Friday, August 26, 2016

Hannah's First Dance

The first Friday night after school started the middle school had a Back-to-School Dance.  It was a casual dance and Hannah wanted to go.  Hannah's friend, Ashleigh, invited her and several other kids over before the dance for snacks.  Then, her mom took a group of them on over to the dance.  There were no real dates--thank goodness.


That afternoon Hannah asked me if she could take our extra phone with her.  It wasn't charged, though, and so I ended up giving her my phone for the night so she could call when she was ready to come home.  She thought she was big stuff.  I have to say, I loved getting a little sneak peak into what she and her friends were up to.  At one point she and Kris were texting and he asked her if she was ready to come home.  Her reply was "No way.  They're playing my jam!"  Hahaha!!!  I think she had fun.


Ashleigh's mom is an elementary teacher (Lincoln's teacher last year) and so she went and spied on the kids for a minute and sent a couple of pics back.  There were quite a few kids there.  I am not sure how much actual dancing was done though.



I can't believe Hannah is in middle school and that she went to her first dance.  This one was pretty low key.  I am not really looking forward to the ones where boys start asking her.

School Update

Mr. Layton had a rocky start to school much to my surprise.  The first day he went with no problems, but after that when it came time for him to get out of the car in the carpool line in front of the gym in the mornings, he would refuse to get out.  I would have to let the big kids out and drive back around to the front of the school and try to get him to get out.  One morning Kris took them and he finally walked in the front of the building with Hannah.  The next day with me, he refused to get out, kicked his shoes off, and had quite the little fit--all in front of the principal.  Not fun.  At that point, I had to tell him that he was going to have his Kindle time taken away if he didn't put his shoes on and get out.  I told him I would walk him in as long as he let me go when we got to the cafeteria.  He still cried when I left and kept saying that he wanted to go home.  Oh how this has been hard.  I guess I just wasn't prepared for it.  He went to 3 years worth of preschool and I don't remember him crying not one day.  I can't help but wonder if Ledger being at home with me is causing some of this.

Well, a friend suggested we arrive at school at the same time and drop the kids off together so that they could walk in together.  This worked great for Layton.  Yay!


The next day he had to stay home from school because of an infection.  I think he needed that day to realize school was not so bad because the next day everything turned around.  He hasn't had a problem being dropped off since.

I guess it has just been a hard transition for him---and for me.  He has always been my baby and my buddy.  I guess we both felt that loss.  Sometimes it is sad watching your kids grow up.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Week 15

Here's what went on in our world this week:

Cuteness.


A birthday party for our friend, Jae.


She and Kris have a thing about candy so he wanted to get her a huge bag of gummy bears.  Ha!



The boys playing.  Jack, Layton, Lincoln, and Chandler.



On Sunday, Lincoln's buddy, Jack, got baptized.  He is just about one of the sweetest little boys.  I know he had been talking about this for a while.  We were so blessed to be able to celebrate this day with him and his family.




Buddies giving each other hugs.





After the baptism the kids enjoyed hanging out at the Beggs' lake and we had a yummy bbq lunch together.






Laid out.  Exhausted.




I heard him making noise in his bed and went in to find him like this--sucking his thumb.  I don't want him to do this, but it is seriously the cutest thing.


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Week 14

Here are just a few pics to mark the week.

Lincoln.  These days anytime this dude goes into a restroom, we never know what he is going to come out looking like.  He likes to fix his hair using water.  Cracks.  Me.  Up.


Ledger and Daddy time.



So precious.  I forget where this was.  Maybe at the grocery store in the checkout line.  Boy, is it nice to only have to go shopping with one little one vs four.  Whew.


Checking out the world around him.


He is really liking his jumper lately.  He is noticing the toys more and is getting better and better at holding himself up.


I am soaking up my time with this little one.


Or should I say big one.  I could eat him up.


This was after a feeding.  I think he was in a milk coma.



My boys.  Three of them.  No way.  Love them so much.



Monday, August 15, 2016

First Day of School 2016-2017

I made it through the summer!  Ha!  I can't believe it is time for school to start!  Here they are all ready to go.

Lincoln (4th grade), Layton (Kindergarten), and Hannah (6th grade).



I think Lincoln was excited, but a little nervous about his class.  He got put in the Gifted and Talented Class this year.  I have had him tested 2 years and he has never tested into it.  However, his teacher last year told me that he did really well on the standardized test that he took at the end of last year.  They have to fill the whole class if they don't have enough kids that actually test into the G/T class.  So, Lincoln got put in there this year.  I was excited for him.  I know I am his mom and I am a little bias, but I think he is a very bright, creative little boy and I am happy that he will be in a class where he may get to grow and challenge himself more!  He is a little nervous about all the work.  ;-)


Her first year of Middle School.  She didn't seem nervous at all to me.  She wanted a Vera Bradley backpack this year so we splurged on that and she is still into the big bows.  She is looking so big to me.


Layton seemed excited to go to school the first day.  He was looking forward to seeing some of his preschool friends.  I have to say I did not cry until Kris and I were driving away from the school.  When I let myself think about the fact that the days of just he and I are over, I get sad.  From here on out, he will be away from me more than he is with me and that is hard to bear.  After all, he is still my baby.


Lincoln with his teacher, Mrs. Henard.  She is pregnant and due any day now, so he will have a long term sub for 12 weeks once she has her baby.



Layton with his teacher, Mrs. Kirkley.


This was my first day home with just Ledger.  I can't believe that I just sent 3 off to school, but have one still at home.  I am so glad though.  We are going to have so much fun!!!


Friday, August 12, 2016

Ledger at 3 months

I could just eat this little fella up.  He is such a smiley thing.  He is so happy and is really laughing now.  Nursing is getting easier and better.  He eats every 3 1/2 hours for the most part during the day.  At night he is going 8 plus hours between feedings.  Yay!!  He is doing great sleeping in his crib.  We have a routine that I follow.  I read to him if I think he is not too sleepy already.  We rock for a few minutes and I sing to him usually.  Then, I put him down, swaddle him, and put his little soft lovie blanket right up next to his cheek and turn on the mobile.  It plays music for a few minutes and he usually goes right to sleep.  At nap time sometimes I may have to put his pacy back in his mouth a couple of times before he finally gives it up.  He doesn't like when it falls out before he gets asleep, but once he is asleep, he doesn't need it.  At nap time I also try to read to him.  He is starting to like this more and more.

He is probably wearing 6 months clothes and some 6-9 months.  We went up to size 2 diapers.  Ledger loves diaper changes.  He rarely ever cries.  He just looks up at me and smiles and moves his arms and legs.  So happy.

He still likes to take baths and enjoys floating around in the tub with me sometimes.  I can't wait till he can sit up in the tub by himself.

He has found his hands this month.  I have caught him staring at them.  It is so cute.  He is just starting to be able to hold a few toys, but it is still pretty hard for him.  His hands are constantly in his mouth.  Sometimes it is his thumb and sometimes it is other fingers.

He is starting to lose some of his hair and I even caught him pulling at his hair while nursing.  I am anxious to see what color it will be when the new hair comes in.

Ledger is holding his head up well, but is still a little wobbly at times.

People say he looks like Layton.  I still am not sure.  We did find one baby picture of Kris that looks a lot like Ledger.

His nickname is Bubs or Bubby, but I like Bubs.

He is one heavy dude.  The kids are beginning to have a hard time holding him because he weighs so much.

Note:  I weighed him on the 19th (3 months and 1 week) and he weighed 17 lbs 8.2 oz.  He was 14 lbs 8 oz at 2 months!  This is crazy to me!!

He is just so pleasant.  The kids love him so much.  I am unbelievably thankful that we have him.