Kinard Family Chronicles: A Week of Firsts

Between first days of school, first birthdays and first carpools, these girls have had me crying all week! There has to be another word to describe how tired I am because exhausted just doesn't cut it! Hailey had her meet the teacher and first week of school at St. Catherine's, Lainey had her meet the teacher and her first day in the Red Room at St. Stephen's and Avery had her meet the teacher in the Orange Room at St. Stephen's. As if that wasn't enough, the girls also started gymnastics classes and had tennis and dance registration and I spent many nights doing back to school functions because I'm Laniey's room parent! And of course, Doug was travelling all week for work, so I was flying solo! I'm thankful to have this week under my belt, thankful to have a great babysitter right down the street (the girls love "Bwidget!") and thankful for large goblets of wine!

Hailey LOVED her first few days of school. After she leaped out of the car and skipped down the sidewalk, I of course began sobbing. I don't know why the first days of school are always so hard on me! When I picked her up, she got in the car and let out a dramatic sigh and said, "Mommy. I'm so tired and I had SO MUCH FUN!" Hailey has never been one to want to reflect on her day with me in the car, so to hear her say this without prompting was very fulfilling! She told me all about her trips to the gym, to the library and to the playground and when she told me that "they turned on soft beautiful music and rubbed my back during resting time on our beds" I swear I started to tear up! It warms my heart to hear that she is being cared for above and beyond our expectations. We're already impressed with St. Catherine's.

Lainey has a little extra pep in her step and has been walking a little taller now that she's the "big sister" at preschool. She walked right into the Red Room like she had been there all year. The Red Room holds a special place in our hearts because it was our favorite room at St. Stephen's and I'm super excited to be the Room Parent for this sweet room for the second time. On the first day of school, Lainey told me that she was "feeling a little bit shy." This made me prepare for a very dramatic, tearful first carpool drop off. However, that little stinker surprised me and cheerfully hoped out of the car and marched right into school without even looking back at her Mama. Of course I cried. But this time, I'm not sure if it was because she was growing up or because my Mama's girl didn't even shed a tear, let alone turn around to wave bye-bye to her Mama. Unlike her big sister, Lainey remembered every detail about her first day, from the stories she read, the songs she sang, the pictures she painted and even the number of time she went potty (4, if you must know! That girl pees every 20 minutes!).

Avery's meet the teacher wasn't quite and momentous as her big sisters first days, but it was still rewarding to see her interact with her teacher and play comfortably in such a sweet learning environment.

The girls also started their new gymnastics classes, registered for tennis and had fun meeting their "teammates" and enrolled in dance classes. Hailey will be taking Tap/Jazz (since we've found out the hard way that she's just not the ballerina type-not enough excitement for her!) and Lainey will be in the Pre-Ballet class.

We also squeezed in a trip to the pool for the last time this summer, made a visit to the pediatrician's office to treat Hailey's swimmer's ear (after spending 7 consecutive days in the pool from sunup to sundown if Florida, I wasn't surprised!), threw Avery a mini-birthday celebration with icecream cake on her actual 1st birthday, and made a trip to visit Daddy's new office (the mini golf course was a huge hit!).

If this week was any indication of what's in store for us this fall/winter, then I'm going to need to stock up on tissues, advil and wine!

Welcome Fall 2014! It's going to be great!