Yee Haw!

The girls still love school and we are getting our routines down. Getting up at 6AM is definitely new around here! I think I drink as much coffee as I did when I was nursing newborns. Whew! I am trying to spend my days decorating. I can't believe it has been 8 months since we moved here! I am finally getting around to getting the girls room together. Since they decided they wanted two separate beds I have a lot of work to do! Cute girls bedrooms are so hard to find! It's either baby or tacky. Seriously. If you know of a company that make stuff along the lines of pbteen or pottery barn kids let me know.

Anyway, last Friday was Cowboy Day in kindergarten. Yee Haw! Jason and I went up to see our little cowgirls on their trail ride. They were so excited to ride their stick horses around the school. My mother in law found these outfits at the Dixie Stampede and they were perfect. I was just glad Riley remembered we had them. Ha! She kept telling me she wanted to wear the shirt with the boots on the front and I had no idea what she was talking about. I accidentally found them while cleaning their playroom at the bottom of a large pile of dress up clothes. The playroom will need to be tackled after I finish their bedroom.

Before school

The girls were both so funny when they saw us in "their space". Regan would not even stop to say hello because she was in the school zone. It was so cute! Riley was the exact opposite eating up all the attention.

Love this picture of Regan and her Daddy!

KINDERGARTEN!

Today was so fun! Both girls did so well and LOVED school! We took a few pictures before we left the house because I wasn't sure how crazy it would be once we got there.






Here they are walking in. I got a few butterflies as we got closer and closer. I was afraid if they acted worried or scared that it would make me sad! They didn't want any breakfast (poptarts, donuts, capri sun - I know, I know) so I think they were a little nervous too. But when we went inside they walked down the hall with teachers, put their backpacks away, and sat down to color.

I didn't even walk in with Riley because I had stuff to give to Regan's teacher. I was feeling guilty for going with one and not the other, but when I got to Riley's room she didn't even look up. I barely got pictures she was too busy.

Regan did great as well. When I picked her up she said, "That day at school was not that long!".

One thing that did make me happy - they told me they found each other at recess and ran from all the boys. :)

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

Tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten! Both girls are SO excited. These pictures are from new student orientation and meet the teacher day. We did finally decide for them to be in separate classes. It was SO hard to make that decision. It was more sad for me than for the girls.


Loving Daddy


Girls and Mommy



I wanted to document this day since they were so cute with their backpacks and got to wear "regular" clothes. Tomorrow I will have uniform pictures (which is just as cute). We have already matched our fingernail polish and hair accessories to go with our collared shirts and "fast" shoes (Nikes).

I am not quite sure what I will do after I drop them off. I think it may take awhile to adjust to "free" time.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girls!

Regan Paige, I can't believe you are five today! I am so proud of you. You have such a sweet spirit and an amazing imagination. You are a great big sister to Riley and helper for Mommy. Although you are quiet, you are such a deep thinker. You keep me on my toes with some tough questions. What a smart, amazing little girl you are!

Riley Kate, you are such a big girl! I can't believe you are five! You are the funniest and spunkiest little girl Mommy knows. You keep all of us laughing with your "silly shows", silly faces and just all around goofiness. You amaze me with your ability to learn any and everything! You make me so proud with your determination to learn more and more every day! You are so special to me!

I am so thankful I have two of the best girls around! They are best friends and just the sweetest girls! I am going to really miss them when school starts! (1 month, 5 days)They are really growing and becoming so independent. I am sad and proud all at the same time.

The pictures above are from Disney World. I uploaded them today and have 665 from 8 days! Whew! I was a little overwhelmed so I will have to organize them better before I get a Disney post on here. I should say IF I get a Disney post on here! Ha!

And, since the last blog was about Regan losing 2 teeth, I should let you know Riley lost her 6th (!) tooth in the Magic Kingdom. She lost her 5th in Vegas. We will have to plan a big trip soon since she is about to lose another one. I am thinking...Grand Cayman? That's next on the list. Jason?

Toothless in Arkansas

I can't keep up with all the teeth falling out around here! I didn't expect to be dealing with loose teeth so soon either. They won't even be 5 until July and between the two of them they have lost 7 teeth! Riley lost her first tooth at 3 years 2 months old (NOT an accident either!).She has already lost 5 teeth and has two permanent teeth in as well! Regan has always been proud that she has "none loose". However, this last week she showed me her loose teeth and I was shocked because her two bottom teeth were barely hanging in!

Sunday night at bedtime we were reading and her first tooth literally just fell onto her bed. Then tonight she was trying to eat and I hear her spitting something out and it's her second tooth! Yes, right in the middle of us eating. Oh, well.

So here are pictures from Monday and today. She is SO proud and calls it her "new smile".

Somehow the pictures are backwards and you get to see the tooth in the middle of the table first. Oops! That is green marker on the table as well. :)


Tonight, second tooth!

Monday, first tooth!

The tooth fairy now has to go find more quarters somewhere....

Sisters

Don't you wish you were in our family?

Continue to Pray for Avery

My friend Carissa had her baby girl today! I blogged about her story a few weeks ago and you can follow her story here:

http://keepingupwiththekeirseys.blogspot.com

Keep praying for them as they go through these first few days.

Dear Parker Michael Thomas,

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!!! I love you so much and am so proud to be your Aunt Coco. You can't understand yet how much joy and happiness you bring to our family. As you grow up you will also find out what an awesome mommy and daddy you have.

No matter what Mommy says, I think it's kinda funny how determined you are to get your way. It shows great promise when you hit the terrible twos at 6 months old. By the time you start Kindergarten you should be doing fractions.

Also, Mommy gets a little worried about letting you have candy. If she ever refuses you candy please call me so I can explain the fact that she lived off gummy peaches and sour patch kids for a few years.

Your big cousins Regan and Riley are very excited for your birthday. We have picked out no less than 30 different present ideas for you. You will be very happy with our final choice and so will Mommy. But, tell her it's yours and she needs to let YOU play with it. You could share if she's nice.

It's going to be so fun watching you continue to grow. You are such a big boy now and have a new trick every time I see you. I think my favorite new trick is how you tell yourself "No" when you know you shouldn't be doing whatever it is you're doing.

Like this picture above, Coco will be less scared than Mommy to let you do the "scary" things in life. For example, play in the Mall playground or swim at the Jones Center. When you are ready for the big jump give me a call, but don't tell Mommy because she would KILL us! I think I had to just grab you and put you in the swimming pool.You LOVED it! Mommy only had 4 panic attacks.

I think these next few months Mommy is going to be kind of tired from your lack of sleeping and chasing you around. You might just pick one day a week to take it easy. You know, only eat something off the floor maybe a couple of times or if you pull off the entire roll of toilet paper, just put it in the toilet. Not the bathtub.

I have decided that I really don't care if I am called a Baby Hog because I love you to pieces and can't get enough. I can't wait to watch you grow even more over this next year. Hope you have a Happy 1st Birthday!

Belated Birthdays

May is birthday month in our family! I decided instead of several posts I would just do one to cover them all. We start with Kari Beth, my sister in law whose birthday is the 3rd. Kari and Aaron are a perfect match and always hilarious! I am totally jealous of her ability to make the same clothes I would want to wear look WAY better.

Holly and Kari today at Mother's Day Celebration

Here are the girls with Kari at their wedding. The wedding was so fun and personal. And she had really cute flower girls. :)

Next comes my little brother Aaron whose birthday is the 5th. Aaron is so smart and talented. He is the only guy I know who can out shop all three of his sisters. Happy 28th little brother!

Next is Holly "the middle child". Ha! Her birthday is actually today. Holly is my style and decorating consultant. I am the non-artsy one in the family and I turn to her for help. By the picture below you can tell she has always had a love for accessories. She is always fun and positive to offset me. :)Holly is a great mom, sister, and constant source of entertainment.

This Tuesday (the 12th) is a VERY SPECIAL family birthday that will require its own post with many, many pictures. You will not want to miss the newest May birthday of the family. Please note: Kari, Holly and Whitney try not not have any future babies in May :)

Away from the birthday theme, I must congratulate the "baby" of the family for graduating from the U of A on Saturday! This fall she will start the MAT program 8 years after me! Yeah, Whitney!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, but especially to mine! Despite the fact that I have pictures to develop all the way back to last August (gasp), I could not find one of mom by herself. So here's the best one I could find of the parents! Happy Mother's Day MOM! Thanks for letting me call you with my daily "quick questions" and for usually having the answer.

Here's all the girls last Thanksgiving. (Whitney, Mom, Holly, Me)

Also, Happy Mother's Day to my little sis Holly! Last year she had Parker 2 days after Mother's Day! She is such a great mom and definitely keeps me laughing with all her stories. Parker is proof that boys are different than girls. I can't help, but laugh sometimes! However, I am the one who will have TWO 13 yr old girls at the same time! Please start praying for me now.

Speaking of the cuties.....I am so blessed to be the mom of two perfectly healthy, happy and sweet girls. I feel grateful to be their mom every day. I love you Regan and Riley. Being your mom makes me the happiest I have ever been.

Are you ready for....

Hannah Montana!!!!!

Well, I finally took the girls and it was so worth it! It was actually a very cute movie. I was pleasantly surprised. The show is a little much for me to handle so I thought the movie would be the same. I was wrong! When Regan had to go to the bathroom I talked her into waiting so I could find out if Hannah was really going to tell everyone she was Miley. Such drama! You may have to go see the movie to find out!

We sang all the songs out loud because only 5 other people there. Since we've had the soundtrack for a few weeks it made them so excited and they would say, "That's number 5!" or "It's Taylor Swift and it's called Crazier". So funny! Then we came home to the soundtrack blasted on the karaoke machine until 9PM. Breaks only for dinner and bath. Our empty room upstairs has been named the karaoke room since it's the only thing in the room right now. :)

The girls are continuing to chose their outfits quite well. I must say they look pretty darn cute in their Hannah shirts. The best thing is to see how COMPLETELY different their choices are when they are all ready to go. Riley insisted on the boots and braids. I will admit that at first she chose jeans and I suggested the skirt to show the boots off better. Regan also added the boogie board to her shoot just for a dramatic statement.

I took these pictures as we left for our girls day!

Singin' and Dancin'

Whew! Last week was crazy! I am a BIG homebody so not being home much just makes me tired! Sad, I know. Last Sunday night the girls sang with the FBC Springdale Children's Choir. They were so excited to be on stage and wanted everyone to watch them. This is the first year they participated in choir and they really enjoyed it.

I went and took pictures before they sang, but I don't have any of them actually singing. I had the video camera and just assumed the camera Jason had was OURS, but it was not so I have no singing pics. Oh well!


Daddy's girl.

Then last Friday was their dance recital! They were SO excited to wear makeup. They asked me all day if it was time for make up! It was so cute and a little scary at the same time. I have never put make up on them like this and they look so big!





The girls with their friend Macy. They have choir, dance and gymnastics with Macy and they just giggle the whole time they are together. It's very cute.

Flowers from Daddy for such a great job!