Where, oh where, did September go?

I'm baffled. What happened? Did someone slip something in my morning coffee? How did this whole month fly by without notice? I have strayed from my lofty plans to blog at least once a week. I'll have to reach into the recesses of my mind and try to remember all that has happened between September 3rd and now. I'd love to start with the most important first!

-Ian is five! With his birthday came all of his expectations of what it means to be five. Some are comical to say the least. Apparently, he was told by a boy at school that he could not play checkers with them because he wasn't five. This was about two weeks before his birthday. He woke up early on September 19th, gave me a half-awake smile and said, "Mommy, I'm five. I can play checkers now."


Seriously, is this the hope that he has been holding onto for the last few weeks? I hope he goes to school and shows that little boy who the checker king is! Sorry, not appropriate? Apparently, being five also means he needs me a little less. This is what I've waited for. I should be thrilled, right? Wrong! It's hard to hear him say, "Mommy, I'm five now. I'll do it myself." But I am so proud to see his confidence grow and watch him stretch his own limits just to see if he can do it. Five looks good on him...most of the time.

The down side of five? Just one little phrase which requires immediate attention and an inevitable showdown. "I'm five so I'll do what it is I want to do!". No tears, no screaming, just a matter of fact statement, like he got some memo that was negligently left out of my packet. Doesn't he realize that I'm twenty-nine and I still haven't gained that privilege.

Anyway, here are a few shots from his mini-party at Chuck E. Cheese. I know my limits. I can only handle an outing of such magnitude with a small amount of people, so we asked our good friends Andrew and Ryan to join us.



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-Next, Reagan is officially potty trained! WOO-HOO! There's not a lot of detail to add to this. All I did was put her in big girl pants and stay home for three days. We went every fifteen minutes, she had a couple of accidents, and then she grew tired of cleaning up! Enough said. I do, however, have to give my father-in-law some credit. We were at his house the day before we started all of this, and when I was changing her diaper, he said, "Are you a big girl, or are you a baby?" Next thing I know, she was asking me to where big girl pants! Thanks, Grandpa.

-My sister and I have been working on wedding plans! Kelley and Clay are getting married on May 23rd in Livermore, CA. Kelley asked me to be involved in the planning since this is a destination wedding and Matthew has extensive knowledge of both the area and the wineries in California. It has been so fun thus far, if not just a little bit stressful (for her, not me). She originally wanted to do her wedding in Napa, but it is so rare for wineries to have licenses to hold weddings, that we were running into ridiculous obstacles. So we found this beautiful Bay Area winery in Livermore called Murrieta's Well which is a part of Wente Vineyards. They will be married outside overlooking the beautiful vineyard. Then she will have a cocktail hour followed by a four course dinner with wine pairings! We are so excited!

- I know Matthew will be disappointed that this came last in my list, but football season is finally here. The Cowboys stand 4-0. Thank God! There is much Romo love going on in this house. There are equal fuzzy feelings for Wade Phillips. Goodbye, New Jersey con-man! We are definitely seeing Stars around this house!

We are definitely excited for the month to come. My mom, Granna, will be flying in on Friday night. Ian and Reagan will have uninterrupted Granna time for five days as Matthew and I head off to celebrate our sixth anniversary. We are headed to Napa (where we honeymooned). Here are some great pics from our original, unforgettable stay in Napa.