Loving my girls!

I am tired when 4:00 rolls around. But I definitely get my second wind when I pick up the girls...it's like starting a new day- I feel excited and hopeful and really happy.

And by the time the girls go to bed I feel like we've had a good amount of time for fun and bonding. By 8:30 I'm ready for lights out!





I really love my evenings again!

9.11 Ten Years Later

I, along with everyone else on the planet, will never forget where I was that day. I was in college, on my way to class when I heard someone say that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers in NYC. I sat through class, not knowing AT ALL the magnitude of the situation. I thought it was a horrible accident. After class the halls were abuzz with more news- we were under attack...TWO planes had hit the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and one crashed in PA. I immediately left and went to Christopher's house (after calling my dad who worked in DC...he had actually stayed home that day.) Chris's house was only a minute from school so I went there to watch the news. He was working the evening shift at Capital One so he was home when I got there. I just couldn't believe it. I felt so awful. And angry. I couldn't peel myself away from the news- I listened to it all the way to work and throughout the afternoon. When I got to the bank everyone was somber and listening to the news...I remember customers looking very scared.

My most vivid memory still makes me emotional...I drove home and saw my parents sitting on the porch. I got out of my car, walked up to them and started crying. My dad just hugged me for the longest time. All I could say was, "All those people..." I was just so sad. I kept the news on for days, waiting for another attack. I was so, so angry as we learned more and more about the situation. To me, terrorism was very new...I knew about Pan Am 103 and the Olympic bombing in 1996- but this was just unreal.

It's very sad to me that we live in a world where these kinds of things happen. I can only hope my girls never have to experience something so tragic. But, as I told my students when we discussed Patriot Day, I am choosing to focus on the heroes of that day. I remember very well how Americans united and feeling very proud to be one. We will never forget.

First Week of School

Well, I survived. Barely. It's going to be a huge djustment with having a larger class this year. It takes every ounce of energy I have to keep the class under control. They are good kids, there are just so many (and they are super needy at the beginning of the year!!) I have to keep reminding myself that they're still at the beginning of 3rd grade. I'd forgotten that feeling we all have at the beginning of the year- "Oh my goodness, they can't do ANYTHING!" It will take time but I'm determined to make this another fantastic year!

Everything went very well schedule-wise. No problems with the girls in the mornings, got to school in plenty of time. BIG THANKS to Christopher who will be taking both girls to Grandma's house twice a week (even though it's completely out of his way)...I go in super early and get so much done. Love you!! Evenings are great as well- we all get home at about the same time. Chris cooks dinner while I spend time with the girls (again, big props to the husband!) Audrey loves to take out her toys and set them up on the living room table. Abigail gets a bottle as soon as we get home and likes to either be held, or sit in the Bumbo. Bedtime routines run smoothly and the girls are in bed by 8-8:30. I pretty much crash after that! I've been waking up super early (on my own) and I do enjoy the extra quiet time but I'm wiped out by day's end.

On Thursday we went to Spirit Night at Chic-fil-a. These always make for late nights but they are so worth it. I love seeing the kids outside of school and Audrey does, too! Unfortunately we had awful rain while we were there so we were "stuck" for a little while longer than I had planned. But all in all it was a fun night!

I gave Audrey a flower from the table. She tore off every petal and proceeded to throw them in the air...Aunt Kelly, she's SO ready to be your flower girl!


Then she stole one of my student's rain boots and tried to get them on (thanks for the help, MJ!)


She was actually very, very good. Stayed by me the whole night (even though she really wanted to go into the playground area.) So she got ice cream!


Abigail was an angel! Everyone kept saying that she looks exactly like me :)



Gator PJs!!

Today Audrey had her first dance class of the year. She was absolutely thrilled to be back. Totally enthusiastic throughout the entire class, she had Mrs. KK laughing the whole time!





Afterwards we went to Panera, then Target for groceries. Chris had Abigail so it was nice to just have time with Audrey Cate!

I'm back to loving my weekends and cherishing every second with the girls. I'm looking forward to bonding with my new kiddos (they are seriously GREAT!) and everything else this new school year holds!

Right Now

Right now I'm waiting to wake up the girls to leave for the first day of school. Right now I am soooo nervous because I haven't had a new group of kids in two years. Right now I am needing motivation and encouragement. So if I'm feeling like this, I bet my new kids are feeling it 10-fold. This video was shared at our staff meeting last week and I'm posting it here because it is one of the best back to school videos I've seen...I'm talking goosebumps, people!



or CLICK HERE.

Happy New School Year to all the teachers out there!

Abigail is 4 months old!

4 months and 6 days, because this post is late! It was another great month for our sweetheart.

I'd say the biggest change has been Tummy TIme. She can hold her head up and steady for good amounts of time. She's rolled from tummy to back only a couple of times. She rolls from her back to her side all the time. She is super alert and loves her big sister. She always wants to watch Audrey. She seems to recognize her own name and turns towards new sounds. She continues to smile, laugh and "talk." She's been reaching for toys and grasps them for short periods of time. She loves to reach for her feet and chew on her hands. She gets super excited when she sees her bottle (eyes wide, heavy breathing, grabby!)

She had her 4 month appointment on Thursday. She weighs 15 lbs, 10 oz (90% percentile!!) and she's a little over 24 inches long (I can't remember if it's 1/4 or 3/4 of an inch.) She looks perfect from head to toe and is hitting all developmental milestones. She was cleared for starting baby food, but I'm still planning on waiting until 6 months. She got a shot in each leg (they combined a bunch of vaccines together, phew!) plus an oral vaccine. She goes back at 6 months and will be getting the flu shot (along with Audrey.)

Before we left for her appointment I told Audrey that Abigail was going to see the doctor and get shots. "She will probably cry because they do hurt for a little bit." Audrey ran over to Abby (who was in the bouncer) and patted her leg. "Don't cry, Abby, be HAPPY!!!" She's becoming a wonderful big sister.

I've stopped pumping completely, which has left me a little sore in some places. Overall it hasn't been too bad. I still have a big freezer stash, but it's dwindling fast! She's eating about 5-6 ounces every 3-4 hours (25-30 ounces.) She has a morning bottle, two while at Grandma's, one in the late afternoon at home and then her bedtime bottle. I started mixing 1 oz of formula and so far she's been ok.

She is such a darling girl. I can't kiss her enough!









Sick of taking pictures!

Back to work!

My first week back at school was so busy! Luckily the mornings went very smoothly; Abigail wakes up (or gets woken up) at 6:00 to eat and get changed. Then I get Audrey up and we're off to Grandma's by 6:30. My classroom looks great but I still have so much organizing to do!





I took these right after Open House...my room will never look this clean again!


GATORS!

On Wednesday we went to Scott's JV football game. Audrey loved it! When the players ran out she said, "Look at those Hokies!" HAHA...she really liked the cheerleaders the best though!


I think we have a future cheerleader on our hands!


Yeah #63!!! He sacked the QB :)







Abigail and Aunt Kelly






On Thursday Abigail had her 4 month appointment. I'll save the details for her official 4 month post!





She noticed the decals on the wall right away!

At Open House I got to meet 24 out of my 26 students (yeah, 26!) I am so nervous about having such a large class, including a non-English student from Poland. It will be an interesting year, that's for sure! After a full week of 18 hour days I'm so happy the 3 day weekend is here!

Farewell, Sweet Summer!

I feel so sad! I feel so excited!! I'm such a mess of emotions, lol.

It was a pretty nice week, aside from the earthquake and hurricane Irene. I will say that I am exhausted. Abigail wakes up between 5-6 and takes FOREVER to fall back asleep. So I'm pretty much up for the day. I just know that going back to work is going to be even more exhausting..ugh.


Speaking of exhausted :) They totally fell asleep like this for a good 30 minutes!

I was looking forward to spending my last weekend at home, all cozy as the hurricane rolled through. Unfortunately we lost power at 1:30 on Saturday. I had just come home from signing Audrey up for dance class (yay!) when it went out. Chris and I played Rummy and then I fed Abigail and laid her down for a nap. We decided to go to Grandma's house since we just *knew* our power would be out for all night. I packed up the girls and Chris packed up all of my frozen milk. We stayed the night (fun!) and returned late this morning...still no power! It did come back on at about 1:00, thank goodness!

Today Abigail is 4 months old...I wanted to take her usual monthly pictures but she has a huge red scratch on her face (self-inflicted.) We'll save those for next weekend! I did get a video and some some tummy time pics:








I wanted to hold the girls extra longer as I put them to bed tonight. The summer has just been so wonderful that I can't help but be a little sad. I'm already looking forward to our first break...in November...(sigh)...