End of the Pre-School Year

This week marked the end of the pre-school year for Bailey and the rest of her two year old class (She’s actually 3 1/2, but since her birthday is so late she was placed in the two year old class at the beginning of the school year).  And the occasion was marked by a series of activities this week.

First was a little graduation program on Monday where the kids sang a series of four songs and were presented with their graduation certificates.  After the program the families were invited to enjoy some refreshments, view the kids’ artwork and watch a video of the class’ activities throughout the year.  Definitely very sweet to be a part of!

The second graduation week event was a class picnic at the nearby state park (and playground) Monday evening.  Even though the picnic was intended for Bailey’s class, the whole family was invited.  Of course this suited Owen just fine.  He loved getting a chance to play with Bailey on the big playground!

The third and final graduation week activity was outside day, which was held this afternoon.  What’s outside day?  Well, imagine field day, but with a sprinkler, water table and ice cream party at the end.  Yep, definitely a good time for everyone!

Of course Bailey was a little hesitant about the sprinkler at first…

…but she eventually warmed up to it with a little encouragement from her friends.

And needless to say the ice cream (all two bowls of it) was a hit!

I can’t believe another year of pre-school has already come to an end.  Bailey has had such a wonderful school year.  She learned so much and has grown in so many ways.  She made some new friends and got to know the old friends even better!  Can’t wait to see what she does in the three year old class next school year! 

Mother’s Day in Dollywood

I was so blessed to be able to spend this Mother’s Day with a few of my favorite people.

We decided to spend some quality family time together at Dollywood.  Bailey and Owen both seemed to enjoy the rides and everything else the park had to offer.

And I enjoyed just having the time with them!  Definitely a great Mother’s Day!

A Quick Trip to Alabama

Last weekend we packed up the kids and headed south to Huntsville, Alabama to visit our sweet friends Jared and Melanie and their adorable daughter Caroline.  We had not seen them in nearly a year so needless to say, a lot had changed in  both of our families since then.

The weather was beautiful and we had a great time exploring all that Huntsville had to offer, including a stroll through Big Spring Park to feed the fish and ducks…

…a visit to the EarlyWorks Children’s History Museum…

…a bike ride through the neighborhood…

…and hanging out at the playground!

It was a long way to go for such a short trip, but definitely worth the drive!  We had such a great time and can’t wait to see everybody again!

9 Months!

Hard to believe, but Owen turned 9 months at the end of March.  Here are the numbers from his 9 month well check:

• Weight—17 lbs. 11 oz. (16th percentile)
• Height—28 1/4 in. (43rd percentile)
• Weight to height—12th percentile

Owen continues to be a very happy and healthy baby. The only concern Dr. Reinhardt had at the well check last week was that Owen still wasn’t very mobile. He wasn’t rolling around to get to things, going from laying down to sitting, crawling, or pulling up yet. After a very thorough inspection of his joints and reflexes she reached the conclusion that the only thing wrong with his is that he’s a tad bit on the lazy side. She gave us some tips on how to better “motivate” him to move and said that if little progress was made by his 12 month well check that she would order a physical therapy evaluation on him. Well, I guess hearing her say that was all the motivation he needed, because less than one week later he is now crawling, pulling up, and fully mobile (heaven help us!).

In other news, Owen now has two teeth (bottom center) and is eating pretty much anything you put in front of him—cheerios, bananas, mashed potatoes, pizza crusts (don’t tell the Dr. about this one), and so much more. He’s finally figured out how to use his sippy cup and seems to enjoy drinking his water.  His vocabulary has increased from zero words to three with him now saying “bye bye”, “mama”, and “dada” (in that order might I add).  He is such a true joy to be around and my heart melts every single time he flashes that handsome smile at me!

6-7 Months!

Yet another way overdue post about one of my kids.  This time it’s a nearly-month-old update on Owen.  Needless to say the kids have been keeping me pretty busy.  Anyway, back to the 6 month update on Owen!

At his 6 month well check last month Owen had the following measurements:

• Weight—15.2 lbs.
• Height—2 ft. 2.75 inches
• Weight to height—3rd percentile

Over the past several weeks Owen has experienced a lot of firsts.  He began sitting up on his own.  He got his first tooth.  And, probably the most exciting first of them all, he began eating solids!  Needless to say, by this age he was ready for solids (and my boobs are more than ready for a longer break between feedings/pumpings)!  As far as milestones are concerned, he’s a little behind where Bailey was at this age, but he’s a completely different baby from how Bailey was and just seems to do things at his own pace!  I’m very curious to see what sort of changes the next few months will bring.  Whatever they are I know they’ll be exciting to watch!

3 Year Well Check!

* To say the past month or two have been busy is an understatement.  I’ve got a back-log of posts that I’ve been meaning to write, so bear with me as I try to catch up. *

Last month I took Bailey in for her 3 year well check.  As usual, I was pretty interested to see how her weight and height have changed over the past year (check out her 24 month stats here). 

• Weight—29 lbs. 6 oz.
• Height—3 ft. 1 in.

As expected, her numbers were up.  Also as expected, she’s still on the lower end of the percentile range.  But, as Dr. Reinhardt assured me, it’s much better to be on the lower end of “normal” than on the upper end.

As far as developmental milestones go, Bailey is meeting or exceeding all of them!  Some of her current favorites are:

• Color—Blue
• Toy—Jigsaw Puzzles
• Food—Pizza
• TV Show—The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That
• Animal—Dolphins

No matter how desperately I try to hold on to them, her baby years are long gone. She’s now entering the 3’s, which is exciting and terrifying all at the same time (anyone out there who’s had a 3 year old will completely understand that statement!).  Can’t wait to see what the following year with bring!

A Christmas Mantel

I realize that this post is more than late.  I had every intention of writing it 2-3 weeks ago, but work, the kids, the house, etc. just kept getting in my way.  Sorry about that, but better late than never, right? 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our mantle all decorated for Christmas this year.  It was so different from the mantel that we had last year and the year before.  It has a much more casual feel to it, which I love!  Hope you love it too!