Beginning a New School Year!

This is a big year for the Kusheba Family. Actually the past few have been quite busy with major events! This September I prepared to go back to work in a new teaching position and Quinten prepared to start school as well!

We enrolled him in Nazarene's 3 year old program, three mornings a week.

A lot of our neighbors attend Nazarene and it is only 1/4 mile from our house so we thought it was a great choice for him to start his education there.

Surprisingly enough, the school year kicked off without too much tear shed, from him anyway:)

Jason, Quinten, and I all had the opportunity to go in meet his teachers and some classmates and play in the classroom before his first big day.

He we also had homework right away, we had to decorate his school bag.

Quinn decided he wanted it to have Raffael, his favorite Ninja Turtle on it.

Daddy got right to work drawing and Quinten colored, traced his name, and adorned the other side with his giant "Q."

 Here is Quinn walking in on his first day of school.

It helped that his friend, Bella, was in the parking lot to greet him on his first day.

His teachers gave him "Smarties for the smartie" for a successful first day of school.

It is so strange to be sending our baby to school. He LOVES learning new things and comes home each day extremely excited to show us his "surprises" in his folder.

 While Q spends his days at school, Hudson has been having fun of his own. Although the first morning he seemed kind of lost without his best buddy around.

He put his shoes on and got ready to play, but paced around confused for a bit asking for "Din Din."

Hudson soon found things to keep himself happy and busy. 

He plays independently very good and had some playdates Q's first week, before he started going back to our neighbor's during the day.

 Here he is playing with one of his favorite friends, Domenic.

 Hudson also got his first big boy haircut. He did an excellent job, sitting on my lap smiling the whole time.

 Showing off his hair.

 A little shoe obsessed!

It is quite evident that both boys miss each other when the other is not around.

They usually ask for each other first thing before anyone else in the morning and always kiss each other good night (favorite part of my day is seeing Hudson waddle over to kiss Quinten goodnight).

But they make up for missed time by playing, cuddling, and of course bath time!

 

Brother or Sister???

 The boys had so much fun with their surprise box. 

We explained blue balloons meant baby brother and pink meant a new sister...

We were ALL VERY excited to see PINK!!!!!!

I have been feeling great and patiently awaiting her arrival.

Although she is due on Christmas Day, her big day is scheduled for December 18th!

Beach Fun!

Although I am looking forward to this fall, preparing for the arrival of Baby #3, and the holiday season, I am sad that summer is coming to an end.

We have had so much fun this summer spending lots of time at the beach house.

Because of the long hours Daddy had to work in the winter, he was able to take what seemed like the whole summer off.

Here are pics from some of our summer beach fun days and nights!

 Every Monday they play a movie on the beach, to Quinten and Daddy's 

liking Willie Wonka was playing.

It was pretty awesome, all the kids get a glow in the dark necklace, and a pail and shovel.

 Although he only lasted an hour before falling asleep, Q was very into the movie.

Hudson stayed at home with GM and GP:)

 We also took Q to a play.

We were very excited because we heard Peter Pan (another favorite)

was showing at a nearby church.

Quinten had fun, but was a little confused. The play was acted out in its entirety by only two actors, it was kind of funny:)

 While GM & GP were visiting we feasted on crabs. 

Quinten really liked the shells and even decorated one for GP's garage!

 Our neighbor Christina and her daughters visited us at the beach house for a few days too.

The kids had so much fun playing in the sand and enjoying the boardwalk!

(I can't believe I didn't take one picture of them playing on the beach. Here is one of Q and Bella painting at our house!)

 The boys really are enjoying the park. They both loved the lady bug. 

 Our little monkey loves to climb 

 and will spend the day in a swing if we let him.

 We also took our yearly ferry trip over to Wildwood to visit Andi, Scott, and the kids while they were in from West Palm. Hudson instantly took a liking to GP Phil, Andi's dad (my old principal)!

 We seriously had the BEST summer!

We are so fortunate for so much in life. Being able to have a beach house to spend the summer near the ocean is a dream. We are so lucky our boys are total beach bums, just like their mommy and daddy. We  were able to spend 6 -7 hours out on the beach each day. The boys would play for a few hours take a 3 hour nap and then play some more! It was amazing!!!!

Quinten deciding if he wanted to nap or play...

The boys have gotten very used to being home with Mommy and Daddy. 

We are hoping the transition back to school and work is a smooth one!

Daddy and his mini me! 

Our big boys!

We have had quite an eventful few weeks. Both boys hit major milestones within the same few days.

We are so proud of both of them.

Hudson is an official walker runner! 

His gross motor skills are incredible. I have read that young children focus on either motor skills or language first. (Quinten was definitely a linguist first.) They don't typically excel at both simultaneously.  Although he is starting to say a few more words (his newest is nigh nigh, for night night, and he lays down like he is going to bed after he says it.) he is really taking off physically. Everyone who meets him comments on his size:) He is able to go up and down (on his belly) stairs independently, climbs up onto almost everything and anything (including his bathroom sink), dances, puts on hats and sunglasses, and tries to jump. He loves slides and can get into his play swing by himself. A few of his favorite toys are stacking rings and he loves taking anything out of a container and putting it back, which is very helpful at cleanup time! If you give him a basket of items he is easily entertained for a half hour. We really lucked out again when it comes to him self entertaining. He already plays for long, 1/2 hour to an hour, period of time independently!

Apparently he has also figured out how to use the kegerator!

This one is going to give us a run for our money!

Our big boy on the other hand has turned 3 and is finally POTTY TRAINED!!!!

I was waiting until summer to embark on this adventure, so we could dedicate some time to it. He woke up one Monday morning and asked me if he went on the potty could he have a special treat. I went with it! We spent that whole day and the next 3 pant less, I reminded him often the first day to go sit on potty and try. By the end of the first day, I thought it was going to be the hardest thing, very time consuming. I had gone up to put Hudson for a nap and he had an accident (pooped on the floor! He said it fell right out of his butt LOL!). But by mid day 2, he was running in on his own. He even pooped in the potty while I was upstairs! We played outside a LOT for the next few days, had a few accidents, but by day 4 we were going on playdates to our neighbors, walking around the block and he was very successful. 

We planned to spend the next week at the beach which worried me. I took his little seat cover and gave him the option to use it in the sand or hold it until we walked up the dune to a bathroom. Q chose to wait and we were on the beach for 7 hours, took one successful trip to the bathroom, had a 2 hour nap and NO accidents! Way to go Quinn! He has had a few dry nights and long car rides but we are still putting on a diaper just in case.

We didn't experience the "terrible twos" at all with Q, in fact 2 was an adorable age filled with cute sayings and new beginnings. But the closer we got to 3 the more independence he seems to be seeking out. And it seems this whole discipline thing is going to be a treat!
Quinten did make a huge discovery this month.
Looking down at his arm one day in shear amazement he screamed out, "look Mom, I have hair!"
Too stinking cute!

Hudson lets out a little yelp when he hasn't seen Q for awhile (after nap or in the morning) and runs for a hug! Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Enjoying rides and ice-cream on the boardwalk while big brother naps.

 Learning colors with Grandpa (still his favorite person, by far!)

 "See Ma, I still fit!?!"

 Nakey boys having fun singing in the mirror.

Ready for my first scuba lesson.

 Totally getting into superheros!

 Our little monkey getting as close as he can to Mickey!
He comes running into the room when he hears Mickey's voice.

Car painting buddies!

We checked out the new bounce house, play gym that opened across from our beach us.

Lots of fun, perfect for a rainy beach day!