My Kindergartener!

Katelyn had her first day of Kindergarten yesterday. The week before she had assessments and met her teacher-Miss Mower. Since Katelyn went to preschool 5 days a week last year, she wasn't nervous at all and it wasn't hard for me to send her off. I think it will be much harder when she starts 1st grade and is in school full day. She also has 6 friends that she already knows in her class, so that helps. Her first day was a success and she said, "I love school!" It's also great that she can walk to school with her friends:)

I love you Katelyn! You are so ready for Kindergarten and will do great!

We're having a...

BOY!!!!

It has been confirmed...this little guy was not shy! He was moving all over the place and his legs were spread eagle the entire time. It was so neat to take the girls with us and have them experience seeing their brother for the first time. Since we told the girls we were pregnant, Taylor has been adamant that we were having a boy. Every day she would talk about her baby brother and tell people that her brother was in mama's tummy. Katelyn really wanted another sister and was disappointed for a minute when we told her it was a boy. But then she saw the picture and asked, "What's that?" I said, "It's his penis." Then she started laughing and said, "That's his weiner! I can see it! That's so funny" Now she is great with the idea of a brother.

We are very excited for this little boy...especially Chad! I have never seen a grown man so giddy! It's adorable to see him and the girls running around the house screaming and singing, "We're having a boy!" It's fun to see him so excited. He is a great dad and will be a great dad to his son.:)

Taylor's 3rd Birthday!

For Taylor's 3rd birthday we threw her a jungle party. For weeks before the party she would run around the house singing, "I'm having a monkey party!" At night when she would go to bed she would say, "These are the people coming to my party"...and she would list EVERY person! This little girl is SO full of life...her energy and smiles are contagious. Everywhere we go she is so friendly and talks to every person who walks by. She sure is a character and makes us laugh everyday!

I was a little worried about pulling this party off, since I wasn't feeling so great, but it turned out good. I kept telling myself that it was going to just be a simple party...cake, pinata, presents, go home. Well, even the most simple party is EXHAUSTING! My brother Byron saved my life that day! He called me in the morning and asked if I could use his help...um, YES! He spent the entire day with me baking, cleaning, running errands, and entertaining the girls. Thank you Byron, you saved me!

Here is the Birthday Girl...always ready for a picture! She absolutely loved her tutu and wore it all day long

Baking the cake and cupcakes...I was determined to make her cake, and loved how it turned out. But maybe I should have just bought one! It took me 2 hours!

Taylor loved the cake so much, and the look on her face when she saw it made it all worth it!

Opening presents...Grandma gave her a doll with the entire set of crib, stroller, etc. She loved it! She has been really into babies, especially since we have one on the way. We gave her a dollhouse and she loved that too! She was so adorable when she opened her gifts. Every single one made her so excited, like it was the first and best gift anyone had given her. She would yell, "A pillow pet! It's what I always wanted!"

Of course the pinata was a hit!

I set up a craft for the kids to do-we did sand art. Byron drew animals faces on boards, and the kids decorated them with glue and sand. It was a hit and entertained the kids forever! The best part was that everything was outside and I didn't have to worry about messes!

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!! We Love You and our family wouldn't be complete without your beaming light!

Little Swimmer

This summer I put Katelyn in swimming lessons again, in hopes that she would be swimming by the end of the summer. We started back at square one and she was terrified to try and swim across the water. She wouldn't leave the edge. Then, one day it happened...it's like it just clicked. She let go and swam! Her teacher couldn't believe it and kept asking me if I had her taking lessons somewhere else. I said, "No, that's just how Katelyn works." It might take a little longer for her to have the confidence to do things on her own, but when she does she's great! She was learning everything and taking it all in, but she was just too scared to try it. Now she is a great swimmer and it getting all of the strokes down! Wahoo! All of the tears, lessons and me not letting her quit paid off!

Pictures

I needed to get Katelyn's and Taylor's yearly pictures taken, and I knew I didn't want studio pics. Taking pictures of the girls playing, interacting and being themselves brings out the best smiles, faces and pictures. Plus I love pictures taken outside in natural lighting just before sunset. Anyway, so I asked Byron to come up again to take their pictures. We went to Wheeler Farm and it was awesome because there were so many textures, buildings and backgrounds to use. The girls were entertained by all of the animals, so they didn't feel like we were taking their pictures. Katelyn was difficult at first and refused to participate, but at soon as I took off her shoes she was fine. That girl hates shoes and loves to be barefoot. There were at least 50 pics that I loved and I have no idea how I am going to narrow it down or decide which ones will go on the wall. Here are some of my favs...

I am LOVING this!

Buy Scentsy Buddy Online – Available September 1st!

Scentsy Buddy Collection

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Scentsy Buddy Lenny the Lamb $25	Scentsy Buddy Ollie the Elephant $25	Scentsy Buddy Penny the Pig $25
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Scentsy Buddy Scent Pak

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Candy Factory

On Monday we went on a tour of the Sweets Candy Factory with friends and cousins. The girls had a good time and wanted to eat everything of course. It was fascinating to watch and amazing to see how much candy they make and sell! Of course they put a store at the very end so you buy tons of candy-and we did!

Seven Peaks

Yesterday we spent the day at Seven Peaks with Byron and Hayley (thanks guys!). I did much better this time than when we went to Cherry Hill. I still spent most of the day sitting, watching and taking pictures, but at least I felt better. The girls had a blast! Especially Katelyn. We were there til 7pm and Katelyn could have stayed another day! Now that she is confident with her swimming, she won't get out of the water. We loved it so much that we decided to buy season passes!

After Taylor took a much needed nap, she was ready to go! She loved standing under this mushroom. There were so many things for the little ones to do! I couldn't believe it-there were 5 slides they could go on, and 2 water playgrounds.

The first slide we took Taylor on was much bigger and kind of freaked her out. She wanted to stick to this tiny one after that.

Katelyn loved these slides because she could do them by herself. It was awesome to see her go completely under water at the end, pop back up and not freak out.

I had to take a couple of pictures to prove that I was actually there! Love these girls!

Just waking up from a nap...

Thank goodness Byron and Hayley were there to help take the girls down the slides!
I think Katelyn loved the Wave Pool the most. She spent at least an hour in there and loved the float and rock in the waves. After about 5 minutes she insisted that we take off her life jacket. I was nervous because those things are so crowded, but she did a great job.

My job was to stand at the bottom and wait to get a picture. This was not an easy or fun task. It usually took them about a half an hour to come down, and I had no idea when they were coming. So I had to be prepared to get a shot when every person would come down, and hope that I didn't miss them!