First day of school a success!

My parents went with me to pick Everett up from school this afternoon. When we arrived we saw E through the window, happily playing with a big ball. In fact, all of the children seemed extremely happy. He smiled when he saw us and Ms. Debbie brought him to the door. She said that he barely touched his lunch and only napped for about 45 minutes. Hopefully eating and napping will improve once he gets comfortable with his new surroundings. She said other than that, he did great and was happy most of the day. Ms. Kirsten said he only cried for a few minutes after I left (phew) and that he LOVED music class. No surprise there! I think it will work out really nicely that music class starts right after he gets there each day. It will be a nice way for him to start his day!

So we both survived Everett’s first day of school. So far, I’ve been very impressed with the school and the teachers. I do think this is going to be really good for him.
(Above is a picture of him with Ms. Debbie.)

Everett's first day of school

Here's Everett right before leaving for his first day of school.

I just returned from dropping Everett off for his first day of school. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I wasn't sure if I'd be taking him today or not. However, he woke up this morning and seemed to be feeling really good. He's been on allergy medicine this week, but this morning he seemed much better - no runny nose, pink eyes, etc. - so I decided not to give him his medicine. I hope that wasn't a mistake!

When we got to his class, he seemed pretty happy … until I handed him over to Miss Debbie. He immediately started bawling! In my angst, and my attempt to not prolong the separation / leaving process, I promptly told Debbie goodbye and she walked away with E while I said a couple things to Kirsten, the assistant teacher. I then stood outside the door and heard him continue to cry. I had to fight back tears … I had no idea that would be so hard on me! I could hear them consoling him and they were doing a really good job and he started to quiet down, so I left. By the time I reached my car I realized … “I never told my sweet baby goodbye ... or gave him a kiss ... or told him I’d be back for him later”. I felt like the worst Mommy in the world! Again, I was fighting back tears. I wanted to turn around and go back to love on my little boy. :(

I’m sure this will get easier … it has to! And I’m sure it won’t be long before Everett is running into his classroom without looking back to say goodbye … and then I’ll be sad about that!

2 o'clock won't get here soon enough! I can't wait to see my little boy and hear how his day went. Hopefully Mommy's first day will be productive and she won't spend too much of it worrying! Better get some work done while I can ....

Baby Karly is home

Jenny & Karly were released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. We stopped by for a quick visit last night.

Karly continues to be eating very well and is incredibly alert for being only 3 days old!

Tom has taken some time off from work to help at home as they all adjust to their new addition.

More Karly Pics

It hasn't even been 24 hours and we have all fallen completely in love with this little angel!

Look at all that hair she was born with ... and those adorable rosey cheeks and ... well I could go on and on ... she is just perfect!

Jenny & Tom ... Ya done good! 

Young Cousins

We tried to get some pictures of the young cousins at the hospital ... "hold still Everett, they want to take our picture!"

Get used to it, Karly ... those boys can be quite rambunctious!

Welcome Baby Karly!

Karly Morgan Fisch was born at 11:38 today!
She weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and was 19 inches long.
She has quite a bit of hair already and was bright-eyed, alert and hungry when she arrived!
What a beautiful new niece we have! :)
Big brother Brayden will meet his new sister this afternoon and I'm sure will be so proud.
Mom & Baby are doing great and are expected to return home this Sunday.
More pictures to follow ....

Aunt Melissa's visit

Melissa came over for a visit last night.
She even made it over early enough to help feed Everett. :)

Everett made a lot of progress with his walking yesterday. I saw him walking from one chair or table to another many times. If he has to travel more than a few feet, he still opts to crawl ... but if he's just trying to make it a few steps, he ususally just goes for it now! 

Lunch with Daddy

Today, Everett and I drove out to Little Elm to have lunch with Daddy. We had never seen where he works before. It was fun to meet new people and get to have lunch with Daddy on a week day. He was very happy to see us! We'll have to do that again soon. Here are some pictures of E playing after we got home.

Go long, Mom!
Cheese! Take my picture, Mom!
King of Drool!
I've gotten so good at standing on my own!

Story Time

Everett LOVES story time with Daddy. This is his favorite book. Dad has been reading it to him since just days after he was born.

Weekend with Grandparents

We went to visit Grandmom and Grandad Rankin this weekend. Everett has changed so much since they saw him last month.

Grandad tied a balloon to Everett's toe. Oh what fun he had with that! He enjoyed watching Daddy fish. Won't be long before he'll be catching his own!
Enjoying the view & chillin' with Grandad.

First ride in Daddy's boat.

Next time, maybe we'll even leave the dock!Whew it's hot, Grandma! Just look at the temperature today!

Ouch! 120 degrees! Let's go back inside!

Everett Learns to Walk

Everett showed his grandparents how he's learning to walk this weekend. Here's a few clips of his progress.

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Everett goes to school

After much thought and consideration, (and some anguish on my part) we decided to enroll Everett in a 2 day a week "Mother's Day Out" program at the church just up the street. He's such a happy baby and sure has enjoyed his play dates with Adam. I keep reading that he's at an age where he would benefit from socializing with other children ... so I think this will be a good experience for him.

Elisa recently enrolled Adam in the same program, only on different days and the older class. She grew up attending this church and seemed impressed with the early childhood program. After her recommendation and a conversation with the program director, I felt this would be a good place for E as well.

We went this morning for a tour of the facilities. The infant room was nice & big and appeared extremely clean and organized. The class allows for no more than 6 infants (ages 6 - 11 months) and has 2 teachers in the class at all times. Everett will most likely be one of the oldest kids in the class since the birthday cutoff is Sept 1st and he was born on Sept 11th.

He will attend on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 - 2pm. His first class is August 23rd. I will attend a parent orientation on the Thursday prior. Everett will get acquainted with his teacher and classroom while I'm in the orientation.

It's hard to believe how fast he's growing up. Just last night David said "When did he change from a baby to a little boy?" It seems like it just happened all of a sudden! He's still working on his walking skills, usually taking 3 or 4 steps before opting to crawl. He can stand for very long periods unassisted and even dance with Elmo without holding on to anything!

Here are some pictures taken this morning after a visit to his new school.

Having a Ball

On Wednesday, Grandpa (or BaBa, as Brayden likes to call him) blew up Everett's ball pit for him to play in. He had ... well, he had a ball! Here's some pics of him hanging out with GiGi and Grandpa and playing in his ball pit.

Have to brag on my cutie-pie

Last night, David, Everett and I went to Rockfish for dinner. There was a table of women sitting in Everett's line of vision. Throughout most of the meal, he was looking and smiling at them. He's quite a little flirt! When the group left, one lady stopped by our table to compliment what a sweet, well-behaved little boy we have! Yes we do! :)

Mmmmmm ... Banana Pudding!

I was making some banana pudding last night and David gave Everett the whisk when I was done with it. We figured out quickly that he LOVES banana pudding! After he was done with the whisk, we put a spoonful of pudding on E's tray so he could eat it with his fingers .... and did he ever! But why waste time with fingers when you can get it straight from tray to mouth? I hope this isn't the beginning of atrocious table manners!
(click on the picture to see it enlarged)

Bath Time

Needless to say ... after all that banana pudding, Everett needed a bath!