Wait...weren't you just born?

Maddie had her first day of SCHOOL yesterday! Ok, ok, it's actually MMO (Mother's Morning Out), but they have an actual curriculum- we're talking shape and color of the month, and letter of the week- so it feels very school-like to me. She's in the "Frog" class and goes every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-1:15. That's right, I now have almost 8 hours a week to do whatever I want! Pretty awesome.

We went to open house last week, and it went very smoothly. Mads was pretty stoked about the toy selection in her classroom, and would probably have preferred if I had just left her there that day. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't an option, so we came home and decorated her official tote bag. Alright, technically I decorated it and told her not to touch it until it was dry, but I decided to say that she helped me b/c I have the art skills of a 4 year old.



I hardly slept at all Monday night, but luckily Maddie slept like a champ, as usual, and was excited to start the day off right with some yummy pancakes and blueberries for breakfast.





I packed my first school lunch (which my mom gleefully reminded me that I would be doing for the next 16 years), but I guess Mads needs to get used to eating at school b/c everything came home except the oranges and juice box. She gobbled down the rest of it the second we walked through the door!



After refusing to cooperate for first day of school pictures, we drove to the church (less than a mile away, awesome!) and I dropped her off without a hitch. Miss Independent stayed true to herself, and although she definitely looked a little hesitant (it was utter chaos in the preschool hall), she told me bye and marched right in and sat down to start coloring with all of her classmates.





I really wasn't expecting to get emotional about her starting school- after all, we've spent time apart before (and way more than 4 hours, lol), and it's not even REAL school. But she just looked SO grown up sitting at that little table, and for the first time I left her, knowing that I wouldn't know everything that went on while I was gone, and knowing that she was in great hands but wouldn't be getting one on one attention while she was there. So I run/walked back to the car and burst into tears.





And then I enjoyed the heck out of my almost 4 hours alone :). When I picked her up, Maddie was happy to see me(yay!), but not crying like many of her classmates. She was very excited to show me the picture she colored, and then she came home, devoured her lunch while watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and then crashed for a full 3 hour nap. So I'd say day 1 was a huge success! I'm hopeful that she'll be excited to go back tomorrow!

And just for fun

Some pictures of Mads enjoying the summer!

Rockin' the cowgirl style:






And playing in her baby pool






Even happy when she wakes up!


Loving on Mia


Playing dress up



And that pretty much sums up our last couple of weeks!

Happy Happy Birthday...and then some

Well, I'm behind in blogging- what else is new? But I wanted to report back to share some pictures from Maddie's birthday party! It was a lot of fun, even if we did forget half of the food and cupcakes at home....oops!

The kiddos played on the playground for a little while first- it was fun, but OH so hot! Guess we have that to look forward to every year since Mad's birthday is at the beginning of August. After that, we went inside and enjoyed some food and drinks, then watched Maddie's 2 year video as we ate cupcakes.

This is how Maddie blows out candles, lol!


Yoooo Gabba Gabba!


Maddie and I went back to SC with my family for a few days after her party, and we did the 2nd part of her 2 year pictures there- Urban Toddler Style, haha! Here's a link to all, but I'll post a few of my faves.