Preschool Day TWO

Ok, I swear I wont post something EVERY time she goes to Preschool... but this was day two. She LOVES it, seriously loves it. And she learned SO MUCH on day one, it was incredible! Anyway - we did bump her to 3 days a week so she wont miss all the fun on friday's. I'm still having a hard time grasping that I have a Preschooler... I'll get it one of these days :-)

Thanks for all the prayers and questions about the job front - Aaron is still searching and when there is big news I PROMISE I will let you all know! Till then, the prayers are still much needed and appreciated.

Onto day two pictures :) Can you believe that I spaced getting pictures of us with our baby on her first day?? I'm making up for it ;)

First Day of Preschool! **updated with PICTURES!**

It went by with a blur...

Pulling into the parking lot I asked Emma "Are you ready?" and her reply was "Ready to meet all my new friends!!" so precious. When we walked in the front doors of the building she took off running and ran clear into her classroom. She could hardly stand still for pictures and by the time we (the whole family went:) ) left she was surrounded with about 3 or 4 little friends.

I worried all day :) Did she eat her lunch? Was she being nice and sharing? Did she nap during quiet time? Is she listening to her teacher? Does she miss playing with Jake? Does she miss ME? :) Will she hate it and not want to go back (ok, not very likely)? Who is she playing with? What is she doing? Did she fall and scrape her knee? (and sure enough she did..) I refrained several times from calling Debbi (secretary) and have her go check on her... I held it all back and patiently waited to go pick her up.

Thankfully and a bit surprisingly, she ran to greet us ( I actually thought she would cry because she had to go home!!) and was anxious to come home and see Jake, who stayed home napping with Papa Ken.

We live a little over 5 minutes from school, and about half way home we looked back to see a sound asleep little girl ;) Nope, she didn't nap during quiet time, but the teacher said she was very close! And yes, she did scrape her knee (note the gigantic band aide on her knee in her picture with her teacher), but we knew that was probable! And nope, I don't think she missed us one bit! She was busy making friends and playing, which is exactly what she should have been doing.

I am a bit mad at myself that I didn't get better pictures, but you know, I was more worried about giving my baby girl all the attention she wanted and needed on this very big and special day. Happy first day of school Princess!!

(dance recital pictures soon to come, so check back often!)

(cutest kids ever!!)

Emma's first year of PreSchool, Kylie's second year of PreSchool

She Y's her Teacher!!

First Artwork!! *now proudly displayed on the fridge!*

And by the time we got home...

already???

(I typed this up last night but it wouldn't post...we are about to leave- will post lots of pictures later!!)

So this is it.

This is what it feels like when your first baby goes to school??

It stinks!!

For the past few weeks I have been just as excited as Em (ok, maybe not JUST as excited, but close). So happy that she will be making new friends, getting into a more structured routine, being able to play, craft, sing and so on. But this weekend it hit me. My BABY is growing up and I don't like it! So tonight as I wait for the dryer to buzz and tell me her first day of school outfit is ready - I have to come and vent here. I will miss her, and I KNOW that Jake will miss her. Pretty sure even wild black cat will miss her. Ok, ok - so she will only be going 2 days a week (maybe 3) but it still feels weird. Do you want to know how {NOT} prepared I am? I ran to the store at 8pm tonight because I completely missed the fact that I will be packing lunches for the girl now!!

So this evening as Emma sat on the couch and ate her banana before heading to bed, I snapped this cute picture, and told her a million times that I love her to the moon and back. Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow is the first day of Preschool!

On The {GO}

Just in case anyone was wondering if Jake really is up and walking - here he is in action. This kid is on the {GO} ALL THE TIME! Into everything and already running. Days are filled just trying to keep him out of drawers (yes, even with child locks), off of chairs, little hands away from tops of tables... it's a daily adventure around here!

...could he be ANY cuter?? :-)

quick sneak peek

Quick sneak peek of the photo session I had last night! I'm B.U.S.Y, and I'm loving it! Last Tuesday I went to McCall to do a family reunion session (7 families!), last night was a 6 month baby shoot, and Sunday I have TWO senior portrait sessions!!

Anyway, a sneak from last night...

{cherished} times

It was so amazingly GREAT to have so much family in our home over the past week and a half. Grandma Gayle flew in on a sunday and stayed till the following monday - the kids LOVED every minute of it, and so did Aaron and I! We even got to sneak away for a quick date night!

Matt and Elizabeth (and of course lil' miss Ava) even made it over for a couple of days. I just adore my cute little niece and fun times are always had when Matt and Elizabeth come around.

Emma getting some love from Grandma Gayle and Auntie Elizabeth

The way these two played was just TOO cute!! Emma loves her baby Ava. I am so in love with this picture!!!

And of course Jake, this was just a candid shot, he loves to snuggle (when he's not on the go) and it was so cute because he just kept inching closer and closer to Auntie Elizabeth. What a sweetheart that boy is.

Pool time! With a few extra friends that stopped by! Emma was in heaven having some girls her age to play with!

Oh how I love this picture of Emma giving her Great Grandpa B kisses. They are just the best of buds and it is SO cute to watch them together.

Little miss Ava giving me a stare down! Such a cutie!!

{THANK YOU} everyone for coming, we had so much fun. Come back soon!

ZOOtime

Miss E loved being the leader and telling us where we were on the map...

Jake thought the monkey was SO funny
Love my lil' family
Emma was even directing the penguin on which way to go. Such a smarty pants :)
Some lovin' for my little man. His cheeks are so cute and pink:)

We L.O.V.E.D having G'ma Gayle here to visit!!! (honest to goodness she went to the zoo too, I have more pictures to prove it!) Emma was in heaven, and Jake thinks she is pretty special too! ;)

Hopefully more pictures to come, but today I was in McCall doing some portraits for a large family reunion, so since I have 600+ photos to sort through and edit - I may be gone for awhile!!

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare
and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so.
One day I shall dig my nails into the earth,
or bury my face in the pillow,
or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want,
more than all the world,
your return.

-Mary Jean Irion

hello?

Where have I been and what have I been up to? Here's the low down:



* We are all enjoying Grandma Gayle who flew in from Loma Linda last sunday! She has been spending lots of time spoiling the kiddos and us! Emma absolutely adores her Grandma Gayle and asks every morning "What are we doing today with Grandma Gayle?" When she is with us, Emma makes sure she is sitting by her, walking beside her, and pretty much doing everything she does. It's so precious.



* I had a little sewing project last week.... can't wait to show you!!! I'll give you a hint... my camera looks pretty sweeet. Until I get up pictures of that lil' project, I'll show you a funky pair of earrings I made for someone super awesome -





* I said goodbye to my kitty of 8 years. She was getting cranky with the kiddos and so sensitive to what she ate (that's the nice way to say she was throwing up everywhere). I knew I had to put my kids first - but saying good bye was like losing a best friend. Miss you Abby :(



* Since I did say good bye to Abby, what was once the 'gross cat room/storage closet' right by the laundry room is currently being transformed into a little crafty nook. We haven't seen the top of our kitchen table in far too long, so this is a long overdue project. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. I even took before pictures!! Impressed?? You should be!



* Most of Wednesday was spent at the zoo - SO FUN (I will post pictures soon!)

* I went old school and pulled out my VHS {yea baby} Tae-Bo videos from college and have popped them in a few times this past week - I'm going to be making a more dedicated effort to shedding ALL (ok, at least a lot of it) of this kid bulk I'm so tired of carrying around. A few other things I have been doing to work toward that goal include, carrying Jake in the hiking pack and walking with the kids around the neighborhood, biking with the kids in the trailer, and just running around with them in the backyard more frequently.



* Oh Emma loves books, and lately we have been finding her in her room quietly reading - I just love to see this! Though I know (or at least I think!) she's not actually reading them, the funniest part is she most of these books memorized so when she is 'reading' them, it's the right story with the right book!

* Last but most DEFINITELY not least!!! I'm working on an actual WEBSITE {!} for my photography. I would really like to turn this into more than just a hobby where I do friends pictures now and then... SO! If you live in my area - watch for a post on the photo blog SOON about a {SALE} that will help me get the website up and running!

(and now that I'm done I notice all these pictures of Em and none of lil' stud muffin .... I'll put up the zoo pictures soon, he is in a lot of those :) )

It's H.O.T outside, and the kids really wanted to go out... so we threw on swimsuits and I filled up the pool - about half way through I got the brilliant idea to put our play school slide over the edge into the pool. That was a BIG hit! We played for about an hour and decided it was time for lunch and nap! Must have worn Jake out because he is still sleeping... and Em is so groggy I put a movie on for her. Favorite movie choice for Emma lately is Peter Pan, and that's only because Cars is taking a much needed vacation ;-)

Other BIG news around here - little man is {WALKING} !!!!! He started last saturday evening while I was at work. Aaron texted me the cutest lil videos of it... and he's been off and going ever since. Now, I know with Emma I regretted being so excited about her walking... but Jake is a whoppin' 34 pounds, and carrying him ALL the time is getting really old!

anyway, onto the picutre from this morning! And if I can ever sneak some pictures of Jake walking, I'll put them up...

oh and help me decide - the black and white, or the color?? I'm leaning towards the black and whtie.

more of B

more pictures from the photo shoot the other week... just love how they turned out :)

I'm a Barbie Girl..In a Barbie World...

..(sing along!) Life in plastic, it's fantastic...." if you know that song, you were in college about the same time I was! haha... anyway. So on my way home from taking Aaron to work (we are down to one working car... l.o.v.e.l.y, but I am learning to be grateful for what we do have) I, of course, stopped at a garage sale in our neighborhood. I discovered HUGE tubs of Barbies, and picked up two very pretty and new looking barbies for Emma. On our way home she was playing with them and she said "Mom, I think that these barbies look like Auntie Sasha.... AND Auntie Misty too!" So I just have to give props to my awesome and beautiful cousins Misty & Sasha - through a 3 yr old's eyes you guys look JUST like barbies! :-)

**BONUS! While I'm typing this Emma just discovered that the pink dress barbie sings a 'I'm a girl like you' song! oh JOY! How did I pick the one that makes noise?? Totally thought I was scoring on quite toys... haha.