Exhaustion, a First Project and other musings

Tuesday afternoon I sat down at my desk and cried and cried.  The first two days of school with my own class were pretty close to awful.  (None of this applies to Jillian.  She has had a FABULOUS week at school and is so happy.  She made Mrs. V a bracelet last night because "she is the best teacher I have ever had."  Awwww! )  Tuesday afternoon I was questioning all of my life choices.  Why was I a teacher?  Maybe I am not cut out for kindergarten???  Maybe I should go back to the law??

Then it came to me.  As I was crying, my tears were landing on my class roster.  I looked at it and noticed under the gender column that there were very few Fs.  Surely that was a mistake.  I checked and checked again.  No, it was right.  In my class, I have 13 boys and 7 girls.  HOLY COW!!!!

No wonder I am having such a hard time!!!  There is too much testerone in my class!!  I felt like it wasn't my fault anymore.  I cracked down on Wednesday and Thursday and things have been much better.  I think I will have to put nice, sweet Mrs. P away for awhile because mean, take no prisoners Mrs. P is getting the job done with these boys!!! 

I can't seem to go to bed before 11:00 p.m.  There the dishes from dinner, the laundry (with folding and putting away), sweeping and mopping, etc.  PLUS my new assignment of making lunches for the next day.  Jeez!!  I am exhausted and this is the first week!!  Think about it....by the time all 3 kids get through school, I will have made lunches for 16 years!!!!  Isn't that an INSANE thought????  Please do NOT even suggest that I let them buy their lunch because I smell even look at the food in our cafeteria and I want to puke my guts out.  So gross!!  It is a crime what they are feeding our children at schools.  (That is a post for another day).

Anyways, Jillian had her first "All About Me" presentation in class.

First, pick an item that shows your favorite color.  Of course Sleeping Beauty's pink dress.

Show a picture of your family.

Show an item from your summer vacation.  Jillian said all the kids in her class chanted, "Put it on.  Put it on.  Put it on."  She giggled and giggled.  I was glad they did not chant the opposite.  They are too young for that!!!  hee hee

An item that a secret treasure.  Her sparkle necklace.

Finally, they were to show an item that depicted a pet they have or a pet they want - Jillian picked her stuffed pink elephant. 

Last night, as I was doing the dishes.  Bryan took the older two kids outside to ride bikes and Hads stayed in with me.  It suddenly got very quiet and I knew she was up to no good.

I was right.  That girl got into my eyeshadow!!!!

Kindergartner

Jillian was up bright and early and ready to go to kindergarten.  This girl was all smiles all day long.  She was so happy to be in school. 

Of course you know what kind of backpack she HAD to have with the matching lunch box of course.  You know what??  I didn't even fight it.  I (of course) had envisioned a beautiful monogrammed backpack but she wanted the $12 backpack from Wal-Mart.  I obviously let her win that battle.

Please ignore our total HIDEOUS faculty t-shirt.  So embarrassing that I have to wear it!!

Bryan took the day off so he could walk her to class.

Her teacher, Mrs. V!  My mentor and teacher for 17 years!  She is so awesome!!

Walking in line!

I was a little worried about day 2 but here she is ready to start her day with a smile on her face!!  We had a small tiff about her shoes but whatever I let her win but I am going to take a picture of her cute upper half!  Ha!!

Where Oh Where Did My Baby Go??

I have had a very emotional week thinking in just 2 short days, my baby girl will be joining me for kindergarten.  A range of emotions has been flooding my brains - happiness, sadness, joy, sorrow, laughing and crying.  Feeling soooo lucky and blessed that I get to experience her journey with her but at the same time, missing the days where she was my little tiny baby!!!  Sigh.....

In just 5 1/2 years, she has gone from a beautiful baby to a

energetic toddler to a

sweet 2 year old to a

sassy 3 year old to a

smart 4 year old to a

growing young girl to a

happy 5 1/2 year old

and ready for kindergarten!!!!!

I just can't believe the time is here!!! 

Wiederstein Elementary here we come!!!

My babies are not so itty-bitty...

Time is marching on!!  Today was Rocco's and Hadleigh's first day at their new preschool.  It is at a church located about 3 minutes from our house.  They will still be going 3 days a week and spend Tues/Thurs with my parents.  Jillian got to spend the day with a neighbor down the street. 

Rocco has been so excited to use his new backpack!!!

You know who is on it!!!  Was there ever a question??

I wanted to show you how Hads has no hair on top.  It is about an inch long.  I have to gather the curls from the back and pull it to to the top so it looks like a ponytail.  It is a come-over for toddlers!!!  ha ha!!!  She also fell (HARD) the other day and scraped and bruised her nose.  You can see it in the pictures. 

She was NOT ready for school!!!

Here is my big boy in his new classroom!!

Here are his new kicks!!  SIZE 13!!!!  He is such a big boy!!  Bryan was so happy that I finally broke down and bought him some Nikes.  Rocco says he runs faster in these new shoes. 

Since I bought Rocco some new shoes, you know who wanted some too!!  I broke down on her too and bought her the Twinkle Toes she wanted.  The things light up so much, it hurts my eyes to look at them but she loves them and wanted to wear them to church yesterday.  ha!!

And not to be left out, I raided Jillian's tubs of old clothes and shoes and found some "new" sandals for Hadleigh.  She looked very stylish yesterday at church with her pink bubble and pink shoes!!!

This morning was very rough for baby girl.  She knew the minute I started to talk about saying good-bye.  She started crying buckets of tears.  So heartbreaking!!!  She is a mommy's girl.  One of the teachers in her class took her in her arms and started to comfort her.  I just hope and pray that it got a little better for her during the day.  Since she cannot communicate well, I think it might be a difficult transition for her but I hope she will start liking school quickly!!

Stats

Bryan took Hadleigh for her 18 month check up and everything looks great.

She is BIG like her brother!!

Height:  34.5 " (97%)

Weight:  24 lbs 15 oz (55 %)

Head:  97%

She had her speech evaluation on Tuesday and she did qualify so that brings us to 5 monthly visits - one from her case manager, 2 from occupational therapy, 1 from physical therapist and 1 from speech therapist.  It is a little much but the good thing is that they always come to us.  They will come to my house or my Mom's house on Tues/Thurs or they will go to the daycare.  When she reaches 3 years old, then we have to go to their offices (if she is still in therapy). 

There are a LOT of changes going on in our house.  Hadleigh and Rocco start their new preschool on Monday and Jillian starts kindergarten in 10 days!!!  So many thoughts and feelings have been racing through my mind!!  I'll tell you about it next week.  I am back on the job and have a meeting with the principal in 15 minutes!! 

Have a good weekend!!

Last hoo-rah of the summer

Last week, we were so lucky to have one more summer vacation adventure.  Bryan's parents let us borrow their trailer to travel down to South Padre Island, Texas.  The thing is monstrous and Bryan did an excellent job hauling it down to the very southern tip of Texas.  Texas is one crazy place especially when you live right in the middle.  You can drive and drive and drive and still be in Texas.  With three small children and the trailer, it took us a good solid 6 hours to get to SPI from San Antonio.

Here we are crossing the Isabella Causeway from Port Isabel, Texas.  Literally gorgeous view!!!

We made it!!!!

After being couped up for 6 hours, the kids were bouncing off the walls!!!!

I feel like I bore ya'll with my vacation tales and pictures so I am going to do a very brief version of our story!!

SPI had beautiful fireworks over the bay!!!

We visited rescued turtles.  This one was missing its front flipper.

We climbed a lighthouse. 

Rocco and Jillian went fishing for the first time and Rocco caught a fish!!!

But seriously, this was my view every.single.day.  No clouds in the sky.  Beautiful white sand.  The sounds of waves in my ear.  (It was hot though.  Near 100 everyday.)

We drove to the north end of SPI everyday and enjoyed the beaches.  Barely anyone on the beach to share the sun. 

The kids faces looked like this everyday. 

Sheer happiness and enjoying the sand, the waves and each other. 

This is one of the best family pics we have gotten. 

I am a beach girl.  Born that way and will die that way.  I love everything about the beach.  SPI was a great change of pace for us.  Little farther than we are used to (Port Aransas takes us almost 3 hours) but a great family vacation spot. 

I have one more day of summer until I am officially back to duty.  This summer has been so fun and I am so lucky I get to recharge my battery and enjoy my kids before I start another school year. 

18 Months

Look who is celebrating 18 months of life!!!  It's Hadleigh-boo!!!  I cannot believe how much this little girl fills our lives with so much sweetness.   Lately, I have been hearing things like "She looks just like her Daddy.  Well, except the blue eyes and blonde hair."  Ha ha!  But she definitely has his deep set eyes and his nose. 

Nobody can say she doesn't have her chompers.  This girl can eat anything.  No baby food for this girl.  She is a great eater and will try just about anything. 

Hadleigh has discovered baby dolls.  Isn't it crazy?  At less than 18 months old, she is showing off her mothering skills and holds her baby sweetly.  She carries it around and showers it with slobbery kisses. 

Unlike the other 2 that suck their pointer finger, Hadleigh is my thumb sucker.  She still sleeps in her crib from about 7:30 to 9:00.  I think she will have a rough adjustment to getting up early with Mommy to go to daycare. 

She also LOVES to look at books.  This photo was not staged.  This is how she looks at least a couple of times a day.  Although most times, she brings you the book and sits on your lap so you will read her the book.  I am so happy she seems interested in books so early. 

What kid doesn't like Elmo??  Hadleigh loves Elmo. 

We are still working out on the trampoline!!  Hadleigh just qualified for specialized physical therapy for her left leg.  Do you remember when she drug herself on the floor and used only her right leg?  Well, Hadleigh's left leg turns inward when she walks.  When she is walking, she falls a lot especially when she puts weight on her left side or changes direction on her left side.  Sooooo, this therapy is supposed to strengthen her left side and possibly get some type of insert/brace for her left foot if we do not see improvement.

Since getting tubes, Hadleigh's speech has improved slightly.  She says "Mama" consistently.  She says "Dada" and "Grammie" sometimes.  She also says "Bye" clearly and waves.  She did this at the beach to every single person passing by.  She will say "b" for book and "mo" for more.  Everything else is hit or miss.  Sometimes she might say something that sounds like a word and then never say it again.  We are going to have her speech evaluated in September.  As long as she is under 3, all of this therapy is covered through a program in TX that is free.  Yay!!

My friend Amy took this picture of Hadleigh.  I just love it.  It shows that twinkle in her eye and that beautiful smile. 

I have to comfort my heart as I can feel her babyness turning into full-blown toddlerhood.  I just don't feel ready for my baby to start her journey to 2.