Last Day of School, maternity leave, and 10 weeks old

Bridger will wrap up his last day of school on Friday along with my school.
It has been a great year for both of us.
Bridger has grown academically through the roof.
He can count upwards to 30.
He knows his ABC's
He is a fantastic talker and his vocabulary amazes me!

He knows his colors, shapes and sizes.
He has just begun studying each letter individually and learning to write them. This is something they will continue next Fall and throughout the summer this year.
He has had his far share of bumps, bruises, bit marks, bloody noses (no i did not intend for this all to start with a b) and has come out all the while with a big ol' smile.
There have been some crazy stories that he tells us about, probably made up I'm guessing, but non the less he has quite the imagination.
Did I mention he copies what daddy and I say, so lesson to the wise don't say something you don't want him to say at school! Probably didn't win the parent award this year! Luckily we love all his teachers and they "get" us.
Lets see, sports well that hasn't changed he is active and wants to desperately be in T-Ball, but around here you have to be 4!
He wants to play basketball on a team but that doesn't start till grade school.
Our boys loves his school and we are so thankful for wonderful teachers each and every day!
Keep up the great work, Bridge!
xoxo.

Alot has changed in the school year for our family and me.
In the first picture at the beginning of school I was about a month and half pregnant. Unbenost to anyone at work.
I had a successful year in 4th grade. My students made a year and one months growth in reading and my math scores were amazing, they made a year and four months growth *based on Star Renaissance. It was an eye opening year. I learned a ton, and I can now say I have experience up in the upper grades. I am looking forward to returning to first grade with my old team and being that teacher that teaches students how to read. I have had the chance during maternity leave to do a lot of self reflecting and set goals for the future and for that I am grateful.
Went up to school on Tuesday and Wednesday for meet the grade level and to see my class. This is a picture of my amazing team and I along with my long term sub who was out of this world. She is on the right in the green strips.

I just signed up for my last class and internship for my masters. This has been a long time coming but a huge success.
I had a goal when I started the program back in 2011 that I would my master's by the time I was 30 and it looks as though I will finish in the spring of 16 when I am 30. No doubt working full time, having 2 babies, and being a wife and going to school was challenging at times, but I am so grateful for it as it has helped me in all aspects of my life.

My maternity leave has been an absolute joy and I am ever so grateful for my husbands support and encouragement to take the full 12 weeks. It will end up being five months that I will have the blessing of being a stay at home mom to my boys. It is such a gift and something that I will always cherish.

 A gift from one of my students when I stopped in on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Our little guy turned 10 weeks on Tuesday.
He weighs a whooping 13.5lbs (that's almost double his birth weight).
(Grandpa, I can assure you he isn't jaundice!)
He is 22.85 inches long, however when the nurse measured him she didn't take off his clothes for this and I think he is longer then that.
He is the biggest smiler I have ever met.

He loves to have morning conversation with me and I know that he is starting to recognize voices and faces!
He is super mellow and rolls with anything as long as he is feed and not riding in the car.
He is a fantastic sleeper most days.
I love his little double chin he has and all the leg rolls that are forming.
I have pumped and saved in the freezer 156oz of breast milk! This is a huge accomplishment for me. Each morning before he gets up I am able to pump anywhere between 7 and 8 oz that I save and put in the freezer. He has only been breastfed and my body is able to supply him enough plus some to store for when I go back to work. This is such a huge accomplishment and something I was never able to establish when I had Bridger, my theory is that I went back at 7 weeks to work and my body took a major hit because of the demands that come with working a full time job.
Lets see, we have taken a few baths together and he loves it. He is almost out of size one diapers too.
He looks more and more like Bridger every day.
He is the sweetest little baby ever.

 Big boy helping baby boy after his shots!

More storms and Swimming

The weather has been crazy lately.
I couldn't help but capture some images through the lens.
Ben was on the phone to grandpa almost every night and I could hear them chatting about the lightening strikes and whether they were getting the storms that we were getting!
When you from the Midwest you are crazy about storms, they make me excited!

We finished up swimming lessons today.
Bridger did a fantastic job.
Coach Brady remarked at how awesome he is doing at his front float for 10 secs without assistance and back float for 10 secs without assistance. He still needs to work on independent leg action and independent arm action. He is so close to front and back glide 3 body lengths. Of course he exceed the rhythmic bob! That boy sure loves to go underwater for toys. We are going to keep him in the Preschool level 2 class as he skipped level 1. It was a great four weeks and I am thrilled with the amount of progress he has made.

Since today was his last day they got to go down the slide by themselves and ..... jump off the diving board! No sweat to him, he loved every bit of it! Looking forward to our mommy and son date to the water park very soon.

Way to go big boy!

Progress

Big man is making some great progress in his swim lesson class. Each week he has been working on the back float and today he got it!

For a long time, even.

His has two little friends that he has made in class and after lessons are over they gather in the smaller pool and play together. The little Hispanic girl is like the mother hen to the other two. She tells them how far out they can go and if they get to close to the rope she pulls back in.

Bridger has loved his teacher. We never had a boy swim teacher but he took to him like a big brother. Coach Brady has been awesome for Bridger.

I don't know what I am going to do after lessons are over. No soccer, no swim. Looks like we will have to find something else to occupy our time!

Our boy is fearless. This is a good and bad thing. He loves a good challenge. Dive down deep for rings, sure no problem.

Jump off into the deep side of the pool, you betcha!

Play sharks and minnows and be it, absolutely!

He is waiting for the last class to finally be able to jump off the diving board!

So proud of our big boy.

May showers bring April Flower .....

Yes, I know that I wrote that title backwards, but by the taste of what May has brought you would think that it would be the month of April. All week it has been raining and today was no exception.

Around 3:30pm the storm rolled in. And as I am typing this it seems as though there is no end in sight.

The thunder rolls, and is loud! The workers working on the neighbors yard all took cover!

Colt is finally sleeping next to me as I type this and Bridge is suppose to be taking his nap, although I can hear him in the bedroom!

It is hailing out here. Not too big, some a quarter size but most of it is about dime size. The nextdoor neighbors yard is completely flooded and the gutters along the street are filled to capacity! It's a freaking monsoon out here!!!!

Soccer Season

Yesterday was the last game of the season.

We are so proud of Bridger.
He made it to every practice and every game, he certainly had dedication.
The growth from the beginning to the end was tremendous.
He was relentless, played hard and even had a great time viewing the crowd!

At three years old he was tuff! He learned to control the ball, pass and be a team player.
We had a great coach and made some great friends.

I'm a little sad that the season was over, practices were on thursdays and afterward the kiddos would play at the park and Bridger was such a good friend to his teammates. By the end they all loved to come to practice and see each other!

So many memorable moments this season!
Like how the weather every Saturday was either cold, windy rainy or maybe one or two games sunny!
Or how there was a lot of domino effects with the kiddos; one falls down and three or four more fall down with them.

Maybe when daddy was in charge of potty breaks every game right in the middle of the quarter!
Of course there were the times when he made goals and he had a cute little smirk on his face when everyone cheered him on.

Last but not least the smiling faces of all the kids when they ran through the tunnel!

Daddy and I are so proud of you, Bridger, you worked hard all season and did a fantastic job!

Love you little guy.

Nursery project

I didn't post a lot of pictures of our little guy Colter Ray's nursery mainly in part because there are still some empty walls but as things are finally coming together (even if he is two months) I wanted to show off how cute it has come together.

I have a feeling this little guy will spend a bit more time in his room then our oldest has :) Can't say we know everything about parenting but we sure are learning and do things a little bit different with baby number two.

Alot of things we reused from Bridge's old nursery. However on Friday I did a DIY project inspired from Pinterest. They are the bookshelves made from molding and L shaped brackets. Total cost $29!
I love how it turned out.

Colter Ray's Room!

2 months, how is that possible?

Our little guy turned two months on Tuesday.
How is that possible.
So what is Colter Ray up to these days:

• SMILING!!!!!!! We are getting so many real smiles out of him. I can't quite pinpoint the certain noises or things that we do to make him smile but typically the morning and right after we pick Bridger up from school is when we get the most smiles.
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• Loves bath time- he is so calm and is now kicking and putting his arms down to feel the water. Not long after bath then he falls fast asleep. 
• Sleeping- he is a great sleeper. This time around I have turned off the over bearing need to feed him every 2-3 hours and I let him indicate when he is hungry. He is sleeping from 9-2/3am and then we pull him into bed to nurse and he will generally sleep till 7 or 8 am. 
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• Colicky from7-9. If we don't give a bath he will be very fussy during this time at night. So I strap him into the Ergo and start doing my nightly walks around the kitchen while daddy puts Bridger to sleep. 
• Coo's - at the point that he loves to coo and blow bubbles in the football hold. 
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• Lifting his head very steady and strong. 
• Billy Goat- Bridger was the terridactul and Colter is a little goat with all of his grunting.
• No "Meme" aka pacifier, never has liked them. 
• Hates car rides- still does not like being in his car seat 
• Great eater- I am so happy for this. My milk supply is amazing! I have saved 78oz and am trying to build the stash. He eats so good. 
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• Loves to sit in his bouncer and look around while I get a shower or bath in. (that's how I am doing this post right now) I better hurry before my time runs out......

Colter Ray is doing amazing and we head to the doc at the end of the month for his 2 month appointment. Keep doing great  big boy! We love you so much.