Changes....

We've had a lot of changes these past few weeks - Job changes, school changes and overall developmental changes (which might need to be an entire entry in itself!)

Numero Uno turned 5 last weekend and we had a pool party at our "club".... I can pretend, right? (It's our gym!) Anyway, it has a very nice pool! He got to invite whomever he wanted without any pursuasion from mommy (within the limit) and I think they all had a great time!

As I tucked him in that night, I told him the story of his special day 5 years ago which is something my dad always did for me every year on my birthday and I loved it!! Now it's a tradition I've passed on to my kids and numero uno now asks for it every year...he'll say "mommy, are you going to tell me about the day I was born?" I love retelling it, showing him the piece of paper that we timed my contractions on and all of the pictures ....I was just overcome with emotion that this precious thing who was once SO TINY (6lbs.4ozs.) is now 5 and SO TALL! I told him that he had something so special that the others didn't have on their birthday....that HE made me a mommy for the very first time and tears just ran down my face. I love all three of them equally, don't ever doubt that....but when people say there is something so special about your first...I truly believe it.



Little Man started his first day of preschool...isn't he so handsome? And I'm not sure what that is in his mouth....probably gum? If there is gum anywhere, he'll be sure and find it! And no...they can't wear flip flops to school but I'm the procrastinator mom that hadn't bought his tennis shoes yet - I have since this picture and he is now "equipped" to hit the playground! Boy is he a charmer!

And baby girl is EVERYWHERE! It was hard to pick just one picture she is changing so much!

She started pulling up before 8 months!! And now she's just practically cruising! She hasn't mastered the transition from one piece of furniture to the next but it's coming soon! Is she going to be walking by nine months? Oh dear....

Oh...and she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth! One day I found a peanut in her mouth (GASP!) and today a random fruit snack the boys had dropped in the kitchen!!! She's an active little girl - something I never expected! I thought girls were supposed to just sit and play with toys in one spot...not this one. But ya'll she is the sweetest thing. My grandmother used to say "just a little bit of honey that the bees ain't found...."

And one more thing? Is this too much of baby girl? I've been having a hard time getting her to eat food...little miss independant doesn't want me to feed her anything off a spoon so tonight I gave her what we were having....spaghetti! I couldn't resist the pic!

I'm headed out tomorrow for a very much needed girls weekend! Have a good one everyone!

Giveaway Winner!!!!

Y'all I can't even tell you how many times we attempted this video....instead of doing random.org - I thought we'd have numero uno draw the winner since it was in honor of his birthday! Shouldn't be hard, right? Wrong! Little man got very upset (as you will see in this video) because he couldn't draw the winner!!! What you aren't seeing are the ones before where he starts kicking, whining, etc....So just listen for his little comment. I thought about redoing it AGAIN (because he chimed in) but figured "ya know what? this is real life over here people!"

So without further adieu....I now present to you (with the help of Numero Uno and Little man!) the winner of our stationery giveaway!

Giveaway - Tell your friends!!!

So all of my favorite blogs have been hosting great giveaways and I just kept thinking "I should have done that for my 100th post...or maybe my 125th post...blah, blah, blah!" But there really is no time better than the present, right??? SO....I am hosting a giveaway for 50 notecards of your choice! Yep...you read that right! 50 notecards!!!

The winner will be chosen next Saturday (August 22nd) in honor of Numero Uno turning 5!

1. So browse through my website

http://noteworthystyle.myspstore.com/

2. pick out some favorites whether it be:

• some "girly" stationery all for yourself
• notes for that special friend who just had a baby
• notes for that special teacher who takes care of YOUR BABY!
• thank you notes for your child's birthday party that you STILL need to get out (oh that's me!)
• a gift for someone high on your list!

Then send me a comment and you'll be entered once!

Post it on your blog, attach the link for me to see and you'll be entered TWICE!

Good Luck!

Oh and if you aren't the lucky winner, I'll offer a consolation prize of 20% off your entire order! (AND...it's such a great sale right now anyway! Double your quantity on notes, enclosure cards, bag tags or bookmarks!) Just enter the coupon code "blog" at checkout! Good Luck!

Week one down!

So my "baby" has completed his first week at "real school"! It has been the longest week ever for me! I can't believe how long he's gone (7:00-3:00) but I seem to be the only one phased by it! He has been so secure and independent, jumps right out of bed in the morning, never seems tired and has even BOUGHT his lunch 3 times this week....How indepent is my 4 YEAR OLD???? Wow. Can you tell how tired I look? One night I even went to bed at 8:30!

I've been trying to figure out what this new routine looks like for me. I've gone walking at 7:00 right when the bus leaves...it's been great to have my workout done for the day.

I've organized desks, closets, rooms and done tons of laundry - I've run errands, done dishes and written thank you notes. And I've spent alot of special one on one time with these precious little ones!

This week's behavior chart has all smiley faces! We're off to a good start!

The 1st bus ride!!!

First Day of School! Numero Uno is headed to Elementary school! Because he is so young (still 4!!!!) we decided to hold him back another year so he is going to Pre-K at his Elementary school which means he gets to ride the bus!!!!

This morning has been anticipated for a long time but it went so great! And I didn't even shed one tear...is that okay? Here are some pics from the morning -

I was going over everything with him in his backpack!

Putting on his big boy backpack!

I'm just so proud of him!

Excited for the bus to get here!

HERE IT COMES!!!!!!!

Good morning to the bus driver!

Letting the bus driver know he has my precious cargo!!!!

(J/K - he was making sure he had him on the list)

And he's off!!!! We've started a new chapter in our family!

1 year later.....

One year ago - I was pregnant and in EXTREME pain...I had violently thrown up before I went on a girls beach trip and woke up crying multiple mornings at the beach over coffee in such extreme pain near my ribs.

I even blogged about it here - basically after a trip to the emergency room and a morphine shot, my friends propped me up like Weekend at Bernies!

Well, now a year later I still have this pain on my ribs....so I packed up all three kids and went to see my primary care doctor. One x- ray later showing an "abnormality" and a referral to a pulmonologist resulting in a cat scan and bone scan - it has been determined that I have a "healing rib fracture"....rib #8. NICE......

I've had a broken rib for a complete year - wow. And looking back on it, I can likely recall the exact second that I broke it - the day before I left on that beach trip - so sick and violently throwing up with baby girl in my tummy.

But she was so worth it.....

Consider Yourself Warned!

My baby (numero uno) will be getting on the bus Monday for the first of many times in his life.

I know I'm not the only parent experiencing it but I feel that I should forewarn any other parents that may come in contact with me. I feel there are a few things you should be aware of:

1. I am not a morning person. If I see you at the bus stop, I will TRY to converse normally with you but will probably fail miserably to where you'll think I'm socially challenged.

2. Coffee is very important to me in the morning so you should expect to see a cup in my hand each a.m. at the bus stop. If you notice a cup of coffee is missing, I would be careful when approaching as this means we are out of coffee and that's never a good start to a day.

3. I have yet to get "emotional" about my baby getting on a bus BY HIMSELF with a stranger I've never met, driving him somewhere he's never been to spend the day with a teacher he doesn't know.....SO you should be advised that this may "hit" me extremely hard all of sudden, completely unexpected at the bus stop on Monday.

(I'm sure a picture of this moment will be captured although not so sure I'll share it with you!)

4. If (or better yet when) this sudden realization hits me, I should also warn you that I'm a very ugly crier - I break out in hives, face gets all red, eyes swollen and instant headache. This will only cause me to look EVEN worse Tuesday morning and then coupled with the fact that I'm not a morning person, blah, blah, blah,.....Tuesday won't be pretty.

(again, probably not a shot of me you'd like to see!)

5. I have bed head in the mornings - while some people purchase products called "bed head" to try and achieve this look, I unfortunately have the uncool bedhead that requires a shower to tame. Since the bus arrives at our stop at 7:00 am....I don't see a shower happening before then so I apologize in advance for my appearance.

These are the Top 5 most important things you should know about me before we meet at the bus stop Monday morning - Consider Yourself Warned! Approach me with CAUTION!

Family Vacation '09

We loaded up our precious cargo and headed to the beach last week.

We spent alot of time in the ocean...

And ate some sand...

And some more sand.....

We had some serious talks on the beach...

(little man likes to say "Daddy, I'm mad at you" when he's being reprimanded)

We spent some time at the pool...

We loved alot on baby girl ...

And we loved alot on each other.....

And tried to cherish every moment because they just don't stay little long...