Mason had another great week at school! He earned all his stickers so we could have movie night on Friday. And it's a good thing he did because we finished reading James and the Giant Peach the night before and he was very anxious to see the movie. That was our first try at reading a "big kid" chapter book and he did great. He kept up with story and listened well and I think he really enjoyed the book. We're going to get a new one this week- I'm thinking maybe A Cricket in Times Square.
The twins had their 18 month checkup this week. They're both healthy and growing and doing all the things they should be. Will weighs 22 lbs. and is 31 inches long. Hays is 29 inches and only 17 lbs. He's gaining weight, but not quickly. It doesn't help that he's started throwing half of his food to the dog! The pediatrician wants me to start giving him Carnation Instant Breakfast once or twice a day to help bulk him up. He seems to like it, but the gummy vitamins the doctor recommended are a different story. I gave him the first one and he spit it out. I thought it might have been too big, so I split one in half and gave it to him. This time, he spit it out, then threw it at me. Point taken. I guess he'll catch up eventually, but at this rate our dog is going to weigh 300 lbs and Hays is going to waste away to nothing!
I went to the giant kids consignment sale this week to try to find some clothes and toys for the kids. I didn't find much in the way of clothes- just some pajamas for the twins- but I hit paydirt on toys. I've been wanting a small climbing structure for the twins to put in the playroom, but those things are like $150 and that was just too much for me to pay. Well, I found a great one at the sale for $25!!! And the twins love it. They climb all over it and go down the slide and play peek-a-boo. Totally worth 25 bucks. I found some other fun little toys and some cool tranformers and GI Joes for Mason. So the sale was a success. Let's hope I have as much luck selling stuff at the mothers of multiples consignment sale in a couple of weeks!

My birthday was this weekend and I turned 31. I'm still not quite sure how I got to 31 so quickly, I still feel like I'm about 19! But I had a great weekend full of celebration. We celebrated with Matt's mom on Friday night with delicious take-out and cake! Not to mention lovely flowers and lots of gifts! I got several books that I've been wanting, and Pat took Mason shopping. He picked out sweet little silver and black heart shaped earrings. Pat said he told the saleslady, "I want hearts for my mommy. Just hearts." So sweet! And on Sunday (my actual birthday) I went out to lunch with my mom and sisters and my friend LeAnne. We had the most delicious lunch at a fantastic restaurant, where I got more books- yay!!! Then I went on an adventure with my mom and Elizabeth.
My dad's new hobby is landscape photography, and he's really doing some amazing work. He had taken a picture of an old, abandoned, falling-down antebellum house in a tiny town not far from here. I LOVED the picture- the house is truly my dream house, so my dad gave me the print for my birthday. So after lunch, my mom, sister and I decided to go see the house in person. The house has no front door (well, it has one, but it's sitting in the parlor!) so you can just walk right in. Throwing caution (and fears of ghosts, police, and rotting floorboards) to the wind, that's exactly what we did. This house was magnificent. 12 foot ceilings, huge leaded glass windows, grand staircase, halls bigger than my living room. If someone would fix it up, it would be absolutely breathtaking. Of course, it would cost somewhere in the range of a million dollars to fix it, but it would be soooo worth it. I just sent Matt out to get lottery tickets for tonight's $257 million dollar drawing, and if we win that's the first thing I'm buying!
The only other interesting thing from the past week was open house at Mason's school. His teacher said he's like a different child. Apparently, he was flat crazy those first couple of bad days, but she said since we put our reward system in place at home, he's been awesome! Yay!!!! He has gotten a sticker on his chart every day since then, and I am so proud of him. We've also started having homework time every night. Even though he's not assigned homework we're taking 15-20 minutes each night to work on letter and number recognition, writing, sight words and letter sounds and I'm amazed at how quickly he's learning. He's such a smart kid and he really enjoys all the encouragement and praise he gets.

Well, we made it through the first full week of school and we're halfway through the second, and so far it's pretty good. Mason is having a great time and comes home every day full of smiles. We did have a bit of a problem at the beginning of last week. Last Monday Mason didn't get a sticker on his chart because he got in trouble for yelling. Tuesday there was a note from his teacher on his chart. It said, "Please talk to Mason about saying 'damn it'" I was mortified!! I was also laughing because let's face it, that's just funny. So after emailing his teacher to apologize for his inappropriate use of language, I found out that Mason had been "defiant and uncompliant" with his teachers when they asked him to do something he didn't want to do. Greeeeaaaat. I can't say that this came as a surprise, because we all know that Mason is a stubborn little cuss who wants to do things his way. But nontheless, that kind of behavior is not going to fly at school. So we've done lots of talking about how we act at school, and we created a reward system for good behavior. Every day that he gets a sticker, he gets to choose a game to play with me and Matt before bed. And if he gets stickers all week, we get to have pizza and a movie Friday night. So far it's worked and he's gotten stickers everyday. But let me tell you, I am always nervous when I check his chart! I don't want any more notes!

Last Thursday we had an appointment with an ENT up at Scottish Rite for Will. We were going to see what further testing needed to be done to see if he actually had a fistula. I'm not sure what exactly made the speech therapist think he might, but the doctor said he could tell just from briefly examining him that he did not have a fistula. He said if Will did have one, he would have had pneumonia over and over from aspirating food and he would choke every time he ate, not once in a while. He agreed with me that the choking was likely the result of shoving too much food in his mouth at one time, and not an indicator of an underlying medical problem. He didn't feel that it was necessary to pursue any further testing, so yay!!

Will is also doing so well with learning to walk. He can walk about halfway across the room before he falls, and he is so proud of himself. I think Hays got jealous of all the cheering we've been doing for Will, because in the past few days he's really stepped up his attempts at standing independently and taking a couple of steps. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry to make them work hard! Their physical therapist was very pleased with their progress when she came to see them yesterday.

First Day of School!!

The first day of kindergarten was a success!!!! He was excited and ready to go this morning, and there was not a single tear shed when we left him in his classroom. He did call me back a couple of times for one more hug and kiss, but he didn't come running after us or anything, so I was proud. The scholl had a "boohoo breakfast" for the parents, but I made it through without boohooing! I got all my crying out of the way yesterday, so I was okay today. It was weird being at home with just the twins though. It was way more calm than it normally is, and I was anxious all day about how he was doing at school.

We had a bit of a bus snafu this afternoon. I was outside with the twins waiting to meet the bus. It came down one street and didn't stop, came down another street and didn't stop, then it came down our street, stopped at the 4-way stop and turned out of the neighborhood! I wasn't panicking, but I was nervous. I called the school and told them that the bus had come through our neighborhood, but my child hadn't gotten off. They called his bus, tracked him down and the bus brought him home. Turns out he just didn't know where to get off, so he didn't! But he knows his stop now and so does the bus driver, so we should be good to go tomorrow.

When he got off the bus, he was all smiles and said that school was awesome! He had fun and loves his teachers and made two new friends, a boy named Hudson and a girl named Queen. He's ready to go back tomorrow. I was sooooooo relieved! Let's hope that the year continues to go this well.

Well, we met the teacher and saw the school today, so I guess we're set. Mason was wild and happy while we were there, but I think he got a little overwhelmed as we were leaving because then he starting poking that bottom lip out and saying, "I hate my school! I hate my classroom!" I just told him that I understood that he was nervous. School is new and different and that can seem a little scary at first. But he'll be used to it in no time flat and then he'll love it.
I can't blame him for being nervous- I am too. All day I've had this tight, hard to breathe feeling in my chest whenever I think about tomorrow. And I just gathered up everything to make his lunch, and I wrote him a note on heart shaped paper (It says I (heart) U, since he can't read yet!), and now I'm sitting here fighting back tears as I think about him eating lunch away from home for like the third time in his life!
School is going to be a great thing for both of us. He'll have fun and be in a busy, structured environment so he won't be lying around bored all the time. And I won't have to fuss at him all day for whining and acting up because he's bored. I'm sad that I didn't get to do as many fun things with him as I would have liked to this summer, but it's really hard to do with the twins. And now I just feel sad that I'm sending my little guy off to school, and this is the way it's going to be for many years. I'm mourning the loss of the freedom that we've always had to do whatever we want during the week. There are many days when it's very hard to be a stay at home mom, but on the good days I'm always so thankful to be surrounded by my kids, going places and doing things that other people don't get to do during the week. And I'm sad to lose my little helper! He is truly more help than you can imagine in the grocery store. Who's going to push the babies so I can push the cart? I hate that the era of having all my kids home with me all the time is coming to a close. I will truly miss it. So y'all say a little prayer for my precious boy as he makes his first step out into the world tomorrow.

I can't believe it, but we're gearing up for the first day of school! Mason starts kindergarten on Wednesday, and I'm just sitting here wondering where the past five years have gone. How can my baby boy possibly be going to school? He's excited, but a little nervous. He keeps telling me that he doesn't want to go all day. It's going to be an adjustment for him, but he's going to do great. He needs something to keep him occupied and he's been bored at home. Boredom leads to whining and acting up and getting yelled at by mommy, so school is going to be a good thing for everyone!Tomorrow we're going to meet his teacher and check out the school, so I think he'll feel better once he knows what to expect.
We're still working on home improvement around here. Last weeks' goal was to find a new front door, and with generous assistance from Matt's parents and a good deal at a building supply place, we have one! We got a beautiful, unfinished fir door with a nine-pane window to replace our ugly, beat-up, metal, apartment-looking door. The guy who's going to hang it for us came out today to see exactly what needs to be done, and he'll get it up for us at the end of this week. I can't wait!
In the meantime, Mason and I have embarked on a home design project on a much smaller scale. I have a thing for miniatures- dollhouses, shadowboxes, all of it- I just love it. I started collecting dollhouse furniture before I ever had kids so I could make a killer dollhouse for the daughter I was sure I would have. With no daughter in sight, my collection has been languishing in a box for years. I finally decided that I could do something cool with it even if I didn't have a little girl, so we're making a room box with a Christmas scene in it. Mason and I bought some cool things at Hobby Lobby and Matt helped me build a shadow box. So far we've stained the floors and baseboards and painted the walls and ceilings. Matt wired it up so I could plug in the two tiny, working lamps. Mason and I made ornaments for the tiny tree out of beads. I'm cross stitching a rug and throw pillows, and as soon as our working miniature tree lights arrive in the mail, we'll start putting it all together. And then we'll have this amazing little living room all decorated for Christmas that we can enjoy at the holidays for years to come. And Mason has had such a good time helping me pick everything out. I'll definitely post pictures of the finished product!