D-Day

My baby isn't a baby anymore!!! Can you guess what today is? I'll give you a hint…………

Isn't she beautiful? Oh. my. word.  OK, maybe I'm a little bit biased.  :-)

Yes, today is Lamb's first. day. of. kindergarten!!!  But first, let me back up a little bit.

So after my crummy day on Tuesday, I rallied well yesterday. I let Lamb choose how we would spend our day, since it was her last day of freedom. (And no, I did not use that term in front of her. What kind of moron do you think I am?) We toyed with the idea of going to the beach or the zoo, but ultimately she decided she wanted to be with Nana and Papa, my parents. The kids played, went on a tractor ride, played the Wii (yes, we have one at home, but it is SO much more fun at Nana & Papa's), watched a movie, and even got an unexpected visit with some cousins. As an added bonus, it was Nana's birthday, so we got to wish her a happy birthday and Lamb got to present her with a special homemade card and gift—a little bead taken straight from Lamb's "bestest stuff box." Yes, my sweet little girl absolutely LOVES to give gifts. Can anyone say "Love Language"????

And last night the school preparations began in earnest. Lamb informed me exactly what she wanted for breakfast and lunch, picked her first-day outfit (Is it wrong that I used some veto power here?), and reminded me enthusiastically that Jon and I promised to take her anywhere she wants for dinner tonight. (It looks like the winner is a McDonald's with a playland.) At bedtime we read The Kissing Hand. (I was fine until the part when the little raccoon kisses the mommy's hand. I almost lost it then.) After she went to bed I packed her lunch—I'm relatively certain there have been CIA operations executed with less forethought.

Our morning got off to a little bit of a rough start, with an upset stomach caused by nerves. (Her stomach & nerves, not mine!) But we quickly calmed it down with Sprite and crackers (Yes, at 6:30 in the morning. Don't judge me. It worked.), and the rest of the morning was lots of fun. Daddy stayed home, and we were soon joined by Gram (my mother-in-law), Nana (my mom), and Papa (my dad). As mentioned earlier, Lamb had requested a special breakfast—toast, yogurt, granola, fruit, and orange juice—and we were happy to comply! We laughed, talked, took pictures, an all around good time.

Then another tough part. I have to say that our school district does not do the best job of communicating bus pick-ups. They tell you what time the bus leaves the bus garage and what route it takes, but that's it—no idea of how many stops it makes on each road or approximate time of pick-up, nothing. So as we (the entire entourage! ;-) ) walked out to the end of our road (where the bus comes), we saw a bus drive by. We weren't sure if it was Lamb's bus or not, so we walked on out to the end of the road and waited for a few minutes. This little confusion, though, was more than Lamb could take on her first day.

Her stomach started hurting again and she got very agitated. So we walked back home and hopped in the van, leaving the grandparents with the boys. (We later realized that we had not missed the bus, but it at that point it wasn't worth changing the plan on her again.)

To be honest, part of me was looking forward to that picture-perfect "getting on the bus for the first time" moment, but really I was glad to take her in this morning and be able to walk her to the door of the classroom. By the time we got to the school, she had pretty much calmed down...

 but by this point I was a mess. I managed to get her all the way to her room, talk to her teacher for a minute, and turn back down the hall before the tears came. Yay for me…!

And now it's 11 AM. She's having lunch at school, away from me. She's almost halfway done with her first day of school. And I'm pretty sure I'm done crying… for this morning. After noon there are no guarantees.

But for now, I have two handsome boys home with me. And we've been keeping ourselves busy. Can you guess what we've been doing?

Yes, for Mommy Sadness, there is no cure quite like fresh chocolate chip cookies.

And for Little Brother Sadness, there is no cure quite like time with Mommy… and a movie. He's watching "Bolt" now, done with the cookie baking once he got to lick the beater. J

And the littlest brother? Well, he was fussing in his Pack 'n Play a little bit, and I was trying to get the next batch of cookies in the oven… Apparently he gave up.

No, I don't usually let him sleep on his stomach, but he rolled himself over at some point and fell asleep this way all on his own. So I'm not bugging him. Stop judging me. (Oh wait, maybe that was just my own inner mom-guilt-voice.)

So that's it for this morning. I'm going to go snuggle my boys, watch "Bolt", and wait anxiously for the RIGHT bus to pass our house around 3:30 this afternoon. Maybe I'll go out a little early… like 2:15… just to be safe.

Oh, and I was wrong about not crying any more this morning.