1st Day of School

On 8.19.13, we had three significant beginnings.  Drew started 1st grade, Owen started Kindergarten and Evan started pre-school (he was officially in the "teddy bear" classroom at Creative Kids.)  It was a big day.

I was definitely emotional facing the reality that our 2nd little baby was already old enough for school.  This meant that he was no longer a little baby.  I have a hard time accepting these things.  Time goes by way too fast which makes milestones like these bittersweet.  I'm so proud of these boys, but sad that they are growing up way too quickly.

In an effort to keep up with the personalities of my little ones, I decided to interview them.  I would interview them on the first day of school each year to monitor how their likes and dislikes have changed.  




In case it is difficult to read, here are their answers:

Drew loves:  Skylanders and legos
When I grow up, I want to be:  A policeman
I think that my parents are:  Awesome

Owen loves:  Everything except girl stuff
When I grow up, I want to be:  A pirate
I think that my parents are:  Sometimes mean and sometimes cool

Evan loves:  Skylanders
When I grow up, I want to be:  A Fireman
I think that my parents are:  Mean

Drew was happy to be starting 1st grade.  I think that he missed his friends over the long summer and was happy to get back into his routine.  Drew is a good student.  Smart and diligent with his work, but struggles to be good all of the time.  We're working on that.

I'm so proud of my Owen.  Since he has watched Drew progress through Kindergarten, he was as comfortable as he could be.  I could hardly sense any apprehension and just pure excitement to begin going to school all by himself.  In fact, he begged me to let him ride the bus.  I told him that I would prefer to take him to school every day.

"But Mommy . . . lots of other kids ride the bus!  And if you won't let me ride the bus, then you have to drop me off in front of school and you don't get to walk me into school everyday like you did for Drew."

This kid is tough.  

And of course, I was glowing with pride watching my "little bits" (Evan) officially begin preschool.  I am so proud of my little man and how sweet he was on his first day of preschool.  I think that he was a bit nervous that Drew and Owen were no longer at Creative Kids with him, but he did just fine managing alone.  I just want to hug him over and over and over . . .   

This is my favorite spot to wave to Evan everyday.  The window at Creative Kids is such a great spot to jumpstart the day.  We make funny faces at each other and blow kisses.  Did I mention that I love this boy?

And here we go . . . Owen is at Kindergarten, it is about time for Mom and Dad to leave, and Mom is doing her best to keep those tears in (after all, I'm technically "experienced" at this . . . tears are for "1st timers;" certainly not for me . . . .)

Well, I lost the battle and tears started flowing when I left Owen at his desk.  How could he possibly be old enough for kindergarten?

I am so proud of my little man.  This is Owen's sweet little face walking out of his 1st day of Kindergarten.  My heart is Smiling.  I don't think it could smile any bigger.    

Owen Gets Ready for Kindergarten

On 8.19.13, our 2nd little baby started kindergarten.  Similar to what I did with Drew when he started kindergarten last year, I took off work to enjoy some special one-on-one time together for a few days leading up to the first day of kindergarten (check out Drew's kindergarten adventures here).

All summer, Owen deliberated on where he would go for his "special days."  It was a very hard decision.  Initially, Owen simply wanted to repeat Drew's selections (Raging Rivers Water Park on the first day followed by the Magic House on the 2nd day).  Since Owen tends to follow Drew pretty religiously, we encouraged Owen to develop his own choices.  He settled on Six Flags for day#1 and Magic House for day#2.  After learning (at the last minute) that Six Flags was already closed for the summer (Mommy really dropped the ball on that one . . .), Owen selected "Sky Zone" (indoor trampoline park) as his day#1 alternative.  And although these days were meant to be special one-on-one time, Owen has a very generous heart and the thought of leaving his brothers behind was too painful to bear; as such, everyone was invited.

On day #1 of our "special days," Drew, Owen, Evan and I headed off to Sky Zone.

After Sky Zone, we headed to a movie.  Time to see "Planes!"  We had a great day together.  

On day#2, we all headed to the Magic House.  One of our favorite St. Louis destinations.

Don't worry President Obama.  Evan Niebruegge has got America under control (straight from the Oval Office . . . )

 . . . . and here is Evan's Vice-President!

The beanstalk is definitely an all-time favorite.  It is a race to the top every time!

Who says that only girls like to play "house?"  These boys love to play grocery store . . . .

and construction site too!

Sky Zone! from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.

And after our busy "special days," we're off to Owen's Kindergarten Open House!

Maternity Session - Waiting for Niece #6

Dan and I have six beautiful nieces (and zero nephews, by the way).  Niece number six will be on her way in a few short weeks and I was happy to memorialize these last few weeks of pregnancy for my sister Karen with a maternity session this morning at Bee Tree Park in St. Louis.  Very soon Harper will become a big sister and Karen and TJ's sweet little family will transform from three into four.  I'm thrilled to meet this sweet little bundle of joy!  Check out Karen's maternity session with Harper here!

Congratulations to your GROWING family!  All the best!  I can't wait to meet her!  

Family Photo Session - Bee Tree Park, St. Louis

Hello my dear blog.  I have missed you dearly.  I'm coming at you tonight with an impromptu photo session that "piggybacked" off of a maternity session that I did this morning for my sister.  It has been so long since I have taken the time to invest a few hours with my camera and my computer and I have thoroughly enjoyed it today.  My babies continue to grow which makes these moments ever so important to capture and preserve.  

Our family is such a blessing.  Although I've said it many times before, I can hardly believe that God picked me to be Drew, Owen and Evan's Mommy.  It is a job that I treasure whole-heartedly.  

These boys know me well enough to know that I want smiles for the camera.  But what I usually get is just plain silly.  Our boys are very good at silly.  Just ask their teachers.  

 My sweetheart Evan was all smiles for me today.  He can really turn it on when he wants to.

This one below makes my heart smile.  I just love this boy.  No more words are necessary.    

This one below is significant.  The reason for the significance is that Owen has declared Evan to be his "worst enemy ever."  Recently, he asked me if we could trade Evan in for another baby.  Despite their differences, Owen and Evan briefly reconciled and are showing love for each other in the photo below.  Yes - even enemies hug sometimes.

And now for my Owen (aka "Owie, Owie Bear, O-dog, O").  My kindergartener.  He actually announced to us this week that he has a girlfriend fiancé!  Her name is Megan and since she wanted to marry him, he said "Okay - I want to marry you too."  So it is a done deal.  Owen is engaged.  Congratulations to Owen and Megan who know true love at five years old.

You Are My Sunshine.

So I was giving Evan a bath the other night and I started singing.  And then he started singing with me.     And now we have a song we sing together on an impromptu basis.    

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But when I try to ask Evan to sing with me, he gets a little crazy!  Impromptu is really our thing . . .

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