The Big Day

Julian started preschool last Tuesday! To be truthful, it was really Wednesday, because Tuesday was more of a meet and greet experience. Julian was so disappointed when we left on Tuesday. But he loves it! School is Monday through Thursday from 12:15 to 2:45 pm. This is the Mad River preschool, which is public. I struggled with putting him in a private or public preschool, but at the end it came down to money. This public preschool was far cheaper than all of the other options, and I asked around the area and it got a lot of good reviews. His teacher is nice. She's pregnant, and I'm trying my hardest not to attack her with "who is your doctor" and "oh, by the way, did you know this and this and this...". I hope to get to a point where I can tactfully bring some of this up later, after we've developed some sort of relationship.

I can't believe I have a son in preschool. He loves it so much - it was the right decision for us right now. I am so excited about the art projects he will be bringing me home, and the friends he will make. So far, he has made friends, but can't tell me any of their names. Today he finally remembered the name of his teacher!

I also love coming home and putting Melody down for a nap while he's at school, and having a quiet house to myself. It's pretty much the most amazing thing ever :)

We had actually lost the camera battery to our camera (which doesn't take AA's) a few days before school started. I was so upset! I need pictures of his very first day of school! Thankfully, my friend Amanda let me borrow her camera for the day.
Here's my big boy!

In other news, Melody chose Julian's first day of school (August 18th) to start walking! She started off with 2 tiny steps, and before the end of the day she took 5 consecutive steps! This was a week ago, and she still crawls everywhere. She walks a few short steps, maybe, to get a big round of applause from us, but then she's had enough and falls down and start crawling again. It's exciting, though. This year went by so fast. She loves to push things while she's walking - something I don't really remember Julian doing. And it was such a blessing that she started walking on this day, because Amanda had let me borrow her camera, so I caught it on film! If Melody had picked one day before or after the 18th I would have no video, or even pictures of it. I'm so happy I got these!



(this one's really blurry; I'm not sure why)



(this one is clear)

The End

The end of Melody's babyhood. She is 1. And I am sad.

We celebrated her birthday party on Saturday morning with some of our closest friends. It was really nice. She was gorgeous, as always. I chose a pink ladybug theme for the party, and she wore a cute Gymboree dress with pink ladybugs, and my friend Amanda made two adorable pink ladybug hair bows/clips for her hair, which she would not keep in. I'm so sad; the thought of my daughter not letting me do adorable things to her hair sort of contradicts the very reason I wanted a little girl! Decorations were simple, because she is only one. In retrospect, everything was really just for me. I used pink paper lanterns in place of balloons, and Dominic put up pink and black streamers. The kids played with bubbles in the front yard most of the time, as I took millions of pictures.

The cake was fabulous. My friend Amanda knows how to make and use fondant (homemade, not the yucky store bought stuff), so we made fondant together the week before the party and she decorated the cake. I made the ladybug! It was really fun, and came out much better than we had expected. I made the cake myself, and it was an oatmeal chocolate recipe that sadly wasn't very good. So we had a beautiful cake that didn't get eaten, because I didn't test out the recipe before the party :( We also had way too much. It's still sitting in my fridge, and I think I'm going to have to throw it away tomorrow.

Melody had fun and got some great gifts. This was the cheapest and most organized, but still relaxing, party I've ever thrown! Everything was simple, and every gift we bought was bought on clearance (score!). It was the nicest party I've thrown so far :)

I'm already excited about Julian's party in October. We're going to do a Treasure Hunt theme! He is really into treasure hunts right now (an episode of Blue's Clues had a treasure hunt) and I know he will love it.

I want to thank all my friends that made it! It meant a lot to me. Here are some pictures from the party this weekend!

Julian opened her presents for her :)

Enjoying the goodness..

The fabulous cake!

The party room

This is so cute - but Julian was too busy to join us!

Mommy and the birthday girl!

Kids and bubbles!