Last day of Preschool-Year 1

Oh, my....that went by in a flash. I SO remember dropping Luke and Olivia off in September and crying my eyes out at the thought of leaving them for just a few hours. Fast forward 8 mths, and they are celebrating their first year being done!

Here is a comparison from September to May:



Ms. Shannon and Ms. Mary have been awesome teachers, and Luke and Olivia have learned so much. They truly did like going to school and seeing their friends, and I knew they were in good hands. Next year will be a big change as I will no longer walk them inside (they will do drop off) and they will be in separate classrooms. But for now I won't think about that. Instead, I'm going to enjoy the summer and this super fun age and time in our lives!!!

Here are some pics from their last day and picnic. Great friends, great memories, great kids!

Soccer time!

Recently we signed Luke and Olivia up for a 5 week soccer program. They only "play" on Saturday mornings from 9:30-10:15, and we thought it would be a perfect way to introduce them to organized sports. They play for the Strikers 3 and Easy team, and the coach is Scottish. I think some of the kids had a hard time understanding him at first! Some of their friends play on the team as well so it was nice to see some familiar faces. At this age, they don't really play games. It's more drills and kicking, and the games start when they turn 4.

They both did amazingly well, and Luke especially took right to it. He is definitely our little sports kid. It was so cute to see them all lined up listening to the coach and then participating in the drills. Olivia was really eager to kick the ball into the net, which they do at the end of practice, and didn't really like having to wait. But, that's all part of sports and the learning process! Luke was all smiles the entire time and I think they will both enjoy the next 4 weeks.

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

Time for another birthday already? Now I'm on the "wrong" side of my thirties, but life is so fun right now I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is busier than it has ever been, but I know there will come a day when they barely need us so I try to cherish the hugs and number of times I hear "mommy" in any given day :)

On Saturday, I had a girls only brunch, which was nice to have some girl time and enjoy a meal that didn't involve squeeze pouches or kids menus! Then it was nice to come home and spend some time with the family before going out to dinner that evening. Dan had planned for us to go to dinner at Enso, a nice sushi restaurant. MauMaw and PauPaw babysat so we could go to dinner.

For my birthday on Sunday, I wanted to spend the day with Dan and the kiddos. We had homemade cinnamon rolls (thanks Meredith) and headed out for a few hours to furniture shop. Now I know that sounds pretty boring, but we went shopping for new bedroom furniture for us, and I was more than happy to finally have some time to do it! We had lunch at "shake n bake" as Olivia calls it (Steak n Shake) and then headed home for nap/rest time.

Our monthly supper club happened to fall on my birthday, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate with close friends and their families. We had lots of great food and two yummy cakes. Best of all, I got to spend it with my wonderful husband and awesome kids. Perfect!

Big kid beds, here we come!

The time has finally come for Luke and Olivia to make the transition from crib to "big kid" bed. Granted, they weren't getting out of their cribs (surprisingly so!), but they were starting to get too small for them and well, it was just time. We decided to not go the day bed option route because we would need a temporary transition kit. If they were younger, we probably would have done that but since they are over 3 years old, we knew we could talk to them about what being in a big kid bed entails and they would be ok.

We got their mattresses and talked with them for a few days about changing from a crib to bed. They seemed pretty excited and I even let them visit a few friends rooms so they could see what was coming. All they've ever known is a crib so I imagine this has to be a pretty big change for them.

Luke helped daddy put the new beds together and both of them were really involved in the process. They never once wavered about wanting to keep their cribs, so we knew the timing was right. We had bed rails we borrowed from a neighbor, but decided not to put them on since the beds were pretty big. We felt like they wouldn't roll out, and we moved the nightstand as a precaution. Three weeks later, they are doing great and haven't fallen out yet! We are sure they are much more comfortable and they LOVE their new beds. Here are some photos from their last day in their crib, as well as them immediately checking them out. I will post an "after" of the entire room once I get done decorating.

Wow, between potty training and new beds, it was a big few weeks in the Bartlett house!

And we're day potty trained!

Way to go, Lukester! He has made HUGE progress over the past few weeks and I'm proud to say he is in underoos during the day, and only wearing a diaper at night. He still wakes up wet, but that will come in time. He hasn't had any accidents in weeks and can go all by himself. It's different to not be changing diapers as much, and yet another sign they are growing up. So proud of you, big guy!