Say cheese

Most every picture I take of Fielder is a blur...or something like this:

So imagine my surprise when his school pictures come home (taken on his first week) and they look like this:

Oh bestill my heart!!  He looks so grown up.  The one on the left is my absolute favorite.  How'd they get him to hold still?!  Just don't let that sweet face fool ya :-)


This one wasn't my favorite but it's still pretty cute (even with snack crumbs on his face!)

Donut Day

Mmmm....I've been wanting to try one of the fun donut shops in Richmond and this was the perfect morning for it.  We talked Daddy into taking us to Country Style and they were delish!

 Fielder moves so much and so fast, it's hard to capture him on film.  Obviously he loved them!

 The aftermath...

Maybe not the healthiest of traditions but a fun once-in-a-while treat for the family on the weekend!

We survived Spring Break 2015

Just a quick note....because I PRAY I can look back at this past week one day and laugh.  So it was my second week of work and Monday I had to stay home with Fielder because he had thrown up that night and Rob was in no shape to care for him.  By late afternoon, I realized I had it too.  Oh dear God.
Rob had to perk up as best as he could and help with the kids until we could get them to bed.  All night Monday night I would wake up and worry about what to do with Claire for Tuesday.  Since it was Spring break, she was doing full days at the Y.  I felt horrible to send her there if she might get it or spread germs.  I got out the ipad in the middle of the night Monday and looked online to see that they were supposed to go an hour away to a state park.  So I called the Y and left a message that I needed to keep her home in case she got sick too.  Good mommy instinct. By afternoon, she had it too.  Rob had taken her with him on an errand and she threw up in my car.  Awesome.  So Rob has barely recuperated and he is cleaning puke out of the car.  I get some sort of second wind and go to help Claire change clothes, wash clothes, and get her set up with a trashcan, towels, etc. in my bed.  And Fielder (who started this whole mess) is healthy by now, running around playing and asking me what fun things we can do.  Claire lucked out and only threw up once, but she had a fever and slept most of Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday, Fielder had been symptom-free for 2 days so we sent him packing.  Back to school he went and back to the major crying.  Rob took him and then worked from home.  The silver lining to all of this was my day with Claire.  We were both mostly healthy but needed a day for rest and to get some energy back.  We had a really nice day of watching tv, reading, taking naps, and playing a few games.  In the midst of my emotions of going back to work and worrying about not spending enough time with the kids, it was a weird kind of blessing to get some one-on-one time with her.
By Thursday we were all finally ready to get back to school and work.  I couldn't believe I missed 3 days of my 2nd week!  And my co-worker joked that he was going to put on a hazmat suit when I got to the office.  I really couldn't blame him.  Claire was able to go on the Monkey Joe's field trip (perfect for the day after a stomach bug) and then bowling on Friday.  She was SO excited!
Thursday was really rough with Fielder and Friday was only a hair easier.  But he was thrilled for the weekend!  We spent today fumigating cleaning the house.  I know Monday morning is going to be hard, but for now I'm enjoying my weekend!
So no pictures, no fun family outings, no vacations, nothing like that for this Spring break.  But we survived and it can only get better from here.  Right?

Easter

After Fielder's stomach bug started Friday night, Rob and I thought we were in for it.  But then Saturday morning, he acted perfectly fine, was playing, eating, and running around but still had "symptoms."  So we really didn't know if he was actually sick or if something had just upset his tummy.  Just to be safe, we kept him home Saturday and hoped for the best.  Sunday morning, same thing - and he seemed to have no problem running around for Easter morning and eating lots of candy.  

Claire got shopkins from the Easter bunny - she was in heaven!

Fielder with "a dud."  He would open it up and throw in on the ground if it didn't have anything inside.

Claire came downstairs in this outfit and Rob said "Are you a bunny princess?"  Claire replied "What was your first clue?"  It was so hilarious!

After our Easter festivities, Popa came over for lunch.  We had warned him of Fielder's possible illness but he decided to take his chances.  We had a nice lunch and he had brought baskets for the kids.  Afterwards, we got Fielder down for a nap and I left with Claire for a little Easter party at Mimi and Papa's house.  No sooner had we started an egg hunt with Samara, Rob called and said the dreaded words "I've got it too."  I immediately began to feel sick - worrying and knowing we were all probably doomed.  Unfortunately I had to rush Claire a bit and we left after only being there about 30 minutes.  I'm guessing no one was too sad to see us (and our germs) leave.  Mimi and Papa had been very generous with Easter baskets and we just decided to hold off on Fielder's until he was feeling better.  Claire got pajamas to match Samara and more SHOPKINS!

We got home just in time as Fielder was waking up and we were able to let Daddy be alone to suffer through the stomach bug.

Week 2

My first week at work and Fielder's 2nd week of school went....ok.  I was not salaried yet and only allowed to work 29 hours so for me, it was pretty nice!  I didn't have to rush in the mornings and was able to leave early each day. In fact, I was able to make it to Claire's class project that the teacher had invited parents to watch.  The kids had made cars and they were sending them down a ramp with an egg inside.  Claire was so surprised and happy to see me there - since I won't be able to attend her school events much at all anymore, this one meant a lot to me.

Fielder had a harder time at school each day as the week went on.  He was happy on Monday, started getting sad Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday were full on crying in the mornings and weepy throughout the day.    Thursday he was pretty happy though to be at his Easter party.  I heard he had a cupcake and a rice krispie treat and then he brought home a huge bag of candy.  The way to this boy's heart is definitely sweets.

Luckily Friday was a Mimi day (school was closed) which was a great relief to me because it's super hard on me to leave him crying!  They went to Claire's Easter class party.  She said Fielder was very good and even sang his blessings song from school on the way to the car.

Unfortunately, Friday didn't end so great....while I was at dance with Claire, Rob called to announce that Fielder had a stomach bug.  Ugh.....it was the start to a VERY long weekend/week....

Easter at the Y

Easter egg hunts and games at the Y...Fielder loved the Easter bunny but then told me "he's not a bunny, he has SHOES!"

"Mini" Week 1

Before I get to week 1 of preschool, here are a couple pictures from the weekend before.  Andy hosted a special event in Church Hill and we brought the kids.  There was all kinds of tree work, mulching, etc going on but the real fun was jumping around in an empty water fountain.  They just love playing with their cousin Samara and I think Fielder would do just about whatever she told him to.  That night we decided to go out for Mexican - actually our FIRST time taking Fielder to a restaurant of any kind besides McDonalds and Chick-fil-a.  For some reason he had been asking me to go to Mexcian and we figured it might be the best place possible to try (chips on the table, quick service, kid friendly!)  Well, it was pretty much what I expected.  A little bit fun and a lot annoying.  He couldn't sit still, she was more interested in poking her head around the wall to see the kitchen, and of course neither one ate much at all besides chips.  There was a whole candy situation at the end of the meal, but let's just say Fielder is aware they have blow pops and he has asked us every single time we drive past if he can have one when he's older.  It will probably be another 6 months minimum before we got a restaurant again.

We decided for Fielder's first week at school that he would just go for the 3 hour preschool program and stay for lunch.  It was a good way for him to get to know the teachers and friends without being left for 10 hours on day 1.  I was so nervous to see how he would react.  Turns out, he LOVED it!  He thought it was so fun to eat with his friends.  He never cried, just marched in and started playing.

Claire wanted so badly to be in a picture with him, but this was the best we could do

bookbags and lunches all packed and ready to go!

It was a great week!  For him especially, but it also gave me 5 mornings to do errands, grocery shop, and buy some jeans and shoes that I needed for work.  I was so proud of my big boy!!  Buuuuuut....week 2 was not as great.....more later