Hailey's 1st day of Kindergarten

Wow! Where have the last 5.5 years gone? My baby girl started kindergarten today. And, yes, I cried. I am sappy and sentimental. All I have thought about today is when Hailey was a baby. Bringing her home from the hospital at 4 lb 7 oz. Staying up rocking her for hours on end as she was refluxing and colicky. Then singing and playing with her all day every day. Watching her become such a wonderful big brother to Harris. Watching her grow into the beautiful little girl she has become. She is an amazing little girl, with such a big heart. She is smart, sweet and gorgeous! She is truly our princess.
But today, she started kindergarten. She was ready, excited actually! She wanted me to just drop her off in the carpool line. No way! And miss my baby's first day? And miss all the wonderful photo opportunities? Again, I say, no way! So, I walked her in taking several pictures along the way. Of course, I took several more in the classroom. Then, when I realized that I could no longer hold back the tears, I gave her one last kiss and left. I did make it out the door before the first tear fell, but just barely!
I was very excited to pick her up from school and hear how her day went. She had a great day. It was only a half day for the first day, but she loved it. She loves her teacher. She can't wait to go back tomorrow. She amazes me!
I love you, Hailey, my kindergarten queen!
Hailey getting ready for bed & 1st day of kindergarten!
All ready for school!
1st day of school front yard pic.
Walking through Mary's Garden.
Hailey with her new teacher!
Putting her backpack away.
Me & my baby!
Sitting at her new desk!
Picking Hailey up from school.
Hailey & friends.
I'm so happy that she had such a great day!
We met Daddy for '1st day of school' lunch!
My girl & I!

Day before school starts

No!!!! Summer can't be over!!
I have been trying to soak up lots of Hailey time the last couple of days. Yesterday, I wanted to soak up Hailey time and some summer time! After the kids and I got part of the house cleaned up, we decided to go to the swim park for a couple of hours. We all had fun and got some sun. Hopefully we can still swim some on the weekends! I can't believe summer is basically over for Hailey!

Hula Hoop

Hailey has been begging us for a hula hoop for a long while now. We finally decided a week ago to get her one. When we got home, Hailey immediately started trying it. She couldn't do at first (can anyone hula hoop on their first try?). But after a couple of days, she was able to keep the hoop up. She was so proud of herself and asked us to video her. She hula hoops all the time now! This morning, after one week with the hoop, she asked me to come watch her. I couldn't believe the change! She is so much smoother and can keep it up longer. Now she is even learning to hula hoop in the opposite direction! So tonight, before bed, she asked that we video her again. Of course we said yes! We are very proud of all of her practice and becoming so good at the hoop! Yea, Hailey! And isn't this great exercise?

Meet the Teacher

Monday night we had meet the teacher at Hailey's school. We were very excited to see what teacher Hailey is going to have this year. We were even more excited to see that it was the teacher we wanted her to get! Yay! I was about to do cartwheels in the classroom when I found out that the little girl that I thought was a bad influence on Hailey last year, is not in her class this year! Yay, again! This may just be a good year after all!

Hailey & the mascot!

Lost Teeth!

Last night, William and I decided that Hailey's two front top teeth really needed to come out. They were so loose that when she pushed them back with her tongue, you could see holes between the teeth and gums. William was worried that she could get food caught in there and start hurting her. We told here that if she just pulled the teeth, or let William pull them, we would go to Purple Cow for dinner then to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream cupcakes. It almost didn't work. She had herself so worked up and nervous.

The pep talk / Hailey trying to pull her own tooth.

I finally told her she had 15 minutes to get the first one out, or we didn't go. Ok, so the first one came out on minute 16, but close enough, right? She saw the blood (there was lots of blood!) and panicked some, but did lots of rinsing her mouth out. Then she was nervous to do the 2nd one. But she decided to be brave and it only took a couple of minutes for her to open her mouth and let Daddy pull it. Daddy said 'one, (and pulled it), two, thirteen, I dunno Hailey, maybe you should get a drink'. Hailey didn't even know the tooth was out. And it didn't even bleed! She was laughing and she was super proud of herself! We are proud of her too! Two teeth in one day!

Right after the teeth came out.

Hailey got to eat at Purple Cow!

And she got her ice cream cupcake!

Hailey is getting ready for the tooth fairy!

When Hailey was getting ready for bed and the tooth fairy, she said she wanted to leave the tooth fairy a note. She wants the tooth fairy to bring her a whistle. So we wrote a note and left it on the tooth pillow. She was so excited this morning to get $6 and a note from the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy told her that she doesn't carry whistles, so she gave Hailey an extra dollar to go shopping with Mommy and Daddy.

This Week

This week has been crazy! This is our last week of summer before school starts. I have been trying to get all the last minute things done, and its been beating me down! Who knew starting Kindergarten was so hard for Mommy?!

I went to Hailey's school on Tuesday feeling really good about my State Vaccination Exemption Form. But within minutes I was deflated. Since her school is private, they wouldn't take the form. So I did more research on how to avoid giving Hailey her MMR. My only hope was calling the dr and getting her to write a letter. She wouldn't do it. (Hailey had a reaction to the first MMR and we are extremely nervous about giving her the second dose! But the current dr. didn't see the reaction since we were with a different dr.)

On Wednesday, the kids had the last day of Summer PDO.

On Thursday, I took the kids to swim class. It's Hailey's last class for a while. With school starting next week, she doesn't get to finish out the session.


Afterwards, I took the kids to the dr. to verify the date of her last Polio shot. Come to find out, she hasn't had it! She had to get a shot! I have just recently learned that sometimes bribery with ice cream may or may not help in the shot receiving process. It worked like a champ for us! Hailey cried a little before the shot, but as soon as she got it, she started laughing! The nurse and I were shocked! Since I had been at the dr.'s office for over two hours, it was time for lunch. We went to McDonald for lunch and of course, ice cream!

Then I took the kids to Dee Dee's for some pool time. The kids needed the play time after being so good in a dr.'s office for 2 hours! When we got home I tried to make Hailey another dr.'s appt for Tuesday, to go ahead and get her MMR vaccine. They told me they would have to call me back later. Friday morning (8:30 am)I get a call saying Hailey couldn't have the MMR for 6 months after the Polio shot! She can't start kindergarten with out it! To say I was very upset would be an understatement! I started making tons of phone calls only to find out that the separation in shots is a dr.'s preference. So, the dr. will be writing a note for the school and the school nurse has already told me she would accept that. Yea, kindergarten here we come! I then dropped off Harris with Julie and took Hailey for some 'Hailey/Mommy time'. We got her hair cut and finger/toe nails done. I wanted her to feel like a big girl for school. She loved the time and she looks so cute! She loves her hair and keeps swinging it around. She FEELS big! (We are still convincing Daddy that its cute. He just sees short!)
Before hair cut...
The cut off hair...
One minute after the cut...
Pretty nails...
Afterwards, Jamie called and we went to lunch with her. Late in the evening, after William got home from work, we took the kids swimming at the swim park.
Hair dried naturally after swimming...
Hair fixed! Hailey loves it 'fluffy'!
Is she cute or what?!

Summer is just about over for us, and I'm so sad! It went too fast. I feel like we have been too busy and I haven't gotten to do all the things I wanted to with the kids.


Hailey looks like such a big girl now. I'm still in shock that she starts kindergarten next week. I am losing my baby girl. I will really miss her when she is in school 5 days a week! And yes, my eyes are tearing up just thinking about it!

Fun Weekend

Last weekend Daddy was home all weekend! We love it when that happens! We didn't do anything big, just lots of little stuff and had so much fun doing it. Our weekend included playining in the rain, rollerskating, Abuelos, and Grapevine Mills Mall. We hope you had a good weekend too!

Busy Week

Whew! Last week was such a busy week! Hailey had VBS in the mornings till noon then gymnastics camp in the evenings until 5. She barely had any down time, and by 6 in the evenings she was very tired and sometimes a little grouchy. I called this week my 'view of things to come in Kindergarten'! But all in all, it was a great week and Hailey had lots of fun. She learned lots of new songs in VBS and learned a new flip in gymnastics and she got to use the uneven bars. She loved that! William and I are so proud of her!

William's 40th Birthday

William is turning 40. It's hard to believe our first date was on his 33rd birthday. I decided to take him out to Mi Cocina's for his birthday. And ever since that day, he has taken care of me and treated me like a princess. He is a wonderful husband and a great father to Hailey & Harris. I really wanted to make turning 40 special for him. I chose a restaurant that he loves and invited all of our family, friends and William's co-workers. William was truly surprised! But poor Harris... William was holding Harris when we yelled surprise and it scared him to death! The dinner was good and we both enjoyed mingling with everyone.

On William's actual birthday we let him pick where he wanted to eat and he chose Carrabbas. It was yummy! Hailey made her own present for daddy. She got an old wet wipe case that she plays with and put her tooth fairy money in it. It was so sweet! Of course, William gave it back! Then William opened the cards and gift from the kids and I. Then we went next door to Piccomolo for dessert.

Overall I think William had a great birthday.

Echo cardiogram

Back in March, we found out that Harris has a heart murmur. His doctor said she was going to keep a watch on it, and if she felt the need, she would schedule an echo cardiogram. Well, Harris' recent ear infections had us in the doctors office 3 times in one week! At one of those visits, his doctor decided it was time to do the echo. So a week later we were in Cooks Children's Hospital. Harris did great! He laid very still and let the sono tech do his job. Then after a long weekend of waiting, we got his results back.... He has a murmur still, but everything else is OK. No real problems, yay!!!! So, his doctor will still keep a watch on him, but right now, our little man is great! Thank you God! And thanks for everyone's prayers for Harris!

Harris getting all hooked up.

Unhooked, look at the red circles on his chest!

Getting his stickers.

Leaving with Daddy.

Frontiers of Flight Museum

As I'm sure you all know, July 20th was the 40 anniversary of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. On Sunday, July 19th, the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas was having a special show for this anniversary. We decided to take the kids to see it and Jay Jay the Jet Plane. Unfortunately, they had moved Jay Jay just for this special showing. We walked around the museum for awhile. Hailey really liked the special room that looked like you were on the moon, looking down to earth. She almost got to be on the news with the author of the new book, Rocket Man, Craig Nelson. Sadly, Mr. Nelson is so tall that the camera man couldn't get him, the space suit, and Hailey all in the shot together. So both kids just got their picture with him.

After walking around the show, we took the kids to the play area for awhile, before heading home. It was really neat to see the space suits, parts of the space ships and airplanes.

The Princess & The Pea Play

In the middle of July, Hailey auditioned to be in a play called the Princess and the Pea. She wanted to be the Princess or the Pea. The audition didn't go as she had planned. She all of the sudden became shy and could barely move! I couldn't believe it! But she did sing the song for them, and say her name and age. All of the kids her age were given the part of Dust Bunnies. Hailey was so excited to be a Dust Bunny. She had lots of fun practicing and was very excited for the play. The audition was on Monday. She rehearsed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The dress rehearsal and actual play was on Saturday. From the sound of the crowd, I think the Dust Bunnies were every one's favorite! Instead of giving Hailey flowers after the play, we took her to get her first big girl loop earrings. She loves them! And she looks so cute, too!

Hailey did great! She had so much fun and can't wait to see what play comes next year. She has already said she wants to be in it!

A Day with Dee Dee & Pops

A couple of weeks ago we went and spent the whole day with Dee Dee & Pops. We were in the pool all day! Both of the kids were worn out and went upstairs to rest. Poor lil' Harris crashed out fast and for a long time!

I finally went in and woke him up. I wanted him to come out side and see the turtles that Mimi & Grandad brought to Dee Dee & Pops.

Dee Dee was feeding them... they love to eat the fresh fruit!

After the turtle ate, we all had dinner and went in the house to play. Hailey & Harris love to play with the beads and coins. Harris' ear was starting to hurt and he was putting his finger in his ear. Pops played along and copied him. The next day, we learned he had a terrible ear infection that lasted two weeks!

Pops definitely has a lil' buddy!

Thanks for such a great day, Dee Dee & Pops!

Artisan Theatre

Our kids love to go to the theatre. W took them to the Artisan Theatre to see Rumplestealskin. They both had a grea time. I think their favorite part was meeting the characters afterwards. We can't wait to go to see another play!