he said

tonight we celebrated carter's birthday with dinner at chili's (her choice, obviously). josh started talking about what we were doing 6 years ago at that moment.
miller: where was i if i wasn't in your belly?
josh: you were a distant thought.
me: we didn't know about you yet.
miller: i was in the sky with God.
josh: yes, and he sent you to us a little later.
miller: did he send me in the mail??

i love . . .

to hear her read to her sister. it makes my heart so happy!

last day of summer

determined to have a very full and fun last day of summer, we headed to the sprinkler park after naps.

it was someone's very first time  . . .

 and, of course, she had to have the perfect shoes for the occasion.

 she was a bit hesitant at first, but then she jumped right in!

and, so did her sister!

goodbye summer, we will miss you! but, i think we will appreciate you a lot more next year ;)

it's hot!

heat will make you do funny things. 

 since we moved, it has been hot. so hot. and humid. with no rain. in fact, it is really miserable.

but our days as a family of preschoolers is limited. carter had her first day of kindergarten on tuesday. next week, it's five days a week.

 so, in an attempt to max out our time and show josh all the things we did when he worked in an office, we decided to go to my big backyard.

 today day it was 100 degrees outside. 100 degrees. it was hot. and the heat . . .

 can make you forget about the ones you love the most.

 can make you bite off more than you can chew.

 can make you so tired you want to fall asleep sitting up.

 can make you sit in a pool of hot water and forget who or what may have before.

 can make you befriend even the most unlikely of friends.

while we will miss the carefree days of summer, we will not miss the heat. 

it's official!

i always knew this day would come. i always knew i would be emotional. and, i always knew she would be excited!

 the week before her first day, i cried every time i thought about it. it is such a change. such an adjustment.

 she has to go 5 days a week. FIVE days. she has to be there at 8 o'clock. in the MORNING. this is a shock to most of our family. carter gets up at 6:30 a.m. the rest of us get up . . . after her.

 it is this frequency and promptness that caused the tears. not because i will miss my sleep (that would be josh most of the time!), but because this means my child will be with someone else more of her day than she is with me.

 this same little girl who has been by my side and under my care from the moment she was born will be at school for 7 hours a day.

and this will make our day look a little bit different.

we will miss her during our day, but we know she is having so much fun!

a night at the park

one of the benefits of our new home is that it is walking distance to the parks that also act as the playground to carter's new school. so, in an attempt to help carter feel comfortable on her first day of school, help miller feel like he is a part of her new experience and spend lots of family time together before the big day, we headed to the park the night before the first day of school.

one of the things we miss about our old house are the swings we had in the back yard. everyone (including me!) loves to swing.  

 we spent a lot of time in the preschool area of the park. i think we may exceed the weight limit of this little guy!

i'm pretty sure that is true again here! but leave it to their daddy to show them how not to play at the park.

someone decided they needed a drink to cool off from the ridiculous august heat . . .

or a bath. oops! nothing says its time to go like a bottle of crystal crack in your diaper. you could hear her shoes squoosh all the way home!

registration day

today we attended our first school registration day. my mom came over to watch the younger two while josh and i took carter. we had all the necessary paperwork proving birth date and residence, but when we arrived, we were handed a stack of papers to fill out. 

 

i felt like i was buying another house i signed my name so many times.

 even carter had to sign her name . . . on the internet student user agreement. who knew?

once we were finished with the paperwork, we headed to the cafeteria to pickup her supplies. 

 it was super convenient to just walk up and purchase the kindergarten box that was filled with the exact supplies the teachers has requested including a chair bag (i think it needs a little something-what do you think?) and her choice of nap mat. her choice was barbie. of course, it was. 

the first day is approaching fast. let the emotional roller coaster begin.