first day of pre-school and wishes didn't exactly come true

So today wasn't actually her first day of school. She will officially start in a couple of weeks, in her real classroom, with her real classmates. But today was her first day of being in a daycare/school like setting all day long.

Josh woke her up a little before 7am and got her ready. I helped with getting all of her things in her backpack. I gave her hugs, told her I loved her and to have a good day, and sent them off. As they drove away, she waved at me from inside the car! So sweet.

On the way there, I think I called Josh once and sent him a million messages to make sure he had everything covered! Things like drop off location (which he already knew), reminding him to let the teachers know that this would be her first day so be sure to really watch her and be patient (duh...that's their job), to be sure not to just drop her off and go; to spend some time to get to know the teachers and make sure CeCe knows what to do, and then lastly, to give her big hugs and let her know that he'll be back later to pick her up. And then, of course, to call me as soon as he left to let me know how everything went.

And all of that he did! Such a wonderful husband and daddy! Immediately she was looking for something to do and when Josh left, she told him bye bye and said love you.

I had planned on going up there during nap time to peek in and talk to the teacher to see how her day was going so far. So I got up there around 1:45pm and she was napping perfectly on the cot, cuddled up in her blankets. Immediately I was relieved. I had doubts since she still sleeps in her crib and has the four walls to keep her contained. And I knew she wouldn't have that there. But the teacher said she hadn't cried at all, ate most of her lunch, and overall was having a great day! We chatted for a bit, talking about the school year (because her teacher will actually be her teacher when school really starts), and then all of sudden we see CeCe's eyes pop open. I thought, uh oh! There was still 30 minutes before nap time was supposed to be over and I didn't want her to get upset because I couldn't stay and she couldn't go with me. But, she woke up happy as can be and waved at me with a big smile on her face. The teacher took her out of the room to the play area in the hallway, so I told her bye and left.

Josh picked her up around 3:00pm and said she did great. She gave him a big smile and was happy to see him.

I was really impressed with how well she did. Everything I was nervous about or concerned with ended up not being a problem at all.

So my wishes for an accident free day and a good report came true at school BUT...

5 minutes before bed time, I was in her closet picking out her clothes for tomorrow and lo and behold she climbs on the wooden bench that is in there, miss steps and does a face plant. And now we have a busted lip on our hands. Although I was sympathetic, immediately put cold water on it to stop the bleeding and calmed her down, I am passed the point of being sad or feeling bad when things like that happen, and am more feeling angry because of her 'need' to climb on things. As soon as she could walk, she began to climb. This has been a non-stop battle since she was 10 months old. And I must say it's getting old. Josh and I embraced this quality because we thought that it was good for her gross motor skills and part of how kids grow and develop. But now it's just getting annoying and dangerous.

Earlier this week, she was sitting on our window seat, made a wrong move and hit the side of her head on the table as she fell down. So now she has a bruised ear and a busted lip. You're probably thinking, what kind of parents are we? Do we not watch our child? But seriously, we are always right there when things like this happen. It's not like she is off on her own in another room somewhere or outside by herself to do as she wishes. We are constantly telling her to sit down or get down. And being 8 months pregnant, its getting harder and harder for me to be able to keep her from climbing or pick her up to get her off of things.

So, we have now decided that her curiosity is not worth the bumps and bruises and are determined to keep her two feet on the ground! Most would think that this is a pretty easy task, but it will definitely not be like that in our case. I'm guessing lots of warnings will be made and lots of time outs will be had, but whatever it takes, we'll do!

Moms and Parents out there - are we alone on this front?

Wish us luck!

night

Off to School

Tomorrow, Josh begins a week of staff development. For employees' children, the district offers free childcare at one of the elementary schools. Since CeCe will be starting school there in the fall, we decided to let her go a couple of days this week as a trial run. I'm excited but a little nervous at the same time. How will she adapt to their routine? Will she be scared? What are the other kids like and how will they treat her? Will she mind and pay attention? Will the teachers take care of her? So many questions and 'what ifs' running through my mind. But all I can do is have faith that everything will be ok and have peace knowing that we are just a phone call away if anything happens.

Not knowing exactly how to prepare, I had to call the director to ask. All we are to bring is lunch, diapering supplies, sippy cup, and stuff for nap time. So here is what she will be taking along in her backpack:

• Lunch ~ smoked turkey rolled up with pretzel sticks, crackers, cheese cubes, and freeze-dried bananas and strawberries.
• Diapers & Wipes
• Water cup and milk cup
• Nap mat and blanket
  

She will be there a full day, 7:30am until 4:00pm. Let's hope for an accident free day and a good report!

Heard Museum

The Heard Museum in Fairview was offering free admission for McKinney residents today, so we decided to check it out! Their main exhibit going on now is the Ice Age Mammals. All of the Ice Age mammals made sounds and moved a little bit. It was pretty neat and CeCe had a great time looking at all of the different animals.

They also have a butterfly house, an Animals of the World exhibit, nature trails and a garden outside to see and explore. We decided to stick to the indoors this time because it was so hot and we weren't in the mood for trekking today.

Pointing at the ground squirrel

This was the 'giant sloth' with a tiger-like animal on its back

monkeys

This was a mural painted on the wall in the amphitheater. CeCe loved walking around and touching all of the animals.

And then decided to give the butterflies a kiss!

This was a part of the dinosaur exhibit

We stayed long enough to keep CeCe's interest then headed home. On our way out, there was a rabbit eating some of the grass about 10 feet away from us. CeCe stopped and watched it until it hopped away. She kept pointing and saying 'hop hop hop', her word for rabbits. It was so cute!

It was a good time and I'm glad we decided to go :)

20 months

Only 4 more months until our baby girl is 2........yikes! Even though CeCe does more and more 'big girl' things, I still feel like she is still just my little baby. I'm guessing she will always be that way to us, even though she will be the oldest. Here is what she has been up to lately:

• New words:

Amen 'mamen' and says after we pray with her
bike
bite
buckle
buzz (buzz lightyear from toy story) 'bud'
color 'lolor'
dog (instead of just making the barking sound)
hello 'lo'
hot
keys 'tees'
love you 'laaaaaaaaaa lu'
night night 'nigh nigh'
park
phone 'doan'
rock (for both the chair and the stone)
slide
spoon
sticker
sunglasses 'lalas'
swing 'ming'
Tony (our dog's name)

• Dada has now become Daddy :)

• She understands things that are momma's and daddy's and points them out to us, i.e. daddy's shoes, momma's car, etc.
  

• If asked where is the baby in mommy's belly, she'll come over and point to my belly and lift up my shirt to give the baby (my belly) kisses
  

• Can now combine words to make 'sentences' i.e., Bye Bye Daddy

• Learned and really likes to use the word 'no'... and when she's really feeling it, she'll change it to 'nope'. She says it so cute and sweetly that most of the time it's hard for us not to laugh. But we have definitely been more conscience about telling her what she's going to do rather than asking her questions.

• Sits through both Toy Story 1 & 2 and has to watch them every day

• Plays with and can work my iphone pretty well

• Loves to look at pictures and watch videos of herself

• Takes off her diaper if she is not wearing anything over it

• Still sleeps in her crib and has not tried to climb out even though she definitely could

• Wakes up between 7:30-8am and goes to bed between 8:30-9pm on most nights

• Naps once during the day, around 12:30pm, for at least 2 hrs

I feel like there are tons more to mention because she is growing and changing every day. She continues to amaze us with her sweet personality. I feel so blessed to be her mom and to be able to share these wonderful moments. I look forward to making many more memories with her!

Wordless Wednesday

Teacher Certification Test

Today was the big day for me to take my American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) certification test for becoming a teacher. I still have a little ways to go before I graduate and can actually start working but it's getting closer!

I still have the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) test to take and I also still have to complete my student teaching, which I will do in the Spring. I wanted to go ahead and take this test this summer before baby #2 got here and before I ran the risk of too much time passing and forgetting the information I've learned.

My friend, Tandy, from school had already taken the test and had given me all of the inside about the format and what to study. And that was the biggest help! I was confident going into it but still told myself that if I didn't pass, I wasn't going to be too disappointed with myself, because this would be the first time to take a test like this and I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself (even though the test costs $150, which is a lot of money, especially for us right now).

So I studied a little throughout the week but didn't really spend too much time on it until last night. I'd like to tell you that I focus better at the last minute but really I'm just a procrastinator. So I stayed up pretty late reading the main points in each of 8 books, plus study guides. Wow, that's a lot of information. And then finally went to bed.

I didn't get much sleep; it felt like I was up all night. Thankfully, Josh was off work and was able to get up with CeCe so I could sleep in until I had to get ready to go. The test started at noon and I was allowed three hours to complete it. It took me a little over 2 hours to complete it but then I spent a little time going back over the questions so that if I didn't pass, I could look up answers to questions I wasn't sure about and study those more.

Once I was done, I exited the testing room and headed back to the office to await the results. The proctor asked how I thought I did and I told him that I felt like it could go either way. [I don't consider myself to be that well of a test taker so I never feel confident after any test]. The results printed out and he handed me the paper.


I noticed the capitalized letters that said PASS! I was excited but I just said a quick YAY to myself and left the room. I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I mostly feel relieved that I didn't waste the $150 [that we could really use this month], that I don't have to worry about it anymore and I can mark it off of my list, and lastly, that I AM THAT MUCH CLOSER TO FINALLY BEING DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!

This journey has taken much longer than I ever anticipated and I just can't wait until that day comes when I can finally say it's OVER!

Nana's Legacy

One of the many things CeCe loved about seeing Josh's grandmother, Nana, was getting to see/play with all of the jewelry she always wore. There was not a day that went by that Nana wasn't fully accessorized. When Nana passed, we inherited most of this jewelry and I felt so blessed to be able to keep that part of Nana alive for CeCe. Every day, C goes over to the drawers and pulls out earrings, watches, and necklaces and dolls herself up. She just loves it! I can picture the many times ahead when CeCe will play dress up with mommy's clothes and shoes (already does that!) with her siblings and friends, and now she will be able to complete the look with this jewelry.

CeCe also inherited Nana's organ that she had since she was five years old. It took us a while to learn how to work it but since then, it has become a daily thing where she wants me to sit her in my lap and push the pedal while she 'plays'. This day I caught her playing and singing. It was the sweetest thing!

Love and Miss you, Nana :)

Wordless Wednesday

Memphis

Friday morning, we left home and headed east to Memphis, TN for our friend, Anthony's wedding. CeCe stayed home with my mom because it was going to be a quick trip, pretty much there and back. We arrived and checked in the hotel about 3:00pm. We got settled then took a short nap before we had to get ready for the rehearsal at 5:30pm. After the rehearsal we went downtown to The Butcher Shop for the rehearsal dinner. It was a great time and a delicious meal. We had salad, a baked potato, texas toast and our choice of meat. Josh had a steak and I had some grilled chicken breasts. Yum! After dinner, the girls were taking Anthony's fiance, Jennifer, out for some drinks so a group of us decided to take Anthony out too. We walked around downtown Memphis, on the famous Beale street trying to find a place to go to. We ended up at Hooter's because Anthony's brother was with us and he wasn't 21 yet. Everyone had to be 21 just to be able to go inside a bar, whether you were drinking or not.

This is a picture of where we were on Beale!

The next morning, Josh and I lounged in our hotel room until we checked out at 12:30. We ate breakfast and watched a movie. After we checked out, we stopped by Anthony's house to get a quick tour before we ate lunch and got ready for the wedding.

We decided to eat at The Bar-B-Q Shop, one of Anthony and Jennifer's favorite bbq places! I had a chopped beef sandwich with seasoned fries and bbq beans, and Josh had a chopped pork sandwich with their famous bbq spaghetti. It was yummy!

This is my handsome husband all dressed up and ready to go for the wedding!

Sealed with a kiss!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Rudine!

The happy couple as they exited!

The reception was at the Tower Room, which is 33 floors up, overlooking the beautiful scenery of East Memphis!

The reception was so much fun. The band was awesome. The food was delicious. And everything seemed to go off without a hitch!

We had to leave the reception early, by 10pm at the latest, to head back home in time for Josh to leave for the second Taos trip at 7am Sunday morning. We knew it was going to be rough having to drive through the night, but we had to make it happen. We were both so tired. We switched drivers every 100 miles or so to be able to get little cat naps in here and there. We finally made it home by 5:45am. Just enough time to unload the car and pack it up again for Josh. I got to bed a little after 6am. Luckily Josh was able to get a couple of hours of sleep on the car ride to Taos.

Although it was a little hectic, we were so glad we got to attend the wedding and be a part of their special day!

I need one of these...

Wordless Wednesday

Taos, New Mexico ~ Land of Enchantment

This was the first of four weeks of cross country camp in Taos, NM. Last year was Josh's first year and he goes for 2 of the weeks, for both of the boys camps. This year, I was fortunate enough to go along. It was a little stressful planning for the trip because I had never been away from CeCe for that long and I wasn't sure how it would go. I knew she would be ok because she had a pretty busy week planned but there are still all of those 'what ifs' that run through your mind. But we just prepared as best as we could and decided to go for it without worrying (too much). We left at 7am Sunday morning and started out on the 13 hour journey to the mountains!

This is the cabin we stayed at. There were three levels. The entry way/bottom level had a bedroom with a bathroom (mine and Josh's room) and a play room with a ping pong table. The second level had the kitchen, a living/bedroom area where half of the guys slept, and the second bathroom. The third level was more like a loft and it was where the other half of the guys slept. It was really cozy! It got cold enough at night that Josh and I slept with electric blankets and had the heater on in the room all night long....IN JULY!

Day 1: First run at the 'Gorge'! This was so beautiful. I was hesitant to go because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to walk very much due to the altitude (at the cabin, I would get winded walking from the bed to the bathroom...which was all of about 6 feet...round-trip), but I'm glad I decided to go.

MOUNTAINS!

After the runs each day, the guys would go down to this stream, which is right next to the cabin, for an 'ice bath'!

After the run on Day 1, we had some time to kill so we went into Arroyo Seco, small town closest to the ski valley. We stopped at Taos Cow, a local ice cream shop. They had free wi-fi so we got to video chat with CeCe via Skype. And we tried some of their delicious homemade ice cream. (This ended up being my hang out spot for most of the week while the guys went on their runs)

Day 2: The afternoon activity for the day was to go up to the Ski Village (a couple of miles up the mountain from the cabin) and walk around/shop/play sand volleyball (well, the guys played volleyball). We bought a couple of souvenirs and had lunch at Josh's favorite restaurant, Tim's Stray Dog Cantina. I had some quesadillas and Josh had the local fav, bunless burger with an egg and lots of other good stuff. From last year's trip, they got to know the owners pretty well so I got to meet them. (We went back a couple of days later so I have a pic later on in the post)

Day 3 & 4: We spent the afternoons walking around town...THE town...Taos. The 3rd day, everyone went and we all scattered for a couple of hours then met back up. But day 4, everyone else, except Josh and I, went white water rafting, which would have been fun if I weren't 7 (or so) months pregnant.

These are pictures from the Square.

Michael's Kitchen was where we had brunch on Day 4. It was about 11:30am and Josh wanted breakfast. I was in the mood for a burger. So this was the only place open that accommodated both of our wishes. It was yummy! It was also a bakery and although we didn't end up getting any of the amazing looking goodies, we ooo'd and awww'd over the possibilities. We were too stuffed to indulge ourselves. (Love the mountains in the background)

The Brodsky Bookstore ~ Josh bought a couple of books here to read while on the trip. It was small but the place was packed full of books. I ended up walking around to check out some other shops because I knew he would be in there for a while.

28 weeks :)

For dessert, we were in the mood for some fresh fruit smoothies so we came across this place, Coffee Cats. We walked up and were just going to order from the outside window and be on our way, but ended up deciding to hang out for a bit, relax, and browse online. But while we were trying to decide on what to get, a guy that was standing with his dog started chatting with us. Turns out his wife was pregnant (she joined in a little later) and they were also delivering at a birth center there in town AND also not finding out the sex of their baby. It was just interesting to us because rarely do we come across people that use midwifery services, but hardly ever do we meet anyone that keeps the sex of the baby as a surprise. It was just instant connection and they were really fun to talk to. It was their first baby and you could just tell how excited they were. The dad was all about knowing everything. He knew down to the day how far along they were and even downloaded an iphone app for pregnancy updates!

Inside Coffee Cats

These were signs that were posted in one of the shops. I thought they were funny!

Dinner on day 4 was at a local pizza place called Pizanos. It was a little pricey but definitely worth it. Josh and I split a pizza and some bread sticks. Once again, can't beat that view!

After Pizanos, we headed over to the nearest theater for a movie. The group split up but a few of us saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. Josh and I have been watching 1 & 2 over and over because C likes to watch it, so we were looking forward to seeing it. It was great but it was hard spending $27 on a movie....ouch!

Day 5 was pretty low key. Josh and I drove into town for a bit to get some pictures and check out some shops we didn't make it to earlier in the week. Then when we got back, we took the guys up to the Ski Village. We intended to walk around and browse, but a huge storm came through, so we ended up hanging out at Tim's again, eating dessert and watching the World Cup.

That night, we cooked out by the stream (by the cabin). We roasted some hot dogs and made s'mores! Can't remember the last time I've done that so it was a nice treat!

All week the coaches 'lectured' to the kids about individual and team goals, training, nutrition, and trying to build their confidence as they continue summer workouts and get excited about the upcoming season. And usually the rest of us there would nap or watch TV during this time. But we all hung around while they talked this night and each of the kids told about what they got most out of the camp and what they can take back with them to keep their motivation up. And that was neat, but I always love to hear what Josh has to say. He's so passionate about the sport and the future of the program that every time he talks about it, the excitement rubs off. He speaks very well to crowds and is very inspirational.

I'm so proud of how hard he works and it was wonderful to get to be a part of what he loves to do this week. I got to know each of the guys a little and I look forward to being able to cheer them on this season!

We packed up Friday night and got ready for the early start Saturday morning. Although we missed our CeCe girl so much, it was nice to get to spend some alone time with Josh and get away for some relaxation. I'm so grateful I got to tag along on this trip and look forward to [hopefully] making it a yearly thing! Can't thank our friend Rhonda and her family, and my mom enough for watching C this week. It made the trip that much more enjoyable knowing that she was in good hands!