Monday, August 29, 2011

A Nickel birthday


Birthday girl... turned 5. :)

We had a great weekend. I think Lil M might remember this one. :D


Peace.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Last day of 4

First pic is of Day 2 ...getting ready to leave for Kindergarten.

The next few pics are of this morning... my girl's 3rd full day at Kindergarten and her last day of being 4YO. Big birthday tomorrow. :)
After today, I'm not allowed to walk her to class. So, I had to have the teacher-aide take this for us. :D

Peace.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

First day of Kindergarten!!

Lil M's first day of Kindergarten. :D I am such a proud, proud Mama!!!

I can't believe we're at Kindergarten already. Time has just flown by! I'm so wistful today. And thankful. And blessed.

We went to Starbucks this morning before the start of the day. She and her friend MK2 matched today, but that was just a fluke! (they matched on orientation day, too, which was funny!!)

Man, was it CRAZY at school this morning! There is no bussing, so all the parents were there with their kiddos to walk them to their first day of school and class. (Which we are only allowed to do this week. After this week, we have to drop them off at the front door! Yikes!)

Lil M is waiting here for her turn in front of the big sign. Isn't she stylin'? :)
My beautiful girl, looking quite grown up!! (sniff, sniff)

They gave out pencils to all the kids. Here's Lil M waiting to get her pencil!

All set and ready to go!!

Peace.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Kindergarten orientation

A few days ago we went with T and baby G to the park... they all had fun on the slide. We get to see T&G almost every week still, which is nice. T is trying to find a job, and I hope she finds something soon.

Little Miss M had her Kindergarten orientation last night. :) She starts next Wednesday and seems excited about it. I hope she likes it. The class seemed fine, but it doesn't look like she'll know anyone in it at first. So, let's see how it goes.
This will be our first experience, obviously, with official school. I am praying that she does OK and that we don't experience any adoption related issues. Or any issues, for that matter. The biggest challenge, so far, is that I'll have to get her there by 8am each day. Ugh. Let's see how that goes!!!! yikes.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention stats from Lil M's dr appt... she's 35.9 lbs and 40.75" tall (as of this month on Aug 10). :)

Peace.

Monday, August 15, 2011

My baby's almost 5!!!

I can't believe my *baby* is almost 5 years old! AND she's starting Kindergarten next week!! Oh my goodness!!

I never thought that her going to K would be a problem for me. I mean, we've been calling daycare "school" for years now... but, it IS a big change for her and for us. She's a big girl now.

She's starting to get better about telling me what is wrong or when she needs/wants Mommy-time or me to herself... which is great. She's never actually liked to share me much, and I'm so proud of how she shared over the past 2 years of fostering.

T came over and helped me clean this weekend, thank goodness. She's a life saver. I just haven't been motivated. With the kids moving in and out, it just wasn't worth all that work. But I'm SO glad it's better now and I think it'll look ok for company during Lil M's birthday party. Lil M was great at playing with baby G this weekend so T and I could get things done.

...But back to school. My little girl is growing up!! It feels like it was just YESTERDAY she came home and we started this little family of ours. And then other days, it's hard to remember all the details! It's gone by so very, very fast. People say it goes by fast, but seriously... blink, and you'll miss it!! And I don't want to miss even one moment! :)

Next week we're going to do a pool party at the house and I'm hoping to do gifts first, then cake, crafts and then swimming... let's see how that goes. I just know last year we did gifts last and that was just too late. She wants Kai Lan... or maybe Hello Kitty. I've got to nail that down this week. LOL. :)

Crafts for the kiddos... painting wooden face masks (on a stick), stringing beads, coloring/painting, and making bubble makers. I need to get invitations out this week! YIKES.

Peace.

Monday, August 8, 2011

vacation






Lil M and I had the opportunity this month to take a small vacation (4 days). We went to Maine to visit family and here are some pics from there. It was great weather and I'm glad we got to get out of the heat for a few days.


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Business and pleasure

Last week was tough for me. I had to go on a work trip that lasted 5 days. This is the 2nd time I've been away from Lil M that long. And I hate that. It's not that I think we can't be a part... but, a couple of days is different than a week. I liked the trip and love to travel, but this trip was tough because we had 3 12-hour days of travel for 2 days of visiting our staff. Ugh. I had hoped to take Lil M with me, but she would have had to deal with all that, too. So, it was best that she stayed here this time. Maybe the next time I go I can take her with me. :)

Lake Forest was gorgeous and we got to eat at a place overlooking the ocean. That was awesome. Anacortes was nice, and the weather was amazing. They sit on a bay and the office overlooks the water. Color me jealous. :) However, it is a small resort town and I'm not sure how much fun it'd be to actually live there.

Lil M and I get to take a long weekend trip together, though, and I can't wait. :) I guess this will be her 4th airplane trip (China to home, Atlanta, NOLA and now ME), which is quite cool. It's a short trip, but I think it'll be awesome to have just Mama/Lil M time.

On Tuesday we went with our friend MK to see Lil M's big-girl school. She starts Kindergarten this month, and so we went to see what class she'll be in and see if there was anything else we could find out early. Lil M and MK2 will not be in the same K class, which was kind of a bummer, but it'll be OK. MK and I both thought that this school only had one class of full-day Kinders this year... but apparently, they had the demand for two. And so it goes...

Anyway, Lil M asked me today when will she get to go back to her new school. I'm glad she liked going over there to see it the other day, and I hope she likes it when she starts. This will be a big transition for us, her especially. She will be in the room with 21 other kids (13 girls, 9 boys total).

I can't believe my baby is almost 5 years old!!! I'm trying to live fully and cherish every moment we have. We've been having fun, and she is still just as amazing as she's ever been.

Peace.