Our story, as it picks up now: September 2014

First trip to the ER

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later! Catherine slipped when getting out of the bath and bit a huge hole in the crease of her mouth. We got the bleeding to stop and debated back and forth about the merits of having her seen by a doctor. But after asking a family friend (who is a physician) and reading a little online, we learned that, if a wound needs stitches, waiting really isn't an option. After 12ish hours, it gets to be too late to put them in. Since we were worried about scarring and her ability to eat, we opted to be safe rather than sorry. She was in a fair amount of pain, but after an hour or so had passed and we explained what we were going to be doing, she hopped right in the car (at 8:30 at night), declaring "This is gonna be great!" Maybe I did too good a job, trying to prepare her for the experience so she wouldn't be afraid. Ha!

I have a picture of the actual wound, but in the name of discretion, I'll leave that one alone on my phone. The cut was on the right side and can't actually be seen in either of these pictures. It was pretty nasty. And her face wasn't swollen yet in these pictures, but was bruised and swollen for about a week afterwards. The doctor said that the mouth would heal very quickly (and was right!) and that any scarring would actually be worse if they put a stitch in that part of the mouth. So no stitches were needed and we were home by 10:30. We were very thankful!

Elmo at 9:00 at night? She looks pretty happy, considering!

One way to get her to put ice on it? Give her a popsicle. I think she thought the ER was pretty great...

Our little ballerina

Catherine is growing up so fast. She is definitely now 100% little girl. Any traces of toddler are long gone. She is a little girl. Big feelings, high drama, lots of opinions, tons of love, and her own personality.

She has been asking for about six months to take a dance class and at the beginning of the school year, we decided she could give it a try. Her class is once a week and they do ballet, tap, and acrobatics. When I took her to the dance store to get outfitted with all the gear (and, oh my, there is a lot of gear), she told me as we left the store, smiling her very biggest grin, "Mommy, that was the girliest store I've ever seen!" She looks forward to dance each week and she and Caroline play "dance class" almost every day. Here are a few photos from her first day.

First day photos

We headed back to preschool in mid-August. Both of the girls will be attending on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Since I am posting this with a few weeks of school behind us, I am happy to report that both have settled into their new school routine super well. They love their classes and genuinely look forward to going. Catherine would love to go more, I think. But for Caroline, two days a week was the perfect start. She struggled with her new routine for a couple of weeks, but couldn't be happier now that she's made the adjustment. It has already made her so much more grown up! I am so proud of her!

On the first day of school, Catherine actually went without Caroline. She was sick and missed her first two days, which is funny because Catherine also missed her first two days ever of school. Guess that's just what we do.

The first day both girls attended! They weren't really too interested in the picture taking, but they put up with me briefly.

Catherine put me on the spot on the way home from school, "Mommy, we need to celebrate Caroline's first ever day of school. What are we going to do?" "We are heading to Publix to get a (free) cookie at the bakery!" What can I say, I go all out. I don't know why they were hugging themselves....

Getting ready for back to school!

Well, this has been quite a blogging hiatus. I got inspired a few days ago when showing Catherine some old pictures on the blog. I thought, man, why have I been slacking? This kind of family record is so much fun! We are making precious memories, but I sure can't rely on my memory to hold them!

Schools around here start insanely early (at least to a girl who grew up heading back to school after Labor Day!), like the first week of August. Our preschool steals a couple more weeks of summer and begins in the middle of the month.

The week before school started, we did the standard stuff. I don't get to buy school supplies yet (but oh, I can't wait. How I LOVE fresh notebooks, pens, markers, etc!), but we did get both girls a haircut, hit up the dentist, and bought new school shoes. What fun!

Here are a few photos from the haircuts. This was Caroline's first one ever. My girls don't have a ton of hair. We sure save money and stress because of it! We are letting both grow out in pursuit of that elusive goal, the pony tail, so they just got a trim.