Preschool Has Begun!

This week marks the first week of preschool for Brendan and Aubrey. Aubrey is now attending 5 days a week in the 3 year old class and Brendan is also attending 5 days a week in the 4 year old class. I was SOOOO ready for them to start school!

Brendan is an old pro at preschool. He had no apprehension whatsoever. Aubrey, on the other hand, was somewhat apprehensive, but all in all, she did well. She didn't cry and from what Russell tells me, she had a great first day. She called me on my cell phone as soon as she got home and she was so excited. Looks like this is going to be year number two of her playing with the boys and not girls. She is a follower of a little boy named Sam. She's much bigger than Sam. We'll pray for his safety! :)

I have been working all week at the big consignment sale in Gwinnett County this week. I love it because I can get the kids their entire wardrobe for a fraction of the cost, but MAN am I tired! It's a lot of work! I did get the kids some beautiful clothes, though. Way too many, but beautiful just the same! I'll post pic of my loot at a later time.

Here are some photos of their first day of school. We are really excited about this year. The kids are really enjoying school and are excited every morning. We will miss Mrs. Emily as a teacher, but luckily for us, she is a great friend so we still see her sweet face!

Until next post...

Dear Aubrey

Dear Aubrey,

Yesterday was your 3rd birthday and I can't believe how big you are! Three years ago yesterday, God gave your daddy and me the most precious gift...you! We could not have been more excited to see your sweet face! Weighing in at 6 lbs 2.2 oz and measuring 18 inches long, you were a sight to be seen, and heard!! Lord, girl! You screamed for almost an hour straight! You were mad!! It was music to our ears, though.

When you were born, the first thing Daddy said when he saw you was, "Oh my GOSH!! She's so little!" You were little, but you were healthy and beautiful. I think Daddy was smitten right away. Love at first sight!

The first thing I said when I saw you after you were delivered was, "Is that my baby? Look at that black hair!" You were absolutely perfect!

The past 3 years have flown by and I pray that the years to come slow down a little bit....or a lot. You are so funny, strong willed, stubborn, loving, and joyous. I'm so glad you are mine. As I sit here typing this, you are sitting on the couch with Daddy with your party dress on, along with dress up shoes, play earrings, and all of the jewelry you could find out of your birthday presents. You cried when Daddy told you that you couldn't take your new pink shopping cart to the store with him. You survived, though.

I pray that you grow to be a compassionate, loving, forgiving, smart, intelligent, humble, beautiful woman. You are my greatest love, Aubrey.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl. I love you with all my heart and soul!

Love,
Mommy






Daddy with his girl, right after delivery.



Russell looks so tense here.


With Mommy at last. Look at her dark skin and hair. Complete opposite of her brother!

Happy Birtday Aubrey!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl! She turned 3 yesterday! Today we celebrated by having a party at paint-it-yourself pottery studio. She had a blast. All of the kids did. They were amazingly quiet as they ever so delicately painted their masterpieces. I'll have to post a picture of Brendan's when it is finished. Oh my! What a mess! Aubrey just HAD to paint a bear. In case you didn't know, Aubrey's first love is her "White Bear," followed a close second by her "boy" Sawyer. Both of whom made an appearance at the party today. Here are some photos of our celebration. Hope you enjoy!!


The happy family at the party!


The whole group.



Aubrey with "Her Boy." She LOVES Sawyer.


Holding her party balloons!

Her pink Cinderella Cupcake Cake. All her idea.
You can see her super cute birthday hat our friend Delynne made her. THANKS SO MUCH, DELYNNE!!!

Busy, busy, busy

I guess I'm only good for blogging about once every 4 weeks or so. I'm such a slacker. I'll try to make this a brief summary.

This month has been so busy. We are well traveled and quite tired, but it was well worth it. Shortly before the 4th of July, Brendan, Aubrey, my nephew Ridge and I went to visit family in Illinois and Missouri for a week. The 10 hr drive to IL only took us 14 1/2 hrs and the 12 hr drive home from Missouri only took 15 hrs, so all in all we didn't do too bad.

Our week started with leaving out early Tuesday morning and arrived at my Uncle Max's house around 6:30ish. We stayed in my mom's hometown for 2 days visiting as many cousins and family as we possibly could. Thursday night, we drove to St. Louis, about an hour drive, to stay with my cousin Darcy and her family for two nights. Then we left and went to Springfield, Missouri to visit my dad for 3 days, about 5 hrs with the kids, and then ventured on home. Lots of traveling. Lots of cranky kids. Thank goodness Ridge went along. I wouldn't have made it out of Atlanta if he had not have been there to pick up dropped toys and change out DVD's.

The kids had a blast in IL. They have never seen so many lightning bugs! We actually had to sleep with a jar one night. They also went to their first parade and carnival. They didn't know they had so many cousins. They absolutely loved it. Thanks to everyone that put up with us. I know Darcy and Tom were glad to see us go! My kids were TERRIFIED of their PUPPY!! It was so crazy. They LOVE big dogs!! Terrified of little ones. Go figure.

In Missouri, my dad took the grand kids to the original Bass Pro shop. The kids could have cared less about all of the animals but were fascinated with all of the boats. The next day we all went to Bennett Springs State Park. They raise trout there and the kids can feed them in the hatchery. They loved it. We watched all of the fly fishermen and even saw a man catch one. Brendan got his first pair of REAL cowboy boots there and he is chomping at the bit to wear them. I had to tell them they are for school. I don't want them to get worn out before the fall.

We are safely home and have been busy, busy, busy. We've been to birthday parties, the zoo, the pool, and lunch dates. I can't believe the summer is almost over. They go back to preschool on the 17th of August and maybe then I can relax!.

Until next post...


Aubrey at Bennett Springs. It's had to see all of the fish here.


My nephew Ridge posing with me at the parade.


Aubrey wasn't so sure if she liked the parade or not...until they started throwing candy.



Brendan made fast friends with his cousin Bryce. Look how sweaty he is!


C A N D Y!!!!!!!!!!!! Check out Brendan's face! Priceless!

Has it Really Been A Month?????

I'm such a bad blogger! I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted anything! What an eventful month we have had. Where to start???
Let's see...the kids finished up preschool and have been keeping me busy, busy, busy this summer already! We are spending lots of time at the pool with our friends. As a matter of fact, Aubrey swam all on her own today, with a swimmie, but still...without mommy. I'm so proud of her. Brendan took swimming lessons for a week and I really think it traumatized him. The swimming instructor would sing "Ring Around the Rosie" and then dunk the kids under the water at the end. You cannot sing that song ANYWHERE without that kid yelling, "I don't want to go under! I don't want to go under!!" Bless his heart. He is swimming in the pool with his swimmie and will put his face under water when asked, but that's about it. He is using his arm surprisingly well in the water and I really am proud of his progress. The funny thing is that that little booger is so NOSEY! He uses that swimmie to get him all over the pool and he's waddled his way into every group of kids, teens, or grown ups in the pool. He's such a mess.

I've gotten really bad about taking pictures lately. I need to get better. I don't know that I have any recent pics, but I'll certainly post some if I find them. I went to Hilton Head, SC for a girls weekend, no husbands, no kids. Just Emily, Staci, Sandy and I and it was so nice. I didn't take a single picture!! What was I thinking? I have a really nice camera, but I think I need a little point and shoot.

Last week Brendan attended his first Vacation Bible School. He thought he was going to preschool. He made lots of cute projects and learned some really cute songs about Jesus. Unfortunately, the only one he sings around here is "The Chicken Dance Song." Great!!

Monday, we went with our friends to the Atlanta Zoo...again, no pictures. Five moms and 11 kids...yes, 11 kids! It was SO INCREDIBLY HOT!!! We had fun, though. The kids loved seeing all of the animals. There is a parakeet exhibit where you can go in with a small stick of food and they fly right up to you and eat. They LOVED that and I can't wait to go back and do it again. Aubrey was really, really, really cranky at the zoo Monday. She cried pretty much all day. When she wasn't crying, she was screaming at me. That part of the trip wasn't fun. Tuesday, we decided to go spend the entire day at the pool. Again, she was so grumpy. When we got home, she fell asleep on the couch at 4:30. By 8:00 she was not awake and when I checked on her, she was running a fever. I tried to give her some Motrin, which she LOVES, and she wouldn't take it. She said her throat hurt. I picked her up and got her undressed and low and behold....a rash all over her body. Then it dawned on me what I was looking at. Russell had it before when we were dating...SCARLET FEVER!!! Off to the ER we go. Penny went with me. There they confirmed my suspicions and she's now on the mend with the help of antibiotics.

I've been babysitting my best friend Penny's 6 year old twin girls this summer for her. She went back to work full time so she is in need of someone to watch them. We have LOVED having them here. Every time we get in the car now, Aubrey asks, "Are we going to pick up Reese and Ayden." I love those girls with all my heart. It's going to be a great summer having them around.

Russell and I are in the process of building the kids their swingset. It's quite a chore, but they are going to love it. I'll post pic when we are all finished.

I'd better get off of here for now.

Until next post...

4 Shots for the 4 Year old!

Today was Brendan's 4 year old check up. Normally, he LOVES going to the doctor because our friend Marie works there and she hooks him up with a Popsicle, goodie, sticker, you name it. However, for this check up he needed 4 shots so Marie advised me ever so politely that he had to get his check up on her day off. She didn't want to be the one to give the shots. I don't blame her. The morning started out pleasantly. Aubrey was excited because she knew she was going to Mrs. Emily's today while Brendan went to the doctor, however neither wanted to go to school beforehand. "Why can't I go just to Mrs. Emily's house?", Aubrey asked. So sweet.

Brendan performed like a champ at first. He peed in a cup with no problem and actually thought it was so cool. He did GREAT on his vision test. 20/20 in both eyes. He didn't participate well in the hearing exam at first. The nurse wanted him to say "yes" every time he heard the machine beep. Instead, he would wait until the test was complete and say, "I heard those beeps." Finally, after 3 different attempts I suggested that Brendan count the beeps out loud. That did the trick. Perfect score! I was so happy. I had his urine tested for glucose because he pees ALL OF THE TIME!!!! The Dr. said his levels were fine and that it was very common for boys to have more frequency in their urination and accidents were not at all uncommon, especially with his Erb's Palsy playing into it. (Erb's Palsy is the clinical name for his arm injury.)

After all of the fun stuff, came the not so fun stuff. The finger prick and 4 shots. HOW TERRIBLE! He was SOOOO VERRRRY BRAVE!!! But bravery failed in the face of pain. MY heart was absolutely broken with every cry, tear, and plea for help. I mean, are 4 shots absolutely necessary at 4 years of age? Can't they do one at 4, 1 at 4 1/2, one at 5 and so on? He'll never want to go to the Dr. again, Marie or no Marie.

After he was all bandaged up from the 4 shots that were given by the slowest nurse of all time, I had to get him a special surprise. I mean, I HAD TO!!! Off to Wal Mart we went and I bought him a Leapster hand held preschool video game system. I know, ice cream would have been a heck of a lot cheaper, but I'm a softy and a firm believer that gifts can buy you love :)

My boy is SO BIG! I can't believe he's 4. He weighed in at 44.4 lbs and 40 inches tall. Think I should have played the number 4 on the lottery tonight? :)

With a little Motrin and lots of hugs and kisses, (and carrying him on my hip because was scared to walk on his sore legs) he happy, safe and snug in his bed. I can't believe I have to do this again next year with Aubrey. 14 and a half months to go....

Brendan Funnies

Brendan has only been awake for about a half an hour and he is already cracking me up. He came in to wake me up this morning and looked horrified when I opened my eyes. I realized that I forgot to wash off my makeup last night before I went to bed and could feel that I had mascara all over my face. It was evident from my pillowcase. Brendan points at my face and says, "Oh no, Mommy! Your eyes are broken!"

Aubrey was playing "gas station" with the adding machine and her flash cards. She was pretending to be a cashier. All of the sudden I could hear her saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Brendan says, "that's a bad word Aubrey." I told Brendan that she didn't say a bad word. It was ok to say gosh, but if he didn't feel comfortable saying "Oh my gosh," he could say, "Oh my goodness." He replies without missing a beat, "Or I could just say, 'Oh crap!' " Hmmm, which do I prefer? :)