The First Week of Preschool

Christopher and I survived our first week of school! The first day (Tuesday) went very smoothly. Christopher waltzed right into his class like an old pro. It's his normal Sunday School room, so he's very familiar with it. As for naptime, I was told that he was the FIRST to go to sleep! All my worries were for nothing! LOL! However, he only slept for about an hour (compared to his normal 2-3 hours). He acted like he needed another one after we got home. I put him in his crib, but he only played for about an hour and then was ready to get up. He was fine the rest of the evening, though.

In my class (2-year olds), we only had 2 crying children to deal with and that only lasted about the first 20-25 minutes. The only other time we had any issues was at naptime and that only involved 2 girls. One didn't want to go lay down, but once she was on her mat, she was fine and went to sleep pretty quickly. The other girl started crying as soon as I tried to get her to lay down and continued to cry for the next 20-30 minutes. I just sat beside her and rubbed her back and she eventually went to sleep.

On Thursday, Christopher cried when I left him, but that was only because I messed up. I let him go into his classroom to kill time until our devotion (which we try to hold a few minutes before kids are due to arrive). He came looking for me, so since I was finished in my classroom, I went and sat in his room while he played. Well, another little girl playing in there decided to go look for her mom who went down the hall for a minute. Since we don't let the kids wander the hallways alone and she was PERSISTANT, I went with her. By the time I headed back to Christopher's classroom, though, parents started to arrive (earlier than they were supposed to). Therefore, I had to get back to my classroom and didn't get to say goodbye to Christopher. He watched me walk out, so that really upset him. I felt so bad and just wanted to go in to calm him down, but knew me leaving again would only make matters worse. Once he's distracted, he typically calmes down. Plus, I figured if I was needed, his teacher (Ms. Brenda) would page me. I never heard anymore about it, so he must've calmed down fairly quickly.

For his nap that day, I was told that he was the LAST to go to sleep this time. LOL! Thankfully, he never did fuss. He just rolled all over the floor and couldn't go to sleep. Ms. Brenda told me that she even tried to rock him, but he only layed there talking and pointing out all the other kids who were sleeping. He eventually fell asleep on the floor (off his mat, of course) and ended up sleeping for a little over an hour. I had to wake him up after all the kids in my class left.

Both of the nights after his long and busy days he slept GREAT! In fact, Thursday night, he ended up sleeping 12-1/2 hours STRAIGHT!!! I don't think he's EVER done that! Since he typically needs about 13 hours of sleep per day (nighttime and naps), he only needed about a 30-45 minute nap on Friday. We went down to Tullahoma to see Mom, Mindy and Cheryl, so that came in very handy. He did perfectly fine until just before we went to leave. He got about a 45 minute nap on the way home.

Our homework this weekend is putting together his photo album titled, "All About Me." I've been taking pictures of relatives and friends and now just need to figure out which ones to print and how I'm going to arrange them. I also need to include pictures/magazine clippings/etc. of his favorite toys (books and balls), tv characters (Elmo) and anything else that he really likes. I might even get a picture of spaghetti since that seems to be his favorite meal! LOL!

I've taken on another endeavor...helping teach a MOPS class at another local church. I've already filled out paperwork and am due to start this Friday (Sept. 14). I've been told that I'm needed in the 4 & 5 year old class. Thankfully, it's only 2 days a month...every 2nd and 4th Friday, for 3 hours in the morning. It's not a whole lot of extra money, but every little bit helps.

In addition to that, work at my own church nursery is picking up. I do the New Member's Class each month, we've got a Parents' Night Out coming up in addition to some Bible study nights. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to work them all and need to discuss it with Shad first. Tomorrow, my schedule includes our regular church routine in the morning, go home to change clothes, I'll go back to church to work the nursery for the New Member's Class for approximately 2 hours (if any kids show up), go home for a few hours and then go back to church for the evening activites, which include my Discovery U class the first hour and then back down to the nursery for the second hour. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me!

Shad is on his way home from the Vols game in Knoxville. They played Southern Mississippi and won 39-19. Unfortunately, it didn't start until 6:00 pm central time (too late to have Christopher out) and it was on pay-per-view, so I didn't get to see it at all. He's not due to arrive home until about 2:00 or 3:00 am. He is SO going to be dragging his butt in the morning! I've already told him that I don't want to hear him complain when he has to get up for church at 7:00 am! I won't have ANY sympathy for him since he got to go while I was stuck at home!

Since we couldn't go, Christopher and I stayed home and were BORED. I thought we'd be getting together with a friend and her son, but my friend ended up having to work. We did manage to make a trip to Wal-Mart, though, where I had a ditzy moment. After shopping, I decided to get dinner at McDonald's. I placed the order, went to get our drinks and LEFT WITHOUT THE FOOD! Doh! I realized it as I was driving off (before leaving the parking lot), so turned around to go back. The manager was there waiting for me with my food. LOL!

I guess I'll stop rambling now. It's bedtime and Christopher just started crying. The tv probably woke him up. Oops!

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!!

Football season HAS begun! Tennessee is playing Cal at Cal and is getting beat up pretty badly. It's a totally different ballgame compared to last year's! We're just not playing like we should. Right now, it's 31-38 in the 4th quarter. :p

Next weekend (Sept. 8), we play So. Miss. in Knoxville. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make that game or the Arkansas State game on Sept. 22 since they don't start until 7:00 pm central time. Too late to have Christopher out. It's a 3-hour drive each way, plus a 3-1/2 or 4 hour game, so Shad and Richard will be getting home VERY late (approximately 3:00 or 4:00 am)!!! And Shad thinks he'll be getting up for church by 7:00 in the morning? Ha!

The first few games never feel like it's football season with the weather still being warm. This year is no exception. We finally had a break in the heat wave this week with highs being right around 90 compared to 100+. I can't believe that lasted for about a month straight! We broke several records! To top it off, we're WAY below average on rainfall, too. I think this is the dryest Summer on record!

Christopher and I start school this Tuesday. I'm looking foward to getting out of the house and making a little extra money, but it's going to be an adjustment for both of us. I got an e-mail today from a friend from church asking if I'd be interested in being an assistant teacher at a MOPS program at another church in town. It would only be from 8:45-11:45 on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month. I went ahead and agreed to it. I'm suppposed to be receiving a call from the director within the next few days so will get details then.

Labor Day is coming up on Monday. Shad's off work, but the only plans I've made are with the MTM's (Middle TN Mommies). We're meeting at a park down the street at 10:00 am for a playdate and picnic lunch. Other than that, it'll probably be like any other Saturday for us. I'm looking forward to this playdate since there will be a few ladies/kids who don't normally join us for playdates since they work during the week. In fact, there will be a couple of kids that Christopher never has played with, so we'll see how he does.

Ugh! Cal scored another touchdown, so it's now 31-45 and the ballgame is almost over. I think I want to go to bed now! I'll end here with a few pictures of Christopher:

In my hat and Fall Creek Falls shirt at church

Looking at a Praying Mantis with Aunt Mindy

In my swim gear at the lake