Ah, Kindergarten.
This week was the beginning of so much to come. I have a feeling names on desks and "cubby's" only scratch the surface of new things my baby girl is about to discover.

I am so proud of her excitement and bravery concerning school. She must take after Ryan in this category because seriously, she didn't bat an eyelash. Supposedly when Ryan started kindergarten he begged his mom to take the bus the very first day (so she allowed him to but promptly hopped in her own car and followed it the whole way to school! - Toootally what I would have done!). In the 25 years since that day, Mr. Independent (that's Ryan), has stayed a consistent lover of all things involving change and newness and I hope it's the same for Macy. I on the other hand have been a basket case at every. single. transition in my life, infact I shed a million more tears as a 17yr old on my first day of college than she did as a 5 yr old walking into her first day of school ever. I would not wish my paralyzing fear of growing up and moving on, on my worst enemy. Well... maaaybe my worst enemy, but that's none of you reading so don't worry your little heads.

Anyway, back to Macy. Even though I struggle with change, I wanted so badly to enjoy and celebrate this milestone for my sweet girl who is not plagued by the same kind of hesitation and insecurities as I am. So celebrate we did. We did our back to school shopping and Macy picked out her own back pack. The PINKEST one you could find ANYWHERE. None of this light pink or fuschia or heaven forbid ugly BROWN and pink... no no, we were going full blown bubble gum pink-or-bust people. The girl knows what she likes!

Our whole family visited her classroom on Monday and met her teacher and then we spent our last official day of summer swimming, playing and gobbling down chipotle and frozen yogurt. It was a great day. We finished the night off with a pencil cake and then I snuggled my sweet girl into her bed wishing her sweet dreams for the morning.
I was sad to find that the hectic reality of trying to get 4 kids dressed and out the door on time doesn't so much allow for the kind of morning I envisioned in my head. Calm quiet house, brushing Macy's hair and talking excitedly about what she would do in school. Making a yummy special breakfast and taking pictures every five seconds while we all happily munched away. Yeaaah, not so much. But I did get a few pictures; I refused to not get a FEW pictures.
***Idea stolen from Leslie. Genius!***
Had to join Carter in the fun even though if you look closely you will see it says it's his fourth day at Miss Netty's preschool. He started last week and is having a ball. I have TWO kids in school people. Crazy I tell you.
Ryan met us at school and stayed with the boys in the car so I could walk Macy in myself, call me crazy for not wanting the zoo of monkeys hanging off my every limb on this very first day :)
Precious girl, waiting in line. (We weren't allowed in since we'd gone in the day before..made the transition easier I guess...hmph! that's all I have to say about that!)
Mommy didn't want to let go. "One more picture..wait, one more... k bye sweet heart, bye!" How many times did I wave and blow kisses and call her name to get her to look back at me one last time before walking in to the classroom? I'll leave it up to your imagination..but I was pretty shameless. :)

And then..just like that, a quick 3 1/2 hours later and her first day of school was all said and done. She walked out those gates like an old pro.
And when I asked how it went, my little go getter plopped her backpack down in the seat next to her, buckled up and as she flipped her hair off her shoulder like a 16 yr old; she replied:

"Fine mom, but we didn't learn anything. I thought you said I was gonna learn new stuff."

All in good time, sweetheart. All in good time. :)

Meet Olivia.



I may have already introduced you to her, Macy's BFF; but you all should really meet her again. Because she is becoming a very important part of Macy's life.




I'm pretty sure I was a bit skeptical about the whole 'kids can already know and sense certain friendships they really connect with and feel safe around'...when they're five. It seemed to me at this age their 'friends' would still just be formed on a basis of who they saw (through their parents friends) most often or something. But man how these two have proved me wrong. What kindred little spirits, they have known from day one that they just matched. They bring out confidence and excitement in each other. They are very much the same, but I can tell that the fact that they understand each other and feel secure in their friendship allows them to venture into realms of silliness, imagination, and exploration that I simply do not see come out in my daughter around anyone else. It is very much like my precious adult girlfriends, Macy's friendship with Olivia is allowing her to actually discover and become more of who she is. And I just love her to bits for it :)





On to our outing.

Probably since halfway through last preschool year, Macy and Olivia have started asking why they don't get to go to Kindergarten together. It has broken Desiree (Olivia's mom) and my heart trying to explain it. But we are determined to find ways to let the girls still spend good time together (amidst the craziness of the rest of life!)

Last week (thanks to Carter being in preschool and my wonderful sis-in-law letting the babies nap at her house!) we had a girls outing. As all good "Girl's Outings" go, we started at Peets and when Olivia walked in the girls were beside themselves that they just so happened to have picked matching outfits for the day. No joke, completely on their own, and thrilled I tell you, Thrilled (with a capital T) at the coincidence!



After settling down and sipping some hot chocolate, we went first to Olivia's Kindergarten and then to Macy's. We toured the schools, showed the girls where each of their classrooms would be and then let the girls pray for each other and their first days of school. We mommy's prayed too and tried to help each other keep from losing it. Not an easy task. :)




It was a wonderful day. The night before school as I was tucking Macy in she sighed and said one last time with a hint of thickness in her voice, "I just really wish Olivia could come with me tomorrow." It wasn't that late so I grabbed my phone and let Macy call her. They talked about being excited, they asked each other what they were wearing, they told each other their teachers names again and then they wished each other a good first day. And when she got off the phone she had a smile on her face and the thickness in her throat was gone. Sweet friendships bring such confidence to our hearts, amen?