20 Year Anniversary

January of this year marked twenty years for Mark at his company. Last night we attended the company Service Awards banquet downtown and had a wonderful evening. The banquet and dinner were held on the 34th floor of a downtown building and the view throughout the evening was breathtaking as the sun set, and thereafter. The three course meal was fantastic and we greatly enjoyed visiting with Mark's coworkers at our table.

The view from our hotel suite.

Mark was presented with an award by Jody, another manager from his office, who did a great job of highlighting Mark's career and who Mark is as a person at and away from the office. Mark also presented an award to one of his guys, Monte, for thirty years of service after a wonderfully thoughtful speech about Monte's achievements and their friendship over the years.

Mark and I were blessed with a night away in a downtown hotel where we enjoyed drinks with friends after the banquet while the kids had a sleepover at Nana and Papa's house. It was a great evening in celebration of Mark's career so far. And after ten years of knowing Mark, I am as impressed by him as I was the day we married. And saying I was proud to be on my husband's arm that night would be an understatment. I am so blessed to be Mark's wife and I am humbled by his dedication to his job and the company for so many years.

Anna's first day

Our fashionista in head-to-toe PINK. :)

Today was Anna's first day of preschool and she had a blast. She was very excited to go since she saw her brother go yesterday. She was apprehensive about going into the classroom because she was confused as to why she wasn't going into last year's classroom. Once she got in the door she did great. We put her bag in her cubbie and she was off to play with the wood puzzles. She gave me a hug good-bye and that was it. I was so proud of her for not asking for or needing her Pappy (pacifier) or Monkey lovie at all that morning. Usually she'd ask for her Pappy/Monkey (she almost says it as one word) in an uncertain situation for soothing but she didn't need either and I was so happy to see that. I knew she'd have a great day if she started out on a good note. That was as good as we could have asked for! She's becoming a big girl before our eyes.

Anna loves wearing her favorite hat
in the car and her sunglasses are
usually upside-down. :)

My 'big kids' outside school.

The most wonderful time of the year!

I will preface this post by saying our family enjoyed a really fun, adventurous summer this year. The kids and I did so much with friends, family and even on our own. But then mid-August arrived and we were all going bananas! The kids desperately needed the routine and structure that school offers...and Mama needed a sanity break.

Then September 7th arrived and our house was, seemingly overnight, a different place. It was Ian's first day of Pre-K and he was so excited he couldn't contain himself. He'd picked out his new Spiderman shirt, jeans and brown boots for the first day of school and he looked quite handsome of course. And we surprised him this morning with an early birthday present - a new Lego City Firefighter backpack.

The four cousins together outside the school.

I made the kids their favorite blueberry muffins and our house was so calm all morning it was eerie. The kids cooperated so well, ate their breakfast while I showered, played nicely together, got dressed and ready well before it was time to go, etc. It was awesome! Ian was completely dressed and ready to walk out the door by 8am...wearing his backpack, of course.

It was nice to have our 'before school prayer time' at our favorite stop light this morning. They had remembered from last May and little Anna's hands were folded before we even got to the light. A few of the things we prayed for was that Ian would have a fun first day, learn something new, be a blessing to his friends because some of them may be apprehensive about a new class/school, obey his teachers, and make at least one new friend.

Ian was excited for school but became apprehensive when he got near his classroom and saw lots of other kids. Once his teachers invited him into the classroom and began showing him where to put his backpack, how to put his name up on the chart, etc. he was his usual happy self again. He recognized a few old friends and I was pleased to see several new faces, too. And as we left the school Anna kept saying, "My class. My class." She was sad she wasn't going to school today but she'll get her chance tomorrow.

Anna bounces at the park.

So while Ian was at school, Anna and I met cousin Braden and Aunt Laura at the park for some outdoor time. They had a blast together. Then she and I ran a few errands and picked up Chick-Fil-A before getting Ian from school. When he got in the car he was so happy and excited about his day. And 'special lunch' made him smile even more. He thanked Anna for getting him lunch - too cute!

He talked a mile a minute the entire way home and showed us his 'book' he had made in class. He told us he had a great day and loved school. And I was so touched to hear him talk about playing with old and new friends; especially a little girl named Evan who Ian said was shy. He said he played with her and tried to help her not be shy. I complimented him on being a blessing to his friends and how awesome it was that he helped Evan enjoy her first day of school. He is a typical little boy sometimes but he sure makes us proud, too!

Good bye August

August was a month that seemed to fly by for us. At the beginning of the month we were relaxing in Colorado on the annual family vacation and at the end of the month we were celebrating the wonderful news that Anna did not have to undergo surgery to repair her VUR (kidney reflux) issues. And in between those two events were lots of fun outings and several pool play dates at the cousins' house to try and beat the heat and keep the kids engaged...and Mama from going crazy. :)

Our washing machine went out on us (after 20 years of faithful service) and we replaced it with a new front load set that make our little laundry room look pretty fancy. At the same time we replaced the old cook top in our kitchen with a sleek new black one. Coincidentally, the appliances arrived on my birthday and they are awesome. The day they were installed the kids and I were mesmerized by the spinning clothes through the glass windows of the washer and dryer. Anna has always been my laundry helper so now she's even more excited to help because she can reach both the washer and the dryer without her step stool. I hope that enthusiasm continues into her teen years when she'll be doing her own laundry.

The afternoon of my birthday we met with the pediatric urologist at Children's Hospital and were quite relieved and thankful to learn that Anna's stage III VUR does not require surgery at this time. In fact, nearly 50% of all children with this stage outgrow it within five years. So we were given the option of putting her on a daily antibiotic for one full year as a preventive measure against future kidney infections or take a 'wait and see' approach. Either way, she will be evaluated after one year to check the progress of the VUR with hopes that it has decreased or diminished entirely. After praying, researching and speaking with Anna's pediatrician Mark and I chose not to give her the antibiotic and instead we opted for a more natural route of a daily chewable 'gummy' supplement of natural cranberry or whole cranberry juice pops. We are so thankful to God that Anna doesn't have to endure a surgery at this age and pray her kidney/bladder issues are healed by His hand in time.

We had a record-breaking summer with 61 days where the temperature was above 100 degrees and massive wild fires were part of the daily news. Brutal hot! But today was a very welcome change with highs only reaching 78 degrees and a, dare I say, crisp breeze all day long. This morning we all wore long sleeves and pants to church and I was so excited to open all the windows and air out the house this afternoon.

Fall is upon us and college football has begun (my husband is overjoyed) and the kids start back to school this coming week! Hard to believe summer is over.

Ian, Anna and Gram make paper airplanes to
launch on the air machine at the museum.

Potty training...round one

We started our first attempt at potty training Anna over the weekend of August 14th because she was showing signs of being ready.

Tuesday morning (the 16th) Anna woke up and I immediately asked if she wanted to potty. She replied that she did and I was surprised to find her overnight diaper was virtually dry. Within about a minute of sitting on the potty she began to tinkle. About thirty minutes later I was in doing my makeup and Anna came in and said, "Mommy, potty". I asked if she needed to go potty again and she replied that she did. So we ventured down to her bathroom and she quickly tooted on the potty - quite proud of herself, too. Then she pooped. I was so excited for her and her eyes got really big with surprise that she had done it.

So that afternoon we stopped by Target to pick out a cushy potty seat. She's been using a fold-up portable potty seat so I wanted to get her a nice soft one for at home. She immediately went to the bathroom and wanted to 'try it out' when we got home. Later that week she got to pick out two packs of 'big girl' underwear. She also loves to read 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?' by Eric Carle while on the potty. Not sure why but it's a favorite. Now she knows it by heart and 'reads' it to me as we camp out in the bathroom.

Since then she's been wearing pull-ups about 95% of the time and likes them. She has days where she's very into using the potty and others when she could care less. She did make me realize just how much control of her body she has when she got into a warm bath one night and began tinkling before she sat down. She realized she was going so she looked down and immediately stopped. Then she looked at me and giggled and said, "I tinkle", and continued going. So we know she can hold it for long periods of time and control her body to 'wait' until she's at a potty. Those are good signs. So we'll take it slow and see what happens over the next few months after she starts school.