Pumpkin Patch

The kids are both doing great. K is still enjoying kindergarten and her teachers had great things to say at our first ever parent/teacher conferences last week. She is obsessed with learning to read and makes progress every day. C is still adjusting to his new daycare (we switched a few weeks ago) and drop offs are still a bit tough. They are still in love with each other, when not fighting over toys and such of course =)

It has been a warm fall here so far and the weekends have been wonderful!  This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch so I thought it was perfect fodder for a blog update.

All smiles!

This little pig was a new addition to the petting zoo this year

C's first pony ride and he loved it

Maybe next year he'll be able to see over the sign

Growing like weeds!

Strong!

Exactly three pumpkins high

Is it just me or is this pig a little scary?

Silly boy at lunch after the pumpkin patch

Kindergarten, Camping, Dance & More

K loves school! There has not been one complaint about it unless you count complaining about getting up so early =) She loves the "specials" which include music, P.E., art, computer lab, etc. Some days she reports MANY details and some days hardly any. She learned how to tie her shoe from her new friend Lilly last week and is very proud. I think she just may wear out her laces tying and retying them. 

The weekend after her first full week was my 40th birthday. And what makes a girl feel 40? Taking the kids camping for the first time, that's what. The first night was horrible - C didn't go to sleep until 11pm and got up at 5:45am, K fell out of her bunk at 2:30am and M and I got about 2 hours of sleep. To be honest I considered packing up and coming home bright an early that morning...but thankfully Saturday was great with morning walks around the lake, fishing where K got her 1st fish and rounded out with fun at the lake beach in the afternoon and smores by the fire that night. The 2nd night was wonderful where we all slept ~11 hours. Nice! Sunday was my actual b-day and we enjoyed a morning pontoon boat ride around the lake before going to lunch with friends. 

Another bit of news is that we've decided to switch daycares the end of this month. C will be there full days and K for just a few hours after school. It's a big change for them and I'm keeping everything crossed that the change goes smoothly. I hope C will really thrive there. His class will be a little smaller and I hope he builds on his rapidly growing vocabulary =)

Ok, that was a lot of words...here's the main point of the post, some photos!

Sunrise while camping, courtesy of C's early wake up

Checking out a caterpillar on our morning walk

K's first fish!

 

C giving it a shot

Playing with some friends at the "beach", ok, generous term I know

Roasting marshmallows 

She was so patient and got a perfectly toasted one after about 10 minutes

Kids not sure of the life jackets on the way out of the marina 

A rare sighting of M and me together

K started a ballet class and it gets more adorable each and every week =)

Look at that smile, this kid!

Trying on my sunglasses, cutie pie!

Kindergarten

And just like that my first little birdie if off to school! Last week we had a few meet and greet opportunities and yesterday was her "staggered start" day where 1/2 the class was there. Today is the first day with all the kids. I've been flipping back through this blog and suddenly feel like making it here was quite the accomplishment - for her and for us. I did shed a few tears as soon as I got back in the car after dropping her off. She is so ready for this though and had a wonderful time on her first day. Here are some pictures:

You can tell she's equal parts proud and nervous

For once C was willing to be in the pictures too 

With Daddy

My turn =) Love these two!!!

Arriving at school

Headed into her "kindergarten enrichment" room

Found her name on her cubby!

One of her morning teachers

Her other morning teacher

Meeting spot first thing in the morning

Afternoon room - the "real" kindergarten portion of her day

With her afternoon teacher after school

Enjoying a yummy treat after her 1st day of school - this was my sneaky way to hear all the details ASAP =)

And there you have it, we have a kindergartner, wow!

He's TWO!

Oh little man, you turned two yesterday and I can hardly believe that much time has passed. You are such a happy, sweet and sometimes ornery little guy. Of course you're whole family is in love with you!

Here are some deets on C at 2! For all the challenges this age has sometimes it really is one of my favorites, they are developing so many skills and personality =)

Stats: He's a big guy at 32.5 lb (95%) and 35" (64%). After his last two 2-year molars break through he'll have a full mouth full of chompers. I will not miss teething, that is for sure.

Food: As you might guess from his nice round belly he loves his vittles =) Some days he eats like a bird and other days eats more than I do but he is a pretty balanced eater and likes veggies, meats and fruits pretty equally.  He's still nursing 4-5 times a day too and shows no signs of wanting to give it up. We think he's sensitive to cow milk like his sister was and it's causing diaper rashes when he has raw dairy. So far we don't think there's an issue with cheese, yogurt, etc. so that's nice, especially since his favorite food in the world is CHEESE =)

Skills: While most of his efforts were focused on gross and fine motor around 18 months he's turned focus to verbal skills. The boy is talking up a storm and wow, it's adorable! He loves that he can communicate and even surprised us by coming home and counting to 10 last week.

Favorite things: Riding on the tractor (riding lawn mower), helping feed the dog, throwing and hitting balls (OMG, they are all over our lawn, garage, etc.), playing outside, stomping in puddles after it rains and cuddling with his stuffed animals.

B-day party: It's tonight! We are having family over for pizza and cupcakes. Yesterday on his actual birthday we took cupcakes to his school for him to share with friends and they had a swimming day which he loved. Last night we sang to him again and gave him his main present (a tool bench and tools, which he loves!).

Teeth!

This week brought our biannual trip to the dentist. Usually it's a quick check, polish and we're off. However this time K got her first x-rays. Taking them was uneventful but what we saw showed us we are in for lots of fun in the next 6 months. One of her six year molars is through the skin already and the other three are on the way. She is very proud of her adult tooth and is constantly trying to feel it now. The x-rays also showed that her front top and bottom adult teeth are starting to push on the baby tooth. Looks like we'll have a gap tooth grin here soon. The tooth fairy better get her engines warmed up too. How can she be this old? Seems impossible.

C didn't want to be left out of the action and showed of his 1st two year molar. Gums are swollen on the other three so I'm sure those will make an appearance soon as well. While the pediatrician and ENT assure me ear infections are not at all associated with teething we have seen the exact opposite with both kiddos and C unfortunately got one this week. Anyone else see this association with their little ones? Luckily for C his tubes are still in place and the ear drops are quickly addressing the infection.

5th Birthday

I'm not sure how it sneaks up on me every single year but our little lady just had yet another birthday! On May 29th she turned five. She's a funny, sweet, loving, smart, energetic little girl and had a FULL weekend of festivities. We were all exhausted, hence the 10 day lag in getting this posted =)

She started her birthday with special "5" pancakes by Daddy

Then we picked her up for a special b-day afternoon and she wanted to have lunch on the rooftop of a Mexican food place (she's totally my kid!) we love.

Then she chose to go to jump city and jump for 2 hours. The brilliance of doing this on a full belly of Mexican food (and possibly a margarita or two) is debatable.

Family selfie on a jump break

That night we had pizza and cupcakes with the whole family, here is her cake

Who is happier about those cupcakes? Might be a draw.

Posing in her new Doc McStuffins coat

Then we had a one day break (Saturday) before her friend party on Sunday. It was at the gym where she takes gymnastics lessons and here's the crew:

Another cupcake cake - this time "5" and Doc McStuffins themed:

Opening her presents with her friends

Happy birthday K!!!

Vacation!

Our first beach vacation was a huge success =) We had an amazing time and watching our little miracles discover the sand, waves, etc. was so much fun. Our travel days were long and exhausting but worth it. Back in the days when we were struggling with IF we use to plan beach vacations as an escape after failed cycles...now it is a celebration of all that our family has become. My heart is so full!

We managed to see and do everything we wanted to in Myrtle Beach. Our outings included a pirate cruise, walk on the boardwalk, ride the skywheel and the aquarium.  But the majority of our trip was spent at the beach and the water parks at our resort. The kids both enjoyed playing in the sand and jumping the waves each morning for a few hours but once sand had reached places it shouldn't we would head in for lunch and rest time. Then the afternoon/evenings were spent at the water parks. 

This is in their first five minutes of feeling sand and salt water for the first time =)

Love at first site

For K too

Nothing like wiggling your toes in the sand

Ice cream!

Cuddles with Daddy on the skywheel

Only picture from vacation with all of us looking the same way and smiling (for the most part)

Headed in from playing in the waves

All ready for their pirate cruise

The crew all ready for the cruise

C getting ready to fire the water cannon

Ready for the beach - come on Mom & Dad!

Doesn't it look like he's adjusting the horns on his hat?

If only the kids would have smiled for this picture...

The look of pure joy!

C really took to swimming - these little life vests are great!

The water slides were a big hit and this is the first time K went by herself

C loved going down over and over again but he would cover his face like this at the bottom...and then beg to go again and again

There was so much brother/sister love on this trip 

Headed out for our last morning on the beach

What a beautiful morning!

Playing in the sand 

Every morning we built a hole for them to play in and they loved it 

K getting buckets of water for the hole