September 2009 Update

My how time flies…September is upon us and what have we accomplished this month? How does this sound?…

First of all I must mention that we are working on getting an updated family picture taken…since Jackson is still in utero in the last one. Patience is a virtue!

Austin started 4th grade and has the same teacher from last year…no he did not flunk!!! Mrs. Smith moved up to 4th grade, and Austin was hoping to get her again. His class is small (only 17) and they meet in one of the portables in back of the school. They had an exciting moment last week when one of the A/C units in their building decided to die and went out with a bang…and lots of smoke! They evacuated and spent the remainder of the day in the Speech classroom inside the main building.

Logan started Kindergarten and is LOVING IT!!! He was assigned the same class as his friend (and sometimes enemy) Alex Clayton. We warned the teacher that they are like siblings…they get along well, and they fight well too! Logan got Austin’s Kinder teacher, Mrs. Buell (except she was Ms. Jordan back then). Logan’s first day of school started with him crying, then being fine while I took him to class. He had a great day, until they tried putting him on the wrong bus in the afternoon. Luckily Austin was being a VERY good big brother and told the bus driver that Logan wasn’t on the bus. Together they went & found him (crying with a teacher) and between the 2 bus drivers, the Principal and Austin they got him onto the correct bus. What a crazy ending to the first day of Kindergarten!!!

Carson doesn’t quite know what to think about school starting again. Part of him wants to go to school, part of him loves not having to share any toys all day long, and part of him longs for his brothers to play with. Sometimes he’ll ask “Mom, where’s Logan & Austin?” I tell him they’re at school and he says “Oh”, and that’s the end of that. Last week he decided to try flying from the couch to the chair, and ended up landing on the corner of the coffee table with his eye instead. Thanks to our friend Alex (previously mentioned) and his recent multiple trips to the E.R., we followed their treatment regimen and after cleaning the cut very well (and waiting for the blood to stop oozing) we stuck it back together with some super glue gel. Don’t put anything on it & wait for the glue to come off on its own. Works like a charm!!!

Jackson has hit many milestones this past month…actually the last week! He is now crawling (more like an Army crawl), pulling himself up to standing, getting to a sitting position from crawling or laying down, and most recently started clapping. Jackson also decided that he didn’t like his binky anymore, so that was easy to get rid of. He is now 8 months old (on the 2nd), has 2 teeth and continues to be the best baby ever!!!

For anyone wondering, Addie (our dog) is completely recovered from being hit by a car in July. Her broken pelvis must have healed nicely, because she is running & jumping around like never before.

As for Rhett and I, we are plugging along. Rhett’s contract position at AT&T came to an end in July, but lucky for us he was given a 6-month extension. They are in a hiring freeze and are trying to be able to hire him permanently. Keep your fingers crossed! I am enjoying only having 2 kids at home now that school is in session. I am finally getting the last boxes unpacked (5 kitchen ones just yesterday) and getting pictures/clocks/décor hung on the walls. I am hoping to start painting this weekend, as I finally know what I want to do with some rooms. We have 3020 square feet of blank walls, so it’s quite overwhelming. I’m starting one room at a time though, so don’t expect any miracles!

We hope you all have a wonderful month & as always we love hearing from you!

Love – Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan, Carson, Jackson & Addie