The Gerichs

First off.........Simone is in Preschool! This girl has patiently waited through two years of drop offs, pick ups, fun Pastor John stories, Zoo Animal friends details, snack endulgences, party chat, recess fun and art work galore all from Big Sister. And now...it is HER turn. She couldn't be more excited. We made her placemat together that she'll be eating snack on and went to the open house and then she waited patiently for her first day to come. She has loved every moment of it and I would say her favorite thing is learning which zoo friend they are going to learn next. (They do zoo phonics. Alli- Alligator says "ah, ah, ah"...and she can recite them all.) I didn't consider Simone a super observant child until preschool started. She could early on recide the 11 kids names in her class and when I wouldn't know who a kid was she would quickly respond- "you know, the one with a dinosaur on his shirt today." She has taken most to a boy whose name is Jake and they play Jake and the Neverland Pirates daily. She enjoys Pastor John but tells me she continually tells him that she is not just Simone. She is Simone Olivia Gerichs. I giggle because she doesn't do that to anyone else. She loves to bring snack, but doesn't prefer for everyone to pile attention on her and thank her for it. The snack kid gets to be line-leader, so it really is a BIG deal. ;) She goes Tu/Th for 3 hours and I get to enjoy some alone time with Cole, or some quick errand running. Ok, I do enjoy parousing Target with just a baby who sleeps and no little girls asking me for anything. There, you have it...the truth is out. Her teachers are the same ones that Sydney had in the 3's class and I cannot say enough wonderful things about them.

Sydney had been asking us for months at the end of last year if she could do ballet. We told her that when Kindergarten started, she could. Simone insisted on doing it also, which meant giving up gymnastics. That lasted all of two months and now she's happily back doing somersaults, bars, and balancing beams with her best buddy Charlotte. But, in the meantime Gramma got some super sweet pictures of the two-second ballerina. Sydney enjoys it, and is in a ballet/tap combo class. She doesn't love it over soccer, tho- so this will be her first and last year as I have set a one-extracurricular-per-kid rule going into First Grade. It becomes too much quickly I've learned, so next year we are going to tone it down.

Back to soccer. Here's some pics that Gramma took (who else!?) that captures the joy she is having out on that field.

Hannah and Gavin continue to be a big part of our lives every four weeks and I feel so blessed to have them. Hannah adores the girls, and vice versa, and it's so fun to be experiencing all the same things with Cole that Leah is experiencing with Gavin. She's a wonderful Mom, and an outstanding Sis-in-law. They travel back and forth to Cali, so our time with them is not as frequent as I'd like, and treasured.

Every year we go to St. Mary's School Carnival in Nampa where Elli runs the pie booth and relishes in having her grandkids come ride rides, play games and get introduced to her friends. It's always ridiculously hot when we go, but the kids don't mind- they love it.

The other day Sydney said to Rob and I; "School sucks." I about fell off my chair. We explained to her that we don't use that word, and later that night I was thinking about the whole situation. I chuckled and thought to myself- if she would have said "September sucks." I would have given her an amen, a high five and told her nice choice of words. Because, really. For a few moments there- September sucked.

To make a long story short, Cole and Rob got whooping cough. Yes, Pertussis- the stuff we vaccinate for. Who knows how Rob got it, but Cole had only had his 2 month vaccinations so he was an easy target. Chest x-rays and multiple visits to the doctor to monitor what was going on left me in shambles. Your mind can go funny places when you let it, and I had to constantly look to Rob for an uplifting chat, for confirmation that our baby was going to live, for reassurance that we were doing all that we could for him. Thank the good Lord who was looking out for that little sweetie, because I am still in awe of how well he recovered from the scary 2 minute coughing episodes. His cough did go on to last 3 months like the nickname- "The 100 day cough" but looking back I am so grateful that the frightening days were limited.

To rule out pneumonia and other chest issues they had to do a chest x-ray. It was quite horrible to watch, and he did NOT prefer it.

We spent 3 weeks sleeping like this for each nap and at bedtime so that I could quickly get him upright when having a coughing spell. Subsequently, this ruined my awesome sleeper. Oh well, much worse could have happened.

Onto a more positive note- he got his first and second teeth this month on the bottom. He can roll over both ways, can sit up and is grabbing at everything! His blue eyes kill me and are the first thing anyone compliments. His demeanor is so chill, leaving Rob and I to whisper "Oh my gosh, he's so perfect" out of the girl's hearing. He truly is a little joy to us.

This funny lip face is all we saw for a few weeks while he was feeling out his new chompers.

Best onesie ever.

Hard to take this serious, right? That's what the cars driving next to me thought too.

Hot chocolate chipmunk cheeks.

And now looking back at this month, I realize it really didn't suck as bad as I thought it did. There are so many wonderful things surrounding me, such a web of support and love. So many blessings in these little lives I get to care for.

After the busy of summer this family embarked on a whole new chapter in our lives. Public Grade School. Our little Sydney had a backpack, new polka dot shoes, and was ready to go. She didn't say much either way about going- but I could tell that first day arriving with all of those kids swarming the playground, she was nervous. I can't remember the last time I got hugs so big when I picked her up. It was an interesting transition. She left two really good friends at preschool because they weren't quite old enough for Kinder, and I think that was rough on her. Making new friends is hard- especially when you are an observant, I want to stand and stare at you, semi-shy girl. You couldn't PAY me to go back to the awkwardness that school unleashed. She really enjoys her teacher, and with 25 kids in the class has made some new friends.

She's excelling in the reading department and it's been such an awesome thing to watch. Seeing the sound blends just click and watching her little brain say words without having to struggle through the sounds has been so cool. I get the opportunity to volunteer every other Tuesday while Gramma has some alone time with Cole, and I love, love, love it. Fun to see the faces that she talks about and watch the same "clicking" with other kids is exciting.

Homework in general is an extremely frustrating thing for her- even if it really isn't hard. She manifests it to be impossible in her mind and we've had many a 30-minute meltdown days. Numbers were kicking her backside for a long time, and now that she's recognizing the patterns she's starting to enjoy them. I'm usually the bad guy with her spouting off something to the tune of "You're just saying it's wrong because you don't like me and you don't want me to get it done." To which I simply respond- "No, it's because 12 is not twenty." Or, "the word "like" is not leekee."..."and now you may go sit in time out because you aren't allowed to be mean to me just because you find this difficult." She is indeed a perfectionist and has no time for repetitive mistakes.

It's been weird having her gone five days. And in a lot of ways I didn't realize how much I relied on her help with Cole until she was gone and it was just him, myself and a 3 year old who doesn't respond to his cries, but instead tries to poke his nose, cheek, eye or forehead to see just what he'll do. For the record, he hates it. Every. Time.

Yes, she is supposed to be in Kindergarten. She just so happened to be standing next to the shortest 3 children in her class. She is by far the tallest in the class, but doesn't look quite so gigantic when they are all together.

Mrs. Westcott

Instead of back to school clothes shopping, Granny Jo Jo decided the girls needed to go "Back to School Toy Shopping". She took them for an afternoon and they came home with whatever their little hearts desired while parousing the Fred Meyer aisles. Oh, and popcorn and ice cream. Dates with my 88 year old Grandma are special moments that come every now an again. She's got an energy and love for my kids that is untouchable.

Our first introduction to Legos...and we were HOOKED.

What else....Ooh! Sydney started soccer and loved every. single. minute. of the season. Games were her favorite and I seriously think she smiled, pranced and jumped throughout the entire game. She got better as time went on and asks us daily if we'll play with her. She will play again in the spring and can hardly wait. Hayden and Taylor from preschool were on her team, so that was an extra special treat.

We have a van and a soccer player. Hmmmm....

Granny Jo Jo finished Cole's quilt and I absolutely adore it. She no doubt won an award at the fair for it, and I am smitten that all three kids have matching ones. Like I said, she's a special lady.

This little boy turned 3 months old, so we had a little photo fun at Gramma's house. Boy does he have rolls upon rolls. The Itsy Bitsy spider gets the hugest giggles out of him and his hands have found each other...and his mouth.

Booby shot!

Getting so much stronger!

Since Sydney was the first to give Simone a bottle, I thought it fair that Simone give Cole his first bottle. He appeased her for a few sips, but has never taken a liking to them.