Movin' on up...

Our baby girl is not such a baby anymore!

She has officially graduated from the 1 year old class at daycare and is moving on to the  "big" 2 year old room!

This was a really hard day for mommy (for a lot of reasons)…. just wish I could freeze time!!

Saying Goodbye...

After 4 years at the Sunshine House, Owen said goodbye.  We have loved out time there but decided Owen was ready for a change....Fayetteville Athletic Club Summer Program, here we come!!

Saying goodbye to his bestie...Brooklyn

And Mrs. Stacy

Sunshine House Anniversary

Our daycare celebrated their 5th Anniversary with a party at Chuck E Cheese!!

The kids had a blast!

They all seemed a little surprised that all their friends and teacher were there.

Owen and Daddy doing a little racing!

This was Ava Kate's first time to experience Chuck E Cheese.  She was a little overwhelmed at first but warmed up fast!

Ava Kate and her buddy Graham loved climbing the stairs and going down the slide!  

A little more competition between Owen and Daddy...

I think Ava Kate loved skee ball as much as her mommy!

One of Owen's favorite games at Chuck E Cheese....

Daycare Christmas Parties...

What's better than a pajama Christmas Party....

 snacks...

 crafts....

 and coloring....

Spirit Week....

October 22nd - October 26th was Spirit Week at the kid's daycare.  Each day had a different theme and we tried our best to partake.  Owen was really in to it this year and loved knowing than plan for each day....He actually picked out Ava Kate's ensemble on Crazy Hair day!!

DAY 1:  MISMATCH DAY

(Daddy was in charge of outfits this day....I think we may have found his calling) 

 DAY 2:  CRAZY HAIR DAY

 (Ava Kate wore the Madagascar wig per Owen's request)

DAY 3: PAJAMA DAY

 DAY 4:  RAZORBACK DAY

 DAY 5:  COSTUME DAY

First Day of School....

The kids started daycare last Monday (January 30th).  I don't know if the chaos of juggling childcare for the past month or the fact that it's my second child/ second go around of daycare....but leaving them that morning was comforting.  I was at easy and not upset or nervous like I was when I dropped Owen off for the first time!  I did, however, stop in for a visit mid-day and have Josh pick them up a little early.   

And of course I had to document with a few

...First Day of School Pics

Ava Kate has one of the same teachers Owen had when he was in the baby room, which made the whole transition a lot easier.  Ms. Toshia was also super sweet and text me pictures and updates throughout the day!  Ava Kate had a pretty good first day...other than only taking a few short naps.  When she got home that night she could barely hold her eyes open....baby girl was completely exhausted!!

Ava Kate and her teacher Ms. Toshia 

Ava Kate is quite the social butterfly!  This is what she was doing when I went to pick her up on thursday afternoon...

She's also quite the artist!

First day back to daycare for Owen....He was sooooo excited to see Emmie!  That's all he talk about all morning!  He started in a new classroom (the 3 year old class) and Emmie was pretty much the only one he knew.  So...he had new teachers, a new classroom, and new friends....which made for a long and difficult transition.  He was excited about Emmie, the new toys, and playing BUT he wanted mommy to stay!  So....we met his teachers together, filled up his cubby together, explored the classroom together, and played together for about 30-40 minutes before he decided that it was okay for me to go.  When I left, he and Emmie were heading to the play kitchen (holding hands) to make breakfast.  I wish I had gotten a picture...it was so cute!

"Bye mommy"

Change...

After a lot of thought....we decided to pull Owen out of daycare while I'm on maternity leave.  Owen loves daycare (mostly because he wants to see Emmie), but he's been upset everyday that I've dropped him off since having Ava.  He asks me every morning if Ava is going to daycare too...AND I always explain that Ava is too little and that she will go to daycare when she's big like him....BUT it doesn't really help.  All he knows is that he has to go to daycare and Ava gets to stay with mommy.  This may be temporary (depending on my sanity), but for now it's me and the kids!

Owen being silly before daycare...

I tried to get a few pictures of Owen and his friends when I dropped him off, but you can tell from the first picture that he wanted nothing to do with it!  All his friends gathered around but he kept running back up to me....so much for a group picture. Ha!

Owen, Emmie, Fletcher, Breen, and Brooklyn

After Owen realized I wasn't leaving, he and Emmie started chasing each other around the playground...

...and Fletcher joined in

Owen's class gave him a hand made going away card...it was so sweet!  I was a little sad about the whole thing (I'm not sure why...I'll just blame it on hormones!), but Owen seemed fine and really didn't understand that it was his last day.

That night we had our first "Movie Night" as a family of four!  Aladdin and popcorn in our pajamas...life doesn't get much better than that!

Our baby girl is really taking to her paci....just like her brother!

Sunday...

Owen's school had an Easter egg hunt at Gulley Park on Sunday. We were thirty minutes late as usually and actually missed the "hunt" but Owen enjoyed seeing some of his teachers and friends. He also really like watching some of the parents fly kites for the kids...he was so amazed, he just stood there staring.

The only Easter basket we could find at the house was pink and purple and way too girly so Owen ended up taking one of his sand buckets. He, however, thought it was a hat and decided to wear it on his head the whole way to the park.

Opening eggs with Ms. Jessica...

Watching the kite...

Since we missed most of the Easter festivities, we decided to let Owen run out some of his energy on the playground. He had so much fun running, climbing, and just being silly. I think he could have stayed there all day!