A Blog First

I'm busy. And behind. But then again, I'm always busy and behind. That's mommyhood. I'm used to it. But I'm sitting here stunned. In the five year history of the blog, I have never missed a whole month without blogging, until now. July? What July? Yeah, that's how it felt to me. First there was the Fourth of July. Then there was an almost two week trip to Greenville. Then there was recovery from our trip. Suddenly, here we are staring at August and wondering how the school year is peeking out around the corner.

To make matters worse, I left my camera cord in Greenville, but my lovely mother mailed it to me, so now I have some pictures. This weekend I am going to make a concerted effort to bring the blog up to speed before we head off to our next (and last) summer adventure...a trip to da U.P, eh.

Let's get our physicals, physicals...

Going into the appointment, I thought that it was probably either my bravest or stupidest decision ever, scheduling three consecutive doctor's appointments for the kids, their yearly checkups. Do you break up the pain or face it all at once? I said, bring it on!

Guess what? It wasn't that bad. I was really proud of them. The doctor even complemented the kids' behavior. She also has three young children and admitted that she would have never tried it. The kids did really well up until the end when it got a little hairy around shot time.

Reed needed shots for Kindergarten and Kate needed all her one year vaccinations. Cora had been promised that there were no shots for her that day, but alas, they snuck in a pesky "finger prick" for all the kids to test their lead level, since we live in an older home. Awesome. To Cora, poking her finger and squeezing blood out of it was not better than a shot. She was scared and annoyed. I felt like a liar.

The kids seemed all on target developmentally. They all continue to be tall, tall, tall.

Reed
Height: 48.5" (well over 98%)
Weight: 47.5 lbs (75-98%, but 'underweight' based on BMI)

Cora
Height: 40.5" (over 98%)
Weight: 33.5 lbs (75%)

Kate
Height: 31.5" (over 98%)
Weight: 19 lbs 4 ozs. (25-50%)

I hope to find the time to do little snapshots into each of their personalities these days. They are certainly a quirky bunch and some days I want to pull my hair out. The whining, the fighting, and oh, ever more whining. But when we aren't in that place, we are playing hard, laughing hard, and loving each other fiercely. Kate and Cora's relationship seems to be blossoming and that is so fun to see. I love to catch them in an unexpected hug- or giggle-fest.

Cora was "reading" to Kate in the basket until the monkey jumped in the middle.

The biggest physical change for any of the kids lately is Kate's front teeth. They have finally arrived!

 Here they come!

They're here! 

She's looking (and acting) bigger every day.

Ninja Reed and Ladybug Girl Cora's Party

Celebrating the birthdays of a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl seems like an easy enough task, right? Sure, as long as you don't allow them to each pick their own separate theme. But let's not dwell on my mistakes, let's look to how awesome the party turned out. 

Reed and Cora's Birthday Party 2013: Ninja Reed and Ladybug Girl Cora!

How do you tie such disparate themes together? Red and Black, and lots of it. 

Left: Ladybug goodies, Right: Ninja paraphenalia

Let the ladybugging and ninja-ing begin!

#1 Ninja

#1 Ladybug, err...actually, she decided she was a ninja too.

 Ladybug Beach ball, Ninja headbands

Inflatable Ninja swords

Yummy Birthday Cake!

I even see some ladybug antennae

Cute as a bug

Loving her new hockey stick and Blackhawks jersey from Uncle Brian

Pre-K Recognition

It's crazy to think about Reed before he started Pre-K and to see him know. Reed never much wanted to draw or attempt writing. As he was preparing for Pre-K and getting excited, he finally, reluctantly, learned to write his name. From there, he soared. His writing is excellent. His drawing and coloring skills have grown tremendously. He is sounding out words. It's really exciting stuff. His teacher emphasized to me what a leader he had been to the boys in his class. I'm so proud!

Mrs. Connie, his teacher, put on a very sweet program for the families. Reed was lucky enough to have Grandma, Granny, and P-pa all there to share in his special moment. There was no cap and gown and graduation hoopla and, to me, that was great, a couple sweet songs and a recited poem.

Reed with his nine classmates

Here is what his teacher had to say about him:

Mrs. Connie Johnson, best Pre-K teacher ever

The celebratory cake

Cora can't wait until she's in preschool too!

Kate is just happy to sit in a big person chair.

Family shot

Zoo

Bob is pretty booked up this summer between working full-time at the architecture firm in Chicago, taking classes, and continuing to fulfill his obligations at school, but we managed to steal a day and take the kids to the Brookfield Zoo. It was a first for both me and the kids. We had an awesome day. The weather was nice. We got there when it opened and it wasn't too crowded. We also saw lots of cool animals.

Loving the Giraffes

Cool curly horned animals

For some reason, it was incredibly fascinating to watch this black bear sitting in the water playing with a log.

Our happy little river otters.

And she's done...

We purchased a season pass and hope to go back several more times this summer. We didn't see all the exhibits, but I am extremely glad I didn't feel the pressure to press on and see everything. There is always next time and hopefully we take advantage of it.

Reed's Fifth Birthday

Imagine this, I'm playing catch up on the blog. Fancy that. What a surprise. Okay, not really.

Well, on May 2nd, Reed turned 5. Suddenly, FIVE seems so old. Maybe it's that he finished up preschool and I know the next step is Kindergarten...full-day Kindergarten. I think stay-at-home moms feel this transition a little more than full-time working mothers. For the stay-at-home mom, your kids are your constant companions, for better or worse.  Some days you feel like your heart may burst because you have the benefit of spending the day with the cutest, smartest, funniest kids in the whole world, and other times you wonder who the tiny tyrants are running around your house and how you became their servant. I'm just finding it really hard to think Reed won't be with us as we do our routine things like going to the library, our playdates, or the park. That being said, I am also really excited for him. I know he will love it. He will learn so much and make new friends.

Back to his birthday, from us, Reed got a Lego Fire Plane. Below was his reaction when he opened it. He has been loving Legos so much lately. He is a great builder. He can build big sets with no help from us. The only thing he usually asks for help on is putting on stickers since he wants them put on straighter than he can do on his own. A perfectionist in the making?

Here is the proud boy with his newly built fire plane. 

  The best feature is that, from a hatch on the bottom, it drops Lego "water" on the fire. Pretty awesome!

Kate's Birthday

Here is how our family celebrated on Kate's actual first birthday. She really seemed to love having us sing to her. I love her excitement!

Hooray for me!

Finally some Playmobil toys for me!

I love making music!

Katherine Erin Mihelich, what a wonderful first year it has been! You are so fun loving and adventurous. You are always keeping us on our toes. We love you so much!