The First day of Pre-K

Well it finally was upon us today.  The first day of pre-school for my baby boy.  We've been preparing for a while now.  I've debated over this for so long.  I wasn't sure to send him or not but deep down I know it was the right choice.  He's my little worrier, this I know.  Until he knows and is comfortable with his situation, he stands off.

My stomach has been in knots as well.  I always say this - I know in the grand scheme of things this is minor but to me as a mom right now - it's a big deal and these feelings are real.  We layed in bed last night talking about all the things he would do in school and how much he would love it once he got used to it.  He would listen to me with a big smile on his face and then a look of fear would come with some tears and I would just keep reminding him that it would all be ok.  We carried on with our nightly routine, said our prayers, and off went the lights.  (we are still living at my parents house) and within two minutes he was calling me to talk some more so grammy Ann went and layed with him and talked some more.  He finally fell asleep, but was up bright and early.  Like 5:45 AM early!

He lounged in his PJs for a while and watched cartoons and played with his sissy.  He kept asking - "do I have to go to school right now?"  He doesn't quite get the whole time concept yet;)

After cartoons, grammy Ann made all of us French Toast - another benefit of living back at home - haha!  He had french toast with some orange juice and then hopped in the shower with his daddy.

(sister smelled a rat as well this morning...she didn't know what was going on)  Needless to say, everyone was a little off today.

After his nice morning shower, I got him all dressed and moussed;)  He took his vitamin, brushed his teeth, and then we went outside to take some pictures.

After pictures we headed to school.

He was one of the first kids there so he got to be the line leader.  He did start crying and I tried to calm him down, but it wasn't really helping.  Grammy Ann had to stay with him for a preK meeting since I had to be in my own classroom.

Since it wasn't really helping with me standing there and I was on the brink of tears myself...I waited for Greyson to turn and then I slowly turned around and walked away crying.  It was hard.  I walked that long hallway back to my classroom and I could hear my baby the whole way.  Bless my husband who had texted me a PreK article about all the 'normal' behaviors that happen on that first day.  What to do and what not to do.  Even though I knew this stuff - it helped to read it.  And since I have some pretty great co-workers - they were all sneaking down this morning checking on my Grey for me;) And they were sneaking pics of him with their phones. -ha!  It made my day so much easier.

He tried to be so brave today.  We might have tears all week but I know he will be just fine;)

We survived our first day of preK~!  I couldn't wait to get to him after school to squeeze him and when I got home he was still sleeping.  Figures;)  He was worn out and so.was.I!!  It was a draining type of day both mentally and emotionally.

Our New House

So, this is it!  A nice 3 bedroom ranch with a wide open floor plan and one heck of a basement - once we finish it that is!

Sorry this is a pic from my phone....terrible quality but you get the picture...I will be up and running at our house Sunday with internet and I will be able to be back on my computer...I feel lost without it:(

It's been busy busy busy around here.  We are living at my parents right now while it's being painted and all of our new appliances should be delivered within a couple weeks here.  Then we will be able to finally MOVE in!  Yay!

Nate is already talking about a shed for the backyard and what kind of trees he wants to plant in our yard!  As you can see we need to do landscaping which will all come in good time:) 

As for me I canNOT wait to finally decorate my kids bedrooms and print ALL of my pretty pictures on canvas.  I never did this because I knew we would be moving and I didn't know how I wanted to do it.  But, pinterest is helping a ton.  I'm gonna have A TON of picture walls - That's all I gotta say! ;)

Life happens

and you go with it.

(Enjoying a special convo with daddy)

That's been going through my mind lately.  And the constant reminder with all this 'stress' I feel I really don't have "problems" - no big problems or serious problems - at the end of the day I have my 2 beautiful children - my wonderful husband - and our health...I know this...but of course we all get stressed and at different points in our life there is MORE stress than other times.

And so when life happens, we adjust.  We may not want to, it might not be fair, we might be sad, it might be a lot of work - but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.  And even though that light is hard to see sometimes- it's there...even if it's dim.

For example, it's hard on all of us when Livy is gone in Nevada for 6 weeks of the summer visiting her dad.  It's especially hard on her mama, but we all come together and rally as a family and do the best we can.  It's hard for us - the people who see her everyday and are with her all the time.  Greyson asked almost everyday  "mama, when is Livy gonna be home?"  He missed his buddy..  With all that being said - we are happy to report that we welcomed Livy home last weekend.  And, we celebrated!!!

We made signs - we blew up balloons - hey - we had a party because family is worth celebrating!

 happy mama to have her baby in her arms

 I must give credit where it is due - I made the letters on the sign but then Papa Mike decorated all of them...if you look closely he even intialed his work - ha!  That would be why the M.P.R. is there;)

Check out Miss Ladybug...are you digging her shoes as much as I do?!

(moving on with my thoughts and scattering pictures in between of our mini-celebration)

It's also going to be a HUGE adjustment for my family when I go back to work.  I have enjoyed every part of this year.  As I have said before I have truly never been happier.  I was home with my kids ALL year.  I got to be with Sailor her first year of life and that was very important to me.  But, now I am going back to teaching and the stress of a new school year, my son starting preschool, not seeing my daughter during the day, moving to a new house, and moving to a new grade is upon me.  And let me tell you - I.Feel.It.  Lots of life is happening around here and we are going with it.  Taking it one day at a time, because that's all we can do.  I am going to use this year as a learning experience and see where this road takes us.

I truly don't know what I want to do as far as staying home or going to work.  Let me explain that.  I am going back to work to teach 2nd grade.  My school made some changes, some teachers retired, and I was moved to another grade, which is a chance I took when I decided to take off the whole year.  I also want to state LOUD and CLEAR - that i have absolutely NO regrets about it.  At first I wasn't sure, but now I'm actually looking forward to a little older/maturity level of kids.  Like I said, I'm going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes.  I know after being home a whole year that I want to do 'something' I just don't know what it is yet.  I, myself, could not stay home FULL time-ALL the time.  However, I'm not sure if I want full time work either.  That's why this year is going to tell me and my family A LOT! 

It's so hard to balance as a mom.  I struggle with it constantly.  Is my child getting enough sleep, is my child getting enough healthy nutrition, is my child getting along socially 'correct', am I reading enough to my kids, are they meeting milestones...the list goes on and on...I know the 'worry' will never go away...it's part of the job...and now I have another job (my work job) to add to all of this...

I registered this lil' guy for preschool.  He is gonna go 5 mornings a week at my school.  So, he will come with me in the morning and then get picked up at 11:30 by his Papa.  He has a new Quicksilver backpack all the way from Hawaii that is from his Uncle Just.  He's all set.  Not sure how he will do with this transition but for now the mom in me knows it's time.  Once he gets used to it and knows his routine I know he will love it.

 

Life for this little girl has been painful in the mouth if ya know what I mean...Sister is really teething...and she has been miserable.  We can totally tell because she is just not herself. 

And life for Livy and Grey (as buddies) is getting back to normal as well.  They just returned from an adventure at KeyLime Cove.  Grammy Ann and Auntie Amy took the two of them for a couple days where they indulged in the indoor waterpark and the arcade and of course some chicken strips along the way.  Grey returned with a GIANT pen that he has been writing on himself with - NO NO! ;)

(the light at the end of Amy's tunnel)

 This one cracks me up...check out Grey's face...you'd think we were welcoming him home with the way he's holding that cake - haha!


 Life is happening all around us.  And, even though I don't like too much change we must be prepared for it because it's inevitable.

I'm doing my best to embrace what is happening around here.  I am trying to make the best decisions for my family and that's all I can do.   I want to be the best wife/mommy I can be and at the end of the day, my family is what matters most and comes FIRST!


Life happens...

Happy Monday!

Secret Undercover Agent

that was the description I got from my 3 year old;)  Check him out!

 Glasses...check

watch...check

gun...check

hand cuffs...check

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather!

Updates

Sorry I've been MIA...

But we've been going to town packing up our house every chance we get.  If you walked into my home right now you would find a million boxes and a TON of plastic bins waiting to be filled.  So far we've emptied out the basement, the garage, and the shed - and that makes me feel better because they were the BIG ones...Basically all we have left is the bedroom furniture and the couches to get out and of course some things out of the kitchen.  We are renting a storage place for the time being. 

We close next Friday 8/17 on our new house.  By the way, I don't think I filled you in on what happened.  We were looking at a home that was in foreclosure.  We thought it was a great deal but then we had the inspections done which I had told you.  Unfortunately, there were a TON of MAJOR things wrong with the house, such as plumbing problems, electrical problems, in need of a whole new septic system (which that alone was probably going to cost anywhere from $8,000 - $15,000), and MOLD!  So, we walked away from it.

It was just not worth it in our opinion to do all of that work at this point in time.  And I have to be HONEST - MOLD scares me...that can really cause health problems  Thank goodness we had the inspections done.

But, the good side, is that we found another house that is pretty much brand new.  It was built in 2009.  It's a 3 bedroom ranch.  We wanted 4, but we plan on fixing up the GINORMOUS basement eventually.  There is a lot of potential with this house and better yet - room to grow for our growing family.  We already had the inspections done and everything was GOOD!  We are having the house painted once we close but other than that we can move right in for now.  Obviously, there are things that Nate and I want to do, such as rip out the carpeting, lay new floors, new countertops, a cool backsplash...but those are all things that can be done in time...and I don't even know what I want yet meaning what style I want to go with and I don't want to rush  -that's for sure.  And with school starting up again we are just sooooo busy.  I'm just anxious to get moved in, settled, and on a routine.  It will be the best thing for all of us.  It has been 'up in the air' here the past couple months and I dislike that feeling of being in limbo if you know what I mean.

Our life in pictures lately...

Sister is just 'steppin' away...more and more steps everyday...

and she was loving the empty garage...right after we had packed it all up...

He likes to show Sailie his big tricks...

Grey wanted to help clean out the garage...

and as long as he was doing that....Sister knew it was her only chance to get the ball;)

While I've been packing up...we just pull out our remaining toys and fill up the pool...it kind of saves the day;)

our water guns help...

and graham crackers for Sailie help too;)

Happy Friday!