Family Game Night

The other night while I was reading Camden his "night-night" books he took the book and started reading it to me. I figured it was because he has heard the book 15 million times, so I pulled a book off the shelf that he has not heard before. The little stinker starts reading all the sight words: it, I , the , is, in, you, car, with. I couldn't believe it. He has always been really smart, so I can't say I was truly surprised. The past few months I have been real careful about what I teach him. I really don't want him to be bored in kindergarten next year so I have not really put to much attention on letters or words. I guess it goes to show that some kids can learn to read on their own once they know their letters and sounds.

It has truly hit me this year how smart that little kiddo is. I have been testing the kindergartners in my building all week and not one kindergartner in the entire school so far has known every letter AND every sound. A few have came really close, but missed a sound or two. Just out of curiosity, I took the test home and gave it to Camden. PERFECT SCORE!!! He is not supposed to go to kindergarten for another year and even at that he will be one of the youngest in his class. I feel so sorry for his teacher next year. Actually, it is a good thing he is smart because I have a feeling he is going to be a stinker in the behavior department!!!

I decided that he is smart enough to handle playing some games I play with my kindergartners at school, so last night we had our first official "Family Game Night." We played ABC BINGO and had a really great time!!! Camden would get so excited when he got a bingo that he would scream and jump up and down! He wanted to play over and over again. I think we played that game 8 times:) It is definitely something we do again soon. Next week, I think we will play a sight word matching game.

Perfect Dress

This is the very first dress I bought for Katelyn when I found out I was going to have a little girl. Of coarse, I always imagined her wearing it long before now. I found it at Gymboree and thought it would be the cutest little summer dress for my baby girl. Camden always, even to this day, wore clothes 1 size larger than he was, so I thought for sure a 0-3 month dress would work for Katelyn this summer when she was a newborn. WRONG!!! She finally fits into the dress now and she is almost 3 months old. She got to wear her dress for the first time on Thursday. It is still big on her even at 12 weeks old. The matching headband that comes with it is so big the bow won't even stay on her head.

That's my BOY!!!!

I just had my proudest moment as a mother today! My son sat down with me and colored a picture for the first time ever!!! Some of you may be thinking, WOW a picture, her expectations are very low. If you were thinking that, you definitely do not know my son. Camden has avoided everything that has to do with fine motor skills his entire life. Most kids love to color... not Camden!!! I think the real problem is that he can't sit still and focus long enough to accomplish a picture. Tonight, I saw a "teachable moment" and took full advantage of it!!!! IT WORKED!!!!!!!

The whole time, he just kept saying, " I am conturating really hard Mommy." He was trying to say concentrating but kept forgetting the word. It was so cute!!! I have never seen him so focused on anything he has ever done!!! I am so proud!!!!!!

The teacher in me looks at this pencil grip and smiles!!!! It is perfect!!! Mrs. Samantha, Camden's preschool teacher, would be so proud!!!

Flowers are a girls best friend!

What a photogenic baby!!! Angela... You inspired me:)

I wish I knew...

I wish I knew what she was thinking!!!!

I give up!!!

Who am I kidding!!! WOW!! Mark hates it when I dress baby Kate up all cute! You sure can't tell from looking at this picture! She is totally a Daddy's Girl!!!!

It's Official!!!

This year, for the first time, we are officially CHIEFS season ticket holders. We are such huge fans!! Our first pre-season game at Arrowhead Stadium was last night. We took Camden to the game with us. We figure the pre-season games are a little more calm than the regular season. Camden definitely did better than last year, but is still not quite ready for an entire game. We made it almost through 3rd quarter before we had to leave. We had a great time even though the chiefs lost 17-27 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Camden's favorite part of the game was KC Wolf!! He loved him. Matter of fact, the entire game he was keeping tabs on "KC THE WOLF."

Thank gosh we brought the cars. That bought us almost all of 3rd quarter. He is so ADHD!!!!!!

As for Katelyn, she stayed the night with Grandma although she dressed for the occasion:)

YUM....YUM....

This week was a terrible week to start dieting. Let me explain to you how teachers work. During the school year when we have students, you have a 25 minute lunch. Let me break this down for you.... 3 minutes walking the kids to the lunch room, 5 minutes to wait with the kids to make sure everyone gets their lunch, 2 minutes to walk to the teachers break room, 5 minutes to go pee and wash your hands (since you have not had a break since the beginning of school), and 3 minutes to heat up your lunch. This leaves you with 5 minutes to snarf down your lunch as quick as you can because you have to pick up your kids on time. It is rough around lunch time when you are a teacher.

That is why this week was so hard to start a diet. We have had work days without students. It's our one chance to go out like the rest of the world. Our principal had lunch catered in for us on Wednesday. I cheated on my diet a little, but it could have been way worse!!! I had spaghetti, salad and a bread stick. I really wanted another bread stick and a really awesome chocolate chip cookie, but I stayed strong!!! Thursday and Friday, no students... Teachers GO OUT!! No matter what, just because we can:) I went out with the first grade teachers on Thursday and I the unthinkable... I had a coke!!! I know, if everyone else ordered water, I really could have done it, but they didn't!!! I am sure the chicken quesadillas were not that great for me either:( Friday, I decided to be good. I have to weigh in on Monday and I really didn't want to have gained weight instead of lost anything. I had sudden flashes of Mark losing 5 lbs. and myself gaining 3. I turned down on of the librarians wonderful brownies and walked to my room to get my protein bar!!!

Breakfast are the one area I have got to work on. I have left my house 4/5 days this week without eating! Getting yourself ready and two kids, making sure the house is show ready, and dropping kids off at two different locations is completely exhausting. It takes me 3 hours!!! I have been so late every day, I can't even think about breakfast. I think once we get into a routine it will be much easier. I have to make myself eat breakfast!!!! It's not a option!!

Both Mark and I have eaten very well at night. I have stuck with a chicken breast and a huge plate of veggies. I need to substitute some fish in there next week too!! Mark doesn't do veggies, but he had not consumed his normal 12 servings of carbs at dinner!

Feeling really quite guilty about my lunch indulgences this morning, I decided while Mark was sleeping to take a sneak peek on the scales so I could assess the damage. Imagine my amazement when it said I had lost a little over 2 pounds. YEAH!!!!! Maybe I can lose another pound by Monday morning! We will see!!!!

Who's girl will she be???

The other evening, I had Katelyn dressed in a adorable little outfit that just happened to say, "mommy's little girl." While playing on the floor with Mark, she had one of her explosive diapers, so Mark took her upstairs to change her. Next thing I know, Mark comes down with a little girl dressed in a different outfit....one that said, "daddy's girl." I guess he was feeling a little left out:) Either way, she is our beautiful baby girl!!!

She definitely has her fathers ears!!

On Top of the World

I have to say, I am loving this school year so far. The past two years have been very hard for reasons that I will not go into, but man, after our faculty meeting yesterday, I feel like I am on top of the world. I actually have meeting dates set for the entire school year. Actually, I have more dates than I have had time to put on my calendar yet!!!! Those of you that really know me, know how much of a planner and organizer I am. The past two years, I have been living literally from week to week as far as my school calendar went and living that way brought on a ton of unneeded stress! In addition to the organization, I have been asked to be a big part of the PD of our building. I feel like I will finally have an opportunity to do my job as a literacy coach instead of just being the "reading teacher." The leadership, the staff, even some of the kids I have met so far are fantastic!

I have been working non-stop in my new room setting it up. I have to say it looks amazing (is that being to modest??) I am a really big believer in making the environment conductive to learning. Who wants to learn to read sitting in a hard chair at a hard table. I have comfy chairs and a beautiful rug. I rarely turn on the lights, but have lamps all over the place. I can't wait to start seeing kids.

Today we had our district teacher orientation. I received my 5 year service pin. I can't believe I have been teaching in Blue Springs for 5 years. I saw all my favorite teachers that I taught with last year and it made me a little sad that I had to leave them behind, but this year is going to be great!!!

It's on!!!!

This pregnancy has left my husband and myself with a few extra pounds!! To try to get in shape and lose some wt, my hubby and I have started a little competition!! We have set our goal weights and have given each other the entire school year to get in shape. If on the last day of school, we have reached our goals, we each get $100 bucks to spend on whatever we want, no questions asked!! I know that sounds kinda piddly, but when you have two children in childcare, you don't get to spend money on whatever you want, whenever you want. If I get to my goal, I am going to probably spend a day at the spa with a massage, maybe a pedicure? I know what Mark will use the money for. He wants a tattoo, oh well, no questions asked!!

Cry Baby

I found myself holding Katelyn for an extra long time last night after our 3:30 feeding. I know I should have put her down in her crib to go to sleep, but I just sat there are looked at her and cried. I can't help it. I can't help but soak in every second of her because I know it will be my last. My last first smile, my last first giggle, my last little baby:( She is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe she is growing so fast already. I look at Camden and wonder where the time went. He is such a big boy! I want time to stand still for a while so I can enjoy my last baby!!!

This moment of reflection in the middle of the night happened because tomorrow will be my first official day back at school. My summer/maternity leave is officially over:( I know Katelyn is going to be taken care of very well, but I will miss holding her and playing with her in the morning hours. Camden starts preschool, Katelyn will go to Robins and I will have to head back to my students. This summer just went by way to fast. I will have to fill my room full of pictures of my beautiful family!!

A smile is worth a thousand words... make that two smiles!!

I caught this picture of my little ones together!!! I love it!!!

Grandma's Quilts

My mom is so talented. She loves making quilts for all the grand kids. Camden's quilt has moons and stars and is personalized with his birth information. I actually picked it out when I was in college. Kids were the furthest thing on my mind at the time, I just loved the quilt. Grandma and him have a secret, "I love you to the moon and stars and all the way back." They whisper it to each other all the time! Katelyn got two quilts. Grandma didn't think the first one was big enough. She broke them both in real well with some explosive diapers! They are going to be well loved.

Camden's Mommy Day

Camden has been such a good boy all summer. Adjusting to a sister has been a long and tiresome process, but he is such a good brother. Three days a week he has gone to Robin, our amazing child care provider so I could have some special time with the baby and catch up on sleep (which never happened)!! She started watching Camden when he was 2 and a half months old and will now watch Katelyn for me.

Today, we decided to drop Katelyn off and Camden and I spent the day together. It was our first "Mommy Day" since we have had Katelyn. After we dropped Katelyn off, we went out for a doughnut breakfast. Camden ate a chocolate sprinkle donut and chocolate milk. Then we headed to Walmart where he got to pick out a new race car. He chose Lighting Ramone who he has barely put down today. After lunch, we headed to the pool!!! Camden is a big fan of the Lazy River, just like his father. The three hours we were there, he spent 2 floating around on a tube. We had a very good time, but we had to get home early to go to Camden's Preschool Open House! It was nice to see Mrs. Samantha again. We also got to meet his other two teachers. Cam is going to have a great year at preschool!!!

Katelyn 2 month Dr. Visit

Yesterday, grandma took the day off work to hang out with Katelyn and I before we went back to school. She got to tag along with us when I took Katelyn to the Dr. for her two month check-up. She is definitely a growing girl. She is still little, but making progress. She weighed 9 lbs. 13 oz. which puts her in the 25-50 percentile for weight. She was in the 25-50 percentile for height as well. As for head circumference, poor girl has my genes. She is in the 3-5 percentile for that!!

She received all her 2 month shots and cried for about 20 seconds. The nurse was fantastic. I have never seen someone so good at giving shots to a infant. She was finished in just a few seconds. She was great!

The best part of the visit was when the doctor was talking about how I should not start solid foods yet and my mom was there to witness it!!! Anyone that doesn't know that story should definitely hear it someday, but my mom would kill me if I put it on the blog:) Love ya MOM and remember, What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's!!!

When life gives you lemons... Make Lemonade!!!

The weather here in the mid-west has been unbearable!!! It's hot and humid and the temps have been in the 100's!! Needless to say, we have been staying inside a lot in the afternoons which has lead Camden wanting to watch a whole lot more TV than he should be watching. We always enjoy cooking together, so we started a cooking project together almost every day when Katelyn is taking a nap. It's a great way to turn the TV off and spend some time together just the two of us. Today, we made freshly squeezed lemonade!! YUM!!

My Little Sister!!!

These are some of my sister's favorite designs. She is an extremely talented girl. Photography, art, design.. You name it and the girl has got it going on:) She has a shop on Etsy if you would like to check out the rest of her artwork. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5016399&order=&section_id=&page=1

This is an iron-on design my sister did. I have a ton of adorable onesies for my precious baby girl. Her baby boy line is adorable too!!!

What a Weekend...

What a big girl. We have always thought that Katelyn was a pretty strong girl. When she was about 3 weeks old, she was constantly trying to hold her head up and wobbled all over the place, but she was bound and determined to try. She rolled over on her own at 4 weeks old because she was not fond of "tummy time." She has been doing a really great job and her head control has really improved this week, so I got out the BUMBO seat. I really thought it was way to soon, but she loves it. Only 8 weeks old and sitting in her seat. She was beaming with pride, as was I!!

We stopped swim lessons during the month of July since we were out of town a lot with weddings and trips. Every Saturday, Camden would wake up and ask if it was a swim day. It was obvious that he loved taking swim lessons, so we decided to sign him back up for the month of August. Camden was so excited when he woke up in the morning because he was able to go to swim lessons again. He is going underwater and jumping in on his own. Not bad when he was a little timid a few months ago.

Saturday night, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. Steaks , Potatoes, and corn on the cob. YUM!!!! My parents are way to good to us!! We always have such a great time together. After a long night of wrestling each other, chasing each other and catching lightning bugs, the boys cuddled up in bed to watch a movie together. I hope they will always remain so close to each other. I can't believe Connor and Drayton are starting Kindergarten this year. Time really does Fly when you are having FUN!!!!!

Maggie Love

Maggie is the most patient dog in the world. Any dog would have to be to put up with Camden. She is so gentle and kind. I have a feeling when Katelyn gets older, they will be inseparable. Katelyn sure loves her big wet kisses already!!

8 Weeks

I couldn't resist dressing Katelyn up today in different outfits and take pictures. She is going to outgrow all these adorable clothes before I know it. She is 8 weeks old today. Since school is right around the corner, I attempted to give her formula for the first time today, well 1/2 formula- 1/2 breast milk. Mark has been trying to get me to give her formula for a while, but I have been nervous. Camdens acid reflux didn't get bad until I took him off breast milk and put him on formula. She did really good and didn't spit up any more than usual, so I guess this weekend is going to be a long painful weekend with cabbage leaves. It is actually a good thing to get this over with now, so I don't have to use my plan times and lunch time at school to pump. Wish me luck!!