Open House at Preschool

We love our preschool! Here is the whole family -minus Ali who had to go to class :(

This past month, we have been making huge strides in trying to get into a good routine and accepting that Elem is not going to be with us so much. I think it is mostly hard for me because I have had him with me all the time for so long, but it has been really hard. Finding that balance between making sure your child is in the right atmosphere with other children to learn and grow and socialize while maintaining a close relationship and steering clear of that feeling of being away too much or missing out too much, is so challenging. We are so lucky that Elem has found such a wonderful little preschool and I am loving it so much more than I could have ever imagined. I can't help it that I have super high expectations for him, and for those who are interacting with him-the teachers, the kids, all of them. But I do make sure I am super supportive of his class and what they are learning and for his friends and all of that-I really want him to know that Seth and I are active in his school so he doesn't feel like when he is there we are not involved or a part of it in any way. We talk about his day at school every day, off and on throughout the night, and I love how he fills me in on different things and "who said what" and "who went to timeout" and " who was the line leader". It really makes me feel like I was a part of the day without even being there.

He is doing so good at school and to this day, since August, has only had to go to timeout once, and he has gone to school Monday -Friday from about 8-4pm. So I think that is a great reflection of how well he is behaving, especially when he tells me all about the kids who are there and when they have to go to timeout! haha. Momma is proud, what can I say. About 2 weeks ago, we went to Elem's Preschool for Open House, just to meet the other parents that have children in the school and see some things he had done, see a slideshow, talk to his teacher, and most importantly- per Elem" to eat cookies and see where he gets to play". He was so happy for the Open House night to come, so we made sure all 3 of us went, again just to ensure he KNOWS how much we support him and do want to have a place with his school-not just picking him up and dropping him off.

I am positive that some of his success at school has to do with his awesome teachers! He really did luck out and has such sweet ladies who he really does love and respect (Thank you Jesus!) Here are Elem and Cecilia with their 3 year old teacher Miss Tracie.


And here is a little boy who is slightly obsessed/BFFs?teacher's pet with his afternoon teacher Miss Lindsey. Elem LOVES miss Lindsey. Periodically throughout the night at Open House I kept seeing Elem standing by Miss Lindsey while she was serving cookies and trying to talk to her, and just loving her. This makes me SO comfortable to leave him at school knowing that his teachers are people who he really wants to be around. I was super scared of that going into the whole preschool atmosphere, just because I know how picky Elem is about who he is willing to talk to and who he is not. Ha!


Elem's top playmate- Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays-Thats when C goes to school, and trust me, every single day he wants to know if Cecilia is going to be there or not, its like he has to get mentally prepared if she isn't. :) Sweet babies.


This is one of the things at Open House that the kids had on display, it was a tracing of their feet (well shoe size) and they had a rhyme in there from the Dr. Seuss "The Foot Book", which Elem loves. It was A-dorable.


I can't believe these little ones are already so grown up. They are 3 and 1/2 and learning so much every single day.


This is what Elem made special for mommy and daddy to make sure we remembered just how much he is growing. And it makes me melt-just seeing how much he has grown, how much he weighs and how tall he is. He is double his height since he was born which is so CRAZY! Take a look at that hand print next to mine-isn't it HUGE. Uhm he is 3 and a 1/2 here!


Elem, mommy and daddy are so proud of you and what a good boy you are. You have done such a great job at school, and we are so happy that you have made so many friends, and are learning all about Jesus and how much he loves you. We couldn't be more proud of our little man. He is just a shining little piece of sunshine.

One picky eater

I am a very picky eater. We all know that. And we have all come to accept that.

Elem is an even more picky eater. We all know that. But we have all not come to accept it as of yet.

I am what you would call a very simple eater (picky eater). To break it down- I do not like many foods, I love meat, love bread and pastas, and a handful of veggies and fruits. I do not like my food to touch on the plate and rarely will you find me eating a casserole or one or more foods at a time, no food on forks that are going to be touching other foods, and hardly any dairy because it doesn't sit well with me. I am sure I could go on, but I will most likely always be this way, because I always have and even though I have tried to like foods here and there, those new ones that enter my menu are few and far between. It is just not my thing, and even though I wish I liked more foods so that I could be this amazingly healthy person, I just can't do it. I don't have the taste buds for it, and I have just come to accept it. Food is not something that is all that great for me, I can't cook worth a flip, and I just eat to eat, not because I like it. Elem-is similar to me in so many of those things I just listed. He doesn't like his food to touch each other, doesn't like a wide variety of foods, doesn't like to try new foods, and really judges most food on their presentation before he will even consider if he is going to put it in his mouth or not. This makes being a mom-and planning for a healthy preschooler so much more difficult than I ever could have imagined! If I could cook I might have a slight leg up, but since I can't and we are dependent on Seth for all the cooking, making Elem's meals healthy and fun for a preschooler to eat is so hard! Our work schedules and life schedules don't help a bit either-since we don't even get home till close to 6pm and sometimes he or I is getting home after that. Currently some foods that Elem does enjoy eating are hotdogs, rice, pasta or noodles, cereal (without milk of course-just like his mommy), waffles, chicken, turkey, sliced-shredded-or string cheese, milk, and bread. Uhm that menu does not allow for much of a variety in eating, and it is super frustrating for me to purchase fresh veggies and fruits and just end up having to throw them away because he wont even touch them! I have tried to keep at least one veggie or fruit on his plate at every single meal that we provide for him, but sometimes it is just so hard! Whew, this is seriously something that I am having to work hard at, and in the grand scheme of things it is just so much easier to simply offer him some healthy deli meat, because I know it will at least get eaten and he will not be hungry! I feel like I am trying hard and am going to keep hoping that he ends up with his dad's taste buds and willingness to eat anything you put in front of him, but it is not looking that way for us! So I snapped this little video to remember just what a typical night at the dinner table looks like for us. The video is about 5 minutes long, but I wanted to capture the entire episode. And this being after about 10 minutes of pre-whining and effort to get up from the table and just not eat anything.



This episode, which happens on average 5 times a week or more, brings me right back to the days when I was about 5-10 years old (yes all of those years) and I would sit at the table with my family while they would al be eating dinner and I would just be picking at my food, trying to think of a way to get out of eating it. I had many different ways of "not having to eat" my food, and I wont go into detail on those, but lets just say napkins and the dog helped out a lot! ha!Payback for how I obviously tormented my family (mainly mom) during meal times and most likely during weekly trips to the grocery store trying to find something that I could force down, is so not fun. Elem, how can you still be so cute when you are trying to talk your way out of eating your food??? And you haven't even touched it or tried it yet?

Go Hogs Go!

It is Razorback Football season and Elem is more into it this year than ever!!!! Football is a daily activity around our house and watching the games is serious business. Even if we did lose to Alabama, we are still true fans and will forever keep on calling those hogs!


Elem's favorite players are Ryan Mallett and Joe Adams. And even though he is the proud new owner of a red shiny number 15 Jersey (Mallett), he insists that he is Joe Adams, so don't make the mistake of calling him anything any different! He is not quite ready to actually watch all of the game, or even enough of the game to make his daddy happy, because as soon as he sees the players on TV doing all kinds of awesome football moves, he wants to get in on the action. Which usually means that mommy has to make a trip outside to play some tackle football, so daddy can enjoy the game :) Which I am completely happy with-but Elem is so rough, I doubt I will be able to take his beatings much longer!

I wish I could count on my hands how many times he has worn this true Razorback Jersey! Lets just say we have gotten our money's worth -the only thing that would make it better is if it was reversible and had a Joe Adams name on the other side :) Needless to say-He is obsessed with it. Hactually wore it 2 days in a row to school last week. Oh well. At least he was support'n those Hogs!

We are hoping for Elem to be a future Razorback in any sport of his choice! Keep those fingers crossed.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Enough said.


This pretty much accounts for often interactions with Elem and others...when he is not certain he is getting his way or happy about something. A new phrase around our house is..per Elem, "I feel like I don't want to, so I don't have to. And I feel like you aren't making me happy right now and I don't like that. "And I type that verbatim.

Gotta love the 3s. Gotta love em.

Where is Elem?

Guess who is still my cuddle buddy every single night and morning?? Believe it or not there is a little midget under the covers and he is the best cuddle-r in the whole wide world.


Sadly...my little cuddle buddy is 41 inches tall and 40 lbs-which means he takes up over half my body when we cuddle, which is posing for a bit of an issue.

Da dada daaaaaa

Elem has not been one to like all kinds of cartoons, although dont get me wrong he has enjoyed his fair share. He has just been kind of picky with what he will actually sit down and watch and really be interested in. I would say the only 2 true cartoon loves he has had, which I have mentioned before are The Backyardagains and Dora. Those tend to rank highest in the past with us (and Barney if you can count that!) but now I introduce to you, a new love for Little Einsteins! He seriously learned this song leading into the show after about 6 episodes. It is so funny. He usually is a little more into it but will never let me catch him with the camera. So this will have to do. But this is sweet. he is trying and seriously does know every single word.