Preschool Orientation

Last night I went to the orientation for Carter's preschool that he will be starting on September 1st. The programs around here call their 2-year-old classes Parents' Day Out (PDO). We got this note from Carter's teaches in the mail this weekend ...



Both of the teachers seem nice. They have been teaching together for 8 years. There are 10 kids in Carter's class (2 less than normal just because enrollment is down). There are 5 girls and 5 boys. About half the kids were in the PDO program last year. I talked to a few of the other moms and they were super nice. One family also moved here recently. They have a girl in Carter's class and a 7-month old boy. I really hope both Carter and I make some new friends through this!

Carter's teachers gave us all a bunch of basic information about how they run their class. It'll be interesting to hear how Carter adapts to things like not having a snack whenever he wants it or having to take naps on a mat with other kids around. The teachers gave us a copy of the schedule they'll be following ...


The kids aren't supposed to bring their own backpacks and lunch bags. Instead the school provides them with these bags ...


They are huge. I took Carter's today to get his name embroidered on it. Even though he had been excited about using his monkey backpack, he seems equally excited about this new one (thank goodness!).

I'm nervous for Carter because this will be his first time in a new environment on his own. The only people that have watched him for us are our parents and Sarah. I'm doing my best to prepare Carter for school so he's excited about it but we'll just have to wait and see how that first day goes.

When we first started talking about preschool, Carter would say something about me going with him and when I told him it was just him going, he'd get sad. He doesn't ask if I'm going anymore so hopefully he somewhat understands that this is something just for him. We talk about school several times a day so I'm hoping I've done a good job of preparing him.

Cookie Mouse

I took the boys over to Barnes and Noble this morning for their storytime. We got there a little early so the boys played with the train table for awhile.


We put our train table in storage because I didn't think we'd have room in the apartment for it. Carter told me today that "the guy" took it. Back when we were in our house still, Carter had gotten a bunch of candy at the Fourth of July Parade. I didn't want him to have anymore of it so I had tossed it during his nap. We ended up having a showing for our house right after naps and when we got back, Carter asked about the candy. I told him we didn't have it anymore and he said "the guy" (the person viewing our house) took it. From then on, whenever he couldn't find something, he said "the guy" took it.

Today's book at storytime was "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". Carter did an excellent job sitting on the benches by himself and listening to the entire book.


After the book, the kids got to meet Cookie Mouse!


As you can probably tell from that picture, Carter wasn't too sure about the giant mouse! Carter gave him a couple of fives but didn't like having to turn his back to the mouse or being touched by the mouse. There were a few kids though that were scared to death and just cried so I think Carter was very brave considering he wasn't very comfortable.

Nashville Zoo

Brian and I took the boys to the zoo this morning. Unfortunately we didn't stay long though because Brian's allergies were making him miserable. He couldn't stop sneezing and felt terrible.

We were there for about an hour though. Both boys really liked the meerkats. Carter is too short to look out this tunnel on his own but Brian went in with him so he could see some meerkats up close ...


We spent about half an hour at the Jungle Gym. This is an awesome play structure at the zoo. Nashville has a lot of wooden playgrounds with this maze structures. The one at the zoo is huge and you can almost get lost in it.


They even incorporated some neat cargo nets over some water ...


I hope to go back to the zoo again soon because there are still some parts we haven't explored.

Downtown

We went downtown this morning to check out the Dragon Boat Festival. Even though we went down there pretty early, it was HOT. There was no breeze and the sun was beating down. There wasn't much going on other than the boat races so we didn't stay too long. Carter did like watching the boats race though.


And he did get to make this dragon that he was very proud of ...


We walked up and down Broadway and 2nd Ave as long we were downtown and had paid for parking. There are lots of bars and restaurants down here but it's not exactly the most family-oriented area.

We decided to head back to Brentwood and had lunch at a fantastic little taco place called The Local Taco. They put southern comfort food in tacos - it sounds weird, but it was so good. After lunch we walked down the street to the Town Center Saturday street fair. There wasn't much there either but it was good to check it out. I can't wait for it to cool off some so we can actually enjoy spending the weekend outside!

I Miss Daddy

I'm so glad that our house finally sold and that we're all together again. For about a month before we joined Brian in Nashville, Carter would randomly get sad, put his head down, and say "I miss Daddy". It was getting hard on him only seeing Brian on the weekends. Carter is completely obsessed with Brian. If Brian is around, he's the only one that can get Carter out of his carseat, carry him, or just about anything else.

Rylan still isn't walking and isn't really saying much yet (sometimes it seems like he's saying mama or dada or night-night, but it's not consistent). It almost seems like he was holding off on all that stuff until we were around Brian all the time again. He's been getting a lot more confident with cruising and climbing the last few weeks so it shouldn't be long until he's walking. I'm glad Brian will be around when Rylan goes through the next set of milestones.

It's also nice not having to keep the apartment perfectly neat and clean. I had to be ready to leave the house with very little notice for showings so we had to keep everything picked up and clean. It's hard enough to get the boys and dog out of the house in 30 minutes. I didn't have time to also pick up. We had more notice for most showings, but there were a few that we had less than an hour notice.

It was so hard keeping everything neat with two little boys who love to dump buckets of toys out and only have an attention span of a couple of minutes per toy. Carter definitely watched more television than I'd like because there were times I was just out of energy and wanted him to not make another mess.

The hail storm and damage didn't help with selling the house either. We still had showings even a week after the storm but I wonder how much that kept people from being interested in the house. However, the damage was so extensive in west Knoxville that it would of been difficult to find a house in the area that didn't have some damage.

Being on my own with the boys was hard too. I was scared to death at first about it, but we found a groove and it ended up being better than I'd expected. Baths and bedtime were the hardest part but it eventually became routine as well. I would usually put Carter in front of a movie for 15 minutes while I nursed Rylan and got him to bed. Then I'd read to Carter for awhile and get him down. It's a lot less time consuming now that Brian is around to put Carter to bed while I feed Rylan and get him down.

I'm so glad that life is back to normal for us, even if it is in this little apartment.

Brentwood Library Storytime

We went back to the storytime at the Brentwood Library yesterday. The craft this time was an owl. Carter carried that owl around for most of the day yesterday saying "hhooo-hhooo".


And he wore his tiger mask for most of the day.

Today's Activities

The boys and I took Charlotte to the vet this morning for her annual exam and shots. I didn't have any recommendations for a vet so I just chose one that is close to our new house.


The office is about a year old and in a new building so it's really clean and nice still. There is a dog park behind the office for dogs that are patients to use anytime.

Carter liked that he got to help and hold Charlotte's leash once we were in the exam room ...


Charlotte wasn't nearly as scared as she was at our vet's office in Knoxville. I never noticed her hind legs shaking like they would there. Carter still gave Charlotte lots of hugs to make sure she didn't get scared ...


Taking both boys and the dog somewhere on my own is always an adventure. The boys were being good but loud while we waited in the exam room. The receptionist must of realized I didn't bring in enough toys because she brought in some coloring books, crayons, and these ...


Carter wore this one most of the day ...


I liked the new vet enough. I like our old vet better but this one was nice and seemed thorough. The staff was nice as well and they charged me a little less than our old vet did for Charlotte's last annual exam.

After the vet we dropped Charlotte off back at home and went to Harlinsdale Farm to have a picnic. This park is an old farm that had walking horses that the city of Franklin bought. There's not much there besides the old barns, some gravel trails, and a dog park.




We found a nice shady spot under a tree and set up our picnic. It wasn't too hot and really quiet at the park - it was really relaxing.



Rylan is just like his brother - he found some sticks and was content.


After lunch we walked around the park for a little bit.


Carter smelled all the flowers that he found ...


After the park we went over to the main Williamson Country library and got a library card.


Their storytime started up again this week but it conflicted with our vet appointment so we'll probably check that out next week.

Tennessee Titans

We took the boys to the Tennessee Titans preseason game against the Vikings tonight. We got tickets on Stubhub for $10 each (plus about $22 in shipping and fees). Not a bad deal considering the ticket face value was $45 each.


We parked, like most people do, in downtown Nashville and then crossed the Cumberland River on a pedestrian bridge to get to the stadium.


When we got through the gate, guys were taking their pictures with the Titan cheerleaders. I figured we needed to get our boys started early and get their picture with the cheerleaders too!


Our seats were in the upper deck, one section from the end. We were on the end of the third row and no one was sitting in front of us. We were really happy with our seats and had no trouble seeing the game.


The game started at 7 pm so we were a little worried about the boys being tired but they did awesome. Rylan sat on my lap most of the time and Carter switched between his own seat and Brian's lap.




Carter paid attention to the game for awhile and cheered a lot. He really liked the mascot and the halftime entertainment.


We left in the middle of the 3rd quarter because Rylan was falling asleep and since it was the first preseason game, the starters weren't playing much anymore. We had a great time and I hope we get to go to a game again next season.

Lowe's

After getting Rylan's hair cut this morning we took the boys to Lowe's for the Build and Grow Workshop. Today's project was a schoolhouse photo holder.




This Lowe's was a lot more organized than the one we went to in Knoxville. They made all the kids wait at tables and then they passed out the kits so all the kids started at the same time. They filled out all the certificates for the kids while they built the project and even had a glue gun ready to glue the patch the kids get for completing the project to their aprons. It made the Knoxville workshop look like a free-for-all!

Rylan fell asleep on the way to Lowe's and slept through the majority of the workshop. All the hammering didn't bother him at all.


After the workshop we ran by the kitchen and bath area to see options and make sure we still liked our choices for the house. Carter entertained us by pretending to take showers (which he's never done, only baths) ...

Bye-Bye Curls!

We took Rylan to get his first haircut this morning. We went to a little barbershop in downtown Franklin called Carson's. They have 2 chairs for adults and 2 cars for children to use.


The boys found some trucks to play with while we waited a few minutes for Rylan's turn.


Here is a "before" picture showing Rylan's curls ...


Rylan did a good job of staying still for most of his haircut. He got a little tired of being in one place near the end and I had to hold him in the car a little so he didn't fall, but Autumn was able to finish him up even though he was wriggling a lot.




Rylan looks so much older with his big boy hair!