Sophia's First Day of Pre-K

My sweet Little Miss is off Pre-K. (Yes, this happened at the first of September, buy hey, at least I am getting a post up about it in the same month!)

School was supposed to start on a Monday and we had sickness hit our house, so Sophia missed the first two days, but was able to make it on the 3rd day. 

She has been so excited for Pre-K. When John went off to Kindergarten, she just couldn't understand why she couldn't go to school that day either. So far she is loving it and is excited to go everyday. It is hard to believe that this is her last year of Preschool and then she will be a big Kindergartner. Ugh...I don't even want to think about that yet. 

Moving on..

Notice - she doesn't have a dress or skirt on in these pictures. Unbelievable, right? We had a really cute dress for her first day of school but it was cold the day she went, so she decided to go with her "super hip" sweater and black leggings. Her words to me was "Mom, this is a cool outfit."

Love this girl SO much! 

Apple Orchard

We visit the Big Red Barn to go apple picking every year. This year, I was afraid that we wouldn't get to take our annual trip because of busyness and I was afraid that if  we did get to go, we would get there late in the season and the trees would be bare. We did an impromptu trip after a soccer game one Saturday and luckily the trees were still full of apples! It was a great time and John's friend, Grady, got to come along with us. 

The baby is crying at the moment and ready to eat...and quite frankly, I am afraid I don't know when I will get back to this post. As you can see in the first picture - we got A LOT of apples. So I hope you enjoy the pictures of our fun apple picking day.

Nora's Dedication

So I know that there are a TON of pictures in this blog post; however, you have to look at them in this order, especially the pictures of the actual service. The facial expressions of my children are priceless. John even has his shirt lifted at one point while on stage! Enjoy!! 

Nana LeAnn came to help celebrate Nora's dedication. Thanks for driving up Nana!

Look at those sweet eyes!

When I see this, I try not to think about wrestling my children to actually dress up. Wait...not my children - MY SON - who refuses to "be fancy". I did get a button up shirt on him, which he kept unbuttoned and wore a baseball shirt underneath. But in this picture, don't they all look put together and sweet. :) Never a dull moment in this household.

 Okay so here is the service...

Good news is that we all ended up on stage in front of our church family and was able to dedicate Nora. We have dedicated all of our children at Lakeland, but for some reason, this dedication really touched me. (Wait that sounds bad...they all were special but this one was a little different...just keep reading...)

Anyway -

We have been at Lakeland for 6 years. We have become part of this community and this community has become an influential piece in my children's lives, my husband's life and my life. We now have a child upstairs in Kid Zone, a child in Early Childhood and then a baby in the nursery. The upstairs classes are a new chapter in our lives. It is becoming very clear that the things that are taught stick with my kiddos. We are starting to see the conversations and the time that volunteers have committed to with our children have stuck in their little minds. 

As Dan asked the congregation questions about helping raise my sweet Nora and being committed to being influential in her little life, I knew that it wasn't just a "yes". It is more of a "hell yes!" because that is what Lakeland people do. They step in when necessary. They pray daily. They take their roles seriously and work hard at making our children know what being a Christian really is. They are committed.

And I don't know about you, but this parenting thing is hard and I am glad that I have people in my life who will help me figure it out. 

Nora is 4 Months Old!

Hard to believe that my little sweet pea is 4 months old. I have packed away Newborn and 0-3 month clothes. It is a bittersweet feeling to think that I won't have another little one to wear those clothes. But at the same time, I don't have to store them anymore! Here is a few things about Miss Nora:

- Nora has a voice! She likes to be heard and has figured out that she has to be loud in this family. 

-This girl is still so smiley!

-She has taken an interest in food. She just stares at our food if we are eating while she is watching us.

-She is doing great at tummy time. She is trying to push that upper body up with her little arms. 

-She is so DROOLY. Her clothes are wet all the time.

-She loves to be talked to. 

-She loves watching TV, but especially baseball.

-We are about 50/50 on the sleeping through the night. 

-She greets me with a sweet smile every morning when she wakes up.

-She has a little friend, named Charlie, at Mrs. Jewel's house. They hold hands if they are next to each other. 

-When you lay her down, she has learned how to move herself around 180 degrees and sometimes more than that.

-She is working on and getting close to rolling over from back to front. 

Look at those dimples. I LOVE them!!

I caught her talking, I mean yelling, one morning in her Mama Roo. She makes herself known in a room. 

Ballet Class

Well, we have found something Sophia enjoys - BALLET!

This girl was so excited last night when she went to bed. This morning she woke up, ready to go to dance class. While driving to dance class, she was repeating "ballet words" she has learned from Fancy Nancy books. 

Mrs. Jewel dressed her at her house and painted her fingernails. (P.S. I love Mrs. Jewel. She loves my kids like they are her own. We are SO lucky to have this wonderful lady.) So Sophia was ready to go when Matt picked her up. 

We did a quick car switch - Me, Nora, and Sophia off to Ballet - Matt and John off to a soccer game.

She waited patiently in the waiting room for her teacher to come. The teacher came and off she went. No hesitation at all. I got to peek in the door and she looked so beautiful standing in the middle of the room doing her poses. 

She came out looking so proud. 

When I asked her details - she gave me none. When I asked her what her teacher's name was, she replied with "I don't remember. Let's call her Rapunzel." 

I asked her "Did you like it?" 

Her reply was "I LOVED it." 

Sold - I will be a dance mom if I get to see that sweet smile and those precious eyes the way they looked when she came out of the room. 

As we sat at dinner, after ballet and soccer, I had a feeling of fullness. I know my life is completely crazy and I pack way to much into it. This is something I am working on. But let me tell you - to hear my son tell me about the two goals he scored, my sweet Sophia telling me how much she loves ballet, and my little Nora smiling and chattering away - it is all worth it. We are so blessed. 

Nora is 3 Months Old...and a few days

Miss Nora is 3 months old! Here is what she's doing:

*She smiles at anyone who looks her way. You will probably get a giggle if you start talking to her.

*She has really started being vocal. She loves to "talk".

*She still loves her siblings and they LOVE her.

*She still hates the car seat.

*She is still a happy spitter.

*She is sleeping through most of the night (10:30 to 5:30am - with a usual popping the pacifier in her mouth about 3:30am)

*She loves to sit up and loves being in the Bumbo seat.

*She usually wants to have a conversation between switching sides when she is feeding.

*She has a made a new friend at Mrs. Jewel's house.

*She has started interacting with her toys. She bats at them and grabs them.

Oh this chunk of love...I just can't get enough of her! She is such a good baby. We went to the lake this last weekend and she was so good! She let everyone hold her, she slept on the boat, and smiled and cooed all weekend.