Jed is 3!

Jed is officially a three year old! On his birthday, he went to school and I brought him birthday cookies to share during snack time. He also got a birthday crown to wear at school that day. We had fun celebrating at his birthday party this past Sunday at the park. Jed requested a Spiderman party, so we had some Spiderman decorations and treats for the kids. All in all it was a good birthday!

Jed goes to preschool!

Jed has started a preschool that's two days a week from 9-12 with an optional lunch until 1:00. It's the same school Eli went to last year, Faith Preschool. Jed has been waiting and wanting to go there for a whole year now, so he was definitely ready to go! When I dropped him off the first day, he said, "Bye Mama, have fun!". Thankfully, he loves it there and has been having a lot of fun. I have been having fun, too, on my mornings "off". I am trying to enjoy them while I have them for the next couple months before baby arrives!

Jed on his first day of preschool

He found the trucks as soon as he got there

In front of his classroom

These pictures are some pictures I took of the boys for back to school pictures. I like to look back at the end of the year to see how they've grown. Apparently, it was a little too bright outside for squinty Jed.

Trash Truck Show

We got to take the boys to a trash truck show a few weeks ago. It's called The Trash Project, and it's basically a performance where several city workers drive around the trucks, which are choreographed to music. It is pretty impressive to see. Needless to say, the boys were in heaven. John and Eli went a couple years ago, and Eli hasn't forgotten about it since then.

the initial line up

amazed

taking it all in

they were taking in the trucks, I was taking in the sunset

the boys got to get in the trucks after the show

this is Jed in the trash truck talking to the worker (sorry, the pic came out dark)

checking out all angles

in the cherry picker

sorry, a dark pic again of boys by trash truck

Eli loved this song. He insisted that I record it!

Jed being Jed

I wanted to share these recent videos of Jed playing and singing.  He loves to sing "Who Let the Dogs Out", which is the theme song for Monster Mutt and "Bad to the Bone", which is Grave Digger's theme song. These are his favorite two monster trucks, by the way. He sets up monster truck shows and sings the songs over and over. I love it.
He's just a singer in general, always singing no matter what he's doing. I like that in the Twinkle Twinkle videos, Eli is accompanying Jed's songs on the piano. Awesome.

Eli starts Kindergarten!

We officially have a kindergartner! Eli was excited about going to school and was definitely ready. The first day was a little emotional for John and I since our boy was growing up and headed off to kindergarten, but we didn't let Eli know that. John and I teared up a little after we dropped him off, but we did okay after that! We've had a smooth transition all around, thankfully. Eli says he likes it and has met some friends, but we really don't get much information from him each day. Usually when we ask him questions about school, no matter if they are open-ended or specific, the answer we get is, "I forgot" or "I don't know". When I asked Eli why he forgets, he said, "My head gets so full of fun things we do all day that it pops and I forget everything". I guess that's a good thing! At least we know he's having fun!

As a matter of fact, Eli may be having a little too much fun. His teacher told me that "he's a boy's boy" and that he can get silly. She said she does have to give him warnings. Let's hope that behavior stops there! He had to sit out of centers that second day because he was being silly and using potty words. He still got a sticker for the day though. I think that in these first weeks of school, the teacher isn't letting anything slip by as far as behavior goes, understandably so. I just didn't think Eli would be the silly kid. I thought he would take longer to warm up. At least he's feeling comfortable there. We are keeping an eye on his behavior chart, though!

We put Eli in the dual language class where the kids are learning Spanish each day. I'm really excited to see how Eli does with that. I think it's going to be very beneficial to him now and in the future. Hopefully, he won't get bored in school since he has the extra challenge of learning Spanish, and the language will stick with him as he gets older. Already, he will randomly spout out a word or phrase in Spanish, which is fun to hear. The other day he was excited because he said "Hola" to one of the girls who only speaks Spanish and she said "Hola" back. Before we know it, he'll be fluent and we'll have a hard time figuring out what he's saying! Let's hope!

Showing off his Star Wars backpack

"Welcome to Sunset Valley Elementary" I love that he chose to wear his monster truck shirt on the first day!

Eli walked right in, sat at his seat, and started coloring

This was the "We survived the first day" picture that Jed took

And here are John and Eli riding bikes to school in the morning. I love it...and so do they!

Circus

The Saturday before Eli started school, we all went to the circus. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Greatest Show on Earth, no less! When I first told Jed we were going, he said he didn't want to go because it was too scary. However, I convinced him to go after we watched a few videos of the animals and the acts on the website. Jed's favorite part ended up being the tigers, which is what I thought he'd be most scared of. Eli liked the motorcycle on the tight rope and the motorcycles in the metal cage, not surprising. It was a good show, and we had fun making a fun family memory together!

Eli gives a thumbs up after the show

31 weeks pregnant

Here's me at 31 weeks. I'm feeling great and nesting like crazy. Eli took the bare belly shot...ha! I start going to my midwife appointments every week now. We're getting close!

Update: I wrote this about a week and a half ago, but couldn't post b/c I didn't have enough storage space for pictures. It's fixed now, thanks to John. And now I have a lot of posting to do! As far as how I'm feeling since a week and a half ago...still nesting and feeling pretty good, just getting more uncomfortable, tired, and swollen!