2 ft tall and bulletproof!

Maggie had her 3-month doctor appointment today. (I realize she is almost 4 months. I actually think it was suppose to be a 2-month appointment. Whoopsie!)

Stats:

Height: 25 in 95th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz 95th percentile
Head Size: 43 cm 95+ percentile

That's my girl!

Maggie's 1st Laugh

Although we attempted to catch it on video but failed, Maggie laughed for the 1st time on Aug 5th, 2008. I was sitting at the computer doing some stuff for work when I heard it. I turn around to see Ryan on the couch with Kutter and Payton and they were collectively getting Mags to laugh. It was such a great sound and such a great moment. I was happy that they all were able to contribute to making Maggie so happy. Now, daddy has become the expert at getting Maggie to laugh on demand. He is also the expert at getting her to cry on demand too but that is another story for another time.

It is so great to have the laughter of a baby fill our home again! Love ya Mags!

D-backs vs Braves: Maggie's 1st Baseball Game

On Aug 9th, we met our friends the Glenn's for our traditional D-backs game. Baseball seems to be our common bond so we try to get together for games as much as possible. It usually only ends up being one game a year and a spring training game but we enjoy whatever we can get. This year, we went and watched the Diamondbacks take on the Braves. This was a tough one for me because I love the D-backs but I am a true blue Braves fan. I basically had to be quiet during the game. The D-backs choked with some little league type errors that cost them the game. We all had a good time at the game despite the poor performance by the home team.

Here is a little drama to the evening....I dropped Ryan off with all the kids because parking was a nightmare and we were late meeting the Glenn's. I found parking and met them at our seats in the nosebleed section. We were pretty cramped in our seats so we decided to move to another section where no one was sitting so we could stretch our legs. It was perfect and made for a great game. That is until Maggie started crying and her bottle was nowhere to be found. Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of jumping out of the car and finding our seats, her bottle was lost. We thought she would be fine and make it through the game but she had other plans. She started screaming and could not be consoled. I decided to go on the hunt for the bottle and retrace our steps. As I was scouring the floor of the ginormous stadium, a light bulb clicked on in my head to try the souvenir shop. I looked and looked in hopes of finding a Diamondbacks baby bottle. The dang shop had everything imaginable but no bottle. One last attempt before heading to the car and I found it. A wonderful sight for sore eyes, a D-backs bottle. The price was a bit steep at $9.95 but it was well worth it. I walked in the stadium making my way back to the seats when I noticed everyone staring at me in suspense. I held up the bottle like it was the World Series trophy and the whole section cheered. Apparently Maggie had threw quite the fit and everyone was concerned and relieved to see the solution to the problem in my hands. Yay for the souvenir shop for saving the day!!!

Kutter's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Prepare yourself for a novel:

Kutter's official 1st day of school was August 6th, 2008. It has taken me a week to come to grips with this whole new life so now I am able to talk about it.

Kutter was so excited. He bounced right out of bed and was ready to walk out the door. I made him a "special" breakfast of waffles and eggs. I think he only ate about 3 bites. Our family is not used to waking up so early so it was hard to eat breakfast that soon. Not knowing how long it would take to get him ready, I jumped the gun a bit on when I woke him up. We ended up having nearly a half an hour to spare so I quickly filled that time with picture taking. I think I took over 50 pictures just to make sure I got one good one. My neighbor nicknamed me the paparazzi. Here are a few samples:

We had gone to meet Kutter's teacher the night before school started so we were feeling more comfortable with the idea of Kutter being with her all day. She resembles Ryan's grandma but she reminded us of Ryan's mom because she had the sweetest and most patient temperament. She seemed to have the demeanour of a grandma and acted as though her students were more her grand kids than her pupils. That made us feel pretty good about Kutter's first year in school.

Ryan and I both took him in and our neighbors stayed with Payton and Maggie in the car. Ryan ran the video camera while I snapped the still pictures. I think I got every one of his first steps in the classroom, I may have overdone it a bit. Kutter said his cheeks hurt from smiling for so many pictures. He was a good sport though, he knows his mama is a bit looney toons. I had a hard time leaving him but he was ready for us to go. I think he has been looking forward to this day for a year. He was a bit sad that he did not get the same teacher as his "best bud" Connor but it brought him comfort knowing they could play together at recess. The day actually went quickly for us at home because we took Payton to get her cast off. YEAH! (More on that later) We ended up getting home from taking care of her and basically loading back up in the car to head to the school to pick up Kutter. I am certain we were there way too early but I could not help it. I wanted to be there for him to see me right away when he came out of school. It took all my strength and will power to not run and tackle him when I saw him come out of his classroom.

The next day seemed to be much worse for me. Ryan had to work and I had nothing to do. Payton went to a friends house and I literally just sat on the couch and stared most of the day. I knew I had so much to do but I could not figure out how to go about doing it. I felt so lost! I love my little Kutter Man and he is so great to have around. It has been fun getting to spend time with Payton and Maggie but it just does not seem right without big brother around.

Here are some funny things Kutter has said since starting school:

When asked what his favorite thing about school is, he proudly answers "Lunch!"

As he was preparing to leave for school on his 3rd day, he said "Mom! You need to have this house cleaned up for when I get home from school." He then explained that he gets to be the one to mess it up when he comes home but he expects it to be clean when he arrives.

He came home on his first day and said "I do not know how to read yet!"

After his second day of school, he proudly proclaimed "I have been to school for 2 days and have not been sent to the principals office yet." Kutter always gets a kick out of me telling him that my dad was my principal so when I was bad, I had to go see him. I am not sure why, but he thinks that is the funniest thing ever. He always says, "that is so weird!"

He makes sure and lets me know every day which kids were bad and what they did. It is like the little kindergarten soap opera. But he lets me know "I don't break any rules! I am being a good boy mom!" You are a good boy Kutter J!

I am so proud of my little guy. He is being so responsible. He is making sure he has his blanket, backpack, and water every day. I watch him fold his arms and walk to class so he does not break the "turtle" rule. I hear him tell me stories of how a kid at his table could not do his work so Kutter helped him. He says he always says hi to a boy in his class that does not know anyone. And he makes sure and lets me know that he plays with everyone he knows at recess. Then he proceeds to name them all so I understand that he did not leave anyone out. He is an amazing son and I am honored to be his mom. Love you buddy!

Free at last, free at last!

August 6th was a big day for our family. Along with Kutter going to kindergarten, Payton got her cast off. She was a brave girl. It took quite the coaxing to get her to go to the doctor. Several bribes later we had her convinced to go and she even said she would not cry. She kept true to her word until they turned on the saw. It was loud and it vibrated her arm. She tried not to cry and then could not help it any longer. It did not last long, however, when she realized the vibrations were actually tickling her. When the cast came off, she really cried because she lost her security blanket. She tried to move her arm and it felt strange so she basically freaked out.

The doctor told us that if she fell again in the next 2 months or so, it would break again. I just said "see you next week then!" I mean come on people, she is 3, she falls daily if not hourly. But it has been a week and although she did fall out of the car yesterday, the arm seems to be fine. Maybe it is because it has been glued to her body ever since she the doctors office in the same position as if her cast was still on. She barely moves it and we have yet to get it to straighten all the way. (This picture was taken over a week after her cast coming off. It was the first time she semi-straightened her arm) Because of her nervousness to move it, she has become Princess Payton again and we have again been summoned to serve her every whim. Do you think she is playing me?

Kutters 1st Sleepover

Kutter has a "best buddy" named Connor. If they could, these two kids would play together all day, every day. Connor went to Utah to visit family for nearly 6 weeks. When he finally got back, the two were inseparable. If they were not together, they were begging to be together. On July 30th, after a 3 1/2 hour playdate at Peter Piper Pizza, the boys convinced us moms to let them have a sleepover. Little did I realize that Ryan had already talked to Kutter about this the day before and had made all the plans. I guess us moms had no choice. : )

They were such good kids. They went to bed at 9pm with no complaints. Now before you get all impressed that they went to bed so early for a sleepover, I will finish by saying they finally fell asleep at midnight. I guess it is our fault, we put a movie on in Kutter's room and popped popcorn. Payton was a having a hard time with being left out so we let her watch the movie for a few minutes. It was funny to me that when she went to sit down, the boys had her sit in the middle. She was in heaven. Cute Connor on one side and her best big brother on the other.

I have never seen Kutter laugh so much. Kutter and Connor are a good fit because they have similar personalities and are such good kids. Plus, neither one of them can say their "C' and "K" sounds so they call each other Tutter and Tonner. So great!

Mullet....be gone!

Ever since Maggie was born she had a sort of mullet. It has driven Ryan crazy. He has been begging me for weeks now to let him cut it. Again, I caved. Mags mullet is not as bad as it was when she was born but none the less, it had to go so Ryan could be at peace. So I guess August 1st, 2008 marks the day of Maggie's first hair cut.