The everyday grind

Now that Joseph is in school full time, it's been interesting trying to figure out our new routine. Maddie is really excited about being back at "school" this year, and her new backpack and lunchbag make it that much better. 

Joseph's school lets families come eat lunch anytime, so Jack and I visited once during the first full week of school. Joseph got a big kick out of having us there and showing us how he gets his lunch. He is loving ordering the hot lunch options and hasn't let me pack him a lunch since the first day of school!

Jack is getting bigger and stronger by the day. He is still settling into a routine, which is hard enough when he's constantly carted around. Luckily he's a super happy baby almost all of the time. 

There's definitely a similarity between Joseph and Jack! It's a good thing they have different eye colors or it would be even harder to tell them apart. 

Nap and bedtime snuggles are even more fun. Jack loves to hang out in between the big kids. They keep waiting for the day when he can move into their room. :)

Last weekend Joe had a work conference in Atlanta. Jack and I flew down on Saturday and spent a long weekend vacationing. While we didn't do anything too crazy and didn't stay out late, we had a great time checking out the area, doing some shopping and enjoying some awesome food. 

Jack enjoyed his tasty toes as he celebrated his four month birthday. 

We had hoped to leave him home with my parents, but his night sleeping has regressed a lot during the last few weeks. I'm lucky to get a 5 hour stretch out of him now. So since we didn't want my parents having to get up multiple times at night, he got to come along. I think he loved all of the undivided attention and was generally his super laid back, happy self everywhere we went. 

Jack is rolling from back to belly a lot now. We have to watch him more now after bath time when we are getting him dressed. On Friday we had the Royals game on, and he was fascinated. Good sign, kid! 

I could just eat him up! Such a cutie!

Yesterday Maddie took a trial dance class. It is super small, and took her a bit to warm up but by the end she was loving it. I think we will probably sign her up and see how it goes. 

So that's life in a nutshell. Hopefully I'll get us on some schedule soon that allows me enough time to play with the kids, exercise, work and keep the house going. Along with all of the other little projects that pop up. 

Joseph's First Day of Kindergarten

The big day finally happened! We have an official kindergartener on our hands! (And a proud little sister)

Joseph helped pick out his clothes last night and laid them out so we wouldn't have any issues this morning. We were a little surprised when he woke up before Maddie, got dressed and was downstairs playing well before he's normally out of bed. I was a little worried about rushing to get first day of school pictures, but it wasn't a problem this year!

Obligatory monster/silly faces. We'll work with Maddie on how little girls in skirts should sit for pictures!

 After about 10 minutes, Joseph was begging to go wait at the bus stop, so we headed up. It's just at the top of the cul-de-sac.

 Jack had no idea what was going on, but he was super happy to be out and about on such a nice morning!

After what seemed like ages to the big kid, bus 52 finally rounded the corner. It's just him and another little girl at their stop, but I'm glad he at least has a new friend!

 Without hesitation, Joseph followed Charlotte up and onto the bus, without stopping to say goodbye or wave at us. This kid was READY!

I'm so glad that he picked a seat on our side so I could capture these next few pictures. He looks so little on the bus, but finally saw Joe and started waving as the bus pulled away.

 When Maddie realized what was happening, she was NOT happy. A Maddie sized tantrum ensued.

 We (ok, I) wanted to see him get into his classroom, so we loaded Maddie and Jack into the car and headed up to school. I'm glad we did, because somehow he got missed coming off the bus and Joe found him wandering down another hallway, going the wrong way. Hopefully it goes smoother tomorrow!

Once inside his room, he was happy to see Ms. Mehwald again. He remembered right where his desk was, sat down and pulled out his pencil box to start coloring. He definitely seemed confused that we were at school, so we kept our time in the classroom short and headed out to a new family gathering in the library.

He's so big, and yet still so little! After a very long wait at the bus stop (40 minutes after dismissal!), bus 52 finally rounded the corner of our street. Joseph didn't realize where he was and was hesitant to get off. He was all smiles though, and happy to start telling me all about his first day. Favorite thing about school? The lunchroom! Silly kid was fascinated by the gravy machine for the mashed potatoes that were served with the hot lunch. He loved getting to play whatever center he wanted, meeting new friends, and thinks his teacher is great. When I asked if he was excited to go back tomorrow, I got a big "yes!"

 

I'm sure he's going to crash tonight, and next week will be rough as he adjusts to such a long, filled day. But I'm so glad he had a great first day of kindergarten and is ready for more!

3 month Jack pictures

Ok, so I know we are halfway to his 4 month birthday, but since I never posted these, here's Jack at 3 months!

 

 

It's safe to say we all love this super happy, smiley little guy, right down to his clammy, stinky boy toes!