> Avery my little preschooler! <

Avery has been so excited (beyond excited actually) to start preschool. For about a month she asked me almost daily, "how many days is it 'til my preschool starts?" And no matter what number I would tell her she'd always say, "then the next day is it gonna be 10 days until preschool starts?" Then when we finally got to "10 more days" she took over from there. She'd wake up in the morning and tell me exactly how many days were left! :)

Finally the day has arrived and this morning Avery could hardly contain her excitement! For her special "first day of preschool breakfast" she chose to have a piece of toast with butter, not jelly, just butter, a cut-up apple and a glass of milk. I was pretty surprised with her choice, I thought maybe she'd pick something a little higher in fat and calories! :) When it was time to put her back pack on and head out to get into the car she COULD NOT stop smiling! When we got there Justin and Quinn stayed in the car while I took her into the preschool classroom. Her teacher, Miss Penny, said hi to her and she got a little shy which surprised me. That's not usually how my Avery is, she's usually not timid or shy about anything. When Miss Penny came a little closer and said hi to her again she ran over to her and gave her a big hug! -- it was so sweet! After she picked a hook to hang her back pack on it was time for me to say good-bye. She gave me a hug and then ran off to explore all the toys in the classroom looking back at me just once to wave good-bye again. Justin and I had a few errands to run and our first stop was to Wal*Mart to get our oil in the car changed and to get a few groceries. Right as we were pulling up to the Lube place it happened. Yes, it happened. All the sudden all my emotions came tumbling out and I could not hold back my tears. When the guy came over to my window to ask what we wanted done I felt like blurting out, "I just dropped my daughter off for her first day of preschool!" I wanted him to know why I was crying so I didn't seem like this psycho lady crying in her car.....maybe he would have thought that anyway, even if he knew the reason. But I must say, that sudden rage of emotions kind of surprised me too, I wasn't quite exactly sure why I was crying. I mean, it's not like Avery was sad or scared to go, in fact she was happy as a lark to finally be starting preschool. All my emotions were in check when I dropped her off, I don't know what happened. I suppose I just feel emotional because this means she's won't be home with me 24/7 anymore, she's growing up and I'm not sure I'm ready for that.....obviously! As we walked into Wal*Mart Quinney kept saying, "mommy kye, mommy kye". We walked over to a secluded aisle in the Automotive section so I could get my grips about myself, I didn't want everyone at the store thinking I was psycho! To make me feel better Quinn rubbed my cheek then gave me a big hug. -- my sweet little Quinney. Justin was also there for moral support rubbing my back and telling me that everything was fine and Avery was happy and having fun. Phew!

When we got there to pick her up I was so anxious and excited to hear all about her day. I even got out of the car and stood by it so when I saw her I didn't have to waste time getting out of the car, I would already be out. (is psycho entering back into your minds???) When they finally came out of the classroom and she saw me she came running over to me with her arms out. I asked her if she had fun and the first thing she said was, "mom, we played who took the cookie from the jar!" Then she took her new T-shirt out of her back pack to show me, they get to wear these every time they go on a field trip. She also showed me a brown paper bag that she gets to put a few of her favorite things in for show and tell on Tuesday and to top it all off, she gets to be the class "leader" next Tuesday too.....heck, I want to go to this preschool, it's going to be fun! :) When we got into the car she told us, "I have a new friend at preschool and her name is Jack." I think it's actually Jackie but oh well! :) Awww, a sigh of relief for me, she loved it just like I knew she would!