1st Day of Pre-K

A week after the older boys started school, it was Sybella's turn. It's her third year of preschool and now she is in a Pre-Kindergarten Class. Honestly, I wondered how she would adjust to the extra hours of school this year and interestingly enough, it wasn't her but little brother who struggled to adjust. After having all the kids at home for the summer, Cooper didn't like having none of his buddies around. He's fine now but clearly, I am not as much fun as I thought I was.   :o)   

First Slumber Party

The week before school started Sybella finally had the opportunity to have her very first slumber party. It was particularly important for Sybella to have her friend Kylee over for one last extended play date before Kylee started kindergarten. The girls have been best friends for as long as they can remember (literally)! They have been in church, play groups, Bible Studies, Small Groups, and even 2 years of preschool together, not to mention numerous shopping trips, play dates, and lunches. But, with birthdays 3 months apart, Kylee meets the cutoff for starting school this year and Sybella didn't. Fortunately, the pain  sadness, drama, and absolute realization of this sunk in for Sybella in the spring so, now it's just about harnessing the last moments of summer. 

The girls dressed in their PJs from the American Girl Store trip in June and proceeded to giggle, play, giggle, play, giggle, play and not sleep very much. They had a blast! 

Who could've known then that Sybella would have Kylee's Ollie the Otter over for the night and just a a month later our family would get a rescue dog named Ollie. 

What beautiful friends! They don't get to see each other as often now with school in full swing, but they are still managing to find some quality time to hang out.  :)

The Big Doll House

I have a friend who calls The American Girl Store the Big Doll House...and that it is! I had a chance to visit the store when David and I were in New York last year. In June, a brand new store opened in Tyson's Corner. I knew that the first time I took Sybella I wanted her to bring her Bitty Baby (Sophie) and have lunch at the cafe. 

So, the week it opened, we had a girls' day. Sybella and I, along with my mom went for lunch and our friends Shauna and Kylee joined us. We made reservations for opening week over 2 months in advance--- who could've known this was the toughest reservation in DC to get? 

The girls LOVED it and now Sybella is asking for both her first of the American Girl Dolls and wants to have her birthday party there....we'll have to see about that. 

Getting ready to eat. 

The girls loved the high chairs for their babies.

Taking home their wares

Father-Daughter Dance

On June 18th, David got a special Father's Day gift. He and Sybella attended a Father-Daughter Dance. It was a special date night. There was dancing, games, activities, and lots of fun had by them both!

Daddy even picked out and bought Sybella a special new dress for the event.

How adorable!

4th Birthday

Really, It's not that I don't want and need to post about Sybella's 4th birthday but oh my goodness, I just realized that I have been so busy, I haven't posted a thing in December!
So here goes:

On Dec 1st Sybella turned 4 years old. I can't believe it's been 4 years since our only girl, a princess, and a perceived 1st born (both the boys were in school by the time she came along) came into our lives. Amazing.   [Note: I intended to put a photo here from when she was born and I just realized that I haven't transferred them from my other computer...oops]

This year Sybella had a birthday week of fun and adventure.
On her birthday, her preschool went on a field trip to a local Tiny Tots Concert.
Then, after dinner we opened her gifts from our family-- it was a lady bug year as requested by the birthday girl.

On Dec 2nd, I braved Chuck-E-Cheese to host a party with all of Sybella's friends from preschool. She had never been to CEC before but clearly marketing works because she spent months telling us that she wanted to have her party there. (she must have seen a commercial?)

On Dec 3rd, we took fancy cookies to class to celebrate at school. They gave her a crown and she was the center of attention for the day.

Sybella had an awesome birthday week- hope she's not expecting that kind of fan fare every year! :0)

September Catch-Up

Here are some highlights from September:

Note: Since I was adding several pics, they are smaller than usual but if you click on any picture, you can view a full-size version.

Wedding Shower:

We started off the month of September by hosting a Wedding Shower for Phillip (David's Brother) and his fiancee, Christy. It was a fun evening of food with friends from VA, MD, DC, & NJ. It was a great opportunity for many of their friends to meet and get to know each other a bit before the wedding. We also had the chance to bless them with gifts and prayers as they entered the last month of preparation before their wedding day.

4yo Preschool- 1st Day of School:

Sept 13th was Sybella's 1st day of school (sorry no pictures of the boys...I don't know how I missed that!). She is in a 3-day a week program from 9am-Noon this year. She loves her preschool and we are so blessed that her BFF, Kylee, is in class with her again this year!

Sept 27th Haircut:

I have to admit, I thought that Sybella was past this stage...but, she cut her hair. I was shocked. She loves to use the scissors, she cuts paper almost daily, I just didn't think I would ever have to write another blog about Sybella taking scissors to her hair. I think she had just turned 2yo and I was pregnant with Cooper the first time she did this. This time it was particularly painful to me for several reasons:

1. I was standing RIGHT next to her. Seriously, I was about 12 inches away.

2. I was looking right at her and I couldn't react fast enough.

3. When she was 2, she didn't really know better, now she should.

4. When she was 2, she did very little damage. You couldn't even tell that she had cut it and I didn't do anything to 'fix' it.

5. This time, she had a bob on one side and long hair on the other side--- required a MAJOR hairstyle change. We cut her hair into a bob at the point where she had used the scissors. She ended up losing about 6-8 inches of length.

6. Sybella made her flowergirl debut, 12 days after her haircut, on Oct 9, in her Uncle Phillip & Aunt Christy's wedding (I had envisioned the dress with lots of long curls).

Ok, I wasn't thrilled to have Sybella switching to short hair (especially right before her flowergirl debut) but, I have to admit that this cut is cute!

Rock Star

This morning, Sybella came half way down the stairs and called to me. She posed on the stairs in her "Rock Star" Glory---how adorable. My girl, famous---- at least with us.

A Hair Cut

Sybella found some scissors today while I was feeding the baby (on the couch- just 15 feet away) and proceeded to RAPIDLY cut her hair. Seriously, she was speed cutting; by the time I got to her and stopped the fiasco, this is what I collected on the floor!!

I didn't take a picture of Sybella after the haircut but here is a shot I took 2 days later (on her birthday) and amazingly, Sybella has so much hair that you can't even tell that she cut it. Gotta love it.

Halloween Parade

Today at preschool, the kids had a Halloween Parade for the parents. It was adorable.

Sybella dressed up as 'Cindabrella' (Cinderella for those who don't speak 3-yr-old) and Cooper was her Coach (but it was past midnight, so he had turned into a pumpkin). There were many other characters in the parade: a cute Nebraska cheerleader, fire fighters, superheroes, a post man, Yoda, fairies, and various animals.

**Don't forget, if you click on the mosaic or any other picture in our blog, it will enlarge for better viewing.

O-H-I-O

Sybella is getting ready for Homecoming this weekend. She is quite the cheerleader: O-H-I-O!

Go Buckeyes, Beat the Golden Gophers (Minnesota)!

Wordless Wednesday (10/21)

Wordless Wednesday (10/14)

Waking Cooper Up

Sybella loves her little brother, loves him so much in fact, that she'll wake him up to spend time with him. LOL---can't ever take your eyes off a toddler!

Daddy's Chair

David has a favorite chair in our family room. It's his favorite place to work, watch TV, and just hang out. It's a Love Sac. There are several Love Sac chairs to choose from; ours is the "Movie Sac." A Love Sac is basically a very nice, suede, oversized, foam, "bean-bag-like" chair. Needless to say, a man who can fall asleep anywhere can definitely fall asleep here. What I found out this week is that: Sybella can fall asleep here too....

Thumbs!

Sybella loves her baby brother and will support him in ANYTHING....even if that means taking up thumb sucking.

Now, many of you know that Colin sucked his fingers when he was little and I determined that I would NEVER have a finger baby again. I practically shoved the pacifier into Connor, Sybella, and Cooper. My rationale: you can throw away pacifiers when they should be gone and I can't cut off fingers. Colin sucked his fingers at night for a lonnnggggg time and I could just hear the orthodontic bills "cha-chinging" away!

What may you ask did I do then when Cooper, my fourth and final baby decided last week (after lots of pacifier training I might add) to start toying with the idea of sucking his thumb???

Well, I'll tell you!

First, I took a picture quick, I mean it's absolutely adorable!

Next, I reminded myself that there is NO room for the word "NEVER" in parenting; I should have known better.

And Last, I decided that since: everyone in our family has had braces and both Colin and Connor have recently gotten head gear in preparation for braces (one was a finger baby and the other a pacifier baby), the odds were against us no matter what Cooper does.

So, I am offering the pacifier, which he sometimes takes, but smiling fondly on the occasions that he chooses his thumb. We'll see what happens.

::Lyle the Crocodile::

Last week, we went to see "Lyle the Crocodile," a children's play based on the book of the same name.

The play was at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD. It is a great theater--there isn't a bad seat in the house and it is designed for kids and families in mind.

Sybella, Cooper, and I planned to attend with Shauna and Kylee and then had the awesome opportunity to invite Hannah, my niece, for a "Cousin Date!" What fun we had together and enjoyed the play!!

Motivation

After just having a baby, I am working very hard to get in shape. One of the things I am doing is sit-ups. While we were on vacation, Connor had volunteered one day to hold my feet, Sybella wanted to get in on the action, so she sat on my feet. When I would come "up" for my sit-up, Sybella would give me a kiss. It was cute and is a great motivator to have your 2-yr old daughter cheering you on, "Go Mommy, Go----Hey, Mommy kissed me!!"

Wordless Wednesday

My best friend Shauna posts blogs occasionally called "Wordless Wednesday;" they are picture posts that need no explanation. I am going to copy her----it's the HIGHEST Compliment! So, although this is not a true "Wordless Wednesday," there will be many in the future and I wanted to make sure that Shauna got the credit!

Date Night-

Every once in a while David takes Sybella on a “Date Night.” This is usually an afternoon or evening where she gets a little dressed up and goes out with Daddy for a milkshake. Their destination of choice is Baskin Robbins. It only takes about 30 minutes but it is the highlight of her week!
Sybella loves milkshakes, almost as much as she loves her daddy. This is an awesome tradition that allows them to spend some 1-on-1 time together on a regular basis and develop relationship even in toddler-hood.
Here is a picture of tonight's "Date Night."

Out for Another Walk

This is a quick shot of the kids during our 4-mile walk yesterday. Why does Sybella look like that you ask? Because she has been a "Camera Ham" lately. She either poses like this OR she won't look at the camera at all, wants to point at the camera, covers her eyes, or plays coy. It cracks me up!