Finally!!

I am back in business!!! That's right... for a solid week I had no Internet access, no computer at all. It was terrible, and I felt so out of touch with the outside world....

Here's a quick rundown for you....

Matt left last Sunday night for London. He went for the week on business to visit the home office of Aviva, where he works. His mom came to spend the week with the kids and I which was BEYOND wonderful. She helped out so much, and the kids loved having her around.

Let's see... where to start....

Last Thursday was Katherine's first day of school, and holy cow, it was one emotional day for me. I literally spent the entire morning in tears. It was just awful... I woke her up that morning, made her pancakes for breakfast -- which are her absolute fave (and which she refused to eat), took tons of pictures and then Matt and I drove her to school, where I took more pictures. She looked so adorable, and yet so tiny at the same time. It seems impossible that she's ready for Kindergarten already... Where has the time gone???

Ironically enough, it was a cool and dreary day -- raining pretty much all morning and windy. How fitting that the weather matched my mood so perfectly???? UUUUGH!

As I walked her into the school, I saw so many of our neighbors and friends. It was reassuring to know that so many of our friends were sending their little ones off to school for the first time, and that Katherine would have so familiar faces around. And, yes, I was in tears. Actually, they were streaming down my face. As I walked Katherine into her room, and turned to put her backpack, coat and umbrella into her cubby, I just couldn't help myself..... The flood gates opened!

Katherine was so excited to be there. She went right over to a group of girls and started talking to them and playing at one of the centers. I walked out of her room without a hug from my baby girl, and then got thinking.... how could I possibly leave without a few more pictures??? Yea, I couldn't..... So I went back in, and thankfully have a big camera that you actually hold up to your face (versus a little point and shoot that you hold out and look through the viewfinder) so that Katherine couldn't see my tears. She went over to her chair and I took some more pictures... All of a sudden, she said, "Mommy, why are you crying?" Of course I told her that I wasn't, but Caleb chimed right in and said, "Yes, you are Mommy! There's tears all over your face!" Thanks, buddy!!

Time to exit! Caleb and I went home to drop Matt off and then went over to Andrea's house for a Mom's breakfast... It was so nice to be surrounded by friends. I cried on and off pretty much all morning. Around 11: 15, Caleb came up from the basement, where he was playing with the other kids and said, "Mommy, where's Katherine? I wanna play with Katherine. I miss her sooo much." More tears.... She'd only been gone a couple of hours and he misses her. UUUUGH!

We ended up leaving shortly before 1. It was so nice to actually have something to do for the first day. It made it sooo much easier.

When she got off the bus that night, it seemed like she aged 5 years. She just seemed older, more independent, more "schoolish".... It seemed like part of her innocence was gone. I know it's got to happen, but why????

Let's see... what else.... Oh, it's been a hard first week. Up until last week, Katherine was still taking naps every day. She's just a kid who requires a lot of sleep, and without it, she's a mess. So the first week was really hard. She had lots of meltdowns, tears over basically nothing, talking back and fighting with Caleb. She was acting so out of character, it was strange. I know she's going through a ton of changes right now, but man... it's hard on us all! I only get so many "good" hours a day with her, and quite frankly, I'd rather not spend them watching her cry.

Matt's parents came down Sunday afternoon so that his mom could stay with the kids and I. He left Sunday night for London and was gone all week. I know I already said this, but wow... it was wonderful to have her here! She helped out so much with the kids, laundry, kept me company, helped me get ready for the baby, clean closets, etc.... I must say.... I think it's high time they move down here! I could really get used to having them in town!

Monday morning I tried to open up the computer, and nothing. I couldn't even turn the thing on. Danyel came over and took a peek at it, and still nothing. So I was without a computer or Internet access all week. When Matt got home, we immediately went to Best Buy and made a visit to the Geek Squad. Foolishly, I hadn't backed up pictures recently, so we had to pay $160 for them to get them off the computer and burn them on CD's. OUCH! We decided that it was time to buy a new computer, (rather than pay for all the diagnostic analysis on the old one), so we did that as well. I must say, I LOVE the new one!! I'm sitting on it now, and it's heaven!!

A few highlights from the week....

Monday we ran errands. I went over to a local store and had them design closets for the kid's rooms. We need some kind of organizing system with the new little guy on the way, so it was a perfect time to get it done. Fran helped me clean out the closets, and they were installed on Thursday morning. Soooo nice!

Wednesday night after school and dinner, Fran and I took the kids over to a little pond to feed the ducks. When we got there, there was a guy in his 50's sitting at a picnic bench smoking. As soon as he saw us, he came up and started talking to us -- and Katherine in particular. He asked her for bread, wanted to take pictures of her with his hot pink point and shoot camera (which he did without my permission), and kept trying to get closer and closer to her..... despite the fact that we kept moving away from him. Supposedly, he had just moved up here from Texas, but strangely, he had no accent. HHMMMM..... It was freaky and totally inappropriate. We ended up calling the police who turned out to be nothing more than the Keystone Cops... Initially, they went to the wrong park, and then by the time they did arrive, the guy was gone. It was pretty unsettling....

A little gymnastics update....

Last week, while I was making dinner, Katherine disappeared. She loves to help me cook, and if she's not cooking with me, she's sitting at the island crafting, or playing in the living room. Because it was sooo quiet, I just went to look for her to see what she was up to. Guess where I found her..... In the bathroom, standing on the side of the bathtub, practicing her beam routine. Oh. My. Goodness. Talk about a recipe for disaster! Needless to say, I'm guessing Santa will probably find room in his sleigh for a beam for her. I was going to wait a while longer, but have come to the realization that she's going to do it regardless, so I might as well make sure she's safe! LOL.

This week, she brought home a "What I want to be when I grow up" sheet. Shockingly, she drew a picture of herself in a leotard, the gymnastics floor, beam and bars. Definitely going in the scrapbook! I wasn't shocked, but it did make me smile!!

So, she also was supposed to start at Chow's this week. We are really blessed to have a world class gym miles from our house -- especially since she loves gymnastics so much. Ironically, she didn't want to go. She was nervous, wanted to stay at her current gym, was afraid of the change, didn't know about all the conditioning, on and on and on.... Literally, she wanted no part of it. She wasn't going. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded! I told her that since I paid almost $200, she was going to give it a try, like it or not, and that if she didn't want to stay, she wouldn't get to go back anytime soon. It was just strange. I couldn't figure her out. Here is a girl who loves gymnastics and doesn't want to go to the best gym in the state, if not one of the best in the country....

At the end of the day, I think she was fearful that most of the girls would be much better than she was. I tried to explain to her that it was a recreational class and most of the girls would have little to no gymnastics experience. Boy, was I right!! Katherine was by the most experienced in the class, and from what I could see, the ONLY one who'd ever step foot in the gym before. Her teacher was giving her high-fives and telling her what a good job she was going. So by the time we left, she was on cloud nine and TOTALLY loves Chow's. She can't wait to go back next week. It's amazing what a little praise can do for your confidence! LOL.

Oh, and one more random....

Reason #679 why I love my hubby....

We were talking yesterday about the baby coming, what needs to be done, etc... and he says to me, "What do you think about getting a cleaning lady? Maybe we could have someone come every other week or so and do the deep cleaning..." What does he think I'd think about it??? No brainer there! So, that's my next project! I'm getting a cleaning lady, and as far as I'm concerned, the sooner the better. But really, how wonderful is it that he suggests it???? Pretty wonderful!

I'm off to bed! More updates and pictures soon!