My baby is growing up!

Seriously, this isn't funny, I want time to stop so my baby stops becoming a big boy.  I know it's impossible and I love the person he is growing into, but I also love the stage of life he is in now...minus the selective listening and having to be asked twice to do things.  I really try to cherish every moment of time I have with Trent.  I know life is short and not to take one moment of it for granted.

In the New Year, Tim and I have been working on having Trent try new foods.  Trent is a very picky eater and for years has refused to try new things.  I won't go into detail about the time he tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the Corner Bakery...it's too hard to relive.  A few things Trent hasn't tried (with the exception of the PB&J sandwich) and states adamantly that he doesn't like: peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, bean and cheese burrito, any type of vegetable except carrots, any type of lunch meat sandwich, quesadilla, and the list goes on and on.  Crazy, I know.  So, just in the past few weeks Trent has attempted a few times to try a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with crust and without crust.  He says he doesn't like the jelly, odd!  He will eat peanut butter alone and dip in it some pretzels, which is progress.  Last week, he tried grilled cheese and liked it. I think that's a keeper.
Taking a bite...and he likes it!

Our big shock came when we went to Panera and out of a turkey, ham and roast beef sandwich he picked the roast beef.  I was shocked that he picked the roast beef.  Even more shocking was that he finished the sandwich.  I asked him if I could make that for his lunch for school and he said no.  I guess he doesn't like it that much, but at least he will eat it when we go to Panera, that's good enough for me right now.  I am so proud of Trent for trying to new things.  Our motto to Trent is that he just has to try it and if he doesn't like it, then that's fine, but he can't say he doesn't like it without trying.  It's working for us so far this year.
Another sign that my baby is growing up is that I am finally conceding and letting him sit in the booster seat in the truck.  He has been using a booster seat when my parents or Tim's parents take him somewhere because a booster seat is just so much easier than a big old five point restraint car seat.  He is clearly old enough and weighs enough for a booster seat, but I am just resistant.  I have been resisting because 1) I like him in the middle seat, it feels safer; 2) the middle seat in the truck does not have a shoulder/lap belt, just a lap belt; and 3) I don't want my baby to grow up.  So, reasons 1 and 2 are legitimate, I guess 3 not so much.  On Friday, my Dad picked Trent up from school using the booster seat.  When I picked Trent up from my Dad's I then had the booster seat and the big old car seat in the truck. Trent wanted to sit in the booster seat and not his big old car seat.  I knew why though, the big old car seat is too small for him.  He can barely buckle himself in anymore and he is getting a bit too tall for it. So, I talked myself down from the ledge and told him that he could sit in the booster seat from now on in the truck.  We are donating the big old car seat to the preschool today.  It's the end of an era.  I guess though that we still have him in a big old car seat in Tim's car, but I am sure that one is on it's way out too.

All smiles in his booster seat.

The Fun Continues while on Christmas Break

With all the rain we were having in the last two weeks, we bolted out of the house at the first sight of sun.  We spent the day at Kidspace and had so much fun.  I used to take Trent there all the time when he was a toddler. They have a great toddler room where it's a mini indoor playground for toddlers.  They have a rope ladder, a slide, building blocks and a ball pit. Trent loved playing in there.

We hadn't been to Kidspace in about 2 years, so I was a bit nervous about there being age appropriate things for Trent to do.  It did seem that Trent was a bit too old for the activities there, but he still found things to do and have fun.  We had a yummy lunch there and then played some more.  The good thing about Trent being older was he was able to climb to the top of the glass tower by himself.  It's a bit claustrophobic for me, so I was happy that he could do it himself.

We had such a nice day and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Trent being a spider on the spider web.

Making his way up one of the towers.

Trent insisted that I take a picture of him at the top.

Having fun feeding the insects.

Here are a few oldies, but goodies of Trent playing in the toddler room and at the water table.  Good times for sure!

Trent making his way up the robe ladder.

He is making sure he is not missing any of the action.

All smiles!

Such a big boy going down the slide.

Playing at the water table.

The Three Kings

Wow, Trent has come a long way when it comes to performing in the church Christmas program.  Just a few short years ago he was crying when he had to step up on to that intimating stage in front of all those people.  Trent has always liked to "put on a show" but it had to be on his terms and usually it's a spur of the moment show.  On Sunday, he did great as he played one of the three kings.  All three kings remembered all their lines and did a great job.  They had been practicing for a few weeks and it all come together really well.  Tim and I could not be any prouder of Trent.  He just keeps surprising us with all that he is capable of.

The Three Kings...

Trent doing a great job speaking his lines.

He has the best looks.

A few days off...

     Trent finally got a few days off school.  Well, more than a few days off, he had a week and a half off.  It was a much needed break.  He had been in school for 10 weeks straight and I could tell he needed a break (and maybe me too).  His first day off school was Thursday and we slept in, well I tried too at least.  In the evening, we had his end of the soccer season party at Chuck E Cheese, which was fun.  On Friday, Tim and I went to Trent's Parent/Teacher Conference and we got a great report from Trent's teacher.  He is doing so well in school and is reading at the 3rd grade level.  He must get his reading skills from me.  After the conference me, Trent and Jake headed to Disneyland for the day.  We had a great time.  Trent and Jake were such good boys and enjoyed spending the day at Disneyland.  The weather was perfect and the crowds weren't too bad.  
     The weekend was filled with birthday parties, one of which was Tim's 35th birthday.  We celebrated at Dave & Buster's with family and friends.  Monday morning came and Trent finally slept in a bit.  We had a playdate with a classmate of Trent's at Jumpin' Jammin', which was so much fun.  On Tuesday, Trent slept in a little longer (yes!).  He was getting back to his sleeping in routine, I was so happy to get some extra sleep too.  We had lunch at In-N-Out and then headed out to see Zachary play goalie in his first Frosh/Soph soccer game.  It was so cold and windy out in Valencia, but it worth freezing to see Zachary play.  The week was going by so quickly and on Wednesday Trent and I ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant where Trent gets a corn dog and Spanish rice.  Crazy kid.  Tim and I had a party to go to in the evening, so Trent was babysat, which is a treat for him.  Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving and then the long weekend, which was relaxing and fun.  The end of Trent's school break came to an end on Sunday.  We put Trent to bed early because Monday morning was going to come quick and I wasn't looking forward to waking Trent up at 6:30 a.m. or getting up early myself.

     Monday morning wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Trent was happy to go back to school and I was happy to get back to our routine.  It was nice to have this break with Trent.  We didn't have too much scheduled, which was good.  We just took it easy and had fun.  I have said this before, but I am thankful for the life we have and that I was able to take time off work and this is all because of Tim and how hard he works to give us the lifestyle we have.

Trent and Jake standing in line for Jungle Cruise, first ride of the day.

The boys loved seeing Winnie the Pooh.

Waiting for the train.

Last ride of the day and they were still smiling so big.

Celebrating Tim's 35th birthday.

Of course, playing a Star Wars video game.

Piano Recital

Trent has a bit of a musical side to him, which he definitely didn't get from my side of the family.  He is always singing, picking up a guitar to strum it, banging on the piano keys or beating on his drum set.  So, when he started 1st grade he also started piano lessons; once a week for 45 minutes for 8 weeks.  He has been enjoying the class and on Friday we got to see him perform at his recital. Tim and I asked him last week what he was playing at the recital and he said with a straight face the Darth Maul song.  As we all know, Trent is a huge Star Wars fan and more often than not can be heard humming or singing a song from Star Wars.  Tim and I really didn't take him seriously about playing the Darth Maul song until we got the list of what the kids were playing..."Darth Maul" – Trent Reimers.  I said to Trent your piano teacher sent out an email about what the students were playing at the recital and you are playing Darth Maul.  Trent looked at me like Duh Mom, that's what I have been telling you.  I love that kid.

Here is Trent's big moment...Duel Of The Fates ("Darth Maul") behind the battle among Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode 1.

Trent did an amazing job playing Darth Maul.  He was the last one in the line up and did great.  He had a bit of stage fright in the beginning and I thought for sure he was going to get up from the piano and not perform, but he got through it and I was so proud of him.  He was singing the song out loud while he was playing the piano.  He tries to match how he hears the song with the right piano keys.  So proud of my boy!

The play bill...

Oh No the DS is NOT turning on...

I think I had a few more choice words to go along with "Oh No the DS is NOT turning on," but you get the idea.  We were about to leave for Trent's soccer game and, of course, I had to do one more thing before we left.  As Tim likes to say I can't leave well enough alone.  Trent had been playing his DS for a good part of the morning and the screen was all gross, so of course I had to clean it up.  I was wiping off the screen when it slipped out of my hand and onto the kitchen floor.  I said a few choice words, then quickly picked it up and turned it on.  NOTHING!  I tried again and NOTHING!!  Not even a light went on, I just wanted something to turn on.  I then not so calmly, but calm enough as to not alarm Trent called for Tim to get to the kitchen ASAP.  He came in and I told him I dropped the DS and now it wasn't turning on.  He just looked at me and said ok get to the computer and find some troubleshooting website.  Of course, in the 2 minutes we had before we had to leave I was quickly finding a website to help me turn this DS on.  We also plugged the DS in to start charging, my hope was that some power would help turn it on.  Of course, NOTHING!  We were out of time and out of options at the moment.  Oh my goodness what was I going to tell Trent?

We headed off to the soccer game and I was so upset, but of course hiding it from Trent.  I didn't want to tip him off, he needed to have a good game and wouldn't if he knew what had happened to his DS.  The soccer game went great for Trent and heading home he was looking forward to playing his DS.  Oh no how am I going to tell him was all that was going through my mind.  We got home and I was able to hold him off playing DS for a bit while we looked into more troubleshooting and called the Nintendo helpline.  
Eventually, I had to tell him.  Oh the pain!!  I started crying and told him that I accidentally dropped his DS and that it wasn't turning on.  Oh boy, the tears were flowing now for both of us.  And there was a bit of whaling on Trent's part. I just felt so bad and I knew how upset he was and that it was my fault.  My heart hurt for him and I hated seeing him cry.  He eventually calmed down a bit, but he was so upset that there was a possibility that he would lose all the levels he had passed on his Star Wars game.  That was what was putting him over the edge.  He had worked so hard to get so far in the game and now all might be lost.  Oh my goodness I was losing it too.  We told him that we would have to send in his DS to get repaired, but that it would take a month or so.  Again, the crying and again I felt so bad and just keep hugging him.  Maybe hugging him would turn on the DS, no such luck!!  

I then looked at my precious and upset little boy and told him I would take him to Target to get a new one.  Tim looked at me and we had discussed doing this, but he was a bit unsure about the idea.  I wasn't, I wanted to make it all better and buying a new DS would.  I couldn't have Trent wait a month for his DS to come back from the repair shop.  He looked forward to playing his DS everyday and maybe he played it a bit too much, but hey it's a new toy for him and he was getting so good at the games.  

Since Trent was little, Tim and I have been really good about teaching him that if you break something it may mean that you are not going to get a new.  I have to say that Trent is so good with his toys, rarely does he break his toys, so this issue hardly comes up.  Accidents happen and maybe I shouldn't have ran out to Target to get him a new one, but I did and I am ok with it.  I am pretty sure Tim was ok with it too, right Tim?  

Trent was ecstatic to go with me to Target and get a new one, thankfully they had a red one, but he told me he would be ok with a blue one.  We also got a case for it that Trent wasn't thrilled about because it hinders his playing ability, but I told him if he doesn't get a case, he doesn't play it.  I am not replacing another one.

I think one of the things that I was most upset about was having to spend the money on a new one.  Tim (and me with my part time job) work hard for our money and it was painful to have to spend it on another DS.  I know Tim didn't mind, but it really got to me.  I was mad at my OCD self for having to clean the screen of the DS and it dropping out of my hand.  I know it was an accident, but an expense one.  I am so grateful to Tim for providing such a great life for Trent and I.  We are so fortunate to be able to go and get another DS when one breaks and that is all because of Tim and how hard he works to provide for us.

I learned my lesson and yes I will still clean the DS screen, but very carefully and only in the sunroom where there is carpet.

Playing Soccer

Trent started playing soccer a few weeks ago and is really enjoying it.  This is his second year playing and we are hoping for a better year than last.  Last year, he had three teenage girl coaches, which at first I thought were going to be ok, but the season turned out to be a disaster.  In the beginning, I was giving them the benefit of the doubt and time to prove themselves.  I know how hard it is to be a young coach.  I coached high school swimming at 19 years old.  I know the looks the parents give when they see a young coach on the deck coaching their child. When you are a young coach you have to prove yourself worthy to coach kids. So, I knew what these three young girls were facing when coaching boys soccer. I gave them several chances to get it together and do a good job.  By the end of the season, I was done with them.  Their practices were a joke, which would include playing duck duck goose and tag.  They had a challenging and young team of boys to deal with, but they never took control and taught the boys much of anything except to run around the field like a chicken their head cut off.

My expectations are not too high for this soccer season; I am just hoping it's better than last season.  It is turning out to be pretty good.  Trent seems a lot more aggressive in getting and keeping the ball.  He did really well at his first game and we hope he continues to improve his soccer skills.

A few pictures before heading to Trent's first soccer game.

Awesome team banner. 

Some cool action shots of Trent. 

Go get'em Trent!

And the Growing Up Continues...

When I woke up Tuesday morning, September 21st, I did not think by the end of the day Trent would be minus a tooth.  It had been the farthest thing from my mind.  His loose tooth had been loose for a month or so and it wasn't bothering him, so like I said before it was the farthest thing from my mind. When he got home from school I noticed that his tooth was off center, his gum looked a little irritated and I asked him if it had gotten looser and he said yep.  I wiggled it and sure enough it was pretty loose.  Then I looked behind the tooth and saw that his adult tooth had popped thru.  WHAT!!!  When did this happen!!  No one consulted me about my baby getting his adult teeth.  I wasn't emotionally prepared for this!  I thought I had time to prepare myself for Trent loosing his baby teeth.  Oh my what was I going to do?  I didn't have a tooth fairy pillow to put his tooth in, I just wasn't prepared.  I was in denial that this was happening.

Trent was excited that his tooth was loose and during the entire hour of tball practice played with his tooth.  It brought back memories of me playing with my loose teeth and my Dad using a string to pull out a few of my baby teeth.  Trent made it through practice and dinner without his tooth falling out.  Tim got home and Trent was so excited to show him his really loose tooth.  We were tucking Trent into bed and I was snuggling with Trent and all of the sudden Trent said, "Mommy I need the mirror."  I said, "No, your tooth is fine."  All of the sudden I felt his tooth on my shoulder.  I told Trent your tooth just fell out and we started looking for it and found it immediately.  We jumped out of bed and I started yelling for Tim to get in the bathroom with us.  I was worried about how Trent would do with the bleeding, but it didn't phase him and the bleeding wasn't too bad.  I gave him the mirror and he thought it was so cool to see his big tooth and the hole in his mouth.

One of the funniest parts of this whole thing was when Trent was running to the bathroom he yelled to Tim and I to text everyone, text everyone that I lost my tooth.  It was so funny that that was what came to his mind.  We didn't text everyone, but we did do a post on Facebook.

We got Trent to bed and then I started panicking about what were we going to put under his pillow.  What was the tooth fairy going to bring for Trent?  I got out my stash of unique coins and we found a roll of gold Sacagawea dollar coins. Tim thought Trent would love to find a gold coin under his pillow, it would be a cool treasure.  Tim hid the coin in Trent's pillowcase and Trent was super excited to find it in the morning.  I loved seeing Trent's expression when he found his gold coin.

So, I wasn't prepared for Trent loosing his first tooth, but I got it together and in the end all the matters is the jack-o-lantern smile that Trent is now sporting.

Check out Trent's loose tooth.

And a big tooth popped up.

Missing a tooth.  Yay!! 

Proudly showing off his baby tooth. 

Trent checking his pillow case to see what the tooth fairy left him.

Trent found a cool gold dollar coin. 

The treasure from the tooth fairy. 

First Day of 1st Grade

The day finally arrived...Trent's first day of 1st grade. How did we get here so fast? I have said this before, I am not ready for Trent to be 6 and to be starting 1st grade. I want him to stay my little boy forever (I know in my heart he always will be my little boy).

I took a few days off work to enjoy the last few days of summer with Trent before he started school. We started off on Friday with sleeping in, having a yummy lunch at Casa and then enjoying a few hours at Jump n' Jammin'. The 3-day weekend was fun and relaxing. Tim and Trent went hiking and camped overnight at Spruce Grove, which is about a 4 mile hike from where they parked the car. Monday, again slept in late, played in the tree house and enjoyed having the day off. Tuesday, slept in a bit, Trent got a hair cut, went to the mall to get new shoes for school, enjoyed lunch at McDonald's and then went to school for a Meet and Greet with Trent's teacher and classmates. The meet and greet was great, I think it helped Trent and I get over our nervousness. Trent found his desk right away and was feeling pretty comfortable. While the parents met with Mrs. C, the teacher's aide took the kids outside to show them where they would line up for class, where they would eat lunch and where recess would be (the most important part of the day for Trent). I was really happy to meet Mrs. C and to get a feel for the classroom. After the meet and greet I felt that Trent and I were ready to start 1st grade.

The anticipation and maybe a bit of nervousness was growing as Trent went to bed last night. We prayed for a good first day of school and for all to go well. I told Trent he needed to get to bed early because 6:45 a.m. was going to come real fast. I didn't have the best nights sleep and I was hoping that wasn't my alarm going off at 6:00 a.m., no such luck, it was mine and it was time to start the day. The morning went smoothly and waking Trent up went pretty well, but one of the first things he said was he was nervous. Oh boy, did I know how he felt. Tim and I reassured him that there was nothing to be nervous about and he was going to have a great day. Trent told me that Daddy had prayed for him and now he was feeling a little less nervous. I love this boy!! We got to school early and Trent showed us around a bit and then he wanted to play basketball and soccer, which we did. I think playing awhile before the bell rang helped Trent get the butterflies out. When the bell rang we made our way to his class line up spot. Mrs. C was there greeting the children and they made their way to the classroom. Most of the parents were taking pictures (me included of course!) and kind of following the kids to class. I was a bit unsure if we could go to the classroom, but a few parents started walking that way, so of course, in the hopes of taking more pictures I followed. I took a few more pictures, said my good-byes to my little boy and Tim and I made our way to the parents breakfast. I am happy to report that I didn't shed a tear, but the day isn't over yet.

As I am writing this, I have noticed that I can't stop checking the clock and wondering how and what Trent is doing. 2:45 cannot get here fast enough.

I am happy to report that Trent's first day went great and he wants to go back tomorrow. We are looking forward to a great year!

A few pictures before heading off to school.

Playing around before the bell rings.

All lined up and ready to go into class.

Trent's desk area.