Noah's First Day of School

Noah started Kindergarten on August 30th and Dan was able to take the day off to be part of the fun. Noah woke up that morning to his own alarm without any hesitation and full of excitement. He took a shower and got himself dressed without any problem an his breakfast of choice was a bagel with cream cheese and ham.

Pictures in front of the house before we headed off to school...
In front of Cottonwood Elementary....
Noah with his best friend Erik. After a lot of prayers they ended up in the same class.
Noah making his teacher sweat it out. They had Kindergarten Camp the Friday before, so he expected her to know his name and wasn't too eager to help her figure it out.
Noah, Eric, Felicity, and Olivia. Four out of five from his primary class that are in morning kindergarten, unfortunately Olivia got put in the other class. It was fun to watch them all experience this milestone together.
Off to the playground. Felicity, Eric, and Noah headed for the slide. Olivia opted for the swings.
While Noah was at school, Daddy, Mommy, and Zoe headed to Walmart to get a few more things marked off the list of needed items before Baby Jack arrives. I think Zoe enjoyed the undivided attention from both of her parents, however I know she really missed her brother.

Here is Noah coming out of the gate after successfully completing his first day of school.
When we asked him what he learned, he simply replied "I don't know." However, during the rest of the day he would randomly tell us bits and pieces of information from his day. He learned the rules, sign language for toilet, and a few songs. He also informed me he now knew his address, something that I have been working on with him for months without success, some how he now knows it. We then went out to lunch as a family to Round Table Pizza. After lunch the girls enjoyed a nap and the boys worked out in the yard.

Zoe insisted on getting her picture taken too. I'm not sure why she picked the fire hydrant.The following day he informed me he learned to read, and since then he has been to music class, and the library. He gets up happy every morning all on his own and is loving every minute of school, while I miss my relaxing mornings. I can't believe I have a school age child and no, I didn't cry on his first day. He was way too excited and more than ready to go. However, I do miss having him around.

Birthday, Baby, & Back to School Celebration

There was a lot to celebrate these last few weeks of August and my friend Jalyssa decided to lump them all together and throw this great party. First it was my Birthday, then my friend Lindsey and I were both having babies (hers didn't wait for the party - we missed you), and the kids were going back to school. She invited a bunch of the ladies and kids over for an afternoon of food, fun, and water. One last fling before daily schedules and routines take over our lives. I must say it was probably the best birthday I have had as an adult. I decided to give myself the day off of pricking my finger and enjoyed a few bites of watermelon, jello, and of course birthday cake.

The majority of the kids enjoyed the homemade water park in the backyard.
A few decided to stay out of the sun....
Too cute. I can't believe Bridgette can fold herself in half.

The coolest gift ever. The kids loved this diaper cake so much. It was hard to keep their hands off of it.

That evening we enjoyed a thin crust pizza from Papa Murphy's. The kids got me very practical presents for when Jack comes and then we all shared a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. All in all in was a good day. One more thing checked off of the list of events before Baby Jack's arrival.

Baby Jack and the Progressive Baby Shower

Time for another baby update. I had another growth scan on August 17th, with one month to go until delivery day. Jack is on track to be of average size which translates into weighing around 7lbs. 4oz. To put it in perspective Noah was 7lbs. 6oz. and Zoe was 7lbs. 1oz. Very good news - my strict diet has, or should I say will pay off. Everything looked great, the Doctor's only comment that his head was measuring a little ahead of schedule, or shall I say big. This wasn't a shock since both Noah and Zoe have heads on the larger side.

We are still scheduled to deliver on September 17th. The kids are both super excited, especially Noah. I sure hope his enthusiasm lasts once Jack actually gets here.

34 weeks 4 days...He already has his sister's pout down....
August 17th also kicked off twice weekly Non Stress Tests (NSTs). On this particular day I had two appointments. The growth scan at the Fetal Imaging Center and my first NST at Doctor DeKay's office. I was going to have a few hours to waste in between appointments, but Dan's coworkers were kind enough to throw me a Baby Shower luncheon. So I had a nice and relaxing afternoon, good company, good food, and fun gifts. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of the event. I greatly appreciate their thoughtfulness and excitement on our behalf.

New Friends

At the beginning of the summer we had a new family move in to the ward which was one of the most exciting things to happen in awhile. This meant that Noah finally had a boy in his primary class and the opportunity to make a friend his own age that would also be starting Kindergarten in the Fall. As a bonus, they also have a little girl Zoe's age. We've had a lot of fun getting to know the Christensen family and Noah and Erik became instant best friends. I don't think you could find two boys who are anymore alike than these two, even down to them both being very rule oriented. It has been a lot of fun watching them interact with one another. A few weeks ago we were invited over for a play date, here are a few of the highlights.

Kysha, Zoe, and Jenna enjoying lunch.
All the kids enjoying the water in the backyard. They played for 3+ hours while us Moms enjoyed visiting. (The McDonald, Steffens, and Christensen kids)
Can't wait to do it again. Too bad school has to get in the way of lazy summer days.

How does your garden grow?

As you can see our plants have grown extremely tall, unfortunately we haven't had as many vegetables from them as we would like. Our tomato plants finally have fruit on them, I just hope they have enough time to ripen. This has also been the year of squash bugs, they have managed to destroy all of our zucchini and a few of our pumpkins. What has grown good this year is our basil, peas, beets, patty pan squash, spaghetti squash, eggplant, and Noah's carrots. Oh I can't forget the jalapenos, which we have had a bumper crop of, too bad they are way too hot to eat. We are hoping to be able to harvest a few of our regular pumpkins as well as our "jack be little" pumpkins.

Pumpkin....Peppers...Green Zebra Tomatoes...
A nightly harvest...

Hot August Nights 2010

We all enjoyed having Daddy home the first week of August to get a few projects done around the house and of course to attend our annual tradition of Hot August Nights. There didn't seem to be as many cars or people in town this year, but we managed to have fun any way.

Thursday night was the Grand Sierra Resort. We decided to take Uncle Cameron to dinner at the GSR, you can't beat prime rib, crab legs, and peel and eat shrimp for $7.77. After dinner we roamed the parking lots. Here are a few pictures with Big Foot.
Friday night Dan, Uncle Cameron, and the kids went to the drag races here in Fernley. I enjoyed a nice quiet evening at home all alone. After all the walking the night before and knowing more walking was coming on Saturday, I decided to sit it out.
Saturday we met up with Grandma Sandi and Papa Tim in Reno and walked around the Peppermill and the Atlantis. Then it was time for lunch and rest before heading to Victorian Square in Sparks to enjoy the Saturday Night Cruise. My favorite activity. We set up our area earlier in the day and had front row seats. We didn't even mind the few summer showers that occurred right before the main event. Here is a family picture to remember this year by. I thought I was a pretty good sport for being 33 weeks pregnant.
The kids and Uncle Cameron.
After the cruise, we headed to Baldinis for 2-for-1 Prime Rib for $8.99. One thing we learned this year is that Zoe is absolutely terrified of Porta-Potties. She refused to use the "stinky potties" luckily the people at the Great Basin Brewery were kind and understanding. Can't wait until next year.