New starts and new worries

He is ready. I know that he is ready for kindergarten so how come I'm not ready.

We met his teacher.
He took all of his school supplies to his classroom.
He got to see where his "workstation" is. (what happened to the word desk)
He found his book cubbie, his mailbox, his "locker" and where he is supposed to line up in the morning once he has gotten to school.
He observed his new classmates. (I encouraged him many times to say hi to his new friends and he just stared at me and shook his head no)

I'm not ready.

How can I get over the idea of putting him on that bus and trusting that he will make it to the school, he will walk to the gym, he will stand in the right line, he will go to the right classroom and that he will not be afraid to ask for help if he gets lost. I think on Friday I may put him on the bus, get in my car, drive to the school and hide behind the bushes and watch for him. This could be a bad idea as I'm sure someone will call the cops on me and accuse me of wanting to kidnap a child. I'm also not sure how easily I can hide considering my description would be the giant pregnant lady with the 2 year old girl who kept trying to run away from her.

I'm not ready.

How can I be sure that he eats all of his lunch and am I supposed to be giving him milk money? If they give him the choice of white or chocolate he is going to choose chocolate milk every time. Who will be there to say, "Liam I think we both know that your mother would disapprove of you drinking chocolate milk for the third day in a row. And don't even think about drinking that juice over there. It will rot your teeth out."

I'm not ready.

Who will be there to tell the bully to stop picking on my child? Who will be there to tell Liam to stop being the bully and to be nice and share? Who will he sit next to on the bus? Will he know what bus stop to get off at?

I'm not ready. Clearly I am "that mom" that every kindergarten teacher dreads. But I also can't wait.

I can't wait to see how excited he is going to be to ride the bus for the first time. I can't wait to see him get off the bus and hear all about his day. I can't wait to hear about his new friends and what they did to make him laugh. I can't wait to see how much smarter he will get because his new teacher seems really awesome and nice.

I'm not ready but I can't wait. This year is going to be awesome!

She's not my baby anymore

Caroline is 2. And in case I thought I could hold onto my petite baby forever she is continually proving me wrong and growing up left and right.

She now insists on climbing into her car seat and if I forget and try to place her into it myself I am greeted with a massive tantrum and big crocodile tears and her saying, "I do it! I climb! I do it!"

She now goes potty almost every single morning before getting her diaper on. Her nighttime diaper is still wet and throughout the day she doesn't tell us that she has to go potty but it's definitely progress. She clearly gets her stubbornness from me because on days when it takes longer than a couple minutes to do her potty time and we try to tell her she has ran out of time she throws a massive fit and will run back to her potty and sit on it until she does her business. Note to self: we need to get her up earlier on days she has to go to the babysitter.

She loves to draw and color on anything and everything that is lying around on the table. (including bills) She will happily doodle while I make dinner and many times she also sings to herself.

She has now figured out that there are many times that Liam fibs to get her into trouble and so now she has started doing it as well. She has not figured out yet that she should look to see if I'm watching first before making her claim that Liam hit her and so far her fibs have proved to be fruitless but I'm sure it won't be long before she figures this out as well.

She can count to 12. Leaving out 4 of course.

She went down the water slide all by herself at the waterpark. 

There is no denying it; she is 2 and most definitely a big girl. 

Baby talk

The other day Liam and I were hanging out and I could feel the baby moving around. 

M: do you want to feel the baby kick?

L: ok! Wow! The baby is already so strong! I bet when the baby comes out of your belly he will be able to lift me above his head!

M: well I don't think so. 

L: I bet the baby will be able to lift YOU over his head! What if you're having a superhero baby! 

This kid makes me giggle. After all these years it's still all about superheroes.

In other baby news Liam insists that this baby is a boy. We actually aren't going to find out the sex of the baby although I think Evan would love to know. 

Liam says that he wants a brother because a brother will be nice to him. Unlike his sister who beats him up. I'm beginning to try to prep him that the baby could be a girl just so that he won't be devastated when he comes to the hospital to meet his new sister. 

This face! He was laughing so hard every time he felt the baby kicking!

July 4th weekend

When mom and dad get an extra day off due to a holiday you get to go do something fun! 

Like Chicago...

And the Shedd Aquarium 

And riding on a train for the first time

To see your very cool Uncle Ethan

Because when you get an extra day of fun you want to spend it with the ones you love

Party of 5

We are happy to announce baby #3 coming in November 2016. #turkeybaby 

Michigan

Our annual vacation spot with Evans family is in Michigan. We had another great year with beautiful weather and loads of family time. 

Building sandcastles

Getting buried in the sand

"Sleeping in with daddy"

Fun with beach toys

Sunsets on Lake Michigan 

It was a great trip with an even better trip home where we were able to stop and see one of Liam's friends from preschool who just moved to Michigan. A park play date was perfect! 

We can't wait for next year!

Life at 2

Caroline is 2 years old! She is so sweet, talks very clearly and loves to do whatever big brother is doing.

Weight: 21.2 lbs  (1%)
Height: 32 inches (30 something %)

Hip status: Right hip 31 degrees; Left hip 27 degrees.

Likes: Caroline loves carrying around random toys in her purse, in a bucket, or in a gift bag. She loves Mickey Mouse and Minnie but prefers Mickey. She likes her little pony figures as well. She is getting very good at puzzles and knows most of her shapes and all of her colors. Caroline also loves to sing. If you ask her to sing you a song she will begin to sing although she doesn't sing an actual song. Just kinda makes up nonsense words to a melody. She loves to read books as well. 

Caroline is beginning to become more picky about her foods. Sometimes eating very well and other times hardly anything off her plate. She prefers anything sweet (just like her momma) such as cupcakes, donuts, cake and/or cookies. She has also begun to just eat the frosting off of things and then leaves the rest behind.

Caroline still loves the water although she is not so sure about the splash parks so far this summer. She thinks the water is too cold! She also loves to color and has been enjoying her stamps that Liam got her for her birthday. 

Dislikes: Liam telling her what to do. Liam taking away her toys. Sharing with Liam. Notice anything? While she truly loves her big brother, she is 2 and sharing is very hard right now. We are currently going through a phase of Caroline beating up on her big brother. She bites, she pulls his hair, she hits and pinches. Each time she is escorted to time out and told that she may get up when she is ready to apologize. Sometimes she sits for a long time because she tells me that she is not ready to say she's sorry. She is stubborn. (also like her momma)

Caroline has a great vocabulary. She is shy around new people but eventually warms up to them. She is a very quiet talker but a loud screamer.

She goes to bed between 7:30-8 pm and sleeps through the night until 7ish the next day. Most recently sleeping in until 8 am. She takes one nap everyday that lasts for approximately 2 1/2 hours.

She wears 12-18 month or 18 month clothes. Size 5 shoe (although they are beginning to be too small) and just graduated to Size 4 diapers.

She loves to show us her "pruny" fingers after a long bath; ask us if her food is too hot to which we will answer no. she will then say "just warm". Every time we put on her shoes she tells us that it tickles. Caroline also likes to tell Daddy "I like you."

Caroline went to see the orthopaedic surgeon a few weeks ago where the xray they took looked "very good compared to her xrays in the past." It was actually very cool to see the difference in the bone density as she has gotten older and how the bones have continued to form as she grows up. He is happy with where the femur ball is in location to her hip sockets but when he measured the angle we still aren't 100% in the clear. Her left hip has always been worse then the right but now the right hip is worse at 31 degrees and the left hip is at 27 degrees. One year ago he told us that by age 2 both hips should be at 25 degrees. At this time he doesn't feel surgery is needed and we will go back when she turns 3 for another xray. He feels that "her chance of surgery is very minimal." He also felt that the contraption she used to wear to bed is no longer needed at this point either. Which is good considering we stopped having her wear it about 6 months ago due to wear and tear. Without all of that information you would have no idea there was ever a problem to begin with. Caroline runs, jumps, climbs and is extremely active. 

She is still our little ray of sunshine and we can't imagine our lives without her. A true blessing from God!