First day of SCHOOL!

Yesterday was Malina's first day of school and she was a total STAR!

She brought Pete the Cat along with her -- because Pete goes to school too!  

We walked into her classroom and met her teachers, Miss Nina and Miss Carol.  I went to do some paperwork and left Malina as she played Mr. Potato Head with some of the other kdis.  After about 40 minutes or so, I quietly stalked the classroom expecting for her to be waiting for me.  But no!  She was in a circle, dancing and clapping with the other kids.  The director told me it was OK to leave and so I left...  and sat outside the building for about 20 minutes.  I came back about 15 minutes before class was over and did a little more stalking.  Malina was a total star -- listening to her teachers, singing songs and smiling.  

She had a great first day (mommy did OK too, apart from the crazy stalking)!  

And we'll do it again on Thursday because (as Pete the Cat says) "it's ALL good!"

Happy Birthday, Chiara!

Happy Birthday, KiKi Monster!!  

We love you so much!! 

Malina's first haircut!

Malina got her first haircut this weekend!  Crazy, right?  The girl is 2.5 years old.  I'm pretty sure there are some babies who can barely sit up that have a haircut under their belts.

Anyway, this was our girl's first and it was pretty special.  We made it a mommy/daughter moment so of course I snapped a bunch of shots.

Everyone loves before and after pictures, right?

Here she is the morning of her cut (the photographer's direction was to give the camera some "attitude"):

And here she is mid cut (OK, I lied, these are before, mid and after shots -- she's just so cute!).

(The duration of her actual haircut was so short she didn't even get to finish a lollipop!)

And the big reveal!!

Ta-DA!

We had so much fun that we got super crazy and let Maggie drive home!

On the move...

Wow!  All the Santees are on the move -- even our littlest one, Luke!

Over the last few weeks, I've really logged some miles -- traveling from NY to Denver, from Denver to Dallas, then back to NY.  And then a few days later I hopped on another plane to go from NY to LA.  Yuck.  But I'm so glad to be home now!

Anyway, on to more interesting moves...

Bryan is officially on the move!  Starting on November 4th, he will be an employee of Frito Lay!  His new position will be a Zone Sales Lead where he will be managing a local territory.  But first, he will be behind the wheel of this pretty thing...  sexy, isn't it?? 

And Luke...  oh, Luke...  He's always on the move, still slinking around the house, always with a big smile on his face.  He loves riding on his little fire truck and if you're lucky, he'll give you a wave!   

Our biggest mover is Malina!!  Starting next week she will be a diligent student of a great two's program around here!  Doesn't she just look ready?

We know Malina will be a total star and we can't wait to see how she grows!  It's hard for me to think that she's actually starting "school"!  Granted, it's only two days a week for a total of four hours, but still!  They're growing so fast! 

I also wonder how Luke will take the news that Big Sister will be out doing big sisterly things.  He's going to miss her, I know he will!