Moms are Amazing

I remember the first thing I thought after going through Labor and Delivery of Kylee was... "I can't believe how amazing Mom's are!" Giving birth was so extremely painful, yet completely rewarding, I was more than grateflul to both my mom and Wes' mom when they came into the delivery room to meet Kylee. I instantly felt a bond with all moms, and I told my moms "Thank You" for going through all that pain to bring me and Wes and our siblings into the world. I also have been learning over the years, that as my kids get older and I get "tested" with new "mommy predicaments," that delivering a baby is just the beginning of a lifetime of moments where I will say "How did our moms do this?!?"

As we are getting into the swing of the school year, I can't believe how busy life has become now that both kids are in school, five mornings a week. I thought I'd be sitting home everyday, folding and laundering baby clothes and cloth diapers, and cleaning house as I nest and prepare for the new baby. Well, all that nesting stuff will have to wait- life is INSANELY crazy at the moment. I'm in Kylee's classroom at least 2 mornings a week- I love helping out while I have the chance, and it's just a constant reminder how much FUN Kindergarten is! I can't get enough of that place, and her teacher is doing an outstanding job teaching the little ones. Not to mention, I'm getting to know all three of the Kinder classes pretty well, and learning a lot about the kids who will be Kylee's peers for the next 12 years. I also have been trying to spend extra time staying on top of my work as an office manager for Wes' dad. And, all of our spare time has been planning, advertising, and fundraising for our big Relay for Life event this weekend. I have prenatal appointments every-other Wednesday morning now. We crammed a trip to Oakland in this past weekend, so all the busy-ness of travel, packing and unpacking, getting back into the school routine is consuming my current morning. Last week we had our first week of soccer practices mixed in with a busy back-to-school night and our usual weekly payroll evening. Between preparing for Kylee's first Soccer Game tomorrow and first Ballet Recital next Tuesday- I find myself wondering, how do mom's do this!?! I absolutely love the challenge of making my days run smoothly... here is my current attempt at keeping our school days organized:

This laminatd schedule has been awesome- the kids and I made it- and since they are not readers, they decided on what pictures we should take for each thing we do during the day. We adjust the schedule a bit when when have a game or practice, but have been doing great about keeping to our checklist- they love checking things off, and wiping the slate clean for a whole new day of fun the next morning!

So, until our lives get completely switched around again by baby #3, it's been fun "pretending" I have some sort of control of the maddness that is our daily life! And to all the mom's out there who are working at home or at work... just pat yourselves on the backs, and take some time today to remember that you are awesome!

Here are some pictures from last week's soccer practice followed immediately by dinner and back-to-school night.

Kylee and some of her U6 team get ready to scrimmage

Owen and Reef practice their sideline kicks

Kylee and her teacher, Mr. Sprague

All of Kylee's class- they really are such a great bunch of kids.