September 11, 2013.

We are outside on the jumpy for the first time since we moved in. Ryan is off to his first soccer practice...ever. And I have to keep the little ones busy since they so desperately wanted to go too. This is Colin's first time in the jumpy. He had so much fun!! Permagrin marked his face. :)

Kaitlyn showed him how to do the jumping thing, but since he can't walk yet it wasn't working out as well as she hoped. Colin just crawled around and tried to copy big sister. Really was SO CUTE!

A little random...

Pics of Colin at 10 months and almost 4 teeth.

Pics of Ryan from September -- had to show 2 of his favorite things for a school project. Doggy and Pizza make the top of that list EVERY TIME!
Also, pics of Ryan writing a note to 2 friends from Birmingham who moved away the same time we did. We posted them on Facebook and had fun looking for responses!

Back to School

We took the prerequisite 1st day and 2nd day photos. :)

I got the kids all ready to make their debut at their brand-new preschool. I was excited for them and thought that the school was going to be great for them. The curriculum is strong, the reputation is great, and I loved his teacher upon meeting her at open house the week before. Ryan and Kaitlyn were both excited and seemed eager to get in and see what was going on in their class rooms. There is carpool available, but for this first day, I walked them in. They both followed me with their grown-up looking back packs and went straight to their rooms. They did FABULOUS! They went right in without a backward glance. (truthfully, exactly like I thought they would. They are Definitely OUTGOING children who have never met a stranger)

I was overwhelmed though -- didn't know that EVERY parent (mother and father) drops their child off for the first day. Nor was I aware the everyone would have their camera and video camera and would be in the classroom settling their children in. WOW!! Way different from Birmingham...

I have to say...my children did pretty good for going to a brand new school where they didn't know the layout, the teachers, or one single other class mate. I was a very proud mama!! Even if I did feel a little lacking in the picture documentation category! Ha

 1st day

 2nd day

 colin is going to a different school then Ryan and Kaitlyn. So, this was his first day of school. :)

 We have been going to the beach on Labor Day for the last few years. My brother and sister-in-law have a place at Garden City that we all stay at during that weekend. Since we usually drive in from AL, we tend to go down and bit early to the beach since we haven't been all season. The kids love the beach and they really had a good time this year building sand castles and jumping waves. We saw sharks right in the breakers a few days and that was a little nerve racking, but also a learning experience for the kids and pretty cool to show them. We have to rotate alot about going down to the beach, because with 3 children in 3.5 years, someone is always still taking that morning nap!! Next year is going to be a DREAM! Colin really couldn't decide if he liked the sand or not. It was his first taste of the grainy stuff and he wasn't so sure it was to his liking. Next year will be better, I am sure. I usually try to get a picture of all the cousins, but "The B's" ALL came down with a stomach bug the day before they were supposed to come down. It was so disappointing not to get to spend this time with them. It is our only weekend through the year where we get uninterrupted time. The kids (and us) really missed them. Hopefully since we are here now, we will get to visit more often. :)

Below pics are the ones I got of our children.

The week before Labor Day and preschool starting and I decide that all 3 children need a haircut. For Kaitlyn and Colin this is a first time experience. I went in with all 3 children (by myself) and got everyone up in a chair together. Ryan was an old pro at this. Kaitlyn was an excited ball of energy. She has been wanting  a haircut for months. Colin was a little less sure about the whole experience, but still did superbly considering he was 9 months old and he sat in the chair all by himself. I think they cleaned up pretty well and I think I will take back up next time! Haha

Having 3 kids at the hair place (at their ages) is a little nerve racking!

After baths the night of the haircut. (Colin crawled out of the picture)

If you are wondering what is wrong with Kaitlyn's head -- she fell and busted it open. It happened 3 weeks after we moved in. We were having a fence put in around the side yard to keep the children from the pool and I was in and out of the house on the porch dealing with the installation. Kaitlyn and Ryan were chasing eachother throughout the house in a circle. We had the TV (at the time) on a coffee table. The children had set up their bing bags near the table and were running and throwing themselves into it. Well, after so many tries, the bingbag ended up right BESIDE the table. I didn't notice since I was dealing with workers. Well, on the next round of running an launching at bingbags, came the inevitable thunk of forehead on corner of table. I knew it was bad before she even stood up. There was blood covering her and the bingbag in mere seconds. I grabbed her up and tried to get the blood to stop. ALL the kids are freaking out

Thanksgiving...not so much

We got to Thanksgiving and about 15 minutes later it all came crashing down...

Colin just learned to walk the week before his 1st birthday and was showing off his skills to all of the family. Well, I guess the oven and rolls proved too much of a temptation because before I could even decipher what he was doing, he ran right to the OPEN oven door and put his two sweet little hands down on the 350 degree oven door. He immediately snatched them back, but not before that heat did some MAJOR damage!! Colin screamed for at least 3 hours and finally after being pushed in the stroller up and down the street for what must have been miles, he finally calmed down enough (and all the pain relievers kicked in just enough) to let him fall into a bit of a sleep. When he woke up from the nap, he seemed to be much more comfortable unless you came near his hand and then he would whimper/cry pitifully. It was traumatic to say THE LEAST!!!

We had to take him to the Augusta Burn Center at the recommendation of our pediatrician, Dr. Joey, who just happens to live across the street. We got him to take a look at it on Thanksgiving night and we had an appointment Saturday morning to go in first thing and find out if Colin would need a skin graft. 

Thank goodness, he did NOT. We still had to go back 2 more times though for them to check the bandages and to check in on the recovery. It was awful, but this could have been SO MUCH WORSE! Let's just say that Colin has a healthy appreciation for the oven and heat in general after this. 

 photo I sent to our pediatrician...just happened seconds before...

 Leaving the burn unit

2 weeks later after our last check up at burn center and they decreased the bandage.

I'm your cupcake, Daddy!

Kaitlyn was cracking me up this night when she kept telling Mike that she was his "cupcake" and kept offering him a cupcake from her pajamas. She thought she was so cute!! (and of course, so did we) :)