First Day of Preschool

Jake's first day of preschool was great. It was smooth... easy... all things I did not expect. 

Of course, I didn't expect there to be crying or kicking or screaming or anything like that. I just expected it to be more "eventful." Instead, I had a smiling little boy who was up early and eager to get to his "new" school. He was excited about his lunchbox and backpack and the items that went in it. He was happy to sing along to some Taylor Swift (yes, my poor kid recognized it as I was flipping the radio stations and made me stop so he could sing) while we made our way across town. I have to say that I had a mini-flashback of the days when I used to drive the same path to take Bailey to the very same preschool, listening to the very same artist on the radio. 

This time was a little different though... this would be the last time that I would have to walk one of my babies in for their first day of preschool. It is the beginning of a whole new era in our lives... the school years for not one, but two children. It was a bittersweet moment... but mostly sweet. I really love this age.

Watching Jake walk into his class so bravely made me so proud. I thought for half a second that he was going to walk in and completely forget that I was there... not even saying good-bye or giving me a hug or kiss. Despite my desire to reach out to him, I was going to just walk away. Then, he turned and smiled at me. And he came running over to me, arms out for a hug. We did the traditional hug, kiss, and high five. Then, he grabbed my hand and asked me to stay. Sigh. I was afraid that this is where his tears would start... or where the nervous hand-wringing would emerge... or where he'd get the lump in his throat that I could see him fighting back. But, he didn't. I smiled at him, took his hand and walked him to a table filled with new blocks and showed him how great they were. I introduced him to another child there... patted him on the head, kissed him, and told him to have a great day. And, that was that. I walked out, wondering how it would go... and thankful that I was not leaving a crying child... or crying myself. :) 

I wondered on my way to work how he would do, if he slept at nap time, and if he ate the delicious lunch that I packed for him. Delicious to me, anyway. I couldn't believe it, but Jake wanted us to pack him salad, grapes, strawberries, and spaghetti-o's for his lunch. I wondered all day if the teachers thought I was crazy to pack a salad for a 4-year old. lol. But, he ate a lot of it. And, he wanted the same thing on Day 2. 

Which brings me to Day 2. It was a little less successful. He was tired. Not happy to be getting up this morning and definitely not happy that he couldn't spend some time playing Batman on the Xbox. He didn't cry at school when I dropped him off, but he did seem more hesitant. He wanted me to tell him what time I would be back, even though he can't tell time. :) Yet, when I picked him up today, he was happy. He said he had a good day. Then, he asked if he had to go back tomorrow. When I said that he did, he decided that his teacher had punched him in the face. Yes. You read that right. He thought that maybe he should convince me that his teacher is hitting him so that he wouldn't have to go back. I played along and told him that I would talk to his teacher about the punching and beatings tomorrow morning. He immediately back pedaled, begging me not to tell his teacher because she'd be so mad. LOL. Tonight, he fell asleep at about 7:30. School is apparently exhausting, even if you have nap time. The bad part is that he didn't get to play Batman on the Xbox for long, which means that I'm going to have one mad kid in the morning. So, I contemplate... do I wake him up early so that he can play a few minutes when he gets up? Seriously? Am I really contemplating something like this? Yes, as ridiculous as that sounds, I am. 

And, so life continues... 

School begins

The first day of school for Bailey came and went. It was nearly as uneventful as any regular day of school last year, which I welcomed with open arms. :) She immediately found her seat, greeted a few of her friends from last year, and began working on her morning work. Her teacher, Mrs. B, is super sweet and super tough, both very good things for our talkative and sometimes attention-deprived (haha) daughter.

Much like any normal day of school last year, we also had homework. Mrs. B wastes no time. And, as much as I would love to complain because it is SO much work, I would never breathe a negative word about it. Bailey really enjoys homework and learning... and she didn't really miss a beat in getting back into our after school routine. I was happy to hear that Bailey had Mrs. B when we found out it was her, because she is supposedly an awesome teacher. I also heard that she might be one of the toughest at our school... and tough really means work. If tough and homework equals Bailey excelling in school, well, I am happy to sit and work with her through homework from the very first day. :) I have a feeling Bailey is going to grow exponentially this year.


In other school news, Bailey is enjoying meeting new friends (of course) and was over the moon excited about her classroom having a new student today, who she has claimed as her "newest friend." I translate that into "Mom, I am going to show this girl how to do everything at our new school and introduce her to every person I know." Having moved from school to school more times that I would want to count, I am so happy to know that my daughter is the little girl who is running to make her feel welcome.


Bailey also is all about the clothes this year. I don't mind that too much, since I love to get her dressed up, but she is a little bit more obsessed than I expected. She doesn't want to wear anything that she has worn before. Fortunately, I convinced her that she really can't do that, otherwise, she's going to run out of clothes soon. I held my breath in fear that she was going to suggest that we just go buy more. Luckily, she laughed sheepishly and said something to the effect of how silly she was being for thinking that way. Shew. A close one for sure. lol.


Six school days in and we are feeling good (aside from a sniffle and cough here and there after the first two days - eek).


One child down...


... and the other to go. Tomorrow will be Jake's Open House at his new school (which he thought I said Haunted House and kind of freaked out a little - haha). We are very eager to see what he thinks. I am sure that he's going to be nervous and I'm quite honestly dreading next week because of it. I'm sure he will do great, but I know that he's going to have that sweet little nervous face when I get ready to leave. He's going to wring his hands and force a smile after he hugs and kisses me about 5 times. Then, I'm going to get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, give him my best forced smile, tell him how much fun he's going to have, and then pray as I walk out the door that he doesn't shed a tear. This will happen for the entire first week, but I'm very hopeful that after that it will go away. Hoping and praying. So, if you are feeling prayerful and want to whisper a quick one for us for next week, I'd really appreciate it!


Pics of Jake's first day, coming soon. :)

A quick fun summer... a long post

Two days... school will start and basically end our summer. Sigh. But, then again, I could use some structure. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much recently. Instead, I've been thinking about what I've been doing... and honestly trying to figure out what I've been doing. :) I mean, I know a lot of it, but I still haven't figured out why I can't seem to do it all these days. I think it has to be the pool's fault. The pool must be to blame for sucking up all of our extra time. :) 

We have, however, had some serious fun. On Friday of last week, we coerced Brad to take some time off and take us to King's Island. We had so much fun. 

We stayed for nearly 11 hours... even watching the fireworks at the end of the night. The kids loved the rides. Bailey, our thrill-seeker, rode the big rides with Brad. I mean, she rode the Vortex. And, she loved it. I swear, we are going to have issues with this child. We are going to have to have a full schedule of adrenaline-pumping thrill rides and adventures to keep her out of trouble when she gets older. But, I have to admit that I love it. She has such passion for life... such energy... and she is willing to try everything. I'll never forget her smile when she came off the Racers and told me how awesome it was... as she dragged me behind her to ride it again. I thought my heart might explode (and then my head when I actually rode the ride, but I won't go into details on how getting old sucks). Bailey's love for life inspires me to love life just a little bit more. 

Jake, well, Jake is so much like his uncle Colt that I can't help but laugh (and hope that he's as good of a man as Colt is turning out to be). Jake decided about halfway through the day that he was tired and ready to just go on home. He said to us that he "needed a stroller so that he could take a nap." Brad and I discussed it and decided that if he really wanted to take a nap, then maybe we should rent a stroller... then, he could get some rest and we could stay until closing to make sure he got his fill of the rides. Well, Jake is apparently a great trickster. He wanted a stroller because he was too dang lazy to walk. He just wanted it so that he could be pampered and pushed through the park. There was not even a sign of a nap at any point. :) He also enjoyed the rides... although he is not quite as brave as Bailey. He did however, really enjoy the Viking Ship and the Woodstock Express. 

Of course, we all enjoyed the food... the junk food... yum. I didn't get a funnel cake (boo), but we happened to have plenty of other goodies, including pizza, fries, pop, ice cream, Icees, cotton candy, etc. 

After a full day of excitement, we made our way back home and crashed. Saturday was filled with relaxing at the house, doing a little shopping, and then taking the kids to a birthday party. And, then there was this other little thing that happened... oh nothing big... just that CILLA HAD THE BABY! I was so excited when Bret texted saying they were going to the hospital. Oh... I couldn't wait to know how far along she was and get to the hospital. I arrived at about midnight (an hour after she had arrived there). At about 1 a.m., Bret came out and announced that the baby was here. I couldn't believe it went that fast... but I could not have been more relieved. I'm not sure that I could be more nervous about someone having to suffer through childbirth. It made me realize even more how much I dread it when my little girl is in that same position. Oh, my poor mom. I was so anxious for it to be over with and to get him here. I didn't want to think about her in pain... so, the faster, the better. And, then, we got to go in and see them. Stef was just as perfect as you could imagine. Beautiful... sweet... perfect. And for maybe a day, I actually contemplated the idea that maybe I could handle being a mom just one more time. I had an especially difficult time when I saw how wonderful of a big brother Jake would be. He was so sweet... so excited... about seeing Stef. And, my heart melted just a little, thinking that maybe I had somehow robbed him of being the perfect big brother to some little boy. Brad quickly reminded me of how ready I am to NOT have children any more... and how hard those sleepless nights are... and how many diapers we would have to change... and how much money it would cost... well, you get the point. :) Still, it doesn't make Stef any less perfect. lol. Thank you to Cilla and Bret for allowing me to be a part of your little man's first night in the world. I love you guys and I love him so much already. 

So, what else has been going on? Well, I have to tell you all about it. Jake, my terrified-of-going-underwater-son, is now swimming underwater... non-stop. :) 

Bailey is as hyper as always and is about to drive me to drinking. She is constantly bored, if we aren't going all the time. I mean, really, I can't find enough to keep her entertained. I'm so excited to get her into school. I know. I sound terrible, but I really want to get her engaged in something that will keep her mind busy. Add to the bored factor, she is terribly hateful these days. Jake makes her mad if he looks at her wrong. She keeps yelling at him. And, she threw a MAJOR fit on me earlier this week, where she threatened to scream as loud as you can possibly imagine our entire trip home because she was mad that I was punishing her for acting up. I mean, seriously, I have considered locking her in her room for a few hours, just to get some peace. Not really, but she is about to drive me crazy. So, I'm looking forward to Thursday and the beginning of school. 

We also have some big changes for Jake coming. He has decided that he wants to move to a new preschool, so we have decided to make a move. We have long considered moving Jake to Bailey's old preschool, mainly because we loved it so much and she has been so well prepared for school. So, when Jake decided that he wanted to make a move, we discussed the possibility of going ahead and moving him to Bailey's old school. And, so far, it has worked out. And, to make things even better, he's SO excited. He keeps talking about it. AND... he seems somewhat interested in actually writing and drawing. I know. I can't believe it either. :) So, hopefully good big changes and not bad big changes. We shall see... 

And... I have so much more that I want to write. But, tonight... I will stop. For your sake and mine. I mean, you all know how I can ramble on and on... what? You hadn't figured that out yet? Oops. Sorry for letting that cat out of the bag. :)