Mother Daughter Date

My good friends, Jayme and Brooke, both have little girls. Elle, Molly and Emma were born within a month and a half together and they have been best little buddies from day 1. In honor of them going to kindergarten, we took them on a date. We ate dinner out in pretty dresses, made cookies, watched a movie and spent the night over at Jayme and Molly's house. It was a fun night and one that I hope can become a tradition. They are all at separate schools, but our prayer is that God will keep their friendship strong.
Brooke blogged about our day too and since she took the pictures, I will link you to her blog to check it out.
Here is a picture of the three of them a year ago and then the one from a few weeks ago.

Brooklyn's First Day

Brooklyn started school today and she is going to a new school this year. Emma went to this Kid's Day Out when she was Brooklyn's age and I loved it. I was excited that it would work out this year for us to go back there. Not to mention it is so much more convenient than where the girls were last year.

She will be going on Mondays and Thursdays. Mondays will be my day to get stuff done around the house, run errands, and volunteer at Emma's school. On Thursdays, I will be working for this lovely lady, who just so happens to be my sister in law. I'm super excited to spend my Thursdays with her.

Brooklyn has been so excited to go to her school. I think all the hype of Emma starting school made her want to be a part of "this school thing" that everyone has been talking about. She was dying to leave the house this morning, but as soon as we got to her class, she wigged out. For the most part, Brooklyn has never had trouble separating from us, so it threw me for a loop. I eventually passed her off and waited around the corner until I could tell she had calmed down. (maybe 3-4 minutes) When I came back this afternoon, they said she had a great time and took a great nap. She talked non-stop on the way to pick Emma up and told me the highlights of her day. The highlight for her was seeing her friend, Alyssa (who was in her class last year and her little buddy), on the playground.

The highlights of my day were:
#1-going to eat lunch with Emma at school. She seemed so big eating in a cafeteria with all her friends. I was proud to be her Mommy as she introduced me to EVERYONE! :)
#2-picking Brooklyn up from school and hearing about her great day.
#3-picking Emma up from schoool and seeing her smiling face.
#4-having our whole family at home for dinner.

First Day Recap

I could hardly wait to pick her up from school! I got there early and then I waited for what seemed like eternity in the pick-up line. Guess I should get used to that! I spotted Emma sitting down waiting with her class and she looked exhausted. As soon as she got in the car, she perked right up. She had a great day! Praise the Lord!

Emma told me all about her folder that she brought home for me to sign, the rules of the class, the books they read, what games they played in the gym, and all about the awesome climbing wall on the playground. She also told me that she made some friends, but could not remember their names. She said she would ask tomorrow. :)

She really liked her teacher. I was able to quickly ask her teacher how Emma's day was and she said, "She had a great day. She is a very creative little girl." Creative is one of the best characteristics to describe Emma and it thrilled me that her teacher picked up on that in one day of being with her. I pray that she will help spur that creativity on more as the year goes on.

We got milkshakes at Sonic after school (thanks to Zia and family's giftcard to Emma) and drank them outside in the front yard. Amy, Grace, Luke and Isaac came by to visit and tell us about their first days of school and that was fun!

Before I knew it, it was time to make dinner, take baths and get ready for bed. It was a good day. Lots of tears from me, but lots of smiles too. I'm thrilled that she had such a fun day! I'm excited for her and I'm anxious to get involved in her school, so I can be a little fly on the wall. :)

Thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed, and commented on facebook. Your prayers were felt. Keep them coming!

Emma's First Day of Kindergarten

I realized yesterday that I was going to have a harder time with this "Emma going to kindergarten" thing than I thought. I savored every moment with her yesterday as if I would never see her again. I woke up at 6:00AM this morning with a pit in my stomach and occasional tears in my eyes as I got myself dressed. I had amazing friends and family texting me, emailing, and calling just to tell me that they were praying for Emma and for me today.

John and I got both girls up at 6:45 and settled them on the couch for their morning chocolate milk and cartoon. Emma had requested chocolate chip pancakes and bacon for breakfast, so that was what we had. We got dressed, fixed hair and took a few pictures before heading out the door.

Emma prayed for her cousins who were also starting school today and John prayed for Emma (and for his wife who was already a bit weepy) on our way to the school. We got out of the car and headed towards the front door with all the other families. I was doing okay until I spotted a new friend who also has a little girl starting kindergarten. The tears welled up.

Emma wanted to say hi to Davis (her best little boyfriend and my best friends little boy), so they got together for a cute picture. They have been in the same class since they were 1 year old, but this year they are not together.

We went into Emma's class and her teacher greeted her with a hug and showed her where to put her lunch. We found her desk where the teacher had play-dough out for them to play with while everyone showed up. All this time, I'm doing great. Then the teacher tells Emma to give me a hug. She wraps her arms around me and I completely lose it. Ugly tears. The teacher gives me a hug too. Bless her. She offered to take a picture of our whole family which was so nice even though I'm obviously crying. I recovered and was telling Emma goodbye. I kissed her hand and wrapped the kiss up. (The Kissing Hand is a must read book for sending your kids to school) I was doing okay.
Right before Emma was about to go sit down, Brooklyn ran up to Emma and gave her a huge hug and said, "I will miss you Emma." I completely lost it again and decided we should leave. We left, John hugged me and the 3 of us walked to the car.









Luckily, Brooklyn and I had plans with all of my awesome friends with kindergarten kids. We had a "Boo Hoo Breakfast" together at Chickfila. All of our kids did awesome going today, but the Moms were the ones that were still a bit weepy.

Brooklyn is laying down for a nap and my house is strangely quiet. I'm counting down the minutes until I can go pick Emma up! I hope she tells me details! I will let you know!

Kindergarten Eve

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one."
John 17:15

Emma starts kindergarten tomorrow and I have been praying this verse over her for many months now. Tomorrow our whole family will enter a new phase of life. To me, it seems like I'm sending my first born child into the mean, scary world. As someone much more wise than I pointed out, "it is not the grown up real world, it is the kindergarten world." So true, yet she will be exposed to more things than she ever has before. She will be choosing friends at school that I know nothing about.

Emma is ready. She is excited and I am excited for her. She is eager to learn and I am so excited to watch her learn things like reading. She will do great.

I have prayed for many months that God would place her with the teacher that she will learn best from and connect with best. She has her teacher and she is excited about Mrs. Norris. Emma and I have prayed that God would bring a friend that loves Jesus into her life. The friend that I thanked God for during JumpStart is not in her class. I don't understand why right now, but I know it is for a reason and I'm praying that there will be another little girl in her class that she connects with easily and loves Jesus. I also pray that the strong friendships that she has with kids she has spent the last 5 years with will stay strong.

Emma is memorizing James 4:8: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
At dinner tonight, Emma prayed an amazing prayer completely unprompted from us:
Dear God, please draw near to me tomorrow at school. Please help me meet new friends so that I can tell them about you. Amen.

She is a pretty sweet gal and I'm going to miss her during the days more than I can really imagine right now. Brooklyn is going to miss her even more. That is my rant for today. I will be back tomorrow with updates and pictures!

Kindergarten Jumpstart

Conversation with Emma on Tuesday morning:

Emma: Mom, sometimes I get a little nervous when I go to a new place. Do you ever get nervous when Daddy takes you somewhere new?
Me: Of course.
Emma: I'm a little nervous about going to my new school today.
Me: That is perfectly normal. And you know what?
Emma: What?
Me: Mommy is also a little nervous about taking you to your new school today. The great thing about kindergarten is that everyone is new at going there and is probably a little nervous along with us.
(Um, so sweet that she was in tune enough with what she was feeling to say it out loud and call it "nervousness". Precious)

Starting on Tuesday, Emma began going to a Kindergarten Jumpstart thing at her new school from 8:30-10:30. They have been up at the school getting to know the 4 kindergarten teachers, meeting new friends, playing in the classrooms, playing on the playground, and doing some screening for class placement. John asked me on Monday night if I was ready for Emma's first day of school tomorrow and I immediately responded that "it was NOT the first day of kindergarten". More or less, it seemed like it walking into school that day. Tears welled up in my eyes as soon as we walked through the door. I tried hard to bat them away so that Emma would not see. I don't think she did. We found the teacher she would go with for the day and that sweet teacher said to Emma, "Give your Mommy a hug and you will see her in a couple of hours." Emma gave me the tightest hug ever and more tears came to my eyes. She looked so nervous, but bravely walked away and sat down with her group for the week. I reached for B's hand (for comfort) and we walked away and I began frantically looking for a my lifelong best friend, Allyn. She was also dropping off her son, so we were in this thing together.

10:30 came quickly and we went back to pick Emma up. She came out of her class smiling so big and ran to hug me. This was our cute conversation:

Me: How was your day?
Emma: Great! I made 2 new friends!
Me: Awesome, what are their names:
Emma: Um.....I don't know. Hold on. (she then turned around and ran back to the little girls to ask their names)

It was so cute! Long story short, but this is such an answer to prayer. One of the little girls that she became friends with in her group lives 3 doors down from our lot. Plus, she is a little girl who my sister in law knows and they are a good Christian family. I prayed for a sweet girlfriend for Emma and specifically for one who's family loved the Lord. As an added bonus, He put them 3 doors down from where we will eventually live. (by the way, our house is still for sale and the price has been lowered. We are not sure if this price will stay if we have to list it with a realtor, so make an offer quick! :)) We don't know if they will be in the same class next year or not or what will come of the friendship made this week, but for now, what a blessing!

This week has been a great ease into kindergarten starting in 2 weeks. I do think it will help Emma not be as nervous on the first day. As for me, I will still cry. Guarantee it.

2 Years and 10 Months......

I realized that today is Brooklyn's 2 year, 10 month birthday. No, I don't celebrate months at this point, but this one is significant. Brooklyn was born when Emma was 2 years, 10 months and 1 day old. Thinking back, Emma seemed so much bigger than Brooklyn seems right now. Honestly, I can't imagine having a baby right now and Brooklyn being old enough to be a big sister. I guess that is a good thing because according to John she never will be a big sister. :)

Here is a picture of the girls about 2 days after Brooklyn was born and Emma was 2 years and 10 months. I guess Emma had been crying before this picture was taken. It was the best one I could find that showed both of their faces.













This picture was taken this week while they were eating breakfast at their little table in the living room. Sorry for all the food in Emma's mouth. :)

Open House

We have spent our day cleaning, organizing, and making piles. Tomorrow will be our first Open House! I have to admit that I have not loved today. It is hard doing all that it takes to get ready to show your house and make your childrens' lives enjoyable too. :) John was awesome to take the girls our for a few hours this morning. They went to the mall to play and eat lunch. The best thing about their time out was that they were Chickfila's 100th customer! Hooray!

We still have a few more things to do for the house tonight and tomorrow, but overall I feel good about how it looks. I did a lot of organizing that I wish I would have done a few years ago. Our girls are going to go over to John's sisters house tomorrow to play while we show the house. Honestly, I'm looking forward to those 3 hours of not having to clean and it being quiet in our house. Is that sad?

Open House tomorrow from 1-4. Tell whoever you know that might need a cute, little house that is in an ideal location. (I will miss this location most of all!) If you are just out and want to come say hi to us, that would be great too. Pray that at least one person comes to look. I will be sad to have cleaned everything for no one to come to admire. :)