Haley and Rachel's 1st day of Pre-school

My little 3 year old's went to pre-school for the first time today.  They both started the PPCD (pre-school program for children with disabilities) class today.  Rachel and Haley are not in the same class nor the same school.  The pre-school class is from 8-11am Monday thru Friday.  How bittersweet it was to see them off on their first day of pre-school.  My girls seem so little to be attending school, but pre-school will be good for them and they will learn a lot.  I had to hold back the tears as I watched Haley get on the bus and as I left Rachel with her teacher in her classroom.  My little miracle survivors are growing up!


Haley:  My sweet little Haley rode the school bus to and from school today.  She did well, but did get a little upset when we first put her on the bus.  She just didn't quite understand what was going on, but once she got to school she was fine.  Yes I did go to her school to check on her and get a picture.  She has a great teacher who will help her learn a lot of new things.  Haley is in the life skills class at her school. 

 

Haley waiting for the bus.  Her backpack looks so big on her!

Haley sitting pretty at school

Rachel:  My determined and full of energy little girl attends a different school from Haley.  Rachel is in a PPCD class more focused on deaf education.  She will be learning sign language and work on speech.  We are taking Rachel to school since the school bus was going to pick her up at 6am!  That is just too early for a 3 year old.  Rachel will be riding the bus home though.  Rachel's class is from 8-11am as well.  Rachel had a good 1st day at pre-school.  She loves wearing her backpack and when I dropped her off at her classroom she immediately went to the table and sat down in a chair to play with the puzzle that was on the table.  Her teacher is also very nice and will be of great help for Rachel.

Rachel with daddy ready to go into the school

Rachel with her teacher playing with a puzzle

Weekend Outings

The girls love to go outside so we decided to take them to a couple of parks this weekend.  On Saturday we went to a special park (special to Thomas, who has a lot of memories in this park) in League City, Texas.  It's behind the house Thomas grew up in.  He had not been back to this park in a very long time and thought it would be fun for the girls to visit.  We arrived to the park a little after it had rained.  Thank goodness it wasn't too hot or sunny, but was very humid!  At this park there is a very large open field and I immediately saw a picture taking opportunity.  I've learned to take my camera everywhere we go just in case the opportunity arises.  Photography is something I really enjoy so I had fun as much as the girls had fun running around.

Daddy with Haley and Rachel

Rachel and Haley

Rachel, Kayla and Haley

Haley, Kayla and Rachel

These next 3 pictures are of the girls in a narrow walkway that Thomas used to use as a kid to get to the park from his house.

Rachel and Haley

Haley and Rachel

Kayla

 
 Late Sunday afternoon, we went to a park next to Lake Houston

Thomas a little scared after seeing this sign.  He is terrified of alligators.  Thank goodness we didn't see any.

Rachel and Haley

Kayla

Rachel and Haley

Girl's 1st trip to Galveston

Saturday (August 11) we decided to do a quick trip to Galveston to go to the beach.  For those who don't live in Texas, Galveston is an island in the Gulf of Mexico 45 miles southeast of downtown Houston.  We live about 65 miles from Galveston.  So not too long of a trip to get there.  This was the first time the girls have been to Galveston.  We have been wanting to take them to get pictures of them on the beach even though Galveston beaches are definitely not the prettiest out there.  The girls enjoyed it and I got some memorable pictures.

Daddy with Rachel & Haley

Haley

Rachel

Rachel and Haley.  Couldn't get them to stand still for a picture.  This is the best I got.

Kayla and I

Kayla and I

Family picture

Another family picture

 

Kayla is 8 Months Old!

My little Kayla is another month older.  She is growing up on me so fast!  I love her so very much!

For her 8th month photo shoots, I moved her outdoors wearing tutu's made by my friend and I.  The chair she is sitting on was inspired by Pinterest.  I found a chair for $5 on Craigslist, cut the legs short and then spray painted it dark brown.  It's perfect for photo shoots!  

Kayla is growing!  She weighs 15 lbs, 5 oz.  She is making so much developmental progress.  She is sitting up on her own.  She started that at 7 1/2 months.  She is combat crawling though she is starting to get up on all fours.  She can transition from sitting to combat crawling.  She is so interactive, alert and is interested in all that is going on around her.  She is a happy baby and loves attention from anyone.  She is so smiley and she really lights up when she is around her sisters.  She loves Rachel and Haley!

Combat crawling

Up on all fours (sort of)

Kayla is still not sleeping through the night.  I don't know if she is waking up in the middle of the night because of true hunger or if she has just made a habit of waking up to eat.  Of course I have a hard time not going to her to comfort and feed her.

Kayla is teething.  She has one bottom tooth that has erupted, but has not come out all the way yet.  She is showing her preference for what baby foods she likes and doesn't like.  She of course loves fruit, sweet potatoes and sweet carrots.  Kayla can pick up and feed herself Gerber Puffs.  She loves them!  Kayla was still having a lot of spitting up so I switched her formula and that seems to have helped along with her medication. 

Feeding herself

The last picture is of Kayla wearing a dress that I wore when I was 7 months old.  I also took pictures of Rachel and Haley in this dress back in January 2011.  You can read that post HERE.

Amanda (me) at 7 months

Rachel & Haley's 3rd Birthday Party!

It was nice being able to have a party with our family and friends to celebrate the girls 3rd birthday on their actual birthdate.  I really like when birthday's fall on a Saturday.  Rachel and Haley had a great time on their birthday and really enjoyed the whole day of their party.  We had a full day of celebrating for them.  It started in the morning at our neighborhood splash pad, then had cake and opened gifts in the afternoon and last the girls enjoyed bouncing in their new bouncer in the early evening.

At the Splash Pad

Rachel

Haley having fun!  She loves the water!

Rachel

Haley

Rachel and Haley with their cousins

Cake and gifts

This year for the girls cake, I got them each a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  These cake are very good and so moist.  The cakes turned out so girly and cute!

The girls cakes

Haley and Rachel digging into their cupcakes

Haley not to sure about it

Rachel enjoying the taste of it without swallowing any of it

The girls gifts in their new wagon

Haley and Rachel opening their gifts from Aunt Michelle.  Their cousin Emily helped them out.

Haley likes to climb on anything.  Here she is after climbing on top of one of her gifts.

The Bouncer 

Rachel and Haley like to jump.  Thomas, I, Grandma and Grandpa Benedict got them this bouncer.  They love it!  This bouncer also fits in our living room for when its too hot/cold or raining outside.

Haley and Rachel in the bouncer