First Day of School (and the rest of August)

Reilly started 1st grade at his 4th school. He did a pre-K express in Virginia right before we moved, started Kindergarten in Pima, switched to the Benjamin Franklin Charter School in Lehi when we moved to Mesa last December, and since it closed, is now attended the Franklin School in Mesa's regular school system. He has rolled with it, though, and has loved each of his schools. He has enjoyed school so far, and likes going to school with some of the same kids he sees at church and in our neighborhood.

Jaina was a little nervous about starting school, but has thoroughly enjoyed it. She is in afternoon kindergarten and loves her teacher and enjoys her classmates. I'm glad we didn't put her in full-day, because she and Katy really enjoy playing together most mornings, and Katy is kind of bored in the afternoons when they're both at school.

August was the month of lost teeth. About a week after Reilly had his first one encouraged out by the dentist, Jaina suddenly screamed and started completely freaking out. She had accidentally caught her hand on her very loose tooth and it had come out, complete with a good amount of blood. I was afraid she was going to have a complete panic attack, and it took several minutes to calm her down.  It took me a few minutes to find the tooth after she threw it like it was a scary bug when she saw the blood. By that evening she was mostly over it and excited to see if the tooth fairy would come.

Within a few days, Reilly had lost his -2nd- tooth while trying to open something hard with his mouth at lunch time.

Jaina's other tooth was pretty loose, and we tried to convince her that the tooth fairy paid double for two teeth in the same night. It was a no go. But the very next day she finally let me grab it with a kleenex, and it came right out. So here are our non-twins with their twin missing teeth. :)

A not-so-fun thing that happened is that on our last real day of swimming for the summer (things seemed to busy after August mostly, though it was still really really really hot for a while) Reilly decided it would be a good idea to jump backwards into the pool. He didn't understand my instructions about NOT hitting the side, and hit it hard with his stomach. The pic is after it had actually faded a lot. We were pretty worried about him for a couple hours, but eventually decided there probably wasn't any internal damage. Kids can be scary!

This is just a cute picture of Katy being Katy. She was "reading" us one of the "No, David" books. :) So silly.  Also, it has been SO nice to have Reilly reading really well. He can read pretty much any of our books to Jaina and Katy, if he's in the mood.  (Also, a picture of Jaina and Katy's haircuts)

The only other exciting thing that happened in August was that Jeremy turned 30! I tried to make it special by giving him a gift a day, and we had a little party for him the weekend of his birthday. Since I had been 31 for several weeks, I was pretty excited for him to finally join me in the 30's...

Hmm. Summer?

I never thought I'd be such a terrible blogger. But everything falls by the wayside at some point, and this spring/summer blogging just hasn't happened. Not that anyone cares. But -I- will when I go back and try to figure out what happened to us this year. So let's see if I can summarize the rest of the summer (which really could go all the way through October, if you're just looking at weather...)

In June I got to see our new baby Kerrigan on the ultrasound for the first time. I was about 14 weeks, and it was such a relief to see that everything looked good and that he/she was growing well in there!

We went to Pima for a few days at the end of June. I don't really remember why, but I was finally up to making the trip on my own. It was fun, but Katy was sick for most of it. :(

4th of July was a little quiet. We didn't feel up to seeing any fireworks, and only did a few ourselves. Katy was still kind of sick, and Jeremy and Jaina were asleep at 7 AM, so Reilly and I walked over to our ward's 4th of July breakfast. Even at 7, it was HOT (above 95) and since I had been lying in bed for about 3 months, even that much of a walk was a little much for me. Lame.

The next day we went BACK to Pima/Thatcher so we could be there for Chloe's 5th birthday, and so we could go up to the cabin for the day Saturday. It had been a while since I had been up there, and the kids hardly remembered it. It wasn't our family's turn for sleeping rights, so we just stayed for the day, but it was so nice to get up out of the heat and take my kids there. So much of my childhood and traditions are connected to Columbine that I want to make sure it's part of my kids' life as well. It was nice that we were able to drive up, because my dad, Spencer, Jason & Emily all hiked up the mountain and were ready for a ride home after all that.

We added a darling niece to the family - little Miss Carlee turned David & Nicole into a 3-person family, and she's basically the first niece or nephew we've been around for. Definitely the first one I got to visit in the hospital! Such a cutie!

The kids and I actually did something "extra" when Chick-Fil-A offered their free meals for dressing like cows. I'm not too great at doing stuff like that, but every once in a while I do make an effort. They've got to have some memories, right?

One of my best friends, Isabelle (whom I met at EAC), and her troop of 6 kiddos came down to Arizona (from Washington) for almost a month. It was so great to get together with her a few times. It had been QUITE a while since we had seen each other in person (July of 2009, I think) and we hadn't met each other's youngest kids. (2, in her case) So, so nice to get to spend a little time together. I hope they can move down here permanently some year, but at least for now I live in the same city as her parents. :) We managed to get together 4 different times while she was here, which was pretty impressive with all we both had going on.

I had my Level II ultrasound in late July, and we were excited to find out the baby was (probably) a boy! Reilly had been praying for a baby brother for months before, so I give him most of the credit. :)

Jeremy threw me a little early surprise birthday get-together that was fun. He's always good at spoiling me on my birthday. :)

At the end of the month we trekked back to Pima/Thatcher one more time before school started and spent time with grandparents and cousins. The kids all also got to have their first dentist appointment in several years. (It was Iowa...) Thankfully, none of them had any cavities, and Reilly even let the dentist pull his loose tooth. He was pretty excited, and looked so grown up! We tried to convince Jaina, since hers was even looser than his, but she wouldn't have anything to do with that... :)

We also managed to fit in doctor's appointments for all 3 kids in the last few weeks of summer. I found a pediatrician in Scottsdale that we like and we do try to get them in at least once a year, just to show that we did, so it worked out well. I like the office a lot, and all 3 had good experiences.
Here is Katy, being cute at her appointment.

It's a good thing that we did, because otherwise we probably wouldn't have known that Reilly was getting a little nearsighted, and might have been frustrated in school if we hadn't managed to get him into an eye doctor as well, and get him some glasses. He doesn't wear them all the time, but definitely prefers to have them if he's doing anything he cares about. (Like, you know, Lego Star Wars... :) )

The last landmark we hit before school started was that Katy traded her nighttime pacifiers for some toys. She was a little nervous about it, and it was a MUCH bigger deal for her than it was for the other two. (Or at least long-winded. Bedtime was pretty difficult for a good 3 weeks, and I was regretting taking them away more than once.) But things are mostly fine now. She's always had a hard time getting to sleep (she gets that from both of us) but it's easier now than it was when she was 1 and 2, so we'll take it.

Whew! Made it through the summer. When I get most of it down at once, I realize it was a lot busier than I thought it was!