Kindergarten

It is almost too hard for me to write about because it makes it all so real but today I enrolled my baby girl into Kindergarten! She is soooo ready for this and I know that I really am too but it is just hard for me to believe how fast time has gone with her.

It is Catholic Schools Week and the elementary school kids participated in the mass today. She was so intrigued by this. It didn't really occur to me until we had been home for about an hour and I heard her talking about Jesus in the living room. When I went in I saw that she had gotten one of her children's bible stories and was standing in front of Margaret reading aloud. I asked her what they were playing and she told me that she was eleven years old and that she was saying the reading at church. Are you kidding me! She is light years to where I was when I was her age, I don't think that I ever played church. I may have to ask Mimi about this one...

I am very excited for this new adventure with her because I know that she is just going to blossom! I just don't want it all to go by too fast. Each day I try to remind myself to slow down and soak every square inch of them in so that I never forget how they are at this very moment. Is this possible? Any tips???

Sesame Street Live

Yesterday we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live at the Sprint Center and they loved it! As you can see I have no pictures of us at this event because they told me at the door that my camera was "too professional" and I would not be allowed to bring it in to take photos. I was told that if I had a smaller camera I could have brought it in. What the heck! I was super bummed and of course thought life was so unfair but now I am finally over it and I am just happy that I have all of the memories etched in my head.

We have never taken the kids to anything like this but when the opportunity came along we decided to do it. Out of all of my kids Walter has been the most intrigued with Sesame Street. The girls always liked to watch it for a bit but soon lost interest. Walter, on the other hand, gets so excited when he hears the theme music that he breaks into a dance of shaking his booty. I wasn't sure how the older two would like it because I thought they might be too old but it was actually just perfect for all of them. There was so much dancing, singing, and costume changes that the girls were in awe. I thought Walter would get in the aisle and start busting a move when he saw all of his favorites up there on stage but instead he just watched with huge eyes and his jaw dropped open the entire time (except to eat his mouthfuls of cotton candy).

As soon as the show was over the girls were already asking to go there again to watch another show. Let me know if you hear of anything else exciting coming our way, this was a hit!

Cribs are for Babies!!!

Can you tell by this face that he is so excited to be a big boy?

We have officially been out of the crib for an entire week and I must say it has gone much better than I had anticipated. For the first three nights and naps he hadn't quite figured out how much freedom that he now had. I would say by day four at nap time he discovered it. I put him down at his usual time for his afternoon nap and everything was quiet. About thirty minutes later I heard some thumping going on up there so I went to check it out. He had gotten out all of his cars and trucks, lined them up, and was lying on his tummy pushing them across the floor like they were all racing each other. When he realized that I had caught him his bottom lip immediately came out to a pout and he knew he was in trouble. I put him back in his bed and didn't hear another peep from him.

I would say all in all naps have been the hardest because it takes him a little longer to wind down especially when there are so many toys tempting him.

The crib is now set up in the baby's room and every time he passes by it he says "baby's". My next project is new paint for the girls room. Hoping to try something new and hoping Kyle will let me:)

All Dressed Up!

Here is our little man all dressed up! He was the ringbearer in Kyle's cousin's wedding in Beaver Creek,Colorado last September. Doesn't he look handsome:)

Peace

Last week after talking and reading about Dr. Martin Luther King Isabella wrote a poem in class (it was fill in the blank I think) about what she thought peace meant. As I read it this morning I was overwhelmed by the feeling of peace that it brought me just to read it. So many times I wish I could get into the heads of these little ones just to know what they were thinking about.

Peace is like a church

Peace looks like God

It sounds quiet and

It can be praying

But,

Peace is always love.

Big Boy!

We are at day five with no paci and surprisingly I haven't lost any sleep because of it. Ever since Walter was 10 months old he only gets his paci in his crib when he is sleeping. When he wakes from a nap or bedtime it has become a game for him to try to throw the paci back into his crib and he tells it bye-bye until next time. He doesn't cry for it or ask for it during the day because he knows the only way to get it is to go to bed. This has worked really well and probably been the reason why he is my child that has had it the longest. We are hoping to transition him from the crib to bed here shortly and I wanted to take care of this habit before we made this move. Last Thursday as I was getting him ready for bed I told him he wouldn't get his paci tonight because he is a big boy. I was shocked because he never even cried for it and just kept saying "big boy" "big boy" over and over. I think that he was trying to convince himself that this was true:) As much as it pains me to see him go from the baby that I remember holding in my arms to the funny little toddler man that he is I am so thankful that this has gone so smoothly. When I did this with Margaret I thought things were going so well and on night two Kyle discovered she was sucking her thumb. She has been a full time thumb sucker ever since. Don't worry, we are already saving for braces:)

Way to go little man, mommy is so proud of you!

A New Year's Sentiment

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE.. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye..

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE.. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice

Thanks Krista, love this!

Sneak Peek

With the arrival of our new little one coming upon us there has to be some room rearranging at the Zimmerman household. This means Margaret and Isabella will be bunking it! We have been checking these beauties out for about two months now (in creamy white to match Isabella's current dresser set) and finally took the plunge and purchased them over the weekend. They will be delivered this week, which is much sooner than I thought. For some reason I didn't expect them to be in stock and planned on waiting many months for them to arrive giving me time to get some decorating ideas.

I want to transform Isabella's room so that it feels brand new for both of them. Her room is very large compared to our others and it will be perfect for two little girls. Isabella is very excited to have her sister near her every night as they giggle and tell stories before drifting off to sleep. Margaret on the other hand is not as chirpy about the idea. I totally understand because she is the one giving up her room and moving into a space that she considers her sister's. My goal is to make it into a special space for both of them mixing both of their styles into one. We will see how that goes.

As for other rearranging, well really there isn't much. Walter will stay in his room. We are going to start transitioning him from his crib to a toddler bed soon. My girls did this so much earlier (Isabella was 18 months and Margaret was 15 months) but to be quite frank I am a little nervous about letting him out of the crib and having the option to explore in his room when I am not there. I am just not sure yet about his decision making skills:) I will keep you updated. The baby will reside in Margaret's current room which is already painted pink and has my dresser set in it that I used as a child.

Lots of changes happening here in 2010.

Here is to hoping that it all goes as smoothly as possible!

Introducing our newest baby girl:)

So excited to share this with all of you!!!

She is very healthy and we can't wait to meet her!

When I look at this all I can think is how amazing God is!