more preschool and stuff

Molly home from her second day of school. The first thing she went for was the remote. I think she's going through TV with drawls... I didn't think she watched that much, but I like to unwind with the TV too.

We also found out that Molly didn't lose her water bottle on the bus and/or Madison didn't take it. Molly left it in her classroom. Which makes me feel better.

Instead of sporting a watch Gabe's sporting a hospital band and a superstar patient sticker. He really missed going to school with Molly.Day 3."I'm going for a run before the bus get here. k."Gabe didn't go to school yesterday or today and he won't be there tomorrow and maybe next week... Little man has been scaring me and Drew. We went to children's hospital tonight so I'm assuming we were talking with one of the best surgeons in the area, but I'm not exactly sure how you can say that a boy who goes #2 usually 2* a day is constipated. Gabe has been diagnosed with rectal prolapse. gross. disgusting. I'm hoping that no one else has or will have any experience with this. But we're told that with a high fiber diet and lots of liquids that it should correct itself within the next 2 weeks. The surgeon said that his odds of needing surgery to correct the problem are 1% but I'm still freaked out about the whole thing. Send prayers and happy thoughts Gabe's way.

My chicks

have flown the coop...

Today was the first day of preschool.

(No uniforms. I made a slightly humiliating mistake. Which I can't really share on our public blog... I feel bad about sending my mother in law on a wild goose chase. Sorry Suzie!)

Molly and Gabe about a half hour or so before the bus came.

Gabe likes to mimic Drew. He told me "I goin for a run" as we waited for the bus.

They did so well. No tears just excitement. I met Molly and Gabe at school. I wanted to make sure all of their papers got to the right people. I also had a few questions. And of course I wanted to check on them and make sure the bus ride had gone well. Watching them lining up and following all of their teachers directions made me really proud of them. They'd just randomly look at me, give me a big smile and a little wave. They're so big.

I was asked if I was nervous for them. And I really wasn't. I knew that they were ready and they would be fine, but I was really sad. I've spent almost everyday of their lives with them. Now 4 days a week they'll be gone more than they're home. :( But they loved it. They're excited to go back tomorrow. The first things that Gabe told me "I don't have a slide. but I have balls. Lots and lots. I have lots of new friends." I asked how many new friends? He threw his arms in the air and said very proud "TWO!" Love it. Molly started crying as we walked inside. She said she sat by Madison on the bus and Madison took her water bottle. Hopefully we aren't starting any drama yet. They're too little.

outside time

Suzie came to visit a couple weeks. Before she left she decided to replenish the kids sand box.
Gabe was thrilled about the sand. He played in it for probably an hour when he realized it wasn't coming off his hands and had a melt down...
Molly building a castle.

In my attempt to calm Gabe and keep him outside a bit longer we decided to play in the sprinkler.

Who knew skipping a week of cutting the grass would be such a mess? It really didn't look long, but it was. The mower shut down on me a couple times. boo. Anyway the sprinkler was messier than the sand.

This is our first year gardening. We planted late so we decided to just plant 3 things.
zucchini. green peppers. tomatoes.
I've learned a few things. Did you know that your ground can be low in calcium? My zucchini kept growing about 6 inches long and then rotting. I mentioned that to my sister who informed me that if your soil is lacking calcium the flower won't fall off causing your plants to rot. I had no idea.
(Look at Gabe's watch. A couple weeks ago we were in Target. I was looking at the clearance bins in the jewelry section. Gabe saw a watch and asked if he could try it on. He then asked in the cutest most sincere Gabe voice "Mom I please have this watch? I take it home with me? I really like this watch." I told him it was a girl watch. He proceeded to ask if he could have a boy watch. I told him that we could look. Wouldn't you know they had a WWF watch for $1.74 The price was right so I told Gabe he could have the watch with the "strong man" on it. I thought he would wear it for a couple of days and then it would get lost in the bottom of the toy box with so many other toys. To my surprise Gabe has worn his watch everyday for the past couple weeks. He's so proud of it. He shows it to everyone. "See this is my watch. What time is it?" He carefully takes it off and puts it in the same place every night. It's adorable. )

I also learned that 9 tomato plants might be too many. I've been picking between 8-12 tomatoes a day.

summer is ending...

Monday Drew starts teaching again. (even though we haven't really seen him the past 2 weeks... lots of meeting/trainings/prep etc LAME) Then in a couple weeks Molly and Gabe start pre-school! Everyday Molly talks about how excited she is. She keeps telling me that she's going to be so brave just like her friends Jimmy and Olivia. Gabe is excited too, but I think it's mainly because Molly is bursting and he gets to go too. I have mixed emotions. I guess it's because I'm their mom and am always with them, but mainly I just hope that the other kids are nice to them. I also hope that they talk to the other kids. :)

The pros
*Drew can see their school from his office window.
*Molly and Gabe are super excited about taking the bus. (only pre-k kids on their bus and maybe a 2 mile bus ride)
*Molly and Gabe will be able to make friends. (no little kids on our street)
*They will be in the same class which I think will make for a nice transition.
*It's a uniform school, but not a very strict one. They can wear any solid color polo. Yay for being able to wear pink! Although Molly is so excited I think she'd wear anything.
The Cons
*Buying the kids with endless amounts of clothes: more clothes.
*Only closed toed shoes and no crocs. What is Gabe going to wear? :)
*Khaki pants, but no corduroy (love cords)
*Lastly they will be gone M-Th ALL DAY. They start just after 9:30 and get out at 4:15.

I won't have any excuses for falling behind on housework. I'm looking forward to this milestone. I know that Molly and Gabe will love it. It will also give me lots of quality time with Mr Lincoln, who started rolling from his back to his tummy today. We're growing up fast in the Wilkerson home.

dum dum da dum

This past weekend we ventured out to Tomah, Wisconsin for a friends wedding. We stayed at the Cranberry Country Lodge. I was a little disappointed that we weren't able to get a room at the Lodge where the reception was held. Who knew we needed to call over a month ahead? So even though we didn't get an indoor/outdoor water park we did get an aquatics center at our hotel. Molly and Gabe LOVED it, Lincoln had no complaints. This little pool in the picture was 3 inches deep in some areas and went up to 15 inches. Perfect for Molly and Gabe. There were 2 other pools. One had basketball hoops and a volleyball net. The other pool was smaller and warm. There was also a huge hot tub, but our family is too young for that.

This picture is from the first night. We played for a few hours before we ate dinner. Drew, Molly and Gabe swam a bit Saturday morning before the wedding festivities began and then we swam again before we checked out Sunday morning. Molly kept saying "Mom this is so fun I've never been to a hotel before." While not true I'm sure she doesn't remember the last time she was at a hotel.I'm sad that I forgot to bring my camera to the church. The church was way out in the country by Stephanie's parents farm. It was beautiful. Just what I was expecting. Fields everywhere with a pretty white church with a huge steeple. Beautiful. Gabe: "Look at those windows they beautiful" talking about all the stained glass.

I remembered my camera for the reception.

Once the music started this girl was in all her glory.

Molly jumping and twirling on the dance floor. She was "SO EXCITED" to wear this dress and her high heels. I think she has showed her dress to everyone who has walked through our door the past couple months. "This is my wedding dress. I can't wear it until Eric's wedding... It's my wedding dress. Do you want me to try it on? Please. I so excited."

Another highlight for Molly was getting to dance with Eric. Gabe showing Stephanie his little man.

Drew with all of his grad school friends. A bunch of guys that he really misses. It was nice getting to catch up. I think we're already planning a trip to hang out with all of them next summer. Hopefully all the open house invitations were for real. :)

Go Rays!

T-ball has come to an end. It only took Molly a month and a half before she started going after the ball even if there were other kids by her.:) She told me before every game "I'm going to be brave out there with dad." She did great. Everyone cheered for Molly. Her cute shy way won her a lot of fans.

get ready
look at that hot coach in the background;)

thumbs up

Molly got the game ball and a medal.

Go Rays!

week in review

This past week has been really busy. Really busy, but really nice. I kind of feel like I'm back in my old life. Running around with my kids, play dates and hanging out with friends. It's been really nice. The kids are actually worn out at the end of the day. No silliness/fights at bedtime. They've even been sleeping in. (sleeping in at the Wilkerson house is waking up after 7)

*Last Saturday Adam, Jen, Kelly and their friend Berl came to our house to do a 6 hour cave tour with Drew and Tony. I think besides most of them being really sore they had a great time. They got to wear coveralls and helmets as they wiggled and climbed their way through Mammoth Cave. I'm a little jealous that I didn't get to go, but I'm nursing. Being away from Lincoln for 10 hours isn't really an option at the moment. My friend Rebeca came over after Molly's T-ball game and kept me company most of the day. {side note} Molly hit the ball on the first time all 4 times she batted. whoop whoop.

*Sunday morning everyone left. We went to church. Then that night Aunt Shelley and Uncle Rob came for the night. Molly and Gabe tend to be shy around people, not this time. Molly talked Shelley's ear off. Really cute. We had a nice visit and stayed up way too late.

*Monday morning Aunt Shelley and Uncle Rob left. Then I was off to the dentist with Molly and Gabe. I took them to my dentist, which I was a little nervous about because she isn't a pediatric dentist, but like usual they did great. They both had teeth come in with soft spots. Our Nebraska dentist said that he just wanted to monitor the spots and wait until they were older to fix them. My dentist wants to get them taken care of so that they won't get worse which I'm grateful for.

*Tuesday I had my friend's 5 kids in the morning. They're moving and I wanted to give them a few hours to get stuff packed sans kids. (their family didn't come to Drew's birthday party and Molly was really upset about that. I told her they moved and she was even more upset) Later that night I watched a different friend's 5 kids so that she could take a tour of the hospital she'll be delivering at later this week.

*Wednesday was story time and a quick trip to Walmart to replenish all the bread we went through the day before.

*Thursday we had a play date in the morning with my friend, her friend and their 4 kids. Then it was off to a Pinkalicious party at the library. From their we ran to Lincoln's 4 month check up. Lincoln is 26 in (75th percentile) and 14 lbs. 9oz (50th percentile). When the nurse took him to weigh him he laughed at her. She talked to him and he laughed out loud at her again. It was the cutest thing ever. He's never laughed out loud like that before. Hopefully he'll start laughing for us. I'm a little jealous.

*Friday we ran errands in the morning. I found a picture frame at Hobby Lobby that fits a mirror I have PERFECTLY. The best part was that the frame was 90% off, $3.40 score. Then we headed across the street to Old Navy. I was looking for a summer dress to wear to a wedding we're attending in a couple weeks. I found one on the clearance rack for 14.99. Not a bad deal, but one of the straps was breaking. I asked the cashier if they could do anything else. She said that she could take 50% off, but I wouldn't be able to return it. I got my dress for $7.49. My day was made. Then we went home and Drew headed to the gold course. Drew got done golfing came home helped put the kids to bed and then headed out again for a boys night. It gave me a little time to make a birthday banner.

*Saturday was DREW'S BIRTHDAY. We went to Molly's T-Ball game. After lunch Drew opened his presents. We got him a basketball hoop and a cast iron skillet. He spent most of the day putting together the basketball hoop. For dinner we had a brisket and the first zucchini from our garden. (we planted late, but we're starting to get zucchini, peppers and tomatoes)they we're super excited

We invited a few families over for the ice cream cake I made. yum

Make a wish.Look at my beautiful husband. He's not perfect, but he's perfect for me.
Happy 27th birthday babe!