Mills Goes to Preschool

I am so thankful for the opportunity for Mills to attend 3 year old preschool three days a week this year! He enjoys learning and being around others, so this is a great chance for him to get used to being in a school environment.

He was so excited to get to go to school.  He started the day after Mary Kate, so he was ready for mommy paparazzi to come out, hahaha!

Look how big he looks here!

Both kids together on Mills' first day of school.

 Daddy got to go to school on Mills' first day and walked both kids in...how sweet!

 Best picture I could get of him under his class sign.

 All unpacked.

We were asked to write one thing that our child likes to talk about in case they had a difficult time leaving us their parents. 

His teachers this year are Mrs. Michelle and Mrs. Shelly and he goes Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mills really loves being able to learn and play with friends new and old. Like Mary Kate, he loves the playground and music with mommy! Hopefully he will continue to enjoy me teaching him...and hopefully he will learn to sit still!

Mills is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, students in his class, but he's taller than several of the kids who are nearly a year older than him! I think he gets his height from me, hahahaha! I'm afraid his age relative to his grade level, at this point, is highlighting some of the growing pains we are feeling with the transition into a school environment.  Mills is smart and gets very excited, at times, and has a difficult time following directions.  He is just young and has a lot of maturing to do. I am thankful for patient teachers who are loving him through this transition into school! The goal will be for him to get more happy faces than sad faces each week and I think by the end of the first quarter he will be right on track.

We are so proud of him and cannot wait to see how much he grows in many arenas this year!

Mary Kate Starts Pre-K

Even writing this almost four weeks into Mary Kate being in school makes me tear up.  It does not seem like it is time for my baby girl to be in school!  Spending last school year home with her was priceless and I am so thankful for the opportunity, which God provided when I never would have thought it possible!

We went to orientation on Friday, August 2nd and Mary Kate could not wait to see her meet her teachers and see her classroom.  We were excited as well and surprised in the anti-climatic reaction shown when we actually met the teachers and saw the classroom.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed because there were so many people down that hallway!

Monday morning, August 5th, was her first day of Pre-K at First Baptist Academy.  Here teachers are Mrs. Elizabeth and Mrs. Terri.  We went through our now daily ritual of getting ready and then the paparazzi in me came out!  I was armed with my camera for her to hold up her sign, which will be an annual thing, to tell about her grade, school, teacher(s), and what she wants to be when she grows up...The later one is hysterical this year!

 When Mary Kate put on that book-bag for the first time, she was so proud! This is when I really had to fight back the tears.  She looks so big and she really thinks she is grown!

 The picture below is courtesy of Mills. Not too shabby.

 Here she is outside of her classroom, underneath her class sign.

 Here is Mrs. Terri showing Mary Kate her cubby and helping her unpack.  She was so proud.

 The finished product...she did everything all by herself.

Mary Kate hugged and kissed me and was excited, but slightly apprehensive.  After we said our goodbyes, I stepped outside to watch her and make sure she was ok.  She was told to go find a center to play in and went straight to the kitchen and grabbed the vacuum...daddy would be so proud of her!  She was smiling and seemed oh so happy.  I was happy to see her so excited, but I was overcome with the emotion of it all.  I was able to make it back to the van before the tears began to flow.  I was proud of myself for not crying in front of her.  So, as a reward to myself, I stopped by Dunkin Donuts and got a french vanilla cappuccino...decaf of course.

Words cannot express how proud we are of Mary Kate.  She is beautiful, smart, caring, and compassionate and is absolutely loving and thriving in school. Two days into school, she was already writing her name, and doing so with confidence and ease.  She loves going to the library and her favorite, of course, is taking music with mommy...even though she has only had one class with me so far.  I cannot wait to see what all this first year of school has in store for her.  I know that she will continue to grow and thrive and am so thankful for a wonderful place for her to attend as we begin this new chapter in our lives!  

Mills' Three Year Check-up

With another birthday comes another check-up, and it was a good one.  Today, Mills went in for his three year well child check-up.  He was 35.8 lbs-80th percentile and 41.5"-100th percentile.  He has gone through a pretty big growth spurt since last year, growing 3 inches. No wonder everything is so short on him!

He saw Dr. Street and was great while she checked him out.  She talked about how smart he is and listened to questions I had about his activity level.  She reassured me that Mills is young and intelligent and that he will continue to mature with each month.  I am so thankful for a great pediatricians at this practice!  At the end of the appointment, Dr. Street gave Mills a Chuck and Friends truck book, which he already loves!  Our boy just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Mills Turns Three!

I cannot believe that our Lil' Man is three already! It is amazing to me how fast the years fly by!

This year we decided against a big party, for both Mary Kate and Mills, and opted for an opportunity to make a memory. David came up with the great idea of riding an Amtrak train from Atlanta to Toccoa for that experience and Mills was excited about it! 

Friday evening, August 2nd, my parents drive Mills, Mary Kate, and David to the train station in Atlanta. I was not able to ride because I needed to get the van to Toccoa and to feed Madden and I hated I couldn't go, but it would have been a lot on Madden at 2 1/2 months. David was brave to take on this challenge by himself! 

The kids asked tons of questions and were excited about getting on the train. It was running about 30 and their patience was pretty thin. Mills immediately begun talking to a random and rough looking passenger, who kindly conversed with him. Probably the funniest exchange was when the train left the station and Mills told this man they were moving. David tried to get Mills to leave him alone, but he told David, "No! I'm talking to him." Hahaha! They did well overall, but were tired when the train finally arrived in Toccoa at 10:30. Mills was greeted there by Mommy and Madden, Gege and Papa, Nana and Randaddy, and Ana, Evan, Katee, and Brandon. He was so excited to see everyone. What an experience!

The next evening, we had cake and a few presents from family at my grandmother's house. The "party" was capped off with a little playtime on my aunt and uncle's porch...they live next to my grandmother.

Here is a family picture taken at his family party. I am so glad we started this tradition of making sweet memories. Happy Birthday Mills! We love you!!!

Madden Months 1-3

My original plan was to write a monthly update on our sweet boy...fast forward three months later and I'm jut now writing it. Life had been a bit crazy around here lately! 

Madden went to the dr for a checkup at three weeks. He got a great report! He stats were 9lbs 13 oz and 22" long. That means three weeks from birth he gained 1lb 13 oz an grew lengthwise 3". That must be some pretty thick baby milk he's getting!!  At this point, Madden was eating every 2 1/2 hours an was sleeping about 4 hours at night. At 6 weeks, Madden started smiling and what a sweet smile it is!

At two months, Madden went in for his next checkup and his first set of shots. Again he got a great report. Dr. Miller said he was very advanced with his ability to track people/things and his skill at this was more like a four month old...that's my boy! His stats were 14lbs 5.5oz and 25" long. At this point, he was eating every 2 1/2-3 hours and was sleeping around 6 hours at night. At eight weeks, Madden started laughing. Hearing him laugh makes us all laugh!

Now, at three months, Madden continues to thrive! He eats every 3-3 1/2 hours and sleeps 8 1/2-9 hours at night. He can lay on his stomach with his head lifted and kick like crazy! He also has started grabbing his feet. And, who could forget, that he loves his brother and sister and likes to be sung to.

What a difference just three months makes in size. We are so blessed with a sweet and loving baby boy!