Gemma's First Day of Preschool

For a while now, we've been debating whether or not to enroll Gemma in a preschool program.  Ideally, we were looking for something one day a week, primarily to give her a chance to interact with some other kids her age (which has been hard for me to do, since we're constantly having to work around Ethan's eating/sleeping schedule).  We've had her on a couple of waiting lists for a couple of different programs for a while, and finally Grace United Methodist told us that they had an opening in one of the 5 day classes but they would let us bring Gemma 2 days a week to the 5 day class since they weren't filling the spot anyway.  The best part is that Gemma's cousin Liam happens to be in this class, so she already has a friend there and she loves playing with Liam, so now she will get to see him every Tuesday and Thursday morning at school!

We decided to ease her in with just one day this past week.  We loaded up the whole family on Thursday to drop her off. 

I have had very mixed feelings the whole time we have been making this decision, and sure enough, I was pretty much bawling my eyes out as I watched her little face staring at me through the window as I walked away (about to start crying again now just thinking about it!).  I think it was pretty one-sided though - from what we could tell, Gemma did not cry and when we got there to pick her up, she didn't want to leave!  When we picked her up, she was sitting quietly in her chair at the table with the other children, and was wearing this adorable puppy dog hat that they had made. 

It seemed like her first day was a good experience.  I know it will be great for her to be around some other kids her own age, and it won't hurt me to have a little break from her a couple of days a week since we are right in the heart of the terrible twos and between her and her baby brother, those two can quickly drive me out of my mind sometimes!  But I am more than sure I will still have a hard time driving off and leaving my baby girl the next few times. 

Blog Revamp

I've decided to revive my old blog over at http://wibliophile.blogspot.com.  I've given the template a makeover, and I've decided that instead of just talking about my writing projects, my blog is going to be about all things book-related.  I'll be doing some book reviews (mostly of YA stuff).  Mostly this is because I really, really wish I could be part of foreveryoungadult.com (I'm pretty much obsessed with that website) but since I'm not, I can at least have my own fun.  Anyway, if you're interested, head on over and join me.  I'd love to get some conversations going!

www.wibliophile.blogspot.com

Guess Who's 5 Months Old Already?

This little guy (or big guy, as it says on his shirt, which is the absolute truth)!  I can hardly believe it - in some ways, it almost seems like it's been longer, but in some ways, I can't believe it's already been 5 whole months.  I already can't remember what life was like without him (and his crazy sister, of course).  And even though we definitely have some rough times, I wouldn't trade my 5 months of Ethan for anything.

We have had a great day today too!  We took advantage of the amazing weather this morning and our double jogging stroller and did a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood.  Then we loaded up and met Cy at Arby's for lunch.  Gemma entertained Ethan by jumping up and down on the booth - both kids laughed and laughed.  We sang along to the radio and danced.  I am sure we annoyed everyone else in the Arby's but we had a great time.

Now the kids are napping and I am enjoying this great weather on the back porch with my laptop.  Can't wait to play in the backyard after dinner so we can keep on enjoying the great weather while it lasts!

Two Ridiculously Silly Kiddos

I have two very very silly kids.  To prove this, I've downloaded some funny videos of them from my phone to post here.

This is what life is like at our house.

One of Gemma's favorite things to do is play outside, and she has (finally!) learned how to go down the slide on her own.  Of course, half the time she lands right on her bottom, but that just adds to the hilarity!

One of Ethan's favorite things to do is hang out in the exersaucer. He has very good fine motor skills already and can do many of the activities on the exersaucer. 

Ethan thinks his big sister is just about the funniest person ever.  When we play in the backyard, Gemma loves to jump up and down in the pool and then plop down on her bottom and splash.  Ethan thinks this is super funny every time, and both of them sit there just cracking up.

Ethan's not the only one who thinks Gemma is hilarious.  Gemma's pretty much convinced herself that she's the funniest person ever.  Which is why, when I'm trying to take videos of Ethan playing in his exersaucer, I instead end up with videos like this:

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Since we had a long weekend over Labor Day, we decided to head up to Lake Murray to visit Nana and Pops and also hit up the zoo while we were there.  The last time we took Gemma to the zoo was around Christmas, and she wasn't terribly aware of what was going on.  She's really into animals these days, so we thought she would love it.

Gemma did really enjoy seeing animals at the zoo, and she even got to feed a giraffe (which is one of her favorite animals), although after it wrapped its entire tongue around her little arm, she got freaked out and didn't want to feed it anymore. 

We had fun hanging out with Nana, Pops, Uncle Mike and Aunt Jean, and Aunt Pam.  One night, Pops took us out on the boat to see if any of the purple martins were still hanging around.  Most of them have migrated by now, but we did get to see a beautiful sunset.

If you squint really hard, you may be able to see a few purple martins

Although the trip there went smoothly, the car ride back was not so great.  We had two kids crying for about the last 30 minutes.  After that I am really not looking forward to making a long trip to see my family at Thanksgiving but I guess we'll make do!

We really enjoyed the long weekend but it made it even harder when Cy had to go back to work on Tuesday!

Ethan's 4 Month Stats

Took Ethan for his 4 month checkup on Monday.  He got off to a rocky start when this really loud nurse got right in his face and scared him half to death.  He was pretty much crying hysterically through the entire appointment.  The upside was that he was already crying so hard that by the time he got his shots, he didn't even start crying harder.  So that was a plus.  Maybe.

Gemma came with us and she on the other hand, was loving every second of Ethan's doctor appointment.  She was just hamming it up and being all cute and showing off to all the nurses and the doctor.  She actually got sad when it was time to leave!

But other than the hysterical waterworks, Ethan was doing great.  His stats were: weight - 15 lb. 4 oz. (41%), height - 25.7 in. (69%), and head - 16.5 in. (53%).  So apparently he is tall!  Which is weird, and obviously will not last.  He is so opposite from Gemma (who weighs about 20 lbs. now at 2 years, 3 months) that we are still having a hard time getting used to him being "normal size."

The last two times I have gotten on here to post, I've noticed the really old picture at the top of the page of me, Cy, and Gemma, sans Ethan.  I really really need to get a new picture, but I'm not sure we even have any pictures of all four of us, which is sad.  I think I'm going to set myself a goal to try to get a picture of the whole family as soon as possible, or at least in time to put on a Christmas card!

4 Months Old

So Ethan is 4 months old - time is really just flying!  I've been really slack about updating this blog lately, but it's because there is just so much craziness going on!  Anyway, wanted to post this cute picture of my 4 month old boy:

We are all doing great.  Sometimes I forget that it has only been 4 months since Ethan joined our family, mostly because he is so big that he seems older, and because I am feeling so normal that it seem longer (I didn't start feeling "normal" again until a solid 6 months after I had Gemma).  I've lost all but about 3-4 lbs. of the weight I gained with Ethan (now to get to work on those extra pounds still from Gemma, and then the extra pounds after that I already wanted to lose!) and I finished my longest run yet - a 5 miler - the day he turned 4 months (I finished it in just under 55 minutes which was much better than I expected at this point).

Gemma and Ethan get along great, and they are both so laid back and happy that my life is actually pretty easy (for which I am very thankful).  We are slowly introducing Gemma to potty-training; nothing hard-core yet, but she has gone tinkle on the potty 4 or 5 times this week so it's a start.

Cy got some unexpected vacation time this week after his team did a great job finishing a project.  The kids have really enjoyed having their daddy home and we have gotten to do lots of fun things around Charleston, like going to the beach, the pool, the park, and the aquarium.  We will all be sad when he has to go back to work again next Monday!

Anyway, just a quick update on life at the Shealy house.  I have been working hard for several weeks on my latest sewing project - a card table playhouse for the kids (mostly Gemma at this point).  It has been a huge undertaking, but I have really enjoyed working on it and I can't wait for it to be done so Gemma can enjoy it too!  I will post lots of detailed photos when (if) I finally finish it.