First Day Of School

Kindergartner

Matty started Kindergarten today. I was so excited last night and he looked at me and asked me why I was so excited it's only school. This morning was a slow start he was tired and not ready to get up. Once he got a shower and got dressed he started to get excited for school. He was ready to go.Walking to school with Abby and Daddy.Matty wanted to stop and take a picture with Abby on the way to school.
Matty in front of his school.
When we got to school the teacher had a few centers set up for the kids to do while she took a picture of all the kids. Matty is writing his name and drawing a picture of him as Abby watched.
Matty after getting his name tag and his picture taken by his teacher Mrs. Downey.
Matty writing his name and something he likes that starts with the letter m.
Abby loved that Mrs. Downey had puppets to play with in the morning.
Matty sitting next to Jimmy. Matty meet Jimmy at the park during the summer. Jimmy said he remembered Matty because of his handsome hair.
Matty and Trey at the end of the day. Both still clean even though they are boys and are wearing a white shirt. I am sure this will not be the case every day for my son. Abby did well with Matty at school. When we went to pick him up she ran to him and gave him a big hug. We'll see how next week goes and she goes to preschool without Matty. Overall Matty had a great day and liked school.

Boys Against Girls Soccer Game

Matty loves to play soccer. He always talks about playing soccer. Aunt Amanda is a soccer coach and had all her stuff so the kids step up a soccer game. Matty and Kulton against Abby and Gwen. The girls put on shirts so they would know who team they were on. They had fun.
Abby and Kulton facing off.
Matty kicking the ball past Abby and defending the goal.
Abby and Gwen chasing down the ball.
Matty ready to go.
Gwen, Abby, and Kulton looking at Grandma and Grandpa instead of keeping their eyes on the ball.

The Park with Little Bryon

When we went to Fresno we were able to meet up with Little Bryon at one of the parks and play. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousin that they don't get to see that often. They rode bikes, played on the playground, and had a good time together.
Matty and Little Bryon taking a moment for a picture together.
Kulton going down a slide. He didn't care for it to much.
Abby and Little Bryon posing so I thought. Abby was posing but Little Bryon was stuck and couldn't get his legs off the slide. It was a cute picture even though he wasn't posing.
Saying Cheese.
Andy getting in one the action riding a scooter.
Testing out Little Bryon's bike and reliving his younger days.
Abby on the playground. She loves to play on any playground.
Matty scooting along on the scooter.
Little Bryon and his youngest brother Kulton. Took forever to get them both to look at the camera but we finally got it.

A Singer in training.

Abby is my ham that is not shy. Matty likes to show off but when others are around he is shy not little Abby. I was putting something away at my Mom's and I heard her singing some Hannah Montana Song upstairs. And when I went to look at why she was so loud. She had the microphone to the Karaoke machine. She was singing and dancing. She was upset that I was interrupting her jam session.

Slip and Slide at Grandma's This summer

This summer we bought a slip and slide for the kids to use at Grandma's house. We don't have a big enough yard for it and Grandma has a huge yard so they were excited to use it at Grandma's when we visited. It took a few tries but they got the hang of it really fast and loved it!!!!



Abby running half way down the slide before sliding.
Abby sliding towards the end.
Matty's turn to slide down the slide.

Gwen sliding down the slide.

Fort Tejon

One the way back to Long Beach we stopped at Fort Tejon. We didn't get to go all the way in but I wanted to stop because next year this is one of the parks they are closing due to budget cuts in California. we stopped and just looked around out side. It was getting late and I think the ranger was locking up everything up. So we told the kids next time we come this was on the Grape Vine we will stop and go explore.

Some Back Dating

So a long time ago I started some posts and didn't finish them. Well I finished them today. So you can scroll back and see some. It's not a lot but some.

Nurses

Today as the kids were sleeping I was watching the show 911 Baby. It's a show on Discovery Channel about babies that have to go the NICU. When I was pregnant with Matty and Abby I was not allowed to watch these shows. Andy didn't want me freaking myself out since I knew alot of the emotions these families and since I was on bed rest he knew I 'd be thinking to much. Well back to my main reason for this post.

As I watched today I watched how babies that went to NICU had to be transported to Children's Hospital. It reminded me how lucky I was. Andy and I moved to Long Beach not long after we were married. We both had a strong feeling this is were we needed to be and everything with our jobs just fell into place. Then we found out we were having Drew and then not much longer after that he made his arrival. I had Drew at Long Beach Memorial and Drew's home was Miller's Children's Hospital. The best thing was even though he was born at 23 weeks he and I were still just down the hall from each other. Why was he still just down the hall. This is because we were blessed to live in Long Beach and delivery where the children's hospital is connected to the hospital. So Drew never had to be transported and face all the what if's of going in a ambulance ride.

Our family expect for my brother and Andy's cousin all live in Fresno. So we were here on our own. We were blessed with many nurses that treated us like family. We still send and receive Christmas cards from some of them and in contact with them. The life of NICU nurse is a blessing to the family far more than they know. Many times they are standing there after the Doctor walks away and you are in tears. They are the ones that quietly put their arms around you and explain what they just said and remind you they have to tell you worse case as well as the best case. They are the ones that when you have to leave to go home take care of your baby when you are not there. They share your joys and your sorrows. We were blessed to have primary nurses. Which meant when they were working they were with your baby. Laurie and Gayle were Drew's primary nurses. Judy and Lydnia(Judy was there when Drew was born and cried, Lydnia took care of Drew from the very day and was the first person to let me change his diaper) even though were not their primary always checked on him. They were there from the beginning and even after he passed away came in on their days off to be with us. These ladies and well as many other at hospital helped me and my family more than they ever know and I know God knew what he was doing when they became part of our lives. They are truly unsung hero's and life savers. When we saw them it was like seeing somebody in our family not a nurse we didn't know. I know I have told them before but it is never to enough to thank them and the whole NICU for all they did for Drew and Us. Even though Drew never came home to our house he did have a home and the nurses made the NICU a home for a little Drew.

Eating Sushi For Uncle Treavor's Birthday!!

Matty and Abby were so excited when Uncle Treavor wanted to take them with him for Sushi. On his actually birthday we had Me N Ed's the kids other favorite food. Matty and Abby both love the rolls. They experiment, more Abby than Matty. Matty loves crab and when he found that California Rolls are mostly crab he was hooked! The food came before I was able to get a picture with Uncle Treavor and the kids. Once the food came they were all about the food and not the pictures.
Matty showing us he can use chopsticks.

Abby wanted more than sushi tonight so she also dined on chicken and rice. She's a fork and fingers type of girl.

Last Beach Day With Friends

Every Monday during the summer of group of Mom's sometimes Dad's meet at Bay and splash and play in the water and sun. It was sad to realize that this was going to be the last one before school started and summer was almost over. The kids loved going to the beach and playing with their friends. They would always remind me that it was Monday and it was beach day. We look forward to next summer for Beach Days to start again.
Anne telling me not to take her picture. This is just for you Anne.
Abby loves building sand castles. Many times this summer this is all she did at the beach.
Matty loves ships and a little boy brought one and let him play with it. He was in heaven.
Abby running and playing with Corine with the boogie board.
Matty and Will building a sand castle ride on the edge of the water. They worked on this for a long time.
Stopping for a picture while working on their sand castle.
Deborah always was such a good sport and would have a water fight with all the kids. All the kids against her. She was always drenched.
Abby was always in the middle of the water fight. She giggled the whole time.
This is towards the towards the end of the water fight and you can see Abby is still there with her bucket full of water.

Splashing Away

We are so lucky to live by the beach and when we can't get to the beach we are extra lucky to have a pool right in front of our house. If Matty and Abby could they would spend their life in the pool. They love to swim and play in the pool. There are many times there are tears because they don't want to get out. Even though they have been in for over 3 hours. Daddy has been working on swimming without floaties with both kids. We planned on putting them in swim lessons but before we knew it the summer has come and gone. They both are doing very well with Daddy teaching them. We are going to enroll them in official lessons later this year. Matty loves to jump in and try to get toys from the bottom of the pool and making big splashes. Abby just loves to be in the water. I have 2 water bugs and they have always been that way.


Daddy Matty in the pool.
One of the first times Abby trying to swim without floaties. She was not to happy with the idea at first. Now she loves it.
Matty and Abby swimming away int he pool.



First the jump and then the splash. Matty loves jumping in and making waves as he says. Abby seems to always be around him when he does this. Both of the kids love swimming. It is so funny when there are other people in the pool Abby will tell them from our window that that's her pool and not to mess it up. Funny little girl.

Fun At The Park

Matty and Abby love to go the park. Any park is fun for them. Matty likes to go to and make new friends. When we pull up he tells we were are all the kids so I can play with them. I try and take them to the park a couple times a week since we only have a small backyard and they love it so much. At this trip to the park Matty made some friends that were his age and they decided to dig a hole. He told a little boy that came up they were digging a hole to the North Pole so they can go and visit Santa and asked if he wanted to help. They dug a pretty deep whole. When Matty stood in it was up to his waist. Abby loves to play on the slides and if there is swings it's over. Abby loves the swings so much that she want's me to stand and push her the whole time. We are so lucky to have some many parks that are near us to play at.





Abby loves to climb to the top, though sometimes she gets to the top and wants me to come and save her because she's scared.


















Matty hiding from Abby.




















Abby sliding down the tallest slide at the park.











Matty working on digging his hole to
visit Santa Claus.