5 Things I Am Thankful For......

1.  Family Movie Night.  We have been having these since Stella was a little girl and Colby was just a baby.  We get in our jammies, get some blankets and pillows, make some popcorn, and pile in the livingroom to watch a movie that the kids picked out.  This past weekend, we watched "Toy Story 2."  Even Max got into it for a little while.  He just likes hanging out with his big brother and sister.  This is his favorite place to sit during movie nights.... or really, whenever anyone is laying on the floor!

2.  My new found will-power.  A little over a month ago, I told a friend that I would run a 5k with her during our town's Apple Harvest Festival.  The race is only a week and a half away, and I am still plugging away at my training which is huge for me.  Before this, I hadn't done any major form of exercise since I got pregnant with Max and I have never really been a runner.  Once, I ran a mile in 8th grade gym class.  So, I joined a gym and I try to go every other night after the kids are in bed.  I love going there... I do my running while I watch my shows on the little tv on my treadmill.  A confession:  sometimes the only reason I go to the gym is to watch a show (or Red Sox game) that we can't watch at home now that we don't have cable.  Hey, whatever gets me there, right?  I don't think I'll be able to run the entire 5k, but I think I'll do okay.

3.  Tuesday and Thursday mornings with Max..... I forgot how easy it is with only one child.  It's amazing what we can get done.  Max loves all of the undivided attention he's getting while Colby and Stella are at school.  On Tuesday, we went grocery shopping.  It's amazing how much easier it is to go with one kid than it is with three.  Plus, he's now big enough to ride in the car cart.  He makes all the little old ladies at the grocery swoon.

4.  Rainy afternoons perfect for baking chocolate chip cookies.  The kids love to help me cook, and Colby put in a request for chocolate chip cookies the other day.  Twist my arm.  

And now Max is big enough to help.  He was so proud of himself.

5.  Dance parties!  These are almost a daily occurance in the Gilmore household.  We love to put on some good dancing tunes and rock out.  We always have to wait for Stella who has to put on her "dancing clothes," but then we're good to go.  

Max has some good moves now too.  He does the "baby dance."  I could watch him do this for hours.  Check this video out.  He really gets going at about 0:20 and 0:40.  Too cute.

Colby's 1st Day of Preschool

Colby had his 1st day of preschool today, and let's just say that his first day of school went MUCH better than Stella's did.  He has been counting down the days for at least a week.  Every morning, he would ask us, "How many more days until preschool?"  We would tell him, and a huge smile would spread on his face.  He was so excited to go to school.  Last night, when I tucked him in bed, he kept saying, "I'm so excited.  I'm so excited.  I'm so excited."  It's fun to see him so happy.

Last night, Colby picked out his new 1st-day-of-school outfit and hung it out so it would be all ready for the morning.  Can you tell how excited he was??!!  I thought he was going to hurt himself with all of that smiling!

Colby was up early this morning all ready to go.  He had requested French toast for breakfast, so Daddy got up early to make him some. 

Then, while brushing their teeth, Stella had some words of advice to share with him.  Important things like raise your hand when you want to talk and where the drinking fountain is (Colby's preschool is in the same school that Stella goes to).

Colby originally picked out this outfit at the store because, "It looks just like Daddy's clothes." 

Here's my little man, all set to go to school.  By this time, he was sick of me snapping pictures of him (hence the completely fake smile).

So, I let him take a few silly ones too....

And, he just had to show off his new Cars backpack.  He's had this thing packed since last week.

Here's Brother and Sister.  Stella is wearing her "teenager outfit."  I don't know why she calls it this, but apparently she thinks she looks like a teenager when she wears it.  Okay, Stella....

We drove to school and Stella took charge showing Colby exactly where to go and how to safely cross the parking lot.

Stella saw some of her friends, so she left us to go to her classroom with them.  Then, Colby turned to me and said, "I'll race you to preschool!" and he took off to the preschool entrance. 

This is where Colby got just a little bit nervous.  I think he realized that this is where he would have to go into the school and I would have to leave and go home.  He held onto my hand extra tight while his teacher talked to him.  I bent down and gave him a big hug and he gave me an even bigger hug back.  Then he took his teacher's hand, and went inside.  He did great!

Max and I headed home and didn't know what to do!  I forgot what it was like to only have one child.  Even Max was lost;  he just wandered around the house looking for something to do.  We played outside for awhile, had a snack, and then got ready to go back to the school to get Colby.

Luckily, the kids' school is just over a mile from us.  So, I put Max in the double stroller and we walked over to get big brother.

Max had a nap on the way.

Finally, Mrs. P.'s class came out and Colby came running and almost knocked me over with another giant hug.  He had a fantastic day!

Our conversation went like this:

Me:  Colby, how was your first day?

Colby:  It was awesome, dude.

Me:  What was your favorite part?

Colby:  Everything.

He was so happy, he skipped part of the way home! 

He can't wait to go back on Thursday.

Yay!  This is one happy mommy.

A Note from Stella

Stella wrote this note this morning while eating her breakfast before going to school.  She hid it in my notebook, where I found it later on. 



It made me smile.

A Day in the Life of Max (from his point of view)

Yesterday was a really fun day.  It started with pancakes made by Daddy in the morning before Stella went to school.  They were really yummy.  I ate three!  Mommy couldn't believe it.  After we dropped Stella off at school, Colby, Mommy, and I came home and played with all of the Little People toys.  I love the train with the animals.  I thought it was hilarious when I put a ball in the smoke stack!  I laughed really hard at that.

After playing for awhile, we went to one of my favorite places - the library.  I love to run around there and hide from Mommy in the rows of books.  I also like playing in the playroom there with the other kids.   There's a seesaw in there that I like to ride on.  But ONLY by myself.  Sometimes other kids try to get on with me, but I just push them off.  I cried really hard when we had to leave, because I was having way too much fun and didn't want to go.  The silly librarian put a sticker on my nose, and that made me stop crying. 

Mommy made Colby and me lunch right when we got home.  I was super hungry and couldn't wait, so I pulled a bunch of food out of the pantry that I could snack on in the meantime.  Finally, Mommy put me in my high chair and I got to eat my lunch.  I had quesadillas (yuck!), strawberries, and yogurt.  I really, really liked my yogurt....

It was so yummy!

Colby was being silly while he ate his lunch, too.  He was trying to make me giggle.

After lunch, I took my nap.  Mommy woke me up when it was time to go pick up Stella from school.  Colby, Mommy, and I had to wait outside in the rain for her.  We got really wet.

We made chocolate chip cookies when we all came back home.  Stella and Colby did most of the work, but I supervised from the stool that I climbed up on.  I figured out how to move the stool to the kitchen sink, so I can climb up and play with the dirty dishes.  It's fun!

I could hardly wait for the cookies to be done baking.  Mommy let me have one for a snack, even though I asked for more. 

I played some more with Stella and Colby until it was time for dinner.  I was so happy when Daddy came home.  I always tell him, "Hi!" when I see him.  Then I give him a big kiss. 

After dinner, I did another one of my favorite things - I took a bath!

I get so excited when it's time for bath that Mommy has to keep me from climbing into the tub before I take my clothes off.  I love to splash and play with the water as its coming out of the faucet. 

I also like to lay on my belly and blow bubbles in the water. 

After my bath, it was Colby and Stella's turn to get clean.  I got bored waiting for them, so I went into my bedroom and read some books to myself.  I love books.  Mommy, Daddy, Stella, and Colby all read books to me when I bring one to them.  Sometimes I'll ask for the same one to be read 5 times in a row! 

Then it was time for bed, but not before a few zerberts from Stella and Colby!  They are so funny.

I gave my goodnight kisses (with my top lip tucked under my bottom lip), waved goodnight, and then had snuggles and milk with Mommy. 

It was a great day.  I can't wait for tomorrow!

Love,

Max

An Original Stella

Stella drew a picture yesterday.  It is of a flower thinking about its pet cat.

I love her.

Our Labor Day Weekend Stay-cation

We had a great weekend.  I decided to call it our "stay-cation," because that's truly what it was.  We decided not to go anywhere for the long weekend, because we've all had a very busy few weeks.  Staying home was just what we all needed.  But, we had a lot of fun and managed to cram a bunch of stuff into the past few days. 

Friday night, we had a family movie night in our jammies.  I love these and hope we will continue to have them for a long, long time. 

Saturday, we took our last trip of the summer to the town pool.  The water was a little chilly, but we all had a great time. 

When we got home, the kids had an impromptu naked dance party in their room.  It was hilarious and I can't wait to use this picture as black mail in the future!  It will also be a great one to show the boyfriends and girlfriends who come through.  I also plan on using it when the three of them are not getting along.  I'll just whip this picture out and say, "See?  Look how sweet and cute you all were back then!"

Sunday, we went to one of our favorite playgrounds in the neighboring town of Cheshire.  We love this park.  There are so many different things to play on there.  Everyone had a blast.

Max striking a pose on the merry go round.





Even Daddy had fun!



Stella was being a great big sister.  She really enjoyed taking Max around and helping him get up to the slides.



The tire swing was by far the funnest thing there for Stella and Colby.  Daddy gives the best pushes!

Today, we went to our first Rock Cats game.  The Rock Cats are a minor league baseball team in New Britain, Connecticut.  Today happened to be "fan appreciation day" and tickets were only $1.  We figured this would be the perfect opportunity to show the kids what a real baseball game is like.

At the beginning of the game, all three kids were really excited. There was music playing and lots of stuff to look at.

Max had fun clapping and dancing to the music.

 

But, as the game went on, the kids got really bored.  Stella only made it until halfway through the 1st inning before she started whining about being hot and thirsty and hungry and tired.  We made them wait until the end of the 2nd inning before we treated them to some Italian ice. 

We ended up leaving right after the 5th inning which was honestly a lot later than I thought we would be there.  The kids did great and at least Kelsey and I had a good time!

We played outside when we got home and I surprised the kids with water balloons.  We were all soaked within a few minutes.  Then Kelsey started a fire in our new fire pit and cooked our dinner over the flames.  He was pretty proud of his barbecue chicken....

For dessert, we headed back out to the fire to make some s'mores. 

I think Colby was pretty tired out after his day....

Everyone fell asleep pretty quickly tonight after a very fun, busy weekend.  I hope you all had a great weekend too!