Elliot's 1st Birthday...

 

Saturday afternoon we got to celebrate little Elliot's 1st birthday with him and his family...it was such a sweet little party, and we were thrilled to celebrate with him!

 

Please ignore Cooper's pink floaties...the kids swam and Cooper cannot go near a pool without floaties because he has NO fear.  His "boy" floaties got left at Nanna's, but I'm getting them back tomorrow.  Poor kid has been swimming in pink ones with ruffles the last couple weeks.  However, pink and ruffles don't seem to bother him!

 

Happy Birthday Elliot...we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!

 

Anna Lauren's 1st Pep Rally...

This morning Anna Lauren got to experience her first of I'm sure many pep rallies.  And since it was at 7:40 AM, I got to go with her and just went to work a little late.  I'm so glad I did...it was so fun!  One of those days you say...now...being a Mommy and doing this stuff is great fun!

 

And when I asked Anna Lauren her favorite part of the pep rally she said...EVERYTHING!

 

Here she is walking outside with her class for the pep rally...the hand in the mouth is her "nervous" habit.  It didn't last long...she warmed up fast.

Just a cheering...she is in the middle (tallest girl and big bow).  Sun was in their eyes so most of their eyes are squinting in the pictures.

The football players...

She thought this was super cool...a big cheerleader right beside her!

Miss Megan is one of her tumble / cheer coaches so it was great fun to watch her this morning!

Football players dancing with the cheerleaders...by the end, it was football players, cheerleaders, and lots of kids.  Anna Lauren of course loved dancing with them!

Anna Lauren and Miss Megan...

Jack, Anna Lauren, and Luke...so fun watching her make new friends!

Cougar Pride...

All excited because the cheerleaders were coming to her school to sell spirit ribbons.  So funny...one of the few things that hasn't changed since I was in school.

You wouldn't be a cheerleader without a bow as big as your head!

She actually chose to to buy a cougar tatoo instead of a spirit ribbon.  She came home with a cougar paw print on each arm.  She thought it was great fun...next Friday is a pep rally, which she will love!

Homework...

On Tuesday, Anna Lauren's teacher sent several homework pages home and said to return them on Friday.  We attempted to work on them Tuesday night, but she was tired and asked to go to bed.  Yesterday she did a good bit of it at after school.  Today she didn't remind her after school teacher she had homework so we attempted to do it as soon as we got home.  Let's just say she was NOT interested...I heard it all...this is boring, my hand hurts, I shouldn't have to do homework, on and on and on. 

I finally put Matt in charge because I could NOT understand...if a teacher gave me anything to do, I would have been the one to turn it in on Wednesday even though it was not due until Friday.  Matt on the other hand was just laughing...he said he made all those same excuses. 

At one point I thought she was actually doing her homework...oh no...she was found decorating a plate, which she then hung on the fridge.  Anything to avoid the homework...

We ended the night by her getting in trouble and being sent to her room...Matt went upstairs to get her so she could finish her homework...she was sound asleep.  He thought she was faking but he said, no really...she was snoring.  Guess we'll finish that one last thing tomorrow morning...so not my way of doing things. 

This may be a "fun" year of having "fun"...but...not a fun year of homework!  Let's hope it gets better because I'm confident the homework will continue.

And this is what we have rather than completed homework!

Finally...A Backbend Kickover!

Anna Lauren started tumble and cheer the first of May.  Since then, she has worked very, very hard at tumble and at home to get her backbend kickover.  Two weeks ago Matt was at the gym with her and sent the text to me..."she did it, she did it".  She does not get it every time but she is getting better and better and can probably get at least 2 out of 5.

We are super proud of her hard work and especially that we have found something she really loves.  And we couldn't be more pleased with her coach, Jake, as he is FABULOUS!  In the video he is watching her from the inclined mat beside her.

Matt got this video Tuesday night...and you have to love my sweet co-worker who was sitting beside him calling Anna Lauren a superstar!

Kindergarten Tidbits...

We made it through Anna Lauren's first week of kindergarten, and let's just say it could not have been any better!  She has smiled all week and has seemed to love every minute of being in kindergarten.  Hopefully the smiles and excitement will continue...if so, we have one fun school year in store for us!

And thanks to Nanna for keeping Cooper this week...when she offered to keep him I had no clue how helpful it would be.  It has been nice to focus on Anna Lauren and give her the attention she needed this week, and honestly, I think she has enjoyed some one on one time.  And not to mention it has given me some extra time to fill out paper work, buy additional last minute supplies, etc.  Now I think we are somewhat adjusted and are anxious to get our little man back at home with us tomorrow. 

Kindergarten Day 2...Matt and I were cleaning the kitchen after dinner and Anna Lauren got real quite.  We went to look for her and found her all snuggled in our bed at 6:30 PM...she slept until I woke her up at 6:15 the next morning. 

Kindergarten Day 3...on the way to school on day 2, she got nervous and decided she wanted me to walk her into school.  However, after being well rested she woke up Thursday morning and said she was a big girl and she was walking in by herself...and...she did!  I cried happy tears...I was so proud of her for being so big and brave!  I did get in trouble when I picked her up...she was not happy that I was crying when she got out of the car...she saw no need in all that. 

Kindergarten Day 4...thanks to my sweet friend for sharing the idea and designing the tags, we had "Friday Happies" for Anna Lauren's teachers.  We thought they needed a treat for making it through the first week.  And Anna Lauren was so excited to take them a happy...that was great fun for her!

This afternoon I asked if kindergarten got a thumbs up or a thumbs down...I quickly got a thumbs up...makes this mommy smile!

Anna Lauren's 1st Day of Kindergarten...

In February, we registered for kindergarten...Anna Lauren was ready to start then.  Therefore, she has anxiously awaited this day to finally get here and this morning was the morning.

I tapped her once and said, "Anna Lauren, it's big girl school day."  She immediately jumped out of the bed and was ready to go within minutes.  Matt and I were trying to waste time so we wouldn't be quite so early and she was like, "can we please go" so off we went.

We arrived at the school at 6:55...the doors didn't open until 7:00 so we waited outside with all the other anxious kids and parents until it was time to go in.  She was the first one in her class, which was a good thing...she got a little undivided attention before the chaos because this was her first time to meet the teacher.  She got everything put up and found her way to her seat.  Her teacher gave her some colors and paper, and we gave our hugs and walked away.  She was all smiles...not shy, no tears, just excitement.  As I walked the long hall to the car, I fought back some tears for who knows why...there was no reason to cry...she was so happy!

When we picked her up this afternoon, she was all smiles and said she had a good day.  I asked her what her favorite part of the day was...her response...EVERYTHING!  She then said...I'm so tired.  They didn't even give me a nap.  Poor thing...this no nap or short nap is going to be an adjustment...up until Friday she was taking a 2 hour nap everyday at school.  However, we'll all get adjusted and it will be just fine.

It was much easier than I ever expected...tomorrow she says she wants to go through the car rider line and walk in by herself.  I'm encouraging her to be brave...as hard as it may be for me, she can do it if that is what she wants to do!

So for now, we have one big girl who is officially in kindergarten and is loving every minute of the excitement!

Showing off her new backpack, which has a matching lunchbox...that is a HUGE deal.  She was so excited to pack her lunch today!

Outside the school waiting to go in for the first day of school...

Due to the sun, this picture isn't very good...BUT...she has Ms. Wells and is a busy bee...

 Ms. Currie (assistant), Anna Lauren, and Ms. Wells (teacher)

All ready for her big day!

First day of school, no nap, an hour of tumble, an hour of cheer, and she is DONE at 8:30 PM.  At 8:00 she said she wasn't ready to go to her bed so we agreed to let her lay in our bed for a few minutes.  A few minutes later we realized she was GONE.  One tired little girl!

Anna Lauren's Last Day of Summer...

I took a vacation day yesterday so I could enjoy Anna Lauren's last day of summer with her...let's just say we had a fun-filled special day!

We started the day by going in her pajamas to get a pig in a blanket and grape drink from the donut shop...her new favorite for breakfast!

My little diva...heading to get her "back to school" manicure and pedicure...

She had been waiting a long time to do this...and...I think it was worth the wait as she was all smiles the entire time.

Can we say princess?  Having her toes done while her nails dry...

She was so proud of the "design"...

Showing off her nails...

 Enjoying some ice cream for dessert...she choose Hamil's...yum yum!

This picture pretty much sums up her day...she was WILD all day...think just a combination of nerves / excitement for her first day of school.

Daddy worked, but we went and got him for lunch.

Just being silly not wanting to take a picture with Mommy.  There was a "special treat" at lunch...Anna Lauren got to see Sarah Beth James, former Miss Mississippi.  Sarah Beth and her dad were eating lunch.  What better than a Sarah Beth hug before going to school!

Then we went and got her a Northwest Rankin cheerleader to wear this football season...she is going to be a NWR cheerleader for Halloween too....that was the deal!

We went and got Cooper from school early...

And we ended the day with her favorite girls...ice cream treat with Rileigh and Emmy!