Kindergarten Came to an End

I can not believe that Kylie's whole Kindergarten year has already come and gone. I swear I was just barely dropping her off for her first day.  She has had a great year and really grown as the amazing little girl that she is. A few weeks ago the Kindergarten classes put on a short little program for the parents. Kylie was really excited to peform. Her favorite song was a song they learned sign language for and for weeks before she would show me all the signs she was learning. 

 Kylie loved loved loved her teacher, Mrs. Guynn. She was a great teacher for her and told me several time how much she loved Kylie and her sweet, easy going, obedient personality. Mrs Guynn also told me that she knew she could trust her to run an errand and come right back so Kylie was always her teacher's runner and she loved that!! She excels in reading and writing and loves math. Being the social person that she is she will tell you that recess and PE were her favorite parts of the day. She also loved computer day and going to the library. I am grateful learning is exciting for her and I loved when she would come home and enthusiastically tell me everything they had done.  

Kylie had the chance to receive a few awards throughout the year. One being the Kindness & Friendship Award and was even written about in the school's newsletter and another being Top Kindergarten Reader and had her picture hung in the main hallway. 

 On the last day of school they celebrated with a water party at the park. Kylie was so excited for this day. She reminded me several times all the things her teacher said they needed to do or bring for their party and she wanted to make sure she did them all.  Kylie had been really excited with the idea of summer approaching, until we pulled into the garage on her last day and then she lost it. I think in that moment it hit her that Kindergarten was over and  she was now headed to first grade. She told me she wanted to be a kindergartener forever and she was really going to miss her teacher. I reminded her that her teacher is moving in just down the street from us this weekend and that she can't be a kindergartener forever. I tried to remind her how cool first grade will be and through her tears in true Kylie fashion she says, "Oh yeah, and we get three recesses and get to play on the big kid playground." Thank goodness for that!!!

Her first year of school was good to this little girl and I can't wait to see how she grows and excels in years to come....And just for fun here is a little comparison from the first to the last day of school.  She definitely still has her sassy personality, but with a lot less teeth!!

Kylie's Time to Shine

Kylie had her first dance recital last night and it was definitely something both her and I have been looking forward to for a long time. She absolutely loves her dance class and looks forward to it every week. She loved dressing up and wearing make-up was by far her favorite part. Her recital didn't start until 6, but come 4:00 she was dressed and anxious to go.

 She constantly talks about all the girls in her class. She has made some really great friends and it was fun to watch her make connections with them. Just by chance several of them are moving into our area and will be going to her school next year and she couldn't be more excited!

 It was tough to get good picture of her while she was actually on stage, but she was in two numbers. One was a tap routine and other jazz. The jazz number was by far her favorite and the one she liked practicing the most.

I can't even tell you how much this dance class has boosted her confidence and it has shown in other areas of her life too. She really tried hard to do her best during each class and was awarded dancer of the day several times through out the year. Growing up being a dancer myself it was so fun for me to watch her get up there and give it all she had. She wasn't shy or nervous at all and came off the stage just beaming.  She was thrilled to have her Grandma and Grandpa Felix come down from Cedar to watch along with her sweet Kindergarten teacher.  I hope it's something she continues to love and pursue for a long time!

Masked Man

I've decided nothing's better than being a mom, especially when it means being a mom to a kid who does this.

I walked past the bathroom and noticed a little boy sitting on the toilet with his underwear on his head talking to himself as if this is a completely normal thing to do. I started laughing and all he did was look up at me, I could tell he was smiling though the underwear, but he wasn't embarrassed at all and didn't feel the need to take them off.  I am guessing they were fairly clean, or at least didn't smell all that bad... according to a 3 yr old little boy's standards. 

Minor House Facelift

 I mentioned while my sister was here we were up to our ears in paint and projects. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate her help while she was here. She was the absolute BEST sport and did anything I asked her to do even if that meant painting my kitchen three times and then suggesting we start painting all the doors and baseboards at 10:00 at night because I still wasn't sure about it. Jeremy was also very patient with us as the house was a torn up mess for days and the kitchen was never clean enough for dinner. He was also so good about going along with my crazy plans and even stepped in to help when we needed it. Ashley's husband David came into town while we were in the middle of our mess and the poor guy also got sucked in, but he was also very helpful and didn't complain (at least when I was around) about our late night shenanigans.

The first priority was painting the baby's room. We got that done and it turned out pretty good. I haven't put the whole room together yet so pictures of that will come later. 

The next day we got gutsy and painted stripes in my family room that I think turned out amazing. I love it!! I was a little bit nervous at first right after we did it because it was such a bold thing to do, but now that I have had some time to get used to it I couldn't be happier with it, and every times someone comes over I get a ton of compliments on it. I'm anxious to get some curtains and I would love to repaint my end tables, but one thing at a time, Andrea, one thing at a time!!

The next two days were spent in my kitchen. I was ready for something lighter and more refreshing, but I wasn't exactly sure what color would help me get there. After about a thousand paint samples, actually buying two gallons of paint, getting it on the walls and hating it, trying to mix up something of our own with left over paint, hating that too, we finally settled on this (which might I add was Jeremy's choice from the beginning, but he was very nice not to rub it in)...

 and I love it!!! Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

I did have a minor panic attack (and may have shed a few tears) because I hated the new color up against the color of my doors and baseboards, which doesn't look like from the old pictures, but was the same tan color all my walls are through out the house, but Ashley being an amazing sister talked me in to taking on the task of painting the doors and baseboards white with their help of course and now I couldn't be happier.

It was a crazy busy week, but it felt so good to get so much accomplished. A lot of what we did I have been wanting to do for a really long time and in the end I'm feelin' pretty dang good about it.

St George Ironman Strippers

Awhile ago a friend of mine asked if I wanted to volunteer with her at the IronMan this year and of course I said all in. It just happened to be the same weekend my sister was in town so I drug her along with us and I cannot even tell you what an amazing experience it was.  We were volunteers at the transition between the swim and the bike. Our job was to off dry the women athletes and get them dressed and ready for the bike. We were called strippers because originally we were going to be stripping their wet suits, but we actually ended up in the tent helping them get dressed. 

The St. George IronMan is notorious for being an extremely hard course, but you add in extreme winds and freezing weather and you have yourself a very scary and very difficult  2.4 mile swim.  Just after the age group division started the winds really picked up causing what some people were saying were 4 foot whitecaps on the water. The women came in from the swim just frantic. Even the first few pros came in saying that was the scariest thing they had ever done and that they needed to get more life boats out there. Apparently people were going crazy thinking they were going to drowned. In fact people were out there drowning each other just doing whatever they could to stay above water. It was complete mayhem.  The life boats were frantic making sure they were gathering up everyone who needed help. They had two scuba diving teams under the water watching for  falling people. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, but 500 people were pulled from the swim and the medic tents were full of people with concussions and hypothermia. The women that did make it, came into the tent freezing, wanting to throw up, exhausted, in shock, frustrated and some were just down right mad.  Most said it took them at least 30 minutes longer than the swim normally does. One lady described the experience as "an hour and a half roller coaster ride, and not the fun kind." Dispite how they were feeling or what they just had just gone through there where several who came in with smiles on their faces. They had just accomplished something amazing and they knew it.  They were happy to see us. We did our best to encourage them and they were very grateful for our help considering their exhaustion. 

It was emotional watching them come in after such an amazing accomplishment and I was in complete aww by their motivation and strength as they trekked on to the next two events. I can't even imagine how disappointing it was for those who got their chipped clipped because it either took them too long or they were pulled in a boat. They had trained really hard for months and months for this and it was all because of the weather that their time didn't count. The officials changed the rules once they realized how many people wouldn't be able to continue on due to loosing their chip and let anyone who wanted finish the race. Several of the women weren't sure they even wanted to, but it felt good when we could encourage them and they made the decision to continue on. It was an amazing experience and absolutely inspiring. 

After we were done we came home for naps and then went back downtown periodically to watch the bikers and runners. My sister had family friends that were competing and between the swim and the bike I think only 3 of the 6 of them were finishers and only 1 of them made all their time limits.  

The very end of the night was the very funnest. We were in the stands cheering on the last of the competitors and it was awesome to see them cross that finish line after 17+ hours. I was there and watched a guy who was finishing his 137th Ironman. I can't even imagine that!! It was an incredible day and I loved being apart of it!

IT'S MAY!

Yahoo!! If I have my way, I will be holding a tiny baby girl in my arms before this month is over. I have about 4 1/2 weeks left which actually puts my due date at June 3rd, but since I have told everyone in the whole wide world that my due date is the end of May it's bound to happen, right? I've been putting positive vibes out there for the beginning hoping that will help my chances.

I went to the doctor last week and I'm dilated a fingertip!!...Not quite a 1, but I am starting to show signs of progression which makes me very happy, although I'm really trying not to get too excited about it just yet. We'll see how it's going next week at my appt. I'm measuring small though, but actually my doctor says that's a good thing because it will better my chances at having a VBAC.

It's starting to become really real. I've had a couple of moments where I have gotten that serious nervous butterfly feeling in my stomach about the whole situation. I am so excited for her to get here and it's really starting to hit. It's probably about time we get serious about making sure we have the things we need for her. I've had a really laid back attitude about it because Jase came WAY before we were ready for him and we seemed to have survived so I guess that's made me not extremely anxious to get things done any too soon. We did get her room painted and I have her bedding. Hopefully I'll get her room finished up this week and get her cradle ready for our room.

I have never been one to think I have gone through a nesting phase. Maybe because Jase came way too early for that and I was working full time right up until Kylie was born and I barely had energy for that at the end, but this time it has seemed to kick in a little bit. This week my sister Ashley has been in town and we have had a crazy busy week. She has been the absolute best sport and we have pretty much repainted my house...well, not quite, but it has felt like it. I will probably crash after the week is over and not want to do another single thing until the baby is here, but it was so refreshing to have a burst of energy and get so much done.

I am slightly nervous at how much life will change with three kids especially since she is coming at the beginning of the summer and I know the other kids will want to be on the go, but we are ALL really excited for her to come.

Here's to the craziness that is about to ensue at our house!