Remington's 1st Birthday Party

For those of you who didn't make it to Remington's first birthday party...

It was a hit! Our sweet little boy had a blast.

He woke up from his nap as the first guests arrived. He was a little clingy at first, wanting only Mommy. He warmed up and went to Grammy and D-dad willingly, though he was still feeling shy at times. But by the end of the night, he was running around and smiling and squawking at everyone!

We had a ton of food: 6 feet of sandwich (invented by the Earl of Sandwich - perfect for Remington Earl's party), strawberries, watermelon, grapes, apples, chocolate dip, and many different kinds of chips and dips. We had water and pink lemonade (turned orange with food coloring to be more "manly") to drink. Remington enjoyed his meal of sandwich, watermelon, and Pirate's Booty.

He also enjoyed his first cupcake!

He ate the whole thing :)

Remington's birthday cake was in the shape of a 1 with his name on it and a crown on top. Each cupcake was decorated with a crown, the letter R, or the number 1. I also had a few plain cupcakes for those wishing for no icing. Southern and Remington each had one of those. Remington's had a big "1" candle that we helped him blow out after singing "Happy Birthday".

The goodie bags for the kids included a Capri Sun flavored water, a package of carrot crisps, and a rubber ducky (a king, queen, knight, dragon, horse, or fairy godmother).

Another big hit of the day was the jumpy castle in the backyard. The kids all had fun on it. I was a little wary of having Remington in with the bigger kids, so his godfather George took him inside.

I think they both enjoyed themselves :)

We love the library

The kids and I love going to the library. For Southern, it is a place where his wants are always answered with a 'yes'. For Remington, it's a place to explore with new people to watch. For me, it's a place that is clean, air-conditioned, and safe for my kids to play and learn. There are always fun events going on, and of course I get books and movies there too. It's a win/win!

The kids and I attended their latest event today. It was the kick-off for the summer reading program. I signed them kids up for the summer reading program. They each need to have 20 books read to them by the end of the summer. That should be a breeze!

They also had the New Braunfels Police Department there at a Kid Print station. That's where they record your child's information (height, weight, hair color, etc) on a thumb drive along with digital copies of their fingerprints and a photo. Then if for some reason the parent ever needs to give the police this information, it's right there. (We make copies of the files onto our home compter and then I keep the thumb drive in my purse.)

And they had a used book sale in the back (50c each!) where the kids each got a few books.

It reminded me of this time last year. Remington was only days old. It was my first outing by myself with two sons. And it was HOT! But I loaded the two boys up so that Southern could browse used books and get his Kid Print done. Whew - so glad we're passed that stage!

We are now at a time where the kids can both snack and play on their own. They can explore the library without having to be entertained or fed... ahhh.. They can both pick out their own books and movies and put them in the bag. Southern can check us out (with my help). Remington even knows the check-out drill.

Two weeks ago when we were at the library, we were on our way to check out when Remington carried his book on up to the desk, reached it up to the scanner, and tried to swipe the barcode. He was all grins at his acomplishment :)

Remington and Southern with the books they checked out from the library

Rainforest Cafe

Remington's first birthday party is this upcoming Saturday. His aunt Carly and uncle Parker won't be able to make the party. But they didn't want to miss out on celebrating with the birthday boy. So we decided to make a trip over to San Antonio to the Riverwalk. We had gone to the Rainforest Cafe on Southern's first birthday two years ago, so it was the perfect spot to celebrate Remington's first birthday (a week early)!

On the Riverwalk for Remington's first birthday, May 2012

On the Riverwalk for Southern's first birthday, March 2010

Transitioning from tennis to golf

By now, you probably all have heard that Dustin got accepted for the head golf coaching position at SHS next year. He's been so excited about it, he's probably told you at least twice! I think he's most excited about the free golf - haha - but there are many benefits to the new job.

Dustin will get a raise as he will be going to head from assistant. He will also work less hours as there are no golf meets on weekends or at night (you can't just turn on the lights like you can on a tennis court). So that's even more money when you consider the per hour rate. Plus, he will be in charge of the schedule, and he won't have to drive a school bus anymore! The most players that can go to golf meets are 5 at a time. They take Tahoes :) And he'll be in charge of the budget and practices. It's such a blessing for him!

But it's not just Dustin that is taking on this new job. I feel like we all are...

How many days had I, then Southern and I, and finally Southern, Remington, and I spent out there by those tennis courts? Too many to count. How many times had the kids and I traveled to San Marcos or Schertz or Buda to watch tennis matches? At least a dozen. How many times did Southern get to play around on a school bus? More than a handful. And how many times was the tennis team heading out to eat after playing... and it just happened to be in New Braunfels... and Dustin would call so we could join them? Again, more than a handful.

Just think... if Dustin wasn't a tennis coach, we would have never been out at Newcombe's Tennis Ranch on February 16, 2011. That was the day that Southern fell on a rock, busted his head open, and had to get stitches. Southern has a permanent scar on his forehead because Dustin coaches tennis! (Well, maybe not directly because, but you know what I mean.)

Our kids literally teethed on tennis balls. And to think that they will probably not even remember a time when Daddy coached tennis!?!

I know, I make it sound so dramatic. But this is huge to me! Graduation is less than two weeks away. That will officially mark the end of the school year. The end of coaching tennis as the assistant head tennis coach. So the kids and I decided to head out to the tennis courts one last time to visit Daddy at work...

Dustin and the boys, proudly sporting their Seguin Tennis shirts.

Father and son posing on the SHS tennis courts. Everyone on the team knew Southern's name and would get so excited when we showed up for games or practices. As I unloaded him from the car, I never failed to hear someone call out, "Southern!".

The boys look pretty happy out on the golf course too...

As long as we're with Daddy, we're happy. No matter where we are!

A weekend of firsts

Our little boy has been growing up fast. And this past weekend was filled with many firsts for him. The first first was a little sad for Mommy, but Daddy sure was proud.

We had a fly in the house. Dustin was busy and asked Southern to run get the fly swatter for him. Southern ran and got it, but he didn't give it to Daddy. He wanted to try to get the fly himself. Dustin immediately thought about telling him no, but he figured he'd give him a chance. And sure enough, Southern swatted that little fly on the first try! His first killing... I know, it's just a fly... but Mommy teared up with that.

His next first was that same Saturday. We were at his cousin's 3rd birthday party, and Caleb received a bike as one of his gifts. Southern was right there in the mix during the opening of the presents, so he was ready for "his turn" right after Caleb sat on it for the first time. He was picked up, put on the bike, and he just started peddling like he rides a bike everyday. He has 2 tricycles and rides one of those almost daily. But he had never before been on a bicycle with training wheels. You couldn't tell though!

The following day was spent at home working around the house. Most of the evening was spent outside. We had Southern without bottoms on in the hopes of getting him to go potty next to a tree when he needed to. We've been potty training off and on for the past year. Southern had used the toilet for #1 many times, but never for #2 and never consistently. He had also never gone outside. So imagine my surprise when it was time to go. He ran up to my pear tree and went! He was so happy and proud. He "watered" that tree for me one or two more times that evening.

I have read that the average age for a little boy to fully potty train is 3 1/2. So I wasn't worried and figured he would be ready when he was ready. And, that was right! Since then he has done all of his business (#1 and #2) on the toilet, and he's just turned 3. We've been at home, and he's been without bottoms, and when it's time, he just runs off to the bathroom. His first #2 in the toilet was cause for celebration!! Mommy let him pick out a new rubber ducky. Daddy gave him a velociraptor.

We ran some errands on Tuesday - the library, the bank, and Wal-Mart. I had him in a pull-up and was curious to see if he would use it during the trip. He went potty right before we left, and when we got home, I took his pants off. His pull-up was dry! What a big boy!! And what a relief for Mommy. It really makes a difference to only be changing one person's diapers every day. I feel like I have so much more free time! Haha

Speech Therapy

Southern (wearing his beloved McQueen hat), Grandad, and Remington

Southern loves his Lightning McQueen hat. He proudly wears it often. And when he is wearing it, he loves to show it off. In fact, anytime someone tells him "hi" while he's wearing it (in the grocery store, at the doctor's, with visiting family members, etc.), instead of telling them "hi" back, he tells them "Lightning McQueen". Only, when he says it, it comes out sounding more like "Joaquin". Lightning McQueen is the red race car off of the movie Cars. Most parents with younger kids know that and a few people will even answer Southern with "oh yeah, McQueen". But most people won't. In fact, most are older ladies who have never even heard of the movie Cars. And they all look to me for a translation. I then have to explain that "Joaquin" means Lightning McQueen, and it's the name of that red car on his hat.

Soo when we went in for Southern's 3 year well visit at the doctor's last month, he proudly "Joaquin"-ed everyone from the receptionist to the nurse to his doctor. And over the course of the appointment, Southern was "Joaquin"-ing so much that Dr S went from suggesting speech therapy for Southern as an option in about 6 months if we hadn't seen improvement to how about going now. Why wait? It could only help.

We called the local school district and got Southern an appointment to see the speech pathologist. We went there last week. The appointment went very well. It was just a meeting to give the lady a chance to evaluate Southern and see if he even needs the program. If he is behind in his speech progress for his age, we would get into the program and go to "lessons" at the local elementary school at no extra cost. I was secretly hoping he would need it so I was a little disappointed at first when she basically told us that Southern is not showing signs of being behind in his speech. But then my disappointment at missing out on the "lessons" turned to pride in Southern when she told us he is in fact ahead of 3 years olds. She asked if he was attending pre-k! Haha

So the evaluation was a great success. She gave him tasks, asked him questions, and quizzed him with a picture book. He passed it all. He even showed her up when she accidentally called a rhino a hippo and he corrected her! She said that it's normal for kids his age to shorten syllables in certain words to help them to say those words. She found he is advanced in his pronunciation and has an extensive vocabulary. Wow.

She said to wait out the summer, and to go back for another evaluation when school starts back up in the fall. She said he is not in need of their services at this time. So proud of my little guy!

Remington's 1st wish list

Just in case anyone needs ideas for Remington's first birthday party, I created a wish list on Amazon - http://amzn.com/w/2JUD1VE29NUSC

Another good idea is money for his savings account!

I've been hearing that some have received their invitations today. I hope you all can make it! I didn't include an RSVP, but feel free to let me know you're coming if you'd like :)