Maya officially started Kindergarten this past Monday, and if I’m honest…it’s been a bit of an adjustment…for both of us.  We’ve both been used to spending A LOT of time together these past (well, almost 6 years!)

Her school starts at 7:45, so gone are our mornings of leisurely cuddling on the couch for 30 minutes as we wake up.  Ok, I wake up.  She wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed from the start!

She’s always been the kid to just jump right into any new situation with a smile on her face and an energetic “Bye mom!!”

Even on her first day of preschool at under 3…much to my teary eyed surprise!

She’s always been so concerned about the kids who cry, and always used to go up and ask if they were ok.

Her first day started off great!  She was excited yet a little nervous.  When we got to the playground, it was a crazy zoo!  She walked right up to two girls she didn’t know and asked what their names were.  She asked if they were going into Kindergarten, and when they said they were she goes… “Oh!  It’s like we’re twins!!  We’re ALL going into KINDERGARTEN!!” haha.  So sweet… When it was time to go in, they let us walk them to their rooms.  We found her cubby, found her name on a table, and she plopped right down and started coloring in her name balloon.  When it was time to go- “Bye mom!”

Tuesday was a little sketchier.  On the way to school, she said.  “I don’t really want to go back.  I don’t get to do anything I want, and I really just want to hang out with you!”

Well…this past Wednesday was rough.  It was the 1st day they wanted us to NOT walk them in.  We were supposed to say our good byes at the line up on the playground.  She started bawling when it was her classes turn to go in.  She wouldn’t let go of me and said that she didn’t want me to leave.  That she just wanted to hang out with me all day.   I ended up walking her to her door, where to teacher literally had to pull her off of me.  Ugh, I’m tearing up again as I type this!!   I think it’s hard no matter what if your child is crying, but it was also such a shock and such a departure from her usual demeanor… Truth be told, I was a hot mess all day until pick up.  THANKFULLY every Wednesday is early release, so I didn’t have to wait as long!

That afternoon, we went to our neighborhood drugstore and got her a little beanie boo key chain to put on her back pack.  I told her that if she ever got sad, that she new her little dragon was there with her.  I also made sure that we made time for at least 15 minutes of cuddling on the couch on Thursday,

Thursday morning, I made sure that we made time for at least 15 minutes of cuddling on the couch, and at drop off, she grabbed another little girls hand that was looking sad, and together they both walked in waving as they went!

For me, it’s hard because I actually have LESS time to work than I did when she was in half day pre-school.  That is, if I still want to go to the gym, which I mentally NEED.  So…I’m frantically trying to get as much work done as I can, and then work more at night.  All that to say.  Not much time for this blog, which bums me out…

ANYWHO…I’m sure we will get our groove back, and we will find ways to spend quality time together, even if it’s not as much as we used to…sniff sniff.

Here she is the morning of Kindergarten.  The light sure is pretty at 7:25am!!

And she sure is freaking cute!!!

I started this questionnaire last year, so I had to do it again!

Again, all answers are straight from her as she said them.

What’s your favorite color?
💜purple

What’s the favorite thing you did this summer? 
Watching everything I want, eating, and playing with Findley and Miles (our neighbors/future in laws 😂).

What’s your favorite food? 🌯Burritos, 🍝pasta, and 🥑guacamole with cottage cheese.

What do you want to be when you grow up? 
👸🏼 A Princess! That has a lot of pets!

What’s your favorite thing to do? 
📱Watch everything I want and play with my toys. (I swear I didn’t just let her sit around all day with the iPad all summer!!)

What’s your favorite sport?
🏈Flag football and 🤽🏻‍♀️dodgeball.

Then Maya got to pick a question and she chose….

What’s your favorite fruit?
🍌Banana, mango, and papaya.

Later that night, we went outside to get a few shots of us together…

She kills me! Creative crop, or I laughed my way out of the frame…hmmm, you decide!
SO excited to wear booties and a jacket again!!!  It’s been chilly in the mornings and evenings, but still 70ish in the afternoon. I’ve worn this jacket a lot, but I’ve never done a close up of all the cool distressing.

One of my BEST Goodwill scores ever!  And…I’m wearing it Maya’s 1st day of Pre-K pics too haha.

On me…

These always crack me up… I had originally wanted to get the sun behind us, but it set too quickly.  Her facet tho!!