First & Last

Since we moved, I had the girls end their school year a little early so I wouldn't have to keep up the drive for another month.  They both grew so much this year!  Here's Claire on her first and last day of preschool!

And here's Emma on her first and last day of Mother's Morning Out...


They change so quickly!  *sigh*

On friends & chupis

Here are a few randoms left from our trip to Iowa that I never put up on the blog.  We spent the last few days of our Iowa trip at our besties' house.  The kids picked up right where we left off and we finally got to meet and snuggle their newest addition Molly!

Silly kiddos!

Claire asked Liam more than once, 'Will you be my husband?'  He never agreed to it... ;)

Oh, how I love this woman!

In other news, Emma is well on her way to being potty trained.  Can I get an awww yeah?!?  I always had the 'sometime after Christmas' time frame in mind but honestly, even a week ago I wasn't sure she would be ready.  I would ask if she wanted to use the potty and she would usually say no.  Well, she used the potty two nights in a row before bed so yesterday I decided to go for it.  I'm a firm believer in the naked method and we are on our second day with no accidents so far.  Gooo Emma!  We decided to celebrate by heading to Target for some Diego chupis.  Unfortunately, even the boys' department didn't have Diego, so Emma settled for Ariel.




And I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my sweet girls.  Unknowingly, this was taken on Emma's last day in diapers.  ;)

Preschool Co-op

Today marked the first day of 'preschool' for our soon-to-be-3-year-old.  Some of my closest friends and I decided to start a preschool co-op for our kids this school year.  Since they are all November babies, they won't start official preschool until next year but we all felt like they were ready for a little more structure than the usual playgroups we attend.  We are starting off doing it once a month this semester and then next semester we'll do it more often.. either every week or every other week.  We rotate who is hosting and teaching.  On our weeks off, we all get two hours at home with just our babes, which is a nice change from the norm!

Claire Grace all ready for her first day! (notice the little sister peeking out of the window)

When did this girl get so big?!

Posing. :)

The kids learned about apples today!

Claire and Elise hard at work.

Emily with the students... Maddie, Claire, Elise, and Liam.

Claire was beaming when I asked about her first day at school.  They all had a blast and Emily did a great job starting us off with a fun morning of organized games, stories, snacks, and play time. 

Here's to a great school year!! ;) 

11 months old!

Unbelievably, today sweet EmmyLou turned 11 months old.  We're just one short month away from the big o-n-e!  Where has the time gone? 

She is sweet as ever these days and oh so much fun!

Her favorite new 'tricks' include waving hi and bye, signing 'more' and 'all done', doing the whole 'how big is Emma? sooo big' deal, giving kisses (to real people, pictures, dolls, and stuffed animals), cruising around with her walker, balancing without holding on to anything....  We're having fun, folks!

She still loves her big sister, is now totally into playing in the playroom with Claire, loves pretty much all food (except bananas..weird, I know!), and is a total mama's girl. 

Hanging out with BFF Nora

She's an Iowa girl.. lovin that sweet corn!

Let the birthday party planning begin!