The End of Pre-Pre-K

Last Thursday was the last day of J's preschool. He has grown and changed SO much since starting WCP last September. For starters, he is much taller. ;) More importantly, he is much more confident, less shy and even smarter than he was 9 months ago. And the BIGGEST NEWS - guess who was the first kid in his class to go down the HUGE water slide on the last day? Yup. Our little man!

The last day was surprisingly emotional for a lot of us. We combined their splash party with a surprise early birthday party for Ms. Tish. Since she is a July baby, the kiddos hadn't gotten an opportunity to celebrate the most important member of their bug class. They were already getting pizza from the school as a special treat, so we coordinated with the director to get a special room at the church to decorate and brought in cupcakes and presents. Boy was Tish surprised. She literally started crying so much she had to momentarily step into the kitchen to compose herself. Since this is her last year to teach, she was extra emotional. Add to that an amazing memory book she put together for our kiddos, and an amazing video one of the daddy's made of pictures of our bugs from the whole year, and you had one room of sappy parents.

We all agreed that since our kiddos will be back in the fall for one more year together, we had more to celebrate than be sad about. But for most of us (mommies especially), we couldn't help but get teary-eyed looking at our big 4 year olds. We are in awe that they will be Pre-K's next year...and of how much they all love each other. It was a GREAT year and one I know we'll never forget.

Looking at the memory book - the kids loved seeing their pictures in here!

Comparing the bug lanterns Ms. Tish gave them.

Watching the bug class video - it's amazing. Over 20 minutes of pictures (and a little video footage) from the whole year set to great music. The dad who made it did an awesome job of including pictures of all the kiddos and there are some precious moments in here that we would have never seen if this had not been made. It's a treasure.

Surprise Ms. Tish!

Water soaked, happy kids.

Opening her big gift - a spa gift certificate. No one deserves a massage more than this woman!

Awwww - a mug with a picture of her bug class.

The boys after splashing around.

J with Ms. Gina, the teacher's aide in his class.

One last picture with Ms. Tish. :*) sniff, sniff...

A Quick Link

I still need to post about J's last day of preschool (it was awesome and overwhelming and wonderful), but until I have a couple of minutes to sit down and get the pictures loaded, enjoy this post over at The Bird's Nest. J spent a couple of hours with his best bud today and they never fail to provide photo ops. ;)

I will also come back to fill everyone in on L's appt with the pediatric allergist today. Not great. Let's just say I'm searching the internet for recipes of ANY kind of food that are both dairy and egg free. And of course, no peanuts.

Here Comes...

...TROUBLE! And there's nothing we can do to stop it! lol So L has been pulling up on "safe" stuff for a while now. When I say safe, that means either daddy or mommy is around to help him should he get stuck or start to fall. No more. On Tuesday morning, I put L back in his crib while I was getting dressed. I heard him laughing and walked in to find him standing up.

As soon as he saw me, he started waving!

Hi Mom!

And just this week, he's taken a couple of tumbles while learning this standing thing requires some balance. I'm searching today for more of those foam pads for downstairs. I know babies fall when they are learning to walk, but hitting his head on the hard wood floors was NOT a good thing. It scared both of us and I think I found a couple more gray hairs after it happened!

Here's trouble J & EK Style --

Actually, on this day, they were quite the angels. Even though J has a "girl friend" at preschool, he still calls EK his best bud. They have so much fun together! What a blessing!

Oh, time to run. Today is J's last day of preschool. Splash day and a surprise bday party for his teacher all rolled into one. Should be FUN!

Mom & Muffins...and a Show Too!

Yesterday at J's preschool, all the Mom's were treated to a morning of "Mom & Muffins" fun! The school had juice and muffins upon arrival for all the kids and Mom's, and we were able to see some of the work they have been doing lately. All the mommies were given pictures, recipes and a sheet of "All about my mom" answers filled out by our preschoolers. My favorite answer was "My mom is really good at __________" to which J answered "playing the flute." Huh? Then I remembered that we recently discussed what musical instruments I knew how to play, and I told him that I played the piano and flute when I was younger. Guess that really stuck with him! Most of the other answers were funny, but the last one was so sweet - "My mom is great because...she loves me!" Awwwwww.

L had fun too - he found a friend during the breakfast. The only problem is that he says hello by gently bumping his head against yours - not a great thing to do to other babies!

Guess who sat together during the breakfast?

After our special breakfast, the kiddos treated us to a special show complete with two songs - "The Mommy Song" and "Lord You are my Rainbow" - and a slide show. Luckily, Daddy was able to join us toward the end of our breakfast and was able to see this great show.

The bug class pre-show. Don't they look thrilled? lol

Getting all lined up and singing "The Mommy Song"The kids really started getting into the songs...except for J. He sang all the words, but didn't do the hand motions. I think he took the teacher's orders to "stand still" a little too literally!L enjoyed the show too.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, I know this is late. I didn't have time to blog over the weekend because the hubby was super sick. He was unable to make the one hour drive to San Marcos on Saturday for our oldest niece's birthday party (she just turned 11...I feel so old!), and unable to go to church with me and the boys Sunday morning. NO FUN! But a BIG thanks to Grammy & Papa for driving up Sunday morning and meeting the boys and I at church...at 9 a.m. It was nice to have my own Mom with me since my hubby could not be there - and nice to have the extra hands & help!

Even though my husband missed out on most of the festivities of the weekend, he did manage to have J give me a present on Sunday afternoon. Complete with three cards from him, J and L! Even though I love my present (more on that below), the cards were so special too. J wrote my name on the envelope of his card and his name on the inside. That is a great present right there!

I was sad when I realized that evening that I didn't get one picture of me with the boys. These things happen when the family's routine is a bit off. At least I have the sweet picture at the top from our recent photo shoot. Oh, and I have my present - my new phone! I might be having too much fun with it. Who needs a big computer when I have this (in white) --

Happy (late) Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms, grandmothers and mommies-to-be in our lives! We love you all!

To Grandmother's House We Go...(Or Nana & Papa D in this case!)

This past weekend, we loaded up the boys and headed to Dallas for some time with Nana & Papa D. J was so excited about going to their house - except for the drive. He is now officially in the "are we there yet" phase. It started in Georgetown and lasted until we got to Dallas. About every 15-30 minutes he would ask "How much longer?" or "Are we in Dallas yet?" It made hubby and I extremely envious of the good ol' days, when kids didn't have to be strapped into carseats and could lay in little beds in the back of the car made up by their mom & dad. Sigh. Of course, we know now that wasn't very safe, but we survived, right? ;)

Anyway, we arrived just in time because about an hour after unloading, the sky turned black and the storms hit North Texas. We were SO glad we didn't have to drive in that - high winds (the storm that took down the Cowboy's practice field) and lots of rain, thunder and lightening would NOT have been fun on the road. Luckily, Nana was prepared for some indoor fun, and she and J went to work making some brownies. Make that LOTS of brownies.

Nana & J at work on the brownies (which were so yummy btw).

J taking a rest from stirring (note the window - that looks right out into the backyard. See how black it was? It was only 3:30 in the afternoon!)


We celebrated an early Mother's Day with Nana on Sunday morning.

L loved Nana & Papa D's new floors. He could really get some traction and crawled all over the place. Of course, big brother wanted in on the fun.

I'm not sure what J was looking at, but he was having fun playing with his daddy's toy fishing pole. Nana saved several of Daddy and Aunt J's toys for playtime.

I cannot believe we didn't manage to get one picture with Papa D and both boys. Especially because they were all matching in red on Sunday. Good thing since we headed to Campisi's for lunch that day. No worries about spilling spaghetti (or pizza) sauce on your shirt when you are wearing red!!! Even L tried some spaghetti there. It was delicioso!

Thanks for a great weekend Nana & Papa D. The boys had so much fun, and I think the hubby and I came home about 5 lbs heavier. But we're not complaining!

Happy 10 Months Baby Boy!

The months continue to fly by at the McD Casa. Saturday marked L's 10 month birthday. In the time between April 2nd and May 2nd, L has learned MANY new things. I forgot how much babies grow and develop at this stage. It seems that he is literally doing and trying new things every single day. It is such an exciting time - yet I find myself wishing he wouldn't grow up so fast! (The smushy bear photo is coming - we spent this weekend with Nana & Papa D and I have more pictures to download!)


L's Top Ten New Tricks List
In honor of his Ten Month Birthday

10. Staying in Bible Class without crying - he made it all class long for the first time this month

9. Yum, table food - L has tried BBQ chicken, spaghetti, baked chicken, peas, potato - pretty much anything we think he'll like that doesn't have cheese/milk in it

8. Speaking of food, he likes most anything, but if he doesn't, he'll hold up his hand or one finger and shake his head "no"

7. Waves bye-bye - and thinks it is funny

6. Claps with his feet - o.k., he's done this for a really long time, I just keep forgetting to get video of it and don't want to forget that he does it!

5. Answers to his name with a little "Huh or Uh?" (soooooo cute)

4. Shoots baskets on his little basketball hoop (see picture at the bottom of list)

3. Saying new words - our current repertoire includes (but is not limited to) Dada, Mama, All Done, No Good, Ball, Buh-Bye and something that sounds like Jacob (see #8 - he doesn't say no, but shakes his head no a lot. great.)

2. Crawling as fast as a little bug on the floor - AND finally starting to lift that belly off the floor a bit. It's a lot to lift people!

1. Finally trying to pull up to standing - in the bathtub of all places!!!!

We sure love this little boy. He is so lovable and funny. He and his big brother have really started having fun together - rolling a ball back and forth, laughing at J's silly jokes, even watching "baby tv" together, as J calls it (Baby Einstein videos). So even though I know there are things I'll miss about the tiny baby stage, it is so exciting to see how much fun the boys are already having being brothers. J has been waiting patiently for L to be big enough to roll that ball back!!!