Pre-K

Finley was accepted into the pre-K program at JVES! So excited!!! I have heard wonderful things about the program and I think it will be good for our entire family. Finley isn't great with change. She needs to be told in advance about changes and then eased into them. I think this program is great because she is in a real school with other school aged children. SWEEM has been great. They are structured and loving, the parents are involved and caring and the kids are products of that, but the pre-k is only half days/4 days a week and I think for her to transition to kindergarten year after next, she needs to go more often so it isn't such a shock. Her teacher is a masters level teacher with 14 kids and two aides and she'll go M-F from 7:30 to 2pm. Huge change! I ran into a teacher at the school last night and she said her class eats next to the 4 year olds and that the first 2 weeks all the kids are sitting at lunch crying, but after that they are all smiles and having a ball. I'm interested to see how it goes. Another plus is that the program is free because it's public school so I can afford to send Sam to MDO a couple days a week. Big plus for mom! I have no worries about him. He is a social butterfly and begs to get down and play when we pick Finley up. This fall will hold some big changes for us, but I'm excited for them :) Wish us luck!

Now, what will I do with all that free time? Go to lunch with friends, lay on the couch and read a magazine, shop? Let's get real. I will clean the house, do the laundry and maybe squeeze in lunch with Joey once a month. On the bright side, I will be doing all those things in peace and quiet :)

Finley's 4th year :)

4 year stats:
Height: 38 1/4 inches
Weight: 33 lbs.
Clothes: 4T
Shoes: 8

Finley is a petite little thing, but her growth is right on track. She had to get 4 shots (3 sticks) and a finger prick yesterday at her appointment. It was pretty bad. She doesn't remember ever having shots so she wasn't sure what to expect. I told her it would hurt, but only for a minute and then we would go to McDonald's for a milkshake :) She cried big tears, but by the time we go out of the room she was fine. Now, her biggest concern is getting the band-aids off. One time I had to take her band aids off and I pulled them off really fast. Let's just say that when it comes to taking off band-aids, she and I have different opinions on the best method. She had her vision and hearing checked. Her nurse and I had a big laugh during both. Instead of raising her hand when she heard a sound, she would just say what sound she heard. It was like she didn't understand why she would raise her hand when she could just tell us what she heard. Good luck to her teachers in the future ;) We'll work on that this summer. Then, during the vision test, her nurse was pointing to a star with her finger and asked Finley what it was and Finley wasn't sure because it was really small. She kept asking and asking so finally Finley said in an exasperated voice, "It's a finger!" I think for now her vision is fine, but it's only a matter of time. Joey and I both wear contacts and I started wearing glasses in the 3rd grade. Hopefully, she can at least make it until then without them. I'm thankful for a wonderful pediatrician and her awesome staff!

We survived the 4 year appointment!

 A milkshake makes everything better.

Finley talks NON-STOP! Literally. I have started trying to help her practice being quiet, but it has been a huge failure. Joey and I are talkers so I don't know what we were expecting. She says the funniest things! I need to start writing them down. She loves to read books to us and to Sam. She loves her little brother so much. She always wants to know where he is and what he's doing. Every day when I get her from school she asks him if he missed her. She loves to go in his room and "get him" when he wakes up from his nap. They love to chase each other. She still knocks him down and gets irritated when he cries, but she also gives him lots of hugs and kisses and she always introduces him to people wherever we go.

Quick list...

LOVES: reading books, gymnastics, Angry Birds, the iPad, swinging, chicken nuggets and french fries, spaghetti, when Daddy picks her up from school, Taylor Swift, the grandparents, jumping at the mall, puzzles, using the Swiffer mop (woohoo!)

NOT SO MUCH: anything green (as in food), wearing bows (too bad, you're wearing them), dresses (heartbroken, I only make her wear them to church), doing what Joey and I tell her to do

A little hope for other moms of girls..Since Finley turned 4, I have seen a huge improvement in her behavior. Yea! I heard 4 was better and it is so far. 3 was a rough year. I wasn't sure we were both going to make it out alive. We did and I think 4 is going to be a great year for us all :)

Finley's 1st soccer game!

Finley had her first soccer game today. It was hilarious! Our team is the Orange Tigers and it's co-ed. Finley complains that the boys won't let her have the ball and that she just can't do it. She runs around the field and tries to keep up with the other players, but she is the smallest one on the team and those older boys are fast! Most of the boys are focused, but the girls are more concerned about the fact that their names are on the backs of their jerseys. At one point during the game, Finley and Mary Francis were discussing the outfits in the middle of the field. I realized that every team at the YMCA has some token characters. Every team has...
-a kid that cries the entire time
-a powerhouse
-a kid who wanders aimlessly on the field (we have a few of these)
-a kid who is bigger than everyone else but is afraid of the ball
-a kid who falls down constantly (this is either the crier or the powerhouse)

When the other team kicks off and her team goes after the ball, Finley will wave her arm to everyone on her team as if to say, you go ahead and then after everyone has run past her, she will run after them. It's hilarious!

Things overheard on the field today:

"Mommy, those boys won't let me have the ball!"
"Mommy, my bow is falling out!"
"Mommy, scratch my leg, it's itching under my socks!"

Soccer is a hoot and I'm so glad we signed her up.

Sam is 1!

See how I put an exclamation point in the title to try and seem excited about my baby turning 1? I have tried to be happy about it, but I just want him to be a newborn again. He may be my last baby and he's not even a baby anymore :( He is running all over the place at all times. He is definitely all boy as they say. He loves things with wheels and he likes to ram things into walls. He likes to search and destroy. When Finley lines things up or stacks things up, he runs over to it and furiously swings his arms until he's made a mess of things. It's hilarious! He loves to scream and when you act horrified because it's ear piercing, he smiles and laughs. You FINALLY got your 1st tooth! It's the front bottom one and the one next too it will be coming through soon, I think. He loves to be tickled and thrown in the air. He loves to be outside and free to roam. He loves opening and closing doors and drawers. He loves bathtime. He is so good in the car and was quiet the entire way to Birmingham last weekend. We all call him Bubba ;) I try to call him Sam so he doesn't go to school known as Bubba. We used the last scoop of formula the night of his birthday and he had his first taste of whole milk the next day and you would have thought he had been drinking it all along. He loves his paci. He hugs everyone. He will just randomly come up to us and give us a big hug. He is the sweetest thing and everyone that meets him loves him. Sam, you are a sweet, precious baby boy and you make us all so happy. You were definitely meant to be in this family and you were created just for us. We love you, Bubba ;)

1 year stats
Height: 29 3/4
Weight: 21.7 lbs.
Size 4 diapers
Size 12-18M clothes
Size 4 shoe

Sam's 1st and Finley's 4th Birthday!!!

On Saturday we celebrated Sam's 1st and Finley's 4th birthday! Sam's birthday was on Saturday and Finley will officially be 4 on April 2nd. I really liked the combined birthday party and I will continue to do it as long as the kids are okay with it. I did feel bad when I realized everyone brought 2 gifts. I will have to find a way to keep that from happening every year. Anyway, we had their party at my mom's house in Birmingham. It was a pirate/princess party! We had a great time! Finley was so excited!!! She didn't understand that it wasn't her actual birthday and she didn't understand that the party was for both of them, but she was happy anyway. We had a treasure hunt, the kids dressed up as princesses and we opened gifts. Our friends and family were very generous and we came home with two cars FULL of gifts. Thank you to everyone who came and made their birthday great!!!

Thank you to Pinterest for the food table :) Side note: I have the banners and the pirate ship sails if anyone wants them.

 My MIL made the cupcakes and they were delish!

 I'm so thankful we managed to get one family shot.

Finley's favorite part of birthdays is when everyone sings Happy Birthday. 

Sam eventually had his cake EVERYWHERE!!! 

 Opening presents!

My cousin's wife, Angie, took the pictures. I texted her 30 minutes before the party and asked if she would bring her camera. Mine decided to stop working on the day of my children's birthday party. I wanted to cry! She was so sweet to bring her camera and snap some pics. They turned out great! Thank you Angie!!! She is a photographer in Birmingham if you are ever in need. She is amazing!!! angelablakephotography.com

Hands Free Mama...Puh-lease!

If I hear one more word about hands free mama I'm going to scream. Why do we feel the need to constantly make ourselves and others feel guilty about doing things for ourselves. Not only do we give up careers, our looks, our figure, our social life, our relationship with our husband, but now we aren't even allowed to look at our phones while the kids are playing on the playground. We can't drive the car we want because it's too small, we need an SUV. We can't live in the house we want, it's too small we need something bigger. We can't even eat our own meals, we have to share with little hands that reach up the instant we get a bit of food. I don't know about you, but I can't even talk on the phone because the kids are making too much noise or want a juice box or need a snack or have to go potty. For moms that work, you have the added guilt that you aren't with your child all the time. For SAHMs, you have the guilt that you aren't contributing to the family's income and people think you sit on your butt all day. ENOUGH!!!!!! How about this...let's just say that we are all doing our best and when we aren't doing our best it's because we are human. I'd like to go on record as reserving the right to play on my phone while my kids are entertaining themselves FOR ONCE. I don't need a reminder that I mess up. I make mistakes every day, several times a day. I love my children. I brought them into this world, I have nurtured them, fed them, worried over them, hugged them, kissed them and wished they were newborns so I could do it all over again. Call me crazy, but I don't think being on the computer or looking at my phone while they are playing 5 feet from me is going to reverse any of that. If you truly want to encourage someone, tell them how your son ate glass shards out of the dust buster you left on the floor. Tell them about when your daughter said "For the love of God be quiet" and after you got onto her for saying it you realized she heard it from you. Now that's encouragement.

Finley's 1st soccer practice

Saturday, Finley had her first soccer practice. She was so excited about it! She got all her gear on and we headed as a family over to the YMCA. She is a Tiger :) We haven't gotten jerseys yet, but I think they are orange. When we got there she immediately made friends with one of the two other girls on the team. They played together for a while before practice. I'm the Team Mom :) I passed around a sheet for everyone to sign up to bring a drink and snack for all the players at each game. Once the coach got there they did a few drills, but he quickly set up a scrimmage game and they played scrimmages for the rest of the practice which I thought was a good idea at this age. Finley was didn't kick the ball a lot, but she ran after whoever had the ball and you could tell she was having a great time. There are a whole lot of boys on the team and you can tell this isn't their first year. They are fast and I couldn't believe how well they controlled the ball! There were a few skinned knees, a few tears and a few kids staring into space or taking the ball to the wrong goal, but most of all there were a lot of laughs. I think we have a great group of parents who are just excited to watch their kids play. We can't wait for her first game!!! Go Tigers!