August 2014

I am just sitting down to write this post in the middle of the month because the last month has been insane. I am really having to go back and think about August and hope pictures jog my memory because we have been so crazy that I struggle to remember what happened this morning, let alone last month.

We started out the month by getting Aubrey a new, bigger girl bed. Todd didn't think she really needed a full size bed, but I knedw when we convert Mason's bed from the toddler bed to the full it would be an issue if Aubrey was still in a twin bed. I finally convinced him to let us pull the trigger on the bigger bed by telling him it could serve as a guest bed when people spend the night and Aubrey can sleep on the air mattress. I furiously pinned ideas for her new room but I should know by now that my opinions don't mean a whole lot to a very opinionated 5-year old. She picked out the bedding by herself, which actually ended up saving me a lot of money because I wanted the cute PBK set and she chose a set from Target. No complaints from me, though. We settled on a pretty wrought iron-looking bed from Ikea and she loved it. After we assembled the bed and put it all together, it just seemed even more surreal that my little girl is sleeping in that big bed. Didn't I just put her in the crib for the first time? She loves her big bed and it is pretty cute to see her crawling in at night. 

However, Aubrey didn't even get to sleep in her new bed the first night it was assembled because she hosted her first sleepover that night. She had been hounding me for months to have a sleepover so finally I caved and let her do it. She invited 5 friends, but luckily only 3 came over to play and 2 spent the night. I planned a few activities for them, but mostly just let them play and do their thing. Todd went to visit his sister for her birthday, so I called in my sister as reinforcement. That turned out to be one of the better ideas I had because Mason was a handful that night after having no nap that afternoon. The girls had so much fun, but this momma was worn out by the time they went to sleep at 10:30. 

We made the decision this month it was time to convert Mason's crib to the toddler bed. He was started to pull up on top of the crib rails and I knew it was only a matter of time before he crawled over. After talking about it for weeks, we finally cleared his room of the crawl-worthy furniture and did the conversion. He wasn't sure what to think about it at first, but he went to sleep with zero problems the first night. It took him 3-4 weeks before he would get out the bed without permission. Since he insists on sleeping with his door open, we installed the baby gate at his door to keep him confined should he wake up and start wandering. I'll admit that knowing we'll never use the crib again was a little sad, but it is nice to give him some freedom and know that he's safe. 

We took the kids to watch a Charlotte Knights' baseball game in their new stadium and it was a lot of fun. It was Mason's first baseball game and he was fascinated. They both got bored after about 3-4 innings, but hopefully they'll have more attention span to watch the games as they get older. We'd love to go to Atlanta next year to watch the Braves game and hope to take them with us.

We spent a few days on the boat this month while Todd and his dad worked on the dock. The water still seemed a little cool for the kids to swim in so decided to let them fish. Mason was so happy to catch his first little fish. Aubrey was able to help a lot more with her fish and still seemed giddy excited every time she caught one. Todd loves that they both like to fish so I see that as some daddy-children bonding time in the future.

The kids also spent some time in the wading area at the lake and had a great time. 

The day after Aubrey's Kindergarten open house was Mason's open house for preschool. He was so excited to finally be going to school like Aubrey. Many of the children in the class were petrified to leave their parents sides during open house, but not my child. He was too happy about having a whole new set of toys to play enjoy. He did pull us around to show us the toys, but was really ok playing by himself. He was very upset when it was time to leave, so I was confident he was ready for his first day. Unfortunately, he had to wait over almost 2 weeks before he actually got to start and he let us know he wasn't happy to wait. 

This was the best picture of him I could get at open house. He was too interested in the toys to take pictures.

Aubrey started back to dance this month and as promised, we also let her start tumbling at Mrs. Rhonda's. She still isn't 100% happy that she is tumbling there instead of her old gymnastics center, but she has friends in her class and that seems to help. The only drawback to tumbling is the schedule. She dances from 4-5 and then tumbling is from 6:15-7:15. This makes Wednesdays a loooong day for all of us. I now understand and appreciate even more the sacrifice my parents made for me to be in the activities I was in as a child. She is doing something she loves and that makes the long days completely worth it to me.

I'd love to be anticipating a slow-down, but I know that won't happen anytime soon. We are at break-neck wide open speed until Christmas, I'm sure.  So, we'll just try to hang on and make it through until then.

A Bittersweet Day

A day that I have been dreading and so excited about at the same time finally arrived. My sweet little Aubrey started Kindergarten today. We've been planning and discussing this day for so long that going through it all just seemed surreal. We went to open house to meet her teacher and see her classroom last week, but that really didn't prep me for what today would feel like.

We started getting ready yesterday by picking out which outfit to wear (not that she has a lot of choices since they wear uniforms), packing lunch, and working on her All About Me project. Each student had to prepare a half poster board sized project that told 6 things about themselves and then be prepared to talk about it. We had everything laid out and ready before bed and then it came time to read The Night Before Kindergarten. I knew I was in for it when I started wiping tears away about half way through the book. Aubrey and I talked for a bit about what to expect today. I tried to speak in a way to calm her nerves, but also calm myself. She finally went to sleep and I went back to my room and read the book again, just to make sure I got the message that the first day is so much harder on mom and dad than the children. I went to bed feeling ok, but woke up several times through the night thinking I had overslept. You would really have thought I was the one going to school, as nervous as I was.

The alarm went off sooo early and we all rushed around to get ready. Todd took half a day off work to go with us and that turned out to be a blessing for me. Seeing Aubrey in her uniform and little pink Converse shoes was so awesome. She begrudgingly went through the obligatory pictures and then we loaded the car and took off for school.

At MICS on the first day, they let the parents participate in the morning routine of the Pledge of Allegiance, and then they do a little reading for the parents on the first day, again meant to calm our jitters more than the little ones. Then, her teacher, Mrs. Mims, led the students in a craft for us to take home. And, now I just need to talk for a minute about how in love with Aubrey's teacher I am. This woman was born to be a Kindergarten teacher. She seems to have patience and warmth coming out the wazoo. Its just amazing to watch her with the kids because she is calming and loving and everything you would want from a woman who spends her day with 5 and 6 year olds. At open house, we went in to meet her and she immediately got down on Aubrey's level and bonded with her over their love of sparkles (since Aubrey was wearing sparkly flip flops). She was so patient with me and my 25 questions that I know she's heard a million times before. I guess after 25 years of teaching, she must have heard and seen it all, so nervous parents are nothing new.  When we walked in this morning, she immediately greeted Aubrey by name and complimented Aubrey's shoes. I think Aubrey is truly blessed to have such a special person as a teacher and I can't wait to see how things go through the year with her.

Ok, so back today. I managed to hold it together until it was time to say good-bye. I gave Aubrey so many kisses and hugs before I finally had to leave. It was so nice of Mrs. Mims to give the parents hugs before we left, but that's what started my tears. I know Aubrey will be loved in her class, but leaving her there still hurt a little. I just can't believe my little 7 lb, 3 oz baby girl has grown into this 5-year old girl that is ready for Kindergarten and it hit me hard. Todd knew I was upset so he held my hand, which helped to calm me down as we walked back to the car. We were all starving at that point, so we decided to get some breakfast before heading home.

Once we got home, it felt so weird to be there with just Mason. Even after 2 years of preschool, it just felt empty without her here. Around 11:30, Mason grabbed my hand and led me to the door and said "We go get Aubrey now" and I shed a few more tears then. The day went fast though because I managed to get so much more done with just him here and before I knew it, it was time to go pick her up. Unfortunately, the worst part of our day was the pick up line, but an after school email assured us it would be smoother by Friday. I surprised Aubrey with Anna and Elsa dolls in the car as a treat for making it through her first day, despite being a little scared. We then went out for frozen yogurt to hash out the details of the day. Her favorite part of the day: of course it was recess. I should expect nothing less. She said she had a great day and was upset that she doesn't go back until Friday.

We got an e-mail from her teacher tonight that said Aubrey had a great first day and shared this picture with us.

So, we officially have a Kindergartner in the house and we all survived the day. I will call it a success. I just hope the rest of the year goes as smoothly.

July 2014

This post has just been sitting in my needs to be published folder since the beginning of the month just waiting on the pictures. I actually took a lot of pictures with my big camera in the month of July (still a lot less than in years past) and it took me forever to get them edited and uploaded. July was pretty relaxed, it still felt like it moved so quickly. I can't believe this summer is halfway over.

For the first time in a few years, we got to attend the Mooresville July 3rd celebration. We were worried it would get rained out, but a few brief storms made their way through right as we got there and the rest of the evening was perfect. We had a picnic dinner, played on the inflatables, ate way too much junk food and then watched the fireworks. I wasn't sure how Mason would handle the fireworks since we were much closer to them there than at Disney, but he laughed every single time a new one exploded, so my worries were pointless.

Silly girl posing while we waited in line

Waiting for it to get dark outside for the fireworks

July 4th was absolutely perfect. Todd and his dad spent the morning finishing the kids' new swing set and the kids spent the entire afternoon playing on it. I am so glad we were finally able to put one in our backyard. The neighborhood set is always so hot and has minimal shade so we made sure ours was in a shady area in our back yard. The kids are in heaven and love having their own place to play and swing. We grilled dinner that evening and then let the kids play with sparklers at dusk. It was awesome to watch their faces light up while the sparklers burned. Then, we walked down to the corner of the block and watched the neighbors shoot fireworks for a while. It was nice to just spend time at home and not have to fight crowds or traffic.

Aubrey was so excited that we got to change her earrings out from the ones that pierced her ears. She still complains that her ears hurt and doesn't like anyone touching or messing with them, but she loves changing her earrings and always wants to look a new pairs while we are shopping.

We've spent so much time at the HFFA this summer with swim lessons. Both kids are making a lot of progress with their lessons. Aubrey has done so well we signed her up for 2 more weeks of lessons because she is able to swim a few yards on her own and we want her to feel confident before she stops lessons. We also spent an afternoon in the HFFA outdoor pool and she surprised me by going down the large slide and going into the deep end by herself. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do if she freaked out because I had Mason on my hip, but she quickly realized she could touch the bottom and she was golden.

We drove to visit Todd's college friend outside of Rocky Mount, NC on the 17th and attend their annual pool party. The weather turned out to be a bit cool for July (a common, but awesome theme so far this summer) but the kids didn't let that stop them from enjoying the pool. Aubrey decided she was brave enough to jump from the diving board with her swimmies on. She got up on the diving board and then freaked out because everyone was watching her. Later on, another little girl her age jumped off the diving board and that's all it took to re-boost Aubrey's confidence so she march back to the diving board and jumped right off. I was in the deep end near the diving board just in case she freaked when she came up, but she popped right out of the water and said "that was awesome." I lost count on how many times she went off that diving board that afternoon, but it was so nice to see her confidence bloom. Later that night we drove back to Todd's cousin's house in Zebulon and spent the night before driving back on Sunday.

Its been a big month of purchases as we start getting ready for the kids to go to school. I've enjoyed buying the uniforms, backpacks, and supplies the kids will use for the year. But, one of my most fun purchase of the year was some dress up clothes for Mason. Todd was getting tired of seeing Mason wearing Aubrey's princess clothes so he insisted that I buy some boy stuff for Mason. So, I bought him a Jake outfit from Jake and the Neverland pirates and bought both kids Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfits. Aubrey has gotten into the turtles over the summer, so she was excited to have that outfit to play in. Todd seems to think we need to dress up as the whole Ninja turtle crew for Halloween, but we'll see.

So that was our July. Next month brings some huge changes to this house and I can't wait to see how it all goes down.

June 2014

The month of June brought a bit of a slower pace, thankfully. However, it also brought the yucky hot, humidity with it. But, I'll take June heat over January freezing any day. So, the name of the game for the summer has been finding as many ways to cool off as we can.

Since our crappy neighborhood has no pool, I decided to go old school and bring out the sprinkler for the kids to play in. They loved it, however the water bill loved it more so that has been a limited thing so far.

Since our bank account can only handle so much of the sprinkler running, I found an awesome FREE alternative in the Birkdale Village splash pad. Its really sad that Aubrey is 5 and this is the first time I've taken her. Both kids were in heaven and would have played for hours if I would have let them.

We also started both kids in swim lessons this summer. We've wanted to sign Aubrey up the past 4 years, but money and time have always been a factor. But, there was no more putting it off, especially since we are able to go to the lake more often. Both kids have enjoyed their lessons and have done very well so we are happy we finally signed them up.

And, of course, what is summer without ice pops? Mason wasn't quite sure what to do with one at first, but managed to eat about 1/2 of one before dropping it on the porch.

Aubrey also attended her first camp this year. Her dance studio offered a week-long summer dance camp so we signed her up. She wasn't sure about going at first, but by the time the first day ended, she didn't want to leave. They learned 2 dances that and did a ballet puppet show with puppets and scenery they created so I was pretty impressed. Plus, Aubrey got to dance with one of my oldest friends Christy and I think she might have caught the dance bug from her. Aubrey was always whining that she didn't want to go to dance and didn't like it, but we forced her to stick with it. That all changed after a week with Christy. Now she leaps and twirls all over the house and says she can't wait to start dance again this fall. I'm so excited that she seems more enthusiastic about dancing now. It was such a huge part of my life for so long and I would love to share that with her.

I have really enjoyed watching the kids enjoy all the fun summer activities and so thankful that we are able to provide them with the opportunity to do those things.

May 2014

The month of May is always such a crazy month in our house and this May was no exception.

We started out the month at the Mt. Holly Spring Festival. Its been an annual tradition for me to go almost every year since it started in the 80's, I believe. I've missed a few years here and there, but I always try to make it if I can, even if its just for nostalgia's sake. We met my dad and sister there and everyone was entertained by watching Aubrey and Mason enjoy it so much. Between bouncy houses, balloon animals, funnel cakes, and dunking booths, I'm not sure which fascinated the kids the most. After Spring Fest, we came back to the house to prepare for Todd's birthday dinner. We celebrated a bit early because his sister wasn't going to be here for his birthday and there weren't many other free weekends on our schedule. Todd smoked ribs on the grill and they were fantastic.

Mason and my sister enjoying Mason's first funnel cake.

The next weekend in May brought Mother's Day. We started out our celebration the Friday before with my parents since my mom has to work on Sundays. That Saturday Todd and I took a much needed date night and went out with some friends for a birthday celebration. Sunday morning we did brunch with Todd's parents at Cracker Barrel. Those butter pecan pancakes were totally worth the 1 hour we had. Then, Aubrey and I did the mommy/daughter mani/pedis at the nail salon. That will probably be our last mother/daughter trip to the salon for a while because a 5-year old just doesn't have the patience to sit still that long. But, it was still fun and we had a great time. We ended the evening by grilling outside and it was the perfect wrap to the day.

Enjoying our mother/daughter pedis

The next week brought Aubrey's kindergarten registration. It was neat to see the classrooms where Aubrey will spend so much time next year. The parents sat through a presentation while the future kindergartners played in the classrooms. After that we completed the kindergarten registration and it really hit me that it was so real. I had been preparing for this for the past 5 years, but I still got teary. It just seemed so grown up. Although Aubrey was nervous prior to getting there, she enjoyed spending time with her new teachers and peers and really didn't want to leave. We were able to pry her out with the promise of going to Spirit Night for MICS at Chick-Fil-A, the first of many, many fundraisers I know we'll attend for the school.

The next weekend was the dance recital. But, then the following Monday was Aubrey's last day of preschool. It was so sad walking her to her class for the last time. I just kept thinking about the first time I carried her into daycare and how sad I was to leave her. Now, I wish I could just leave her in that class forever if it meant she wouldn't grow up. I was able to hold it together in front of her and then cried in the car. All these growing up things being thrown at me at one time just sucked. That Wednesday was preschool graduation and the after party.

Last day of school picture

The next weekend was Memorial Day, so we got to celebrate a nice long weekend. We went out on the boat with Todd's dad and friends and it was perfect. The water was still way to chilly to swim in, but outside was awesome. I can't wait to spend more time on that boat this summer.

Memorial Day on the boat

To wrap up the month, we went to the first of many summer birthday parties of Aubrey's friends. It was nice to go a party where both of the kids were invited and Mason enjoyed himself just as much as Aubrey, even not knowing a soul.

Aubrey and Landon and another friend at the super hero party

On top of all the events of the month, we had some other newsworthy things happen. We finally moved Aubrey to a seat belt positioning booster seat and moved Mason to the high back harnessed booster. Aubrey couldn't get herself in the harnessed booster easily enough and for school, that has to be a quick trip in the afternoons because of the carpool line. After a month of stressing and wondering if she was ready, I bit the bullet and bought it. It is so nice that she can get herself in and out on her own since it takes so much time to get Mason in his seat. Hopefully, that is the last car seat we will have to buy. Once Aubrey outgrows this seat, she'll hopefully be in a regular seat and Mason can move to the booster. I just hopes it works out that easy.

First time in her new seat

First time in his new seat (the t-strap was fixed later, just in case any car seat police want to judge)

Another big girl moment of the month was Aubrey getting her ears pierced. We had been talking about it for months, but really wanted it to be Aubrey's decision. Many of her friends have their ears pierced and Aubrey made comments that she wanted to wear earrings herself, but wasn't sure about the piercing process. She finally decided that she was ready, so we decided that would be a great graduation present. She was pretty psyched about the whole thing and really enjoyed picking out her earrings. Unfortunately, we picked a time to go to Claire's when there was only one associate, meaning she had to get one ear done at a time. Bad call. The second that first earring went through her ear, she lost it and started crying. We had to do some fast convincing to get her to allow the second one to be done. She was pretty unhappy and tearful about the ordeal for an hour or so, but she eventually warmed to up to the earrings after catching glimpses of herself in the mirror that afternoon. Now, we are counting down the 6-ish weeks left until we can change them out for some of the other cool earrings people have already given her.

Todd also started working more seriously with Aubrey on the piano this month. They have been having more regular lessons and Aubrey has to practice every day. We also also practicing a lot on her letters/sounds and writing to get her more ready to read, so we are trying to be careful and not overwork her before she starts school. However, I am seeing progress in the all of the areas, which is re-encouraging. I can only imagine when the progress we'll see once school starts.

Practicing with the headphones on because mommy can only handle so much of hearing the same few notes 10 times in a row

So, wow. That was a novel. It really was a crazy, crazy month. June looks to be a little calmer and I am glad.

Her first graduation

A moment I have been dreading/looking forward to for the past year has been Aubrey's preschool graduation. I kept in the back of mind all year, but really wished it would not happen. I mean, I am excited to know she has grown and shown she is ready for kindergarten, but I really don't want to admit my baby girl is moving to elementary school. I remember her first day of preschool and how nervous we were. She has grown up so much and learned so much since that and its amazing. But, in my mind, she's still that little girl and so admitting that she's not the same little girl I dropped off on that first day is so bittersweet.

To start the ceremony, each of the 3 classes performed songs before walking back to their classrooms to don their little caps and gowns. While they got the kids ready, the adults watched a slide show with pictures from the year and I completely cried like a baby. Seeing the activities they did through pictures and watching for pictures of Aubrey with her friends was so fun, but they had to use the most tear-jerking music, like "It Won't Be Like This For Long" so we all cried. Finally, each student came in the sanctuary and walked down the aisle to the good ol' Pomp and Circumstance before taking their seat. Aubrey was so cute in her cap and gown and I really did have visions of what she will look like in 13 years at high school graduation. After they marched in, the director called each student across the stage individually and they had to shake hands with the her and the pre-k teachers. It seemed so professional and grown up. I can tell they practiced with the kids a ton but the kids were still so nervous to be in front of all of the adults. After they walked across the stage, the director made a little speech and pronounced them the class of 2014 and more tears started. Luckily, I had the distraction of getting Aubrey at that point to keep the tears brief. We did a few pictures with her friends before taking off for a post-graduation celebration. A local stable offered their property and horses for a party for the kids and it was so much fun. They had pizza, pony rides,  a playground, paint the pony, and a water inflatable. Both kids had a blast playing and I was glad Aubrey got one more chance to play with all of her friends together. It was a great way to wrap up a fabulous school year and celebrate the kids and teachers' hard work.