He is my 3 yr old!

{and this post is way over due!!! by 4 months to be exact!!!!}

He is my 3 yr old.. Drew has come a long way since 2 yrs old.. for one he can talk!!! Thanks to our speech therapist {Jill you rock!!!!} and regional center for early intervention.. I am a firm believer in that! Also thanks to tubes in his ears so that he can finally hear what we are saying and how we are saying it... but Drew has had a long road socially I think.. due to his speech delay.. he was delayed in social play.. in recent months I have seen a tremendous amount of improvement in his behavior!!! In order to make sure that Drew was up to speed by Kindergarten I made the decision to put him in preschool through the school district a year earlier than I did Garrett.. Ms Brenda & Ms Mona {Garrett's old teachers} are awesome.. I just have a good feeling about him being in a class setting a few days out of the week.. this particular class also has a special friend program where they interact with kids that have special needs.. which I really love.. I would like to think that early exposure to special needs children will give them patience and compassion for people that are different.

So far Drew has loved it.. last night he said "I am so excited!" when we asked how he felt about going to school the next day.. and today when I picked him up he said "I didn't cry at school today!".. so I would say that is a great start!!!



Drew often thinks he is older than 3 yrs old.. trying to follow what his brother is doing at all times!
He loves to cuddle.. he thinks he is super funny when he makes up knock knock jokes....
He loves PB&Js.. eggos.. goldfish.. {newest thing being cliff bars} and will ask for them all day long..
He always has to be running around like a crazy mad man.. but will sit and watch Super Why & Football..
He is so stinking cute and he is so incredibly defiant at times!
and I love every little bit of my little man!!!!!

Garrett's first week in Kindergarten

Well of course.. {cause I have bragged to the universe already!!!} Garrett had an AWESOME first week of school.. he even was super star student of the day on Wednesday.. very exciting!!!! So Garrett loves school.. so far.. its been a lot of fun.. I hope he keeps up the good work!! I am very proud of him!

"Wahoooooooooooo!!!"

All lined up and ready to listen to Ms Ryan.. yay my big boy!!!! Luke his friend is in our class too.. he is standing next to Garrett in the picture.. we are very excited to share this school year together again {he was in our preschool class}.. his Mom & I are planning on carpooling starting in a week or so too.. so that will be nice!!!!

The Last Playdate before School Starts

What an enjoyable last few weeks we had with our friends! We rode the trolley a couple of times.. played in parks.. did a little retail therapy {for the Mamas!}.. had wonderful September birthdays to go too, but our last playdate before school starts was at Zoomars in San Juan Capistrano... if you haven't been there before.. its awesome.. if you have, but not recently.. they have new owners and have cleaned up the place a lot!!!!! They also give discounts to anyone that wears a uniform to work.. which is awesome for us.. I got 2 free train rides and a box of feed for the animals.. yay!!!!!! Anyway.. it was a blast.. Drew is still asking me everyday to go back he loved it so much!!! I am still so incredibly bummed that we won't be able to do Thursday playdates anymore cause Drew is starting preschool, but there are always holiday weeks {if the other Mamas are up for it!} and weekends.. but I will miss Thursdays during this school year that is for sure!!!!

Police Playdate

When Garrett was in daycare they use to have a yearly talk about the dangers of strangers.. and Mark would come to talk to the kids about strangers.. and police officers.. mainly to let the kiddos know that they shouldn't be afraid of police officers.. they are here to help people.. so this year we decided to do the same type of thing for our play group.. there have been a few attempted child abduction stories in our area this summer... so it kinda freaked me out.. so we decided to do a stranger danger talk for the kids.. when I told Mark that we would be doing this {& in his city} he agreed to bring the kids some coloring books and give a little talk.. they loved it.. the police car is always a hit.. and my boys were super excited that their Daddy was there in uniform and all {we don't get to see him in uniform that often.. so I enjoyed it too.. hee hee}

Summer

I really can't believe that we only have a little over a week left of summer.. and most of our friends have already started their school year.. our school is supposed to start next week, but we get 1 more week due to furlough days that the district is doing in order to cut back on the budget.

This summer I had such high expectations on things I wanted to do.. places to take the kids.. it seems like this summer has gone by super fast! We traveled to Minnesota and had an awesome time, but for the most part, when I was home I felt rushed from one thing to another.. not really accomplishing what I wanted to do! So I was really looking forward to a quality camping trip with just our little family.. so we did just that.. we got a nice little spot right here in Dana Point.. it was great!!! We invited Granny to come hang out with us too.. we played baseball, football, had hot dogs, s'mores, hung out by the fire, etc..

But on the 1st night.. when Mark and I climbed into our tent for the night.. Drew had thrown up all over himself.. and did just that for the rest of the night.. He did wake up fine the next morning.. so we rented a bike.. put the kids in the front {basket thing} and biked around the beach area.. then played some more baseball and football, but we had to get back for Garrett's football practice.. then we had 1 night free of sickness.. until the following night.. Garrett got it.. which was a huge disappointment.. I didn't get to do what I wanted to do this week with them.. thankfully I have 1 more week.. and with the boys being sick this week... it slowed me down enough to think!

We don't have to do it all.. I don't have to do it all.. my priority is my family.. and I need to pay less attention to what I think others expect of me.. my friends are my friends and will be there regardless... time has already flown by so fast.. I mean look at this summer.. I spent the majority of the time frustrated cause I was late to the next thing.. or my laundry was pilled high.. or I spent whole Saturdays editing pictures instead of playing with my kids.. I mean after all my BABY is going to Kindergarten.. if I don't change the way I am spending my time.. or stop wasting my time thinking about what others say or think about me.. I am going to miss what is important.. its the legacy you leave behind that matters the most {isn't that in a country song.. I like it.. I just don't know the exact words} I have taken on too much.. I have worried to often that people are mad at me.. I feel like I have gone out of my way to please others at the expense of my own legacy the ones that will be left behind once I am gone.. and its not too late for me to wake up and change that.. and that is exactly what I am doing!

These are the moments that make me smile.. I am so blessed to have 1 amazing man & 2 amazing little men to spend my time with.. no more rushing around.. time to slow down and enjoy!