Meet the Teacher 2012

Can you say we are a little excited about school this fall?! I have a feeling it is going to be wonderful year for our two kiddos.

Last night was parent orientation. Since I get to see the teachers everyday I stayed home with our kids and Benjamin went to make sure we had all the info we needed to start the year.

Just as a side note: All the teachers love how involved Benjamin is in our children's lives. I just don't realize how thankful I should be for him being so devoted to them. There are so many dads out there who don't have a clue what is going on with their children. Her teacher from last year had already informed Mrs. Streit on how inquisitive he was and to be prepared for him to ask tough questions regarding Emma Claire. She said, "just make sure you are well prepared for his parent teacher conference!" : ) It makes me laugh because that is just the way he is. I had warned him last night to not ask too many questions and to give Mrs. Streit a break. When he came home he had all the paperwork from the night, already filled out might I add, and had taken notes from the teachers presentations so that we wouldn't miss a thing! When I asked how it went he said, "Well, I only asked ONE question!". : ) Love him.

He even snapped this picture of Mrs. Streit, Emma Claire's kindergarten teacher, giving her presentation.

While Daddy was at orientation Emma Claire was so excited to work on her gifts for she and Camp's teachers. Thanks to Pinterest we found this cute idea to fill tumblers with drink mixes that say 'Thank You for quenching my thirst for knowledge'.  They were a huge hit at school today but we can't take all the credit. Pinterest is a wonderful thing!

Before we went inside for Meet the Teacher I had to snap a few shots of my soon-to-be Kindergartner!

She was so exited to get inside!

Right: Emma Claire and her music teacher, Mrs. Julie.

Getting ready to go inside to see her classroom!

Mrs. Streit was having a tough time deciding which tumbler she wanted.

Emma Claire and Mrs. Ferrell, her teacher's assistant.

It looks like such a big girl classroom!

There will be 5 boys and 4 girls in her class. It's just the perfect size to get a lot of one-on-one attention. There are name plates where they are to sit and will be moved around occasionally so that they can interact with all the children in the class. Right now she is at a table with all boys and I have no doubt that she will be able to handle herself just fine!

She can.not wait to explore all there is to learn in her new class!

Her expectations for her first week at kindergarten:

1. Count to 100.
2. Tie her shoes.
3. Be able to read one book.

She has VERY high expectations. ; )

Emma Claire and Mrs. Streit!

Isn't Mrs. Streit just the cutest?! She kept posing for pictures everywhere Emma Claire wanted.

Right: Emma Claire and her discovery teacher, Mrs. Kelli.

Now, what about this little stinker!? He is such a clown.

We decided this year that we would hold him back into the twos again so that he would be on track for kindergarten. We had originally moved him up a class two years ago because his birthday was so close to the cut-off. We thought we would do it now before he knew that his friends were moving on without him and he would have another year to be prepared for the more academic 3 year old class.

He wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything yummy inside those cups! ; )  

It's so hard to get a serious picture out of him!

This year his class is called the 'Owls' and they have the cutest little room!

Camp gets the wonderful opportunity to be with Mrs. Emily and Mrs. Lyn who were also his one year old teachers two years ago. They are great and love on my boy SO well! I think he is going to have a wonderful year with them and my almost 3 year old will quickly turn big boy!

Again, did I say it's hard to get a good picture of my clown!?

We can't wait to begin our new year on Tuesday!! Thanks Little Lambs for always having such a wonderful program!

Getting Ready for Baby Dawson

Big kids in the back!!

Last Day at the Pool for the Summer

We were so very sad to say good-bye to the pool for the last time this summer. We have had such a wonderful time spending time with JuJu and Caleb.

Last year Emma Claire would get into the water but hated to have water splashed in her eyes. She would do her best to stay away from anyone who might splash her. Camp was about the same way and wasn't even interested in getting into the water at all. He would play around the outside of the pool and would sometimes step onto the first step where the water was barely around his ankles.

This year our kids have turned into little water bugs!

You might notice that there aren't any pictures of Julia and I. Let's just say that it was intentional. ; )

This summer Emma Claire has learned:

• to jump into the pool all by herself
• to go underwater w/ and w/out holding her nose
• to swim with floaties or ring into the deep water
• to be in the middle of the action even with others splashing water

Camp has learned:

• to swim/float with floaties or a ring
• to play in the shallow end independently
• to jump in the water holding mommy's hand
• to go underwater up to his eyes holding his nose

They have done SO great! I'm thinking swimming lessons may be on the schedule for next summer!

A trip to the pool is not complete without checking to make sure there aren't any bugs in the catchers!

Thank you, JuJu, for inviting us to spend the summer at the pool with you! We can't wait until next year!

We LOVE Popcorn and Movie Nights at Home

Meet Dawson Alexander

I just realized a couple of days ago that I had never posted pictures of our new little man when we went for our 19 week ultrasound. It was definite when she put his picture on the screen that he was a BOY! I have to say that he is such a cutie!

*You can click on any picture to enlarge.

Could you not eat these legs up! They are so cute. They also measured 2 weeks ahead of schedule!

This one is my favorite! He looks like he is just chillin' til time to make his entrance.

The sad part is that I have the hardest time naming boys. I just can't find a name that I fall in love with. Even when naming Camp Benjamin settled pretty quickly with his name but I was unsettled up until the very last minute. So here we are again. I think I have searched the Internet and read every boy name imaginable, but I haven't fallen love yet. Benjamin was pretty set that he would like to have a 'D' name because we have an A, B, C, & E name in our family already. His OCD has set in and he would like to have things in order. SO, once again I have searched every 'D' name imaginable. I have not settled on any names yet, but the ONLY name that Benjamin and I have found that we both like is Dawson.

Over the last couple of weeks Benjamin has been 100% ready to settle on Dawson, but I on the other hand just wasn't ready...... Until yesterday! I saw this sweet boy and he just looked like a Dawson.

SO, without further ado, I would like for you to meet Dawson Alexander Quinn!

Just look at that face. He looks so much like Camp it's crazy!

I also found out yesterday at my ultrasound that we are having another BIG boy. I am supposedly 29 weeks and 2 days but he was measuring at 31 weeks and already weighed 3 lbs and 8 oz.! His little legs were even measuring at 32 weeks and 2 days! They had told me he should be somewhere around 20% in size and he was at 80%. I am thinking that my due date is probably totally off because we weren't completely sure what it was to begin with. It started at November 8th and then moved to October 29th and now it may move again. I go to the doctor on Monday so we'll see what they say! I'm hoping they do or I'm on track to have a whopper of a child! ; 0

I can't wait to meet you Dawson Alexander Quinn!