first grade - its all about the shoes and the gap in your teeth

Morgan really wanted to start first grade with a missing tooth. Lucky for her, one fell out 3 days before school started. She felt so big!!

The tooth fairy came, but the "tooth fairy" didn't know what to do with the little tooth... Do you keep it or throw it away? Well it's too late now, the tooth fairy is married to a practical man that took the tooth and threw it right in the trash. That made the decision much easier.

Here's Morgan on the first day of first grade. She didn't want anything in her hair and she wanted to wear one of her old dresses. I love that she isn't into new school clothes yet.

Although, she is all about the shoes this year. All she asked for was a pair of skechers twinkle toes shoes - they are all the rage with the kids around here this year. I promised her she could get some - but I never would have promised if I would have known what an ordeal it would end up being. We spent more than an excessive amount of time searching for the right pair in the right size... At first she wanted the light up ones so we searched everywhere and finally found them online. When they finally got here (and just in the nick of time the day before school started) we noticed they didn't just have little light ups - they lite up the entire house they were so bright. It was like neon lights going off with each step... So we had to go out and find a pair that didn't light up. She wasn't going to be the kid in class that distracts all the other kids with her shoes. After two trips to the store, we finally had a pair that fit and she was happy with. We had to take laces off her soccer shoes to make them stay on her narrow feet. She has her moms long, narrow feet. poor girl.

Waiting for the bus with her lunch clipped to her backpack. I'm sure it will be smooshed by the time she eats lunch.

And she's off. We will miss her around here all day, but I'm really excited for her.

At 9:47 AM this morning (a little over an hour after she left for school) Miles shouted out in frustration "it's taking forever". Not knowing what he meant, I asked him what was taking forever, to which he replied, "Morgan's taking forever!" I just looked at him and busted out laughing. It's going to be a big adjustment for him not having his constant play pal around. Thank goodness he has Will.

Alike in so many ways...

I had to retire the high chair today. I've been fighting it for months now, but it had to be done. It didn't matter what kind of food I'd give him, Will didn't want to eat it if he was in his high chair. He just hates being in it. And it didn't matter how tight I strapped him in, Will could wiggle his way free from the buckle and climb out. This is very dangerous for a kid with no fear. He'd stand on the tray and bounce up and down like he was king of the hill. Very irritating to me since I'd usually put him in the high chair with a snack so I could get something done, but instead I had to watch him more carefully while he was in his highchair so he wouldn't kill himself... Such a pain... So I took it down and pulled the booster chair out of hiding. I swear most kids use the high chair for longer than this... Don't they?? I think Morgan was over 2 before she wanted to be done with it... Not Will. Not Miles either. As I looked back at pictures, Miles was the same way at this age. I remember putting the high chair away with Miles because he too hated being in it and refused to eat unless he was down. Miles was also able to wiggle out of the tightest lock-in. Morgan never did that. My boys are SO much alike. Here is a picture of Will at 14 months and below that is a picture of Miles at 16 months...

It's interesting how differently people view the same thing. I hear from people all the time how much Miles and Will look alike. Some days I agree and other days I think they look completely different. It's the eyes that I notice most. Miles has his Grandpa Beckstead's eyes and Will has his Grandma Dehner's eyes. Both make for great looking peepers.

**Maybe someone will have insight on this, because I do not get it... Why did both my boys hate eating in the high chair, but fine with the booster?? Aren't they basically the same thing?? I can't figure out why he's happier in this as opposed to the other... I'm baffled. I'm also wondering why it took me so long to get the booster out when the high chair wasn't working. Is my bulb going dim?

The cat's out of the bag

I am free to roam about the planet... That's right. Our passports are here and sitting in my hot little hand. When Mike mentioned that we should get passports "just because, um, it's a good thing to have", hmmm, I wasn't buying it. Really you want me to hurry and fill out the paperwork for a passport and meet you at the post office today just because it's, um, a good thing to have... So I did what I do best.... I beat information out of him. Come to find out he's been a busy little husband planning a week vacation for us - WITHOUT OFFSPRING!! I am so excited. We are going to run our Marathon in St George, stay a day in Vegas, and then head out to somewhere that I can't say - (I forgot that the location is still a secret for AnnDee). Mike took care of making arrangements for our kids - Grandma Dehner's taking charge and the kids are so excited!! It's going to be the honeymoon we really never took!! (Unless you count the few days we spent in Park City after we were married - normally an exciting place except that we were there during the construction/tear down of the entire city while it was getting ready for the Olympics to come. But really - we didn't even care at the time, wink wink ;) And to top this whole thing off, we get to go with AnnDee and Taylor. And if you read this blog, you already know how we feel about them... I can't wait!!

And that's not the only thing making me smile. Oh no. I'm smiling because Morgan and Miles passed their swim class. They have taken huge leaps forward with their swimming this summer. Both of them have loved the pool since they were born, but they have been really timid about putting their heads in the water and swimming...

Here's Miles doing a handstand! Not only is his head in the water, but he's upside down. Huge for him!!

It's hard to see since I took this picture with my cell phone, but here's Morgan swimming! I am so proud. I'm not really proud of the swimming, but that they both overcame their fears. They had to work harder than many kids to get to this point and I'm proud of them for sticking with it and finally trusting us and their teachers. It's been really rewarding for me to watch.

Meanwhile, while all the other moms sat around sun-bathing and reading a book while their kids had lessons (I wasn't jealous at all, really, well maybe a little), I got to chase this little bugger around. He's so fun! I love 1 year olds. Even though he's busy (and a bit crazy) everything he does is cute. What a great summer.

Oh the pain

Will is constantly hitting his head. I know it's an age thing, but seriously he has a new bruise almost everyday. On this particular day he hit his forehead on the bathtub while bending over to pick up a dropped toy. And the big scratch down his cheek is from trying to stuff his face through the fence. It took him a while until he figured out he wouldn't fit...

Mike is feeling the pain too. His foot is still giving him troubles with all the running he's been doing. He just isn't as young as he used to be. Sigh... He's such a stubborn man and won't see a doctor. Nothing a little ice won't fix... Sure babe, keep telling yourself that.

I've been feeling the pain too. The pain of getting your kids to take a picture together. I've learned I just don't have the patience. All I want is a picture of my offspring together - and smiling would be nice. And smiling at the same time would be even better. Am I really asking too much?? Apparently yes I am. This is all they'd give me.

Geesh. We'll try again in a few months.