Another milestone........

About 4 months ago Paul and Tyson set off to "learn to ride a bike."  Paul took the training wheels off, Tyson put on his helmet and they were off.  And 5 minutes later they were back. Mission unsuccessful!

Then last Sunday Tyson said he wanted to try again.  But this time it was different.  Tyson wanted to learn rather than Paul wanting Tyson to learn.  Just like swimming, it has to come from Tyson.  He has never been one to be forced into anything.  When he's ready, he gets it.

He's been riding every single day after school........ rain, shine, wind, tornado or earthquake.

 

Guess it's about time to get a new bike.  His long legs have quickly outgrown this one.

BIG steps for my little girl

Not only is she doing great in gymnastics and wearing her glasses daily without taking them off (except for her weekly gymnastics class), she has also began using the "potty." Almost 2 weeks ago she informed me she "went tee-tee in the potty" at school. And has not gone in her diaper since. Emmy proved my theory, my kids just potty train themselves when THEY are ready. With Tyson I felt pressure from friends and family to get him potty trained immediately. With Emmy, I had no problem ignoring the unsolicited advice in regards to potty training my little girl. When she's ready, she's ready!

Way to go Emmy Grace! Mommy is so proud of you!!!

First day of school, round 2

Today was Em's first day at her new school. She woke up pretty excited about it, but did inform me at breakfast that she "was too scared to go to her new school." On the way over she was excited and talked a lot about it, but THEN when we went inside her classroom, stuff went bad!
She cried and told me she "wanted to back to her new house, please don't leave me." You know, the kind of stuff that really tears at your heart and makes you feel like a bad mom for leaving you child then heading off for a morning of coffee and shopping.

I gave her about 30 minutes then I called the director to see how she was doing. She said she was coloring and there was no sign of tears. She had a great day and only cried for a couple of minutes. She even took a nap. When she got in the car I asked, how was you day punkin? "It was good Mommy, kinda long and also Ava wasn't there." Ava was her friend from school in San Antonio. Emmy, Ava is in San Antonio......she didn't move here. "I know that. She wasn't in my class."

I decided to let it go, that conversation could have gone on all night.

All in all, it was a great first day and I think we are going to be very happy with her school.

New Beginnings.......

Tyson started school Wednesday. Not sure who was more nervous, him or Paul and I? He did great and really enjoyed his new school. The best part......he wanted to go back the next day.

We made it!

We got in a little before 6 Sunday night. It was COLD and dark. We walked in and the fireplace was already lit. Our realtor and had come by and set up sleeping bags for the kids and an air mattress for Paul and I. She couldn't stand the thought of us spending another night in a hotel room. We ordered pizza for dinner and the kids dined on the kitchen floor, since our furniture wasn't being delivered till Monday.

to be continued....

On our way......

We got everything loaded up Sunday morning and said "see ya" to the Candlewood Suites.
2 kids, 1 dog, 2 crabs, and oh yeah 3 motorcycles......

We were on our way to Oklahoma.

We made out first and only stop in Ft. Worth at a rest stop/picnic area. We had packed lunches, we are all pretty tired of fast food. The kids LOVED running all over the park.

next stop: Edmond, Oklahoma

a LONG week of good-byes

This was an emotional week for this family. It started with Emmy's teachers (whom I might add are the sweetest preschool teachers ever) threw her a "going away" party complete with cupcakes and a memory book.

Em just loved Ms. Jody and Ms. Jody LOVED my Emmy.

Ava, Alexa and Emmy have been friends since the 2 year old class

Luke and Emmy

Clearly she enjoyed her farewell cupcakes

I took Tyson lunch on his last day. First grade lunch might be even more interesting than kinder lunch. These are his buddies from his class.

Maddy (Emerson in 3 years), Tyson and Isabella

Tyson's teacher let me come in on his last day and take pictures of him and his friends. It was bittersweet, they had all made him cards.....mostly saying "don't go Tyson! You are my BFF!"

and yes, I'm aware of the girl with the crossed eyes, there's always gotta be a wise one

More buddies......

COLTON! Colton is in a different class this year, but Jeri (his Mommy) was taking him home early and had to stop by Tyson's class so Colton could say "bye." I'm gonna miss those dimples and I know Tyson is gonna miss his buddy.

Sweet, sweet Mrs. Callis. It was love at first sight for Tyson. She wants Tyson to email her with pictures of his new house and she will read it to the class, they want to follow his new adventures in Oklahoma.

"Walkers"

Last year I began parking and "walking" up to the school to pick up Tyson after school. I just didn't want to sit in the LONG line of cars. Plus I thought this would be more social. This dismissal group was known as the "walkers." These moms and I formed a bond. A bond that deepened every day after school, we would talk and visit before the kids came out and after they were dismissed, the kids would play and us "walker" moms would chit chat some more.

It was tough to say good bye to this group of ladies.

The Suite Life

isn't always so sweet!

We've been in our temporary one bedroom suite now for11 nights and 12 days, but who's counting?!? The first few nights were kind of fun for the kids but now the fun is definitely starting to wear off. I often find myself telling the kids to go out in the hall and race to the trash can. Luckily we have had so many invites for after school play and dinner with friends, that has helped break up the monotony.

they watch a lot of TV

a little bed hair

container o' fun

they do A LOT of reading and art......but note their faces, a lot of those looks too

Only about another 10 days. I think we can make it. One thing I know for sure, our new house will seem HUGE by comparison.

"they took their first steps right there....."

After Paul and I spent most of day cleaning the house, attacking each room once the movers had emptied it I thought I should snap some pictures of our final product.

Both my babies learned to sit, crawl and walk in this living room

My kitchen. It wasn't fancy but it was my favorite room in the house. There were a lot of yummy things created in there.




My dear friend Jolynn kept the kids for us in the afternoon so we could finish up with the house but they wanted to come see it all empty. They were so excited to run around an empty house and listen to their voices echo.

Yesterday........................

might have been one of the most emotional days I've had in a LONG time. Yesterday was the day that this whole moving thing became real. Yesterday was the day the movers came to pack up the house. Yesterday I realized that one family can accumulate quite a bunch of unnecessary junk. Yesterday was the first time I cried about moving. Yesterday I went to the doctor because I thought my head was about to explode, turned out I had a sinus infection and an ear infection. Yesterday was tough.

A to Zebra

Emmy has graduated from the Whale room to the Zebra room at her Mother's Day Out. She was excited to for school this morning and there were no tears. I think she was more excited to wear her new outfit and those stinkin Twinkle Toe shoes. She loves those light up shoes!

"Now can we go Mommy?"

Once we got to school she seemed even more excited. Little did she know, that Tropical Storm Hermine was about to make land fall and cause torrential downpours along with 58 MPH winds which would translate to a power outage on the first day of school. Good times!

The good news is that she still wants to go back on Thursday but did inform me she "would not be napping anymore at school due to the power going out." Good luck Ms. Jodi and Ms. Carla.

Big week for Em

Last week was pretty important for my Emmy. Not only did she attend her "meet the teacher" at her Mother's Day Out, she also had her 3 year old well check visit.

Emmy grew just an inch and a half over the last year, she is a whopping 36 and a half inches tall and tipping the scales at 27.9 pounds (that's just 1.9 pounds more than last year). She is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. My little princess is also reaching all.........well, all but one of her milestones and is on target for being one smart cookie. She asked us all of the usual questions, can she balance on one foot? Can she walk up stairs? Can she stack blocks? Does she play pretend? Can she draw a stick figure with at least 2 parts? Please, she draws people with 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 hands and2 feet, 2 eyes, a smile, hair and if you're lucky she will stick a bow on top. What else ya got? Is she toilet trained? Ummm......not exactly, it's a work in progress. But have I mentioned she draws hair accessories on her stick figures?

Now the next piece of information is impressive, so be prepared to be impressed (well at least I was). Dr. Gonzales informed us that she only needed 1 immunization this time around and also recommended the flu shot while we were here, ya know beat the rush. After her exam I got Em dressed and the nurse came in with the little tray that most kids don't care for. I had Emmy lay down and pull her pants down so she could have access to those cute little thighs. "What are you doing Mommy? Why are you pulling my pants down?" The nurse just needs to check you legs. I know I lied.....but sometimes a Mommy has to do what a Mommy has to do. The nurse then proceeded to give Em the first injection. I was holding her hands down and had prepared myself for those lungs. But nothing, she just looked a little confused. "What is she doing Mommy?" Shots baby, you have to get one more. It will be fast, I promise. She did the next one. Nothing.......not a tear or so much as a blink. She stood up when and asked "can I have 2 stickers when we leave?" My baby girl didn't cry for her shots. This is not what I am accustomed to. My son is pretty dramatic, in fact I'm a little dramatic when it comes to needles. We cry. So this "I'm not phased " reaction is all very new to me.

weighing in

dancing in the exam room

just being her charming little self for the camera

Em also got to meet her new teachers in the Zebra room this week. Now that she is 3 she graduates from the Whale room to the Zebra room. She liked her new classroom and seems pretty excited for school. However, those potties in the bathroom threw her off a bit.

checking out some of the new toys to play with

she found her spot at the table right away and her folder

Can't wait to see how next week goes!