Nellie Belle

Oh how I love my little Nellie Belle. It is no secret thought that she gives me a run for my money. She has always had such a strong little personality. She doesn't want to be overlooked that's for sure.
Nellie turned five in July. Where does the time go really? I just can't believe sometimes how fast my little girls are growing up. In some ways I really want to freeze time and make them stop. I want them to stay little and so innocent forever. Another part of me is really loving the people they are turning out to be and the fun things we get to do together.

Nellie started kindergarten this year and she is doing so great! I really can't believe how well she is doing. It seems to have helped her to be not so crazy all the time and more happy. There have been far fewer fits from her. It has made me realize that with Nellie, she is the kind of kid that needs constant entertaining. She doesn't like to be bored and she has a hard time doing things on her own. I was really worried about Lizzy being in school all day everyday because that would mean that Nellie and Jane would be together without Lizzy to mediate. Nellie and Jane have not seemed to get along very well at all. But the amazing thing is, they have become such good friends. They play so well together now. It brings such joy to a moms heart to see something like that. Nellie has done such a good job at including Jane and sharing with her. Nellie really does have such a good heart. She loves to share her special animals with Jane, because Jane loves them so much too.

Nellie is doing amazing in school. She is so smart and is picking stuff up so quickly it is amazing. I noticed a huge difference in her writing in just one week, she is picking up reading so quickly too. It was funny the other day I was making dinner and Lizzy needed to do her spelling list and I heard Nellie reading the words to her. I asked her how she could read them and she just said "I sounded them out Mom," Like it was no big deal. She also has figured out addition completely on her own. She tell me all the time do you know what this plus this equals, and then she tells me and she is always right. Maybe she has her grandpa's mad math skills.
I do have to also note in here that Nellie is no longer into Jaguars and cheetahs like she used to be. I really didn't think that would ever happen but I guess she just needed to find a new obsession and she did. She is part of the teddy Bear class at school and she was the first kid to get to take home the class mascot Teddy for the weekend. Teddy did not leave her side. She loved him so much that when she had to take him back, she seemed fine that day but when she got home from school she went to her room and cried on her bed for over a half hour about how much she missed him. It was cute but a little funny too.

Nellie is so very excited for her little brother to get here. She is the one who will probably be sharing a room with him and she is so excited about it. We had to move her into her own bedroom because she would keep whoever was with her up until all hours of the night. And now that she is alone she is actually going to bed pretty darn good. I hope she does well with the baby in her room, we will see. She comes up everyday and rubs my belly and talks to the baby, so sweet.

We really love our little Nellie Belle, our lives would be so very dull without her in them. She challenges me to be a better and more patient mother and I appreciate that.

Soccer Girls!

Nellie and Lizzy started soccer this year. It is the first year for both of them and they both were so very excited to start. They were so excited to go and get all their soccer gear, I on the other hand wasn't real thrilled about how much it cost us, but hopefully they will be able to wear it all next year or at least most of it so that it won't be so expensive next year. Nellie is funny because she likes to wear her shin guards on the outside so that everyone can see them.

Janie wants to be a part of it too.

The first week Nellie seemed really uninterested in actually playing, and I was worried that it was going to be a long season with her. When it was her turn she just wanted to go play on the playground. But the second week she did so much better and actually seemed interested. She was asked to play goalie and I was worried because of the pressure of it, but she loved it. She didn't let any goals in and she was a natural at pouncing on the ball when it came close. We told her she pounced on them just like a jaguar and she thought that was pretty cool. The funny thing was she actually got mad when it looked like the ball was going to come her way and then it got turned around, she really wanted it to come to her so she could get it.

Lizzy is #9. She has done so good already even though it is her first year. She actually scored the first goal in the first game, which was pretty cool. She has so much natural athletic ability. She is one of those kids that just seems to be good at everything.

She is so cute out there on the field. It is so fun to be a soccer mom and go root for my kids. Even though it may be taking over our life for the time being, it is still a lot of fun. We have practice Mondays Wednesdays and Thursdays and games on Saturdays. It is crazy but fun. I love watching Kevin with the girls too, because he loves to help and coach them. It is so his thing.

Nellie is such a cutie too, she was not very happy the week she couldn't wear her jersey green, such a funny girl.

Janie has fun going to the games too and getting treats and cheering for her sisters. Although she is a bit obsessed with Kevin and when he has to ref or coach she gets mad and cries for him the whole time. What a silly girl.

School Time

The girls started school again. Lizzy is in the first grade and Nellie started kindergarten. They were so thrilled to start and so was I. We had such a good time during the summer together, but the last couple of weeks they started to get bored and I was getting pretty tired of the constant entertaining that they seemed to need. We just needed structure again. I was also pretty excited about having Nellie gone in the afternoon and Jane down for a nap, so that at least for a couple of months (until little buddy comes) I actually get a couple of hours to myself, which hasn't happened in many years. So I will admit I have been really enjoying that. The night before school the girls decided they wanted curls for the first day of school and since I wasn't going to spend forever the next day curling with a curling iron, we put foam curlers in their hair. Janie decided that she too had to have them in her hair. So they went to bed and literally 2 minutes later Jane came out and said she wanted them out of her hair because it was hurting her head. And then about 5 minutes later Nellie came out and said the same thing. I am so glad I wasted my time putting them in in the first place, but that's life. Lizzy is the only one who could handle sleeping with them, mostly I think because she loves being all dolled up so much that she doesn't care about being uncomfortable to achieve it.

The next morning Lizzy was all ready to go, Janie had to be in the picture with her.

It is so weird to have Lizzy getting so big, losing her teeth and going to first grade. I look at her and can't believe how fast she is growing up.

We waited outside her classroom for the bell to ring, in California things are way more strict, so we weren't allowed to come into the classroom and take pictures, but that's okay. She is so big and so cute! She does so well at school, I don't worry about her at all. Her teacher seems really good too, she is a mom who stayed home with her kids, but now that they are grown she really wanted to be a teacher.

Nellie wore her green shirt. It wouldn't be right if her shirt wasn't green on the first day of school!

Again Jane had to be in the picture too, she couldn't miss out on the excitement. It's funny because she has a Dora backpack and lunchbox that came with it, and everyday we take Nellie to school she has to wear it too. So cute.

We luckily did get to go in Nellie's classroom and get her all settled in. Here she is by her cubby with her Diego backpack. She loves that backpack, but she came home the other day and told me she wanted a new backpack because some girls made fun of her having a boy backpack. Why are kids so mean even at a young age? So we are going to get her a new one.

Nellie has done so well at school! Thank goodness she is good for other people. Her teacher seems so good, she is so nice and Nellie really loves her. Nellie has already made her a note telling her she loves her. So sweet.

After the first day of dropping Nellie off, I was carrying Jane to the car and I said "Janie are you going to be my buddy?" and she said "No mom I am Jane!" she is so silly.