More Summer...

We had a wonderful visit with Nana and Grandaddy. We did a lot of sitting on the porch, a lot of swimming, and a lot of relaxing. We all enjoyed the new rocking chairs and porch swing.





Please come again soon, Nana and Granddaddy!


Colby had his first swim lesson here, and it went pretty well. It's definitely not as good as the old swim school, but then again, I don't think anything will measure up to that. However, it's obvious that the hours of traveling to and from the old lessons paid off....Colby swam a full length of the pool backstroke! I almost fell off of my chair- I had no idea he could do that. Our old lessons were in a short pool, so he really did not get to challenge himself with distance. If he can also swim a length freestyle, he can qualify for a year round swim team in the Fall. They usually don't take kids under 6, but they do occasionally. I guess the real question is if Colby wants to do it....this is where parenting can get tricky because I'm not sure when to push and when to let him make the decision. (however, if I had not pushed at all, he's still be afraid of the water!)

Miller will begin her Morgan Swim school class on Monday. This basically means they will teach her to swim in 8 days....I hear there might be tears, but that it's very effective. I will post an update on that soon.

I just received Colby and Miller's class picture in the mail. We miss our old school, and I think I miss it as much as Colby does. He had a year of ups and downs, but it ended on a positive note.


Miller's class photo was taken on our moving day, and the movers took away the box that had her picture outfit inside. The only thing left to wear was a yellow sweatshirt and jeans. I was so sad that morning when I realized she might look like a boy. And, well, she does look a little androgynous. Oh well! (Whoever took this photo needs to find another day job....I mean, seriously)

Summer!!!

Finding time to update the blog is becoming very difficult. I usually need a good chunk of time, but with school over and camp not yet starting, that just does not exist. I've decided to just post some pictures and not worry about how I'm writing or my lack of creativity....I just need to lay out the facts. So here it goes.

I forgot my camera over Memorial day at the mountains, so everything was taken with my phone. It was the first time it almost felt like a vacation with the kids, and a big thanks to Nan for all the cooking and cleaning she did for us. I didn't get pictures of Homer and Emily or Pop, but they were there, too!

On the first night, we took the kids on a hayride....


And we stopped to roast marshmellows....


And make s'mores.


This boy loves his s'mores!


The next day, we headed for the pool. This is the Summer for terrible photos- Miller has mastered the fake squinty smile, and Colby loves to give a tough guy pose.


Miller loved swinging with Nan. (this happens to be the only photo where she isn't "smiling")


We watched fireworks over the mountains at sunset. Not a bad ending to the day.


In other news, Miller picked out some Dora underwear, which she proudly wore for about 30 minutes until she peed in them. Then it was back in her diaper. We are so scared to force the potty training. A quick look back in the blog reminds me of that!


The kids will begin summer camp at their new school in a week- hurray! We went to visit and met their teachers, and they seem to love it. (Please, Miller, do not say "cheese"....)


I am thrilled with Colby's teacher for next year; I think making him repeat a year of preschool is the right decision. They teach reading and math at this preschool, so he will be challenged. The delima I'm facing is what I will do with Miller when she is turning 5. Do I put her in early and only have them one grade apart? That seems strange. But, she already knows all of her letters and can count up to 25, so something tells me she'll be ready. I know I don't need to worry yet, but it seems like giving kids an extra year can be a really good thing. From what I'm hearing, no one ever regrets giving them an extra year, but lots of people regret sending them young.

Colby is really starting to feel comfortable and make some friends here. In the car the other day, he said to me "I like it here, mom." I almost cried. He has had such a hard time, and it's so wonderful to see him having fun and playing with friends. Our neighborhood has so much going on, and that helps. Every Friday, there is a gathering on the main common area where adults bring food/beverages, and the kids run around like crazy.

Last night, they had a family camp out on the common area. There were about 30 tents set up, and this was ours.


We decided that Lee and Colby would camp, and Miller and I would sleep at the house. Miller hung in there until about 8:30, so we walked home to head for bed. This is the photo I snapped on the way back.


Colby wore his headlamp, so I could see his little light running around from our master bedroom window. He had a blast, and I do not understand how he keeps going and going. He spent 4 hours in the pool during the day at a birthday party, and he ran around last night until 10 PM when he finally crashed, and he was back up at 6AM.

Meanwhile, Miller had another bad dream, and I had to comfort her and tell her that Colby was not, in fact, trying to steal her chocolate cake. Miller has very vivid dreams, and at least once a week, she will SCREAM at the top of her lungs. We always sprint into her room, thinking she has fallen out of bed. When we get in there, she is still asleep and tells us something that has to do with food and her brother. First it was "Colby took my pizza!" and then a few nights later "Colby took my ginger snap!" and then last night "Colby took my chocolate cake!" The poor girl was cursed with a devilish sweet tooth and a brother who taunts her. Of course she's going to combine the two in her dreams for the ultimate nightmare.

That's about all the happenings for now. Nana and Granddaddy are coming to visit this week- we can't wait!!

Memorial weekend

We just got back from a very fun Memorial day weekend at the mountain house with Nan, Pop, Homer and Emily. We swam, went on a hayride, made s'mores, saw fireworks, and did a lot of sitting on the porch. I forgot my camera, but I did take some phone pictures, so I will post some soon.

Today was our first day at the pool here in our neighborhood. Colby met up with his friend Noah, and they terrorized each other (and a few innocent bystanders) with toy water shooters. Colby is doing really well with his swimming, and if he can work on taking a breath during freestyle, I think he'll be ready for the swim team next year.

Miller had a scary moment at the pool today. She was playing in the water with Lee nearby, and she grabbed onto the divider rope to go under it. Somehow, her legs came out from under her, and she was trapped under the water beneath the rope. I suppose she could have let go, but she doesn't know how to swim, so that just wasn't her instinct. She also could have put her feet on the ground, but somehow that wasn't instinct, either. Lee saw her pretty quickly, and her head was under the water and she was struggling. When she came up, she was hysterical, and she wanted to be wrapped in a towel and held for a while.

Tonight at dinner, she was telling me about what happened. She said "I grabbed onto the rope and I went under the water like this:" and then she proceeded to try and show me what happened. And then she said "I was in trouble."

That seemed like such a profound statement to me. She knew, even at not even 3 years old, that her life was in danger. Then she said "I'm not going to do that again." Not much gets by this girl!

Two wheels!

At age 4 and 10 months, Colby has now mastered riding his bike without training wheels. He's been riding a bike with training wheels since age 2 1/2, and I've been trying to teach him to ride it without training wheels since he turned four. If only I had known how easy it was to teach him, he would have learned a long time ago.

First, we removed the training wheels and pedals from his very first (and tiny) bike. We lowered the seat all the way down and told him to push off with his feet. We told him to learn to balance on this so that he could glide across the driveway without putting his feet down. It took a few minutes of trying, but he caught on very quickly.


After 2 days on his "balance bike", we ripped off the training wheels off his bigger bike and off he went.


Miller is now practicing on her own balance bike. I predict she'll be riding a two wheel bike at age 3.


Colby also got his first 2 wheeled scooter, which he uses to scare the bejesus out of me by traveling at lightening speed.


Miller has taken over the 3 wheeled scooter.


We took a trip last weekend to visit Chip, Jen, Cooper, Zach and Braden- it's nice to only be about an hour away.

Colby and Braden take their nerf wars very seriously.


After a fun day of playing, we got Colby and Miller dressed for bed and had one last picture.


It was a great time for all, and we're going to try and make it a regular thing. Colby and Miller have so much fun with their cousins!!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

but unfortunately, I didn't have the heart (or the time) to take one.

The first missed photo-op was today on the playground. I was talking to other moms, and all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I didn't see Miller. I stopped and looked, and I didn't see her. I walked around the other side of the play structure, and there was my baby girl....her little hands gripping two high bars for dear life as her body dangled from the top of the play structure. She didn't muster a sound, as I'm sure all her energy went into holding on. I'm not sure how she got in that position, but if she had let go, she would have fallen a few feet. Not enough to get seriously hurt, but far enough to feel like she was really really high in a two year old's mind. I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose, but she sure as heck wasn't going to let herself fall, either. I sprinted to her and rescued her, and she broke down in tears. I have no idea how long she had been hanging, but we were both so thankful I found her just in time. (if it hadn't been so scary for her, it would have been a great picture)

Second missed photo-op:

We've (or maybe I've) been bragging about Miller's wonderful transition to the big girl bed. "She doesn't get out", "She stays in bed", "she's so trustworthy" etc. etc.

Usually, before we go to bed, one of us will go in there to check on her. Often, her head is at the bottom of the bed, her feet are towards the pillow, and there's a book buried somewhere. So we flip here around, tuck her in, and get her bears and binkie within reaching distance.

Tonight, as we were watching TV, we decided to check on her early because she was coughing and whining a little bit. When I went in there, I could not believe my eyes. There were books scattered all over her floor. And Miller, poor sweet coughing Miller, was sprawled out face down on the hardwood floor snoozing away with books all around her.

This could be the beginning of the end. She got out of bed AFTER we tucked her in. And she didn't tell us. And she was quiet as a mouse. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

We're here and Easter pics

We're in the new house! Hurray! We've been here for 2 weeks, and we're mostly unpacked (but just not decorated). We had planned a nice move-in weekend where the kids would stay with Nan and Pop while we unloaded, but wouldn't you know, Colby came down with the stomach flu the night we moved out of our house. He hadn't thrown up since he was 2 1/2, so this was some crazy timing. He ended up staying with Lee in Richmond while I dealt with the movers and unpackers. Unfortunately, things got worse before they got better, and he spent a night in the hospital getting an IV and some anti nausea medicine. After 4 days in Richmond, the rest of the family came back to join me at the house.

Other than that, the transition has been pretty smooth and we are loving our new town.

Miller is now sleeping in a big girl bed



Both Miller and Colby are enjoying their new school, and there are lots of kids their age in the neighborhood.

Today is Easter, and the candy really put the kids in the mood for a photo shoot. Nan, Pop, and Peepie Miller also came for brunch and we all had a great time visiting.

Here are some of the Easter photo highlights.

Goodbyes

Wow, so when you've gone this long without posting, is there even a point in saying "We're moving in 2 days"? Well, we're moving in 2 days. I've been feeling a lot of things: happy, sad, excited, stressed....I guess that's all normal. The packers started today, and they will finish and begin loading the truck tomorrow. It's really happening. I can't believe it. The house wasn't finished as of yesterday, so they are busting their butts trying to get it ready for us.

Colby and Miller are excited about the move, especially because they've been told they will have some new toys at the house. I'm feeling sad for Colby because he has a lot of good friends here, and it makes me very sad to see him to say goodbye to them. His friend and neighbor Megan, who he spends most of his time with these days, wrote him this letter today:

Dear Colby,

I will come over soon. I will miss you. I hope you like your new house. I will miss you. I love you. I'm going to marry you. I want to see you soon.

Love, Megan