Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

My name is Nico, and I have been a very good boy this year. I would really like a chipmunk toy, Lion King the movie and a bike. My mommy and daddy love me and I am very excited for Christmas.

Love,
Nico

Two Big Changes for a Big Boy

In the last couple of months Nico has had two major changes in his little life. In preparation for our family's new arrival, Nico moved from the nursery to a big boy room upstairs. This is a pretty big deal, as Nico has been in the same bedroom downstairs just 50 feet or so from Mommy and Daddy's room. Now he is sleeping upstairs in what used to be his playroom. I was worried he would have a hard time transitioning, knowing that he was further away from our room, but instead, Nico surprised me. He did wonderfully with the transition and loves his new big boy room. I think the preparation of the room helped eased him into the change, so when it happened, he was able to go with the flow. Something else that has helped him was that we purchased an intercom for his room. While the baby monitor is still in the room and we can hear him, he could never hear us...even when we wanted him to. So in order for this very pregnant Mommy from running up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, we can now talk to Nico over the intercom; we can hear him and he can hear us...only when we want him to.

Here are some pictures of Nico's new big boy room.







Another major change for Nico has occurred in the last couple of weeks. I received notification from Nico's school that he is academically ready to move up into the Preschool I class! This is a major step! Of course, the kids have to be potty trained, in which he is, although we have been having some issues during nap time, but they also have to be intellectually and academically ready. Primrose is known for their rigorous academic program and their preschool curriculum is actually the state of Texas' pre-kindergarten curriculum and the pre-kindergarten uses the state's kindergarten curriculum, thus staying ahead a year. Not only is Nico's new class more academically demanding, but it is structured more like a kindergarten class. There is structured center time, whole group as well as small group instruction, and all content areas including science, math, literacy, writing, and social studies are taught on a daily basis.

Nico had a difficult time with the new class for the first week or so. Every morning at dropoff was quite a struggle...probably more for Mommy than Nico. Nico would cling to me and cry not wanting me to leave. He would tell me in the car that he wanted to go to Mrs. Short's class (his previous teacher), but I had to keep explaining to him that he is so smart and because he is such a big boy now that he is three years old, he has to go to the big kid class. Thankfully, a couple of Nico's good friends, one of which he has told us is his "best friend" moved up to the Preschool I class with Nico. This has been a big help with the transition. What helped me was that his teachers did inform me that Nico would only cry until I was out of sight and then he was immediately fine wanting to begin playing. However, this morning was quite different when dropping Nico off at school. As I was talking to his lead teacher for a few minutes, I felt tugs on my arm...I looked down and Nico was starring up at me and told me, "Go to work Mommy!" He actually wanted me to leave and as I walked out the door, he yelled, "Bye Mommy!" I think the transition period is over.

Maternity Pictures

I am still trying to catch up with all the latest happenings here on the blog. It seems like this time of year is such a whirlwind with the holidays, and Nico's birthday, but this year I had to add "getting ready for Natalee to the mix." Unlike, when I was pregnant with Nico, we decided to have maternity pictures taken this time around. In order to multitask, we had them taken when we did Nico's 3 year and family pictures. I was really exited about them because this was an opportunity to involve Nico and capture some very sweet moments, which is exactly what we did.

Nico's School Birthday Party

I realized that I never mentioned Nico's school birthday celebration, which was actually the day before his actual birthday. It did start a little rocky, only because someone, I won't mention any names, is obsessed with things being just perfect for her little guy. Nico's Gigi and I went pick up the cake-cupcakes and when we got there the bakery had lost the toys which were supposed to be on the cake! Nico specifically requested he wanted an Elmo themed cake for school and there was now no Elmo anywhere to be found! So the baker drew an Elmo and a Big Bird on the cake. Unfortunately, Elmo looked like a red blob and Big Bird appeared to be a yellow blob both with what looked liked eyes. With already being in a time crunch there was not time to rethink or come up with a plan B class cake.

That morning I dressed Nico in a super cute little manly outfit consisting of a sweater vest and all; however, as Gigi and I walked into the school with the Elmo and Big Bird blob cake, we saw Nico going into his classroom but he was wearing a Buzz t-shirt and sweatpants! Of course, this would be the one day he has an accident during naptime. Ok, strike 2!

Luckily, there was not a strike 3. Nico could have cared less what he was wearing, and he loved the cake! He was so happy to see Gigi and Mommy at school to celebrate his birthday with all of his school friends, that nothing else mattered. His face lit up when everyone say Happy Birthday to him and felt like the most special boy in the world when he got the Elmo red blob cupcake.

I love this little guy's innocent and joyful heart. He is always so happy and wants everyone around him to be happy as well. He has such an innate caring soul and God made Nico to be such a loving person. I am so blessed to have this 3 year old little boy, who I can call my own, in my life.

Here is a video of the kids singing Happy Birthday to Nico:



Here are some pictures of the school birthday celebration:

Nico's 3rd Birthday Blast!!!

My little man turned three today! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that Ed and I were just discovering the option of IVF, and now we have a fantastic three year old and one on the way! God certainly knows what He is doing, even through my doubts over the years. I really couldn't ask for it to be any different. Nico has been looking forward to his birthday for what seemed like forever, from the picking out the Cookie Monster cupcakes to inviting his friends. While he enjoyed his first two birthdays, this year Nico was much more cognisant of what a birthday is, that we celebrating him and of course that there would be presents! This party was packed with so much fun, that I know this will be one day that he will remember for quite some time.

We started the big day off with surprising Nico with a kitchen full of blown up balloons! Here is a video of Nico coming downstairs and discovering his surprise.






After a breakfast for champions...Chocolate Cheerios with M&Ms, we got ready for the big birthday bash! Nico had on his Cookie Monster birthday shirt and was full of excitement.



The party was held at Leapin Lizards which turned out to be a wonderful choice. I did not have to worry about anything, everything was taken care of and it was very organized. Nico had 5 friends come to the party, all of them being boys and each of them seemed to have had a blast. The boys played in three different areas consisting of climbing and jumping gyms, slides, and everything you can imagine. All of the boys played so hard that even before the allotted play time was over they were ready to be finished! I never thought it possible to wear out 6 little 3 year boys!





After playing, Nico and his friends were ready to meet and dance with Izzy the Lizard! Here is a cute video of Nico and his buddy Joshua dancing away.




After all that playing and dancing, these boys were ready for some pizza and cake! We were all moved into the party room, which was all ready and decorated for us to have a party in!










Next up? Presents of course! Nico wore his birthday crown since he was the king of the day and he got to sit in the present opening throne! It was precious watching Nico open each gift and then show his friends who were gathered around the chair, each item.