Back to School!

I always love back to school time!!  It signifies the beginning of fall, my favorite season, even though it's still a million degrees outside.  It hasn't been the easiest adjustment for some, but it's so nice to be back in a routine!

Perry started kindergarten!!!  Ready or not, we have officially entered elementary world.  It seems like a big milestone, not only for Perry, but for us as parents.  Because from now on, our lives revolve around the school calendar.  Yikes.  Perry has really enjoyed school!  She has made new friends, likes recess and lunch and specials, and...maybe has learned a few things?  Haha.  She doesn't give me much information, but she really seems to like school!

Here she is with her precious teacher, Mrs. Salazar, on Meet the Teacher night!

First day of school pics...

We are so proud of our girl and how she has adjusted to kinder life with ease!

Luke started preschool for the first time this year!!!  This is a big milestone for him, too.  Perry started when she was two, but we waited for three with Luke.  He did so great at Meet the Teacher, and was so excited to be in the Tiger Class!  He is a friendly little guy and was playing and chatting with the teachers.

He was ready for the first day of school!  He was so excited about his baseball backpack and his sports nap mat.  He walked right in without looking back!  However, he has had a hard time at dropoff every day since.  He screams, cries, and maintains a death grip on me.  His sweet teachers say he is fine after a few minutes and always has a great day!  But those dropoffs are hard, for sure.  My sweet boy on the first day of school...

The preschool years are so, so sweet.  I'm excited for him to learn new things, learn more about Jesus, and make new friends!  He is in great hands in the Tiger Class! 

Sweet summertime

SUMMER 2021 has come and gone!  Here's a quick rundown of what we were up to, other than our little trips and events already blogged about. :)

Perry participated in three camps!  Art camp, Camp Cove (basically a week of preschool), and gymnastics camp.  She loved them all!!  Art camp (with her cousin!) is the only one I got a picture of.

Guinny came to visit!

We celebrated a low-key 4th of July with my parents!

We celebrated our annual Reid and Georgia Kate birthday outing.  John took Reid to Lupe Tortilla, and I took Georgia Kate to get our nails done and shopping at Claire's!  We met up at Lupe Tortilla afterwards for dinner, then Baskin Robbins for ice cream.  We had the best time!  Georgia is hilarious and was making me laugh the whole time.  A couple weeks later, Brittany took Perry, Georgia Kate, and I to see a Junie B. Jones play for her birthday outing, and Cheesecake Factory for dinner afterwards!  It was so fun!

The kids and I stayed overnight at the Mears' Bay House!  We always love it there!

Some of our random summer outings include a fire station visit, Rosenburg Railroad Museum, multiple visits to Playstreet Museum, and of course, swimming.

Perry and I went to a precious tea place with one of her dance friends and her mom, who happens to be Luke's preschool teacher for this upcoming year. :)

Surfside 2021 was great!  It had been two years since we all got together, thanks to Covid. 

I hosted a bridal shower for Amanda Myers at my house with my mom and sister!  We love this family so much and can't wait for the wedding!

We rounded up summer with a wonderful and eventful trip to Milwaukee before school started, but that will be a blog for another day...

We have a love-hate relationship with summer around here.  It is JUST SO HOT.  I hate being hot.  But we really enjoyed slower mornings and fun outings with family and friends!  Summer 2021 was a great one! :)  I'll leave you with this adorable picture of our matching boy cousins at church the other week - how cute are they!

Big boy bed and big boy underwear!

There were lots of changes for our big boy at the end of the summer!

First up was potty training!  We stayed home on 4th of July weekend and did the 3-day method. He did amazingly well with #1s.  I was pleasantly surprised and super proud of him!!  #2s are a different story...still, a month and a half later, we're struggling.  Yikes.  But, overall, it was a success!

Next - time for a big boy bed!  He still slept really well in his crib, so we were hesitant to switch him.  But it was time.  Sigh.  We made the transition the week of his third birthday, and again, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was!  He has done SO well and not come out of his bed even one time!  Go, Luke!  We went with a baseball theme (naturally), and had lots of fun updating his nursery to a big boy room!  It's not complete yet, as we are planning to remove the rocker eventually, put up some book storage, get a matching nightstand, and add a few more wall decorations.  But I'm loving it so far!  John made the hat rack, which has little baseball drawer pulls to hold the hats. 

He is growing up so fast!!!  Time, please slow down!

Luke is THREE!

Luke Robert is 3 years old!!!  He is soooo silly and goofy, sweet and thoughtful.  He cares about others and checks on them when they are sad.  He is a momma's boy.  He still loves to cuddle and be held.  He loves his sister and wants to do everything she does.  He is still obsessed with sports, but will also put on a princess dress and dance with his sister.  He is cute as a button, and it's a good thing because he has turned into quite the whiny little guy.  Three is fun ;)  He usually doesn't like to eat much.  He is a great sleeper and still takes a nap!

Height:  3 ft. 2.25 in.  (71%)
Weight:  30.8 lbs.  (41%)

I asked him a few questions - these are always fun!

Favorite color:  Orange
Favorite sport:  Baseball
Favorite food:  Pasta
Favorite treat:  M&M's  
Favorite animal:  Monkey
Best friend:  Rhett (love this :)
Favorite thing to do with Perry:  Slide at the park
Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  Play football inside (he knows I hate being hot, haha)
Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  Play baseball and go to the baseball store (i.e. Dick's)
Favorite place to go:  Baseball store (notice a trend?)

We had a fun day celebrating the birthday boy!  He woke up to birthday donuts and balloons, then got to open his presents.  His big gift was a mini basketball hoop for the driveway!  Later that afternoon, we headed to Surfside for our annual Preston beach reunion.  He got to run around with his cousins, and we sang him Happy Birthday with a giant baseball cookie cake!  It was happy day for our sweet boy!  We love him so much!

Happy (belated) birthday, Lukey!!!

Perry is FIVE!

 Perry turned the big 5 on June 30!!!  F-I-V-E!  That seems like a pretty big deal!

Perry is an imaginative, craft-loving, dancing queen.  She is always drawing, coloring, and making new creations.  She loves taking care of her baby dolls.  She puts on a performance almost every night.  No one loves a dance party like her!  She is smart and curious, always asking inquisitive, detailed questions.  She is a ball of energy!!  She loves to be right by mommy and daddy.  She still comes into our room in the middle of the night, every single night, and sleeps on her air mattress that has a permanent spot on our floor.  She is not always empathetic towards others (working on it :), but she is very thoughtful and always making pictures and crafts to give to people.  She is sweet as can be, and the girl knows how to give a compliment.  We love our Perry Frances so much!!!

We celebrated her birthday 3 times over!  First up was a party with her friends at Showcase Gymnastics.  She had a blast!

Next up - lunch and shopping at American Girl with the girls!  We are thankful Lisa could be in town to celebrate with us!

Finally, it was birthday day!  We did Altitude with the cousins that morning, and the whole family came to our house to celebrate that night.

I asked our birthday girl some questions, like last year, just for fun :)

What is your name?  Perry

How old are you?  5

What is your favorite food?  Ice cream

What is your favorite color?  Pink and purple

What is your favorite book?  Uni the Unicorn

Who is your best friend?  Rhett and Georgia

What is your favorite tv show?  Bluey and Muppet Babies

What is your favorite animal?  Unicorn

What do you love to do with mommy?  Color

What do you love to do with daddy?  Color, too.

What do you love to do with Luke?  Play dress-up together (they do this a lot :)

What is your favorite toy?  My unicorn that Luke gave me for my birthday (she does like that, but I would say her favorite toys are her dolls ;)

What do you love to do outside?  Swing

Where is your favorite place to go?  Playstreet Museum and the park

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A ballet dancer, an artist, and a mommy (perfectly sums up her interests :)

What makes you happy?  When mommy, daddy, and Luke give me hugs.

She just asked me, "Do you have any more questions?"

Me: "No. What do you want me to ask you?"

Perry: "I want to say what my favorite hair style is and stuff."

Me: "Ok, what is your favorite hair style?"

Perry: "I like braids and pigtails and pigtail bums!"

Well, ok then!  We love you to the moon, beautiful Perry Frances!!!  Please stop growing up!