4 Years Old

The boys turned 4 last Monday. I didn't take a ton of pictures on their birthday, but I have some from before their birthday, on their birthday, and from the 4 year old check up. I'd normally break this up into more than one post, but I have less time to blog right now, so most of my post will probably be a little longer just because I don't have time to break them up. I prefer to do have a couple of shorter posts versus one long post because it makes it easier when I want to go back through my blog, but it takes less time to do one post.

The Thursday before the boys birthday, they got their presents and cards in the mail from Greg's parents. I was taking them into our bedroom to hide them until their birthday, but Evan caught me. So, we let them open them early. The boys were so excited. When Carter saw his name on the card, he said "wow, grandma and grandpa even drew on these for us" they were just so excited and appreciative of every detail. It was so fun to watch them open them up. They started with the card, which I didn't even think they'd pay much attention to, but they opened them up and then went on and on about how much they loved the cards.

Evan and Carter each got a card, an outfit (shirt and pair of shorts) and a lego toy. They were just so thrilled with all of it.

I normally wash the boys clothes before they wear them, but Evan immediately stripped down and put on his outfit. Greg was taking the boys to McDonald's to play and he said "can I please wear it, please" it was so cute how excited he was. Both of them were just thrilled.

After these pictures were taken, Evan came running into my bedroom while I was getting ready and screamed "it has a pocket, it even has a pocket, oh, I just love this shirt and I love my pocket" haha.

The boys wanted to open their legos right away, but they were about to leave the house, so they agreed to wait, but wanted to take their birthday cards with them in the car. When I was buckling them in, both boys were just going on and on about their cards, Carter's card folded out and was picture to color, so he called it a story. Evan's had stickers, which he happily shared with Carter. In the car, Evan saw Carter's card and said "Oh, I just love your card too"

I know I'm going on and on about how cute they were, but I just don't want to forget how precious they were that day. They were just so excited and genuinely thankful for everything in their gift. I just love that about this age.

I was completely awful about taking pictures on their birthday. They had school that morning, so they took in mini cupcakes to share with their class. It's the first time they've had school on their birthday (the past two years they started after Labor Day) so they were excited to take cupcakes. Their teacher gives out special treat bags to all the kids on their birthday filled with fun goodies and that was really the highlight of their day, they were just so excited about that bag of goodies. They got a little card from their teacher and it's on their magnet board in the kitchen and they walk by it every day and "read" it to me.

We kept it low key for their birthday. I feel like it's really easy to go overboard on gifts because it's so much fun buying things, but they already have a lot of toys, so I tried not to go crazy. The boys took a nap after school, and my parents came by while they were sleeping. I set out their gifts and when they woke up, Mamaw and Papaw were there and their presents were set up, ready to be opened. Greg and I got them a couple of little things from Party City including Diego party hats, which they loved.

I had asked the boys over the past couple months what they wanted and we even took them through the toy aisle one day to see. The first thing that Carter said was a drum and he stuck with that request every single time I asked him. He'd mention other instruments sometimes, but it was stuff he wanted with the drum, so we got him a drum. Evan actually likes it just as much as Carter.

The got some Playmobile things, Legos, and several bath toys. They have a fun Jake and the Neverland pirate toy that they got last year, but they fight over it pretty bad, so we got another one, plus a couple other bath toys, which we made sure to get two of. We also got them each a Jake and the Neverland Pirate telescope, which came with a bandana and map.

I went back and forth on whether to make a cake or buy a fun, special one.  But, since they're at a young age where they are so easy to please, I thought I'd take advantage of that. I asked them what kind they wanted and they both wanted some form of strawberry and chocolate, so I made a strawberry cake with chocolate icing and then homemade chocolate ice cream and homemade strawberry ice cream.

Seriously, my cake was a ugly, hot mess, but they didn't care. They were so cute blowing out the candles, Evan had no concept of fire or how close he could get, so luckily he still has his eyebrows.

My sister had to work, so she ended up coming by afterwards and brought her gift and had some pizza and cake. She handed the boys their gift and Evan said "where's the other one" and she explained she just bought one and Evan said "next time, bring two" It was so funny. Obviously, I need to work on their manners, but it was pretty funny. He was just very, matter of fact about it.

The next morning, the boys had their 4 year check up. I called ahead of time to see if they need any shots and the receptionist said "no, that they were good until next year". I didn't have any questions and since they didn't need any shots, I just took them by myself. My mom offered to come, but I figured we'd be fine. The boys insisted on wearing their hats and bringing some toys, which I was fine with. You never know if something might come up and you have to wait, so I like them to have toys with them when we go. Also, wearing their birthday hats made them very happy, so I let them.

The boys were so good. They had to have a lot done this time, a vision and hearing test, blood pressure, they had to get a finger prick and also pee in a cup. They thought peeing in a cup was the best thing ever, they got so tickled about it. They just laughed and laughed and kept saying "that's so silly" how grown up do they look getting their bp taken? :(

They look like such big kids.

Evan's spiderman mask that he asked for. You can see his finger bandaged up. They had to get a finger prick and they were so good about it, no fussing, crying, or anything.

They were in such a good mood. They love going places where they are the center of attention--the nurses eat them up and they just love it. Plus, they had their new toys to play with, so they were happy as could be.

Waiting to see the dr.

Evan weighed 34.4lbs and Carter weighed 35lbs. They're both in the 25th percentile for weight. They were both 41 and 3/4 inches, which put them in the 75th percentile for height. I always think Carter looks taller than Evan, so I'd like to re-measure them at home and see what number I get, but even if it's off, I don't think it's by much. They're definitely tall and skinny.

Then, we found out they needed shots. 3 shots each. The receptionist told me wrong, so I was not prepared at all. They tried so hard not to cry, but both of them just bawled. They didn't fight the nurse or anything, they were good, but it just hurt (they have little chicken legs with no fat on them, so I know it hurt) They were so pitiful afterwards and both of them wanted to be held. I think they felt betrayed by the nurses. Luckily, I had some cookies in my bag that distracted them, then I told them that we'd go to Target and I'd let them pick out a toy then we'd go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and to play. I'm such a sucker, it broke my heart how pitiful they were, but it worked and they cheered up. But they did say that they never wanted to go to the doctor again. :(

Evan picked out the ugliest Ninja turtle toy that he was just so pleased with.

Carter picked out a little submarine, which he thought the box was the perfect launching pad for his rocket that he already had. They had so many toys in their hands from their birthday the day before, but if ya'll would have seen them after their shots, I think you would have taken them to get a toy too.

Then, we went to Chick-Fil-A and they had chocolate milk and chicken minis. They played and had a great time.

They were fine while playing, but when we left, they limped a little and reminded me of what a rough morning they had. Haha, they are very dramatic. They definitely milked it for the rest of the day.

So, that's pretty much their birthday and 4 year old check up. I no longer have toddlers, but two preschoolers. :( I can't believe how fast they're growing up.

School and Playdates

I have not been blogging as much as I'd like lately. If I don't blog about it, I will not remember it, so I really like to stay on top of it, but it's been busy. The boys turned 4 on Monday, so I'll do a separate birthday post about their birthday and 4 year old check up.

 

Last week, Greg had to go out of town for work. He left about 11:00 on Sunday and ended up getting home about 7:30 on Monday. He wasn't supposed to get home until after midnight, but ended up catching an earlier flight and made it just in time to see the boys before bath and bedtime. Before Greg even pulled out in his car for the airport, Evan said "I really miss daddy" haha, I thought I was in for a long day, but the boys were great. The boys wanted to take some pictures that night after bath to send him. He was supposed to cut their hair before he left, but didn't have time. This is probably the longest it's been since we first started cutting it. I'd love to grow it out a little longer, but I cannot stand having the hair on the sides touch their ears and I like it nice and neat in the back (on their neck) but it grows so fast and if we wanted to grow it out, we'd need to take them to a professional to cut it, so we'll probably just keep doing what we're doing since it's easy and free.

They were being so cute for their picture for daddy.

They love seeing themselves on my camera and getting super close.

The boys have been doing great at school. They just adore their teacher, Carter has told me a couple times when we're driving home that he's sad because he misses his teacher. They love the other kids in their class and they really look forward to going to school. We've been leaving early for the first two weeks because I drop them off and then go help with carline. And by "help" I mean I stand there and just make sure the kids know where they're going, which they all do, so it's easy.

Monday, I had my first classroom volunteer day. I'm going to be volunteering every Monday morning for an hour in a 3 year old class. I've been really looking forward to volunteering with the boys school and really enjoyed Monday. I think it'd be a huge distraction if I volunteered in the boys room, some kids don't care at all, but I know mine would be clingy and I don't know how well they'd listen with me in there, so I didn't request their room. I'll still do parties and special things with their classroom, but as for the weekly volunteering, I'll be in another classroom.

I let the boys lead me to their classroom and then they find their cubby, take out their lunch and put it up, take out their folder, zip up their backpacks and hang them. Then, take their folder into the class and put it in a bin. They are actually doing really good.

We met another twin mom at the park on Thursday. The boys had a great time. But, it was hot!!

The way the weather was last week and this week, we can really only go to parks with a splashpad or somewhere indoors, like the mall or Chick-fil-A. It's just been miserably hot and humid. I promised myself I wouldn't complain about the heat after the winter we had and I know we don't have much summer left, so I need to enjoy while I can.

The boys had a good time. They liked the twin girls we met up with and they played with some other random kids at the park. If there's kids there, the boys will usually find somebody to play with.

Carter climbing on the park

The boys love this spider web.

My mom had a great coupon for Kohl's and wanted to get the boys a few things for fall, so I got out all the boys clothes from last year to try them on and see what still fits. They actually fit into almost all their clothes from last year! The boys saw these footie pjs in the pile and insisted trying these on and then begged me to wear them around the house. They looked so cute and they still fit.



The boys looking like big boys, going down the hall to their classrooms with their big ol' backpacks.

 

 Friday, we tried out a new pizza place and it was AWFUL. I thought the pizza was the worst. But, the boys had a good time. They love going to restaurants.

 

I had my weigh in for Month 1 of my 6 month diet bet on Friday and for the end of my 4 week one on Tuesday (the 19th) and I hit my goal for both of those, so my weight loss is around 23lbs right now. I'm just going to be doing the 6 month one until January with once a month weigh ins. I may do another 4 week one after that, but right now I have a lot going on and can't commit to going to the gym as much as I should and would need to in order to be successful in another 4 week diet bet. But, I'm really happy with my progress so far and I'm excited to keep it up and get to my goal for my 6 month diet bet.

Along with school starting back up, the boys also have swim lessons on Saturday mornings. They're only doing a 4 week class and we had the first meeting last Saturday, so only 3 more weeks left of that. They're in the next step up and they're doing really good. Tomorrow, I start a morning bible study at church. It's every Thursday morning for moms and we'll be discussing a parenting book and I'm really looking forward to it. The boys will get to play with the other kids in the children's room, which they are very much looking forward to.

Back to School- PreK 4

The boys started PreK 4 on Friday. Before I had kids, I thought preschool was the year before Kindergarten and any thing before that was day care or Moms Day Out, but after I had kids I realized that anything after 2 is usually called preschool. They started preschool when they were two, with two days a week and went last year for 3 days a week and I called it preschool and considered it preschool, but something about this being the year before Kindergarten and what I think most people think of when they hear the word "preschool" makes it seem different this year to me. It seems more "official", for lack of a better word.

They are at a new school this year. Last year, we got here in July and most places were full, we didn't really know a whole lot about the schools or have any time to really shop around. First Baptist was recommended to us, but they required the kids to be potty trained (like almost every other school), which they weren't. We weren't unhappy with the boys school last year, but didn't really feel like it was the best fit for us, they didn't have parent volunteers, which was something I wanted to do and we just wanted to look at what other schools might work better for prek 4. Something that was important to me was that the preschool we enrolled them in this year also did kindergarten. A lot of preschools around here offer half day kindergarten and if we decide that what we want to do with the boys (which I'm pretty sure we're going to do) then I didn't want to have to switch schools again, I wanted them to be able to go to the same school next year. Anyways, I did a lot of research, got a lot of feedback from moms in my different moms groups and we decided to go with First Baptist of Augusta. I went to the schools open house in the spring and just had a great feeling about this school. I think the boys are really going to like it here and I'm excited for the new school year. -Sorry for rambling, but I want to remember all of this later.

Wednesday was open house at school. They had an orientation for the parents at 10am and then you went to the classroom and met the teacher and sat down with the other moms and the teacher went over everything we needed to know. My mom kept the boys while I went to that, which was so helpful because there was a lot of information and I know I just wouldn't have heard any of it if I had them with me. Then, at 1:00, the kids came to meet the teacher, their classmates, and see their classroom.

Their teacher is so nice, she taught kindergarten for 30 years (I think) and then retired but wasn't ready to quit working, so she now teaches prek4 and has been here for 12 years. She's very sweet and believes that kids learn by playing--which I agree with completely. Her theme for this year was Cowboy and she went all out. She didn't miss anything, her whole room and all the details are with the theme, it was incredible. At the kids open house, she had cowboy hats and handkerchiefs for each kid to take home, she had a real saddle on a cardboard box for the kids to sit on, a riding horse, a table for decorating horseshoes, a reading nook with all kids of fun cowboy/western books, a cowboy Mr. Potato Head, horse figures, a kids horseshoe set to play with, lassos to throw around the rocking horse, a wanted poster photo booth, a bucket of water with gold rocks so you could "pan for gold" and so much more. I wish I would have got more pictures of the classroom because it was just so much fun. She has a bulletin board with "wanted for preK 4 posters" that she's going to put each kids picture on. You could just tell she spent so much time on all of it and the details and I loved it.

The boys also loved it.

The boys were the first to find the pan for gold bucket and knew immediately what it was. They had a fun time doing this.

This saddle was a hit with all the kids. You can see the little western things she has hanging up behind them, the lasso, lantern, snake, cowboy hat.

The boys got on this several times before we left.

At the parent orientation, along with our folders and paperwork, there was this magnet that the teacher made for all the kids--how cute is that!?! Full disclosure, when I first saw it, I was a little disappointed that the boys were treated as one kid, but then I realized that she had paid for this out of her own money and spent her free time making these. They were given to the parents, not the kids, so the boys had no idea one way or another, they were excited when they saw it and didn't think twice that they didn't have their own, it's not like it's a toy, it's a magnet for the fridge that they won't be touching. Just wanted to put that out there in case somebody else thought the same thing when they saw it.

Cupcakes and caprisuns for all the kids. The teacher gave me a heads up and I brought peanut free cupcakes for the boys. Carter is the only kid in his class with a peanut allergy this year, I was hoping that if there was another kid with an allergy, he or she would be in the boys class. But, it was addressed at the parent orientation and I feel comfortable with how they're handling it. As comfortable as a parent can be sending their child with a life threatening food allergy to school, obviously I'm worried, but that will never go away. We have a rule that he doesn't eat anything that I haven't provided for him and he will have a treat box with fun, safe treats for when there's surprise cupcakes or something that another parent brings in. This is the first year that the boys seem to understand the peanut allergy at all and it does not bother either of them in the least to eat something different from the other kids right now. Hopefully that's always the case.

Friday was the boys first day of school. They will be going Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 9-1. They were both so excited to go today. All the kids were taken in today by their parents, but starting on Monday, the kids will have car line in the morning. I'm volunteering with that for the first two weeks, so I'll be dropping them off in their classrooms at 8:45 and helping with car line until 9:15.

How cute are the boys?! I don't know how they seem so grown up to me and yet so small. They have toddler backpacks and the backpacks just seem to huge on their tiny little bodies. But, they were so excited for school, called their teacher by her name all week, and when I dropped them off in class and was trying to say bye, the boys were already distracted by friends and fun activities and Carter just ignores me and Evan doesn't even look at me and says "bye" like an annoyed teenage and waves his hand at me--shooing me away!! I'm glad that they're completely fine to be dropped off and were excited. It seems like just yesterday when they'd cry when we left them. :(

They did not want to take these pictures, I had to bribe them, they just wanted to go inside ASAP.

How cute are the backpacks they picked out. They has several cute options at Target, but both boys wanted the same one. They also got to pick out matching water bottles (little kid camlebaks--so cute) and they were just so excited to use the things that they picked out themselves.

 

The boys have a little boy in their class that was in their summer program so they were so happy to see him this morning. They are not the youngest in their class (last year they were the youngest, by far, almost all the other kids were at least 6 months older) and when I picked them up from school today, they were so excited to tell me about their day and how much fun they had. They said they couldn't wait to go back.

 

Anyways, I know this was quite the novel of a post, but I wanted to remember all the details about this. I barely remember dropping them off on their first day when they were 2 and can't remember anything about dropping them off on their first day last year. If it wasn't for my blog and being able to go back and read what I wrote about and look at the pictures, it would all just be a blur. I can't imagine in 5-10 years. I promise the posts I do about school this year will not be nearly this long. I promise!!!