Declan

Declan had a mini photo shoot the other day while Alaina was napping. Since he's started school, I haven't been taking quite as many pictures of him as I have Alaina, so I wanted to catch up a little bit. I hope you enjoy!

The time has come

dun dun dun! So it's potty training time in our household and so far...it's not going so well. She wore undies all day today and somehow only made it on the toilet twice even though I took her EVERY 1/2 hour. I would say this is the one thing I dislike about being a parent. I despise the potty training stage. It's no fun, tons of laundry, and lots of cleaning. Eventually we will be a diaper free household and it can't come soon enough! I am determined to be consistant with taking her every 1/2 hour and I've heard that it will only take a week or 2 for her to get the hang of it. I hope that's true! I believe Declan was 3 1/2 when he finally got the hang of it. I just don't know if I can do another 6 months of diapering. I just pray to have patience and understanding during the process ;o)

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.