Esther's first day of school. ever.

Two weeks after turning four, Esther started VPK (K4).  Up until now, she has always stayed at home with me and after the way swim lessons went this summer, I was pretty sure it would not be an easy transition for her.  I will say that she's been excited to start school and be like her big sister and as you can see from the pictures, she had a great big smile on her face before leaving the house!   

Here are the very girly, sparkly, light up shoes I mentioned in her birthday post.

 To my surprise, Esther did not shed one tear when I left her in the classroom that first morning, she kind of gave me a sad face, but was fine once she started playing at the table.  I honestly had envisioned the teacher having to pry her off of me, so I was relieved that she did so well.  I had a little teary moment leaving her, but did better than I was expecting.  Well... when it was time to pick her up, Woody stayed in the car with the other girls, so I could go in by myself to get her.  She sort of had a smile on her face walking towards me.  As we're walking out of the building, I'm all happy and asking her if she had a good day and if she liked it, and she shakes her head no.  I ask again, and she shakes her head no, begins crying and says, "it was really scary."  Okay.  My heart is breaking wide open at this point and I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way to the car.  She's sobbing by the time we reach it.  This is sort of how the first week went... she would reluctantly walk into the classroom, no tears, have a great day according to the teacher, and then by the time we would get to the car to go home, she would lose it.  We decided she could hold it together during school, and then when she got to me, she would release everything bottled inside.  Exhaustion and a hungry tummy also contributed to these "meltdowns."  These continued the first few weeks, happening at least 3 times a week.  And they were hard.  The meltdowns would show up in different ways, like tantrums... several times, I had to pull over on the side of the road to try and calm her down.  So... because she is a very young 4, I decided to give her until week 6 of school to see if we could work through this, and if not, I was going to take her out.  Although she was doing great in class, the after effects were really hard on all of us.  Well... I am happy to say that beginning with week 5 and since, there have been no tears!  I don't know that I would say she loves school, but she definitely likes it now.  It just literally took 5 weeks!  And just in the last week or so, she has begun singing new songs, reciting poems, etc. just out of the blue that she's learning at school, and she's so proud to share them with us.  I don't get much feedback from her when I pick her up, but by dinner time, she starts sharing information about her day, which has been really fun to hear!  She really likes Chapel and she also likes her Spanish class.  I'm really thankful that she is enjoying school now.  I'm also very thankful for her sweet teachers and those who do carline that make a "big to do" over her and make her feel special... my sweet middle one!

We went ahead and celebrated Esther's birthday at school that first week.  Fridays are "casual days," so she wore her new favorite color, pink.  A friend in her class, that we'd met this summer at swimming lessons, has the same birthday.  I'm glad Ms. Lisa let us go ahead and celebrate 2 weeks after, instead of waiting and celebrating in June, 2 months before!

Esther, our 4-year-old!

In August, our sweet Esther turned four!  Where has the time gone?  I feel like we just celebrated her second birthday and here she is turning four, such a big girl!  

Esther remains our shy and sensitive one.  You don't always get smiles with Esther, but when you do, they are worth the wait!  The same goes with words... she might not say much, but when she does, you better be listening because you are in for a treat.  Over the summer, she began using "big" words like "surely" and "certainly"... "We are surely going to..." and "I certainly don't think..." ...and at times she mixes up the correct order of words, which just makes it even cuter!   When she's telling you something "really important," her eyes light up and she scrunches her face in the cutest/quirkiest way and speaks almost in a whisper.  Also this summer, Esther developed a habit, if you will, of making a squeaky sound, for lack of a better description, with her mouth/lips and when making the sound, she raises one corner of her top lip...I can't do it to save my life.  We call it her mousey song and though she's better about it now, for awhile she would be doing it and not even realize it.  We would have to remind her that her mouse was not allowed at the table during a meal and to put Mousey away during a conversation.  Thankfully, it's not all we hear from her anymore. :)

As a four-year-old, Esther seems to be eating more and trying more foods-yay!  She's still very particular and our pickiest eater, but she has made great strides and even likes spinach, of all things, now.  

Esther is also really into doing her own hair, pulling it back, putting it in ponytails, etc.  She's actually pretty good at it and though sometimes I really want to fix it or do it over, I try to restrain myself because she is so proud that she's done it herself.

Turning 4 means she's starting school (more on that soon!) and she has been so excited about this so that she can be just like her big sister.  She loves doing whatever Arden does and they continue to be best buds.  She also loves playing with Chloe and getting right in her face.

The morning of Esther's birthday, we met up with friends at the beach to celebrate.  Thanks to all those who were able to join us-we had a blast!  

the birthday girl

part of the party goers in their shades...

even baby Titus got in on the fun!

Not being an extrovert, the whole time we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she just looked like she wanted to disappear into the sand, poor thing!  Thankfully, once the attention was off of her and onto the cupcakes, she perked back up.

some pics of our friends that were able to join us for the morning...

We finally got a boogie board to try out with the girls... 

I didn't get a picture, but I do want to remember that before most of the guests got to the beach, Arden wiped out on the board and lost a tooth!  I think that's # 8 or 9, I've sort of lost count, but it was a loose one already thankfully.  Anyway, there was a lot of blood and crying and drama, but she ended up being ok.  And although she vowed not to get back on the board, she has tried it again the last couple of times we've been at the beach.

Here's Esther catching a wave...

Happy girl with her Daddy

The afternoon of Esther's birthday, she and I got to have a mommy/daughter shopping date.  It was a really sweet time to have with her, reminding me of how quiet she really is and how very different she and Arden are.  We went school shoe shopping and after 5 stores (not kidding!) of not finding her size, we decided on a pair of very sparkly, very girly, light up mary jane tennis shoes.  (not what i had envisioned buying when we left the house!) She had been really sweet and patient through the whole process, but also very quiet.  When we got back into the car with her new shoes, she looked at me and said in the most sweetest, gentle, and tiny voice..."I really like my new shoes, Mommy," with a big smile on her face and her hands folded in her lap.  THIS made me melt.  I love, love this little four-year-old!  

We all love you bunches, Esther!  Happy Birthday!

some random summer shots

The girls still LOVE to dress up and dance... Chloe keeps up with her sisters and will hand me her chosen dress up outfit and say, "Dess up.  Dance!"

Chloe and Esther are big buds and it has been an adjustment for C having Esther at school in the mornings.  Their new favorite thing is to "hide"... I haven't decided if this is a good thing!   They were easily found this time, but have become comfortable with closing themselves in the closet...

Chloe fell asleep at dinner the day that Christi and Shawn left, apparently she was wiped out from all the fun!

there were never such devoted sisters...

In May, I had the privilege of flying to San Francisco to be a part of my little sister's wedding.  My older sister and I were able to fly out together and our parents and aunt met up with the 3 of us the next day. 

{ A big thank you to my wonderful in-laws for coming down to help Woody with the girls while I was away.  This was the longest I'd ever been away from any of the girls!}

Our first morning in the city, Christi took Jenni and I on a morning walk/hike along the Pacific and then we met up with the rest of the family for a delicious lunch at Rose's.  From there, my duties as matron of honor went into full swing and I became Christi's "personal assistant" for the remainder of the time!  As much as I hated that Woody and the girls couldn't join me, I really loved having the time to spend with Christi and focus on the task at hand... getting her married!  Since we're on opposite sides of the country, we obviously don't get to spend as much time together and so this was really special to get so much time together, especially with it leading up to her wedding day!  The whole weekend was truly a blessing and privilege to be a part of, to see Christi and Shawn's family and friends from across the country, and especially meet those they are in community with in the city was, I believe, such an encouragement to everyone involved!

And I know I'm biased, but this was perhaps the most beautiful wedding ever... gorgeous bride, groom, people, weather, surroundings, colors, food, music... it was the perfect day!  To see a glimpse of the wedding from the photographer's lens, visit here!

And now fast forward a few months to July and the new bride and groom flew to this side of the country. We got to have them all to ourselves for a few days and then we all headed up to GA to be one big happy family and attend a reception to celebrate the marriage of Christi and Shawn.  Our girls love Christi of course, but Shawn has captured their hearts as well and we all had a fun visit!  We love you, Christi and Shawn!

AIP

Our family was able to go up to Amelia and spend the day with my sister, Jenni, and her family, who were down visiting for a week this summer.  We all had a great day and were able to swing the beach, the pool and even the Women's World Cup... just wish it would've had a happier ending. :)

Out on the beach, the waves were ginormous due to a tropical storm out at sea.  It kind of felt like we were on the Pacific coast!

Harrison loving the waves...

cousins!

Woody and I each took turns going out with Harrison on the boards... it had been a really long time for me, but it was so much fun!

Curt getting in on the action.

Aunt Jenni keeping Chloe happy while Mommy and Daddy are in the ocean!

At the pool...

Hannah was Esther's swim buddy in the pool.

Chloe fish blowing bubbles and trying to leap out of my arms every chance she got.

Arden swimming with no wings!

My view out on the beach for the most part... Chloe would not let go.  Not that I minded. :)

Thank you Deals for letting us come up and join in on the fun!