We survived!

We all made it through our first week of school!  We just celebrated with the first annual movie night/sleep over in mom and dad's room! (pics to come) Here are some moments from the first week that I don't want to forget:

-Charley told Nana how much she missed Sam
-On Wed. Sam told me that he didn't let any of the kids or the teachers see but when he got to the classroom in the morning he "had teary in his eyes".  When I asked him why he cried he said, "mom, I just said teary in my eyes....I DID NOT CRY...I was just missing you a little"...and then I got teary in my eyes...
-I have read "The Kissing Hand" on the 3rd day of school for the last 9 years to my class.  This year when I read it to my class I teared up thinking about my Sam and how I had read it to him to help him prepare for K and now my Sam was sitting in a Kindergarten class at that very moment hopefully remembering how much his mommy loves him.  Is it possible that Sam and I had "teary in our eyes" at the exact same time...
-On Friday Sam told me that he had a good day but that he "missed me every sec."
-Sam's favorite "pull-out" is gym...let us all put on our surprise face...
-Sam's clipped stayed on blue all week....he never ventured into "yucky-yellow"!
-He got his first homework assignment and he had to choose between making a "M"ap of his room, bringing in "M"usic, or making a picture of his "M"other...can you tell it's "M" week! :)   He choose making a map and then proceeded to ask Dad for help....he's no fool...Chris will be all over that map!
-Sam got to wear "play clothes" on Friday because they were working in the raised flower beds!  When I asked him what he did he told me it was a surprise but that I would find out in 9 months!  Someone's getting a sweet Mother's Day flower!!! :):)
-Sam's favorite part of the day is always recess....his "sad" part is always when other students get in trouble...he has such a tender heart!
-He asks me everyday to pick him up from after school , "as quick as you can mommy"!



It was a great week for Sam!  He seems to have adjusted well and made some friends!  He also seems to be VERY tired by the time he gets home (Charley and Mom included)...which results in more whining (he can barely hit his toe and start crying) and more fighting with his sister! (usually while I'm trying to fix dinner, somewhere between 4:30-6:30)   Chris and I both think that this is part of the transition phase but that has been the hardest part for us all!  He is usually so laid back and easy going and after teaching first grade all day my patience is slim!  We are ALL working on more patience and less whining...I realize I may be the whiniest one of us all!  (you guys know I keep it real here)  I also found myself looking at all the cute "first day" things and pictures that the "moms of the universe" had done and starting feeling guilty...don't worry God and I did some talking and I'm back down to reality and have found my peace again about being a working mom and doing the best each day that I can in all aspects of my life!  All in all it's been a GREAT but exhausting week...emotionally and physically!  Can I get a witness! :)

Here are some pics of us prepping for Kindergarten!

Ready for orientation!  I'm so blessed to work for an administration that realizes I'm a mom first!  Both Chris and I were able to slip out on Friday of work week to go with Sam to orientation!  Charley got to go to work with Gee-Jo so she thought she was pretty hot stuff and Sam got some much needed one on one time from both of us!  It's a whole new experience being on the flip side of "meet the teacher day"!

 They had to decorate a person to bring the first day!  Sam colored a blue shirt and green shorts, cleats, and we found a soccer ball sticker!  He made sure to put it on his left foot because he "mostly kicks with his left foot"!  I love that kid!!

 The teachers encouraged us to pack things for snack and lunch that the kids can open on their own!  As a fellow teacher that has to eat lunch with her kids I totally get it!  Here we are practicing open his sandwich holder!

If you are in the mood to cry you can head on over to "enjoying the small things"...because this whole week...."I would have bought a vowel"...

Sam's First Day of Kindergarten!!

 (it's hard to read but Sam wants to be a professional golfer....next year we will use black...live and learn...:))

I mean really...look how cute he signs his name!  

Sam had a great first day of kindergarten!  At orientation he met some friends that will be in his soccer league and his class so he was excited about that! Sam is pretty laid back with transition so we knew he would be his quiet, "take everything in", Sam!  It also happen to be my first day of school so I wasn't able to watch him into his classroom or "see him off"!  We are however fortunate that Chris and Sam have some quality time every morning and that Chris can walk him into school everyday!  On the first day they decided to go to Chick-fil-a!  When they got to school Chris walked Sam to his teacher who was waiting for all her students and gave him a hug...Sam was his usual "Serious Sam" but no tears!  He liked getting to give his teachers flowers because "she really liked them"!  Sam's favorite part of his first day was recess and that he had "almost the exact same lunch" as one of his soccer buddies!  I asked if he talked to his teacher and he said only to ask her to open his chips!  After school (after some minor bus setbacks...he had a sub bus driver on his first day that made him 30 min. late) I picked him up from after school and he wouldn't let go of me for at least 10 minutes...he just held both of my hands...I think he missed his momma and boy oh boy did his momma miss him!  We had a good talk about his first day and I got a lot details slowly but surely!  When Dad got home we headed over to Red Robin to celebrate!

My favorite funny from the day:  I had laid everything out for Sam!  I got to wake him up and talk with him but then I had to leave so Chris was in charge!  I'm a control freak so "letting go" of first day tasks such as picture taking, making sure he had everything, and breakfast was EXTREMELY hard for me!  I even put his sticker he had to wear on his shirt the night before and walked Chris through every last detail!  When Chris called to tell me how drop off went he said, "I might have made one boo-boo"...I let Sam take a soccer ball with him.  I got nervous he was going to get in trouble so I asked his teacher and she politely told me that toys were not allowed from home!"!   Apparently Chris took a soccer ball with him everyday of elementary school and Sam was eager to follow in his footsteps!  I just started cracking up laughing...only my husband would think that bringing a soccer ball to school was an awesome idea!  Sam was pretty excited that his teacher told him he could bring it with him on "S" day!

Now here's the part I know you're curious about!  How did "us parents" hold up!  To be honest it really is a weird sensation to send your baby to K!  Even writing the post was a little strange...I didn't know where to start or how to "give the story" so it's pretty fragmented!  Chris and I both talked several times about how for us it wasn't so much the "I can't believe he's old enough to go to Kindergarten", we are both pretty good with "moving on and growing up" transitions.  For us it was the reflection and focus on Sam and just how awesome he is, and how blessed we are!  It was the "we have the coolest kid in the world" and we don't want school to change that, that "got" us!  It was the "he really is the funniest, most laid-back, sweet, kind, 5 year old in the world!  Have you met my Sam?  He really is as awesome as we make him out to be!  So for us it wasn't so much the Kindergarten thing that got us...it was the...we are so blessed by knowing our Sam that got us!  My moment hit on Sat. night when we were reading books in bed (about kindergarten) just Mommy, Daddy, and Sam!  He was asking the sweetest questions and then admitted to being slightly nervous...it was just so Sam!  I held it together until after we laid him down but then Chris and I had the best conversation about how we knew he was going to rock it because he's our Sam and he's amazing...that's when the lump in the throat hit hard!  Chris got teary eyed when Sam called him into his room after we laid him down on Sunday night.  We could tell Sam was nervous so Chris talked with him again about how he was nervous too, and that is was ok to be nervous and that all he had to do was just be the same awesome Sam he's always been and that he was going to do great!  Chris came downstairs fighting back tears!  We have an awesome kid, first day of kindergarten was simply a reminder of how blessed we are!

29 Weeks:

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Gender: It's a BOY!!  We are 94.9 percent sure we are going with Maxwell Taylor!  Taylor is my Mom's maiden name and I've always wanted to use it for either a girl or a boy!  I like the way it flows together!  Plus how cute does Sam, Charley, and Max sound...pretty darn cute!!!  What are your thoughts???

Maternity Clothes: Maybe I should go ahead and take this off now...it's a def. yes!

Weight gain:  28 pounds.  My philosophy now is "until my doctor worries...I'm not going to worry!"...and yes I will have another sausage poof!  

Movement: I have lots of contractions (Braxton Hicks) and he rolls and punches with the best of them!  

Sleep: Having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep!

Symptoms: Some days my fingers and feet start to swell and some days they don't.  EXTREME FATIGUE (mostly due to the craziness that is back to school week!  

Cravings: Fruit...I would love a watermelon right now!

Best moment this week: Sam has said he felt the baby move before but I'm not sure I believed him!  While watching the Olympics we was "trying to the feel the baby" (AKA I want to stay up later and mom thinks this is cute so she'll let me) and baby boy let out a huge kick right where Sam's hand was placed!  You should have seen how big his eyes got and how excited he was!  It was precious with a capital P! 

House Update...# "I Can't Keep Up"

We tried to mix some work and some play this summer.  Chris worked on the half bath...awesome toilet shot to follow...

 He had to cut the sink base (which we got for a super cheap bargain at of all places Kirklands) and added all the plumbing hardware and drains.  It's all installed I just forgot to take a final pic...I'll get on that...

 We painted the dining room with colors from our old house.  We do actually own chairs to our dining room table but I have no idea where they are in this picture..ha!

 Before shot of the outside...

 After Greg and his chainsaw got a hold of it!  Please notice Greg's chaps and Amy Jo's rear-end...I'm such a bratty and mean littler sister!!!   MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!  We still have a TON of clean up work to do in the yard but we have more of a clean slate now!

Splash Valley

We got to go to splash valley 3 times this summer! Charley LOVES her some splash valley!  Sam likes the big pool with the purple slide and the lazy river the most!  I got a groupon for 50 percent off and then as we were packing up to leave it started storming and we got a rain check!  BONUS day for free!  

 We met Landry, Cam, and Winkie one day for a little playdate!  Charley loved having someone to go with her since her brother doesn't always cooperate! HA!

My favorite moment was when Mom sent Charley down the purple slide!  You can't go with an adult but as she went down she flipped over and was clinging to the very top of the slide.  Mom, in true, "Christmas Story" style pushed her down with her foot!  I was at the bottom and could barley catch her I was laughing so hard!  One of Chris's soccer players was the worker at the top of the slide and he looked at mom and said..."well I wasn't going to do it!"!  Let's just say sissy was one and done with the purple slide!  

Happy Anniversary

We went to the Homeplace (for the third straight Sunday) to celebrate Nana and Papa's anniversary!  

 Chris was giving a serious football clinic to the kids!  You can see how well the boys are paying attention!  Our football star just may be Eliza!  That girl is stinkin tough!

NC Zoo

Because we here at the Dowdy House take our summer of fun very seriously we headed down to Asheboro for a day trip to the zoo!  

But before we get to the zoo...cute pics of sissy's new haircut...

 On to the zoo...

 We forgot our stroller...who needs a stroller when you have Daddy!  The kids actually did great!  We were glad at the end of the day that we didn't bring the stroller.  We have been joking all summer about how much baby boy will change everything...we hop in the car now without even a diaper bag!

 They had a dinosaur exhibit with fake dinos that moved and roared...Charley was scared to death!  She would say, "I not scared I just want to watch from here" as she would stand as far back as she could get! HA!

 This dinosaur spit water out every minute!  The funny park about this picture is that the water missed Sam and hit Chris is his pants for the ol "I just peed my pants" shot!

 Fossil dig!  Daddy helped Sam find a "dinosaur tooth"!

 Sam and Chris were totally into the action shots!

 3-D dinosaur movie that was supposed to be for kids yet scared both of mine to death.  They both ended up in our laps!

 The boys talked us girls into playing at a nearby course...it's ranked as one of the toughest courses on the east coast and its only 20 min. from the zoo.  Let's just say by the end of the day I was one tired pregnant momma!  The boys LOVED having us girls for an audience!

Sissy could care less about golf but loved climbing the rocks!

Charley's New Haircut!

Charley was so quiet and still during her haircut

 It looks so cute when it's actually dry!  I wanted the front to come more in an angle but she looks so grown up I can't stand it!