Back to School!!

Monday brought the first day of school for both boys. This is the first year that they have started on the same day and I was so thankful for that!! Deqlan started 3rd grade and Hayden started his last year of preschool!!

                                                       How handsome are these two??

When I picked Hayden up from school Monday we had to head to the doctor's for his 4-year old well check. He is perfectly healthy. 65th% for weight and 55th% for height. He wasn't too happy with me since he had to get his finger pricked, got the flumist, and we went ahead and knocked out the shots he needs for Kindergarten next year. Thankfully by Tuesday morning he was talking to me again!!

Last night Deqlan had his first kid-pitch game (well it was a scrimmage. It was a great experience for all of the boys out there. Deq only got up to bat one time and struck out BUT it was a good at bat especially considering it was the first time he was facing a kid pitching to him. He didn't swing at any horrible pitches. But we do have to break the habit of him swinging at what he thinks is the last pitch. In coach pitch they got 6 pitches so you had to swing at the 6th one. Now there are actual balls and strikes, and the last pitch that he struck out on was definitely a ball. But it is a learning process and he will get better!!

He played 2nd base the first inning and center field the other two that they played. Just those three innings took us an hour and a half to play. Since it was a friendly scrimmage there was still a lot of instruction going on in the field. Deq has a couple of teammates that have either never picked up a baseball (and missed all of the practices until last night) or hasn't played baseball since t-ball. Which means he has a young inexperienced team but they did well overall. Our first actual game isn't until next Wednesday and we don't have anymore practices lined up so that will be interesting!!

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Go check out my Big Brooke at Wide Open Spaces

My Baby is 4!!!!

Four years ago this morning at 10:00 on the dot this little cutie entered our lives.

**I was trying to add pictures from all of his parties but blogger was making it rather difficult this morning. Maybe later it will actually add pictures to the post**

You made the first year a challenging one as we dealt with some stomach/reflux issues and then some major allergy issues. All of which you have outgrown! You pulled yourself up for the first time at 5 months old, crawled at 6 months, and walked at 9 months. We got thru Daddy's first medical issue as a family of 4 and you did wonderful staying with your grandparents for a few days while Daddy was in the hospital.

Our second year was an amazing one. You started preschool a year earlier than your brother because you wear your momma out! I needed some time to myself during the mornings to get some homework and cleaning done without you tearing everything up right behind me. Daddy had more health issues that required radiation treatment 5 days a week for 5 weeks and on the days you had to go with us to sit at the hospital you did great sitting and playing on the kindle. You handled Mom and Dad being away for long periods of times with doctors appointments and love playing with the neighbors when you stayed with them!!

Hayden at his 3rd Birthday Party!

You switched preschools this year to the one that Deqlan went to and it couldn't be a better fit for you! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful director in Ms. Christi. You love her so much and she is willing to do anything for our family! She always keeps an eye out on her Hayden and lets Mommy know what's going on during the day. You've had a rougher year in wondering what's going on with your Daddy and baby you are just still too little to understand why Daddy never feels good anymore. Luckily your grandparents are only a few minutes down the road and can drop whatever they are doing to come get you and your brother when Mommy has to take Daddy to the hospital. It's not fair to have to deal with a sick Daddy but it makes us stronger because of it!!

I am so excited for this year in watching you grow Hayden!! This time next year we will be getting ready to send you off to Kindergarten!! You wish you could go now so you can be at the same school as Deqlan!! You love your big brother so much and want to be just like him!! We are excited to watch you learn and grow this year!!

We are taking Hayden to Chuck-E-Cheese today, his only request for his birthday! And then we have baseball practice tonight. I'm ready to spend a wonderful day together!!!

Our Weekend

Friday night we were able to spend some time with our niece & nephew. My brother & sister-in-law have not had a night out since they brought home my niece & nephew at the end of June (they are in the process of fostering to adopt the kids are 11 & 6). They asked if we would come over and hang out so they could go to dinner. I am never one to turn down time with family so off we went. The kids get along great (although one tween & 3 little boys ages 4-8 makes for a very loud evening) and enjoyed spending a couple of hours together before my niece & nephew had to head to bed. I wish I had pictures of the 4 of them playing together but we can't share any until they are legally my brother & sister-in-law's children.

Saturday morning my mom & I headed out to run some errands & to get the few things we needed to pick up for Hayden's birthday party Sunday afternoon. I love running errands with my mom just because it's time we get to spend one-on-one and while I may be almost 27 years old I still love having uninterrupted conversations with my mom!!! We spent the afternoon watching some of the Little League World Series, man I love watching those kids who are playing the game because they LOVE it!! We headed out to Kanki for Hayden's family birthday dinner. We go for all of our family birthday's and this was the first year Hayden actually agreed to it :-) The kids were excited to see their cousins again!! Since the kids have been apart of the family since the end of June we had only seen them 3 times going into this weekend.

Yesterday we celebrated Hayden's birthday with a pool party. I was stressed all week because the weather wasn't looking the greatest. It was overcast and rainy all day Saturday and they were calling for 50% chance of rain yesterday but we ended up with the most beautiful weather! It wasn't too hot or humid & the rain held off until last night!! Hayden had an amazing time at his party and was so excited his best friend from preschool was able to come and that they will be in the same class again this year!! We were excited they came as well, my brother played baseball with her dad and they hadn't seen each other in years so it was nice for them to be able to catch up for a few before my brother & his family had to leave to go to their adoption group. I do have a picture to share from the party that I will add later this afternoon of Hayden blowing out his candle. He tried to eat the candle apparently because he ended up with wax in his mouth??

We waited until after dinner last night to open his presents and it was so nice to not have a bunch of kids running around trying to help him open them!! We've never not opened presents during a party but we will be doing that from now on!!! Especially since the majority of Hayden's party's will be at the pool since he has a late August birthday. The kids were having so much fun playing that I didn't want to keep them out of the water to watch Hayden open his presents. That child hit the lottery with Spiderman stuff yesterday. His actual birthday is Wednesday and he will be getting his presents from us then. I think we are also going to take him to Chuck E Cheese (I hate that place) but it was his only request this year for his birthday. He wanted to have his party there.

Today is our only day this week with nothing going on outside of the house so I am hoping to get some cleaning done. The boys go back to school next Monday!!!

5 on Friday

I feel like this past week flew by. We spent 7 hours at the hospital Tuesday for CJ to have his blood patch done and we may be heading back early next week to have another one done.

1. Today is the first day of fall classes and my chemistry class doesn't have anything posted. No syllabus just the orientation quiz (which covers things that would be found in the syllabus). This class is only 9 weeks long & I'm already frustrated!!

2. Deqlan had his first kid-pitch practice last night. He has a new coach who knows nothing about him so we stressed how important it was for him to try his hardest. And then he gets out there and starts goofing off with the other kids and acted like he didn't know how to play baseball. It was not a fun ride home!!

3. Tonight we are supposed to go hang out with my niece & nephew so my brother & sister-in-law can head out for a much needed date night. I don't think they realized how much work an 11 year old girl & a 6 year old boy were going to be (my brother & sister-in-law are in the process of adopting). But the boys are excited to get to hang with their cousins for the evening.

4. Hayden's birthday party is SUNDAY!!!! We are having it at the pool we are members of and of course the weather is iffy for Sunday. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day & then there is a 40% chance on Sunday. Let us get through the party with no thunderstorms!!!

5. Next week is so busy. Baseball practice Tuesday & Wednesday night & Saturday morning (that we will miss). Wednesday is Hayden's birthday. Thursday night is our league meeting & Hayden's open house at the preschool (but I think we are going in the morning). Friday we have to be at the pain clinic at 8:40, it's an hour drive & traffic will be horrific which means leaving no later than 7:15!!. Friday afternoon we have Deqlan's meet the teacher at his school. And then Saturday morning bowling starts for Deqlan. I am so ready for school to start on the 26th for BOTH boys!!!

Frustrations

We've known for 3 1/2 weeks now that CJ needs another blood patch before he can go back to work. We found out yesterday that he is on the cancellation list even though we've known since the middle of July and had plenty of time to get on the August schedule. We are going on 7 weeks of him being at home. I love my husband but we are not a couple that can spend all of their time together. We are driving each other nuts!! Our goal is to have him back at work by Labor Day.

Deqlan is signed up to play fall ball again this season. We should find out tonight what team he is on. We found out that the coach from select who then ended up coaching all-stars and not picking Deqlan even though he had enough votes is now coaching this fall. We will be pulling him from the league if he ends up on that team. That coach does not like me because I speak my mind about how crappy of a coach he is and takes it out on Deqlan. I guess he just won't play this fall if that happens. All of the other leagues around us have already had registration. My ideal goal is to get him on a 100% travel team and be done with parks & rec ball.

I start school next Friday! I just ordered my textbooks today so I ended up paying for shipping instead of doing free. I don't want to take the chance that they won't arrive in time. I need to get ahead and stay ahead in my classes this semester if I plan on doing well and working part-time as well. Speaking of working I am still not sure I have a job but the goal is to be working part-time at the preschool Hayden goes to.

Hayden is going to be 4 in two weeks and he is seriously testing his boundaries. He is super excited about his pool party on the 18th. We are still keeping in fairly small. Hayden does not handle large groups of people well. Especially when all of the attention is focused on him!

Our summer bowling league ends this week and I could not be more thankful for it. We decided to bowl this summer to get my knee back in shape and get my timing back but we did not enjoy the people in the league at all. Fall league meetings are in two weeks and then we start the week after. We are ready to be back around our bowling family again!!

Campus Book Rentals

Summer is coming to a quick close and we are gearing up for back to school shopping and routine bedtimes. I am a college student (and have been for quite a few years) and this past January I was introduced to Campus Book Rentals from a blog.

There are a few perks from using Campus Book Rentals. First off you will save anywhere from 40-90% off of your school book store's prices. That in itself should make you look at their website (that is what lured me in January)! Secondly, shipping is FREE both ways. That's right you don't have to pay to get it or to send it back!! They will send you a prepaid mailer when you receive your books for when you send them back. Third, you can highlight the books just like a book you would purchase from your school. And lastly, they have flexible rental periods. So if you only need the book for a short period of time or if you think you may need it longer you can choose!

They have recently started a new program called Rent Back, where you can rent your own textbooks to other students. What a great way to make 2-4 times the amount you would by just selling your book.

The last great thing about this company is their donations to Operation Smile. With every book rented they send a donation to Operation Smile.

**All opinions are my own. Compensation was received for my review**