the "k" word...

 telling nanny and papa what she's wearing to school.

 waiting. waiting. and more waiting.

WALKING AWAY

this picture captured so many feelings of the moment.  my saydee has always been miss independent. 

as she walked away... she never looked back. 

as she took those steps, she never lost track...

as she saw her future in front of her eyes,

she never looked back to see mommy cry.

the tears that were held back

were both of joy and of fear.

the joy of the pride that i feel in your bravery

and the feelings of fear of the unknown, my dear.

you are courageous, inspiring, hopeful and true.

you never hold back when you try something new.

you are self-assured, sister

and mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud of you!



sweet little sisters. you get along so well!  what will little sissy do without big sissy for THREE hours every single day!? 

{turns out she asks, "Where's Saydee?"  About 3-4 times a day :)}

saydee. alexa. josh

neighbors, bus stop buddies, church buddies, and FRIENDS. 

 hannah. kelly. saydee.

cousins, neighbors, bus stop buddies.

{cute little KINDERGARTEN girl on her first day and first bus ride EVER.} 

She about got trampled and mowed over.  She was the first little person in line and I told her to stop when she got to the steps and let me take a picture... nobody waited for her, but she still stood strong and let them pass and turned around with this cute little grin. 

And no event-filled day would be complete without a Saydee-ism...

I fought the urge to talk her out of riding the bus that she so badly wanted to ride. 

I fought the urge to jump in the jeep and follow her all the way to school and see with my own eyes that she got where she needed to be.

I fought the urge to stop by in the middle of the day and do a little check up.

But... i thought about how excited i would have been had my mom or dad stopped in at the end of my first day and taken me to a celebratory lunch... so that i gave in to. 

I couldn't wait to see the smile on her face and hear all about her day!

Chloe and I hopped in the jeep and headed to school to surprise Sayd.

When we got to her class we could see the Mrs. Perry getting them all lined up and ready for buses. 

Finally I got Saydee's attention through the little window in the door. 

She looked shocked for an instant and then her shock set in and her face drooped to a scowl.

Uh-oh!  I slowly backed up and out of view to give her a minute to process.

When she came out she totally wanted to deck me!

She was arms folded, face scrunched and mad, breathing deeply, stomping each step and...

MIFFED! 

She couldn't even speak she was so upset... i took the opportunity to explain how anxious i had been all day to hear about her FIRST day and to give her a big squeeze, and to take her to her favorite place and get a SUBWAY sandwich just the way she likes it:
tuna, flatbread (heated before the meat gets put on), American cheese, mayo and mustard.

That only evoked more upset.

She started barking out,

"You're a liar!  You said I could ride the bus!  I have a sticker with my bus on it!"

She stayed mad all the way to SUBWAY.

Little stinker.

She did apologize at lunch saying she was sorry and that she was just really excited to ride the bus and advised me that I probably shouldn't pick her up for quite a while until she grew tired of the bus, WHICH probably wouldn't happen because it's really big and she doesn't have to get buckled.

Ahhhh... Another one of those things that I thought growing up,

"When I have kids, I will surprise them... pick them up and brisk them somewhere fun.  I will do that like my parents never did."

And then I was blessed with... Saydee...

who could really care less.