Lucy's Last Day in 2K

Our little Lucy finished her first year of preschool today :( 
Two more years then she'll be heading off to Kindergarten...the time is going to fly and I am trying to hold on to every second I can!

They had a little party and I wanted to make a "summery" themed cupcake to celebrate the beginning of their summer vacation.

I put them on a tray with "sand" (crushed graham crackers) and although they aren't in the picture I put a couple of little umbrellas around the cupcakes.  I was remembering my dad's words..."Presentation is 90% of cooking".

Close-up

Since the first day of school Lucy has taken "shy" to a whole new extreme!  She barely spoke to her teachers or "her kids" as she calls her classmates.  She wouldn't even say goodbye to her teachers when I would coome to pick her up.  Abby was the same way when she was in 2K but she grew out of it a lot earlier than Lucy.  Lucy was also the oldest in the class (she turned 3 about 2 weeks after school started) so I kept trying to tell her that this was her chance to show her stuff and be the oldest.  Didn't work.

Everyday I took her to school I would ask her if she was going to talk to her teachers that day.  Her response was either "I don't know" or "Probably" ;p  Have I mentioned I think she is our most stubborn hard headed kid? :)

The past couple of weeks Lucy FINALLY did it!  She started talking to her teachers AND playing with a couple of "her kids".  Thanks Ms. Jennifer for all your patience and love for our little Lucy.  You helped bring her out of her shell (it probably seemed more like a tooth extraction!) 

I will always be grateful for your TLC with her.  I wish you could have another month with her now that she's opening up...then again, I don't want to shatter any illusions you have of her...HA!  You'll have to check on her next year in her 3K class and see what she's doing with her hair :)  She's gone from about 15-20 hairclips to 6 braids...no telling what her sense of style will come up with next (oh yeah...and the boots)!

Lucy and Ms. Jennifer

8 year stats...

Really quick because I have to get dinner started...
Took Max for his 8 year checkup today...YIKES!


Weight... 76.4 pounds...94th percentile
Height... 55in (4ft 7 in)...97th percentile


Had to take him yesterday to get some new clothes!  Dr. said his height and weight are proportional but that he's a big boy for his age...NO KIDDING :)


Dr. also mentioned that it's important for him to get lots of fruits and veggies and water at this age.  I told him it wasn't a problem for Max, he usually goes for that stuff first :)  Dr. said he could definitely tell max was getting plenty of nutrition :)


Just for kicks I looked up a "Height Predictor" online and the two results I got from two different websites say about 6'2" or 6'3" by age 18.  I predict he'll be wearing his dad's clothes by the time he hits middle school ;p

Our Littlest Twinkletoes and other Ruby stuff!

Not one to be outdone by her older sisters, Ruby also loves her some country music :)  The girls were listening to "Mean" by Taylor Swift on the computer and Ruby decided to let the music move her!  I crack up when I see her moving her mouth like she's trying to sing :)

   So tell me...do YOU think she's got rhythm?


By the way, just some random Ruby stuff since I'm here and talking about her anyway :)

Ruby's first trip to the strawberry patch.  
I don't think she was quite sure what to do with it :)

- She no longer wants anything to do with baby food! I've been trying to get her onto "regular" food for awhile now but she just used the food I put on her tray as projectiles.  All of a sudden I was trying to feed her some baby food one day and she turned her nose up at it.  Now the challenge is to get a variety of good stuff in her during the day!  Another challenge is getting her to keep her food on the plate and not dump it all over her tray. 


- I know I am slack about posting but she has been walking since April 11th (2 days before she turned 16 months...she'll be 17 months tomorrow)!  I had every intention of posting about it and a short video of the morning that she took her first steps on her own but now that she's on her feet and can reach a lot more stuff I am busier than ever ;p  I just tried to post the video but I keep getting an error message that it doesn't want to upload ;p

Hanging out in the dirt at Max's birthday party.

- Ruby is such a funny kid with a HUGE personality!  She is talking up a storm now and is picking up all kinds of new words.  Communicating with her is getting so much easier :)  Her favorite thing to do right now is to say, " Mom, mom, mom, mom"  when I say, "yes, Ruby?" she will either "tell" me something in baby language, say "Hi" and give me a big grin, or blow a raspberry at me.  Then she does the same thing all over again about 3 or 4 times.  She stopped at the playroom door the other day and pointed into the room and said, "mess".  I asked her if she made the mess and she said, "No" and turned around fast and walked away.  I guess she didn't want to clean it up...stinker.


- She is getting teeth ALL THE TIME!  I swear her mouth drips like a leaky faucet all day long.  She has her first dentist appointment next month so we'll see how that goes :)  

Being cheesy :)  See the drool on her dress?

- I guess she is going to grow up to be an artist.  She is the only one of all 4 of our kids that has decided it would be fun to draw all over the walls and doors!  Abby and Lucy aren't as vigilant about keeping the crayons/pencils/markers/chalk picked up and out of Ruby's reach as they should be.  She has colored the carpet in the playroom a pretty shade of blue chalk, the side of the bookshelf has some kind of ancient hieroglyphics on it now, and the door to the playroom has some abstract art done in a lovely shade of neon pink highlighter.  Mr. Clean's "Magic Eraser" has met it's match with that one!


-Art supplies aren't Ruby's only means of artistic expression.  The other day Ruby brought me a wad of toilet paper that she had so lovingly unrolled from the new roll in the bathroom.  The trail that followed her was still connected to the tube in the bathroom.  When she handed me the wad in her hand I asked her what she was doing with it.  Her response?  "I poop"...then turned and walked away!


I may be too old for this :p

Lucy is "Stuck Like Glue"

Lucy is a HUGE fan of country music! Her current favorites include Reba, Lady "Anavella" (Lady Antebellum), Taylor Swift, Darius (Rucker...but he has elevated himself to a one name star in Lucy's eyes), Keith "Urvan" (Urban), and Sugarland.

Anytime one of her favorite songs by any of these artists comes on the radio Lucy lets loose. I got some video of her in the kitchen earlier dancing to Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" (which is tied with Reba's "Turn On Your Radio" and Taylor Swift's "Mean" for her all time favorite).

For some reason she likes to lip sync :)

Lucy also had gum in her mouth at the time...;p

An Amazing Experience!

This afternoon our family headed to the beach for one of the most amazing experiences. The SC Aquarium was releasing loggerhead turtles back into the ocean after having taken care of them in their Sea Turtle Hospital (click on sea turtle link to go to the hospital blog to see pics and info on the turtles released today).

There was a HUGE crowd on both sides of a long path down the beach into the ocean. Some of the turtles had to be carried down to the water and a few of them kept stopping as if to say they weren't too sure about going back :) They all made it out into the ocean though and it was so neat to hear the clapping and cheering from the crowd as each turtle caught their wave and swam out to sea!

sorry about the weird stuff from my camera...not sure what was going on ;p

We were actually standing IN the ocean to watch and I had a tough time seeing the turtles up close until one of the little ones that started swimming close to where we were decided to take a left instead of going straight. He came through the line of people and started heading back for shore! One of the hospital (turtle hospital that is!) volunteers was following him and caught him as he was right next to my leg! She picked him up and he smacked my leg with his flipper!!!!!

If I hadn't been so shocked and if it hadn't happened so fast I would have been able to get a picture up close and personal. The very nice people that were in front of us (and had a front row spot) allowed Max and Abby to stand between them so they could see everything. John and I took turns holding Lucy and Ruby. Lucy giggled everytime she saw a turtle :)

I am so glad we took our kids to see this! Other than seeing loggerheads and other sea turtles swimming in an aquarium tank they haven't seen them like this.

8 Years

Up until I was 31 I had many names...

daughter, sister, wife, friend...but...

8 years ago today my life was changed forever...
At 3:29pm I met my son for the first time and I haven't been the same since...

He was a big boy weighing it at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. Although I had gotten plenty of experience in holding babies and changing diapers, etc. from years of babysitting and helping with my baby sister (I was 13 yrs old when she was born), this was the first baby that would ever call me "mama" and even though hearing it about a hundred times a minute several times a day from any or all 4 of my kids...it is still the name I cherish the most.

Max

My first born.

My only son.

You hold a part of my heart forever.

My dreams for you have not changed from when you were born (even before that).

I want for you to love and honor God. Have strong morals, a kind, giving, and compassionate heart. I want you to be a good role model for your sisters and others. I want you to enjoy life and see the good in others. I want you to find something you are passionate about and do your best at it. I want you to go to college (preferably Clemson...heehee!) and give it 110%.

MUCH later...I want you to fall in love, get married, and start your own family. I want you to be a good dad...just like yours :) I want you to know the feeling of playing ball with your kids, watching them ride their bike for the first time, take them to their first day of school, and say prayers with them and read stories at bedtime.

So, I'm not asking too much am I? :) Max, I love you with everything that I am and I pray every night that I can be the kind of mom you need to become the kind of man God wants you to be.

You make me smile

You make me laugh

You make me wonder

You make me want to be a better me.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Don't grow up too fast please?

***Okay...not sure what is going on but Blogger wouldn't let me change font size or anything so I don't know how it's going to look ;/ ***