only one that says these words, or anything near these words, in our house is Eric. I rarely want to go running. I try to run 2-4 times a week, depending on what is going on and if the boys are both healthy.
Today, we needed to get the boys new shoes. Mason hates to try on shoes almost as much as he hates having his feet measured for shoes. So, I decided to get him interested in the process (or at least not fighting me on the process) by telling him we needed to get him running shoes. Like Daddy. You would have thought I told him he was going to get chocolate ice cream with cookies in it. He was quite interested. We got his old shoes off, feet measured (11 1/2, almost 12, wide), picked out some new ones and put on socks while we waited for the shoes. He tried on one pair and decided he was in love. He was not taking them off. He was not trying on another pair of shoes. He loves his new running shoes. Just like Daddy's. Then, he decided he wanted pink crocs. But that is another story...................
Miles also got new "running shoes". After we got home, I realized that I picked out the exact same pair of shoes for both boys. What are the odds? I mean, at least I was consistent in what I liked. But come on.... of all the shoes in that store, how did I pick the same shoes (not on purpose and about 10 minutes apart) twice?
Also wanted to add that shoes for little boys are VERY expensive.
Mason and Daddy just went on their first ever run together. Mason made it about 4 houses down before he stopped. They walked a little ways and then ran some more then turned around in a cul-de-sac and headed back home. I have a feeling that this will be the first of many runs together.

We're home

Clearly, the week got away from me while we were away.
Tuesday, I had all 3 kiddos while Kim went to the office. Yeah, no time, at all, to blog that day!
Wednesday, we went to the playground and Farmer's market and then the boys had pics in the afternoon. (More on the pics in a minute)
Thursday, we went to the beach at Lake Michigan. Mason loves the water. That we knew already. Miles also LOVES the water. I think that he actually loves the water more than his older brother. I could not keep him out of the water. Even when his chin and his entire body were shivering from the cold, cold, cold water. He also loved playing with the toys in the sand. Unfortunately, he liked the ones the cute little girls sitting next to us brought with them and not the ones that mommy went and bought special for the trip. Go figure. Miles is a flirt anyway! That evening, some good friends of Kim's (M&C) came over and kept the 3 kiddos while we had a manicure/pedicure, shopping and a quiet dinner. These awesome friends have no kids of their own so probably didn't know what they were getting into. Mason actually told C at one point to call mommy (after telling her to call daddy and then kim) to ask about a snack. He kept M & C laughing and on their toes by negotiating with them all evening -- snacks, drinks (volume and type), bedtime.
Friday, we had to pack up and say goodbye. The flight was SO much better than the flight out. I had a bottle of milk for Miles so that his ears would not hurt. He drank it and then just sucked on the bottle off and on through the whole flight. Mason's DVD player ran out of juice the last hour of the flight. So, the last half hour or so was rough as the boys were antsy, tired (neither slept a wink!) and ready to get up and move. But, there was no screaming like on the way there, so it was a great flight and we weren't "that family"! :) Always a great day!!!

So, we did the boys pics while in Chicago. I would try to describe the experience, but the photographer really does it best on her blog. Look here.....
http://leighwilcoxsonphotography.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/oh-brothers/
go on.... you know you want to! Leave me a comment and let me know which is your favorite. I can't decide!!!

We spent a somewhat quiet weekend. Had a baby shower for BabyJ- my best friend's soon-to-be-son! We had a yummy dinner out that evening with friends. Sunday was church, play, lunch, naps, swimming, dinner and bed. Not a bad day!

This is our last week before Mason starts K3 next Friday. But, next week is full of activities getting ready for school (final swim lesson on Tuesday, meet the teacher on Wednesday morning, Orientation on Thursday morning). So, we're enjoying time with just the 3 of us at home this week. Ordered Mason a new backpack and lunch bag at LandsEnd and Miles a nap mat this afternoon. Just have to find their first-day-of-school outfits now. So exciting and sad.

I promise to upload pics as soon as I get them from my sis-in-law. We used her camera in Chi-town as mine didn't make the trip. Oops.

Chicago - day 1

We made it to Chicago yesterday. Yes, we were "that family" on the airplane. Miles did great for about 20 minutes and then screamed for about 15. It was a full-on scream, tantrum, mad-at-the-world fit. It was not pretty. I assume it was related to the pressure changes and his ears hurting, but who knows. He fell asleep for about 25 minutes and then cried for about 5 minutes before I got him to play. So, the last hour and a half of the flight was quiet but long. I think I looked at my watch every 5 minutes! He cried some on arrival also as the pressure was changing, but not the screaming he did on the way up. Everyone on board was so nice and one lady even stopped to tell me what I great job I did with the boys. I was just relieved that I did not get thrown off the plane without a parachute!
Yesterday evening was quiet - Miles napped, we went for a walk, had dinner, bathed 3 kiddos, got 2 to sleep at a decent time and Mason watched a Thomas video and fell asleep around 9:30. Miles woke at 2am and wanted to play with Auntie Kim. After about a half hour, I put him back in bed, hoping for the best, but prepared for a bunch of screaming. He laid right down and went to sleep. I was almost annoyed! Ha!!
It is raining today, so the pictures we scheduled are postponed to Wednesday. So, we went outside this morning and played in Emilyn's new playhouse. (We were mostly out of the rain under their big tree.) Em just woke up from about an hour nap and Miles has been sleeping about 20 minutes. So, lunch is next and then we're going to attempt to go to the park before afternoon naps.
Tomorrow, Kim is going in to work, so I am going to have all 3 kids all day. Wish me luck! I think that I will be going to bed early tonight! :) More updates later!