Hello 1st Grade, My Name Is Ashlyn

Well that was a completely corny title.  

Anyhoo, Ashlyn started 1st grade today.  It was terribly sad. She looked so grown up and confident and beautiful.  And it was a whole heck of a lot harder than I had imagined, but we'll get to that later.  First lets talk about the prep.  Getting her prepped for 1st grade was the fun part.  Last Thursday we went school shopping, just me and my girl.  It was so much fun and Ashlyn was so cute in picking out all her clothes.  She even picked out a special dress to wear on her first day.  After shopping ourselves silly, I took her to The Chocolate and we indulged.  I love it when I get the chance to spend one-on-one time with my kids.  It was a great afternoon.

Then on Monday, after she went to an orientation for Chinese immersion program, I took her to get her very first professional hair cut.  I've given her all her previous cuts at home and I figured it was a perfect time for her to experience a real salon cut.

Monday night we went to back-to-school night and had a special family home evening.  We told Ashlyn (and Trent since he will be starting preschool next week) the three things expect of them when they are away at school: #1 - Listen to your teacher, #2 - stay on task, and #3 - be kind to others.  And then Brian gave both Ashlyn and Trent a fathers blessing.  A few weeks ago at our Stake Conference a lady spoke about "remembering who we are" and that we were each born to be a queen/king in our Heavenly Father's kingdom.  We ended our FHE talking about that and telling them that they need to act accordingly whenever they are away from home.  We then made some paper crowns which they wore while we ate our treats.  Unfortunately, Luke started saying over and over, "I a pincess!"

Tuesday/yesterday we went to yet another orientation and had a special back-to-school dinner with all of Ashlyn's favorite things - manicotti, sourdough bread, salad, and fresh peach jello with marshmallow pops for dessert.  Then we did all the final prep - we got her clothes set out, I made a new bow for her hair, we painted her nails, and read books about going to school.  We were set, but I think the nerves started setting in a little, for the both of us.  She had a hard time falling asleep and I had a dream last night that she was late to school and I was in hysterics.  I thought the days of those types of dreams for me were over!

This morning we were up earlier than we have been in a long, long time.  Ashlyn got showered, dressed, and her hair all done up.  Brian fixed her a special breakfast of eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast, and peaches.  After snapping a few photos it was finally time - the big moment was here!

It was when we were on our way to the school that I realized we had forgotten one crucial thing...she didn't brush her teeth on her first day of school!  AARGH!  Oh well, she still looked stunning.

It was at this point, when Brian was walking away with her to find her line and the chaos of the morning had settled, that I started getting choked up.  My baby girl was walking away and was going to be gone from my care for nearly seven hours.  NO!  I wanted no part of this.  I wanted to turn back time.  The idea of home school suddenly became rather appealing.  I hurried and put on my sunglasses so nobody would notice the tears welling up in my eyes.

The bell rang and she walked in line, following the girl in front of her and carrying her lunch bag with the special note and treat I had put inside.  She walked  right past me, all smiles and ready for her new adventure.  And the tears started coming fast.

One last wave goodbye and I knew my life was changing from this moment forward.  We will no longer have our lazy, carefree mornings of snuggling up on the couch to watch morning cartoons.  Kindergarten wasn't so bad because it was just a few hours in the afternoon.  Completely doable.  But this?  This stinks!

And then our eye contact was broken, and the tears were falling so freely at this point that I had no idea whether or not the pictures were focusing...they were not.

She was gone from my care from 8:25-3:05.  Almost seven whole hours.  It was horrible. When I went to pick her up, she ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and we hugged for a good 15 seconds.  It was heaven.  She had a fantastic day!  She made a new friend, Ruby, learned some Chinese, and can't wait to go back again tomorrow.  I will adjust.  I have no choice.  Life goes on.  And as my Dad reminded me, before I know it she will be off to college.

Where Did All The Time Go?

I know its sounds cliche, but I don't know where all the time went.  It's really hard to believe that it has been five months since my baby was born.  Life went into super speed mode on the day Chase was born.  I feel like I'm living in a whirl wind.  Some days I am barely keeping my head above water.  I take one step forward and two steps back.  Are you catching my drift?  Yep, life is busy with four kids.  And yet, life is good.  All of my kids are healthy and happy (most of the time) and we have much to be thankful for.

I only feel bad about the fact that I haven't recorded the life of Chase like I did with his older siblings.  And so I'm giving you a very brief update of his life thus far.  From day one, Chase has been my easiest baby.  He is content and sweet.  He hardly cries or complains.  He sleeps well and eats well.  All is all, he has been a bit of heaven in our home.

Chase has hit several milestones.  He smiled for us at 5 weeks.  He laughed just shy of 3 months.  He found  his feet on July 29th.  I love, love, love it when babies find their feet.  It's one of my favorite milestones.  It is just adorable.

 

He put his binki in all by himself on August 5th.  He tried his first taste of something other than breast milk on August 8th.

 

He rolled over from his back to his stomach on August 8th.  Being on his stomach sometimes makes him uncharacteristically mad and we are hoping he figures out how to roll back onto his back soon.

His latest milestone was that he reached for me on August 23rd.  It was the cutest thing!  Brian was holding him and he completely leaned forward and put his arms out.  LOVED that!

We have many more milestone to look forward to, but first lets take a quick walk through memory lane - aka, the last five months.

ONE MONTH:

 TWO MONTHS:

At Chase's two month appointment, Chase weighed in at 12.6 lbs and was 22.5 inches.

THREE MONTHS:

 FOUR MONTHS:

At four months, Chase weighed in at 15.1 lbs. and 24.5 inches.  During his appointment, the pediatrician was going over all the things that four-month-olds typically do and when he said, "Does he reach for toys that are hanging down over him?", I immediately said, "Yes."  I was too embarrassed to say that I didn't/hadn't given him that opportunity.  Maybe I was trying to keep him little, maybe I was too busy to think about it, or maybe he didn't spend enough time on the floor to warrant any toys. Regardless, I went home that night and put him to the test and he passed with flying colors!  Bad mom moment for me.

 FIVE MONTHS:

 

I really can't convey how much I love this boy of mine.  He really is the sweetest, cutest baby.  I think he may think his name is "handsome" because that is how I refer to him 90% of the time.  I adore him.    

Family Fun Week - Day 6

Agenda for our last day: IHOP, Bridal Veil Falls, bowling, Bees game.

Our sixth and final day of our staycation began at IHOP for a ridiculously, overly-priced breakfast.  $45.00 to feed five faces.   $45.00!! Plus, it wasn't even that good.  It's no wonder we never go out for breakfast.  This was the one activity that I felt we wasted our money on.  But still, the kids ate pancakes and bacon and were happy, and that is all that matters - at least for this week!

Since swapping out our broken down, crappy, 2004 minivan with the Eyre's much newer, much nicer, souped-up minivan, the kids have been spoiled with movies in the car.  I think they are quite happy with the new arrangement.  Too bad it's not permanent. Unless I can talk Mindy into an official swap...probably not going to happen.

Our next adventure was Bridal Veil Falls.  We pass by these falls several times a year and rarely stop.  They certainly look a lot more grand when you get up close than they do driving by at 60 mph.  We played in the water, threw rocks, jumped across rocks, and just plain enjoyed the fresh air and mountain setting.  I love our mountains and never tire of their beauty.  I only wish I took the time to enjoy them more often.

So, we were suppose to go bowling next, but that didn't happen.  After having so much fun all week, there were things that needed to get done and errands that needed to be ran.  After getting some much needed "to-dos" done, our time had run short.  This was the only activity that we had planned for our week of fun that didn't happen, but I didn't want us to have to rush through a game of bowling.  We promised the kids that we will take them soon.  Plan B - a pizza dinner at the park.

Our final destination for the week was the Bees game.  They lost 9-8, but I don't think my kids even noticed.  I tried to explain the game (as best I know) to Trent, since he wants to play t-ball next spring.  At one point when the batter had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit, Trent burst into laughter.  "Did you see that guy freak out?!  He just freaked out!"  He couldn't stop laughing about it - I love it when that happens.  There is nothing better than genuine kid laughter. 

As luck would have it, our Family Fun Week ended with a bang - and lots of 'em! A fireworks show was a pretty perfect ending to our week. 

I was sad to see our week come to an end.  But, we had such a fun week together and it was so much fun taking advantage of so many attractions right around us.  This is definitely something I would recommend to others and something that we will definitely repeat in the future.

Favorite part of day 6?
Ashlyn - "Taking a picture with the bee."
Trent - "Fireworks."
Luke - "Bee!"