Back to School!

 Well, we are back to school in the Martino household! The girls are back at their Montessori school and Levi has officially started first grade! The kids have also both started soccer practice. Things have been busy but surprisingly smooth so far apart from Isla coming down with a fever and rash the first week of school which was no fun for anyone. I have committed to getting up at 6 am to work out every day and I have stuck with it and not missed a day so far except for the morning after Isla was up for hours with a 104 degree fever in the night. It's not as hard as I thought to get up in the morning and it feels good to take that time for myself while the rest of the house is all still asleep. I don't work out for long, just 15-30 minutes before I head down and start helping with lunches and getting the kids and myself all ready to go, but it's still enough to make me sore and feel good that I'm doing it. I also feel like it has been giving me more energy. I have dreams of being in shape again and these past two weeks have made me think it may actually be possible. 

In other big news, our Isla Sage has started walking! I can't believe it. She took 7 steps yesterday without holding on and is ridiculously proud of herself. She's my earliest walker and I just wish time would slow down a little! She also has gotten more vocal about expressing her opinions. She now yells and waves her arms and even sometimes throws a whole-body fit if we take something away from her or don't let her have something she wants. She also has started trying to feed herself with a spoon. She's completely unsuccessful at it but she won't let us help her. And she has been talking more and now babbles with the "g" sound a lot. Pretty sure she has said "go" a couple times. Baby girl is just trying to grow up so fast! 

First day of first grade! Also featured- my poor plants killed by this darn TX heatwave and drought. Although to be fair, everything I have ever tried to grow in that spot by the door has always died! I do such a good job keeping my houseplants alive but for some reason I just can't seem to manage it with potted plants by the front door! 

Levi likes to show off his Lego creations and Emery just loves to have her picture taken haha. 

Isla loves the remote. She knows which one is the real one and she will look at the tv after she pushes its buttons to see what she made it do. 

And this is the face she makes when I take it away. SOOOO much expression and passion in such a little person! 

I made key lime pie for the first time for family dinner last week at Erin's request. I had to go to two different stores after 9pm at night on Saturday to get the lime juice which was a pain but ended up being worth the effort because it actually turned out delicious and I got a lot of compliments! 

The kids both started soccer practice this past week. Poor Emery got the short end of the stick though because she ended up on a team that practices far from our house and practice is in the middle of rush hour. Traffic was so bad getting there on Tuesday that the normally 15 min drive took us 25 minutes and then her coach ended up calling practice early because it was soooo hot so she ended up with only 9 minutes of practice. So we essentially drove 45 min (when you count both ways) for 9 minutes of practice. Booo! Thankfully Levi's practice is much closer to our house. His coach seems awesome and Emery was definitely yearning to join his practice, I could tell! 

Levi and Isla duets are the best! Levi has been pretty good about doing his practicing this week! It's fun to hear our piano actually being used.

Life is full and crazy and hard and good. I'm proud of my kids and the people they are growing to be. We've got some fun fall plans coming up including Isla's first birthday (!!) and a camping trip to Arkansas with my Mom planned in October. I'm just hoping this little blog of mine helps me freeze time a little bit and remember these days that are flying by.

And the heat just keeps going and going and going and going

 Well, this has been a VERY hot but very nice summer. And it has just flown by and I can't believe that school starts again this week! It has been so nice to take it easier this summer. Having a nanny was wonderful. We didn't have to get the kids up early or get them dressed or make any lunches. They could still be eating breakfast in their jammies at 8:15 when the nanny got to our house and it was fine. And I loved that they got to be together and spend time making memories together. Levi and Emery have gotten really close this summer, especially with them sharing a room right now. I kind of wish things could just stay like this and we didn't have to go back to all of our separate busy schedules.

I feel like our summer adventures can kind of be summed up into a few categories:

Date Night/day adventures:

The week of the 4th of July, Eric spoiled me with a day trip down to Waco to eat at Magnolia Table and see the Silos. It was such a nice little getaway. We don't get to spend that much time together one-on-one usually so it was really nice to escape our respective responsibilities and just relax, enjoy some yummy food and look at all the overpriced merch. 

Although Magnolia Table had great vibes and decor, and the food was good, it honestly didn't hold a candle in deliciousness to this little hole-in-the-wall Lebanese place we found for dinner which was DELICIOUS and had the best falafel I've ever had. We were both wishing we could just bring that little restaurant with us back to McKinney. 

Eric and I went to Star Wars night at FC Dallas which was a lot of fun! We played the LA Galaxy and won- woot woot! And then after the match there were fireworks and a really cool drone light show Star Wars themed. I'd never seen a drone show like that before and it was pretty impressive.

Family Fun:

Last weekend we took the kids to Limestone Quarry Creek. It was afternoon and HOT so we actually had the place to ourselves! It's a pretty bad drought this year so the water level was low but that was actually perfect for us because we didn't want Emery getting her ears in the water anyway and that way we could put Isla down to play too. 

We had to watch this baby girl like a hawk though so that she didn't eat any of the creek rocks! She definitely licked a few before we could stop her though!

The "waterfall" is actually run off from a nearby water treatment plant and is pretty cold. I'm just hoping it's the treated rather than untreated water! Haha

Yesterday we went over to Carma and Travis's house and got to eat pizza with them and play games while the kids played with their cousins and watched a movie. I love it every time the kids get to spend time with their cousins. Here Levi and Hyrum are trying to see who is taller. I think Hyrum is slightly the winner. 

Staying home shenanigans:

Isla has gotten so mischievous and is already into everything!

If the kids ever leave the gate at the bottom of the stairs open she hurriedly crawls over to it and scurries up the stairs as fast as she can while giggling to herself! I was in the laundry room the other day and I heard her giggling and sure enough, she was halfway up the stairs before I caught her! 

She also likes to make big messes and pull things out of boxes and drawers. 

Emery took this picture of me and Levi. Both Levi and Emery LOVE playing tickle-monster and wish that I could just play with them all day instead of doing boring things like laundry. I try to make time to play with them for at least a little while every day. 

My lone project I finished this summer: an outdoor chalkboard for the kids! This one had been on my list for a long time and I'm proud of myself for getting it done. Eric helped me mount it on the fence and put on the roofing. 

Speaking of projects, Levi got this puzzle from his cousins and he and Emery and I did it together in one afternoon. The kids were pretty proud of it and wouldn't let me put it away for days! Levi wanted a picture of it with Kyler even though he wasn't actually there when we did the puzzle haha. Levi has got to enjoy several play dates with Kyler this summer and we're crossing our fingers they're in the same class again this school year although that's pretty unlikely. 

Oh hey Mom! No,I don't want any more nursing, I'll just eat my toes :P

Kids' Activities:

We did quite a few splash pads this summer, both me and the kids and the nanny and the kids. They all love them :) 

I took the kids to a dinosaur activity at the Frisco library and they got to look at and touch real dinosaur fossils. Emery really liked the magnifying glass! 

Levi's favorite part was putting together a dinosaur skeleton foam puzzle. 

The kids also got to go to a primary activity at the church to watch the new Primary Broadcast. 

Our nanny Emily took the kids to Hero's Day at the McKinney library which the kids also had a great time at. 

Levi happened to be wearing neon green shorts that day so he totally blended into the green screen and he looks leg-less! Haha

Not pictured but still good times:

* Levi started piano lessons

*Emery started dance classes - and is obsessed with it! 

* Levi did an art camp which he loved

* Bike riding for both kids when it was cool enough. Emery has gotten much braver on her bike with training wheels and Levi learned how ride a pedal bike with no training wheels at all in under an hour! And now does tricks on his bike too! 

Summertime

 I'm sitting here scratching my head about how summer could possibly be halfway over already! I just can't even believe how fast time is flying and I wish it would just slow down! We have been loving summer here in the Martino household. No school and having a nanny instead is wonderful! It makes mornings so much slower paced and less stressful. No having to make lunches or get kids ready and out the door early. If they're still in their jammies when Emily gets here it's no problem. And the kids get to be together and just relax and have fun. I kind of just wish it could stay like this! 

Another thing I have enjoyed this summer is doing "works" with Levi and Emery while Isla takes her morning nap. I enjoy working with them and seeing them learn. They both are progressing really well. Levi enjoys doing sudokus and I'm really proud of Emery because she knows all her letters now and the sounds they make! She's getting close to sounding out some simple words, which is exciting. And I am really grateful that Isla has settled into a pretty good nap routine now and will take two hour to hour and half long naps each day. Now if only she would sleep through the night! She is still nursing once a night any time between 1 and 4 and sometimes wakes up outside of that as well and needs Eric's help to go back to sleep. Since she's been struggling, we moved Emery out of her room and into Levi's room. The kids love this but it's definitely a challenge to get them to go to sleep at night because they just keep talking and playing together! Even right now (an hour past their bedtime) I can hear them jabbering away with each other. So they've been going to sleep late and still waking up early which means they're a little sleep-deprived and extra emotional during the day. But I feel like we can't move Emery back in with Isla until Isla is sleeping better or Isla will wake Emery a lot at night. At least with Levi and Emery together they have fewer nightmares and both just sleep through so we only have one kiddo up in the night. I get a little crazy when I'm up multiple times a night. 

Anyway, here are some snapshots of summer vibes and life in the Martino home:

Emery LOVES "helping" Isla. She is very nurturing, almost to excess at times! She always wants to feed her, hug her, play with her. We have to constantly be reminding her not to try to pick up Isla or move her because she just wants to so much! 

At the beginningof June we threw Emery a little birthday party. We called it a princess ball and invited all her little friends to dress up for it. It was SO cute and fun! She had several friends from school come as well as some church friends and Silva and they had a blast doing the pinata, eating cupcakes and having a glow in the dark dance party. 

Isla thinks she is a big girl and started pulling to stand right before she turned 8 months old! I was like, "what are you doing?! slow down baby!" but she has not slowed down haha

Thighs for daaaaaayyyys. 

Both my girls LOVE the water and the bath :)

Look Mom, now I stand only holding on with one hand!

Isla has also figured out how to carry things around in her mouth while crawling and pulling up on stuff and it is both adorable and hilarious.

One of our family goals this summer was to do at least 2-3 things from the family adventure book that Katie and Kendall got us. This was one of the activities: the parent holds a glass of water and the kids use pillows to try to make it spill. Eric was MUCH better at it than me and the kids had a blast! 

Yesterday we celebrated 4th of July at the Celina Splash and Blast just like we did last year only this year instead of being with family we went with friends. The Ennises and the Schades joined us this year and it was soooo hot but also a lot of fun. The kids had a great time riding the water slides, dancing to the live music, playing in the sand and running around with their glow sticks while watching the fireworks. Love this picture of Emery and sweet Addie.  

Levi making sand angels in the beach volleyball sand which basically turned into a giant sandbox for kids during the event. He also amused himself by running laps around the sand volleyball court even though the temperature was in the upper 90s with humidity pushing the "feels like" temps above 100! 

4th of July baby! 

This is how we did fireworks: binkie in and ear muffs on to block the noise. I'm actually impressed with how well Isla handled being out so late. We didn't get home till nearly 11 pm last night but Isla only got a little fussy while we were out.

Church with this little girlie of mine can be a bit of a challenge. We have 1 pm church which overlaps with her afternoon nap so she's always getting a bit fussy towards the end. And she's gotten to the age where she just wants to be free and explore. Today I missed most of 2nd hour because she needed to nurse, then she fell and hit her head because she let go while standing and toppled over so she needed comforting, then she pooped so needed a diaper change! And with Eric rocking it as the primary chorister Isla duty falls solely on me. Good thing she is just the cutest ever :) 

Oh also, I realized I only have videos of these things and no pictures but the kids had swim lessons the last two weeks that went great and they can both at least kind of swim now! The teacher, Miss Sally, is amazing. She got them from 0 swimming skills to being able to jump off the diving board and swim to the side of the pool in two weeks. Also, we put the pedals on Levi's balance bike on Friday and with less than an hour of practice, he is now riding his bike great all on his own with no training wheels! Balance bike worked like it should! Too bad Emery refused to ever ride one so it's training wheels for that girl.