Thursday, September 27, 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday Haven!!!! ♥

Haven Araya turned 3 years old yesterday!! September 26th! ♥


(Her hair is goofy looking because she took a shower in the morning and wanted me to partially blow dry it!)
I'm actually almost relieved that she's 3 now!  For a whole year now I've gotten REPEATEDLY asked if she was 4 or 5 when she was still 2, lol!  One older woman told me "I can't believe that she's only 2!!!!  Back in my day, 2 year olds were still babies!  Just look at her, she's not a baby at all!  And she speaks and acts like a 5 year old!  I just can't believe it!"  :)  Yep, that's Haven!  She is grown up beyond her years!  She just amazes me every day in her understanding of the world, the questions she asks, her empathy, her creativity, and her humor!  I could not be more proud of her and the little (big) girl that she is becoming!

A few other random encounters with strangers:
A woman at a store asked me if Venily and Haven were twins.  When I said no, she asked me which one was older!!!LOL! (they were sitting down)

And another day a few weeks ago Haven and I were buying potting soil and a woman kind of yelled at Haven (meanly I must add).  "You are too big to be at the store during the day.  Why aren't you in school right now?!".  I was mad!  I said "Actually she's still 2 and won't be 3 until next month and we are on our way to her preschool in a couple of minutes."  That shut her right up, lol! :)

On Her Birthday
We started the day off with 3 shaped pancakes.   We then proceeded to do everything Haven wanted to do for the day which included playing "kitty" where she meows incessantly for a few hours (lol), playing waitress, and various other games and reading tons of books.  She then made cupcakes, her Grandma came over, we sang "Happy Birthday" and we went in search of the one thing she told us she REALLY wanted to do on her birthday... pet a cat!  Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.  The cat kept running away.  We will try again this weekend.  We are also going to Old World Wisconsin for Haven's birthday this Saturday, so that will be a lot of fun too!!  And her party with be next weekend!








SIZES

Clothes- 4/5 shirts and 4 in pants.  I don't see her staying in 4's for long though.  Some of them are getting hard to button and are getting short, lol!!  She's actually tried on some 5 slim jeans and they fit her pretty good!  We haven't been able to shop in the baby/toddler section for a while now.  She's in the big girl section with Venily! :(  Haven and her sister actually have quite a few shirts and skirts that they can both wear, lol!

(Last year when turning 2, she was in all 3T's, so at least she's only growing about a size a year, lol!)


Shoes- Size 10 (one year ago when turning 2, she was in a size 8)

Underwear- size 4 (which is the same size she wore a year ago! My girls have little booties b/c Venily is still in a size 4 for underwear too, lol!)

Weight- 34.4 lbs

Height- About 40.5 inches.  She'll get measured next week at her well check though for "official" measurements!

Hair length- FINALLY getting some length!  I measured it on her birthday and the longest strands were 9.5 inches!!  It's actually really long when it's not so curly.  I love her curls though!  We are still battling some gross... what am I supposed to call it now?!  Preschool-cradle cap?!  Where she gets large, hard, scabby looking patches of skin on her scalp that usually pull up her hair when they fall out and leave her hair falling out in clumps. :(  We need to put oil on her head often to soften the chunks and she uses medicated anti-dandruff shampoo!  It is under control at the moment, but comes back whenever I switch her shampoo again!


Nicknames- "Havs" is still what I call her the most besides Haven.  That and "Havs, Aravs, Aravs, Aravs" :)

Sleep- Goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up at around 7am.  Naps are pretty much nonexistent now.  Every once in a while she'll fall asleep in the car for a bit, but no more regular naps.  She usually likes to sleep with at least one stuffed animal and 1-2 books.

Eating- This girl can definitely eat!  It is not unusual for her to eat 3-4 breakfasts in the morning and very soon be hungry for a snack, lol!  I hear this a lot: "Mommy, I ate all of my cereal, can I have blueberry pancakes.... Mommy I ate all of my blueberry pancakes, can I have yogurt... Mommy, I ate all of my yogurt, can I have a piece of zuchinni bread?"  (It never ends!)  She is ALWAYS hungry, lol.  Luckily, she is a good eater and eats a lot of fruits and vegetables and healthy foods!  Her absolute favorite thing is tomatoes.  She will eat 25 cherry tomatoes in a sitting and still be begging for more! 

Playing:  Her favorite thing right now is her trampoline.  The girls play on it every single day!  She also really likes dress-up, pretend food, stuffed animal kittens, little people and Barbies (she will play with them all by herself for hours, lol).  When her and her sister play, they ALWAYS put on some kind of Southern accents.  I don't know why or how they learned how to do it, but they always do!  I have tried numerous times to get them to do it on camera, but they won't... I really need to sneak up on them while they're playing to capture it, haha! 

 Books: This girl loves her books!  (Like all the women in the Young house!).  We go to the library 3-4 times a week and she's always getting more and more books! :)  She knows right where the "Mercer Mayers" are and the Dora books.  Both are current favorites.  She also likes a wide variety of books we have at home as well!

School and Learning: She knows almost all of her letters, what sounds they make and several words that start with each letter.  She's always telling me "Mommy I want something that starts with a "b", guess what it is?"  (and I'll guess and guess) before she finally tell me what it is.  "Bread!"  :)  She does this with everything, lol.  She counts now to 39 by herself and higher with help.


Today at preschool (Jason took her alone for the 1st time since I had to sub). And her teacher said she had a MAJOR break through today!! ♥  No crying and she was playing and talking to a lot of different kids in the class (not just the teacher).  Her teacher was also going over letters with a child and Haven stood back and watched.  The teacher said she could see her from a distance listening and saying the letters and sounds the letters made so when she was done with that kid, she asked Haven if she wanted to try.  Her teacher was really impressed!!!  She told Jason that Haven is intellectually way ahead of all of the other kids in her class (this is a mixed age level class where Haven is the youngest) but that socially she is behind.  So it's really great that she is breaking out of her shell at school and getting better at the social stuff!  I still can't understand how my most outgoing child at 2 turned out to be my shyest at school and my shyest at 2 turned out to be my most outgoing at school, lol!  Not to mention that Haven has been going to storytime, playdates, Music & Me classes, etc. since she was a week old!!  Oh well, all the more reason I'm so glad that I have her in preschool right now!! :)


Here is an interview I took with her on her 3rd birthday!! :)

Girl Scouts!

I signed Venily up for Girl Scouts earlier this week- I'm so excited!!  I did Girl Scouts for many years as a child and LOVED it!!  It is a good thing I am working part time though, geez these extra curriculars are adding up, lol!  It was $85 to start (and buy uniform).  Plus, she is already doing a candy and nut fundraiser and I'm sure we'll have to buy some of that too!  It will be good for her though!  They meet 2x a month right after school (at school) until 5:00 plus they have extra things they do as well.  I already have to reschedule Ven's well-check now though!  Our schedules are so full it's hard to move things around! :)

Monday, September 24, 2012

First day "back" to work (outside the home)!

I've been babysitting and drawing and being a full-time mom for the last 5 years, but today was the first day I have gone to a job outside the home without my children!  :(

I subbed for Kindergarten today!  WOW, I forgot how hard that is, lol!! (and, no, it wasn't Venily's class but I did get to hang out with her at recess when both Kindergartens were outside!) :)


I was told I was very pretty and a boy brought me "flowers" at recess (they were clovers, lol).  But I was also told "You don't know anything.  I'm way smarter than you!"  Thanks, kid.  I now have a much better future reference for kids in Venily's grade that she IS and is NOT allowed to hang out with!
 

Jason had his internship today 1st shift 6am-2pm, so I asked my grandparents (who I have NEVER left Haven with) to watch her.  I was up half the night worrying about it and almost threw up multiple times this morning (I wish I was kidding, lol), but she did good!  She struggled not to cry when I dropped her off.  And when my Grandma asked where Mommy was going and she said "to work" a few tears started to fall (from both of us!), but she stopped a couple of minutes after I left I'm told.  She said she had a lot of fun! :)  She drew, drank chocolate milk, went out in the camper, played with toys, watched t.v., etc. Not bad for a child who has hardly ever been watched by anyone else besides myself since day 1!  I feel bad that I'm kind of throwing so much at her at once- preschool, dance class, and now me going back to work part time!

I was called in to sub again tomorrow, but said I couldn't because Jason has class and Haven has school.  Then Jason said it was no big deal for him to miss that class, so I called back and the position had already been filled.  I felt good though that she said "Uhhh, I just got someone that I don't really want to sub here.  I would MUCH rather have you!" :)   Today I signed up for a bunch of other dates in October (including a time IN Venily's class!!!!)

We'll see how it goes.  I don't like the idea of it, but it will be nice to have a little more income, especially to cover Haven's preschool cost and the girls' extracurricular activities!  Speaking of which, Venily is signing up for Girl Scouts tomorrow night!  I'm really excited!!! :)

2 more days until Haven turns THREE!!!! :)  AHHHHHH!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

First Day of Dance Class!

Last Thursday Haven had her very first dance class in the 3-5 year old ballet class and Venily had her first class in the 6-11 year old ballet/jazz class (we moved her up since she's taken the other class so many times, lol!).  They both did AMAZING!!!!

We were soooo rushed on Thursday (and will continue to be every Thurs).  I drop Haven off at her preschool at 12:30, go home and then go back to pick her up at 3:30.  Then we have to go straight home as fast as we can to get Haven dressed, make up some dinner the girls can eat in the car and then get in our car and wait for Ven to get off the bus at 4:05pm.  Then all the way to dance class which starts at 4:15 (which there is no way to make on time).  Venily watches while Haven dance until 5:00 then Venily dances and Haven watches until 6:15pm, lol!



I was so very proud of Haven!!!!  She's never done any kind of class before where I watched from the sidelines.  I was really nervous especially remembering Venily's first classes we took her to (they did not go well!).  BUT, Haven did amazing!!  She was a little shy at first, but she did say she wanted to be a red butterfly when they went around the room to start the class.  At first she wouldn't do any of the stretches until the teacher specifically said "Haven, point your feet and lean down."  Etc.





As the class went on, she became more and more confident.  She was having so much fun and had a giant smile plastered on her face.  I LOVED it!!!




Venily watching her sister's class! :)





She is a great little dancer for sure!  And she already knows all of the positions and terminology from watching Venily for so many years, lol!  She held her own too, for being the youngest one in the class! :) Here are some videos of her dancing it up! :)

Galloping:


Bourees


Itsy Bitsy Spider


Dancing!


Venily did great in her class as well!  I am so happy that I moved her to the next class up. The little kids' class is so much more hectic and crazy, lol.  I think that Venily will really benefit from being the youngest one in this class. Her friend Addison also moved up so it was nice that she knew someone else in the class!





Here is a video of Venily on the "barre"
 

I'm so excited to watch them again next week!! :)












Saturday, September 15, 2012

First 2 Weeks of School Done!!

Venily and Haven have both been in school for 2 weeks already!

HAVEN:
She was a little hesitant the first week.  She did well, but she didn't really want me to leave her.  Once I left though, she was good and always excited to tell me what she did when I picked her up!  Week 2 didn't start out so well since 2:00am Tuesday morning she woke up completely unable to breathe.  We had no idea what was wrong, so Jason rushed her to the e.r.  It turns out she had croup!  This is yet another new illness for us- neither of my girls have ever had it before! The next day she was perfectly fine, but I still kept her home for the day.  Thursday was sad.  She didn't care about leaving me anymore (I am totally tearing up now writing this, lol)!  She was excited for school, I brought her there and said goodbye, and she went off with her teacher without ever even turning around. :(   Later that day she told me:

Haven: "Mrs. Jackson is sooo cool... Mommy, Mrs. Jackson is so cool, isn't she?" 

Me: "Yes, she is. Do you like school?" 
Haven: "YES! Do I have school tomorrow?" 
Me: "No, not until Tuesday" 
Haven: "Aww, man!".

I'm so glad she's loving school!  She tells me about what friends she played with, what she had for snack, what she did that day, things she learned, etc. and it just makes me so happy to know she's enjoying it!  She's getting to be so grown up!

VENILY:
Venily loves Kindergarten as well!  She is very social and energetic (which is NOT how I was at school as a child).  It's interesting to see how different she is from me!  We seem to be having a bit of trouble with a boy.  He kissed her (on the lips!) twice the first week of school even though she told him not to.  He also keeps getting on the "red" behavior chart at school (which is the worst and means a note home to the parent).  Then yesterday Venily was drawing a picture on her chalkboard and drew her and Sebastian holding hands!!!  And she said "He's actually really nice to me now and isn't mean anymore!".  GREAT!  Jason and I told her to stay away from him, lol!

Venily is loving being able to eat breakfast and lunch at school.  She's been having cold lunch half the days and hot lunch half of the days.  This year she also goes to her "special" classes a lot more.  They have gym 3x a week, music, art, and computers 2x each a week, and library 1x a week.  I went to parent information night at her school and there was only about 4 parents at the kindergarten meeting.  I got to hear about some of the themes they are going to have this year as well as classroom practices, upcoming fieldtrips, testing, etc.  I'm really glad I went!  I like her teacher a lot more now and it sounds like there's a good possibility that she'll call me in when she needs a sub! :) I'm also signed up to help quite a bit in her classroom (if I can find someone to watch Haven).  I'm really excited, it sounds like she's going to have a lot of fun this year!





Police Internship

Jason started his police internship as well as his last semester of classes!!  It looks like it's going to be a LOT of hard work.  Not only is he in school full time, he needs 206 hours of unpaid time running around doing his internship. His first day went well though, and he got along well with the officers he was with.  His schedule is going to be VERY filled with basically any free time after work and classes going towards shifts with the police department (at all different times- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts).  I know the experience is going to be very beneficial to him, but I really wonder how we're going to get through it.  Also, since he's going to be gone all the time, if I get called in for subbing, I'm going to have to find somewhere to bring Haven!  Oh, and did I mention that I signed up with Venily's Kindergarten class to come in and help out a couple times a week?!  We are definitely going to have our hands full this semester! : /

Caterpillar Update! (because you were dying to know!!)

I don't know where I left off on my last update so here is where we are at now:

Out of 9 caterpillars that we've had this year:


*4 (Worm, Men, Women, and Crazy) turned into chrysalises and then into butterflies!  We let them go the day after they turned.  It was a surprisingly bloody process, but they were very beautiful as butterflies!






*2 (Rusty and Fainting) died.  R.I.P.

*1 (Call Me Maybe Pointy) is STILL in his cocoon!  I don't know what is going on with him he was in his cocoon before the 4 butterflies went into their crysalises.

*2 (French Toast and Garlic Bread) are still caterpillars (they will both me moths as well)!  I haven't seen French Toast in a while, but Garlic Bread has tripled in size since we got him!  And there are some weird white sacks in the cage with these two.  NO idea what they are as we found out that only moths and butterflies lay eggs!?




It's been fun having caterpillars and I've actually learned a ton I never knew before and the girls love them too! ;)

Camping!

We have been camping twice in the last couple of weeks!  Both times we went to Kettle Morraine.  The first time we went to the Ottawa Lake Campground and the second time we went to the slightly more rustic Pinewoods Forest Campground (no electricity, more woods).  We had a fantastic time both times and the girls really loved it as well!

OTTAWA LAKE

 Venily working on her badge!  And our gorgeous '76 R.V. in the background! ;)
 Loved playing at the parks!
 Family pic.  Jason dressed the girls, don't ask!
 Such a goofball!
 Mmmm... marshmallows!
 The girls slept in the top!  So much nicer than when Jason and I slept in the top while we "camped" in our driveway, lol.
 Havs Aravs in the morning!
 This pic makes me lol, she was posing for me!
The family!

PINEWOODS FOREST:
 Ready for camping! :)
 Venily took my camera out in the woods!
 All of us (except Ven, she was taking the pic)
 Venily's pic of Landen
 Riding in the camper
 The kids love this hammock!
 Looking for red berries to finish her nature picture
 Setting up the tent for the Tombari family
 I LOVED that there was this huge trail right behind our campsite!  Here the girls are taking a hike by themselves!
 Daddy and Venily
 Good Morning, Haven! ;)
All the kids!


I must say, I LOVE our "new" camper.  Too bad Jason can't keep anything for more than a year! :(  He wants a small pop-up now. *gag*

Playground!

The girls got a new swingset as an early birthday present from their grandparents!  My mother-in-law got a really great deal on it!  The girls are so happy to have a real playground now and not have to drool over the one across the street, lol! :)  I love it even though that and our trampoline take up half of our yard!