August

Noah has been talking so much more about Bible stories this month and it just warms my heart! I just love that he's been so interested. He is seeking out the different Bible story books we have around the house, brings them up at different times in the car or during play time. It's so wonderful! I think part of it has been related to him starting back at school, but at Redeemer, this month. So a new environment and teacher with different ways of teaching and talking about it has really made an impact on him. He's also a big fan of Sunday School - he always asks on Sunday if we are going to Sunday School first and is sad if we aren't able to make it. (Kate's morning naps and other issues have played a factor there unfortunately, but hoping we figure out a way to get back in the routine again soon.)

So, thanks to Costco and putting out their Halloween costumes already, we've already started talking about Halloween for this year. The boys have picked out their costumes (last year we learned our lesson, we have to pick them up early or they are picked over before mid-September!) though Noah keeps changing his mind, so we'll see what he decides on when it's actually time. But Noah is so funny when he talks about it...he asks "Is it Halloweena yet?!"I don't know why he has added the "a" to the end but I absolutely love it!

All the kids from our 2 LifeCare groups we've had over the years...love all these families!

Drew one day came home from summer camp, talking as determined as ever, walking up the stairs: "Mommy, you will not believe this, but I am going to try to do a double jump and if I can, I am going to do karate!" (For those of you that may not be familiar, double jump is something that characters can do in video games if you hit the jump button and then when they are in the air, hit it again, they jump again to go even higher even though they are already mid-air. This is something our boys desperately want to be able to do in real life!) He was certain he could practice and work on being able to do a double jump. He has a friend at camp that goes to karate classes and I'm sure it is why Drew is now interested in learning...not a bad thing, so we'll see if he continues to be interested when soccer season is over.

The boys got into a "tent" phase this month...making lots of tents out of blankets and furniture..I love it when they play like this...it feels like real play! They did lots of creative play and building with lots of other toys too, so that was fun. Luke was able to sleep over, which is always a treat and they love being all boy with their play with him too of course - Lego, Pokemon, video games, etc. We had lots of swim parties this month with lots of different groups of people, so that was fun and kept us busy. The boys and I had one big last Hooray of a day before school started - we crammed in tons of fun, and Ava came along too! Trampoline Park, Build a Bear, Chick Fil A and bowling and arcade games at Main Event! Whew! We were tired! We had a great time...Noah didn't want to leave the Trampoline park but didn't care for bowling and Drew was just the opposite - funny!

Both boys started school at the end of the month, Noah started a week before Drew. Noah has done AWESOME! He has a very loving teacher and Noah is responding to that very well! :) He is singing all sorts of songs and talking about stories and isn't crying at all! Oh, we are so pleased! The first day was a bit funny as we were getting ready...he has to wear a uniform (polo shirt & navy shorts). He realizes what we are putting on him and he exclaims "These are not school clothes!!!" and didn't like that he had to wear a shirt with buttons (oh, I thought we were over that!) and so he had a bit of a fit with that, but never since. Once he saw the other kids, I think he was completely fine with it. Also, he didn't die from wearing buttons on a cotton shirt with a collar, or a fake button on his shorts, so I think we'll be ok!

Drew and Mommy had a week together at home before his school started, so we did some fun Mommy and son things, which was really great. Drew was so sweet at times, being very understanding that I still had things that needed to get done...so precious! But we had 2 days that I took Kate to school so I could focus just on him, and it was grand! We went to Chuck E Cheese (his pick of course!), played lots of games, he showed me how to play some video games, we played Lunar/Glow in the Dark Mini Golf, and let him do the bungee jump thing at the mall, reading lessons, long scooter rides around the neighborhood, and just nice Mommy and son time! It was a good week!

Drew started Kindergarten this year and is also doing fabulous! Turns out Uncle Kevin went to TLU with Drew's teacher, which is a nice surprise to not feel like a complete stranger! :) His friend Seth from down the street ended up in his class as well (1 out of 5 classes), so he enjoys that. He's excited to learn more math this year, which we love of course! He came home and learned the phrase "Whoever smelt it, dealt it!" by the 3rd day of school, so can't wait to see what else he learns, LOL!

Boy, I was SO ready for school to start! By the end of the summer, the boys had had enough of each other...they spent almost every waking minute together since May 20 and that was TOO MUCH! Oh, there was so much fighting and bickering and not sharing, etc., I was DONE! I'm looking forward to them having their own school and class and friends and space...I sure hope it helps!

Kate...quickly approaching her own birthday now...so bittersweet! I've been cherishing our 'baby' moments a little bit more this month, somehow realizing that she's no more a baby, that I'll never again hold or nurse a newborn baby for hours on end, smell that sweet breath, all those sweet baby things. Oh, they are so precious and fleeting! Now, sappiness over, don't get me wrong...we are happy to be done with those days and have no plans to repeat, but they are precious!

She is living it up...this girl is ON THE MOVE!!! 1/2 way into the month, she started being able to stand up without pulling up and is walking all over the place all on her own! Whew, she is loving it! They boys are quickly learning why we've been nagging them for months to pick their stuff up as she is really starting to get into their things now! HAHA! She is a busy girl! Always into something, figuring things out, following the noise of whatever is going on. If she hears the alarm system "Front Door" (when we open the door), she races to find out who's leaving and going where - never wants to be left out. She does the same thing with the click of the gate to the stairs..."I want to come" her sweet little face says and she catches up to you as fast as she can! She likes to climb/crawl up the stairs too. And loves being outside! Basically, just wants to be where the excitement is! When she is in the pool now, she basically refuses the baby float and only wants to be on the tanning ledge, where she crawls all over the place. She needs constant eyes on attention of course as she would likely crawl right off the ledge into deeper water. But she sure does love it! She likes wearing her big girl shoes, and just likes shoes in general (just like Mommy!), she's always finding our shoes laying around and bringing them to us...after she's tasted them of course!

She got her 3rd and 4th tooth this month, and she's SO clingy for days because of them. She also tends to wake up about an hour earlier than normal when the tooth is close to breaking through...so, Mommy's extra tired this month! In addition to teething, she also had a bit of a cold/coughing spells with lots of drainage and yucky-ness, adding to the fun. And one night walking around she fell and face planted and got a pretty bad bloody nose, poor girl! So again, Mommy is also very tired!

She transitioned up to the Infant B classroom at her school/day care this month and she is doing SO MUCH BETTER! She wasn't too horrible before, but she is happy, busy and taking GREAT naps! I think it helps that they all take naps at the same time...she's such a busy girl, if she knows something is going on, she wants to be a part of it, and that includes any type of stirring or change in activity during nap time, so this should work out much better! Also, her teacher, we just love! She's been there for a long time, was the teacher for the boys as well, and they loved her too, so we are so happy to be movin' on up!

Things she does: still likes clapping her hands and her toys together, playing and pulling out dishes in the kitchen cabinets, playing silly with her brothers (has fun being chased by them, and even 'raced' back and forth between couches with Noah one evening, so cute!), talking lots more (saying Ma-ma sounds this month!), playing with puzzle pieces (they frequently end up in her mouth of course, and it's hilarious to me when she gets the pieces with the big nobs on them, they were just made to put in the mouth it seems!). She likes to dance/bounce to music, and it's so stinkin' cute of course! She does a great job playing with her toys as long as you are in the room with her it seems (unless she's teething or sick of course!).

Some other favorite things she likes: toilets (hooray!...all bathroom doors stay closed now at all times!), baths, playing in the fridge/freezer, walking circles around objects (who knows why!) Food wise, more and more table foods, hooray! Some favorites are tortillas, black beans, quesadillas and any kind of meat :) When she's done with a certain food, or doesn't like it at all, she does a big swipe to the food to get them all off her high chair, or will flat out just throw them off to her right (it's always to the right!). The same applies to toys...if she's done or doesn't want them, big swipe with her hand to get them out of her way! She likes to play with balls, and we have buckets full of them here...soccer balls everywhere and every other kind too. We've both seen her on several occasions trying to kick the ball while she's standing, which we think is pretty impressive. Matthew has already calculated which and how many Women's World Cup games she'll likely be eligible for, HA!

Baby Kate will soon be 1!