Week two a success

Well, Madelyn's second week of preschool is done and overwith! Whew! She adjusted pretty quick, surprising both Ben and I. Tuesday at the dinner table, she said "today is Tuesday"...and then she said September. She's going to have so much fun, I know.

I've had fun playing with my camera the past few days...got some really sweet pictures.

Madelyn decided to dress up her little sister!

I think this is by far one of my very favorite

pictures of Miss Madelyn

Madelyn

Madelyn sure has been busy lately! She started preschool this week...AAHH! I can't believe it! She cried a few boo-hoos but then warmed up to it after a few minutes.

The preschool offeres a "social" type thing for the first time parents on the first day, so we all gathered there and drank....coffee. (I could've used something a little stronger though!) The director offered to go to each childs class and take pictures so we could see how they were doing. What a great idea! So far, we are thrilled with this school - they have a great curriculum, structured (if you know ME...structure is mandatory!) activities, and just fun things for the kids to do. Madelyn's teachers are Mrs.Lee and Mrs.Swift - aka Mrs.Wee and Mrs.Thwif...they are so enthusiastic and caring. We're not so worried about Madelyn starting her education right now...it's more about socialization, and learning to follow directions, and just having FUN! We're so very proud of our BIG little girl!

First day...

She thinks like her Daddy...

with that tongue!

This must mean something....this is how she lines

up her monkeys! A genius??? Or maybe just OCD :)

Peanut Butter song:

Leaving the house for her first day:

Mrs.Swift getting Madelyn for school:

Ok...I'll be honest here - after I drove off and saw
Miss Madelyn walking up the steps to her new
school, the lump in my throat burst and so
did the tears! But HAPPY tears :)

Emily at 5 months

It's so hard to believe Emily is almost 5 and a half months old! It's going by faster than I imagined it would! She is such a good baby, so content and tolerates any abuse her big sister blesses her with! She's still breastfed, and about a month ago we started oat cereal, this week we started peas and applesauce - so far so good! I remembered when Madelyn started on foods, it sure did change the way things "came out"! haha We're use to Emily's sticky, cutsie, baby poop...then all of a sudden it has become more solid and very stinky! How great it was when Madelyn was able to go #2 on the toilet...soon she'll be showing Em how to do it!

She is an amazing sleeper, both our girls were - thank GOD! Emily takes one loooong nap in the morning, and one loooong nap in the afternoon. Then she sleeps from about 6:30pm to about 7 or 8am - can't complain about that! Wouldn't that be a hard life! I have a feeling if she didn't have that delicious thumb of hers, she might not sleep as soundly, though! Lately she loves to suck her big toes, and she gets pretty frustrated if they are zipped up in her PJs!

I just love this smiley girl!

End of summer days

The summer has drawn to an end and the school buses are in high gear again. Last week when school started around here, I was a little nervous for all the kids. I remember getting nervous before the first day, trying to pick out what to wear and making sure I woke up on time. I was a little restless that night before school last week, and I wasn't sending anyone off on the school bus!






End of summer means FAIRS!!! We hit the Chesterfield County Fair AND the Amelia County Fair where Ben's parents and sister live. We had a fun time - Madelyn can finally ride the loud, jerky, should I really put my kid on this thing rides! Seriously, I can't help but look at every rod, bolt and gear when the ride is in motion...why is that piece not moving, is that suppose to bounce up and down, why is that red light flashing...Not to mention the operators, surely they are all degreed in engineering, and they must be mechanics so they can fix the ancient ride, and they also know CPR and will bring my child a barf bag when she is sick -- right! The Virginia State Fair is coming up at the end of the month, that will be the best one yet, can't wait for that!
(PS - Kim - lets meet there, Madelyn would LOVE to ride with Jake and Rudy!!)

Chesterfield Fair:







We couldn't leave the fair without an overpriced
loud, flashy toy!



Amelia Fair:

Just some fun pics

August...

OK - I really need to stop this once a month blogging habit I've started. Lately I've found I'm more inclined to let things "pile up" and then have to catch up, even around the house - where I use to tackle things ahead of time so I wouldn't be playing the catch up game. Sometimes it's a good thing, and sometimes a bad thing since I'm not a pile up kind of person!

We've had such a fun summer, and I know next summer is going to be even better when Emily will be able to get around and enjoy all the fun things we'll do as a family. It's fun being together and letting the girls experience new things - but man is it exhausting, it has made the summer fly by...but I'd much rather this than sit around the house all the time.

After the beach (which is the last blog I posted!) we enjoyed a visit with one of my very best friends from school. Kelli was in town from New York to see her family and I went up to our ol' roots - Stafford - to spend some time with her and her daughter Brylee. Madelyn and Brylee got along great, Brylee just turned two and she is such a pretty girl, just like her momma. It's so fun to watch little ones interact, how they see the world and how they share conversations together is just awesome! They were sure there was a bear in the woods here -

My sister and Mary invited our family down to their lake house on Lake Gaston a few weekends ago. I could easily prefer "the lake" over the beach...gasp! If I spend much more time there it just might happen! The weather was fabulous, which made for some great tubing on the boat and jet skiing. We just had fun relaxing and playing in the water -- Liz and Mary are great hostesses, thank you guys!

This is the view from the porch, down to the dock -

the cove leads right out to the giant lake...so peaceful there!

Aunt Liz and "her" baby...sometimes people think

Emily is hers! ha

Ben and I have wanted to try going to an amusement park with Madelyn...so I found a deal online for Kings Dominion. I use to go there all the time as a kid, it's been about 16 years since Ben or I have been there. It was hot when we first got there but a light rain came through and cooled us off. We had plenty of time to ride some more rides and walk around a while before the downpour came later.

We were pretty sure Madelyn was going to be afraid of the rides, and she'd probably not want to go on anything by herself. But she surprised us. Her first ride was with Ben on the Taxi Jam rollercoaster - she loved it. She didn't understand that she had to get off and let the others in line ride before she could go again. She rode most of the other kids rides too - BooBoo's Tree Swings and Ranger Smith's Jeep Tours. We looked like idiots following her with the camera and oooo-ing and aww-ing at her on the rides!

The last ride we did before we left was the Scrambler - Madelyn and I rode and she had a blast. She had her hands up and squealed and laughed...I, on the other hand, did all I could to keep my lunch down and not look like I was miserable! Oh I felt awful! My head pounded the rest of the day and I felt like I could throw up at any minute...like a REALLY bad hangover! ugh! But we still had a great time, we'll definitely do it again. We can't wait until Madelyn and Em can ride together!

Emily had the right idea!

Auntie Amanda and Auntie Haylie came over later after we were home and recovered from our trip to KD. Madelyn always LOVES playing with her Aunties....and I think they enjoy being little kids with her! Amanda stayed the night and then the next day we had breakfast with her, Mimi and Grandpa. It was a great day!