Practically a teenager

Emma had her first day of Kindergarten today! It went so well and I'm so proud of my cute Emma. The evening before she requested cinnamon pancakes and orange juice as her first day of school breakfast - so I woke up early this morning, got ready and then made our pancake breakfast. Emma was too busy getting seconds on syrup to smile for the pic...



Once Emma was ready for the day, we took the traditional first day of school pic. Isn't she such a cute girl? In case you can't tell, her favorite color is purple.



Then we headed to the bus stop! The bus came early, so good thing we were there early, 'cause the bus driver definitely didn't wait! I helped her onto the bus and gave her a big kiss... then as any possibly over-concerned mom would do on the first day of her oldest going to Kindergarten, I hopped in the van and followed her bus to the school...



I HAD to make sure that their system of collecting kindergarten kids off the bus and getting them to their classrooms was sufficient to my standards - you know?! 'Cause if it wasn't I would be more than willing to drive her to school each day. But thankfully, they were really good and a teacher came right onto the bus when they arrived at the drop off curb and gathered all the kindergartner's. They do this the whole year for the kinder students, and Emma is really excited about riding the bus each day, so I'm excited too! After Emma got off the bus at the school, I hopped out of the car and gave her one more kiss and then headed home. :)

Emma is so happy to have two of her Primary friends in her class this year. Donna was at the school this morning and took pics of her daughter Sarah along with Emma and Ty. Aren't they such a cute bunch? She sent me some great pics...











Emma is doing half-day AM kindergarten, so at lunch time, the kids and I waited at the bus stop for Emma to arrive. I was so relieved and happy when her bus pulled up and Emma excitedly hopped down the steps to give me a hug! I can't believe my sweet Emma is so grown up and riding a bus to and from school. She was so excited to tell me about her day and tell me that she thinks her teacher is "really nice". I'm pretty happy. Hopefully this trend will continue throughout the school year. :) When we got home we had lunch and a little after-school treat. Now this is going to seem weird... but I asked Emma earlier what she'd like for an after-school treat and she tells me, "chocolate pudding with sprinkles and a candle!". What?!! I was like, "do you mean a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles?" ... and she was quick to correct me and tell me that she really wants chocolate pudding with sprinkles. I asked why a candle and she said, "just 'cause I like 'em!". So, there you go and that is exactly what we had. What can I say, but on the first day of school, I aim to please. :)



Who likes pudding? "I do!!"



And speaking of Jake... he's making some exciting growing up milestones too! Over the weekend we put away the crib and moved him to a toddler bed! We did the switch a few weeks earlier than I thought we would, because when we were back to school shopping at Target, we happened upon the perfect retro space themed toddler bedding set. That's been the one thing we've really needed to get before the bed would be ready - seeing as Jake is the first boy, all we had previously was pink and flower bedding. We are SLOWLY trying to decorate Jake's room in a retro space theme, so this hit the mark!



That night we made up his bed, took down the crib, and wallah! Jake in a bed! So cute.



The reality is that he was MAD the first night - he was obviously so very confused as to why we would just leave him in something that he could just hop right out of! He cried for 30 minutes or so at the door and then fell asleep on the floor. It made me feel sad, but we moved him to his bed and then checked on him later - he's so tiny and handsome on his big boy pillow....



Apparently the one night of letting him cry was all he needed to adjust... the past two nights have gone GREAT! No crying at all... and the bigger surprise is that naps have gone great too! I thought that this might end naps (which I definitely don't want), but yesterday and today he took good naps without a fuss. Ben's been trying to convince me for weeks that Jake's more than ready to be in a bed, because he really loves to sleep (which is unique I think). In the end he seems to genuinely enjoy his bed and the independence it gives him... he even hops in it during playtime and looks at books and snuggles his blankets - it's probably the cutest thing ever. :)