A New School Year

It's hard to believe but another summer has flown by and it's time for a new school year!

This might actually be one of my favorite times of the year.  As a non-teacher working parent, I don't get to enjoy the everyday fun that summer brings.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer, but I also love fall and getting back into a routine. This is "reset" time for me. I really get back into meal planning and organization because that's what makes a happy house (and momma) and a smooth day/night. It also helps that the kids are still at an age where they are excited to get back to school.  There is nothing like spending everyday with your best friends even if you are learning.

This year we have a first grader (say what?!?!).  Luke started school on Monday.



He walked into school with a big smile and came out with one too. 



Luke's teacher is Mrs. Niemiec. He has about 6 of the same kids from his class last year so that's always good to have some familiar faces.



(Mommy chalk fail)



Ty and Paige had a special day home with mommy!



Paige is in 4-year old preschool this year.  She started on Tuesday. We are doing the full-day program just like we did last year. 



All my concerns about the full-day program prior to the start of last school year are gone.  She had a fabulous year and I know this year will be the same.  Her teacher is Mrs. Rachanski.



Isn't she just the cutest in her jumper? :)



These 2 were totally into it for me that morning!



Next week starts a new adventure for Ty too. We are changing daycares. We've been at the same place since Luke was a baby so this is a big change for all of us, but it will definitely simplify our life by eliminating some extra driving.



Here's to a great school year for all of us!

Halfway There & Other Happenings

It's hard to believe I am halfway through this pregnancy! Just 20 weeks (or less) to go!



I delivered both Luke and Paige at 39 weeks (Luke was at 39 weeks 2 days and Paige was at exactly 39 weeks so we'll see what this baby has planned!

I feel really good, which is so crazy to say. I definitely have a lot more energy these days - I can even make it for a 9 PM tv show a few nights a week :) I have no aches and pains yet and FINALLY within the last couple of days I have felt the baby move more regularly. I was feeling flutters here and there for a few weeks, but the kicks and rolling are definitely happening more often! Thank goodness because it defnitely helps ease the paranoia I have this pregnancy. And my belly has definitely popped recently!

As you know we had our ultrasound last Friday and I do believe we have a healthy baby boy! The tech didn't say much other than the baby was measuring on time. My next doctor's appointment is on the 18th so I will get more information, but they would have called if anything serious came up.

While the tech was getting the measurements she was laughing because she said the baby was moving, but it's legs were glued together. I could only picture the baby moving like a mermaid in there - which is actually really funny because Paige wants to name the baby Ariel (if it was a girl of course)! The baby must have opened it's legs and the tech said she was 90% sure she knew the sex. Is 90% enough to move forward with getting rid of girl clothes??? I am hesitant still, but am hoping my doctor can provide confirmation or let me know if I will be having another ultrasound (which I don't expect as long as everything is good!). Wally and I have discussed doing an elective 3D ultrasound, but we'll see...

In other news, we can check something else off our list - Luke and Paige got into the Catholic School we were hoping for! We have been waiting over a month to hear so it is a relief to know that we have that all set.



And this little doggy has been cuddling up with me every night on the couch. I remember her doing that when I was pregnant with Luke and Paige. Those dogs just know don't they. Now, whether she is truly happy about it is another story!



And these two...they have been inseparable lately :) More to come on that!

Luke's First Field Trip

This past Tuesday Luke's preschool took a field trip to Konow's Farm.  It was not the ideal morning for a field trip.  It was rainy and super muddy from the previous days' rain.  But, of course, the kids could have cared less!

This picture does not reflect Luke's excitement about riding on a bus; however, it does depict how unexcited he is about me taking his picture these days. But it shows his pretty eyes so I am posting :)



There's the forced excitement :)

Once we arrived, most of the kids immediately started jumping and sliding and getting muddy!




Time to drive some tractors!



And just as some of the kids were about to go out on the Moo-Choo ride it started to lightening and then raining HARD! We had to climb out and head to some indoor activities, which thankfully they had!

(Patrick, Jackson, and Luke)











We were able to get back on the Moo-Choo ride right before we left!


We grabbed our pie pumpkin and headed back to school on the bus.  The weather wasn't great, but all of the kids seemed to have a great time!

First Day of Preschool - 9/4/12

It really was no surprise to me, but Luke did great on his first day of 3 year old preschool!



I asked him the night before if he wanted me to walk him in or if he wanted me to drop him off and have a teacher bring him in (which is preferred by the school).  He quickly answered that he wanted me to drop him off.  He repeated this several times the next morning.



I was doing really well with this whole "my little boy is going to school" thing until completely out of the blue on the car ride to the preschool, Luke said, "I'm not going to cry when you drop me off Mommy".  My eyes filled with tears.  He was such a big boy and I really have no idea where that comment even came from since neither Wally (and I confirmed this with him) nor I ever mentioned to Luke anything about crying.



As we pulled into the parking lot, Luke actually clapped and said "There is my school!".  So there we were in the drop-off line...I snapped one last picture of him, got him out of the van, and walked him around to the curb where one of the teachers greeted him, I hugged him, kissed him and told him to have a good day and that I loved him, and then the teacher took his hand, and led him inside to his classroom.  He didn't even show one sign of being a little bit nervous.  He just marched right on in ready for a new adventure!  Such a proud Mommy I am :)

(his excited face!)


For pick up, we actually go inside, line up outside their classroom and the kids are dismissed one at a time to us.  I got a big smile from Luke when he saw me, but I wouldn't say he was like dying to see me for the last 3 hours.  I was sure excited to see him though.  I picked him up and kissed him right away! 



As is typical of Luke though, I got very little information out of him about his day.  He has been this way with daycare forever and school seems to be the same.  His response is always that "he played".  And when I dig for specifics and ask lots of questions, I don't get too many detailed answers.  Usually throughout the day or night, he will give me a little more information and the best conversations typically happen at night in his bed after we are done reading books and before the lights go out.



All went well on Thursday and he seems to really like Ms. Sandy.  There is a little bit of confusion for him with our new schedule.  He is still trying to understand that he only goes to school 2 days a week and that he comes home the rest of the day with me one day and the other day I drop him off at Punky's for a half day while I go into work for a bit.  It will take some time to get into this new routine for all of us - I need to adjust my home life a bit with being home on Tuesdays instead of Fridays.

We are looking forward to a great first school year for Luke!  I am so proud of how brave he was and can't wait to see him learn new things and make new friends! 

Preschool

What? For who? For Luke? Already? It can't be?

That is sort of how I feel about it...how can we already be registering my baby for preschool??? But, we did! And really, I am very excited for him!

After church yesterday, we walked over to the preschool open house. We had gone to an open house there about a year ago and really loved the place but I wasn't sure how as a full-time working mom I could make a part-time preschool program work. But I made a proposal to work this week to give me a more flexible schedule during next school year and they were completely fine with it. So we were able to get Luke registered!

We were a little nervous about there being a spot for him. They only take 10-13 kids and have 2 classes (both in the mornings). One class is Mon/Wed and the other is Tues/Thurs. And they are the only Catholic preschool in town. I had to have the Tuesday/Thursday class in order for it to work out with my employer and thankfully everything worked out!

Wally and I are both happy that will Luke will get to experience school separate from the daycare environment. Believe me, he has learned a ton at daycare, but we think he will do really great in a school setting as well. I always really liked school so I am hoping Luke follows in my footsteps in that way!

I can't believe my baby boy will be starting preschool. So crazy! At least I have 7 months to prepare myself :)