{week 38}

She never tires of getting tickled. It's been like that since she was little & I love it.

Aside from the crazy giggles we kept ourselves occupied this week with: a visit to see Sidney (cousin who is now attending KSU), texting pictures to Daddy while he was on a business trip, good Target scores & the beginning of Christmas shopping (this was pure accident, I'm usually NOT organized enough to begin early at all!!!), more texts to Daddy while he camped in North Georgia over the weekend, sister-brother bonding on the slides, giggling girl, Cassidy showing off her reading skills, Cade INSISTING on wearing a barrette one afternoon just like his sisters, movie night on the floor while Daddy camped, the realization that Cade just might be growing out of the crib & picture day at preschool with NEW BOOTS!

{week 32}

What a week!!! Thanks to our friend Julie for loaning me her real camera (since I left mine in Macon!!!) for Cassidy's first week of kindergarten. But, of course, I snapped plenty of iPhone pictures too! We started the week lazily with a pajama day crafting & watching movies in anticipation of the long week ahead. And also, my girls love anything bead/glue/glitter/mess related, so it was a win. Tuesday was the practice bus ride, meet & greet and then the big girl & I had a mommy-daughter date shopping for a first day of school outfit, a couple books - we got "The Kissing Hand" & "Llama, Llama Misses Mama" among other {tearjerkers}, and went out for lunch. Wednesday was the first day of school. Cassidy had a wonderful day and was all smiles getting on & off of the bus. The early morning totally wore everyone in the family out though. Cade took a monster nap in the afternoon and Kalea was asleep in her bed by 6:30 that night!!! 

So, we're adjusting. I'm making bigger pots of coffee in the morning, bedtime is earlier and, thankfully, easier for the most part. Kalea and Cade are getting to spend some quality sibling time together. (And I laugh, because JUST as I typed this, they started fighting. Yep, quality.) It hasn't been without a couple bumps in the road. Cassidy, on the surface, is doing amazingly well with such a big transition. However she's had her moments of complete meltdowns that seem completely unrelated - I'm sure due to being over tired and not quite used to everything. We're back to packing lunches, meal planning (that yummy salmon is this recipe. one pot, super easy, 25 minutes from start to finish) and seeing the sun peak over the trees in the morning. And blessed through all of it. 

{week 29}

We headed into week 29 with one sick kid and not far into the week the second and third one joined the club. And somehow everyone had a completely different ailment: Cade had croup & finally got his very own at home nebulizer, Cassidy had some allergic reaction on Monday afternoon where her eye swelled up & looked like she'd been punched and Kalea woke up Tuesday some sort of virus with a fever of up to 103° & stomach pain for the whole week. No fun at all.

Before the onslaught of illness, Michael & I got to go see Phish here in Atlanta thanks to our niece who came to babysit. We had fun & are looking forward the next four years when she's a student at KSU & available more often to have, what Cassidy calls "playdates with Sidney!"

VBS at our church was this week but since Kalea was sick, Cassidy was the only one to participate for the week. Luckily a sweet teenage member of our congregation lives less than five minutes from us & was willing to take her back and forth every day. 

The quote of the week came from Kalea, who was sitting watching me cook one afternoon. Somehow the subject of what the girls wanted to be when they grew up came up. Her response, "When I grow up I'm going to be a banana. I can't think of anything else to be."

{week 3}

we were busy this rainy week: kalea started gymnastics, I found a new fun phone camera & editing app, 

lots of cooking, playdates, friends & sitting on each other. clearly. 

{lazy day}

snuggle time

sharing a "snack"

{the ten second tea party}

Range of emotions there, right? It's pretty typical of our very-much-a-two-year-old these days. Kalea is talkative, interested in everything, imaginative, helpful with her little brother, instigator to her big sister, snuggly, kind, silly, wiggly, expressive, curious, creative and beautiful. Love her to pieces.

{sisters}

reading together.

- Posted from my iPhone

{three lumps on a bl....}

...blanket. You thought I was going to say blog, didn't you? 

I cannot believe how big these three little lumps are getting. Cade is sneaking up on his sisters weight-wise - closing in on 15 pounds; Kalea is honestly the funniest little person I know; Cassidy may as well be 14 instead of 4. The big girls each act their age - both in good and not so good ways & I'm proud of them for generally making good choices, being polite, loving & empathetic toward each other and toward others. We have our days where they about end up sold to the gypsies but at the end of each day I know our little family is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I admit that the transition to being a stay-at-home-mom (hereby abbreviated SAHM) has been tough for me. You'd think that things would be all rainbows & puppies since I spent a couple years as an early elementary teacher so seemingly should have lots of tools in my arsenal for learning, behavior and everything, but with your own kids - and with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - it's just different. Everything seems bigger - the highs of laughter, giggles, snuggles and baby kisses and the lows of tantrums, talking back, all out fits on the floor and disobedience. It's a work in progress here at our house, one that I'm guessing is going to be progressing for a long time!