Random Pictures

Here are some pictures from this week that didn't fit into any category I posted about.

Here's the happiest baby on the planet. Seriously, he's great. He's about to be very mobile, so I guess I might have something coming to me, but right now, he's happy just to be with me or be eating (graham crackers and bananas, especially). We went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth today and he watched some, ate graham crackers (and got them ALL OVER my white shirt...), nursed, and sat contentedly on my lap. Then we skipped his nap and went out to dinner with James' parents and Jeremy and Lauren and he didn't fuss at all. After that, at nearly 9:00 we went to visit James' brother, Jake, who just started working at Cold Stone (ice cream), and Mike's only issue was that I wouldn't give him enough ice cream (I'm not really sure he should be eating that yet...but he sure does love it!)

Ashley on the second day of school. I'm glad she doesn't get embarassed by Mommy taking pictures all the time! It helped that several of the other moms brought their cameras all week.

Paige showing off the view from Nana and Papa's bathroom window. Check out the mountains in the background!

Paige's First Day!

I just dropped Paige off at her first day of preschool! I think she's going to have a great time. She moved her picture over from "at home" to "at school" all by herself, found the hook with her name on it and hung up her backpack, and sat on her special spot. I told her she could choose what we do for lunch today, so I'm pretty sure we'll be going to McDonald's. I hope she has a fun day at preschool!

Michael's First Haircut

James' mom gave him a haircut today, and Michael decided to get in on the action, too. He had a fairly impressive rat tail, so Nana cut that off, trimmed around his ears a little, and evened up the front. I can't believe my little boy is big enough to get a haircut!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was the big day! Ashley started kindergarten. I didn't get all the details from her, but I did find out that there is a special little room for their backpacks, they got to go to recess, gym, and music, and I packed the biggest snack ("Everyone else's mom only packed one or two things and you packed six, mom! It's not lunch, just snack!"). Her teacher seems great. At the end of the day, they lined up and one at a time and she had them show her their parents, then asked if they wanted a hug or a high five or both. Ashley chose both. Then I gave her the choice of going over to Nana and Papa's (James' parents) house for lunch or going out somewhere and she chose Nana's, so we spent the afternoon over there.

I'm 29!

Yesterday was my 29th birthday! I had a fun day, going to my niece's 3rd birthday party at the swimming pool in the morning and having a party with family and friends that night. I got a bunch of (really needed!) new pjs, some new clothes, a fancy pancake maker, and more! James and I put the kids to bed at his parent's house the night before and we went shopping, out to dinner and to the movies, so it was a great weekend! How did I get to be SO OLD??? The good news for me is that I can still tell people who come to the door selling stuff that I'm just the babysitter because I still look 16. I guess that's good and bad...

The Week Before School

We've been getting ready for school for the last few weeks and we got to go in today and meet the girls' teachers and bring in all their supplies. Ashley is in morning kindergarten and Paige is going to 2 morning a week preschool at the same elementary school. Their classrooms even connect! The teachers seem really good and we will be going in for Paige's orientation tomorrow morning and then classes officially start next Monday. Exciting! Here are the girls with their new backpacks filled with supplies this morning:

Charie has been so great about being willing to babysit whenever we need it, so Lauren and I wanted to take her out for a pedicure. Unfortunately, that left no one to watch the kids...so we brought them along. Aren't these the cutest pedicure chairs ever??

Charie and Michael before church:

Standing Up

This is how I found Michael when I got him out of bed this morning. Are you kidding me??? He's not supposed to be doing this yet! He's my tiny baby... He was very pleased with himself, as you can see! (Don't worry, we lowered his crib tonight)

The girls wanted to get in, too...

Girls

Here are the girls in their matching dresses before church on Sunday. I've been trying out new hairdos and my friend shared this link: http://shedoeshair.blogspot.com/ There are really cute hairstyles for little girls and there are link to other similar sites on her sidebar. I've tried out several of the styles and finally took a picture of Paige's yesterday.

Gillespie Reunion

Last week, all of the Gillespie family got together--23 in all--and we had a great week. We rode a train to the top of a mountian, went hiking, went to the zoo, played Rock Band, and had a ton of fun. Here are all 9 cousins (and there are 2 more on the way-congrats, Emily and Lauren!)

Paige, Mary, Jack, Abbey, Ben, Madeleine, Ashley, Michael, and Katherine (thanks to Nana and Papa for the matching jammies!)
The girl cousins (Paige, Ashley, Madeleine, Abbey, Mary, and Katherine)

Singing the snowman song:

At the Zoo: