So I am hoping to blog more. I think "Oh I need to blog that.." about four times a day. But it never happens. A post once each week shouldn't be that hard! But alas, life gets in the way of documenting life.
We've had an awesome couple of weeks! Another Disney staycation, a visit from Uncle Jay, a visit from Aunt Ger, and wrapping up the summer fun. LOTS to catch up here! So while I promise to go back and fill in the blanks for the last month of our lives, I'm going to start by posting some recent stuff. "Recent", as in, "it happened in the last 36 hours and it's fresh in my head so I can handle this."
So first things first:
We are excited for Tiger football to start in a few weeks!!!!
Looooove!!!!
And now to the amazingness that was our Saturday. A little backstory:
Grady has never been a big fan of the beach. He's been to two beach week vacations and several day trips to the beach, and we always knew he just wasn't gonna be the beach loving kid the way Whitney loves the beach. Last time we made a day trip to the beach, Grady hated it. He wore his crocs the whole time because the sand bugged him. He refused to put his hands in the sand, and he cried when we walked close to the waves while holding him. He could find no redeeming qualities in the beach situation, and we ended up wrapping up early because he just didn't like it and was suction cupped to me. It wasn't enjoyable for anyone when we saw how upset it made him. He ended up falling asleep on me because he refused to touch the sand at all:
Fast forward, add in the treatments for MTHFR, and watch the magic happen. This kid has done a complete 180 degree turn on the beach opinion. He looooooved it!! We had told him we were going to the beach as he ate breakfast and got dressed. He knew where we were headed. But I was surprised when we parked the car (with no visible sight of the beach or sand or the water), and Grady looked out the car window and said "Ocean!!!" I thought his excitement might wear off when he realized this involved sand, so I put his crocs on and we walked to the beach. As we walked down the stairs to the sand, I was anticipating the inevitable "Mommy! Up!" and a refusal to step on the sand. But nope. He walked right into the sand, held my hand as we found a good spot to set up camp, and waited patiently while we got the chair and umbrella and toys and cooler situated. As he watched his brave big sister head straight to the water and the wet sand, I thought surely he would plant himself on the blanket or chair. And wait out this sensory storm. Nope. He kicked off his shoes (!) and ran after Whitney as she reached a small tide pool with puddles of salt water. She, being Whitney, laid right down in that water and grabbed muddy sand and splashed and laughed. At first Grady watched her. Eric and I stopped messing with the toys and towels and chairs, and we just watched. Eric quietly said "get it dude. Go on. You want to." And sure enough. Twenty yards away from us, after watching how much fun his sister was having, Grady did it. He jumped in the puddle. He grabbed mud. He layer on his belly in that sandy, wet, messy fun!!!! We were blown away. And proud. And excited! He was willing to play for a while! Awesome!
Except it gets better. As we let them play and we finished up staking our spot, we looked up to see Whitney holding Grady's hand and trying to drag him back to us as he screamed. She said "Umm! I need help! Grady only wants to go in the water!!!!"
Ummm. What?
The dude was trying to head into the ocean! We dropped everything and took both kids out to the waves. Grady loved it! Within a minute, he was shouting "Ready! Set! Go!!!" and launching himself into the ocean, swimming between us. Salt water in his eyes? He got over it really quick! He blinked it off, rubbed his salty eyes with sandy little fists, and carried on! "More swimming! Ocean!!" I could've cried.
He loved it!!!!!
Do you wanna build a Tiger snowman??!
Love her! Always an adventure or a discovery or a treasure!
Happy Daddy!
So we tried to recreate last year's cute beach pic:
Ugh. Needless to say, it's not the Christmas card pic I'd hoped for lol
We tried.
The newest beach bum!
Beach tea party? Sure!!
Whitney is fearless in the ocean. Maybe it's because she is unaware of all the sharks, rip currents, and other sketchy beach injuries that ruin the ocean for me. I am trying to embrace a Whitney mindset (these kids teach me way more than I teach them!), but I cringe with every step further into the waves.
This girl? Looooves everything about the beach. Sand in her eyelashes? No biggie. Sand in her bathing suit? Eh. Sharks? Psssssht. She just wants to be in the sand and surf! Boogie boarding with daddy was high on her list of priorities!
She did awesome and loved it!!!
I can. Not. Wait. To schedule a beach weekend ASAP!!!
So this dude starts legit preschool tomorrow. He's been in preschool, technically, since February. And he's loved it! But when he moved from the one-year-old class to the two-year-old class last month, we realized that the room was set-up more like a daycare than a preschool. Grady was arriving much later than the other kids, and he was being picked up much earlier. So while the other kids stayed for lunch and then a nap, Grady was sorta tossed into the day as it worked around a daycare schedule. He loves school, and we are super grateful that his current school has another preschool at their second campus. He will arrive with all the other kids, and he will get picked up at the same time as the others. He also gets chapel each week, and he looooved going to chapel with Whitney. There are a lot of awesome, friendly, familiar faces at the new campus, too! So it's been the best of both worlds!
He knows his teachers names and got to meet a few classmates last week. He's excited and I know he will love it!
Cheeeeeese!
And of course brother had to photo bomb big sisters turn!
I am blown away by how quickly this happened. She just came home, a teeny 8 lb 5 oz peanut in pink! How can she be going to elementary school?! It's so cliche but so true. It goes too fast.
But we sure did an awesome job of squeezing every ounce of fun out of our Summer!
Dear Kindergarten,
Be Gentle. Be safe. Teach equal
parts academics and life stuff. Make sure she leaves in May with a passion for learning. Be fun. And did I mention be safe? She's excited about school. Keep that going. No pressure.
Sincerely,
The Mama Who Prayed for The Little Girl in the Pink Skirt and Pencil Shirt....And is Trying to Keep it Together While Her Heart Busts with Pride and Fear and Excitement
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