Happy Birthday/Halloween!

We have had a fun couple weeks! Hard to believe it, Jadyn Celebrated his first birthday on October 29^th.

Here he is One year ago….

And now!

I took Jadyn’s Birthday off work to spend the day with him and so we could attend Samantha’s very first Halloween Parade at School. As luck would have it, Samantha’s class was the first class out to lead the parade. Here she is dressed as “Spider Woman”!

After school, we spent some time carving and painting pumpkins. Here is Samantha being silly while she paints!

Jadyn just sat in his chair and enjoyed his snack. He didn’t even seem interested in the pumpkins!

After a little trick or treating with Uncle Glen, Auntie Amanda and Devin, we headed to a friends house to have a kid/adult Halloween party. Here are the kids looking cute as can be. Jadyn was “Darth Baby” as Bruce liked to call him (he wouldn't keep the mask on)!

Here is Samantha and her "Spider-tude"

Here the kids are together!

Here is Ethan…just thrilled to be out past his bedtime!

Here is Kyle in full character!

Devin really had his cute on too!

Here Devin is with a great picture of him with his mom!

Lets not forget about the worlds cutest Dinosaur, Kobe!

Of course the adults were good too..

Here is the Bee and the Bee Keeper!

Here are the wild girls (notice who is NOT pictured)!

Add a big gorilla (Carl) and a very dark side of Colleen and we had a fun party!

On November 1^st, we celebrated Jadyns’ 1^st Birthday! Here is the fabulous cake that Chelle made!

Jadyn had some help blowing out his candles!

He got some of the red icing on him from the big cake and that is the biggest mess he made!

And he wasn’t even interested in his own smash cake! When he tasted the icing, he didn’t seem to like it. (If I didn’t birth him, I wouldn’t think he was mine)

It wasn’t until I game him just the cake that he even seemed interested! Here he is giving his seal of approval!

He got lots of cool toys and plenty of nice warm winter clothes. We had a good time celebrating and look forward to many years to come! Thank you to our friends and family for spending the day with us!

Birthday Parties & Teeth

So what do Birthday parties and teeth have in common? Well this update for one. The Fall means birthday time for the kids and we started out the month with Devin’s 2nd Birthday Party. Here he is blowing out his candles.

Another year older for Devin brings the news that there is a new Cousin on the way too, Devin’s going to be a big brother in late Spring! The newest member will join the fast growing Berman/Johnson Clan.

Here is Jadyn and his Auntie Cheri having fun a the party!

And of course Kyle as his usual cute self!

A garage with two set of drums and several toddlers peaked interest. Here is Devin playing a birthday song on Uncle Glens Drums!

And Samantha took a turn on Dan’s Drums Too!

We also Celebrated Ethan’s 6th Birthday by enjoying a party at Chuckie Cheese. Here is the closest picture I got of the eldest cousin!

Even babies have fun at Chuckie Cheese! Here are Jadyn and McKenna having a good time!

Jadyn will be 1 in just a few days. He is growing so fast and I can’t believe it has been a year. He is eating like a horse and using his new teeth to taste lots of table foods. He has four teeth coming in at the same time.

Every time we eat, he fuses until you give him something too. And with all the birthday parties, we discovered that he really likes cake! Surprise, surprise.

The bottom teeth are further along!

The top are coming in a quick too!

He is pulling himself up and crawling around like pro. He seems to grunt a lot when he crawls!

Although he enjoys being vertical, he doesn’t seem interested in walking just yet.

While Jadyns teeth are coming in…Sam’s are falling out! At the beginning of the month, Sam’s lower tooth was loose. First we had to get the perfect Tooth Fairy pillow. Thank God the tooth fairy left this pillow at Ms. Kathi’s house on accident. It arrived in time to be stuffed, sewn and find a home in Sam’s room.

The tooth hung on forever! A few days ago, we noticed her new tooth coming in so we decided on a whim to see if the tooth was loose enough to “help” out, and it was. With very little effort and some help from Dad, we had the exact reaction we expected.

Here is an extreme close up of the tooth’s old home!
After a few minutes and an ice pack, she settled into bed after putting her tooth in the pillow. The next morning, a $2 pay off and no more pain complaints! She took it like a trooper. Just in time too, she now has a second tooth loose! Next Up..Pumpkin Patch, Halloween & a Halloween 1st Birthday for Jadyn!

And We are Off to Kindergarten

The past week has been exciting at the Berman House. On Thursday, we were off to Southbury Elementary School for Kindergarten Round up. It was a two hour orientation and meet and greet with Samantha's Teacher Ms. Husted and the school principle and administration. Samantha woke up excited and started her day in good spirits. Here she is getting ready to leave the house.When we got to school, Samantha had a chance to find her table in her classroom (I remember having a desk...must come later on these days). Anyway, she is at the red table in the red block of the kindergarten cluster. Red is her color. Here she is playing with playdoh while the parents fill out even more paperwork and before we completed our scavenger hunt of the classroom.

Samantha has a friend from LaPetite Academy in her class and we met Caitlin, who sits at Samantha's table. She lives on the next block and will be riding the bus with Samantha. Samantha also met another Kindergartner on our block over the weekend, Cameron, who will be riding the bus too so I was happy she would start with a couple friends.

During the orientation we were given instructions regarding lunches, school supplies and health expectations. There are a total of 380 Kindergarteners at Southbury. It is year two the school has been open and year two of the all day kindergarten program.

The first moment of meltdown began when one of the school administrators was explaining the importance of all the parents to put their children on the bus starting the next morning, rather than bringing our children to school. She did say it was okay if we got in our cars and met our student at school, but basically told us that after Friday, our child would be expected to make his/her own way to class independently, with help of teachers and detailed procedures of course. She went on and gave and anecdote about her own daughter that brought most of the room to tears. It wasn't just the content of the story, but the message to the the parents about our first true experience of letting our children take this first big step in their lives. Very poignant story that rang an interesting bell in my mind. She also asked that we try not to get emotional in front of the kids when we put them on the bus or walked them to the classroom the next day. She reminded us that the children will get upset if they see us upset and it was important to keep our composure. That thought alone created meltdown number two. I wasn't sure I could keep it together.

In any case, we received all the information we needed to get ready for the first "official" day on Friday. We packed a lunch, labeled our supplies and backpack, had a long refreshing shower and prepared for the next day. That included reviewing Samantha's "Shark" folder, which is something we will have to review each night. Third and forth meltdowns happened before bedtime. Once when Samantha and I were reviewing a very cute poem from her teacher and the other when I laid her down to sleep. At that point, I wondered how I would be the next day.

Friday brought that milestone to reality..I was going to put Samantha on the bus to kindergarten. After getting ready in plenty of time, Samantha enjoyed a special breakfast of french toast and sausage, compliments of Daddy, with Jadyn looking on a little jealous.

Then it was out to the end of the driveway for the bus pick up. Samantha couldn't decide how she was feeling. First, she was confident (and yes she wanted to wear a skirt)....

Then she was a little scared!

She wasn't really scared, she was actually quite excited, she posed this way for me! I managed to get her on the bus without shedding a tear. I even kept myself composed for the remainder of the day, but as the day went on, it felt weird to be home with just Jadyn. He too seemed a little confused about the absence at the house.

After his nap, Jadyn and I headed outside at 3:33 to meet Sam's bus. After we got settled in our wait, we received a phone call and e-mail stating that the buses were running late. It helped me remain at ease even though they warned us about the possibility during the orientation and asked us to be patient the first few days. Personally, I can't imagine trying to get that many kindergartners, oh and lets not forget the rest of the school, on buses and home safely. Anyway, here is Jadyn being very happy as we continue to wait.

He seemed to know that Samantha was on her way. He kept looking right and left as if he was waiting for her. Since we didn't know which direction she would come from, he was probably just doing the same thing I was doing.

And then she was home. She looks so small next to the bus!

She didn't have much to say, I asked her a lot of questions and finally got the gist of her day. She had fun and can't wait to go back! When I asked her if she sat with Cameron or Caitlin on the bus she said no. She told me she sat with Matthew...I had a flash into the future at that moment. I imagine she will be playing a lot with the boys at school.

In any case, it was a good first day of School and I was so happy to be able to be with her as she took this first big leap in life. To add sugar on top, Samantha and Jadyn were happy to see each other. They were very cuddly and giggly with each other that night. They really have created a very strong bond and love each other very much!

End of Summer Family Camping Trip

It is amazing how many blog posts you can create when you have a week off work. Two in one day, very rare, but the previous post was supposed to be up last week so don't get too excited.

We just spent the last two days camping in Amboy at Yogi Bear. We enjoyed two beautiful days outdoors. Here is Sam relaxing in Mommy's rocker!

Jadyn really loves riding on the back of Daddy's Bike. He just kept smiling!

Dad was having trouble with his smile, so he improvised!


Sam and Daddy played catch. Or as you can see, Daddy played more chase! Sam will have to learn to throw a little better though.

Mini Golf was fun! This is from Samantha's first 18 with Mom. She did really well. Mom's not pictured because it really is not necessary for the world to see her at her worst, even though dad snapped a few pictures! Like a trooper, the next day, she played another 18 with Daddy. Although we didn't keep score either time, I'm pretty sure she beat me and I think Dad wants to believe he beat Samantha, but I'm not really sure. Sam did say she won!

We had a problem getting wood the first night we camped and since the campground was virtually deserted their were not activities planned with Yogi. The campground felt bad, so Yogi stopped by for a personal 1:1 visit with Samantha and Jadyn. Yogi even brought gifts including a piggy bank and a Yogi Bear stool!

We will be again visiting Amboy in the future. We did have a good time.