Happy 4th of July!! (Week 208/70)

Ack! As of today I am now 2 weeks late with my blog posts (not counting the one that is due out today)!  This was the week after we got back from our Houston trip.  Tyler had a hard time adjusting back to his daily school routine - which meant lots of crying at drop off.  It really sucked.  Plus his BFFs had started transitioning into the next class (Pre-4) and Tyler wasn't scheduled to move over for another 2 months (September 1st)!  On top of that, his favorite teacher, this cute young Japanese girl named Deena, had just started her 3 week honeymoon.  It's a pretty crappy feeling to start the day by leaving a crying and screaming child.  I thought we were way over that stuff!  (Knocking on wood that we won't have to go through that with Katelyn.  She's been great in the infant room!)

This week also marked Tyler's first "Tot Hip Hop" class.  We actually missed the first week when we were in Houston, so Tyler was already feeling a little fish-out-of-water starting in on the second week.  What a surprise to see that the class was all girls.  Problem #1.  The class itself is 45 minutes, and it took me nearly 15-20 minutes to convince him to join the class.  There was some strange rule that parents weren't allowed in the dance studio - instead we all stood outside looking through the large windows.  Problem #2.  It took A LOT of cajoling and bribing to get him in there.  When he finally agreed (I was about to pull my hair out...) he ran right in and joined them and was smiling and excited and totally into it.  Sheesh Tyler!  Why must you drive me so nuts!

If I hadn't already paid for the class just earlier that day I probably would have just given up.  But I was glad that I didn't, since it looked like he was having fun!  He is the youngest in the class though, and I think he did have somewhat of a hard time following the routine.  But as long as he was having fun and getting some wiggles out - I was happy!

Video of Tyler learning some dance moves - I swear I am not a Tiger Mom about this - I just wanted Tyler to have some exposure to some dance moves so that he could be a little more structured when he's getting down (which he loves to do!).  Not sure if this was the right class for it though... but it's just for fun anyway.


I got some new headbands for Katelyn this week through Hippo Bargains!  This picture doesn't do it justice, but she was SO cute in them!  I've noticed that she actually likes wearing accessories, especially when we take her to the mirror to look at herself!  So vain!  Her favorite thing right now are little beaded necklaces.  She LOVES wearing them!

I can't remember what this picture was about, but Tyler looks so big in it!  I think we were preparing for Tyler's 4th birthday party at Will's parents' house.  I was quite stressed this week with different preparations, especially since I didn't want a repeat of Katelyn's 1st year birthday stress!  I've gotten much better at lists.  Lists, lists, lists.  LOTS of lists - in Excel and Word!  I should really be an event planner or something...

July 4th!  The 4th of July always flashes me back to the week before Tyler was born.  We were newly in our house and Tyler was just 2 weeks out from his due date.  I was very pregnant and I remember Will and I walking around the neighborhood to watch the fireworks.  The last of our quiet peaceful days!  Now here we are, 4 years later.  Life has changed so much!  We hit up Starbucks that morning and Tyler/Katelyn hung out with their fruit pouches.

We had big plans for that day!  Very exciting plans!  We were going to attempt to watch fireworks that night - our first time since that 4th of July four years ago right before Tyler was born.  Serious!  We really are that crazy about our kids - and every year we have had Tyler in bed (and us at home) way before fireworks even start.  I remember when Tyler was almost 1, the nearby high school's fireworks were SO loud that our windows shook with each boom.  I was certain they would wake Tyler up - but he slept right through them!  Anyway, my good friend Mariam was having a party and my in-laws had agreed to watch the kids in the evening.  Through some pre-planning, Will and I dropped off a car at M's place earlier that morning.  Our plan was to go back later with the kids, then bring them home for bed and have Will's dad drop Will off (since parking is horrible around that area due to the amazing firework show); then we'd drive the car we left earlier home.  Perfect plan no?  It's like we're back in high school! haha!

We dressed Katelyn and Tyler up for the patriotic holiday!  (Her dress used to be my niece's!  It was the perfect opportunity to wear it!)

I got Tyler's shirt on clearance at Target the day before - it was like $3! 

Oooh... sparklers.  Too bad they wouldn't be around to light them!

Love this picture of my girls and my kids!

Tyler was CRAZY about the Wii.  He was playing all types of sports games while we were there.  Good thing he doesn't know that we have a Wii ourselves gathering dust next to the TV!  I thought about telling him when we got home, but uh... let's not open the floodgate yet!

Katelyn liked walking around with a Wii remote for a while as well.

There was another little baby at the party too - a little younger than Katelyn.  They both liked watching the iPad.

Wii bowling!

This is a funny photo:  Katelyn is probably saying something like "mine!"

Lounging...

REALLY lounging...

Here are some photos from the party of me, Mariam and Trina.

Ack! Did I really not get any of me and Will?  Sigh.  Our plan didn't exactly roll out smoothly.  Will was wonderful and took the kids home himself since his parents had headed over already.  Katelyn went down to bed quick, but Tyler (as I should have expected) totally put up a fight.  In retrospect, I should have gone with Will to convince Tyler to just go to bed.  Instead, Tyler was really fussy and wouldn't let Will leave.  ARGH!  I have no idea how Will convinced him but he made it back right after the fireworks were starting.  Talk about cutting it close!  The fireworks were amazing and I am so glad that Will and I got to watch them together (although it was quite stressful leading up to it)!  But altogether it was a fun party, thanks M for having us over! :)

And here's a silly picture to leave with - the kids all cuddled up in Katelyn's Dora bed! I actually bought this bed when Tyler was little - Toys'R'Us was having a huge sale and I bought 2 of them (I think they must have been at least 50% off) and had been storing this in Katelyn's closet forever.  She loves it!

And lastly, a video of Katelyn saying 'cheese'.  She's GREAT on commands!  I've seen Cheyenne spray sunblock on her - she'll ask her to "close her eyes" and Katelyn will squeeze them tight for the sunblock spray on her face!  :)



A random picture of Katelyn from her school camera.