Our new morning routine

Since school started, Katie Anne has gotten into a new morning routine that I really enjoy. Because her new school is twenty minutes in the opposite direction of my school, and they moved my work start time from 7:45 to 7:30, Saunders takes her to school every morning and I pick her up every afternoon. If I were to take her as I did in years past, we'd have to leave every morning at 6:45 - yuck. Instead, she and Saunders leave about 7:15 ... but, with his more flexible hours, they could leave even later if something came up. So, that flexibility is great for Saunders. Also, it is nice for me to go straight to work for a change without having to do the day care drop off - I've even had time to stop by McDonald's for a coffee two days this school year!

This is nice for Katie Anne as well because it gives her some time with Daddy every morning and minimizes her time at school because she's dropped off as late as possible and picked up as early as possible. However, it minimizes the time that I get to see her in the morning, which I wasn't too happy about. And, Saunders was quite nervous about doing the whole enchilada- pottying, tooth brushing, dressing, hair fixing, and everything else that goes into the morning routine.

So, the good news is that Katie Anne has fixed that problem herself. After about two days of getting up and rushing right out the door, she started waking herself up earlier. She likes to get up every morning at about 6:30 or so and watch one episode of Dora while Saunders and I finish getting dressed. Then, as Dora is ending, I go ahead and get her dressed and fix her hair before I go to work. After I say my goodbyes and leave at about 7:00, Saunders takes care of the final potty break, tooth brushing, and takes her to school. This new routine is great because it gives us about thirty minutes as a family each morning, which doesn't make me feel so deprived as I head into work!

Now, when I go into her room to get her at 6:30, she's ready to go with babies and blankets in hand. She comes right into our room and climbs into our bed with all her animals and soft blankies while she watches Dora and chats with us. I thought I'd snap a few pictures of her this morning while we were getting ready for the day.

Loving the Tivo in the bedroom... instantaneous Dora!
"Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer... Boots & super-cool Explorer Dora..."

Once someone realized pictures were being made, her giggle box got turned over!

Silly monkey!

What a morning person!