Stella update and Pumpkin carving

So Stella went to the doctor today for her 2 year check up. She is doing great!! No concerns, she is doing everything she is supposed to be doing and is talking and everything a 2 year old should be doing. (So why do I worry?!) She got two shots, poor baby. Stella weighed in at 28 lbs even and is 2' 10.5" tall, which puts her in the 70th%ile for both height and weight. Stella is talking up a storm and I just love it and she now is saying 'I love you'. That is the best ever!!!

Now on to pumpkin carving. We decided to carve pumpkins last night since this week is so crazy. So Jalen and grandma came over to help and so Jalen could carve as well. We only had Nora and Stella carve this year. Normally all four of us carve, but it was just too much last night. We had fun and Nora was all about the carving and picking out the picture to carve. She wanted a 'scary' pumpkin, which cracks me up. And of course Peter did Stella's 'peter style'. We cannot wait for Halloween! Hope it doesn't rain too much.

Happy 2nd Birthday Stella

Today is Stella's 2nd birthday! I cannot believe she is already two, but I cannot remember life without her anymore. She has been such a blessing to our family. She makes me smile constantly and she is full of so much energy and love.
We decided to do something a little different for her party this year. We did a pancake and pajama birthday party. We actually did it this morning at 10:00 am. I decorated the basement and we changed our table into a bed for 'breakfast in bed'. Everyone wore their pajamas and we had pancakes with different toppings!!! The kiddos made fruit loop necklaces and got to take home a blanket as their thank you. We had a lot of fun and it was so simple to do.
Stella got a bitty baby from us this year and she hasn't put it down, which makes it well worth every penny spent on it and it has renewed Nora's interest in her bitty baby ;) She also got a little princess couch in which both girls haven't quit playing with either. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family!
Here are some pics from this morning. I will post her yearly update tomorrow after we visit the doctor!

Soccer

Nora is playing soccer this year. She is playing in the CYC league through the catholic church. This is the same league I grew up playing in. Our team is St. Catherine Laboure (SCL). She plays for 8 weeks and so far is really liking it. The coach is good and we actually work in the same district and his wife is our pediatrician. What a small world! Anyway....It is just so funny to see her all geared up in her soccer stuff and playing. She does really well at practices, games.....she is learning. She likes to watch the ball and she kept putting her hand on other players backs to guide them to the right spot. She was pretty funny, but she would not get in the action. I know, I know, she is only in kindergarten. But I love that she is getting involved in sports!!

Eckerts Fun

Last week went spent Labor Day at Eckerts Farm. It is a pretty neat place and we have taken Nora there before, but Stella had not been. Throughout the year they have strawberries, apples, peaches, blackberries, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and other fruits and veggies too. When we went we hit the peak of honeycrisp apple season and the very tail end of peach season. The girls were really excited and Nora brought her friend Ally with her.
When we got there we walked around and saw some of the farm animals they have and had lunch. The big girls were really excited to have corn dogs (it cracks me up). After that we got on the tractor and headed out into the orchard. We let the big girls pick 5 apples each and they had so much fun doing it. They ate some apples while we were out too. After the apples we hit the peaches and they were nice and ripe. Stella ate a whole peach and wanted more. We were both covered in peach juice by the time we left. So much fun!

School Days

School days, that is for sure. And these school days are pertaining to me. I was accepted into St. Louis University as a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Administration program. Holy moly, what did I get myself into?! As many of you know I have always wanted that title behind my name and now I am going after it. I decided, with help from Peter, that now was the time to do it while the girls are still little and not into too many activities.
I went to orientation a few weeks ago and found out that the program has changed a little bit. Instead of it being a weekly Thursday night class it is 2 Saturday's a month. Each class will be held on 4 Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and that is for real. I went to my first class this past Saturday and actually got out at 5:10 to be exact. It was a very LONG day, but in the end will be worth it.
I chose SLU because they are one of the few programs out there that is a true cohort program and also because you can enter the program without having a specialist degree. The program is designed to encompass a specialist degree as well, but in the end you will have an Educational Doctorate. The program itself is a 38 hour program (7 semesters long). So by hopefully by the end of 2016 I will be done. I will be doing my dissertation with two other people in the program and that is determined by our advisor.
It will be an interesting journey, but an exciting one. I am excited to take the next step in my education and in my career. After this school year I will be actively looking for a principalship. By the time I am done with this program I will be able to eventually be a superintendent, but we will see about that. Not sure I will head that way or not. I need to become a principal first and go from there ;)

Kindergarten

Well our sweet Nora girl is a big kindergartner! I just can't believe it sometimes that I have a child old enough to be in a big school. She was so excited to go. The whole week before she kept asking if today was the morning she was going to get to go to kindergarten. So the day finally came and we got ready and headed off! Peter worked from home that day so he was able to go as well! We got there a bit early and when the bell rang we actually got to take her into her classroom and take some pictures. The plan was to drop her off in the mornings and she is taking the bus to me at Gotsch after school. For those of you who don't know she is going to Affton this year, so we can be on the same schedule. She is actually going to be riding the bus in the mornings too. There is a stop right in our sitters neighborhood and that way I won't be getting to work right when I am supposed to and it will give me a little extra time. Her good friend Lucy, from pre-k is in her class and the teacher put them right next to each other!! So far she has enjoyed the first two days of school. Her favorite part is the bus ride, go figure! Lots of new things for all of us!

Nora's First Feis

This morning Nora participated in her first Irish Feis (pronounced Fesh). A feis is an Irish dancing competition and they have many competitions through the US throughout the year. There are 3-4 that are held in St. Louis every year and one of them was this morning. She competes with kiddos that are her same age, so it isn't too cut throat and the more they compete the better they become. And the great thing about our dance school is the teacher is okay if they don't compete a lot (which I like). There is no pressure. Anyway, so we headed to the An Samhra Feis and Nora did awesome!! It was her and another little girl in her age bracket that were competing in their first feis today. I was so proud of Nora!!! I was so worried that she might not even do it, but she did and wasn't nervous at all. She came in second place and was just ecstatic and we made such a big deal about it!!! That is all she has talked about the rest of the day. She is proud of herself. Can't wait for her to continue and learn even more. She did two dances today, the light jig and the light reel. She had no idea what she was doing for the reel, but the jig she did pretty well at. The point of a first feis is to get them out there and in front of people and that is exactly what she did!!! So proud of my Nora!