Montessori School

Ayda completed her first week at school last week. Kevin and I are SO pleased so far. I know I know, it's only been a week. But Ayda asked to go back every morning, was excited to tell me about her day as soon as I picked her up, and she is already saying and doing things that are new. She is introduced to 20 new words a day! Her teacher has sent us a couple pictures of her working hard. I love the hands on learning approach. 

Here she is grinding coffee. She was SO proud to bring home the coffee that she worked so hard to grind. She did say it was stinky but other than that she said it was fun.

She said this morning on the way to school that she wanted to do the puzzle there. It's pretty cool knowing that the puzzle she works on while she is there will later become an algebraic equation when she is in elementary school!

Seasons and Facebook

I am so tired tonight but had this on my mind. I go back and forth a lot about whether I should ditch facebook or not. I feel like it has replaced face to face contact way too much. But the other side of it is I am able to "keep up" with people I probably would not because life takes turns and you lose contact.

This past weekend reminded me of why facebook is good. I was in ATL for the weekend and posted something about it on FB. A high school friend who lives in South Carolina commented and said she was in town as well. We were able to meet up at the park with her two boys and my two girls and catch up after several years. It was so nice to sit and chat. We even got a laugh out of the fact that we were both sitting on a bench at one point breastfeeding our babies. Back in high school that was obviously the furthest thing from our minds but there we were! And it was awesome how we were able to just pick up where we left off. Sure we had some catching up to do but because of good ole FB we had a clue how the other was doing and what the other was doing. Pretty cool.

This all led me to thinking about seasons. I have seasons on my mind a lot lately. There is a reason but I can't quite say yet. Anyway, seasons in GA are weather related. They are what I grew up with. Fall, winter, spring, summer. Seasons in FL are quite different. I call them the bug/pest seasons. Seriously, there is frog season, love bug season, snake season (LEAST favorite), etc. I won't go further in case anyone reading likes Florida or thinks one day they would like to move here. It's nice, but there are bugs! I'm still getting used to them. There are also seasons in life. Friends come and go depending on the chapter of life you are in. But my get together with my high school friend brought a smile to my face. We had some awesome memories from high school. There was a group of us that were pretty close! Then we graduated and parted ways. And without FB maybe we would have lost touch entirely.

Anyway, I want to treasure my relationships, no matter the season. Kevin and I are very big on community. We feel that is how Christ lived and we should follow that example. We promised each other on our wedding day that we would "do life" together and with our community. No matter what. And we are doing just that together and striving for more community with others.

Hadley is 5 Months!

It's hard to believe I am doing another month! Time is FLYING!!!

Hadley, here is what you are up to these days!

+You weigh 14 lbs 13 ounces and you are 26 1/2 inches long!

+You have the cutest laugh and usually will only really laugh for your sister. So far anything I do you might chuckle but you save the belly laughs for Ayda!

+You are sleeping better at night which I am thankful for. The past few nights you only got up once but we'll see if that keeps up! Usually you are up twice but you go back to sleep easy now.

+You still like to eat every 2-3 hours during the day but I'm ok with that!

+You are in size 3-6 month clothes and size 3 diapers. Cloth diapers are still on the middle snap.

+You are SO close to cutting your first tooth. I can feel it but I can't quite see it yet. You are working hard to get it through though! It's the bottom front left...I know the right one is right behind!

+You are rolling everywhere. And you some how scoot around to get what you want. Finding you in the same place I left you is definitely over!

+You are close to sitting by yourself. I think you will be SO happy when you can do that.

+You have definitely bonded with Sophie the giraffe this month. You love to hold her or chew on her. You have fun with that goofy thing! And Hula Monkey is still a favorite!

+You LOVE Ayda more and more everyday. She completely entertains you and you love getting hugs and kisses from her. You just light up and smile anytime she gives you attention!

+You have become quite the gal who likes to be held! You don't let me put you down for long but it's fine with me. I know you will want to be down crawling/walking in no time! I'll take advantage of the extra snuggles!

+You only take a paci at night or when you are tired.

+You are just a happy little baby and we are SO thankful for you! You bring joy to our lives every minute of the day. Happy 5 months baby girl!!!

Ayda 5 months!!

First Day of School 2011

Kevin and I debated a lot over where to send Ayda for preschool and for how many days a week. We originally had her enrolled at the Methodist church. They have a great preschool program. But as we kept researching options for not just preschool but elementary and so on we landed on Montessori. We LOVE the Montessori mindset. I had reasons for wanting to homeschool and Kevin had reasons for wanting her in a regular school. We feel like Montessori is the perfect meet in the middle! We are so excited for Ayda and all she will learn.

This morning could not have gone better if we tried. I got up a little before 7 and got her breakfast ready. I went and got her up at 7:05 and she was in a great mood. She ate her breakfast while I got ready. We grabbed a couple pics and then we all jumped in the car. They have a carpool so Kevin and I stayed in the car while one of her teacher's helped get her unbuckled. She gave us hugs and kisses and kissed Hadley good bye, hopped out of the car, and headed right up to the door. Didn't look back. It was definitely harder on Kevin and I than her but that's fine with us!! I know she is having fun right now learning so much! And I might actually be better about keeping this blog up to date since I have mornings with just one kiddo now. Bitter sweet indeed!

Starting the morning off with a yummy breakfast!

She picked her outfit out!

So excited to go to school!!!

So proud of my sweet girl. She is growing up WAY too fast.

St Augustine 2011

So I am not brave enough to take my camera down to the beach. With two kids, a wagon, three towels, a bag of baby toys, a baby beach tent, buckets and shovels, and a cooler I just feel like my nice camera is destined to get ruined. But I did get some cute pics of the girls at a really cool playground that is about 5 minutes from the condo. It even has a Carousel!

We had a fun trip with Aunt Lauren. Ayda was so excited to see her and play with her for a few days. I love St. Augustine!

Watching sister play!

Wee!

Enjoying a ride on the Pink horsey on the carousel. We rode it twice and both times Ayda wanted the pink horsey! That's my girl!!!

Flash Back

I just got back from St. Augustine with my friend Lauren. We try to go every year but missed last year. So last time I was there Ayda was 6 months old. I have a few pics to add but here is one that just made me smile!

June 2009

June 2011

(And there is no way I could have planned for her to make the same face in both pics. How funny!!)

Hadley is 4 Months Old!

How can it be?!?!

You are 4 months old already! Here is what you are up to these days:

*You weigh 14 pounds 9 ounces (60%) and are 25 1/2 inches long (80%)

*You are mostly in 3-6 month clothes but most of your 0-3 month onesies still fit!

*You are in size 2 diapers still and the cloth diapers are still on the second snap!

*You went backwards with your sleep a little and now get up about 2 times to eat but that's ok. I chalk it up to you are just growing!

*You finally moved to your crib and came out of your swaddle blanket.

*You LOVE sleeping on your tummy.

*You have giggled a few times and it is the sweetest sound! Usually you will only giggle first the in the morning if I am tickling you.

*You have mastered rolling over from your back to your tummy. Still haven't gotten back onto your back though.

*You are reaching for everything! It's getting hard to hold you in my lap when we eat because you are grabbing at the plate, utensils, food, whatever you can get your hands on.

*Everything is going straight into your mouth.

*Your favorite toy is Hula Monkey (that was your sister's favorite too!)

*You are definitely about to cut your first teeth on the bottom in the middle.

*After traveling to ATL, NC (twice), AL, and Hilton Head (all within a month) you don't seem to mind the car much anymore! haha!

*You are just overall such a happy baby!

We can't believe how fast you are growing but we are loving every minute of watching you grow! You are such a joy and we love you so very much!

Ayda at 4 months! Her stats then were 14 pounds 5 ounces and 24 inches long!