Preschool

Believe it or not, my baby girl started 4 year old preschool the first week of September. She was incredibly excited to begin this new journey of "real" school. We first attended orientation a couple weeks before school began. Kate was so excited to see her friends, Nolan and Emily. Unfortunately, Kate was placed in a different class than Nolan and Emily, thus my anxiousness about her expectations. We had been talking for several weeks about what she should expect and how much fun she was going to have meeting new friends and learning new things. She did show some anxiousness about what was to come. She asked some expected questions, such as "Will I take a nap at school?" and "What snack will I get?"(She loves snack time!); however, when she said to me in almost a whisper: "Mommy, I won't have any friends in my class", my heart broke as I had a small glimpse of what was going on in that little mind. As a mother, you want to protect and shelter your child from as much as possible.  The truth is that life is full of uncertainty and regardless of the age, we all face it.  So, instead of protecting her from it, the best I can do is to prepare her.  We talked a lot and most importantly, I listened. We talked every day about school in an attempt to ease some of her anxiety. Just as I knew she would, although she was a bit shy, she had no problem going into her new class while Mommy and Daddy went to discuss 'no fun, grown up things'. It amazes me what a mix she is of me and Kevin. When placed in a new atmosphere, she starts out very quiet and timid (like me), but quickly opens up to be the center of attention (like her Daddy). After seeing her in her class for a mere 20 minutes, I was certain she would adjust just fine.

After orientation, Kate was ready to start school. We counted down the days and talked about what fun she would have until the big day arrived. Up to this point, I had been so focused on preparing her that I hadn't even thought twice about the fact that the first day would be harder on me than it would be on her. Kate attended Goddard for 2 years, which is somewhat like a preschool. As a result, I had no concern about being emotional as I dropped her off on the first day. Was I ever wrong! The first morning of preschool was pretty typical, we hadn't gotten too far out of the routine of getting up, having breakfast and getting dressed to go to Goddard/work, which made things run a little smoother. Daddy stayed home with Monkey and I loaded up our big girl and headed off to this new chapter in her life. She talked all the way to school and got herself unbuckled as soon as we pulled into the drop off line. She hoped out of the car, gave Mommy a big kiss and off she went. As I slowly pulled away, watching her walk into the door, my eyes got blurry and I couldn't hold it back. My baby girl is growing up and it is happening so fast.

She decorated her bag all by herself!

Ready to go!  Toothpaste stain and all :)

Pretty girl

Ready to walk up to her new class

Walking up the stairs as Mommy's
eyes started to get blurry

Eating lunch after school

Ormond Beach 2011

I know, I know, it has been over a month since my last post! A lot has happened since then and I will provide updates/pictures for each of the latest events (i.e. Kate starting preschool!) very soon.

Tonight, I will start with what is freshest on my mind....vacation! We just returned yesterday from a wonderful week in Ormond Beach. Ronnie and Diane have been so gracious to allow us to spend a week with them in Florida the past several years. With our growing family; however, they may soon retract this offer as our vacations have quickly gone from relaxing to rowdy. With a 4 year old and an eight month old to entertain, Kevin and I are no longer sure what the word "relaxation" means....regardless of our location. Although vacations may no longer be relaxing, they are fun-filled and eventful and we wouldn't have it any other way!  With this being said, I must admit how nice it is to have Ronnie and Diane there to help with the kids – it certainly made our week much easier (I was able to read an entire book – the first one since Monkey has been born!)

We had a great week.  We visited family, went to Sea World, swam, hunted for seashells (i.e. Mommy bought big shells and put them in the sand so Kate could 'find' them :), ate great food and most importantly, just spent time together.  Kate was one lucky girl last week, which would explain her sadness as we packed our bags Saturday morning.  Let’s just be honest, the week revolved around her!  At Sea World, we watched every show on the calendar (Kate LOVES shows…she chose this over Disney!), we went swimming in the pool and the ocean from the moment she awoke until it was time for dinner and we ate A LOT of ice cream!  This, my friends, is a little taste of Heaven for a 4 year old.  Not to mention that she had DeDe and Papaw there to spoil her even more than Mommy and Daddy (if that is possibleJ)!

Hayes didn’t have a bad week himself.  This was his first vacation, and he seemed to enjoy himself as well.  He loved the water.  He splashed and giggled while watching big sister jump in.  He was amazed by the sand and examined it closely.  Mostly, I think enjoyed our morning walks – nothing is more relaxing than an early stroller ride!  The poor little guy has been cutting his two top teeth, but as always, he didn’t let it get him down.  All week, he remained the happy little guy that I love more than words can describe. 

The great part of going to Ormond Beach is that I have lots of family that live either in Ormond or very close. As you know, I lost a very special person in my life only 8 days after Hayes was born - my grandfather (Papa). Because Hayes was only 1 week old at the time, I was unable to travel to FL to attend Papa’s funeral services. Although I was able to see him in December, I felt like I never had the chance to say a final goodbye. This trip gave me that opportunity. One of the first mornings after we arrived, Hayes and I took a walk before sunrise. We went to the park where there is a bench memorializing both my grandfather and my dear uncle, whom we lost 3 years ago. As I sat on their bench that morning, watching the sunrise, I felt like I was finally able to say goodbye to a man that was so important to me and had such a huge impact on my life.  I made this a routine.  Hayes and I took a walk almost every morning to get a Starbucks and sit on Uncle Mike and Papa’s bench to watch the sunrise. 

I was also able to see my dear grandparents, Mamoo and Poppy.  While we didn’t get to stay long, it was still a wonderful visit.  We talked, laughed (as we always do with my grandmother), and had some great food – all the ingredients for a perfect afternoon.  In addition, we were able to have breakfast and spend a little time with my other Grandmother, Mima.  Lastly, we met up with a couple uncles, aunts and cousins…I even got to meet sweet baby Aiden, my second cousin.

As you see, we had a wonderful week.  I could go on forever about everything we did, but instead I will stop now and just let the pictures tell the rest of the story!  I am ever so grateful to have such a wonderful family to spend our vacation with.    

Here we go!

Movie + cookie = good flight

Breakfast time!  A Davis favorite

Waiting patiently for day 1 of swimming

Cheeseball ready for his first swim

Loving the water

Happy boy!

Happy girl

Trying to take it all in

Wow, Dad.  This is a big bath tub

First dip in the ocean

Taking a swim with Mommy

Mommy and the babies

Building 'sand castles' with my baby girl

Going to take a dip

beautiful.

On a sea shell hunt

Look what she found (Mommy bought them and put
 them in the sand so she could 'find' them.  shhhh)

I can hear the water, Daddy!

When did she get so big?

Kate and Daddy running from the waves

Monkey taking a bath in the sink

Blue Horizon's Dolphin Show!

Whales!

Too much for one day

Uncle Mike and Papa's bench

The view from the bench

Kate feeding Hayes her applesauce

Papaw and the little guy

What is this?

chunky feet!!

A flash forward to our future - Hayes trying to get Kate's toys

Kate and DeDe hanging out on the beach

DeDe and the kiddos

Waiting for the water to wash her sand away

Hayes watches her every move

:)

Fun!

  
 

Anniversary

On this day, 7 years ago, Kevin and I vowed to spend the rest of our lives together. How can that be? 7 years, really? It is not possible for me to be old enough to have been married for 7 years and to have 2 kids, truly not possible. However, the calendar says it is so, thus we celebrated!

As cliché as it may sound, I really did marry my best friend. Everyone says that, I know, but I really did. The amazing part is that I am still, to this day, madly in love with him. He still makes me laugh like he did the day we met. He comforts me, supports me and most importantly, loves me. Does he drive me crazy sometimes? Absolutely. Do I drive him crazy sometimes? No question about it. Could I live without him? Absolutely not. Kevin and I balance each other in a tremendous way. His strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. Our lives today have dramatically changed since the day we got married. 7 years ago, our lives were full of spontaneous adventures and very little responsibility. We had nothing to focus on except each other and our marriage. During this time, I think we formed a great foundation to build on and to hold us up during our ups and downs as we go through this little thing called life together. Today, 7 years later, we have two beautiful children, careers and a future to focus on. As much as we try to balance it all, our marriage typically takes the back seat most frequently. Somehow, we still find the time to connect during the couple of hours between putting kids to bed and going to sleep at night. In addition, we typically take 1 weekend a year to focus on being husband and wife and not Mommy and Daddy. Thanks to both our wonderful Moms, that is exactly what we did this weekend.

Friday afternoon, we headed off to French Lick Springs Resort. We checked in, had a nice little dinner and hit the casino! We didn't lose much, but played for a couple hours and laughed a lot!

Saturday was our day full of activities. We had a tee time for 7:45am, so the alarm was set for 6:15am (our normal wake up time for work/kids), we were determined to take advantage of the yummy breakfast at the hotel. We popped right out of bed on schedule, hit the breakfast bar at 7am and then headed to the course. It was a cloudy day with a chance of rain, but actually turned out to be quite nice. I hadn't hit a golf ball since I got pregnant with Kate, so I was nervous about how I would do. To my surprise, I had a pretty good round...well, for the first 9 holes. I had to sit out the majority of the back 9 since my arms just weren't up for the challenge! After golf, we ate a little lunch on the course and then headed back to the hotel to prepare for event number 2...a trail ride on horseback! We laughed a lot! My horse, Chief, had a mind of his own and I have to admit that I was a bit scared. All in all, it was a nice, peaceful ride through the forest where we saw A LOT of deer!! After all of this exercise, it was time for a couples massage. Ahhh, how nice it was! We both decided that we need to get these at least once per month. We relaxed a little after the massage, showered and headed out for dinner. Ohh, it was delicious! Steak, wine and dessert...need I say more?!? It was refreshing to have time for such good conversation with each other...we even reminisced about the first time we noticed each other and our first "dates" (about 14 years ago..wow!). We had intentions of going on a carriage ride, but to be honest, we were both exhausted and ready to hit the sack by 10:00pm.

This morning we woke up at 7:30am and couldn't get out the door quick enough to get home to our babies (both of us were SO ready!). A weekend away is always nice, but coming home to our life is even better!

Getting ready to hit the course

Beautiful course, not so beautiful swing :)

Teeing off

Kevin giving Speck on of many 'attaboys'

Chief and I

Getting ready to go to dinner

Why we were so excited to get home!  Snuggle time!!

Life has thrown us many curve balls over the last 7 years and there is no question that we will get many more in the years to come; however, each challenge has made us stronger. At the end of the day, we have nothing but blessings to count. Kevin and I are building a family and enjoying every minute of it. I can't imagine going through this life with anyone else, I am 100% confident that he is my soul mate...God made him with me in mind and me with him in mind. Kevin has been my strength and support for the last 7 years and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the years to come. Cheers to 7 years!