Something tells me...

...that if I wore my pants with a sweet embroidered whale...

...or a soccer ball...

...on my tush,

it wouldn't be nearly as cute as it is on him.

Together At Last

This is the first picture ever taken of me with all three kiddos. (And everyone is looking at the camera! What are the chances?)

Ah, the joy of sisters...

(Just in case you haven't kept track, our Christopher will be three-months old this week!)

You're a Kindergarten parent if...

• You get a little lump in your throat on Sunday night, thinking you have to send your child back to school in just a few hours.
• You walk your child to their line-up area every morning, even though they are surely capable of getting to the line on their own.
• You can't imagine the horror of dropping off your child on the street in front of the school, for fear that something could happen between the door of your vehicle and the entrance of the school.
• You're afraid to leave the house during the day just in case the school needs to get a hold of you.
• You freak out at Target when you realize that you've left your cell phone at home..."What if the school is trying to reach me?"
• You freak out when the school actually does call and nearly pack up your sleeping babies in the van to race to your child's rescue before learning it was just a bump on the head.
  
• You watch the clock all day, imagining what your child is doing...lunch, recess, snack, gym, library, art, music, reading, centers, rest...
• You start getting ready to leave for pick-up about 30 minutes before it's necessary.
• You wait, just feet from the exit door, with excitement written all over your face, to see your cherub walk out the door.
• You grin from ear-to-ear when you finally do see your little-one-now-turned-kindergartner; you just can't help it.
• You can hardly wait to rip into the backpack and see what you child accomplished in the 7 hours since you've seen her.
• You grill your little student with countless questions like, "What did you have for lunch?", "Who did you play with at recess?", "Did you learn more letters?", "Did you make any new friends?".
• You fervently hope that your child will answer said questions.
• You ache with this strange sense of loss, even though your child is perfectly healthy, happy, and doing what every 5-year-old does.
• You hear an awful rumor that losing your child to first grade is even more difficult.
• You pray that's just a rumor.
  

Natalie-isms...

In case you haven't been paying attention, I'll tell you that our Natalie is a goof-ball. Truly. She can be a MASSIVE handful and can throw a mean tantrum, but when she's happy, she lights up the house. We haven't told many stories lately, we've been overwhelmed with a kindergartner and a newborn. But here a just a few of Natalie's antics as of late:

*We've been trying to teach Natalie to fold her hands and bow in prayer at meals and bedtime. She's learning...slowly. The other day she finally started following our lead a bit and now she claps wildly when we've said "Amen."

*She was playing a bit in her big sister's room recently and when I told her it was time to leave, she quietly turned her back to me and waved bye-bye to Ally's dolls.

*When her baby brother is sleeping, we often put a finger to our lips and tell her, "Ssshhhh." So now she copies us, smashes her nose with her pointer finger and says, "SSSSSSS."

*In many stores, a bell rings (ding-dong) when a customer enters. Whenever we are in such a store, Natalie screams, "Uh-Oh!" EVERY TIME the bell rings.

*She now says "Hi" to EVERYONE, except for she has no need for the "h," so it sounds like "I." The other day we were enjoying a quick lunch at a fine dining establishment (Target cafe), and there were a few flies that were frequenting our table. Quite annoying. Each time one landed on or near her, Natalie would yell, "I!"

*We have recently learned something new about Natalie. She likes toothpaste! Apparently it's a great snack!

The Three Stooges...

Good things come in threes, right?

Allyson Fox, kindergartner

Life is full of milestones, isn't it?

Today was a big one. I almost titled this post, "Our baby birdie has left the nest," but I know that terminology is supposed to be reserved for when your baby actually leaves home. However, that's how I felt this morning.

The house was quieter, emptier, a little less lively.

But our sweet girl was exactly where she belongs. She was awake and fully dressed by 6:45 and chowed her breakfast just a few moments after it landed on her plate! She was so excited. That helped me deal with the mommy-emotions swirling through my broken heart. She told me I couldn't stay long at school, just long enough to walk her in and say goodbye. Her tummy was nervous, but her smile was huge.

In the end, she had a great day. She surprised me a bit and answered every question I could think of. There were three recesses (huh?), two snacks (seriously?), lunch, rest, gym, music, center time...I'm not being critical (yet), but what time was left for learning? And our picky-eater actually ate a good portion of her lunch (or so she says). (Sorry for the excessive use of parentheses.) (I like parentheses.)

Enjoy the slideshow below and I'll try not to use anymore of those blasted parentheses. (Yeah, right.)