Announcing Jackson Lee!

My sister created this and I just couldn't wait to post it. It's so creative and just perfect!
Thank you Aunt Sarah for creating this wonderful announcement for Jackson!

Pumpkin Patch

Today was Lily's trip to the Pumpkin Patch with her Preschool. Her director holds this at her house every year. She has a huge property in northern Independence that she sets up yearly with a S'mores pit, kettle corn station, pumpkin patch, playground area, and maze. They even have cows wandering around as well. Lily had a blast and got to see a few of her new friends as well!

Here she is in one of her Halloween outfits...and brother Jackson too!

Check out this face! Can you tell she was excited to get on the hayride?!

In the Pumpkin Patch

In front of the S'mores pit

With her pumpkin of choice

New Preschool

On Monday, Lily started a new preschool....Sycamore Hills Baptist Preschool. She will be attending Monday/Wednesday, half-days. This transition came after I went on maternity leave, as the school is closer to home and more convenient for our schedule. We visited last week when Grandma L. was here and she got along well with the teacher and kids in her class.

We are excited for Lily as she meets new friends and develops new relationships.

We are headed to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday! More pictures to come.

Jackson Lee has arrived!

We had quite a surprise earlier this week when I started having contractions (almost 2 weeks before my due date) on Monday night and we went into the hospital only to determine it was a "false alarm". We came back home and got some rest only to have the contractions start up again at 5:45am on Tuesday morning. Only this time it was the real thing!
We decided to drop Lily off at daycare and then head to the hospital...after a shower and throwing some last-minute things together. It was about 6:45am when we left the house...near "prime-time" for traffic on a Tuesday morning. By the time we dropped Lily off at daycare at 7:00am, I was having MAJOR contractions- about 2 every 5 minutes and it was still at least a 20 minute commute (or more given the traffic) for us to the hospital. We didn't make it to our hospital of choice (St. Luke's- Plaza) and stopped off at another one on the way (St. Luke's East- Lees Summit). By this time, my water broke and we were headed to the labor & delivery room.
The nursing staff was fantastic at getting us to a room right away- I was dialated to a 5 and 80% effaced. We checked in at 7:10am and after exactly 3 hours of labor, I delivered our son, Jackson Lee Bolinger at 10:10am.
His statistics: 8 lbs. 6 oz. 20" long

We are overjoyed with our new arrival and Lily is so happy to finally be able to hold and kiss her new baby brother.
Welcome to the world, Jackson Lee! We love you and are so happy you are here!

Sibling Class

Last night, Lily attended a Sibling Class at the hospital to prepare for her new brother.

This class was geared towards siblings between 3-9 years old and gave many helpful age-appropriate tips on how to handle the babies and what to expect. She was taught how to hold the baby and what not to give them (i.e. keys, coins, and other small objects). She also watched a silly video about diaper changing and her important job of being a "Big Sister".

The nurse instructing the class provided each child with a little stuffed duck to wrap and put in a basket at the nurses' station until the baby arrives. Once I have the baby, Lily will go with the nurse to get her gift for her brother and give it to him. Great idea and what a great way to involve Lily in the celebration of her new brother!

We got to tour the mother/baby unit and Lily got to see one of the rooms where I might be staying. We also got to see a baby in the nursery through the window. Lily was sure to ask the nurse what the "low-jack" band was for on the baby's foot. She also wanted to know why one of the other babies was crying in the background when they were checking weight/vitals/etc.

Overall, this was a great class and a wonderful opportunity for Lily to be involved in welcoming her new brother soon!

On the way home, Lily talked about how she was ready to be "Mommy's helper". I'm ready for that too!

AWANA

Last week, Lily started AWANA's at our church. She is currently in the 3-4 year old "Cubbies" class.

We have been so excited for her! I explained to her earlier on in the week what AWANA's was all about and she kept saying "Mommy...I'm so excited for Iguana's!" :-)

Our church offers a great program for the kids and Lily is all set with her blue "Cubbies" vest, her booklet with Bible verses to memorize, and she brings her Bible. In her class, they incorporate games, puppets, crafts, and awards as a way of encouraging them to learn God's Word.

Her first two Bible verses were "Jesus Loves Me" and "God loved us and sent his Son". She had those down by the second day and has been repeating them throughout the week.

Her Daddy and I look forward to seeing how she grows in her knowledge of and love for God throughout the year in AWANA!

Here's a picture of our "Cubbie"!

Transition to Big Girl room

This week, I decided it was time that we transition Lily officially from her "baby" room into her "big girl" room. I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, so we only have 7 more weeks to go until baby brother is here!

We finished moving her clothing into her closet, and the room has been decorated in her owl theme. I blogged about her new bedding a while back:
http://lilymb.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-sister.html
It's just adorable. She has owl, tree, and bird decals on her wall and I have caught her, on occasion, talking to them. She loves her new "big bed" and the fact that she can now have multiple stuffed animals, or "babies" as she refers to them, in bed with her...comfortably.

The first night of transition, I have to admit, I was anxious. I decided to sleep downstairs on the couch just in case there would be multiple ups and downs. I figured...better to be downstairs than climbing up and down while I'm half asleep!
We did our normal bedtime routine, then Lily said "Mommy, I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep." She asked me if I was going to stay downstairs and I told her I would, so I'm thinking that was of some comfort to her. Then I tucked her in and that was it!
I went upstairs and got ready for bed and when I came down, she was out. I just watched her for a few minutes...my little 3 1/2-year-old in a full-size bed with her owl stuffed animals (Penny & Joy) tucked under the covers right next to her.
She is really growing up.

The next morning she did not want to get out of bed! She insisted that Daddy come downstairs and see her in her "big girl bed" before she got up. We congratulated her on a successful night in her new room and she has been looking forward to it every night since! Who would have thought it would have been this easy!? Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon....