Playing School

Aylin wanted to go to school this year.  I don't know where it came from, she enjoyed the couple of times she visited my school when I was working, but all summer she talked about "going to school like a big kid."  Even after I told her I would not be returning to work, she insisted on "going to school to play with the kids."  Bobby and I decided we were not going to pay the $100+ a month for her to attend a preschool or mother's day out program, so instead we are "PLAYING SCHOOL" at home.  That is what she calls it :)  We started last week; as soon as Hilton falls asleep for his morning nap, Aylin announces "Time to play school Momma!"  She is only 3, so this is not a have to do activity.  So far, we have not Played School for longer than an hour, and one day it was only 20 mins.  But it is giving us a chance to do something together everyday without brother, and I think that is her favorite part.  Here are some pictures of our 1st week of playing school:

1st Day of 3 year old Preschool. Aylin Jewel was very excited!  We did the Letter A and Number 1.  Bible stories discussed: Abraham, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Only 1 God. 

Activity 1: Tracing in Applesauce

 

 

Activity 2: An Ark Abundant with Animals

Activity 3: All About Me Poster

I asked her a version of that 20 question interview for your kids all over Pinterest.  Then we cut out pictures for some of the answers and glued them on the page.  She decided to hang this up on her door.  She loved painting her hands and feet, and her eyes are her thumb prints :)

Activity 4: ANT Restauraunt

We picked different foods and placed them on the tables.  We used watermellon, pineapple, honey, chocolate syrup, saltine cracker, sliced cheese, and a teddy graham.  Then we predicted what foods the ants would like the most.  Aylin's guess was her teddy graham.  We put it outside in the yard and waited for 4 hours. 

 

 We had ANTS! 

 They LOVED the honey!  We also examined the long line of ants that lead out of our backyard and talked about how they were taking food back to their home.  At this point Aylin flipped out! LOL!  She started screaming that they were all over her, nevermind that I was already holding her in my arms because she didn't want them to get her.  It was hilarious.  She calmed down pretty quickly, and decided to leave her restaurant in the yard for her daddy to see.  Unfortunately, I forgot about it, and Buttercup and Tessie ate what was left of it :) But awesome science project!

 

Activity 5: Thumbprint Family

She put this on our fridge.

We had a great 1st week.  This week we are talking about the letter Y and number 0.

My 1st Official Week as a Stay At Home Mom

Well this week was the official start to the newest stage in our lives.  All my teacher friends returned to their classrooms and met their new students this week.  While I loved my job, the people I worked with, and even the kids I helped to teach...I did not miss the start of a new school year.   I do hope and pray that everyone has a successful year.

  I had a wonderful 1st week as a SAHM.  I began the week with a breakfast invite by some beautiful friends from church.  We had a great breakfast and some much needed adult chit-chat about our kiddos and other random topics.  I'm looking forward to the next spontaneous breakfast outing with the girls.

We attempted to fix our pool.  It didn't go so great, but it is playable :) as Aylin decided to jump in while I was cooking lunch.  I believe this was the 1st of many discipline opportunities. 

 This little man has decided to be more awake.  I call this his THINKER pose.  If you have seen Night at the Museum 2, I keep repeating "I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

 These 2 girls are as spoiled as ever and like to rest on Aylin's things:

 Aylin decided she likes to read again!  We had been going through a stage where she would not even look at a book, much less let me read to her.  This was breaking my heart because I really want her to LOVE reading.  Thankfully, it has returned!  Here she is reading The Lion King to her Simba (which was mine).  Tonight she actually let her daddy read 3 books to her before bed :)

 I love all the faces Hilton is making now:

This one is my favorite:  He started smiling this week!

We had a play date at the Sprinkler Park with the cousins and Landon, and then a swimming play date at a "BIG POOL!"  While my poor friends were in classrooms going over rules and procedures, we played in the water 3x this week!

Although I did not miss going back to work,  I won't sugar coat the week.  We had some bad moments.  Aylin is throwing tantrums, has developed a seriously bad attitude, and can be super whiney.  Hilton makes it hard to get things done when he just wants to be held.  But I am very thankful I got to be with them this week instead of with "my other kids," even when we were all crying at the same time from the frustration of adjusting.  It was truly a wonderful week for us with lots of little blessings, but most of all, I am thankful for the blessings of getting to be a part of little precious moments like this one:

Photo Shoot Before Worship Last Sunday

I hope to update and stay on track with this blog soon, but until then: this is our life now :)

I Need to Update, But How About An Announcement Instead?

So I know I have been terrible at this lately, but work and sickness has just been dragging us down.  Back in November, while daddy was out of town, I found out that I was pregnant!  I told Aylin because I decided I would love for her to be the one to tell Bobby.  We have a cute video of it that I love.

She still talks about Mommy having a baby in her "button," every now and then she actually says belly :)  We also surprised daddy with a homemade chocolate chip cookie cake :)

Aylin made this cute shirt and wore it at Thanksgiving dinner to tell the family our big news:

Everyone noticed right away except Bobby's mom, Bobby finally lifted Aylin up and said, 

"Mom, read her shirt!" :) 

I am at 9 weeks today (Thursday, Dec. 8th) and will be having my 3rd internal ultrasound in a little over a week.  I have been having lots of cramping and have been extremely sick.  With Aylin, I was sick mostly in the morning, would throw-up, and be okay.  I also had a little cramping with her, but this 2nd time around I am nauseous all day and night!  The baby was originally measuring small and my due date has been changed 3 times all ready.  It started at July 10th, then to July 15th, and now we are at the 12th.  On the last trip the Dr. found a small bleed which they believe is the cause of the intense cramping.  Worst case scenario: we are looking a complications because of separation of the placenta.  Best case scenario: it goes away on its own.  Obviously, we are hoping and praying for the best case and would love any and all prayers for a good, healthy outcome.

Sweet Sleep

It is 12:05 AM and Jewel Bug has finally fallen asleep :) We are on our way home from a great gospel meeting in McMinnville, TN where we got to see lots of old friends and made new ones, too. I forgot how much I love to hear my husband preach and he has a lot this month! Add the icing to our cake: we spent time with the Perrys and even saw the Reeds, old friends, good food, and the Smokies in the fall! Plus, hubby preaches again this Sunday ;). As for me, I'm off to try to get comfortable in Rosie, the Cube, and attempt a power nap...it's going to be a long, hard day!

Wordless Weds.

A Catch-Up Post

August was incredibly busy and tiresome, so much that I didn't make one single blog post :( So here is one to catch-up:

 Jewel Bug is talking non-stop and very clearly now. She really thinks she is a big girl and can do everything by herself except when she is whiney and then she CAN'T do ANYTHING by herself!  She is also really pushing that boundary or disobedience, ughh, that is very frustrating :(  We have finally moved away from Mickey Mouse, don't get me wrong, she still loves all things Mickey, but we have reached out to Dora the Explorer, Cars, and Princess Belle.  Sweet girl loves to sing, and I love to listen to her!  Everywhere we go she notices the letter A and says, "A for Aylin!"  :) Because I had to go back to work, she is back with Nannie Chelle and friends M-TR; but she loves her Nannie Chelle, Becka, and all her little friends so that makes the adjustment a little easier.  Here she is with her Mary Claire:

She got a pet fish and named him Pete; Pete the Cat has recently become her favorite Mickey character?

She moved into the 2 year old classroom for Bible Class :)

She got her first haircut!

 She did so great!  She climbed up in the chair, loved her "big dress," and just let Kourtney cut away.  She evened out her hair and put a few layers in to help it grow.  The left side was longer than the right, but we are all the same length now :)

We had a paint night!  Every year the school I work for does a fundraiser called Square One Art.  The students make a work of art and this company creates anything you want them to with it.  Last year, I did Aylin's hand print with each dog's paw print, so this year I built on that:

 Above: what Aylin painted all by herself :) and below: Aylin's foot print, hand prints, fingerprints, Tessie's paw and Buttercup's paw :)

We had a COUSINS playdate!  Payton and Aylin were so funny!  They saw each other, ran to each other, and hugged each other!  I love the pic of Payton and Aylin taking turns pushing Macey Jo in the swing...CUTENESS!

Just recently, she changed her bedtime routine on us. She won't let us rock her anymore!  We use to read a few books and rock in her glider before saying our prayers and going to bed.  But now she goes straight to the crib and starts trying to climb in, gathers her loveys and says goodnight  :(  She is still in her crib simply because we decided this year Christmas will be all about getting her a new room. In fact, we actually purchased our 1st Christmas gift! I know, I know, I am always the last minute shopper but Target had a cute little bed-in-a-bag that I had been eyeing on sale so we got it :)

She will be using my old twin bed and her great-grandmother's dresser for now. The other things Santa and family will be bringing include a chair, dollhouse bookshelf, owl pillow, curtains, ceiling fan, blinds (the new room is the only room in the house we didn't put blinds on when we 1st moved in), and any other little thing that might look cute in there.

I'm going to end it here with my little monkey, there are still a few posts I haven't done yet, but they will need to wait for another day.