A month of firsts

The month of August has been a month of firsts in my house, all of which have been fun and exciting! We started off the month with Caiden's first birthday party with friends and his first trip to Chuck E Cheese. Unfortunately, only one of his friends was able to make his party, but that didn't dampen the day for him. They both had a blast playing games, climbing in the play area, dancing with Chuck and getting in the ticket blaster booth to catch a bunch of free tickets. It was a ton of fun and we will be going back again!

In the middle of the month, Caiden had another first...and this one was a BIG one. Caiden had his first day of Kindergarten on a Thursday. The day before we found out which teacher he had and which classroom. He actually got the teacher he wanted, which I was shocked about. He also got to meet the other Caden in his class. We dropped off all his supplies, I filled out some paperwork and we were ready for the next day. I didn't sleep very well that night, worried about his first day. He was so excited to go, I dropped him off at the before/after care that morning with no tears! On Friday the other half of the new Kindergartners had their first day, so we didn't go back until Monday. Well....Monday was harder. He loves Kindergarten, but he isn't so fond of the before and after care as of yet. I think it is just overwhelming for him. What can I say, he takes after Mommy. Meeting new people is tough and it stinks to be somewhere where there are a ton of people you don't know. Of course, every night when I come get him, he is happy and having a good time. Every day has gotten better and Friday was a pretty quick and painless drop off. Then comes the weekend and two days of not going. We'll see how this Monday goes.

Bennett had a first this month too. He got his first try of baby cereal. Why so late you ask? Only because it took so long to get his 4 month check-up done. By the time we made it to the doctor, he was 5 1/2 months old! But he really likes it and does very well with it, as long as he isn't tired. Caiden took a few pictures of Bennett's first bites for me.

Finally, our whole family made our first trip to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL and the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, IL. Then when we were done, we stop and visited uncle Garett and aunt Jen's house. It was a busy but fun day!

If you have made it through all of this, CONGRATS! It has been a busy month for this busy Mom. Hoping to post a little more often now, but that remains to be seen!

Changes...

In less than 2 weeks we will be moving into this house! Beautiful isn't it? I'm super excited!! The move will be the first of a few changes in our family. I'm hoping the Caiden will adjust well to his new room. In his new room he will have a new twin sized bed. Right now, he is still in a toddler bed, but when we move, we will finally get to set up the crib for Bennett, so we will need the crib mattress from Caiden's toddler bed. I'm hoping he will adjust to both of these changes pretty quickly.

Then in August will be our next big change. Caiden will leave the daycare he is in now and begin Kindergarten in his new school, in the school district we are moving into. Which means he will not know anyone. We toured his new school a couple of weeks ago and I think he was pretty excited. We'll see what he thinks when the day comes. I am dreading it, because I still remember what it was like when he started his new daycare/preschool a year ago. But of course, I don't tell him this! And of course I am sad because my first baby is going off to school. I think I'm going to have to take the whole day off to recover! On the plus side, the school is less and a mile away from our house! YAY!!

And then there is Bennett. I now have to start the mission to find a new in-home daycare for him as well. I am dreading this. I was really hoping I would never have to do this search again. Yuck. But the little booger is growing like a weed. Today I have him in an outfit that is size 6/9 months and it fits perfectly. He is 2 days shy of 3 months old!! At his 2 month checkup a couple of weeks ago, he was 13 pounds 2 ounces!! He is a healthy guy, that's for sure. Also had his 2 month pics taken about a week ago. They turned out adorable!! This one made me laugh out loud when I saw it, and seems to be many people's favorites.

What a week

Midway through my first week home as a mommy of two has gone pretty smoothly. What a difference it makes to have daddy home. Next week when he goes back to work could be interesting. Caiden isn't real excited about going to school right now, but I think it's because he knows we are at home. Once he gets there, he enjoys it.

And speaking of school, Daddy stayed home with Bennett this morning and I went on my first outing since Bennett joined our family. After taking Caiden to school and a quick trip to Wal-Mart, I stopped by the elementary school and picked up the paperwork to register Caiden for Kindergarten. I want to cry just thinking about it (and it has nothing to do with hormones, I swear). My baby going to school! If you remember, back in August of last year I started him in a new daycare center/preschool. It was rough going for the first couple of weeks, and I dread doing that all over again for Kindergarten. I'm hoping to send him to the same school as one of his preschool buddies so he at least knows one person.

Bennett is doing wonderful. A nurse came to our home on Monday to check up on him and me, and we both passed with flying colors. He is back up to 8lbs 10 oz after being down to 8lbs 6oz the day we left the hospital. He is letting mommy get about 4 hours of sleep at a time at night, which is AWESOME. I cannot complain one bit about it. It is still tough getting up in the middle of the night, and when he does get up, he stays awake for about 2 hours before he goes back to sleep, but still, I get FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP AT ONE TIME!! For those of you who don't know, when Caiden was a baby, he didn't sleep at night, at all. He would finally fall asleep between 5 and 7 in the morning.

So, all in all, it has been a wonderful week so far!

Yes, I'm still alive!!

In case any of you were wondering, I am still alive, and I am still pregnant!! I really got out of blogging mode for quite a while. Sorry about that. I don't know how often I will update in the near future, but hopefully more than once every 2 or 3 months!

So...update on me. I am currently 37 weeks pregnant, and ready to be done! I have been much more comfortable this time than I was when I was pregnant with Caiden, but I'm starting to get sore, and I'm always tired. But, there is an end in sight. I have a C-Section scheduled for March 2nd...2 weeks from tomorrow!! The pic on the right is from a week ago, so I was 36 weeks pregnant. Caiden is super excited for the baby to come. Every time I tell him how many days are left until the baby comes, he tells me he hates that number because it is too big LOL.

Caiden is doing well in school...usually. I have started getting letters about him starting Kindergarten in the fall...I just can't decide what to do. I need to talk to his teacher and see if she thinks he is ready. They offer something called AK here, which is basically Kindergarten, but it is only for 1/2 a day. Since he has only been in a structured setting for a year and he is a July baby, I'm thinking that this might be the option for him. I need to find out if his daycare is able to pick him up mid-day though. I don't know if they have any other AK students there.

What else is new? Not much, just trying to get through these last two weeks of work. Then it is 8 weeks off of working outside the home, and the beginning of sleepless nights, diapers, bottles and all of the snuggly fun that comes with a new baby!