First Day of School

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen the girls’ first day of school pictures, but if not – no fear! – I have them right here for you!  We made sure to pack lunches and pick out outfits the night before, just in case we were feeling a little rushed.  That morning was great – everyone got up fairly easy, got dressed, and headed out the door without some bribing (which is what goes on some mornings.)

Hadleigh started Kindergarten and was very adamant about riding the bus.  She did amazing – no tears were shed at all.   We let her ride the bus, but Daniel and I met her up at the school to see her walk in.  If she wanted us to walk her to her class we would have, but she caught up with a friend from preschool and was 100% fine.  I walked away proud, but still shed a few tears. 

Hayden started her 3 year old preschool class.  She will be in there for the next 6 months before they move her to her next class.  She has amazing teachers and it is a familiar place to us, so I wasn’t worried too much.  It was a little bit of an adjustment being in a new class and now going to school every day versus three.  Hayden still gets upset in the morning when I drop her off, but she has great days.  I’m sure she forgets about me 2 minutes after I walk out of the door!

We started Harper in the 18 month classroom 3 days a week.  I was so worried about Hadleighs transition, that it didn’t really give me time to think about Harpers.  Plus, Harper is a social butterfly so I knew she would adjust well.  I was right.  I sat her breakfast down at the table and she immediately walked over to sit at the “big girl” table to eat.  I gave kisses and told her bye and she looked at me and waved!!  Totally different than Hadleigh & Hayden!  She loves it which makes for a happy mama!

Linking up here today!

The end of the "School Year"

I have a pre-school graduate. A pre-school graduate who will be starting Kindergarten in September!

In bloggy mom fashion, I have first & last day side-by-side pictures. Hadleigh’s graduation pictures are so cute, although I hate those darn caps! 

With Hadleigh's favorite teacher - Ms. Casey!

I can’t forget about Hayden who was a Flamingo (2-2.5) & a Lion (2.5-3) this year.   Hayden was not having any part of pictures when I was taking them on their last day.  I was going to take them another day and pretend she smiled, but I decided to use the ones I had on the actual last day of school. Real life people!

St. Patrick's Day, Boyfriends, and Cinderella

For lack of knowing what exactly to write about today but wanting to write something….I’m going to fill y’all in on what we've been up to the past week. 

On St. Patrick’s Day, Daniel and I were working from home.  Hadleigh had to get one of her ear tubes removed that morning, so we had to take her to the surgery facility to be put under anesthesia.  She was a trooper!  She was a little grumpy after the procedure and complained about her ears hurting only until about lunch.  Promises of Chick-Fil-A perked this girl right up {my daughter through and through}J  All three girls were sporting their green though!

Friday Hadleigh came home with a flower in hand from school. Her “friend” Whitman had brought two in for show and share, but then decided to give it to Hadleigh before he left for the day.  Those two.  They are nap-time buddies because Whitman’s parents and Daniel & I refuse to let them go to sleep during that time.  Bedtime would be horrible for us! So, they hang out for two hours every day just the two of them.  Hadleigh gets super shy when Whit gets brought up in conversation, but she enjoys his friendship!

Saturday I took Hadleigh & Hayden out to lunch and then we met my mom to see Cinderella.  It was a cute movie and the girls really liked it.   They loved the Frozen Fever at the beginning and were dressed appropriately in their Elsa dresses!  I honestly thought the movie was a little drawn out (especially for little ones).  Overall it was a really good movie though.

Sunday we played around the house and cleaned some.  Then we went to my parents for dinner.  The girls were pooped and all 3 fell asleep on the way home – which hardly ever happens!  

What did your weekend look like?

Massanutten Resort {Weekend Getaway}

A few weeks ago we had a little family weekend getaway to The Massanutten Resort.  Groupon had a deal going, but I ended up getting a better deal through Massanutten themselves.  We left on a Friday afternoon and got checked in to our condo for the weekend.  The girls loved “our new house”!  Hadleigh even told us she loved our new house better than our old one. Ha!  We took it easy that night – getting settled, getting some dinner, and picking up some last minute groceries. 

Saturday morning we got up and took the girls to the Petting Zoo they had on the resort.  They were super excited to see all of the animals. Then as soon as we walked into the office to get our tickets, Hadleigh starts whining.

“IT STINKS!” {While holding her hands over her nose}

“IT’S SO SMELLY!” Now, holding her hands over her mouth only.  Which we then told her wasn't helping at all.

Can I just say how frustrating it is as a parent to do something fun for your kids, thinking they will enjoy it, and them straight up ruining it?!  It’s a funny story looking back now, but damn. 

We get the tickets and walk down to where all the animals are (Hadleigh still whining about the smell).  Hayden and Harper are excited to see the bunnies first.  We actually got to go into the cage with them to pet them.

 
  Hadleigh stood outside of the gate, still whining.

  We continued on to see the pigs, goats, turkey, chickens.  Hayden enjoyed herself.  

Hadleigh – still standing in the same corner – crying about the smell and how she is scared of the animals. 

 
 We finished off the petting zoo experience by seeing some horses and a camel.  We got into the car to go back to our condo so we could get ready for the waterpark. 

Naturally, our question to the girls (really Hayden) when we got into the car was, “What was your favorite animal?”

Hayden starts answering by saying the chickens, but then Hadleigh chimes in and tells us her favorite were the bunnies cause they were soo cute.  Really?! 4 year olds.

Back to the condo to get into our bathing suits for the indoor water park it was.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the water park because my darn camera kept steaming up.  The girls had a blast though.  Water, slides, waterfalls, lazy rivers, and swings kept them busy for hours. 

 It was a nice break from the snow on the ground outside!  Other than the petting zoo, waterpark, and eating – we didn't do anything.  It was a nice little change of scenery from our normal weekend activities.

We might go back when the girls are a little older, but I will definitely make sure we have a full kitchen in the condo.  The restaurants are expensive on the resort, and their service was not great.  Lesson learned, but either way we had fun!

Hayden is potty trained!!

Yep – our Hayden is potty trained.  She’s been potty trained for a month now, but I’ve been so afraid to officially call it.  I didn't want to say it, then it back fire on me! The whole potty training business was a disaster at first.  We tried going cold turkey over Christmas break and it completely failed.  She was not ready at all.  School continued to try and push it, so they asked for underwear.  A few thoughts went through my mind:

1 – GOOD LUCK!

2 – What? Do you not believe that I’ve tried this and it has completely failed?

3 – Actually, I take that back. She probably will do it 100% for them instead of me.

We didn't have anything to lose, so I sent her in with a ton of underwear and another change of clothes.  I picked her up and the teacher sarcastically said, “It went great!” Oh freaking awesome.  They then told me that Hayden would just sit there in her underwear, pee, and act like NOTHING had happened.  Only my child. So we left the issue alone.  She continued on with pull-ups, but her teachers would ask her if she needed to go potty.  She would sit on the toilet, but wouldn’t pee.

Then she moved up into another class at school and started doing great.  She would go pee for them during the day, but then at night would want a diaper.  That lasted a few days.  A Friday rolled around and she hadn't had any accidents at school, so I decided she was only going to have a pull-up when she went to sleep.  And that was that. 

Hayden has done amazing ever since.  She tells us when she needs to go pee and when she needs to poop. It’s been a lot easier than it was with Hadleigh.  Hadleigh took a while to go poop on the potty, but Hayden rocked it.  Now, we have definitely had some accidents in our house.  Either she has gotten too busy or just not made it to the bathroom in time.  But there hasn't been many.  She still wears a pull-up at night, but most mornings she is still dry!  Woohoo Hayden!  I’m not sure when I’ll feel comfortable enough to let her wear underwear only to bed.  We shall see.  

The big thing I can say is that I only have ONE in diapers.  Which makes me want to dance and cry at the same time.

Harper 9 Month Photo Shoot

I usually get 6 month photos taken of the girls.  Hadleigh has them. Hayden has them. I’m still fighting with myself on whether Harper truly has them.  We got FAMILY pictures taken when Harper was 6 months so she has some, but technically not.  I’m so frustrated with myself I didn't do this when she was 6 months, but better late than never!  This little photo shoot lasted only about 10 minutes, but I think I got some good ones :)

Threenagers

I just came across this article. So, I wanted to comment and elaborate a bit more on this.  I'm not entirely sure I would only include three year olds - can we add the age range 2.5-4?! Who's with me?! 

Here are some of the crazy things Daniel and I deal with {on the regular}:

• Putting on socks the wrong way. "Mooommmm! It's tickling me!" (the seam, oh the seam) AND for the record - seamless socks are SO damn expensive!
• Tags. "Daddy! It's scratching me!" "Take the tag out" Then we are followed into the kitchen, so she makes sure we cut it out.  She's not into the "faking out" thing.
• Going limp while trying to get her dressed. A whole new level of frustrating.
• Some days Hayden will cry/whine/refuse to get dressed unless it has a picture of Elsa on it
• Hayden wanted pizza the other night for dinner.  I made the pizza and then she decided she didn't want it.  She heads to the fridge only to pick out a pizza lunchable --- it's the same thing just not melted cheese! 
• Wanting a drink, but not picking the right cup(she wanted one with, no without the top)
• Hadleigh ate turkey lunch meat and pineapples all the time and then overnight (literally) she decided she didn't like these anymore. So for the next 2 weeks, on our way to school, she asked me what was in her lunch to make sure I didn't pack those 2 things.  Some days even checking behind me to make sure.
• Hadleigh had a friend in class whose parent got them Chick-Fil-A one morning.  The next morning she wanted it and when we told her we would go over the weekend instead - she cried. ..the entire way to school.
• If you have more than one kid, one of them will want EVERYTHING the other has. EVERYTHING - drinks, underwear, gloves, shoes, shirts, hair clip...everything.

Please share your crazy stories to make this mama feel sane! 

Hayden 2.5

Oh Hayden, you're TWO and a HALF.  That half means a lot.  Had I sat down to write this post a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to write about how you are showing some terrible two signs. I remember two and a half being slightly difficult with Hadleigh as well, so it must be a thing.

Hayden is so fun, sassy, loving, motherly, stubborn, and strong willed all rolled into one little girl.

Loves: "Let it go" (Frozen) - she is quite obsessed.  Everything is "let it go" and will only wear "Let it go" socks.  It makes for a difficult morning when there are no clean Frozen socks left for her to wear. She still loves baby dolls and has started getting into the doll house we got for Hadleigh a few years back.  She also loves Barbies.  She loves her iPad {as she calls Pie-pad}

Hates: Putting on pajamas - she would much rather just sleep in her clothes, so that's what she does most nights.  She doesn't like her hands to get dirty or Harper's face to be dirty.  She is hating the fact we are taking her bippy away from her during the day.

Eating:  Hayden eats so well when she wants, but when she's not in the mood she just won't eat.  She likes most anything and will pretty much try it first before she decides if she doesn't like it.  She loves any kind of sauce {just like her mama}.  Her favorite is cheese as that's her answer every time you ask her what she wants to eat.  We have to limit it a bit so she doesn't get constipated though. Girlfriend has a sweet tooth too, which I can't blame her! 

Sleeping: She's a pretty good sleeper and has always been a better sleeper than Hadleigh.  If Hayden was tired, regardless if she was watching TV, she would fall asleep.  She's now learning to keep herself awake, so sometimes it's not as easy as it once was.  She still takes naps at school which do not interrupt bedtime, so that's good.  When she's at home, it's hit or miss whether she naps.  Most nights she will still wake up to come into our bed.  So, by morning we have Hayden & Harper in bed with us. Hayden still loves her bippy to go to sleep :)

Potty Training: No, no, and no.  She will go for school every once in a while, so over Christmas break we tried going cold turkey. Failed.  When she wore underwear she just peed and pooped in them & then when I had her go naked, she cried for a diaper.  We took that as a clear sign she wasn't ready.  We are still full into pull-ups only, so I'm thinking maybe in the Spring/Summer?  Crossing my fingers!

School:  Hayden really enjoys school.  She has learned so much since starting the new program over the summer and her speech has picked up tremendously.  Pronunciation is still a bit off, but I think that's partly her age.  She listens to her teachers - sometimes better for them than us!  She will go sit on the potty for them and go without her bippy ALL day - no complaints.  By the beginning of February, she will move into an older class - she's getting so big!

Hadleigh & Harper:  Love her!  Hadleigh and Hayden fight as sisters do, but if they are away from each other they miss one another.  They will both ask where the other is.  They play pretty well most of the time.  Harper loves Hayden even though Hayden holds her hand all of the time.  Hayden makes sure there's no dirt on Harper's face.  Hayden is definitely our little mother hen - she has very endearing qualities around kids that are smaller than her. 

Funny things Hayden has said:

Hayden - "I f*ck"

Me - very shocked, but picked up quickly what she was trying to say, "no, you pooted"

Hayden - "I f*ck"

Me - "You're trying to say you farted aren't you?"

Hayden - shaking her head yes, "i f*ck!"

She was climbing her bookcase in the playroom and I immediately told her to get down.  Hayden turns around, points her finger at me, and says "minute mama!"

Christmas 2014

Christmas was a whirlwind!  We spent a lot of time with family, some time with friends, and most of our time with our little family of 5. It was a holiday break that was both busy and fun.  Both sides of our family are in town, so we are on the go a lot Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day (or two) after. This year we switched some things up, so we were able to be at home more which was so nice!

We spend Christmas Eve with Daniel’s family.  Early evening is spent with my father in-law’s family and then we head to Daniel’s parents’ house to have Christmas with his immediate family. 

My sister, brother in-law, and nephews came into town that evening, so we were able to see them as soon as we got home that night.  We put all 5 kids to bed and waited for Santa to do his magic J  The five of them must have been realllyyyy good this year!  My parents came over super early Christmas morning to see all the grand kids and so we could have our annual breakfast.  My nephews were up bright and early – I had to go wake my girls up!  It still took Hayden a little while to warm up, but they all loved what Santa got them for Christmas. 

The morning quickly flew by before it was time to leave for our next family gathering!  Christmas Day afternoon is spent at Daniel’s parents’ house with my mother in-laws side of the family.  We even managed to get a group photo!  On the way home Hayden had a bloody nose, which scared the crap outta Daniel and I.  So random and didn't last too long, so we think it was from a dry nose or she hit it on something before we left.  Needless to say, that evening was spent at home relaxing; the girls played with some of their new toys, and I did some laundry to make sure the stains didn't stick to Hayden’s clothes. 

The day after Christmas was low key for the most part.  All 5 cousins played all day while my mom, sister, and I got some things ready for my dad’s side of the family to come over.  We ate too much food, which was a pretty consistent theme!  That evening my mom offered to watch all of the kids, so my sister, brother in-law, Daniel, and I could go out for a little bit of adult time with our cousins Matt & Nikki.  We brought out all the sleeping bags so the older 4 could watch a movie before we left.  We had drinks and dessert at Shyndigz – it was so yummy and the company was great. We laughed a lot.

Saturday rolled through and we had one last family get –together to attend.  Brunch with my mom’s side of the family was fun and the kids had an even better time running around!

This Christmas season was one for the books – I can’t wait until next year to celebrate all over again!