Pre-School update! [December]

We celebrate advent and Christmas- Jesus' Birthday!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...."

John 3:16

This month their shape is a circle and their color is red. They will be incorporating those into art projects throughout the month. The school is having a Christmas program on Wednesday, December 16th at 11am. I'm so excited about Kylie's 1st school program! Then the school goes on winter break on December 23rd til the New Year.

Today, before I went to get Kylie from her room, I met with her lead teacher for a "Touch Points" meeting, kinda like a parent-teacher conference. Ms Brenda went over things they do at school and how they are teaching them things like: taking turns, sharing, cleaning up and putting everything back in it's place, and following directions. She asked me my concerns and I asked how she interacts with the other kids knowing how she is. And she said that they are working on that with her, as in sharing and waiting her turn. She wants all the toys to herself so they are working on that. And that's about it. She said Kylie is smart and is sweet at times.

I can't believe we are almost at the halfway point for the school year. And Kylie will be 3 years old in 6 months, I know it's going to fly by! She's getting so big- I look at her and can't believe how big she is.

We're Back!

Kylie & I are home from IL. It was a nice week and half and it flew by! We had a really nice Thanksgiving and enjoyed spending time with family.


Here are the pictures taken while we were there.....





Papa & Kylie



cutie!



"how do I open this thing?"









Kylie taking a nap in the dog bed!



Grandma & Kylie riding a camel!



Kylie loved it & probably would have rode it by herself!



petting a baby camel



nice goat



I think she's pulling the donkey's ear!



and putting the goat in a headlock! WOW- she's rough!



Kylie & I on Thanksgiving!






Kylie & Haylee [they weren't cooperating!]



Nana & Kylie



Nana & Haylee



cutie!

Nor' Easter

We survived the Nor' Easter! It actually seemed like a Hurricane. We lost power last night around 6:30pm. I was hoping we would get it back sometime during the night but woke up to still no power. Jacob didn't have to go to work so we went to eat breakfast and found out that we probably wouldn't have power til at least Sunday. So we started making arrangements. We came back home and packed our bags and decided to go to my parents' house til we got power back. Kylie & I drove to Nicole's house so we could get ready for lunch with Grandma. We went to Red Robin for Haylee's 1st Birthday! While we were at Nicole's, Jacob called me and said we got power back at the house! After lunch, we came back home and Kylie took a nap. I ran some errands and we've been hanging out all afternoon/evening.

Here are some pictures I took today after the damage from the storm.....

When we went to get breakfast this tree was on the car in the driveway!

this is a field flooded with water [almost looks like a lake!]

these signs are almost in water!

updates!

Just a quick update, on the Potty Queen! For the last couple days, she has pretty much wore big girl undies at home. The first day as I already posted was not so good. But since then she has done really well with little to no accidents! When we leave the house, she puts on a pull-up and then her big girl undies on over that! This morning, she put on her big girl undies before she had gone on the potty since she woke up. I kept asking her if she had to go potty and she kept telling me no. Then finally, she wanted to go so we got her on the potty and she went poop & pee-pee! Since she's wearing undies, I don't put her in pants, less laundry and then I can really see if she has an accident. Also, while she is sleeping she wears a diaper because she is still peeing a lot while sleeping.

Since we are going on a 16 hour road trip in just 5 days Kylie will be wearing a pull-up and will just use the potty when we stop. I hope this doesn't mess her up any but we would never get to IL if we had to stop every hour!

Starting yesterday, the Hampton Roads area has been experiencing a Nor' Easter, and if you aren't from this area you probably have no idea what that is. Pretty much, it's a mini Hurricane with heavy winds and rain and flooding in low line areas. Most schools were cancelled today. Hopefully it'll be a little better tomorrow as we have lunch plans with Mom and it's also Haylee's 1st birthday!!!!!!

If you haven't heard..... Jacob was offered Area Manager in Elizabeth City, Outer Banks, Moyock, and South Mills [where Mom & Dad live] and he accepted! He starts December 1st. The drive is pretty far but only about an hour there and then an hour back home. It's not that far from Mom & Dad's house so he can take the back way and hit less traffic. As a salesman, he drives around all day whereas a Area Manager he will mostly work in the office so he won't be driving as much and there will be no pressure to sell. I'm hoping he won't be getting home til late since there is still quite a drive but we'll see how it goes.

Congrats on your promotion Jacob!!!!!

Here is Kylie's potty chart from last week! She did really good overall.

Since she has been doing so good with staying dry in her pull-up, I thought we should try big girl undies today! That did not go so well. I'm sure it just takes time to get the routine down and to remember to hold your pee-pee til you get on the potty. And plus, when you are playing and having so much fun, it's hard to stop what you are doing to relief yourself! =]

Kylie is so proud in her big girl undies!

SO pretty!

she loves to paint!

play-doh!

baby shower

On Saturday, I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend, Emily. She's due with her 2nd girl on December 22nd. Her first daughter, Rylee is 7 weeks younger than Kylie and they are best friends! We ate some yummy food, played some fun games, opened presents and ate cake! It was a really nice shower and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Emily, 33 weeks pregnant

Emily & Rylee

favors

food

presents!

cake!

Welcome Sweet Baby Girl! [she doesn't have a name yet :)]

Barbie, Emily & I [Barbie was the other co-host]

Emily & I

Nicole, Emily & I

Emily, Rylee & her husband, Dan

the darnest things.....

Kylie says the cutest things sometimes! When I ask her "what's your name?", she says "KyKy Payne" and then I say "what's your whole [probably should say full instead] name?", she says "Sarah Kylie Payne"!!! Not sure where she got that from because I probably say "Kylie Sarah!" about twenty times a day!

Also the other day I told her "Love you Kylie" and she said back to me "Love you Kimberly"!!!! She has called Jacob by his name plenty of times before and he has even tried to get her to call me by my name but she usually says Mommy. But this was the first time she had actually called me by my name and I was a little shocked she said it! Haha But it's still cute.

She is still talking about the Sesame Street Show and even told Grandma all about it today in the car on the way to the mall. Grandma said she has never heard her talk so much! Just recently, she has gotten very defiant and anytime I yell at her, she yells back at me. Or if I spank her butt, she tells me "DON'T SPANK ME!" or she'll try to spank me and says "I'm going to spank your butt!"- not sure where she gets that from! She is definitely something else!

Go Redskins!

Grandma got Kylie this cute pink Redskins sweatshirt! I love it and it matches her Converse shoes perfectly!

Thanks Grandma!

potty update!

Kylie has been doing SO good going pee-pee on the potty! Yesterday morning, she even told me she had to poop so we ran to the bathroom and she went right away in the potty!!!! She usually tells me she has to go and I only have to ask her if it has been a while. She usually goes at least once an hour, sometimes more. We even tried big girl undies for a little bit because she's doing so good and seems ready but Kylie really didn't want to wear them and wanted her pull-up back on.

I was a little nervous how she would do at school today with keeping dry and telling her teachers she had to go potty but when I picked her up, her pull-up was dry and I knew she hadn't been changed. Of course, I forgot to ask the teachers if she went pee-pee on their minature potty but when I asked Kylie if she went, she said yes! I made her go potty when we got home and she went but not a whole lot to make me think she held it until she got home. Since she stayed dry while at school, she got a Cinderella notepad & stickers, her new obsession- Cinderella & stickers!

I can't believe how well she is doing and catching on to this whole potty thing but I am so proud of her! It's like a light bulb went on and she gets it now! It's funny because Marty started all this potty interest and now Kylie is doing better than Marty! Hopefully, Kylie keeps it up- you should see her potty chart now!

Pre-School update! [November]

November Theme-

We give thanks for everything- God gives us so much!

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord" Psalm 92:1

For the month of November, Kylie will be learning about the color- brown and the shape- square. They will also be talking about all the things they are thankful for in their classroom and at home during November. This month, they will be reading the Bible Story, the ten sick men from Luke 17:11-17 to help us learn about thanking God.

Since we are going to be in IL from Nov. 17-28, over the Thanksgiving holiday, Kylie will only be in school this month a total of 5 days! The school will be closed next Wednesday for Veteran's Day. Too bad I don't get her tuition prorated! And the school is having a Thanksgiving Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 19th that we won't be able to go to because we'll be in IL. It's OK cause we'll be in IL!

Big Girl Potty!

Last week Kylie went pee-pee for the 1st time on the big potty! And since then has been doing pretty good! It's not really anything consistent yet but we are getting there! She has gone pee-pee on the potty at least once a day since she did it the 1st time! I went ahead and got her pull-ups and she only gets to wear them if she goes pee-pee on the potty, if not she has to wear a diaper. So that is good motivation for her! This morning, after she woke up she said she wanted to go on the potty and she sat on it for just a few seconds before she went pee-pee! And then she went again 2 more times before we left for school! I told her teachers at school that she's wearing a pull-up and that if she goes on the potty, she can continue to wear her pull-up but if she doesn't then she has to wear a diaper, just like at home. When I got to school, I asked Kylie if she went pee-pee on the potty and the teacher said she tried. So when we got in the car, I asked her why didn't she pee-pee at church [school], and she said she would "pee-pee at home". Since she's been home from school, she has pee-pee 3 more times, each time just a little!

Also, I've started a potty chart for her and each time she goes pee-pee or poop on the potty she gets to put a sticker on her potty chart and then at the end of the week she gets to take it down and keep it! I'll try to post her potty chart at the end of the week so you can see her progress and hard work!

Here is her potty chart so far [minus a couple].....

Such a big girl!