memories

Avery made a 'kiss' noise last night. She imitated me and then did it several times after we were all doing it. 10/17/10

Today Avery played peek-a-boo. She held her hands in front of her face and I said peek-a-boo and she would look at me and smile.

She is just starting to use a sippy cup but she really likes her bottles too. She's more attatched than the other two were. Time will tell!

Matthew brought home his first perfect score spelling test today. Yay! Of course I hung it on the fridge. :-)

Kaylis's 2nd dance recital is coming up in a few weeks. She is really excited. I can't wait to see it too. She's been practicing hard with her class. I just bought 9 tickets last night. We're all going including all 4 grandparents and Aunt Katie. :-)

Time flies!

How can I keep time from passing too quickly? Is there a way to make these days, weeks, months and years slow down? (I wish there was!)

It seems I don't get here to write as much as I like. Time flies and these moments fade into memories so quickly. So here goes a quick recap of the past few months.

We certainly had a fun, busy summer. Lots of swimming, playing, sleeping late, eating ice cream and more. We were lucky enough to go on two vacations this summer. The first to Bermuda in July for Katie and Mike's wedding. It was a quick, stressed, busy trip in a beautiful place. I've said many times that Matt and I need to go back someday just to relax! It was a great experience for the kids and we loved seeing Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike get married (finally!)
Our second trip was our annual vacation to Cape Cod. The kids have grown to love going there and are making some of the same memories I made as a child. They look forward to the trampolines and go karts (Matthew got to drive by himself this year! He was so excited and proud, My big guy.) They love the pool and spent many hours in it. Both Matthew and Kaylis can swim well now. This was Avery's first Cape experience and I'd say she had fun exploring the "Cape Cod House" and walking around outside. Two great family trips in one summer. I'd say we're pretty lucky.

At exactly 11 months old Avery started walking on 8/9/10 (like the date!) Since then she hasn't stopped. My nickname of the moment for her is "pesky monkey". She is into everything and climbs on everything! Can't take our eyes off her for a second. Climbs into her high chair, wiggles her way out of the straps, climbs on the stair railing, and on and on.......
She is such a happy, funny baby. Such a joy! Today she turned ONE! Seemed like the fastest year ever - even though I tried my hardest not to let it go by fast. It's so amazing how much they grow in the first year. This past week has been filled with reminiscing for me. I've enjoyed every moment of my last baby's first year. We celebrated her 1st birthday today with a lunch playdate with friends followed by dinner with Aunt Katie, Nana and Grandad. Of course, Elmo helped us celebrate too. Avery loves to watch Elmo on TV and can recognize him anywhere. Cute!

This week also marked the beginning of new school memories too. The kids are attending a new school this year - Beekaman ES. Our school closed last June due to school budget cuts. Matthew wasn't too worried about it. He's easy going that way. Kaylis hadn't started yet so it's all new to her anyway. So we now have 2 elementary school kids. I joked with Matt that now it's double the notes home, double the trips, conferences, homework and so on. But I love it! With a 3rd grader and a kindergartener, I'm so proud and excited to see them learn and grow this year.
On Wed, 9/8/10, Matthew and Kaylis were off on their first day of school at 8:30am. But we didn't get there without some craziness. As Matthew was getting ready in the bathroom upstairs he banged his head on the corner of the sink. He got a nice, big gash that scared us both for a minute. Once he was cleaned up a bit we realized it wasn't too bad, gave him some tylenol and sent him to school. I was a bit worried about him but it turned out fine. Kaylis and her friend Olivia (a neighbor) are in the same class. They made plans to sit with one another and walked to the bus holding hands. I waved to her at the window, blew her a kiss and she was off. She came home around 11:45am and hopped off the bus....all smiles :-) It was a successful day for everyone. So proud of my big kids.

The soccer season has begun too. Matthew is in his 4th year and Kaylis in her 1st. Twice the practices and twice the games this season. They sure do keep us busy! I love watching them play. Such a difference between the 5 year olds and 8 year olds. Matthew plays on the "big" field now. So when he is goalie he's got a much bigger goal to protect. I'm looking forward to see how he does. Kaylis plays on the little fields and seems to have fun so far. We'll be splitting our time between two games every Saturday. Good thing they'll be right next to one another :-)

please slow down

As life flies by us so does the time to write what's happening. So many exciting things have been going on with everyone. Katie's wedding is in one week and the whole family is ready to celebrate and hopefully relax a bit in Bermuda. The kids are looking forward to it and I'm trying to imagine traveling by plane with 3 kids! I'm not stressing though because I know it will be an amazing vacation.
Matthew is now finished with 2nd grade. He's done very well this past year and will continue to coast along in 3rd grade. He does just enough to learn what he needs to and no more and that's ok with me as long as I see improvement over the long run. He is a child who knows what he likes and doesn't stress over the small stuff (unless he's hungry or tired - in which case the entire world seems to be ending!) Matthew has chosen to just go day by day this summer and opted out of any kind of summer camp. He really is happy just being outside with his friends and going swimming at the lake and Nana's pool. That's what summer is all about!
Kaylis finished her time at Trinity Children's Center. I think I was more sad than she was. She had two wonderful, caring teachers and a great group of kids in her class. She really enjoyed each day there and had a big smile on her face each time I picked her up. I really wasn't ready for the year to end and found myself wishing that she had another year there. Oh well - maybe we'll be back there in a few years for Avery! Kaylis is ready to begin kindergarten. I know she will do great! She continues her dance class through the summer. They've recently combined classes to make one class of about 15 girls. They are doing a "Big Parade" marching, tap dance for the recital this fall. So I know they'll be doing tons of practicing throughout the summer.
Our elementary school, LaGrange ES, closed it's doors at the end of the school year. The Arlington school board voted to close the school to save money in the budget. It is sad to know the students and teachers will all be in different schools next year. Matthew is ok with the change since he's generally a "go with the flow" kind of kid. He did get a chance to visit his new school, Beekman ES, and seemed to like it. He got to meet some 3rd grade teachers and new friends and have a tour of the school. Kaylis also got a chance to spend time in a kindergarten classroom and have a short ride on the bus. All in all, I think they will both really like their new school.
Avery is now 9.5 months and is definately developing and showing her own little personality. She has been crawling since about 8 months and now gets into everything. She can climb the stairs too. Of course we have gates up and she quickly learned that they keep her from going places where everyone else goes. If she sees one open she books for it and giggles if I purposely leave it open so she can crawl through. Recently, Avery has developed a sort of scream/whine, like "eeehh". She will make the noise whenever she doesn't like something. If we try to take something away she will protest. She's a feisty one! That's good though, she needs to be able to keep up with her big brother and sister. I keep telling Kaylis to watch out. Kaylis likes to pick her up, move her around, whenever/however she pleases and Avery is learning to let her know when she is not happy. So I tell Kaylis that one day when Avery is bigger she's going to get her back. Matthew is a bit more gentle and less jealous. He crawls around behind Avery and chases her which she thinks is very funny. Love to hear her giggles! Even more, I love to see them playing together.

valentines day

Today is Valentines day and I think it's a great day to give my kids all the hugs they deserve and show them my love. I am so grateful to have 3 wonderful, happy, well-adjusted kids. I am proud that Matt and I can give them the loving, happy childhood they deserve. Beyond all the valentine cards and candy are the hugs, kisses and cuddles that are my favorite. Matthew and Kaylis had fun parties at school on Friday and came home with overflowing bags of valentines and candy. Megan and Noah are here this weekend so that adds to the fun. They came over to our house for dinner last night and we have plans to go bowling today, then have dinner at Nana and Paha's.
Avery has been sick for almost a week. She has bronchiolitis and is finally starting to feel a bit better. She is starting to smile those ear to ear grins of hers that I missed when she wasn't feeling good. I hate to see any of my kids sick, especially as babies. She certainly has gotten extra love and attention to make her feel better. Hopefully this will be the last cold she gets this winter. I'll keep my fingers crossed for her (and keep her in a bubble!). On a good note, she has been sleeping longer at night. A few nights ago she slept 8 hours without waking and last night was a 7 hour stretch.
Some things coming up this week are a checkup at the dentist for M & K and PJ day at school for Kaylis (which she is so excited about and already has the pjs picked out!) Matthew was just Star Student for the week at school. He got to make a life size drawing of himself, bring to school his favorite book, toy and song on CD and share a snack with his classmates. What a nice way for him to show off what he's good at and the things that make him, him.

On the upside, Avery has started reaching for faces. She looks right in my eyes and reaches out with both hands to touch my face. It melts my heart. So cute the way she seems to be saying "oh there you are, thanks for picking me up!" The downside is she has her first cold. I spent ALL night a few nights ago, holding her while she slept. She woke up every time I put her down. So we (really she slept) and I dozed in the chair in the living room and upstairs on the bed. Her fever reached 100.4 which isn't bad but still made her miserable :( Poor baby. Turns out it was just a cold and the next day she slept alot and was much better the day after that.

Matthew was up at 4am today :-P Ugh! He isn't feeling well either and was going to stay home from school but then we had a snow day anyway. He and Kaylis are ouside playing now, making a snowman and sleigh riding. Kaylis was the only one who slept wonderful last night. She asked to go to bed around 8pm and got up at 8:45am. If only the other two slept like that then I would be a lot more rested today! Oh well there's always tonight.

Tubing

1/17/10
We went snow tubing today! It was awesome! Uncle Andrew came with us and we all had a great time. The hill was bigger than we expected, which made Matt a bit nervous at first. I started out first and then he sent Kaylis after me. I was waiting at the bottom, very worried for her. I thought for sure she'd be crying. But she loved it and had a big smile on her face :)
Matthew had fun too! He wanted to race everyone down the hill.
Definately something we'll go back to do at least once every winter.
Avery spent the day with Nana and Paha. She is growing so fast. Her lastest thing is blowing raspberries. She also like to touch faces. Almost like she is studying your face. Very cute.

....continued from last night....
Matthew has amazing drawing talent. Recenty, an oil pastel picture he made in art class was chosen to be hung up at Barnes & Noble during the PTA book fair. We didn't get to go there and see it but he has since brought it home and its now hanging in the kitchen. Yesterday he gave me two pictures he drew in school. Typical of a 7yo boy he pulled two crumpled papers from the bottom of his backpack. But I don't care how crumpled because the drawings are great!! I can't wait to see how he grows as an artist.

First Entry -1/12/10

Life seems to fly by. Every day is over before I know it. I want to record every moment and be able to cherish it forever. So I started this blog to do just that. I want to look back years from now and read about all those little things that are so easy to forget. And I want my kids to have this as a keepsake of their childhood. My hope is that they can read my blogs one day and laugh, cry, or just remember their childhood.
So here goes......
As I sit here Avery is laying on the ottoman, cooing and gurgling. She is so tired but is fighting it. I don't mind. I see it as our little time together after the big kids are in bed.
Poor baby had her 4 month checkup at the dr. yesterday and had 3 shots. She's had a rough 24 hours. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Kaylis had her 1st day back at dance class today. She wore her new shoes, leotard and tights. It was great to see her learning new dance steps. She really loves it. I look forward to seeing how she grows in her dance abilities this year and can't wait til Nov. for her next recital.
Matthew is doing so great in school. I can tell he really tries. He's just a great kid overall. I wish I could say the same thing about other kids. Yesterday he had a conflict with a kid on the bus and ended up in the principal's office to talk about it and a few kids laughed at his new haircut. Today he said another boy embarassed him on the bus and some other kids were laughing. He takes it with a grain of salt and doesn't let it bother him too much. Boy it's tough to be a kid. All I wish is that he can find a way to shrug it off and still be who he is.