1st day of 1st Grade

Summer is officially over for Emma. 1st grade started today. We met her teacher on Tuesday and she seems really nice. Emma has a couple friends from last year in her class this year, so that'll be good. Just as she ended last year, she will participate with a general ed 1st grade homeroom and go to lunch, recess, and specials with them. Then all of her academics she will have in a small group classroom. This year I believe there are 6 students in the small group class - 3 1st graders and 3 kindergartners. And she will have the same teacher in the small group class as she had last year - for which we are very thankful. :-)

Here are some pictures from this morning. It's a very early morning for all of us in that her bus picks her up at 6:37! And this morning they were at our driveway at 6:30!!! Hopefully it will slide a little later as they get in to a routine. So, these aren't the greatest pictures, but it's the first day of 1st grade! :-)
Breakfast...Walking out the door.On the bus.
I had hoped to get some pictures this afternoon when she got home, but she was asleep on the bus, so I had to carry her in to the house and then I didn't think about it again.

We are excited about this year of school and are praying that she has a year of tremendous growth and development.

Rachel is 11 Months

These 11 months have just flown by! Rachel is cruising all over the place and will walk anywhere if you're holding her hands. In fact, that is very much a preferred activity for her. So if you start walking with her, you better be ready to go for awhile.

She took her first bath in the big bath tub recently. She probably outgrew the baby bath tub a long time ago, but we generally bathe all the girls at the same time - and didn't feel it was in Rachel's best interest to be in the tub with the other two yet. So she got her own time in the big tub and really enjoyed it.And she discovered bath toys. :-)
And at 11 months, she has already figured out that the remote control is a coveted item. She's not quite sure what to do with it, but she grabs it whenever she finds it - until Emma comes and takes it out of her hand.

Rachel's New Trick

Rachel has started walking with her walker toy. She's still very much stiff legged - but it's so cute. And she's pretty proud of herself. :-)

Painted Nails

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not one who generally has painted finger nails. I think I can count on one hand how many times I've had a manicure - and all but one were for someone's wedding that I was in. However, having three little girls has changed that a little.

It started with Heidi's visit to her friend's house where they have "spa day" most Fridays and the mom paints her daughter's nails. Heidi happened to be visiting on a "spa day" and had her nails painted too. And we're not talking just painted - she put polka dots and sparkles on them. So I've had a standard to live up to. While we don't paint them every Friday (not even close), she really likes to have them painted. And she likes variety. A couple weeks ago each hand and foot was painted differently. Here's a sample of our most recent nail painting.Cover Girl.
It's fun and I'm getting better. Emma has even let me paint hers once. And yes, I am painting mine more often now too. As Jason phrased it, Heidi is rubbing off on me. :-) But don't look too closely - it's far from manicure quality. :-)

Rachel at 10 Months

Rachel was 10 months on July 4th. She is busy, busy, busy. She can stand up on her own for quite awhile. She is starting to walk with significant help holding on to our hands; but she is cruising around the furniture pretty comfortably. She is also clearing everything off the end tables, coffee table, and sofas. Time to move more things up.

Here is a video of her working at standing on July 1. She has already progressed so far since this.
She has taken well to a sippy cup and enjoys eating anything she can pick up and feed herself. She is still wary of a spoon headed towards her mouth. Maybe ice cream at her birthday will change that. :-)

She now has 6 teeth through - 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. Her hair color is still debatable depending on the lighting - but the little curls across the back are becoming a bit more pronounced - and cute!

Napping and going to sleep at night has become an issue. I believe she has discovered that there are lots of fun things to do, see, and play with and that she might miss something if she goes to sleep. So, that's a current battle.

She is making lots of different sounds and continues to be VERY loud at times. I guess she's going to be a third child who WILL be heard. :-)

We purchased a plastic baby pool this Summer and the girls have enjoyed it. A quick, easy way to cool off and get wet.
Rachel is finding her way around the playroom and finding all kinds of things - including this wooden cookie set. She has been spotted crawling around with a cookie in her mouth several times.Not sure what she thinks about the cats. She watches them when they pass through the room and she has pet them and grabbed a tail once or twice. But this just made me laugh. Kylie was just sitting between my legs twitching her tail (it's kind of a large file - I hope this works).

Cow Appreciation Day

It is no secret that our family really enjoys Chick-fil-A! So, when there is an opportunity for free food and fun - we are there! Last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day - did you know that? Maybe it's a National holiday??? At least it is in the Chick-fil-A world. :-) And on Cow Appreciation Day, if you come fully dressed as a cow, you get a free meal.

So, Jason loaned out a couple white undershirts. He drew large spots on pieces of paper which Heidi then colored in and Jason pinned to the shirts. He made cow tails for them. We already had head gear, courtesy of CFA. So here are our two "fire cows."Here is Heidi showing the full costume - including the tail in her hand. :-)
No, Jason and I did not dress up. Jason did wear the cow hat. But for free food for a family of 5 - we might all be dressing up next year!

Independence Day

We had a fun Independence Day weekend! Friday evening, the 2nd, we went to a church near us for their "Patriotic Celebration." We enjoyed a concert by the Cobb Symphony and then went outside to enjoy ice cream sandwiches and a great fireworks display. This was the first time we've braved attending a fireworks display. In the past we have seen them from afar - like you can hardly even hear them we're so far away. But the girls did really well. Heidi was initially scared by the loudness of the fireworks. So she sat in Jason's lap and he covered her ears as best he could. Emma would say "yikes!" after each pop, but seemed to enjoy them. I walked around with Rachel throughout the show and she fell asleep half way through the fireworks display. I don't know how they do that - but she didn't even flinch once she was asleep! It was a nice show and it was really nice to be so close to home when it was over (although it did take us 25 minutes to get out of the parking lot).Then Sunday morning, Jason, my dad and I got up too early and ran the Peachtree Road Race. (My mom stayed at our house with the girls.) For those who don't know, it's a 6.2 mile race down Peachtree Street with 54,999 of your closest friends. It's billed as the largest 10K road race. It's a tradition for us and is always a lot of fun. There are people lining the street almost the whole way cheering you on, as well as bands and radio stations playing music along the course. None of us set any personal records, but we all finished and got the coveted Peachtree t-shirt. :-)

We capped off the weekend with a cookout and pool party at a friend's house. The girls loved swimming in the pool (as always). And they live down the road from Lenox Mall - the location of another fireworks show. So we walked up to the mall close to the time of the show, sat down in the middle of the road (which are all blocked off around there for the show), and enjoyed another fireworks show. This time we brought ear muffs for Heidi to use so it wouldn't be so loud. They really seemed to work. She just sat and stared up at the sky.Emma sat and enjoyed them as well - I think she was exhausted from the day, swimming, and walking the 3/4 mile or so to get there.And Rachel slept through this ENTIRE fireworks show. She woke up on our walk back to the car. :-)We all enjoyed sleeping in ('til 8 I think) on Monday. And Jason and I nursed sore muscles for a few days. :-)

Happy Independence Day!