First Day of Kindergarten

Today's the big day!  Ryker's first day of kindergarten is here.  It's hard to believe his summer break is over and he's ready for school.  He was so excited last night, he hardly slept.  He was up at 5:20 wondering if it was time to get ready yet!  Daddy had a last minute engagement at work come up and he had to be in early so he got up extra early and got some donuts for breakfast. 

Up, and raring to go!

Picture with Daddy before left for work.

All ready to go

My big boy!

Showing off his backpack.

Rocking on the porch while we waited for the bus.

This is the point I began to cry.  I did really well up to this point.  He saw the bus coming, said, "Bye Mom!", gave me a big hug and a kiss and away he went. 

Then, Cam proceeded to cry and yell, "Bubba!" while running after the bus.  Camden and I both looked like this for a while.  I managed to pull myself together eventually and headed over to the school to meet Ryker and drop off his school supplies.  I beat him there and went out in the hall by the entrance doors to wait for him.  The aides that were making sure all the kindergartners got to the right room said that all the buses were there.  I piped up, "No! No, they're not!"  They were so sweet and immediately got on their walkies to check whether his bus was there and see where he was.  I started to panic a bit when they said his bus had dropped the kids off.  I went back to his class to check if he was there and he still wasn't.  I started imagining him lost in the school somewhere not knowing where to go and I lost it again.  I was so thrilled that he was so excited and I didn't want it to be ruined right after he walked in the door.  The bus driver said she had dropped him off into the hands of a teacher, so I knew he would get there eventually.  I went back to his room to check one more time and there he was, sitting in his seat telling his teacher about the anti-itch cream I put in his backpack in case he needed it.  lol!  I was so relieved!  He turned around and nonchalantly said, "Oh, hey Mom.  Did you know that the bus doesn't have any seat belts?!?!?  But, don't worry, I held on to the seat the entire time."  It cracked me up!  I stayed for a bit with some of the other parents until Cam decided he wanted to sit with Ryker and Ryker tried to hug him and Cam thought he was pushing him away and Camden started screaming.  I took him out in the hall to get him calmed down and by the time I did, most of the other parents had filtered out by then.  I didn't want to go back in and cause a scene and he was perfectly content so I headed out to the van.  I kept busy with a trip to the library and a few errands to keep my mind off of things in the morning.  It was a long day and I was more than ready to see him when he got off the bus. 

He was bursting at the seams to tell me all about his day.  Camden was still asleep so we got some nice one-on-one time to discuss his day.

Then Cam was up and ready to cuddle with his brother.  He really missed him!

Later, while playing in the bonus room, Ryker decided he was going to be the teacher and started writing letters all over the chalkboard and making me tell him what they were.  Too funny!

Ryker passed out pretty quickly after lights out.  Apparently, Camden snuck out of his bed and cuddled up with his brother.   :-)

Back to School Night

Tonight was Ryker's Back to School Night. We got to meet his teacher and some of his fellow classmates. His teach this year is Miss Oliver. He didn't get either of his preschool buddies, Cooper or Jonah, in his class, but he does know one little girl from church. We walked in the room and he dropped my hand and ran off to play right away. We got the lay of the land a bit and filled out a few things for the teacher before heading home.

He filled out this form at school:

I especially love his answer to the last question. :-)

I made a special Back to School dinner for us after the event at school.

I found a cute back to school interview on Pinterest and asked Ryker the questions during dinner. Here are his responses:

Name & Age: Ryker, 5

Grade Level: Kindergarten

My School: New Palestine Elementary

Teacher's Name: Miss Oliver

Classroom Number: I don't know (It's GK3)

Best Friend: Carson Rush

Favorite Color: blue

When I grow up, I want to be: A Firefighter

Favorite Snack: Chocolate

Favorite Cereal: Fruit Loops

Favorite Book: Fly Guy

Favorite Holidy: Easter & Christmas

Favorite Food: Nutella sandwiches

Least Favorite Food: Cauliflower

Favorite Game: Tag

Favorite Summer Memory: Being inside a bubble at KidsCommons

3 Words That Describe Me: brother, silly, and smart

Goals for the Year: 1) Learn to read. 2) Have fun! 3) Learn to add and subtract.

We said a special prayer that God would watch over and protect Ryker as he begins this new journey. We prayed for his teacher and his school too. Here's to a great school year!

Last Day of Summer

Today was Ryker's final day of summer break.  The weather was really mild and I decided it was the perfect day for the zoo.  The animals were really active and we had a great day!

The bears were play fighting and were very entertaining to watch.

Oh, how I love these two!  We watched the dog show for the first time which was really fun.  We had lunch nearby afterwards and I snapped this sweet pic of my boys.

All the rhinos were moving around today which is the first time I've ever seen them even take a step.  They came up close too.

Ryker has to race the cheetahs every time we go.

All the running wore his legs out.  Ha! They shared a stroller ride over to the butterfly exhibit.  We saw the komodo dragon which was pretty cool.  Ryker asked the handler a ton of questions (surprise! suprise!). 

 

It was a great way to end our summer break!

Big Boy Stuff

Ryker has been asking to take his training wheels off his bike for a while now and we just hadn't gotten around to it.  We finally did the other night and started his lessons!  He's catching on great!

Getting his first practice in.

 

After we came in from our biking lessons, it was time for bath.  Camden decided he needed to sit on the potty.  This is not a new thing, but not a super common one either.  He will sit on there from time to time and maybe a trickle will come out.  Not tonight!  He sat down and went to town.  He even pooped!  I was pretty psyched!

He was pretty proud of himself too.  :-)

 

Bike Parade

We were invited to a bike parade at our friends, the Hurst's, tonight to celebrate another year of school starting.  Jessie is such a great hostess and makes it so fun for the kids.  We decorated the boys' rides and headed over for some fun tonight.  We all ate and let the kids play before embarking on the bike parade.  After the parade, there were crab races.  These were hilarious!  There were several heats of competitors and all the kids got sheets with the crab's names on them to choose the winners.  The kids had a great time yelling and cheering for their favorites.  It was too funny!

All the kids lined up and ready to go.

Ryker was in serious biking mode here.

We decorated Cam's cozy coupe and I took him for a spin in it.  It was fun!

The crab races were a huge hit!

They loved cheering on their favorites.

We even got to bring home some new crabs to join Sheldon.  We brought 3 home and inherited one more later on.  We now have Sheldon, Leonard (Batman), Howard (Turbo), Raj (Blue Scary Face), and Penny (Pink Spiderman).  The boys love them!

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa Sheepie's

Since we were out and about for Ryker's doctor appointment and a few errands, we decided to pick up lunch from McAlister's for Grandma and Grandpa and eat lunch at their house.  Natalie, Garyn, Gigi, Jalyn, Ashlyn, and Carter all joined us as well.  It was a great afternoon and we really enjoyed our visit. 

Grandma and Grandpa with 6 out of their 12 great-grandchildren.

From Left to Right: Gigi(5), Ashlyn(6), Cam, Ryker, Carter (4), and Garyn (7)

Cam loves Grandpa so much!

It's hard to believe by February there will be at least 19 great-grandchildren.

This sweet boy is quite the charmer.  :-)

5 Year Well Check

We finally had Ryker's 5 year well check today.  With his asthma under control, he is a healthy little boy with perfect vision (woot! woot!).  Dr. A also said she finally no longer heard his heart murmur today!  Yay!

Dr. Anderson is always so patient and allows for Ryker's curious nature.  She let him check her ears today and listen to his heart with the stethoscope.  She is a gem and we love her!

 

Stats:

Height: 45" 90th percentile

Weight: 45 lbs. 11 oz. 78th percentile

 

He is growing right on track from where he's been and looks great!  Yay for a healthy check-up!

Cousin Day

Michelle had surgery today so I offered to watch the boys for her.  They had to be at the hospital by 6:00 am.  Thankfully, Tony came straight from work and stayed until 8:00 when I got there.  I did not want to get up at 4 something in the morning and wake the boys up to get up there!  We had a great day and the boys loved getting some quality play time in.

Cuddling with watching Curious George and playing on the iPad in the morning.

Michelle and Robert live on a pond.  The boys loved hanging out by the water. 

We also took a walk to their neighborhood playground before Nathan's nap.  This rock was struck by lightning which created that huge gap.  Crazy!

Newport Aquarium

Today was the long-awaited day we took our road trip to Newport, KY (just across the river from Cincinnati).  Newport is only about an hour from where Uncle Dave and Aunt Kate are now so she drove up and met us.  Aunt Karen came down with us and Kate's mom, Debbie (who recently moved to the Newport area) came as well.  We all met at the Newport Aquarium and had a great time!

Checking out the river with Aunt Karen.  It was a bit bright for the boys.

I wish I had a video of the moment Cam and Hudson saw each other.  Those two are best buds and just love each other so much.  Seeing them together just melts my heart!

Ryker has a fascination with all animals and had an amazing time learning more about some of his favorites.

Petting the horseshoe crabs and the leather starfish was one of their favorite parts.

The shark rays they have are amazing creatures and so cool to watch.  They had a huge sea turtle that was fun to watch too. 

It was so much fun to spend the day with Kate.  I miss seeing her almost every day, but am glad they are close enough we can do things like this with some regularity. :-)

The Frog Bog was a huge hit with the kids.

The otters were napping and yawning.  They are so cute!

This aquarium is such a cool place and is just awe-inspiring.  We had an amazing time!

Aunt Kate with the boys while we waited for the Penguin Palooza show to start.

 

We ate lunch at Dewey's pizza near the aquarium.  Cam was not a happy camper and it was not a smooth lunch to say the least.  Debbie and Kate were done and so were the boys long before I was.  In fact, I had had one bite at that point.  They graciously took all the boys back down to the river to watch the boats while Aunt Karen and I finished eating.  Once Cam was outside and able to move around again he was a happy camper once again.  We finished off the day with some ice cream from Cold Stone and then headed home.   The boys did great in the car and Cam slept almost the entire way. 

Neighbor Fun

One of the nice bonuses to this new house is our neighbors.  Particulary, the Rush's across the street.  They have two little ones close in age to our boys.  Clint coached soccer with Robert and Ryker and Carson get along so well.  Amelia is a year older than Camden but they still play well together.  We spend many evenings outside letting the kids play together. 

Amelia and Cam had their first date the other night. ;-)

Tonight we had an impromptu fire and s'more session at their house.  The kids played and played and were disgustingly filthy by the time we came in (which was WAY late), but we are soaking up the last days and nights of summer while we can!

24 Week Appointment

Today was my 24 week appointment.  I've been having a lot of painful Braxton Hicks contractions over that last couple of weeks so I was glad to go in and talk to the nurse practitioner.  She was able to reassure me that some of the pains I was having were normal for a 3rd pregnancy.  The others, she didn't like so much.  I've been ordered to do better at staying hydrated and try to rest more.  She also recommended a pregnancy support belt.  They tested me for a UTI as well just in case.  Thankfully, it came back negative.  All else looked great though.  The baby sounded wonderful and there are no other reasons for concern right now.

Blood Pressure: 118/68

Heartrate: 140s

Weight Gain: 6.4 pounds

 

Here is a quick belly shot I snapped while cleaning Aunt Karen's after my appointment.

 



Bowling

We made plans with the Spangler's about a month ago for a fun night of dinner and bowling.  We met up for some Mexican food on the south side and then headed to the bowling alley.

Cousin Love!

Daddy and his boys

Ryker is a hilarious bowler...he has lots of flare!

He was pretty into his bowling shoes.

And making silly faces!

Cam LOVED it and had a great time!

Me and my wild man.