Whose Shadow?

So I've been told I'm one-sided. Sorry, she's my oldest. I talk about her a lot. She does things first, I have never been through them, they make me emotional, and I want to talk about them. All reasons to write, right?
So Kater-tot. She's a handful. Has been from day one. Has always wanted to be held. Still would if she could. She's a mama's girl, 100%. I am to blame for most of her behaviors. Take full responsibility. And with that, I love her 110%. She and I will be best friends to the grave.
As much as she depends on me, she is independent and very strong-willed. She wants to do everything herself and she would man an army if she so wished. The problem is, she has followed in Bug's footsteps for three years now, and is finally over it. She wants to be her own person. She is tired of following in her sister's footsteps. It's time for her to show who she is. Rock on sister.

This girl is in for a good time and no one is going to stop her...an obvious trait that she picked up from her father. She has passed the test as a flower girl, has done her champagne (apple cider) toast and is definitely ready for whatever anyone has to offer. No fear. Which is SO different than her sister...which makes me so happy, as it is so awesome to have two totally different kids.

 

She has been waiting to start dance class for over a year. She has patiently watched her sister dance each week for the past two years and has the moves memorized. When we took her to her first class last week, I have never seen her run faster in her life.  To put it lightly, she is in love.

 

 

She makes me laugh, cry, and pull my hair out all at the same time. She brings joy, happiness, and craziness to us day in and day out, and for that, we are thankful. She is just what we needed in our lives. Without her, our life would not be complete.

 

 

And to answer one final question that we have been asked quite a lot lately...she has no problem with Bug going to school a few hours each day...clearly. She is loving every minute she has at home with mom and dad.

 

This is nothing close to the look she had on her face last year on Bug's first day.

 

She is ready to show everyone the world of Kater-tot...and let me tell you, it is one amazing ride!  













Ready or Not

She is. She has been for over a year. Asking to ride the bus. Asking to turn 5. And even though she is neither of the two, she's officially a kindergartner.

For twenty-four hours, we embraced the whole experience. The night before, she was given a bag of 'Sweet Dreams Confetti' to put under her pillow to help ease any nerves (I may have used some too..) and to give her good luck throughout the year.

Waiting until almost lunch time was torture for her, as she was ready to go as soon as her feet hit the floor.  So I tortured her some more with way too many pictures until it was time to head to school.

We are so thankful for her teacher..she is awesome in every way. As the kids slowly trickled in, she lined them up for a mass photo shoot and finally, we got the whole class of 2025.

The kids went in while the parents stayed. And stayed. We joked (kind of) about how we could just hang out in the parking lot until the end of the day, but then realized how pathetic we looked, so we sadly went our separate ways.  They all had a great day, and with that, we celebrated.

 

Later that night, TOH and I celebrated as well. We did it. We made it through our first day of being kindergarten parents.

 



I thought I was ready and actually made it through an entire week without any tears. But I knew I couldn't last forever. I went to her orientation two days ago and that's when I lost it. I was alone in the car driving home with all of the information the school had provided...register for this, sign up for that, turn in paperwork tomorrow.  I have been on the teacher side of school for ten years and now I'm on the parent side. It's worlds different. She (and we) are now committed to five days a week, 180 days, for the next 13 years. It's frightening. Exciting. Nerve racking. Mysterious.
She could not be happier to finally be where she is. We are thrilled for her and all that is ahead. To see what she has absorbed already is amazing and we're only eight days in. 
As for me, all I can say is that I am so grateful for half-day kindergarten because I need another year to prepare for her being gone all day. 
But ready or not, we're all looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and I am beyond excited that it's a holiday weekend and we have her at home an extra day this week...bring on Thanksgiving break!

A Charm

The first time TOH and I went camping together, we had a dog. No kids. He didn't fare so well. Barked at everything that moved, didn't like sleeping outside, and then it thunder stormed each night. Easy to say, it was pretty much a nightmare.
Our next attempt was last summer with the little ones, which started out really well and we have a ton a great memories, but it was cut short due to monsoon-like rain.
So, we vowed to try again and last week we packed up and headed north. Now when I say camping, it's not in a cabin, it's not in a camper, but rather hard-core tent camping in the middle of nowhere. There is no electricity, you have to take your own water, and there are lots of little forest animals that like to visit your site while you're sleeping to look for food. It probably sounds like torture to many, but I can honestly tell you that it was one of the best weekends I've had.

We boated...

We swam...

We tubed...

We hiked...

We pontooned it...

We jet skied...

We had a blast ...

There is something about being in the middle of the woods. Having no idea what time of day it is, no idea what the weather will do, no contact with the outside world. It was peaceful, relaxing, and perfect. It took few tries, but by the third time, we got lucky. We've got some good little campers who are excited to go back and do it again next year!

The Unexpected

As I've blogged about before, you don't get to pick your family. They are with you for life, whether you like it or not. Your friends, on the other hand, are mostly hand-picked. Whether it be in grade school, high school, college or post-school, when you have the opportunity to choose who you would like to surround yourself with, you usually pick people that you enjoy being around.
I am very, very blessed. I have a lot of really great friends. My family is very small on both sides, and I am an only child, therefore friends have always been a key part of my existence. I was lucky enough to come across a lot of spectacular ones in high school, many of which I am still extremely close with today. College provided me with a few more, most importantly though...TOH. I didn't walk away from college with a ton of new friends, (partly because I was still so wrapped up in my high school crew)...but the fact that I met my husband was the icing on the cake. I considered myself one lucky gal.
So, then came all the 'other halves'...you know, the husbands/wives of your friends, which you never know what you're going to get in this situation.  I can honestly tell you that I could not have asked for better husbands and wives for my friends or my husband's friends.  I could not have hand-picked better ones for them.  Not many can say that, right?
A great example is TOH's good friend from high school.  They went to different colleges but always stayed in touch...they both got married and months later their wives met and bam...a friendship that will last forever was formed.
To many people, we probably appear very different.  But as the saying goes, don't judge by it's cover. She is always on time or better yet, early...I am lucky if I show up 15 minutes late. She plans and prepares weeks/months in advance...I procrastinate until the very last second. However, do we laugh at the same ridiculous stuff? For sure.  Do we enjoy each other's company so much so that we email back and forth daily until our fingers are tired? Yes. Would we live next door to each other and still have to call to check in...without a doubt. We have grown to be as close as friends can be without ever thinking about it.
I am so lucky to have been connected with her in my life. I am so thankful for her wisdom, her humor, and her planning skills :)  She brings laughter to my life and gives me the strength and the backbone I need when I am weak. She is honest, caring, and looks out for everyone's best interest. I am grateful to have her as a dear friend, even hundreds of miles away, and I couldn't imagine my life without her. To us, she has become family...and just like family, although she may not have been hand-picked by us, she is definitely loved by us.
A friend does not have to think like you, believe in everything that you believe in, or agree with all of your thoughts all of the time...the ones that are the most valuable are those that are there to support you, laugh with you, and love you no matter what. And it makes it even better when they arrive when you're not looking. I couldn't be happier to have her as a part of our lives.  She came into it so unexpectedly and she surprised the hell out me...CMB, I am forever thankful for you and for our unexpected, amazing, one-of-a-kind friendship.

The Call

I got it today. I wish it would have been more of a call that I had won the lottery or a trip to the Caribbean, but I'm not going to push it.
So I had two meetings today. Okay, let's be honest...I had one meeting and one interview. Yes...an interview...for a j-o-b. Wore a suit. Updated the resume. Had butterflies in my stomach. The real deal. I'm in that in between stage of 'when to return to work after staying home with your kids' and I'm not really sure where I belong. So I got a call about an interview and figured why pass it up. But not to worry, no 8-hour work days ahead just yet. However, it did pull me down out of my mommy world for a minute and remind me that these precious days I have with the girls are truly numbered. And the time to soak up those lazy days together is now.

And for all those full-time working moms and dads...my hat goes off to you. You are by far the hardest working people out there. I seriously say to myself almost every night, 'I don't know how parents who work full-time do it?'  Honestly, I have no idea how I will make it work when that day comes for me and I look up to each of you who do it everyday!

Meeting #2 today pulled at the heart a little. I have decided to help out with the St. Jude Give Thanks Walk and tonight was my first meeting with the team.  St. Jude strives to find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment. And no family ever pays St. Jude for anything. They are an amazing organization and I am really enthusiastic about helping to bring together the community to recognize and support them. As I sat there listening to some of the families stories, I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am to have two healthy little ones at home and how giving up a few hours of my time can hopefully help some of these families. I see this becoming something I participate in more and more in the future...

Our everyday lives are so easily filled up with day-to-day things that we tend to take for granted what we have. Today I was given a double wake-up call. Life is short. Make the most of every moment.

The Kickoff

The calendar may say it's spring, but not in these parts...summer is in full-force.  Those lazy summer days have kicked in already, with playing outside in the sprinkler before noon, long afternoon naps, and picnic dinners hiding out under the trees. The last few weeks have been full of fun...lots of good times had and many more to come!

The girls got to experience their first bridal shower for our sweet cousin who will be tying the knot in a few weeks.  The girls are going to be the flower girls and they are so excited for all of their important 'responsibilities!'

TOH and I celebrated 13 years together this month. Crazy, right?!  By far, the best 13 years of my life. 

As we do every May,

we visited the annual Butterfly Show

at the Conservatory. 

The girls absolutely love this...a roomful of butterflies swarming all around, landing on you left and right, bottom and top.

We celebrated the holiday weekend with new friends last night.  They are super-fun and I see lots of good times ahead with them.  I see us starting to grow some roots here and I like it...

This girl landed herself a new 'big-girl' bike a few weeks ago and hasn't gotten off since.  She loves to ride this thing as much as Forrest Gump loved to run.  I have to bribe her to stop riding. 

She also celebrated the big #3 last week...it's unbelievable to me. We made it a weekend-long party and it was awesome.  We are so lucky to have her in our lives...she brings so much joy and laughter to us everyday and I am so proud to be her mom. 

Remember those awesome in-laws and sisters I wrote about in a recent post?  Well they made the trip down to visit last weekend and we had a blast.  We shopped, we ate, we drank, and we spent a whole day at the new water park (which I am not a huge water park fan, but we were lucky enough to score VIP tickets which made the experience totally doable!)...this is the way to go!

And then it was time for a much-needed night out...

love these girls so much!

The next three months are sure to be full of lots of adventures and laughs, while in the back of my mind, at the end of these next twelve weeks, my baby girl will be a kindergartner.  I love the place we are at right now in our lives..they are both still my little girls and our days are solely ours to play away, but I only have them both at home with me for a short time longer.  Sending her off to the world of everyday school fills me with a bag of mixed emotions, but I know that this is the beginning of amazing things for her.  Amazingly good things. 

But for now, we celebrate summer. It's gonna be a good one.

Proof.

This is what I saw when I walked into the living room this morning. They love each other. A whole bunch. And this makes my heart so, so happy.