First Day of Preschool!

Believe it or not (I choose not), my precious little Rock Star, "Baby Chase," began his first day of preschool. I am so full of emotions right now -- mostly feeling grateful, blessed, thankful... I can't believe that this day finally arrived! When you're told that your unborn baby would be born with half a heart and would die without 3 heart surgeries in their first 3-4 years of life, you don't have the luxury of imagining their first birthday, much less their first day of school. God has been SO GOOD.

I was VERY nervous about how he'd do. The ONLY time he's ever been outside of my, hubs', my mom's or my in-laws' care is when he attends his nursery/class at church. That's it. Every other moment of his life outside of church class he's been in my/hubs' care, a few select family members' care, or the care of an anesthesiologist and surgeon during one of his 9 surgeries/procedures.

Whoa.

He'd usually do great with his church class, up until a few weeks ago anyway. We were called to come get him from his class a few weeks ago and he WILL.NOT.GO.BACK. He straight up refuses, kicking and screaming, and there's no way we will ever get him back in that classroom. Nor do we want to. Obviously something left an impression and we have no choice but to move on. I tell you this only to say that his last/most recent experience with "going to class" has been extremely negative.

{{Insert my overwhelming concern for his first day of school here.}}

So the day finally arrived and I was NERVOUS. I had to wake him up, which (like his mommy) usually isn't a good thing. But to my surprise he jumped up out of bed and was super excited about his first day of school. We got through breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth and even... wait for it... brushing his hair. If you know Chase, you know he HATES having his hair brushed/cut/etc. so it was HUGE for him to sit in my lap for me to do his hair. Crazy awesome.

He walked into his new school (the same beloved Christian private school LO attended for K3 & K4), marched right into his classroom, and washed his hands (per protocol, thankyouverymuch) before finding his seat at the table and having some Play-Doh fun. It was the cutest thing.

Again, I was super nervous when it came time for us to slip out of the room, but I was already on such a high that he WILLINGLY walked INTO his class that I could tell he was going to be just fine. As expected, he waved us off while rolling out his Play-Doh and was nothing but smiles.

Thank you, Jesus! What an unbelievable answer to prayer!!!!!

When it was time to pick him up (just under 4 hours later), I peeked through the window and saw him eating his lunch with all the other kids like such a big boy. It made my mama heart proud to see how well he was doing! And boy was he super excited to see me, LO and E when we walked in! He told me how he got to finger paint and color and was just in such a wonderful mood.

When we went out to the car, he found a gift bag with some goodies inside (just like I did for LO after her very first day of school), so I let him open his gifts before heading home after his first day. I am just SO very proud of him. There just aren't words!! Just so proud.

Here are some pics from his awesome first day!

How'd THIS Happen?

Someone tell me how it's possible this little heart warrior of mine will be starting preschool TOMORROW!? I vividly remember wondering if this day would ever come -- if we would be lucky enough to have our sweet boy survive his first few days, then weeks, then months... To know he's THRIVED for almost FOUR YEARS and is starting preschool is an absolute blessing. We thank the Lord for this child and I pray he has a most wonderful first day of preschool!

Side note: I will be *that* mom in the morning -- the one huddled in the fetal position in a corner bawling my eyes out. Ya, that's me.

I just love him so!!!

Mother's Day Tea Party

What a wonderful blessing it was for me to spend my morning at LO's school for her class Mother's Day Tea Party. The tiny tables and chairs were decorated so special, and the kids served their mommies a dainty breakfast snack and tea. They even cleared our plates for us! So sweet!

One of the things I loved most was a paper titled, "My Mom." The kids all answered questions about their mommies and the teacher filled it in for them. Take a look at mine below... LO almost nailed my age, and was quite generous with both my height and weight! I love that "My Mom's favorite food is..." spaghetti with meatballs and stuff. Haha! Her answer to the TV program question cracked me up, and I love her explanation of my "free time." Looks like I need to have a little chat with her that I'm sad when she doesn't listen, but that doesn't mean I'm mad at her. Such a sweet treasure this is!

The kids all drew pictures of their moms, too. I got to guess which one was LO's, and I could tell right off the bat. She tends to draw big heads on her people. Haha! I'm really digging the coat of many colors she's got me in!

Another sweet keepsake was a little Mother's Day flower in the cutest little pot! She drew flowers, birds, butterflies and a sun. It's beautiful!

It wouldn't be a Mother's Day program without some singing! LO's class sang several songs, but this one was by far my favorite! Enjoy! :)



Posted from my beloved iPhone

First Day of K4!

Well, my big 4-year-old girl started K4 this morning! I can hardly believe it! She's turning into such a big, beautiful, smart, compassionate young lady! I'm so very proud of her! She was really excited to start her day today and kept pushing me along ("Time to go, Mommy!").

Of course I took her picture before we left. She was so excited to wear her new purple sequin shirt from Target. So beautiful!

1st Day of K4 (2011)!

Compare this one to last year!

1st Day of 3-year-old Preschool (2010)

Here she is in the car on our way to school. We had a great conversation on the way there while sitting through the traffic. She recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge to the Christian Flag, and spelled her first, middle and last name. Guess she was brushing up on her skills! :)

Here she was in the car last year before we got out of the car to go to her first day of preschool.

On our way to 3-year-old preschool (2010).

This year she was stylin' big time! I wanted to get a pic before she got out of the car and she insisted on putting on her shades first. The sun was shining right in her face, so I don't blame her. She's so stinkin' cute!

She pretty much dragged me through the main mall area towards her classroom. We were able to stop and see her teacher from last year before heading into her class, and she was SUPER excited about that! We got into her class, washed her hands, and she headed straight for the train table (imagine my surprise. not.). I had to convince her to sit down with the rest of her class and play with Play-Doh like she was supposed to be doing. :)

And of course, my favorite picture of her standing outside of her classroom from last year!

2010

I can't wait to hear all about her first day of K4! I know she's gonna have a great time! There were at least 4 boys from her class from last year that are in her K4 class, so I know it'll be nice for her to see some familiar faces. She's gonna do great!

Now mommy and Chase are off to enjoy some quality mommy-son time. I see a walk around the neighborhood and some 1st-day-of-school-gift shopping in our future! :)

Stuff

• I'm praising the Lord that both Bodie and Bowen had successful surgeries today! Please continue to lift both these little ones up in prayer especially over the next 24-48 hours.
• I'm so very pleased to report that LO had a great first day at her new preschool! I haven't had a chance to share much about that here, but essentially we've taken her out of her previous preschool (it was actually a daycare affiliated with the Baptist church that very much treated her like a daycare kid - not cool.) and started her in a private school that is an actual school, which has an early education program all the way through high school. She had been going 5 days a week to the "other" school, but will now be going 3 days a week at her new school. Honestly I had a difficult adjustment to not having her at home in the mornings 5 days a week. She'll be stuck getting up early and going to school 5 days a week for 15+ years, so I figure it'd be nice to still have a few mornings each week to hang out in pajamas with her mommy and brother and just enjoy being together. I think this new school is going to be a MUCH better fit for our family. Here are a few pics:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Chase had his first flu shot this morning. He's been pretty good most of the day, just taking one extra nap and not really eating quite as fervently as usual. But this evening he stepped it up with a low fever (101.5!) and lots of fussiness. He's had some Tylenol twice and I gave him a nice bath before putting him to bed. I pray that he'll get a good night's sleep tonight and feel much better tomorrow!
• We picked up our Sienna today, complete with DVD player #4 installed. Unfortunately, we also now have a huge gash on the front fender, some greasy fingerprint stains on my leather seats, and some issues with the panels under the dash board that they removed to access the wiring. My biggest disappointment, however, was that NO ONE was there to walk us to our vehicle, make sure we were satisfied with the work, etc. We basically picked up our keys from the cashier and were pointed in the direction of the parking lot where we could find our vehicle. I couldn't believe this considering all we had been through already and also because hubs spent so much time with the service manager last week and was very patient with the situation. You might not be surprised to know that there was a voicemail placed this evening to that service manager, and we will be discussing all of this with them tomorrow.
• I'm thinking of moving my blog to Wordpress. I know this is totally random and I have no idea why I would want to move, other than the fact that I Love! Love! Love! the way Wordpress blogs look on my iPhone (the mobile version) and I don't believe Blogger offers that sort of thing. I know, I said it was random.
• Do you know how long it takes to clean/disinfect all of the toys in my house? A long time. Soak in bleach water, rinse, air dry. A LOT of stuff. Then wash all the cloth toys and things in the washing machine. And wipe down all of the electronic toys. This was about a 4-day process. So tiring. Now I know why I don't do it as often as I should. Loser mom, here!
• I had a great family vacation last weekend, but I'm pretty sure I haven't yet blogged about it. Not sure why. Lack of time, I guess. I'll try to get on that soon!
• So I'm dealing with this "issue" regarding people. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, but suffice it to say that relationships with people that used to just "be" there, are no longer there. It's disappointing and it hurts, and I don't have the slightest idea how to even begin to rectify it (assuming it's all my fault, of course, since I'm the kind of person who typically assumes I did something wrong but just didn't realize it).
• I'm a mere $50 away from meeting my $500 fundraising goal for the American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk. Don't you want to help me reach my goal and make a little donation? Don't you??
  
• It's only 8:44 PM and I'm ready to call it a night. Is that wrong?
  

One of THOSE Moms

Okay, so I really don't want to be one of "those" moms, but I feel myself turning into one. Today is day 3 of preschool for LO and I'm SO HAPPY she loves it as much as she does. The unfortunate thing for me is I keep finding out stuff about the Center that a) I didn't know about (as in, it wasn't listed in the Parent Handbook) and b) I can't do anything about. I don't like being told what I can and can't do, especially where my daughter is concerned.

Okay, so the first thing is I wanted to attend all of her class field trips as a chaperone. I inquired about this at the open house last week and was told I can't. It makes sense in a way because there's limited space on some events. But THE reason I wanted to go to all of them was because I would be able to drive her with me when I'm attending as a chaperone, instead of her riding on a bus with seat belts but NO car seats. I just don't like this at all!!! I guess the "good" thing is I was able to sign up for 4 out of the 6 or 7 field trips for the year. I might have to follow behind the bus for the other ones...

I also had the (wrong) assumption that I would be able to bring Chase with us on the field trips I'm chaperoning. Found out yesterday that ISN'T the case! I just assumed I could bring him because I remember my sister taking her youngest on her older kids' field trips, but of course that was at a different school than LO's. Ugh! Just makes me mad because now hubs is gonna have to work from home or take vacation days to keep Chase while I'm on LO's field trips. Nice.

Okay, so the BIGGEST thing was something I found out this morning. I asked for a copy of the snack schedule and mentioned that I assumed I could send a different snack with LO if I didn't want her having a certain snack the Center is providing.

I was told NO.

I confirmed that snacks consist of processed junk like cookies, goldfish crackers, and even freakin' Pop-Tarts!!! I can't tell you how long its been since I've allowed Pop-Tarts in my house, much less all those other processed foods. Snacks at home are almost ALWAYS fresh fruit, veggies, raisins, etc. I Hate! Hate! Hate! that I have no control and no say in what my daughter is being fed at preschool. Is this normal? Is this to be expected?
Am I just supposed to turn my head and ignore it? Honestly, this REALLY upsets me more than the other "issues" I've pointed out above. I understand the safety issues with having siblings on field trips. I'm bummed I can't chaperone all the field trips, but I guess it'll provide me with a chance to work on my separation anxiety. But forcing my child to eat the processed snack foods she's not allowed to eat at home?! I hate the mixed message this sends to her and can't believe there's nothing I can do about it. I feel totally alone in my thoughts/feelings on this issue. Apparently I'm the only one with the problem. I haven't even talked with any other parents so I'm assuming they don't care, either. I knew the day would come where mommy's hands are tied, but I never thought it would be THIS soon!

Ugh.

Am I totally alone on this?

***UPDATE***

Kristen - Thanks for your support! Glad I'm not crazy for being upset by the snack issue. I actually emailed the Director herself and she was the one that told me, "We do not allow different food to be brought in unless it is a party day." Of course that opens up another can of worms... I'm not at all happy with the idea of her eating cupcakes or whatever that other parents bring in -- whether they purchased them at a bakery or made them at home. I'm over the top when it comes to cleanliness and germs when baking in my kitchen, and how can I know if other parents are the same way?? Ugh. I've thought about the allergy thing, but it'll be day 4 tomorrow and she's already had their processed junk foods. I just don't know whether to make a big deal out of this (much to hubs' chagrin) or just try to ignore it and pretend it's not happening.

Tim - Of course you're the voice of reason, clearly seeing things from both points of view! I appreciate that! I have no issues with the policy of not bringing younger siblings when chaperoning -- mostly I'm just crazy-disappointed by it. But for the snacks? Ugh. I feel like my back is against the wall.

Joelle - It helps so much to know that yet another mom feels the same way as I do! I really am mad about all of this, but I'm doing my best to process it and figure out what's best for LO -- regardless of what I'd prefer to do. It's only been a few days, but already I feel like we're "just a number" to them. I hate a "once size fits all" policy, especially when it comes to MY child and especially when it concerns what she's eating. I have been trying hard to eliminate all processed foods from our entire family's diet, and this just makes me feel like a total failure. I am in SHOCK N' AWE about your gym story! I cannot believe they recommend cookies and chips for snacks!! I'm not sure I've heard how raisins are a choking hazard, and what the crap is so "messy" about fruit and veggies? CRAZY.


Posted from my iPhone

First Day of Preschool!

Well, the day finally arrived! It was LO's first day of preschool today, AND I'm happy to report both LO and mommy survived! And, believe it or not, the final tear count was ZERO. Yay!

So here are a few pics from the day...

Her picture before leaving for school. I figure it'll be nice to do this each year so we can see how big she gets (compared to the door!). I figure we'll be living at our current home until retirement, so I'm sure we'll have her pic outside this door 'til high school graduation. ;)

This one was taken in the car, just before we got out to head into school this morning. She's a little bit excited...

Another pic before heading into her classroom. The fish tank is located down the hall and I let check out the fish for a minute or so before heading in! We took a quick pic of the two of us together outside her classroom, then she gave me a big hug and kiss and headed right in to play! She did AWESOME!

Picking her up from school wasn't too bad! The pick-up line was reasonable, and I didn't get there 'til 11:50AM for a 12:00PM pick up! After Chase's morning nap, we headed over to the local craft store to pick up some things I needed for Chase's birthday (yes, his birthday is just over TWO MONTHS from now -- I'm a planner!), and while we were there I picked up a few little things to give her as a sort of "first day of school" gift. I let her open it when we got home.

She loved the pink butterfly card!

Believe it or not, she really was VERY excited about this Finding Nemo book. Even though her face in the photo tells a totally different story...

There were also some shiny, glittery butterfly stickers in the gift bag, as well as this fun little butterfly sun-catcher craft. She was VERY happy about this one, too!

See? I told ya.

No, really. She's excited about this craft we'll be doing after nap time.

Overall, I'm SUPER happy with how well she did today... not to mention how well I did, too! Here's hoping the rest of the year goes as well as today! ;)

How'd This Happen?

Can someone please tell me how it's possible that this beautiful girl is starting her first day of preschool in the morning?? It's all downhill from here, right? Starting tomorrow, we're looking at 15 years of early weekday mornings and summer breaks.

I'm not sure I'm ready for this!