First Day of Kindergarten

For three years every time we drove past Logan's future elementary school we would tell him, "that is where you are going to kindergarten!". Over the years we have nicknamed it "Kindergarten School". In all of those times that we talked about him going to school there, I never imagined the day that he would actually go there. Sure, I knew it was coming one of these years. but how quickly those years have passed us by!

Last night before bed my DH and I were talking about how fast the past 5+ years have gone by and how we remember Logan when he was Caden and Colton's age. After a few minutes I began sobbing uncontrollably and worrying about my little boy hopping on the bus and going to school all day, every day (the only option my school district offers). Who would he sit by on the bus? How would he remember which classroom was his? Would he be nervous or scared? What if he didn't like it? etc.

And what about me (yes, I know it isn't about me, but....)? What would I do all day with him at school? Sure, I have Caden and Colton to keep me plenty busy, but they don't talk yet and the house is so quiet without Logan here. I have been mostly home with him for all of his life and now he is leaving me, how dare he! (OK, I am just being sarcastic here) And what about all of the things I want to do with him still, but I won't be able to because he will be at school. Really, by this point you would have thought that I was never going to see my beautiful little angel boy again. I was really working myself up.

Before I went to sleep last night I went into Logan's room, kissed him on his cheek as he lay sleeping peacefully, and then whispered in his ear, "I'm so excited for you and for the adventures that lie ahead for you."

Logan woke up this morning with a HUGE smile on his face excited to go to kindergarten. He got dressed in his outfit I put out for him last night and then came bounding down the stairs to his favorite breakfast of french toast and a berry smoothie. After breakfast DH and I took several pictures of him and then he tied his own shoes and then we loaded Caden and Colton into their stroller and headed out to the end of our driveway, where his bus stop is located (we live on a county road and our house is set a little bit off of the road so I will be walking him down to the end of the driveway every day).

As we waited for the bus to come I reminded him of all of things going on for the day: your lunch is in your back pack, if you forget the name of your bus, here is your bus card, your teachers name is (name), please give your teacher the forms in your backpack, etc. He looked at me and said, "I don't think I can remember all of this. Can you come with me today?". I reassured him that he would be fine and told him that the only things he really needed to remember are that his lunch was in his backpack (as opposed to eating "hot lunch") and the name of his school bus.

All of the sudden his bus was coming down the street....and then it passed right by our driveway! As the driver was passing by he looked and saw us standing there and stopped. He confirmed our address and asked where our son was supposed to be. We confirmed all of the information and that Logan should be on this bus (we changed his bus stop last week and apparently the bus driver was not informed). As we crossed in front of the bus Logan was running, he was so excited to ride the bus. I caught up with him just as he was running up the stairs and said, "wait! I need a picture!". He turned around with a HUGE grin on his face, let me take the picture and then found a seat.

After he got on the bus, DH and I loaded Caden and Colton into their car seats and we headed up to school to make sure that he made it safely and that he knew where to go once he got off of the bus. Yes, I officially stalked my child on his first day of kindergarten! Once his bus pulled up in front of school I got out of the car and followed him in to school and down to his classroom. I caught up with him as he was hanging up his back pack and his jacket on his coat rack. When I saw him I say, "Hey!" He looked at me, still smiling and said, "Mom! You came!" I explained that I wanted to make sure he made it to school safely. Then I asked him, "how was the bus ride?" He, still smiling, said, "Good! But we went a funny way to school" and started laughing. He thought it was funny that they drove all around picking up the other kids rather than driving straight to school. I gave him a kiss and his teacher asked him to find an open seat and I left....with my heart heavy and full.

My little boy knew exactly where to go and what to do, without me. How did time fly by so quickly?? And in two hours when he gets off of that bus I am going to give him the biggest kiss and hug and tell him how much I love him and missed him. As much as I miss him I am so excited for him and this new adventure ahead. And, in another short five years I will be doing the same with Caden and Colton. How quickly time flies!

Cheers to cherishing each moment!

Summer Fun

This summer has been so much fun! From camping most weekends, to play dates throughout the week and watching the Little Monkeys grow more and more each day to watching Logan mature and get ready for kindergarten, it has been quite the whirlwind! The time has gone by so fast and in just two short weeks Logan will be starting kindergarten. I can hardly believe the time has come!

My DH had his 34th birthday in July. The boys and I ended up getting him Apple TV for his birthday and he was so excited since he has wanted this for a couple of years after seeing it at our friends house. After having some computer issues we finally were able to get it installed and load all of our pictures onto it to view on our TV throughout the day. As I look at the pictures of Logan through the years I am amazed at how quickly time flies! To see these pics of him at the same age that Caden and Colton are now just blows my mind. It is fun to see how much all of the boys look similar at this age, but yet so different. Here is a glimpse:


Logan


Logan


Caden


Caden


Colton


Colton

And a pic of all three of them now.

My Big Boy Logan wanted to try his hand in feeding his brothers. What a good helper!


Caden, Logan and Colton

And some summer fun pictures:

Logan


Colton on left, Caden on right


Me holding Caden, my niece Ashley, my niece Abby, Logan, DH holding Colton who is pulling Logan's hair :)


Caden


Colton

This summer, I also survived four days with the boys and without my husband . DH had a guys weekend planned for some much needed rest, relaxation, and have a good ol' time away. He went to some drag races with six other guys, including my dad and BIL. And, in just a couple of weeks I will be heading out of town for a girls weekend away to scrapbook for four days. I can't wait to scrapbook all of the fun we have had this summer!

Tell me about your summer...what fun things have you done?

An Everyday Survival Kit

I was given one of these survival kits a long time ago with each of these items placed in a bag with the words attached by a ribbon to the bag of items. As I was preparing for an upcoming scrapbooking weekend away I came across this and thought I would share it.

An Everyday Survival Kit

Toothpick - to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others ...Matt. 7:1
Rubber band - to remind you to be flexible, things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out ...Romans 8:28
Band Aid - to remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else's ...Col. 3:12-14
Pencil - to remind you to list your blessings everyday ...Eph. 1:3
Eraser - to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it's okay ...Gen. 50:15-21
Chewing gum - to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything ...Phil. 4:13
Mint - to remind you that you are worth a mint to your heavenly father ...John 3:16-17
Candy Kiss - to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday ...1 John 4:7
Tea Bag - to remind you to relax daily and go over that list of God's blessings ...1 Thess. 5:18

This is my gift to you. May God richly bless you.

To the world, you may just be somebody ...but to somebody, you may be the world.

Infertility Is Grief

I came across this article on a friends FB page who is pursuing adoption and thought it was so relevant.

http://www.channel3000.com/health/10489743/detail.html

Six Month Well Check

On Wednesday Caden and Colton had their six month well check. I was so excited for this appointment with their pediatrician because I had a ton of questions to ask him about feeding the boys solid foods. I forgot a lot of what I did with Logan in the past five years so it was a good time for a reminder on when to start certain things. They have both been eating solids for over a month, but I forgot when to introduce biter biscuts and other "chewable" foods. Our pediatrician would like us to feed the boys solids 3x/day, which we are currently doing 2x/day. He said that we can also introduce sippy cups to them, although they will take a while to get the hang of them. He also said that once they got the hang of eating biter biscuits without choking on them, that we could start to give them other soft table foods. The fun begins!

Since Wednesday we have tried a biter biscuit and have let them suck on some cantaloupe and watermelon. Colton dug right into the watermelon and was useing his gums to bite off chunks. He ate almost a whole 1"x1" square of watermelon! Caden ended up choking on his a bit and spit it out. He also made the funniest faces when I was letting him suck on the cantaloupe. I don't think he could figure out if he liked it or not.

They have also been experimenting with their sippy cups. I have been putting water and some ice cubes in them so at least if they can't quite get it to their mouths to drink that they get some amusement from the ice cubes hitting the sippy cup. Colton is better at holding his sippy cup and his bottle and Caden is trying here and there, but really has no interest in holding his bottle. He seems to have an easier time with his sippy.

I love this stage! As soon as I started playing around with different things this week I remembered doing all of this with Logan around the same age. It is so fun to see the expressions on their faces when they try something new or the look of concentration on their face as they try so hard to hold their bottles and sippy cups. I can't wait until we can pull out the cheerios to see how much they have to concentrate on picking them up and getting them into their little mouths.

And here are the stats for my Chunky Monkeys:

Caden
Length: 27", 72nd percentile
Weight: 19.0 lbs., 77th percentile
Head Circumference: 17", 35th percentile

Colton
Length: 27", 72nd percentile
Weight: 20.0 lbs, 89th percentile
Head Circumference: 17", 35th percentile

In short, the are the same length and have the same head circumference, but Colton weighs exactly one pound more than Caden. This explains Colton's rock solid torso and Cadens squishy one:):) My boys are continuing to grow so well and I love every pinchable inch of them!!

Recounting the Journey

Yesterday I was telling Miss M, our nanny, the story of how Caden and Colton were conceived. She got all of the details and it was probably more than she bargained for when she innocently asked, "when you had Caden and Colton was there a chance that you could have had more babies?'

As I recounted the story of our many failed IVF cycles and the one successful cycle that brought me my Little Monkeys I was moved to tears. It was so bittersweet to go back and recount some of the most painful moments of my life and then in the next breath to recount some of the most happy moments. When I told her how I received the call from the clinic that I finally was pregnant and had an HCG level I was moved to tears just reliving that moment and she was too. What a journey! It still takes my breath away.

After I was done telling her the story she said that it was amazing that DH and I are still happily married because she knows that IF can tear a marriage apart. I completely agree! I explained to her that when I married my husband I knew that I loved him, but I didn't know how much I loved him until we experienced IF. I told her that each day I tell all of my boys how much I love them and I try to live each day as one filled with joy and thankfulness and not as a "to do" list. Yes, there are many things to do each day and my days are filled, sometimes too much, but my biggest project is to love my four boys to pieces. And, the smallest things that my DH does for me give me the greatest amount of happiness.

Not only was it good to relive our IF journey and share our story with Miss M, she, a fertile gal as far as I know, "got it". She shared tears and laughter with me and an amazing amount of support for the IF journey we had, which is downright PRICELESS! It was so fun to tell our story to someone who "got it". Did I mention that she "got it"? WOOHOO!!

Comments Found and Pictures

WOOHOO! I found all of the comments that some of you posted when I was having commentng issues and was able to read them and post them. Thank you all for your comments on my Eating Worms post. You melt my heart:)

Here are some updated pics of my boys:


Colton on left, Caden on right



Caden on top left, Colton on top right, Logan on bottom



Logan getting ready to hang his bird feeders for the birds, which he calls his "customers" (have no idea why). When we first hung them he sat on the deck for two days yelling into the trees, "Hey, Birdies, it's time to eat. Come get your food!!". It was super cute and hilarious.