Now I'm the Mom of a Preschooler too!

Parker has been wanting to go to school for literally years. The deal was, though, that he had to use the potty all the time first.  Sometimes he would, sometimes he wouldn't. (That stubborn streak is showing.)

Finally he put his little mind to it and decided to use the potty all the time so we signed him up for preschool. The coolest thing is his preschool is in the same building as Jackson's elementary school, so Parker thinks he's big stuff now, since he goes to school where the big kids do.

Like his big brother, Parker just wanted new shoes and a back pack to start the year off right. He chose a Thomas back pack and some Kobe Nike's.

His teachers, Mrs. F and Mrs. S, have been amazing so far. Parker loves going to school and the teachers report he is perfectly behaved and doing well. (I've always said I'd prefer my kids to be angels at school or with other people and act up with me if they must do it.)

Parker waited patiently until school started. He sat in this chair and just looked SO big!

 is class lined up to go in and not a single one of these little guys cried. I'm fairly certain, though, that had one started, they all would have!

 This was the craft they made after reading The Kissing Hand, which is an awesome book about a baby raccoon that goes to school and is sad to leave his mom. She kisses his hand and tells him she will always be with him, just touch that kiss and she will be there.

Are you ready for some football?

Well, we aren't really sure if we're ready, but we're doing it!  Jackson wanted to play football last year, but with our hectic lives, we told him he could only play one sport at a time and he had to choose football or soccer. Since he already knew soccer and knew he was great at it, he decided to keep going. Four months after the sign up deadline, he asked to play football. Uh, no, sorry kiddo.  So, I promised him if he wanted to play the next year, he could.

Last March, when the paper came home, he begged me to fill it out right that second and send it in. Well, football is a little more expensive than soccer, so we had to wait a few days, but he was so happy when he knew I sent it. And, the day we tried on the jersey for the fitting? I've never seen him happier!

So, here we are.  I was a little nervous (ok, fine, a lot nervous.) at first. Jackson is 50 pounds on a good day. The weight limit for second grade is 95 pounds. So a kid literally twice his size can tackle him and I'm supposed to be ok with that? I spend years teaching him not to hit and push and fight and then tell him it's ok in football? I'm supposed to... yes, I am.

It's a lot of work on both ends - his and ours. There are two practices and at least one game every week. It has cost over $200 so far in gear and fees. (I know there are some that are far more, I'm not complaining.) It's hot as Hades in the beginning and cold as ice by the end of the season. But, the night before his first game, he said, "Mom, thank you so much for signing me up for football. I love it and I love you!" Worth it all.

So far, we are three games in and are still undefeated. Loveland was 27-7. Indian Hill was 20-0. Mason was 18-6. The Indian Hill and Mason games were played back to back, not even a 5 minute break in between in 95* blistering sun.


I can proudly say I'm a football mom, #72 is mine!

 Playing with his friend before practice started. (They wear helmets in the actual practice.)

We have a Second grader

Wow... I remember when I saw the two lines on the test telling me we were having a baby, now he's a second grader.  Second grade is a year of big adjustment and there is a lot of responsibility placed on the kids - it's less of Mom and Dad reminding them to do the homework and more of them remembering to do it on their own.

Again, we hit the jackpot with the teacher. Mrs. M... she is AMAZING! We had parent orientation the other night and heard the rules and regulations and she just talked about developing awesome little people - she is right in line with my mindset on education - that we are partners and it's not just her teaching him, it's everyone.

He has a new friend, a little boy that's on his football team. Oh, yeah, he's playing football now! Back to the story, though, more about football later. His new friend, A, is such a cutie. On the first day of school, the plan was to drop Jackson off and he goes in on his own (which, seriously, who thinks of this crap? In Kindergarten and First grade, they went to their classroom for the screening/assessment tests, so at least they had seen it before. In second and beyond, nope, nada.) They encourage parents not to come in, again, it's about building responsibility.

We pull up to go around the carpool lane, in line with all the other families and I look in my rear view mirror and just see a sad little guy, trying not to let me see his tears. I pulled into a parking space and asked what was wrong. He said, "Mom, I'm just nervous. I don't know where I'm going. I tried to be brave, but I can't." Ben and I told him to calm down, I would go with him.

While we waited outside the school, the little boy, A, recognized Jackson from football and Jackson made the first move. He said, "Hey, A." They started talking and A said he didn't know where he was going either, so Jackson invited him to walk in with us and the rest is history. They are inseparable. In second grade, the teacher allowed them to choose their desk neighbor and their own locker buddy. They chose each other.

We have noticed that Parker talks non-stop since Jackson is gone all day. We didn't really notice just how much they played together I guess. But, next Tuesday, Parker becomes a preschooler.

And for now, the pictures will have to be sideways. Blogger isn't reading them right and won't let me flip them. (In that top one, Parker chose that and told me he was allowed to wear that to school.)

Summer is Almost Over

In true D fashion, I have been slacking. Seriously though, did you expect anything less? I have been busy living life, enjoying every moment I have with these babies because time flies when you're having fun and in this family time is zooming past.

I was off most of the summer for maternity leave so I had tons of time to spend with the kids. But, I was on unpaid leave, so we had to get crafty. Lots of walks, trips to the park, picnics, the zoo, library, etc. It really was a great time and as summer draws to a close, I will remember it as one of the best of my life. Well, so far.

Here are some pictures from our summer...

Reds Game (This was 4 days before Laney was born. It was a kick off to summer thing thru the school, we had a ton of fun and will definitely do it again.)  

Darby, Dianna, and Parker

 BFFs love cotton candy

 Parker calls Aunt Dianna his Other Mommy

 Mama, Ben, and Parker

 Who loves ya, baby?!

 No clue why he's wearing pants on his head, but it's Parker so that's pretty typical

 At my old theatre for a free summer community thing for Brave - they had face painting, kids archery lessons, real archery lessons, horseback rides... it was awesome!

At the zoo with our family and Unc, Kyree, and Konlee

 This is my everything, right here.

 Brack, Kyree, and Konlee

 Silly boys

 My guys relaxing at Nana's

 Swimming!!

 Ice Cream Party and Sleepover with Darby

Welcome Baby Delaney!

She is finally here!!  Delaney Brielle Anderson was born on Saturday, June 9 at 8:55 AM.  She weighed 7 pounds even and was 19.5 inches long.  Jackson was over the moon excited about her, Parker was a little unsure the first day and chose to check out the vending machines instead of the baby sister, but in the days since, he's come around and he loves her to pieces.

We decided to have one last family of 4 picture the night before she was born.  Looking at it now, as my good friend Sarah said, it looks like something is missing - Delaney completes us.  She was the perfect addition to our family.  See?

Lots of people say going from 1 to 2 kids is easy (I agree with that) but going from 2 to 3 was really hard (so far, not so much) and if you have 3, you should just go ahead and have 4 (not happening here!) I think this is the perfect family for us and we are all so, so happy!!

Ribbons, and Bows, and Pink - oh, my!

Shopping for baby girls is so much different than shopping for baby boys.  Both are awesome in their own way, and maybe it's because this is all new, but shopping for girl babies is somewhat overwhelming!  There is so much stuff...

I remember being pregnant with the boys and looking at the girl clothes in awe - little socks and bows and ruffley panties.  So cute!  Now that I get to shop for a baby girl, I have gone on two separate shopping trips fully intending to buy tons of pink stuff, only to come home with a few girl things and a ton of things for the boys - there is so much cuteness for girls, I cannot narrow it down!  (Don't get me wrong, she DOES have stuff, just not nearly as much as I imagined I'd have bought by now.)

And, the coolest part, she also has a nursery!  It is so so pretty!!!  Lime green walls and purple butterfly bedding.  It's beautiful and I will share pictures as soon as I make my mind up about what I want to put where. 

I forgot to post about this (I know, shocking)

We had our anatomy ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and Jackson was really worried about having to miss school to go.  He said, "Mom, you can't just miss school whenever you want."  i explained that I'm the mom, I can decide when he can miss school and this was important to me to do as a family, but we also learned about anatomy a little and did talk about some science and math elements while we were there.  His argument?  "Well, if I have to miss school, can we at least find out if it's a baby brother or a baby sister??"  So, I caved.  (Yeah, I'm a sucker.)

We left the hospital with one very excited boy and one very mad boy.  Jackson got the outcome he wanted but Parker did not.  he originally wanted it to be a puppy, but if it wasn't a puppy he would settle for a brother.  Low and behold, it is a GIRL!

We couldn't be happier!  Even Parker has came around now and he's excited to be getting a baby sister.