Remembering 9-11 ...or Trying to

My great freind Bonnie had the idea to take the kids today to a special 9-11 memorial that was taking place in Sandy. We thought that even though they wouldn't understand it fully, it was a good opportunity to talk a bit about it and for Bonnie and I to take a minute to remember. Well, I don't think Arlo was feeling quite as patriotic about the whole thing as I was.... Heres some pics below

Mom trying to walk Arlo through the flags and Arlo-not having it

David taking pics with the soldiers (Arlo was off to the side clinging on my leg...)

Although my boy didn't get much out of it. I was glad I did something to take a moment, reflect, remember, and pay my respects. We took the boys to the park after and they had a great time. It was a great day!

Pre-School Day one Down! We made it

Arlo Before Going to School

Arlo at his desk Arlo at the RugArlo using the sink

Well, today has come and went and my little guy made it through his first day at school. I think this will definately be going down as one of the toughest things I have faced as a mom so far. Hopefully through this parenting journey I can learn to toughen up a bit...and gain some perspective, or I think I might be in trouble!

The morning started with a lot of anxiety and crying for Arlo. He locked himself in a room at one point stating over and over he wasn't going to pre-school. I tried my best to keep positive and calm his nerves, but at certain points my own nerves were getting the best of me and we both were reduced to tears.

By the time we were ready to go, I got him feeling pretty ok about things and took him to get a bagel before (this is always a shur fire way to cheer him up). When we got to school, I took friends advice and tried to make the drop off short and sweet. I walked him in to his classroom, helped him put his bag in his cubby, showed him to his chair where his very kind teacher was waiting, and then I peeled his crying body off of mine and walked out of the door.

I drove to a nearby target parking lot and cried for about 20 minutes, then I called my sister and husband and cried some more. After the cryfest, I got it together enough to go into target and pick my little guy up a car toy (Mader from the movie Cars to be exact) as a reward for his first day.

When I thought it would be safe I headed back to his school and peeped through the viewing window for the last 35 minutes of class. I can't believe what I saw. My boy was doing fine! He was eating his snack and listening very intently to his teachers. A few times he tried to sneak away to play with the toys during rug time, but his teacher lovingly guided him back. He definately was still not having it with the songs but he was doing such a great job with listening and craft time; although he had his red fire engine colored in about 30 seconds and was making another escape with one of the other boys back to the toys.

It was so funny and interesting to watch how he interacted in his new environment. I noticed that the boys in his class seemed to have a much harder time sitting still during rug and craft time than the girls. They seemed to just want to move, Including my guy. He really did great with following directions though, and if he was straying from a certain activity, one kind word from the teacher seemed to get him back on track. I also saw that a lot of the kids at different times were having a hard time with being there. A few broke out into tears asking for their mommy's. Arlo may have been the worst in the beginning, but he was doing great by the end. I was so relieved to see him getting along just fine and before I knew it, He was done and walking out the door with a big smile to greet me!

When we got home I sat him on my lap and we had a little chat about school.

our conversation below;

Mommy: So what did you like best about school?

Arlo: Um, snacks were good. We got those fishes

Mommy: Was there anything you didn't like

Arlo: Yea, they wanted me to carry a flag

Mommy:oh really, during song time?

Arlo: yea

Mommy: Well what did you think about school, do you think you will be ok with going back?

Arlo: I was scared , but then I think I liked it

Mommy: I love you so much and I am so proud of you for going to big boy school. I am sorry that I cried but It was really hard for me to leave.

Arlo: Mom, I just wanted to be with you so much, thats why I cried. But then I was ok

After our chat I gave him his new mader car which he was very happy about and the rest was history! We made it Whew-day one is over and hopefully day two wont be as hard on either of us.

Pre-School Orientation

On Thursday we went to Arlo's very anticipated pre-school orientation. Since I began doing research for the right school for him and found this one, I just haven't been sure if he is ready. I know he will love the structure and learning aspect, but he is extremely shy in new settings and very attached to me. Luckily, as the summer has gone on he has really turned a corner with his shyness and I have actually been feeling pretty hopeful about the whole thing.
Well, orientation turned out to be a rough one for Arlo and for Mommy. When we arrived it was really crowded and somewhat chaotic. Arlo was immediately freaked out. When his dad got there he seemed to calm down a bit and we headed into his new classroom. His teacher was so nice and great with Arlo. She gave him a special shirt and bag, and showed us where his cubby and desk was. He was still tense as ever, but once he saw all of the toys and made his way over to them he started to loosen up a bit. We met two little boys and talked to his teacher for quite a while about airplanes. Things seemed to be looking up..that is until we had to transition to something new. The teacher put on a clean up song and asked that all of the kids finish up with the toys and join her on the rug. He looked at me with panic, and his eyes welled up with tears as he exclaimed; "I don't want to clean up!".
Once I got him to the rug the teacher went through some interactive ABC songs and games. Arlo refused to join in. He kept turning to me and giving me this look that seemed to say "are you serious? This is lame!"
After the ABC's we had to make another transition to the gym where the head of the pre-school was going to read the kids a story and chat with the parents. With this news, he had another melt down. By this time I was having a bit of a melt down myself (although doing my best to try and hide it). I wanted to take him and run out of the building. He felt so scared and unsafe. I just wanted to make everything right for him... It was torture.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time to go. All the way home I was so upset I couldn't even talk for fear I would burst into tears. (I don't think the fact that I am over 8 months prego, swollen and having contractions was really helping my emotional state.)
When we got home Clint was trying to get me to talk about what aspects of the evening were so upsetting and of course, once again, the waterworks started flowing. I began sputtering things out like "I can't do it....he was so afraid...he doesn't like it etc etc"
The next thing I know, my little man comes up to me and says, " Mom, don't be sad. I will be OK, I just didn't like the big gym, but I liked my class. It's OK."
Here I am, the Mommy-the one who is supposed to be strong, crying and blubbering like a baby in front of my baby! I should have been the one giving him courage and strength to go through this big change, but instead my amazing little boy was the one giving it to me. I can't believe how hard it is to let him grow, to face his fears alone, and trust that he can do it.

Horsey Bed

We have been in the throws of major basement renovation for the past few months. Seems that we like to have lots of chaos going on right before were going to have a baby. We were doing renovations before we had Arlo as well. We have 3 bedrooms in the basement which is just enough for Arlo, Dylan and Clint& I to be right next to each other. We have just finished all of the rooms and have moved on to the hallway and living room. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we can get it done before Dylan decides to come. As we have been preparing to move rooms I have also been working on a special project for Arlo. When Clint was little his very first bed was made by his very skillful dad and it was a Horsey bed. Well, he has since passed the bed on to us and I have been working on it night and day to get it ready for Arlo's new room. I am happy to say I have finished and It has been a Huge hit! Arlo loves it and has been so amazing about the transition from Crib to bed. I think the Horsey made it seem so cool to sleep in he just couldn't wait to move to his big boy bed.

Here are some before and after pictures


Arlo getting ready to sleep in his Horsey bed for the first time-in his cool Spider Man PJ's of course!

Arlo's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza

ARLO'S BIRTHDAY TAKE 1
On Tue Aug 18, Clint and I greeted our big 3 year old in the morning singing happy birthday with an asiago cheese bagel w/straberry cream cheese from Einsteins (his favorite!) that had a candle placed in the center
Then we let him open his special presents from mom and dad. The Storm trooper hat and transformers are from us and the General Grevious and Storm trooper are from his Cousins Hay and ET.



Later that day Heather and I took him and Hay, ET, and Their cousin Austin to liberty park for a picnic and we let them ride on some of the rides. They had a great time!





ARLO'S BIRTHAY TAKE 2
The following Saturday Dad and I threw Arlo a Star Wars themed party and lots and lots of friends came. He had a blast

Star Wars Decor and Mom's sad Starwars Cake attempt.


Cute Auntie Heather who is also prego YAY!


Mom Helping Arlo open up lots and lots of presents, thanks everyone


Pinata Fun



All of our Family & Friends who came and just made the day fun






ARLO'S BIRTHDAY TAKE 3
The very next day Grandma Dilley threw Arlo a birthday bash as well. She is the best grandma (mom) ever and on everyone's birthday she makes them a special cake and dinner. Arlo chose Teriaki Chicken for the main course and Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for desert.

Granndma Dilley



Present time....Again



Great Grandma Richards Aunt Dar and Cousin Will


Uncle Doug & Aunt Lisa Cousin Tess & Arlo
playing with Arlo and his new
Star Wars Ship


Whew! As we all can see Arlo had a lot of birthday celebrations going on and he had a great time.
Thanks to all of our friends and family we love you.

Happy Birthday Baby

Oh man! it has happened -Arlo has turned 3. Everyone warned me this stuff goes fast but I was just not prepared for exactly how fast....What can I say about my little man. I never thought it would be possible to love you as much as I do. Now that I am a mommy my entire perspective has changed. I spend a good part of my days being in awe of you and who you are. Having you has made me a better person, I thank you for that. I love to be with you and do for you. Here is a short synopsis of who you are at this point in your life.

You are a true individual - You know who you are. You have a strength and a sense of self like no one I have ever met, other than your Daddy... and this is what made me crazy for him. This will help you in your life. You will be a natural leader and you will trust your instincts. I am thankful for this

You are a go getter- If you want something there is no stopping you! You have a will of Iron and you pursue what ever you do with every fiber of your being. You play, fight, work, and love with sincere enthusiasm and intensity

You have a very strong curiosity for learning- What ever it is you may be interested in at any given time, you must learn every single thing about the subject. (this is a lot like your obsessive mother, sorry! )When it was dinosaurs, we spent hours pouring over books so you could know all of the different kinds and their habits. You know more about dinosaurs than I ever thought was possible for a three year old. We had a bat period. You know the difference between vampire, fruit, and daubingtons just to name a few. Then we were on to sharks; some of your favorites, great Whites because "there the most bitey", Thresher because "I like how they hit the fish with their tails", Whale because "those guys are huge but there pretty nice". Now we are getting in to your Star Wars phase and I am sad to say your knowledge has completely surpassed moms, so we have also started checking out books on this just to find out who every single guy/alien/droid is and what they do.

You are so so silly-You love to have fun. You are a party animal! If there is something going down you want to be there. You don't want to miss a thing and just like daddy, you love to tease.

You want to know how everything works-Yep another one just like dad. You love to Fix things, take things apart, put them back together. Tools in general are very much loved by you. One of your favorite things to do is follow dad around and "help" him with whatever it is he is working on, and he is always working on something.

Those who are dear to you are very lucky-When you decide you love someone you love them with everything you got. You are loyal and love nothing more than to be with them. Once you love someone they are yours forever.

Happy 3rd Birthday Arlo~ I can't wait to see how much more I will find out about who you are as each year goes by. I love you!!!

We have a computer again-YES

ok fellow bloggers, it has been a long, long time but I have finally got a new computer. I am so excited! ours crashed in June and I have gone the entire summer without one. Therefore no blogging has occurred. So much has happened that I should have here -I am a bit overwhelmed. AHHHHHHHHH! major events;


1. Arlo turned 3 August 18! How has it happened? My little baby is such a big boy. He has had lots of parties (one from mom and dad and one from Grandma Dilley) and lots of presents-all involving starwars and transformers because he is obsessed!


2. I am really, really fat and prego. I am swelling in places I didnt know you could. 3 more weeks until Dylan is here

3. Our basement is almost finished! I seriously have the best hubby ever and he has been working around the clock to get us all done before we have the baby

4. Arlo is starting pre-school on Sept 8th! I have been very, very concerned about this one the entire summer. Those of you who know my boy have seen his attachment issues, and they have been really extreme the past few months. Just as I was starting to think I just couldn't go through with sending him to school, he has miraculousely turned a corner. He is doing so great. I actually think he may just love it.

Those are the highlights more posts to come very soon!