Kindergarten Orientation Day!

Today we went to Cooper Elementary for Christian's Kindergarten orientation!

With his backpack...checking out the view from the front his school

Mrs. Rogers is his teacher this year!

Christian in front of his cubby in his classroom

Christian stayed in his classroom to meet his teacher and get a tour of the school while Jim and I went to the cafeteria for parent orientation. We heard about everything he will learn this year, all the activities, etc. There are 7 kindergarten classes in his elementary school. He will have P.E. and art class once a week. He will have daily computer time too. I am so glad we have gotten him familiar with a computer already. We also learned how to pick up and drop off our children. Since NO children walk to this school, all kids arrive by either car or bus. The school explained their impressive system of dropping off and picking up over 120 children in 15 minutes without parents getting out of their cars. I can't wait to see how this works! After the orientation, Christian actually gave us a tour of the school. That kid has the best memory and sense of direction. :) And he learns so quickly!
All in all, it looks like he will have a fun-filled year of learning at Cooper Elementary!

Christian sitting outside his school with Andrew

Just two more days until the first day of school! Quick!! Someone had me a tissue! I might cry!
I can't believe my boy is so big! I am so proud of him!

Jim's 33rd Birthday!

This weekend, we went to Van Buren for one last time to swim and relax before school starts!
We also celebrated Jim's birthday with his parents and Grandmother. I did not take very many pictures because we were busy playing in the pool and Jim enjoyed playing some golf, but I did manage to snap a picture of the birthday boy...

Happy Birthday Jim!

4 Months Old!

Andrew is 4 months old!

He is such a happy baby! It takes everything I have not to just kiss on his sweet cheeks all day long! He has slept through the night a couple times now, so at least I know it is possible. ;)
He eats every 3 hours and is on a great schedule. He naps well and love to play on his blanket--he always likes to be on his tummy. When Christian was a baby, he hated being on his tummy. We also put him in the exersaucer for the first time last week and he loved it!

Christian had to show Andrew how all the little toys worked.

This week we have been busy getting ready for kindergarten. We went school supply shopping and he had so much fun getting all his supplies. We found out his teacher is Ms. Abby Rogers and we go to orientation this Monday morning to meet her and see the classroom. He is so excited. I have been doing good but last night after talking to Jim's mom about it, the tears started to fall. I can't believe this time is here and he is taking the big step to kindergarten. I may be one of those mommys that's a wreck the first day of school! ;)

This week we have enjoyed a few playdates with friends. Wednesday, Misty and her kiddos, Parker and Uma came to our house to play. Thursday, we met up with Dara and her girls, Caroline and Charlotte at the NWA Mall for playtime and back to school shopping. Thursday afternoon, my friend Jennifer and her daughter Brianna came over to play! He even taught Brianna how to use the computer and play a computer game! Christian has really enjoyed having some other kiddos to play with this week!

Caroline and Christian

Case of the disappearing tooth...

I reported recently that Andrew got his first tooth...a sharp edge of a tooth was poking out of his lower gums in the front of his little mouth. I saw it and felt it. Jim did too....thank goodness or he might think I was crazy. A few days later, we cannot see or feel that tooth anymore. Did he already lose his first baby tooth? Even before his big brother lost his first tooth? I think not. But seriously, the evidence of his tooth is no longer there. Our thought is the gums have swollen up around the little part of the tooth that was sticking out? That or he is the youngest child to lose a tooth.
Maybe we will get in the Guiness Book of World Records after all! ;)

Andrew has slept through the night!!!!

Let me yell it from the rooftops! My baby boy slept through the night!
From 7pm to 5:30am! That includes a 9:30pm feeding but at least he did not wake up at 1am or 3am! Can I get a woot woot?! Ha! He has been going to sleep anywhere between 7-8pm and wakes once or twice to eat. Then wakes between 5:30 or 6:30am.
When he naps, he always sleeps in his crib (that is unless we are out and about, he will sleep in his car seat with no problem). Now that he is getting more consistent with his sleeping, he is now become a little Houdini and is squirming out of his swaddle blanket. Ugh! If its not one thing, its another. This causes him to start chewing on his hands and he will wake himself up. After reading some stuff online, I decided to just put him down without the swaddle today to see what happens. Well, he went to sleep right away this morning around 7:30 but woke up only 30 minutes later. Then he fell asleep again at noon only to wake 30 minutes later again. Hhhhhmmmm, not liking this pattern. With his awake time usually being 1 1/2 hours to two hours at a time, I just laid Christian and Andrew down for a nap. Wait!! What is it I hear???
Silence??? Ahhhhh, such a wonderful sound. ;)

So since I finally have the chance to update the blog,
here are a few pictures of Andrew for you to enjoy!

Just hanging out

Andrew says, "Hey Christian, you gonna finish your lunch?" :)

Brotherly Love

Watching cartoons together

Andrew loves to watch Christian do his art projects and worksheets!

Happy boy!


And now for a demonstration of my current hobby...Finger Chewing!

What a sweet smile!

Blowing mommy kisses???

The smirk

See ya later! I am "rollin" outta here! ;)

Christian's fun times!

Having fun together!

With school starting in just a couple weeks, I have really been trying to enjoy every minute I have with Christian at home with me. In the mornings, Christian likes to watch a few cartoons. He sometimes asks to hold Andrew while he watches them...like the picture above.

Christian LOVES to help me cook. Above he made this Mexican Chicken Pot Pie all by himself (of course I opened all the cans). We even used the extra dough to make a smiley face!

ARRRRR! Ahoy Mates!

Our friend Nora spent a few weeks on the east coast, and she brought back a pirate outfit and book about Blackbeard the Pirate. Christian loved it! One of his favorite movies he has been watching lately is the Veggie Tales pirate movie.

Here he is without the eye patch and he put on the earring. Jim didn't like that part of the costume much. ;)

Speaking of movies, we have been watching lots of movies this summer! Thanks to Netflix, I have been ordering all the latest kids movies plus lots of the Disney classics....like Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, etc. I had never seen these movies before (shocking I know, but I grew up watching Cheech and Chong Up in Smoke and The Jerk when I was five...yes, I had quite a different upbringing). So it has been fun getting to enjoy these movies for the first time with Christian!

I recently taught Christian how to use the computer.
He likes to play the learning games on PBS Kids website www.pbskids.org
Jim and I were both amazed how quick he learned everything! And to think, we both took a whole class in college dedicated to just learning how to use the mouse and to point and click! (CISQ 1121 with Ms. Van Es...bring back any memories fellow business majors?)

Christian has also been riding his bike a lot. He does great and loves to ride back and forth from our house to our neighbor, Mrs. Linda.

I think these two will miss each other during they day when school starts! :)

A tooth already??!!!

Yep, that's right. We woke up this morning to see that Andrew had cut his first tooth overnight.

A little sharp white thing is poking through his gums...bottom front tooth! First tooth at 3 1/2 months? Pretty early. But his big brother Christian got his first two teeth at 4 months old. I guess my babies just get their teeth early. Andrew had been drooling and chewing on his hands like crazy!