Back to School!

Lily started back at preschool today.  What a big girl!  She's in the big kid's class with older 3 year olds and young 4 year olds.  Her class has 2 teachers and 18 kids!  She was a little nervous, but when she saw her friends, she was fine.  I'm excited because she will be going 3 days a week now.  It helps me to have her busy!

How to properly eat cinnamon toast...

Madeline has come up with the best way to eat cinnamon toast.  It's not the most efficient, but I think it's probably the most fun.

First, you have to put the flat side of the bread up to your mouth.  It's okay if the butter and sugar get all over your face, that's part of the fun.  Stick out your tongue, and try to poke a hole in the middle of the bread.

Go Steelers!

Football season hasn't officially started yet, but we are getting all geared up!  Lily and Madeline have matching cheerleader outfits!

Pictures!!

Here are some pictures I've taken from the last week...

Madeline with cherry residue all over her face!

Cheese!  Madeline LOVES to have her picture taken.  She smiles so big for the camera!

Lily LOVES to hold her little brother.

I think I've got a thumb sucker!  I'm not sure if he's going to keep the habit yet, but he has found his thumb!

Lily asks me to take pictures of her doing this.  I'm not sure what exactly she thinks she's doing, but I take the pictures as instructed.

Cheese!

Another strange position...

Big Trip!

Last week I had a big adventure!!  I loaded up my three kids and we went to Houston to visit my cousin Keri.  Keri lives in The Woodlands and has 3 kids of her own.  Between us, we have 6 kids ages 4 and under.  Emma is the oldest, she'll be 5 next month.  Then Lily and Paige are 3 1/2 (they are 6 weeks apart), Madeline is 19 months, Chase is 6 months and Wyatt is 2 months.  We had so much fun!  My kids did much better in the car than I expected.  All of the girls played so well together.  Getting them to bed was pretty tough the first night, but the second night was much better (thanks to Alex, Keri's husband.  He watched all the kids except Wyatt for several hours and got them all in bed.  So brave!).  I'm so excited that Keri lives so close, I hope we have many more adventures together with our kids!  I took my camera with me, but I didn't take it out and take any pictures!  I'm so glad Keri took pictures, here they are for you to enjoy!

So, the first morning, when I went up to take a shower, Keri was a little sneaky and took some pictures all of the girls.  Keri and Alex both went to ASU, along with most of my family.  Scott and I both went to UofA, anybody from Arizona can tell you that the two schools are rivals.  Well, Keri thought it would be great to get some pictures of my kids in ASU gear, something I would never allow!!  So here they are for you to enjoy!

All the girls cuddled up to watch a movie.

Keri took us to a fun indoor playground.  The girls LOVED it!  Madeline went up into the big playscape when I was getting Wyatt settled down.  Madeline was so proud of herself for being up there!  She stayed up there for a while and had all of the kids in the playground keeping tabs on her.  It was really funny!

Baby Chase, too cute!

My Morning...

Lily LOVES to paint.  All day, every day, she asks me if she can paint.  I let her paint almost every day and she has a variety of types of paints.  This morning, she wanted her poster paints (we call them jar paints).  I set her up painting and then was working on my morning routine (coffee, email, breakfast, etc.).  Today, when she finished painting, she got down from her chair and joined Wyatt and Madeline in the TV room.  The kids were quiet and seemingly settled, so I ran to the bathroom.  When I returned, I found this:

Madeline was standing in the middle of the paint squishing it with her toes and bent over rubbing her hands in it.  I quickly picked her up and buckled her into the booster seat.  Then, I thought I should get a picture!

Notice the paint on her toes and in her mouth!  After I took this picture, but before I got her all cleaned, she rubbed her hands all over her face and in her hair!  It was clear to me that we were headed to the bathroom for a bath!

Austin Ice Cream Festival

Yesterday, we attended the 2nd Annual Austin Ice Cream Festival!  It was HOT!!  We got there when it opened at 10:00 am and had some ice cream right away.  They had several different ice cream vendors.  Our first ice cream was from HEB and it was FREE!  I had to get a cup of Dipping Dots (I love those!).  Lily had to have some cotton candy and Madeline was happy just to run around.  There was a big tent with fans to help keep us cool.  We only stayed for about an hour because it just got too hot.  But, the girls got all of their energy out and took good naps.  Mission accomplished!

Scott with all of the kids (that's Wyatt sleeping in the background)

Wyatt is 2 Months!

I can hardly believe it, but Wyatt is already 2 months old!  On Thursday, August 7th I took him to the pediatrician for his 2 month check up.  He weighs 12 lbs 9 oz (between the 50% and 75%) and is 23 1/2 inches long (90% to 95%).  He is long and lean!  He is very strong and is sleeping so much better!  I couldn't be more proud of my little man.  Here are a few pictures: 

Happy Birthday Scott!

Yesterday was Scott's birthday! I wanted to post this then, but well, things get busy. Here are a collection of some of the pictures over the years. I love you so much sweetie! Happy Birthday!

Our First Date - Skydiving!

Road trip to California - Spring 2001
Christmas 2001 Vineman 2004
Turkey Trot 2004
Lily's Birth 2005
Conroe 2005
Camping 2006
Austin Fit Magazine 2006
Rookie Tri 2006

Madeline 2007
Trip to Virginia 2007
Wyatt's Birth 2008
Relaxing with all of your kids! 2008