Katie Anne's First Day of PreK!

Today was our sweet baby girl's first day of PreK!

I made her a special dress to wear to school today since it is her first day in public school!  She looked absolutely gorgeous in it, and I know she made a great first impression on everyone.  I made lots of pictures of her at home before we left.

So excited!

 

Last night, we laid out all of her school starting goodies.  She has a new backpack, a new lunchbox, and surprises for her teachers (which look awesome thanks to Collections by Tara Nicole!)

She looked so precious with her backpack on this morning - all ready to go!

 

 

 

This year, there were some changes to the Bright from the Start Program - that's the grant that funds the PreK program in Georgia - because of all the budget problems.  That meant that PreK teachers were furloughed a signficant number of days, and the start of PreK was delayed by 20 days.  (These students will be in school for 160 days instead of 180.)  I was very sorry to see those changes be made to the program, but selfishly I was excited that Katie Anne's first day was August 30 instead of the official first day of school on August 3. If KA had started PreK on August 3, I wouldn't have been able to take any time off to take her to school. So, with the delayed start, I was able to take the whole day off. I got to walk her into school, make lots of pictures, pick her up in the afternoon as a car rider, and even take her out for a special cupcake treat before we picked up SJ!  I am extremely thankful that I got the opportunity to experience this milestone with KA. Saunders had already adjusted his schedule so that he could be there for her first morning at PreK, too.  Katie Anne was very excited to have both her parents with her when she walked into PreK!

 

Then, it was time to go into class!  Katie Anne was very excited to put all her things away and see all the new faces in the room, but she got very nervous and teary when she realized it was time for Mommy and Daddy to go.  Luckily, another little girl - McKenzie - who was playing with blocks stuck a microphone (aka a big block) in Katie Anne's face and started interviewing her, asking her questions about herself.  KA was shocked for a second - just enough to stop the almost-flowing tears - and then she picked right up with the game with McKenzie and another little girl named Alexis.  We were so thankful for McKenzie pulling KA in right away!  When we said goodbye to her, KA was so busy that she barely noticed us leave.

 Putting her things away

 

 Choosing a book to look at on the rug

 McKenzie and the distracting blocks, which I believe had turned into handlebar mustaches by this point!

 

I was nervous all day long for her and couldn't wait to pick her up and hear how her day went!  She was very tired, but she'd had a great day! 

 Peach came with me to pick KA up, and she was so happy to see him!

A thirsty thumbs up

I took her to Heaven Scent Bakery for a cupcake treat after school, and we ran into Vanessa, Lily, and Bear getting cupcakes, too!  KA was happy to be able to eat her treat and chat with her friends.

 Chocolate face!

Katie Anne wanted to tell Daddy about her day at school right away, so we stopped by the bank and visited him in his office for a few minutes.

Then it was off to get SJ from daycare!  He was excited to hear about Sissy's day, too!

Katie Anne had such a wonderful start to her school career!  We know it's going to be an awesome year in PreK!

PreK Open House

Tonight, we went to the PreK Open House to meet Katie Anne's teacher, see her classroom, and learn who her new friends in class would be!  Katie Anne's teacher this year will be Lisa Carter, and her teacher's assistant with be Lori Bolen.  I've known Mrs. Carter for a few years because she worked at CPS in kindergarten before she moved to preK, and I've heard lots of excellent things about Mrs. Bolen.  So, we're very excited with Katie Anne's teachers!  Her classroom is very small, but very cute - and full of lots of fun centers, games, books, and art activities that KA can't wait to explore!  She doesn't know anyone in her class, but we assured her that she will make new friends quickly.  She's very excited - and really nervous, too - about her first day in preK coming soon!

Katie Anne wore an apron knot dress that I made for her to Open House.  She looked so cute!

 Katie Anne brought each of her teachers a cupcake as an Open House snack! 

 I literally got tears in my eyes when I watched KA sign her little name on the Open House paperwork.  I've been passing out these same papers to parents and kids for 9 years, but it is surreal to see my own baby girl signing her name to them for the first time!

 Katie Anne with her new teachers Mrs. Carter (standing) and Mrs. Bolen (kneeling).

 They made a picture of our family for the bulletin board.

SJ's First Birthday Portraits

We had SJ's first birthday portraits taken at Tonsmeire Studios this week.  SJ did an excellent job and loved every minute of it.  He looked absolutely adorable in them!  SJ has really grown into such a handsome boy - and he loves to get his photo taken!  We can't believe he's already one... we love our sweet SJ!

Future linebacker pose!

Time for the cake smashing!

  

Of course, we needed one of SJ and his favorite girl - his Sissy!  I love this beautiful picture of these two!

Katie Anne the Soccer Player!

KA started soccer this week!  She's on a Clash soccer team, and she's doing an awesome job so far.  It's her first time playing a team sport and her first time playing soccer on a team.  We've played soccer a lot in the backyard, and she's played with Granddad as well.  She's always been a natural at kicking around a soccer ball in the backyard, so I know she'll be great on the team!  Here are a few pictures of her first game - for more pictures, click here to view the Facebook album.