First Day of Preschool - Part 2

All good things to report here! Makenna's in love with preschool! :) The teacher releases them one-by-one when she sees the child's parent standing in the lobby and Makenna came running into my arms saying "That was so much fun Mommy!" What a great thing to hear :) Makenna already got to be the teacher's helper for the day today which was very exciting for her - she got to lead everyone in marching around the room. They sang songs, had carpet time, colored pictures, played with toys and had a snack (at least that's what I could get out of her). The cute part about the snack is that she kept telling me that she had milk, a banana and a "pencil," when actually it was a pretzel :) If you can't tell from her confusion, we don't eat pretzels at our house. And she accomplished one of the feats that I was worried about... she had a bowel movement at school. We just recently had her start wiping herself for bowel movements and I was a little worried about what this might present at preschool, but she did just great and didn't need any help from the teacher.

Preschool made her very, very tired... I could peek in the window when I got to preschool and see all the kids sitting on the carpet and there is Makenna laying down on the side of the carpet. I couldn't believe it and was hoping that wasn't a sign of a bad morning. Nope, she told me that "preschool make me tired mommy." Sure enough... she is actually taking a nap in bed this afternoon. Something that hasn't happened in months! Preschool must be tiring! But the most important part for me is that she told me she wants to go back and she keeps talking about it. Makes a mom feel good :)

1st Day of Preschool

It's official! Makenna is at her first day of preschool all by herself right now! She was so excited and did extremely well! She was a little more of her typical draggy morning personality this morning when she got up (versus bounding out of bed ready to go like she did on Tuesday), but slowly came around and was jumping up and down yelling "Preschool! Preschool! Preschool!" before long! There were only two other little kids there playing outside when we arrived and she ran right over to them and started playing with them. When we told the kids it was time to go inside, her and her new little friend Hanna walked in the preschool hand in hand :) Makenna and Hanna ran to put their backpacks on their hooks and then put on their name tags. Makenna happily obliged to go to the bathroom first before I left and did a great job once again of navigating a strange bathroom all by herself. She came out, gave me a hug and an "I love you" and scampered off into the preschool room. I was a little nervous because one of the little boys started to shed a few little tears right as I was leaving Makenna but Mrs. Underwood did a great job of taking her under her wing and guiding her towards something so she wouldn't notice. So that was that... my little girl is beginning her educational journey. And I did fine, no tears, nothing... until I got home and realized how quiet my house is without her. I started to get a little teary-eyed and just reminded myself of how good this is for her. And how good it is for Maryn that she gets a little one-on-one time with Mommy while Makenna is gone (that is when she's not napping). So far so good... I'll report more later as to how Makenna did while she was there.

Traditional 1st Day of School picture -


Makenna jumping up and down yelling "I get to go to preschool!"


Me and my girls on Makenna's big day -

Preschool Open House

Today was Makenna's preschool open house. Basically what that means is that she goes to school just like normal, only mom and/or dad get to go with her on the first day. Makenna woke up this morning and just came bounding out of bed all ready for preschool - she couldn't wait! She picked out her clothes, ate her breakfast, brushed her teeth and even let me comb her hair without putting up a fight (that really says something)! We piled in the car and headed off to preschool. We walked in and she met two of her teachers and got her nametag. She immediately asked if she could see Mrs. Sodman (the main teacher and the one she's met before). We hung up her backpack and started checking things out! She played very nicely and enjoyed interacting with the other kids and teachers. There are only 4 other girls in her class (11 boys) so I made sure to introduce her to all the girls and they all seemed very nice and social. Right up Makenna's alley :) As is par for the course with Makenna, she was at least a head taller than all the other kids in her class. Always interesting since she's one of the youngest ones being a summer birthday. Makenna also did a great job using their bathroom all by herself and walked out and proclaimed to everyone "I did it!" She is extremely tired right now and asked if she could lay down on the couch when we got home. I guess preschool takes a lot out of you :)

Babies Babies Everywhere

Is it just me or is everyone seem to be pregnant right now? I know SO many people that are expecting - how fun! One in September, one in November, two in December, two in January, one in February and one in March! Does anyone else want to let me know that they have a bun in the oven so I can add them to my list!? And the crazy thing about the list is that 5 out of the 8 are my cousins!!! I guess everyone had the same plan :) And I know I haven't mentioned it thus far on my blog, but one of the most precious babies in the world will be born in January... Jeanne and JT's baby!!! I am so excited that they are expecting their first baby! Whoo-Hoo! Another baby to spoil! :) I can't wait to meet my newest niece/nephew and hold him/her in my arms!

Everyone's Still Sick

What a horrible, rotten week. Josh and Maryn are still sick. Josh seems to be on the upswing now, while Maryn seems to be getting worse or staying just as bad. Monday night she threw up probably 10 - 12 times. She couldn't get comfortable at all and anytime you would move her even just ever so slightly she would vomit. We had a scary moment where she started choking on her vomit and stopped breathing... I freaked out but luckily Josh was there and he stepped in and got her to get it out and start breathing again. Thank God she's okay. After things finally calmed down a little, I found a good position to hold her in (that didn't bother her stomach) and I just sat there holding her while she slept from 2:30 am - 5:30 am. It was a long night to say the least. Yesterday she was acting sick (with glimpses of hope at times) but still had some diarrhea. Well last night she was up quite a few times dry heaving. Now she just wants to sleep. We're working very hard at trying to keep her hydrated which I think is going just fine. She will take a bottle if we offer it to her (this morning she was mad that we wouldn't give her more) and she is consistently having wet diapers. I'm just praying this doesn't last much longer and that Makenna can stay healthy.

Okay strike that - Makenna just told me she wasn't feeling good, so I took her temp and she has a fever. Looks like we're adding to the sick list at our house.

My sick little MarBear... she just lays her head on anything she can find, but her favorite pillow right now is Pup Pup. This is her yesterday resting her head while in her exersaucer. To give you some idea of how sick she is, typically she will throw a fit if we try to put her in this thing (because it limits her mobility) but while she's been sick she welcomes it because it supports her and thus she doesn't have to work as hard to sit up.

Makenna Is Cracking Me Up!

This child is on a roll lately. It is just one thing after another. I feel like I have at least a few really good stories to tell Josh each night when he comes home.

I took Makenna shopping with me to Toys R Us to pick out Maryn's birthday presents. Makenna insisted on buying her this little toy piggy bank that she had played with at a friend's house and loved (you can already see her motivation behind this, can't you?!). Well we got it home and she kept begging me to let her take it out of the box and play with it. I repeatedly explained to her that it was Maryn's gift and that we need to wrap it and give it to Maryn on her birthday. Well Makenna decided to give it one last try... I was washing dishes and she came up to my side and once again said "Mommy can I open the piggy bank?" I said "No you can't." She replies with "But I talked to God mommy and He said that Jesus said it was okay to get the piggy bank out." I couldn't believe this was coming out of her mouth. And just a day or so before this when I told her no to something else she responded with "Uh-huh mommy, the Bible said so!" Well at least she's soaking up everything we're trying to teach her about God and the Bible, but the stinker already thinks she's going to use God against us to get her way!

On that same trip to the toy store that I was talking about before, I caved in and bought Makenna a Toby train (from Thomas the Train if you didn't know ;). She was so thrilled to have Toby and insisted on carrying him around the rest of the time while we were running errands(still in the packaging mind you). So the excitement continued and the next morning while I was getting Maryn and myself ready for church (Josh was sick) I told Makenna she could watch Thomas the Train for a little while. Low and behold, the story that day was about Toby... she picks up her new Toby train off the floor holds him up to the television and says "Toby do you want to see yourself on TV?! There you are!"

And on a sweet note (at least for me) - the other day I was holding and snuggling with Makenna on the couch. She looked up at me and at that moment she immediately reminded me of Josh (both of my girls have this ability). I told her "You're just like your Daddy." To which she responded "No Mommy, I want to be just like you!" Sorry Josh, but it just melted my heart :)

Multi-tasking At It's Best

Unfortunately this blog was born out of illness... Josh's and Maryn's. I guess you could count Makenna too since she has been sick for two out of the four weeks of August. Josh was sick with a stomach bug all weekend long and Maryn started off our day today by vomiting all over me and the couch after her first bottle this morning. Luckily Maryn seems to be doing okay up to this point (at least much better than Josh), but taking care of my little munchkin got me to thinking about some things.

Now I know it's been done before and talked about many times, but it just amazes me the variety of jobs a mom peforms and how well moms have to be at multi-tasking. We wear so many "hats" as moms! This is just what I could think of this morning as I was rocking my sick little baby...

Nurse, Doctor - obviously on the top of my mind today
Psychologist, Counselor
Maid, Dishwasher
Short-Order Cook, Personal Cook, Baker
Chauffer
Coach - Josh and I had fun just the other night playing softball with Makenna in the backyard - she's better when you pitch to her than with a tee!
Teacher
Referee
Health Care Advocate
Spiritual Advisor - one of the most important aspects of the job if you ask me
Massage Therapist - hours and hours logged in rubbing or tickling backs at bedtime :)
Personal Shopper - can any other mom tell me the last time she actually went to the store to shop for herself?
Professional Entertainer (ie. Singer, Musician, Dancer, Puppet Master, Dramatic Story Teller)
Artist (ie. Painter, Colorer)
Security Guard - mostly comes in handy when you have pesky neighborhood kids like we do
Banker
Comedian - oh the stupid things you'll do to make a baby smile!
Detective - who left the slimy streak of grape jelly across the floor?
Hairstylist - more likely for those of us with girls
Manicurist - we all know how difficult it is to trim a tiny babies fingernails, but have you ever tried to paint bubblegum pink nailpolish on a 3 year olds toenails??
Photographer/Videographer - this is definitely my favorite artistic aspect of the mom "job"
Author
Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy - Josh thinks I get a little carried away with this one
Warden - this is only for the really bad days ;)
Waitress - can any mom honestly tell me the last time she ate a hot meal?
Events Coordinator - I get to really try this out in the next few weeks... Makenna will have preschool twice a week, church on Wednesday nights, Ballet on Tuesday afternoons, and playgroup for the girls on Friday morning. And as soon as Maryn gives up her morning nap we are going to take Mommy and Me swimming classes. This probably doesn't sound like much to those of you with older kids but it will definitely be a switch for me.
Pharmacist - Tylenol, Orajel and Ibuprofren count... right?
Police Officer

Some of you could probably add seamstress to your list, but since I couldn't even sew on a button if I tried I decided I shouldn't add that :)

Any moms out there have anything to add? I'm sure there are many things that I am missing that us moms do on an every day basis. It's amazing how many things you learn to master in order to be a mom. But our little darlings are so worth it... I'm glad I can be Maryn's nurse and be the one to comfort her. Being a mom is so priceless and definitely a gift from God.

I Love This Age!

Have I mentioned before how much I love the age Maryn is right now?! It is SOOOOO fun! She is learning at such a fast pace and thoroughly enjoying her newfound mobility, increasing verbal skills and a whole new world of food! A little over a week ago she learned the fun game of raising her arms in the air whenever someone says "SOOOOO Big!" She loves this game! And then as of Friday, she can now clap her hands. I think Makenna and I were singing along and clapping to some song and then all of a sudden I notice that Maryn was doing the same. Only Maryn has her own version of clapping! She makes a fist with one of her hands and hits it with the other hand. It's quite adorable! She made up her own style of clapping! She is also starting to mimic a lot and figure out what different items in the house are used for. An example I can think is that she found Makenna's comb on the couch and she immediately put it up to her hair like she was combing her hair out. Maryn seems to be a pretty easy eater as well (just like Makenna). She is eating more and more solid food and within reason we give her whatever we're eating. She is doing so well. It cracks me up what she likes... in the past few weeks she has tried tomatoes, kidney beans, spaghetti, pizza, cantaloupe and fresh peaches for the first time and has devoured all of it!

And the other fun, exciting accomplishment for Maryn - yesterday she took her first step!!! And I say only "step" because it was only one and she didn't do it again. She took one the day before as well but it was pretty much a step as she was falling down so I didn't count that ;) Now she has been practicing all day today but still can't seem to get her feet to move underneath her. She'll stand up all by herself (not holding on to anything) and squeal and balance herself with outstretched arms. You can tell she is just trying to move her legs but nothing is happening. It's bound to happen soon :)

Oh and I almost forgot... she kisses now! :) I will never forget this... the first person she kissed was our neighbor Rhonda! Rhonda was holding her and Maryn very obviously leaned in and kissed her on the nose. I couldn't believe it and then she did it again! But as I got to looking I figured out that she could she herself in the reflection on Rhonda's sunglasses and I think she was trying to kiss herself (but no one tell Rhonda that - it would crush her)! The very next day I found her kissing the dishwasher because she could see herself in it (it's stainless steel)! And now if you pucker up and ask for a kiss she will lean and give you a very sloppy wet kiss! It's so sweet! I love baby kisses!

Our girls enjoyed playing at the water table together the other night. It was the first time they were able to do it together :) Maryn's stable and mobile enough to enjoy playing with it now, plus I was waiting until the weather got a little cooler. Maryn kept trying to suck the water off her fingers. I'm pretty sure she ate a few bugs but it's good protein, right?? Just kidding - we put brand new water in right before they played in it. But Maryn was fascinated by the water... it must taste better coming from a play table rather than a sippy cup.