PreK-4 {aka "big boy school}

Today was big.  Huge.  I mean major as far as milestones go in life.  Griff started pre-k at the big school.  We have been talking this up and preparing him for this day.  He woke up and was ready for the challenge. Breakfast, dressed, pictures, and out the door by 7:30.  Good-bye lazy days of summer and hello new school year.  

The morning went off without a hitch.  Griff quickly ate a little breakfast and got dressed.  I could tell he was a little anxious.  The only hiccup of the morning was the tucking his shirt in his pants business.  Honestly I think this is probably the first time in his life that he actually tucked his shirt in.  I guess we aren't really tight tuck kind of folks.  He didn't like tucking it in and I can't say that I really blame him.  After we he got over that we grabbed backpacks (pak paks) and were out the door!     When I saw him all dressed in his uniform I got a little teary.  He just looked so big in those little clothes.  

How in the world is this baby child
already old enough for school?
Doesn't he look adorable in his
uniform?
Tight tuck and all!

Roman started nursery school
a few weeks ago, but I knew
he would want to take pics
just like his Be-Be.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to learn!

What ever Mom...
This is how we really feel.  :)

My big boy giving MiMi a hug before heading out the door.

My first time waiting in the carpool line.
I will log many hours throughout the years in this line.
Once in the line I started to feel a  little anxious.
I was about to drop off my 4 year old child with strangers. 

The teacher getting him out of the car.

When the carpool line teacher helped Griff out of the car he was so brave.  He started walking as if he knew where to go.  She had to stop him to get out another child before walking them together.  It wasn't until she stopped him and he looked back that I saw his lip quivering.  Broke my heart.  

Here he is when he looked back.
He looks so small to me in this picture
compared to the BIG school.

Thank Goodness for Roman.  He didn't give me much time to be sad.  He did it for me.  He was crying in the backseat because he wanted to go to "big cool" too like Be-Be.

"I wanna go to big cool like Be-Be."

Next bus stop was Miss Deb's.
Roman's back pack is 1/2 the size of his body!

 I can honestly say that I thought about Griff the entire day.  I prayed for his first day to go smoothly.  I prayed that he would enjoy his day and will be excited to go back.  I prayed that he would make friends and be excited to learn.  For some reason my biggest fear was Griff in the lunch room.  The thought of my little child without me navigating his way through the line with a tray just made me sad.  I watched the clock and said extra prayers at 12:30- lunch time.  Just as I was praying I received a text from Griff's speech therapist.  Her text to me, " Just saw my little man!! He is doing awesome!!"  Ever receive an encouraging message that comes at the perfect time?  I have...

I kept myself busy today picking up the perfect 1st day of school gifts.  I couldn't wait for the boys to get home to see their goodies.  I just knew that they would love them!

FINALLY 2:55 arrived.  I may have been the 2nd person in line waiting for my guy.  I had such a feeling of joy when I saw him walk out of the building.  I barely recognized my big boy!  Once in the car the first thing that he told me was that he saw Ms. Leah.  (his speech therapist)  He then followed that with "Mommy got a great day!"  So now I was grinning from ear to ear!  He told me that he made new friends, played on the playground, and had bread and milk for lunch.  He then asked if we could talk later.  My energizer bunny looked BEAT.  Griff was totally worn out and needed a little time to decompress.
 

1st day of school gifts waiting for the boys.

Griff was SO excited about Spiderman and his Spiderman book.  When I asked him yesterday what he wanted to be when he grew up he answered me, "Spiderman Mommy."  Keep dreaming BIG my boy...

2 new books.
Spiderman and Pete the Cat rocking in my school shoes.
My boys ADORE Pete the Cat and this book is precious.

I rewrapped the book for Roman to open.
I heart that he is hugging his Batman.

Roman's gift-
Batman and Batman book

Griff's first homework assignment.
Teacher's names followed by "I learned something and drew
with a green color at school today."

I am so very proud of my big boy.  He was so brave and faced the day with a smile and positive attitude.  I am so happy that today was the first of MANY happy school days...

Kenton's Graduation

The big day FINALLY arrived.  

Kenton's graduation from graduate school.

He has been working on his executive MBA for the past 19 months.

Honestly it was the longest and shortest season in my life.

As we were "living" it, time seemed to go on forever.

Now that it is over it seems just like the blink of an eye.  

When he started the program we had a 2.5 year old and an infant.

19 months later we have a 4 year old, 2 year old, and weeks away from another addition.

Wow...

As we were driving to his graduation I said to Kenton,

"did we REALLY just do this?!"

Truly it was a lofty goal for a crazy season of our lives.

I am so proud of my husband.

I don't have words to put to my feelings.

He gave this chapter of his life 110%.

He was dedicated to his family, full time job, and full time school.

Can you imagine executing on so many levels?

He never once complained about the load being too heavy.

He endured the season with a positive attitude an undying level of dedication.

Living "behind the scenes" is what makes this graduation day so very special.

I saw the hard work that went into this Master Degree.

He worked so hard.

He earned it.

20 years out of college he went back with a goal and completed it.

With a 3.8 GPA.

Congratulations Kenton.

I am so proud of you!

Poppa, MiMi and the boys.

MiMi , Baby Bear, Griff, and Mommy.

I was extremely a little nervous about the
boys sitting quietly through a graduation ceremony.
I went in ARMED with bags full of goodies. 

I got there early to secure our seats.  I was hoping to locate
closest to the nearest exit!  I picked front row seats so the
boys would have a little wiggle room.
Here is Baby Bear munching on snacks and playing
with new tractors in front of our seats.

Graduation 2 year old style.

Graduation 4 year old style.

My guy walking up to accept his diploma.

Griff waiting to cheer on his Daddy!
We practiced all week.

It's official...
Kenton, MBA!

This is one of those life moments.
HE DID IT!

The boys congratulating their hero.

Practicing for the future.

Love this smile!

Beyond sweet...

After graduation MiMi and Pop took the boys home.
Kenton and I took advantage
 and enjoyed a great meal at Cristiano's.

Cheers to my husband!

Final surprise of the day?
A new Ipad!

 Congratulations Kenton!

I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments.
Thank you for being such a wonderful role model to our children.

You are truly a gentleman and a scholar....

Walking=Independence

And he's off... 

Roman has mustered up the courage to take his first steps.  

Mobility AND independence were both gained with that step.

Over the past few days we have watched the transformation of baby to toddler.

These changes have been pretty amazing to watch.

Roman no longer wants to sit in the high chair,

he has learned to open doors in the house,

he goes off on his own and plays independently,

he watches intently EVERYTHING that his big brother does

and then mimics him,

and he points to what he wants.

I am so proud of my baby boy!

Roman brings so much joy to all of our lives.

He is a beautiful and lovable child that you can not HELP by want to cuddle with.

He has a way of bulldozing his way into your life 

and your heart...     

Tooth + Tooth= TEETH

Riddle me this...

What is scarier than one tooth?

THREE!!!
da-da-da-da-da-dadadadadad (insert Jaws theme song again)

In search of higher ground.

Roman's newest obsession is CLIMBING! He can't get enough of it. He climbs the stairs, pulls up in his bed, and if you stay still long enough he will climb up you! He works very hard at this task and is a pretty fast study! The only problem~ once he climbs up a stair he has not figured out how to get back down. Needless he has learned the hard way on more than one occasion!

Roman has been gracious enough to provide a pictorial review or tutorial if you will of how to climb the stairs.

Step 1~ Kneel at bottom stair with your trusty plastic spoon/side kick. Rock back and forth in hopes of flying to the moon!

Step 2~ build up the courage to take one foot off of the ground.
Step 3~ follow step 2 with the other foot.
Step 4~ smile for the camera and say cheese!

All I want for Christmas...

What's all the fuss about?

That would be Roman's 1st tooth! Finally his bottom tooth has broken through and by the looks of his gums it appears that the rest are not far behind!
1 down 31 more to go. Boy this should be fun!

Army crawler Roman reporting for duty!

Roman is officially doing the army crawl. He has been getting from point A to point B over the past month in a not so efficient manner~ rolling and scooting. Well, yesterday he streamlined the process. Just as I was walking out the door for work he crawled 2 paces. When I got home a few hours later he was lapping the entire room. This speedster was acting as if he had been doing this his entire life. Wow, I could not get over the progress that he made in so little time. I always knew that he was advanced. ;) MiMi Kat said that he had a smile from ear-to-ear all day and was so proud of himself.

His favorite targets are Al Dog and Griffin's favorite Wiggles guitar. Too bad for Roman. Al Dog is a moving and not so cooperative target. As soon as Roman reaches Al and comes up with a handful of hair Al is out. Uncle Al is 13 years old and has no patience for this roughhousing! The Wiggles guitar is another difficult target. When Griff noticed that Roman was playing with it he moved it to higher ground~ the counter top. Hummmmm..... I know the feeling all too well.

Yeah for Roman for reaching this new milestone. Another bittersweet Mommy moment. I'm so proud of my little man's accomplishment, but sad to see him growing so quickly.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Another sad day for a mother. My baby is no longer in his baby bed and has moved onto a mattress on the floor. Griffin has been climbing well before he crawled or walked. It is truly amazing that he stayed in his baby bed for 2 years and 7 months. We have been waiting for him to take the plunge. In anticipation of it we even had something on the floor as a crash pad. He always put a leg up to the rail, but never gave it the little bit of "umph" that is need to go overboard. We thought about moving him months ago, but with a new baby in the house there just never seemed to be the right time. We also secretly liked him "caged." Sorry folks, but it is a great feeling to know exactly where your child is! We were as scared to death of what he would do without the rails. Would he wander around the house while we slept, would he go in and wake up his brother, would he sneak out and go joy riding in the car? Who knows with this guy?!?

Griffin was always a great sleeper. As a baby we would just put him in his bed for naps and he would play and eventually just fall asleep. He has been sleeping solidly through the night for a LONG time. It was just such a beautiful thing that we didn't want to mess with. About a week ago all of this came to a crashing halt. All of a sudden it was nearly impossibly to get him to nap and an ordeal to get him to sleep at night. Because of this we decided to give a mattress on the floor a try. His sleeping issues are getting much better. I guess he was just ready to ditch the rails and didn't exactly how to break the news to his folks.

Tomorrow Kenton will move Griffin's crib to Roman's room and hope that some of the good sleep mojo wears off on the little guy. A mother can dream..... right?

These feet are made for RUNNING!

It is amazing to witness the transformation of Griffin. Just one short week ago he was still very uncertain of his footing. He held on to our hands or objects as long as possible. He waddled around with arms stretched out rushing to the next thing that he could grab onto. Overnight his confidence bloomed from an unsure baby to a running toddler. His only mode of transportation right now is by foot. No more crawling or strolling for this big guy. What an honor to watch the evolution of baby to boy right before our very eyes.