Preschool

Our days have been filled with many "firsts" recently. This girl started preschool last Tuesday.

I can't believe how big she looks in that picture!

Anyway, she will go to preschool 2 days a week, 2.5 hours each day, to the preschool that Nathan went to (and thrived in) last year that we love so much.

Her daddy and I took her last Tuesday morning, after catching a few quick pictures of her. As we were waiting for an appropriate time to leave, Jenna was begging us to take her to preschool. She was just that excited!

We walked her in, trailing behind her with both the video camera and the digital in hand. Apparently we wish to remember this day :) Looking back at the footage of this momentous occasion, we will see that she dove right in (how very Jenna-like), not missing a beat, and could hardly wait for us to leave so she could begin her day alone. Should we have guessed it would go any differently?!

I picked her up, had a very good report for her teacher ("She is bouncy!" her teacher said...), and took my newest preschooler to lunch with her Grammy.

She's been to preschool 3 times so far and is absolutely loving it. Any trepidation we may have had with regard to her young-ish age has been dispelled for now. She is doing great and is so proud to have this experience to call her very own.

I am a mommy to a kindergartener AND a preschooler... and I just can't believe it!

Tomorrow

"You're only a day away"

After much delay caused by the massive flooding and devastation in our region, tomorrow is the day that Nathan  finally starts Kindergarten. Also due to power outages and other flood-related issues, Nathan will not start at his normal elementary school, but will start his first ever day of Kindergarten at... wait for it ...the HIGH SCHOOL! So, as if the first day anticipation isn't bad enough, now I have this to contend with!

And if just Nathan beginning Kindergarten at high school is not enough, Jenna will also begin her first day of pre-school tomorrow! It'll be a jam-packed day for sure and I'll likely be quite a sight.

It still doesn't feel real! I packed his lunch and her snack, set them up to be assembled in the fridge, and set out all their first day of school clothes, backpacks, and lunchboxes.

It is all very surreal at the moment. It's pretty safe to say that I have the first day jitters for sure.

Anticipation

I feel the anticipation level rising. It is manifesting in lots of different ways in everyone. But I can see it; it is tangible in Nathan and it breaks my heart.

We've had a few good days leading up to these first momentous days of Kindergarten. On Monday's holiday, we took a short trip as a family and just enjoyed spending time together. Yesterday, I planned a date night with Nathan - I took him to his favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse a.k.a "the peanut place." It was just he and I and we had a great time talking and spending quiet time together. We split a steak and had silly conversation over their sweet yeast rolls and a few bites of their onion blossom. I took him afterwards and bought him a Star Wars Lightsaber as a surprise; he has wanted one for a long time. He was thrilled! All in all, we had a great time. We held hands a lot, stole a lot of hugs and kisses, and just enjoyed being together.

My Handsome Date

Today was Nathan's orientation for Kindergarten. I was thankful for the fact that we would be able to go with him and get him settled for a little bit before he starts his big day (supposedly) tomorrow. We enjoyed playing with the blocks in his classroom, exploring all the new places, and he even got to ride a the school bus in preparation for the big day.

So that's all well and good, right? We're all set to start Kindergarten tomorrow, right?

No, probably not. ::sigh::

I woke up to rain this morning...pouring rain. It has poured with that same vigor all day long. Flood waters are rising in our area and many roads, underpasses, and low-lying areas are flooded and the river and creeks are rising at a rapid pace. And if that's not bad enough, the rain is supposed to continue into the night and throughout tomorrow morning...perhaps for another 7 days here and there! Thankfully, we live atop a big hill, so we are definitely safe from harm. But many people from the region are being adversely affected by the flooding and I'm pretty sure they're going to cancel school for tomorrow.

On top of that, we had a few tears at bedtime tonight. Nathan is sad to to be leaving me all day every day. In the 5 years of his life, for the exception of 2 days when his dad and I went away for our anniversary last year, we have seen each other for most of the hours in each day of his life. This is going to be a huge adjustment for us both and I know that he is feeling it. I am feeling it.

So we are both growing sick with anticipation. And now we are likely putting school off for another day, giving us another day together, yes, but also giving us time to anticipate and anxiously await that monumental first day for another 24 hours.

We will survive, but the anticipation is killing us!

Eight Whole Months

 Geesh... I'll tell you. These monthly birthdays never cease to take me by surprise. I always feel lost in the conundrum of feeling like he's been in our family forever and unable to believe that it has already been eight months since he arrived. It's a strange feeling, for sure.

But here we are today! My boy is 8 months old! Where did the time go?!

• He has 6 teeth, can army crawls like a maniac, can pull up to a standing position, and can cruise on occasion from one surface to another.
• He is sweet and cuddly, bubbly and smiley, and he is a mama's boy; there is no doubt about that!
• He has been sleeping through the night for 3+ months now, which shocked this mama beyond belief, and he has really started to nail down his nap schedule, napping once in the morning for about an hour and once in the afternoon for 2-3 hours straight. Occasionally he takes a cat nap after dinner.
• He, who once loved his homemade purees, recently started shaking his head when I offered them and so is now eating mostly table food when he wants. He loves pretty much everything I have offered, but I'd say his favorite is avocado. He never turns it down.
• He adores his brother and sister and they adore him right back. They play so gently with him and he lights up when he sees them.

To say we are blessed beyond belief to have him in our lives is an understatement. I feel so very blessed to be his mama and I look forward to seeing him grow and change in the days ahead.

Happy 8 Months, my darling! I love you so much!  -Mama

 

The End of an Era

There was a time when this boy was my entire world. When days were spent between the two of us, trying to figure out this motherhood thing. He was my guinea pig. He was the whole reason I stayed at home at all.

I hardly remember that little boy. In fact, it is easy for me to forget just how small he once was. It's easy to forget that he was a toddler once. When I look at the refined 5-year-old that he is today, it is hard for me to remember that he was once a little guy.

During my pregnancy with him early in 2006, I knew that I would stay at home with him after he was born. I quit my nursing job fairly early in that pregnancy due to my morning sickness and finished my last semester for my BSN. I remember the summer months before he was born, just daydreaming about having a little baby and wondering what on earth I was supposed to do with a little person all day long. I remember thinking I'd be ok with a baby, but that I had NO earthly idea what I would do with a toddler. Oh, how times have changed.

Since he came along, we have added two more to our fold; kids who don't even have a real identity aside from being their brother or sister. His poor sister follows him around endlessly, just trying to keep up with the busy boy that he is. She idolizes him and adores him in every way. Sure, they argue and bicker (like I remember doing with my siblings), but they love each other to death. And don't even get me started on Nicholas and Nathan; those two have a special relationship all of their own. I love to watch them together.

Here we are on the fringes of what will be his first-ever real breaking away. The boy who became my reason to be a stay-at-home-mom in the first place will soon fly the coop and enter Kindergarten. I won't spend my days in the old familiar ways, saying, "Nathan, get down from the counter!" or "Nathan, be quiet and take a nap!". It seems like this house may feel a bit empty for a while.

You may remember the angst I felt with regard to the boy's first birthday, and I am likening those feelings to the ones I am feeling at the moment. There is just a general dread for the future because time is flying by at rapid pace and I, for the life of me, cannot figure out how to push the pause button. My stomach is in knots when I think about the way the last 5+ years have gone by me with the snap of a finger, and even moreso when I think about how I hardly remember it all.

I am fine... we will all be fine... Nathan will do great, I have no worries with regard to that. But this end of an era is going to shake things up a bit and I am just going to have to adjust to it all.

 

The Ultimate Cram

I was laying in bed last night while on my computer. I have taken school lunch to a whole new level, I'm sure, and have gone obsessive-compulsive about what to pack Nathan to take to school and what said lunch should be packed in. The poor child probably doesn't even care, but I have taken this whole lunch thing on as my own personal mission. ::sigh::

But then it hit me. In just two weeks, my firstborn baby will be headed out into this world permanently. This isn't just preschool, folks. This is the real deal: 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, 180 days out of the year. This is the big leagues.

And then I started wondering if we had prepared him well enough to be out in the world. It is such a cruel place and such a difficult place to be a Christian anymore. I laid awake with my head spinning with thoughts about his preparation to this point.

did we teach him enough about Jesus?

did we teach him how to be obedient to authorities?

did we teach him how to share?

did we teach him how to love others?

did we instruct him properly in his ABCs & his numbers?

have we shown him how to color within in the lines?

So many questions, many yet to be answered. Will he thrive? The thoughts of everything he will go through are overwhelming and suffocating.

And then... (Thank You, Lord)...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
      And lean not on your own understanding;
      In all your ways acknowledge Him,
      And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I suppose this is where the "trust" comes in. While I am not a perfect parent, I have done my best to teach Nathan how to live. And not only teach him, I have tried to show him in and through my own life. And I guess this is the part where I let go a little, give him back into God's hands, and start letting God guide his little life while he is away.

I am excited to see how God is going to work in directing Nathan's paths. I can't wait to see the testimony of God's presence in Nathan's experience at school this year. 
 

 

Starting Over

I keep coming back to this dead blog every now and then, wishing the pages were filled of cute stories of my kids, very deep thoughts I have had, and/or just some commentary on my crazy life, but alas, they aren't. I just have let this ball drop and months of cute memories of my kids have slipped like sand between my fingertips. Makes me sad.


SO...

I am going to pick this ball back up again. With my oldest babe entering Kindergarten in just 2 short weeks and my middlest babe starting preschool in about 3 short weeks, and my youngest babe on the verge of doing a full, real crawl (and not just this army crawling business), I am feeling the desire to get back to work here recording all of these things.

EEK...I hope I can hack it.