Quality Time

Well the past two days Alaina and I have spent ALOT of time outdoors. Yesterday we went to the park all afternoon and it was absolutely beautiful there. I tried to capture it with photos but it doesn't even compare to how it looked in real life...breathtaking. Then today, we went to a different park this morning, some stores, and then to the pumpkin patch this afternoon before picking Declan up from school.

I've managed to take well over 1100 photos this month and it will be even more once I do the wedding on the 29th. The bride told me today that she saw it's supposed to rain that day, so please pray for clear skies and some sunshine!

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few photos from our adventures these past two days...I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

more than blessed

while putting dishes in the dishwasher yesterday morning, I looked out the window above the sink and just realized how blessed we truly are. Fall is my favorite time of the year and looking out to see all the different colored leaves on the trees behind our house, I was just overwhelmed with God's beauty. Here is a glimpse of what I get to see behind our house!

Our friends came to visit us last week and then they came back on Sunday and we ventured out with 3 adults and 6 kids to the zoo on Monday. We forgot that it was a holiday, so it was a little more crowded than we had anticipated, but it still was a good day. I forgot to take my camera (even though I sat it next to all the stuff I was taking) but hopefully I can get some pictures. The kids had a blast and all the animals were out and about.

I've been in a picture taking mood lately (I've taken almost 1,000 pictures already since October 1st), with the leaves being so pretty and the weather being so nice (well it was, this past week has been around 90 everyday). The picture of Declan and Alaina was taken yesterday. They were being so loving and cute, I'm so glad I was able to capture it!

Update

So, we've been chugging along the last few weeks. Declan LOVES pre-k. He got a note sent home from his teacher the other day saying he mooned another kid during lunch, but other than that things have been great and he's doing really well. He's learning to write his name and he seems to be listening MUCH better! He comes home with a new craft that he's done every day. The other day he came home and was all excited to tell me the word for red in spanish.

Alaina had a visit from our Parents as Teachers' educator last week and has another one on Tuesday. She's ahead of where she should be in most areas, so that's good. She's been waking up every night for the past week and we're not really sure what's going on. She keeps telling me there are monsters in her room but when she wakes up and we go in to check on her, her eyes are still closed and she will typically just lay down in the middle of the floor and go back to sleep. She's becoming quite the little cuddler and she is LOVING having me all to herself on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while Declan is at school. Both of the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE the little baby I am babysitting and they just can't get enough of him.

As for Pat and myself, I just filled out my papers for graduation last time I met with my advisor so I will be a college graduate as of June 2011!!! I am soooooo looking forward to this. Pat will be finished in March and is still going back and forth on if he wants to get his masters degree. If he decides to go for that, he'll have another 18 months of school. We are just keeping busy with the kids and school and watching time just fly by. Declan just turned 5 and Alaina will be 3 in December, I can't believe it! We are so proud of our kids and the little people they are becoming. There is nothing sweeter than having a little child tell you they love you!

PreK

Declan's now in Pre-K. Today was his first day and I didn't get at all emotional. I was surprised. I know that he gets bored being at home all day, so I think he's really going to love being at school with other kids his age. I can't wait to go pick him up though and see how his day was. I miss him the most at lunch time, although it's pretty quiet here without him (even though I still have 3 kiddos here with me). I guess Declan is the "noise maker" of the group. I thought I'd share some pictures with you!

Again...

Once again I am attempting to start the P90x thing. I babysit 5 days a week now and it makes it really difficult to fit in exercise. I have been babysitting from 7:30 am until about 6:15 pm, so it makes for a very long day and by the time everyone leaves, I make dinner, hang out with my family for an hour or so and then everyone's ready for bed. I know, excuses excuses. I have been praying that God would give me the motivation to stick with it this time. It's been 3 months since I quit the program and thankfully I've only gained back 3.5 pounds of the 15 I had lost so I am pretty happy. My goal is to stick with this for 90 days and I want to lose about 20-25 pounds by Christmas. With school and babysitting and Declan starting school, we'll see how long I can stick with it this time 8-D I will try my best to keep everyone up to date and I am going to do my best to stick with it this time.

This weekend

This past weekend was jam packed full of fun....NOT! I spent all evening Friday night cleaning and then about 3/4 of the day on Saturday cleaning. My house really wasn't THAT messy, there were just toys and stuff everywhere. So, we are going to be having a garage sale soon. Wentzville does a city-wide garage sale every spring and fall, so we decided to jump on it. We will be doing it at the end of September and I'm debating on selling ALL of our baby items. I can't decide for sure if I want to or not but I am getting very frustrated that we are running out of room with all these baby clothes and baby "accessories" around the house. Pat and I keep going back and forth on if we want to have any more children and it seems to be up in the air for both of us. We shall see what God has in store for us!

On another note, Pat started working at the Lake St. Louis location today and he LOVES it! He even came home for lunch and it was soooo nice! I love that he's only 10 minutes away from home instead of 40, it makes for no traffic and more time to spend with us! Anyway, I just wanted to update you all on what was going on with our family...I hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Look how big my baby girl is getting!

It's coming to an end...

summer that is. Since Pat and I don't take off school during the summer months, it doesn't seem that difficult for us to jump into the "school season". I've been keeping busy with doing photo shoots and babysitting 2 little boys. I have one of them 5 days a week and the other one 3 days a week. Declan has 2 1/2 weeks until he starts school and also until he turns 5. I can't believe he's 5 already. I can still remember things from when I was 5 years old and it just amazes me that the age he is now, he will be able to remember certain things even into adulthood. He's such a fun and loving son, but lately he has had a very difficult time listening. I find myself getting very frustrated and annoyed when I repeat myself 5 times.
On another note, I believe Pat will be finished with school in March and I'll be finished in June and I'm hoping to get Alaina in preschool next year. We have to get her potty trained first which seems to be the last thing on her mind. We've tried everything we could think of but as the doctor said with Declan, it's the one thing they can control so you can't push them to do it. Declan got to go to his friend's birthday party this last weekend and had so much fun. They had a pinata, slip n slide, mini pool, and of course cupcakes which Declan had 3 of.
I on the other hand had a girls night out. We went to dinner, and then to the muny to see footloose, and then to the chocolate bar in lafayette square. It was fun, we got lost on the way there, the show was very disappointing, and I got a speeding ticket and then somewhere in between I ripped my contact and didn't have any extras or my glasses with me. The show started at 8:15 and we finished eating at 7:00 in St. Peters, so without thinking I got on Highway 70, and the directions I had were from 40. So, Megan got directions on her phone and passed them to Crystal who was in the front seat and we were all taking, I got my ticket, and then we missed our exit, so Megan had to get new directions. By this time we were down by the arch and we had to navigate around downtown St. Louis to figure out how to get back to 40 so that we could get to Forest Park. We finally got to 40 and then the exit the directions were telling us to take was not there. I am assuming with all the construction they recently did to 40, the exits have changed. So we got off at a different exit and just followed the signs by the zoo. We got to the Muny about 20 minutes late and we were ready to leave by the intermission. This production had ONE set for the ENTIRE show...it seemed pretty pathetic. However, it was great hanging out with some friends and I can't wait to have another girls night...this time I'm not driving!