"I don't want to leave yet."

My baby girl started her first day of preschool today.  Being a good mother, I made sure she went to bed early and ate a healthy breakfast before she left.  Maybe in my dreams...But in real life, the kids took a later nap on Tuesday and didn't get up until after five.  That resulted in them being all wound up and going to bed late.  I did make Izzie some toast and eggs for breakfast but she didn't want to eat.  She's not used to eating so early and she was a little bit nervous about her first day of preschool.  Kris is working early this week which means he still works 12 hour shifts but he goes in early in the evening and gets home early in the morning instead of vice versus.  Anyway, Kris's parents came over to watch Noah so Kris and I could both take Izzie to school. 

Grandma and Izzie

 Big sister

I'll miss you Noah.

 Note the larger than Izzie back pack.

 Off we go...

We got to the school and parked along the curb.  Izzie insisted on carrying her back pack, which weighed almost as much as her because it was filled with tons of school supplies.  It wasn't a long walk into the school but the driveway to the entrance was just enough uphill to make it difficult for Izzie.  I felt like she was on a pilgrimage.  By the time we reached her classroom she looked exhausted.  We joined her class outside and met Miss Jeanette, her teacher.  Izzie was quiet as she watched the other children play.  She stood next to Miss Jeanette and followed her wherever she went.  Kris snapped a quick picture of Izzie with me and made sure she was okay before she left.  Okay, we made sure I was okay before we left.  

No need to point out the fact that Izzie is only two feet shorter than me.  I realize this and had, yet another revelation of how short I actually am when I looked at this picture.  I always say that everyone becomes taller than me eventually, so we'll see with Izzie.  Her guesstimated height is 5' 2'' at age eighteen, which would give her an inch over me.  I am the shortest girl in my family and a couple of my sisters are also on the short side, yet are still taller than me.  Then I have two sisters who somehow got all the height.  What the heck is up with that?  Neither of my parents are tall, but my dad has a couple of brothers who are tall and blah, blah, blah.  I'm not going to lie.  I got jipped.  I'm the oldest girl and I got the short end of the stick along with the smallest boobs.  But really, Izzie looks so grown up in this picture posing with her midget Momma.  And, FYI...The sandals I'm wearing?  Love, love them.  I purchased them at a little boutique in Southport when I was visiting my sister in Chicago.  They were a steal and even though they're basically completely flat, they're actually quite comfortable.  

We left my baby girl and headed straight to Starbucks.  I needed a soy latte with a double shot extra of espresso, stat.  When we walked in the house, Noah ran out of the living room to greet us.  He shouted, "Izabelle!"  I told him Izzie was at preschool.  For the rest of the morning he kept saying, "Izabelle?  Izabelle?"  How sweet, he missed his sister.  I went to the gym and nearly died because my lungs are being stupid and refusing to work properly.  I got home in time to do a quick treatment before taking Noah to pick up Izzie.  He was so excited to go get her.  He kept saying, "Izabelle!"  We parked, unstrapped, and hopped out of the truck.  Noah turned around and said, "Good bye truck.  Bye bye truck."  Noah held my hand as we made out way to Izzie's classroom.  The first thing she said when she saw me was, "I don't want to leave yet."  Just shove a dagger through my heart.  I'm just kidding.  I was so happy to hear she did great.  The teacher and her helper said that Izzie was so sweet and adorable.  I had to bribe her with Bug Juice to get her to leave.  I was planning taking them to 7-11 anyway and letting them get a treat to celebrate Izzie's first day of preschool.  7-11 is right by our house and we're frequent customers.  No, I don't let them get juice every time.  Sometimes if we run out of milk or something like that, it's very convenient to just run in and grab some.  Most of the people who work there know Izzie and Noah.  When I went to pay for our stuff, I received the nicest compliment.  The guy told me that they had so many kids come in the store all the time and my kids were the only ones who ever said 'Thank You'.  They were impressed and said it would serve them well as they grew older.  Yah, I'm doing something right.              

 

Izzie is enjoying a chocolate chip cookie after a first great day at preschool.

Sweet Success...