Registered For Kindergarten

My sweet girl is all registered for kindergarten. I can't believe it. Big kid school.

I had walked through the doors of the elementary school before because Doug and I used to be registered there to vote (we were moved to a different polling place about a year ago), so I was familiar with walking into that building. But entering the building yesterday, it was different. There were registration tables all lined up with people (probably teachers or office staff) ready to sign my girl up for kindergarten.

Registration was open from 9-2 yesterday, so I dropped Bri off at her school and headed over to the elementary school. I had all of my paperwork in hand - filled out and ready to go. I always get an "A" in over preparedness. The woman I first walked up to was super impressed with how I was so ready. But then she asked me a question. "Is your daughter with you?" I responded, "Um, no she is in school right now." She proceeded to tell me that the incoming kindergarteners were getting short evaluations but not to worry about it and I probably didn't need to bring my daughter back. I was then shuffled to another woman that doubled checked the paperwork and then she asked me a question. "Is your daughter with you?" Ack. I said again, "Um, no she is in school right now. Do you need me to bring her back?" She said, "Yes, she will need to get evaluation." Crud. So, woman #2 gave me an assigned number for Bri, and I told her I would bring Bri back with me after I picked her up from school. I have to say I was a bit miffed about the whole thing. I had thoroughly done my research about what I needed for registration. No place anywhere did it say that I needed my child to come with me - neither the school website nor the county website said that evaluations were being done on registration day.

Anyway, I picked Bri up about 15 minutes early and hauled it over to the school for the evaluation before registration closed for the day. I have to say it was really surreal the second time walking through those doors because Bri was with me. She was actually a bit nervous walking into the school and hid behind my legs for a moment. But she was greeted with smiles and she warmed up to the situation quite quickly. We waited only a few minutes and then a counselor took her into a private room to talk about letters, numbers, shapes, etc. The counselor came out smiling a short time later and said that Bri did "great." After receiving a silly band and a temporary tattoo, we were on our way.

The above picture is of Bri waiting for her evaluation. Her first time in the "big kid" school. I had to take a picture of the moment. I was ok because she was able to walk out with me. But on August 1, she will be walking in those doors at 8AM and staying until 2:30PM. I know she will do fine. I'm the one that will be a mess.

Blue Skies

Last Thursday, I took Briana to the park right after school. The weather was a tad chilly, but the sky was absolutely amazing. I love picture perfect spring days...

Briana loves to spin herself into dizziness on this contraption...

We lucked out when Bri ran into her buddy Cameron from soccer class and they got to hang out for a while...

I am glad I enjoyed the blue skies of last week because this week so far has been filled with nothing but rain, thunderstorms, gray skies and cold weather. And, it doesn't look like it is going to be nice until Saturday. I just need to hold on until then.

To end this post, I will leave you with a cute pic of Bri roller skating on Friday afternoon (another gorgeous day last week)...

I have her padded up a bit, don't I? Looks like she is ready for the roller derby. Snort.

Humbled

Thank you so much to everyone that commented on my last post. I am honestly humbled by all of your kind words and shared pieces of wisdom. I will try to not be so hard on myself. Bri is my pride and joy, and I just want to do right by her. From what I gather, you all seem to think I am doing ok so far. :D

I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. 

Stress and Guilt

I've been feeling so much of it lately. I honestly feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I constantly stress and wonder if I am making all the right decisions when it comes to Briana. And I feel guilty about things I cannot do for her.

My girl is a massive extrovert. To be perfectly honest, she is probably a perfect candidate for a sibling. But deep down in my heart, I feel I can be a much better parent to one child than to more than one. After riding the fertility roller coaster for 10 years, I am very ready to step off of it now. I am very tired and very drained. I'm not sure that my personality is conducive to raising more than one child. My hat goes off to all of you moms that are raising more than one. I truly admire you. I constantly worry and stress about my one child - I cannot imagine splitting that stress amongst more than one child. But it is hard having an only child at times - especially one that constantly seeks attention. Bri is a child that would be happy to have a play date with friends every single day of the week. And I struggle to try to keep a very busy social schedule for her. I think anyone that follows my blog knows I try to keep her quite busy. It is completely exhausting trying to keep my gal active and happy.

Though I live in a "kid friendly" neighborhood, Bri doesn't have anyone on our street to play with. Most of the homes directly surrounding us have no kids in them, and the kids that do live on our street are much older than Bri is. Briana is not old enough yet to go off on her own to find a kid in the neighborhood to hang out with. I'm frustrated because my neighborhood is supposed to be so "kid friendly", yet I often wonder why Briana ends up playing at the neighborhood playground alone 98% of the time. I often wonder where everyone is. And I often second guess if Doug, Bri and I are living in the right place anymore. It is difficult sometimes for me to watch Briana riding her bike in a circle in our driveway all by herself.

I have to register Bri for school on Wednesday, and I worry if I am making the right decision sending her to public school. Right now, I believe it is the right choice for our family. I've heard good things about the elementary school Bri will be attending. But of course, I worry if the school is going to be good enough for her and if the diversity will be diverse enough for her. 

I feel guilt about not taking Mandarin class with Bri anymore. I listened to Bri when she asked me not to make her take it anymore. I didn't want her to start hating it, so we quit. But will she resent me later when she doesn't know it well and wishes she did?

I have guilt that I don't have all the answers for her. I want to be able to "fix" everything for her and I know that I can't. She will ask me questions, and I won't have answers to many of them. And she will be asking me some big questions one day. Questions that so many other kids don't have to ask.

How can I stop feeling these immense feelings of stress and guilt? I know that I cannot live my entire life like this. Briana isn't even five years old yet and my stomach is in knots. Rationally, I know I'm human and I know I am doing the very best I can for her. But my emotions usually take over the rational side of me, and my rational thoughts often get completely squashed by the irrational ones.

Ugh. I hate feeling like this.

Growing Up At The Park

I didn't realize how many pictures of Briana I have on this swing...

2008...

2009...

2010...

2011...

Her legs dangle a bit more over the edge now, huh? Soon, she will be too big to swing on it. I guess we have to enjoy it as long as it lasts.

It's Almost Been A Year

I was just looking back in my blog archives, and I started reading the posts that I wrote around this time last year. I was so unbelievably sick. Strep, bad cold, pink eye, ear infection and a failing pregnancy all at the same time. I remember standing at Briana's class Easter party last year knowing something was very wrong with the pregnancy and feeling so scared. I get a pit in my stomach just thinking about it. This year, I'm feeling some stuffiness from all the pollen that is saturating the air, but other than that, I feel good.

I am happy that this spring will be much better and much brighter than last year. I still feel twinges of sadness from time to time, but as time goes by, the sadness does fade. I won't be spending weeks of springtime in bed this year. I'm ready to enjoy my husband and daughter, beautiful flowers, blue skies, warmer temperatures and Easter bunnies.

My focus right now is on continuing to keep Bri busy and happy, getting her registered for some camps and activities for the summer and also preparing her for *gulp* kindergarten in August.

And once Bri is in school five days a week, I can focus a little more on "me." My life, my health and my future.

Picture Day and Feeling Jittery

This is the outfit Briana picked out for picture day at school - which was last Wednesday. She said she felt "fancy." She is so sassy, isn't she? Not only were school pictures taken that day, but graduation pictures were taken that day as well. She put on a little white cap and gown. I cannot wait to get those pictures. I feel weepy just thinking about it. Pre K graduation. Big bad kindergarten looms. I have to register Briana for kindergarten next week. I'm seriously feeling heart palpitations and massive jitters. 

Ok, I need to calm down. Let's take a look at my sweetie dressed on St. Patrick's Day...

She is adorable, but I still don't feel better about all of this. Now where did I put that Xanax? ;D

Bubbles and Super Moon

There is nothing better than a warm Saturday afternoon, a large bubble wand and a giggly four year old...

And this is the shot I got of the "super moon" Saturday night...

It was so bright and beautiful. So glad we had a clear sky in GA!

The Dragon King

Yesterday, Doug, Briana and I met Matt, Kathy and Chani over at the Center For Puppetry Arts to see the story of The Dragon King. It was a wonderful story and the marionettes were truly amazing to watch.

Here is a little clip of what we saw...



After the performance, the girls headed upstairs to make some dragon marionettes...

We decided to grab some dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and the girls played on the restaurant playground for a little while...

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon!

And a little side note - I am officially back online! My computer broke several days ago, and my awesome hubby spent most of the weekend fixing it. After getting new memory, wiping my machine clean and reinstalling everything, I am back! Breathing a bit easier now. :D

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Briana had a super fun St. Patrick's Day at school. She wore green so she wouldn't get pinched. :D After school, Bri had a play date with her friends - which included green shamrock shakes from Mickey D's. The kids liked them. I, on the other hand, really did not. The flavor was quite odd. It was supposed to taste like mint but tasted more like lime to me. Weird, I know.

I have super cute pictures of Briana from this morning, but unfortunately, my computer is having issues and I can't get new pictures on it right now. So for now, here is a cute pic of Bri and her friends taken with my iPhone.

Oh! And a few of you asked where I got my blog book done - check out blog2print.com!

Blog Book, Clay Creation, Unfortunate Haircut and Frankel

My second blog book arrived about a week or so ago, "Life With Briana - Age 1." I'm so happy that I was so vigilant in my blogging because now I have a book containing everything Briana did at age one and everything that I was thinking during that time - which was also her first year home with us. It is truly priceless to me...

Briana stunned me with this clay creation of hers the other day. It is a girl with yellow hair wearing a hat riding a skateboard. I thought it was quite amazing...

Speaking of hair, Briana unfortunately decided to cut some of hers last week with her not-so kid friendly scissors. I didn't realize it until I pulled her hair into a ponytail before school. There was a section on the left side of her head that was not the same length as everywhere else. I caught her, she cried and she promised to never do it again...

Miss Sassy Pants. I can tell that she cut a little on the other side too...

And last but not least, my sis and I attended "A Conversation with Bethenny Frankel" Friday night. It was very entertaining, quite informative and a little inappropriate as well. Good stuff...

So that is my little mish mash of things that have going on in my life. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Playroom Artwork

For Briana's playroom, instead of putting up art that someone else drew, I decided to frame and display some favorite pieces created by my little budding artist.

Here is one whole wall...

Close-up pictures of the wall (includes a snail, two chefs, a picture of Bri, Doug and me, a tree and mountains, another family portrait that includes kitty and Mickey Mouse)...

The other side of the room (which includes a haunted house, a Chinese dragon being held up by people, a portrait of Asia kitty, a cool girl with a hat and a neat sea monster)...

Spring Has Sprung

With today being the first day of Daylight Saving Time, I can definitely feel that spring has officially arrived. I went out and took some pictures of some of the flowers and trees that are beginning to bud in my yard. I wanted to capture some of the beauty of this wonderful day.