First day of school

I'm a bit behind..I know...it's been INSANELY busy.

Here are the pictures from the first day of school

I have a big kindergartner now!

Megan outside her school on the first day. 

 Mom can't believe she has a kindergartner already!

My big 9th grader

She's too cool to take a pic right by the building (not that I blame her!)

So we resorted to just outside the car door

The girls started not only new grades (and therefore new schools), but new in a school district as well as we've moved.  We didn't close on the new house until the 4th day of school, consequently, we had an hour long commute to school the first 4 days of school.  It was not fun for anyone involved.

Preschool Graduation

 Megan's pre-K graduation was last night.  Here's some of my favorite pictures.

Sisterly love

Ms Debbie, Megan's teacher  

She is AMAZING & we're sad to say goodbye to her

Megan's best friend, Dylan.

They are like 2 peas in a pod.  Seriously.

My precious little almost 5 yr old.

Where has the time gone???

Megan's Preschool Program

Megan's Thanksgiving Program was last night. Here is her class' performance of "Feather bed". They did an AWESOME job. And she LOVES her teacher, Ms. Debbie
Her classmates lined up are Abi, Megan, Mia, Ethan, Jaidyn, Saelah, Dylan

Her bestest friend in her class is Dylan (and he is a cutie!)

Megan's Spring Program

My favorite part is at about :20 where she looks at "H" next to her and says "Ms. Britni, he's singing SO LOUD." Then promptly covers her ears. Too cute.

First School Program

Megan's school had a Thanksgiving program last night.

Here is her performance.

First day of School

She is just TOO DARN CUTE!

Monday was actually the first day of school,
but she had a fever and yuck, so I kept her home.
So, today was the first day she went!

photos & video

A few photos from this week...

My little helper...and beginning to not feel well

Here's short clip of the princess dancing. She even was dancing at school this week during music time! Speaking of school, she's been doing really well...loves to see her teacher...yells "HI" as soon as she sees her and doesn't cry when I leave. I've been picking her up between 11am-11:45am depending on what time she wakes up that morning and how tired she is. We are still getting up in the 4 o'clock hour--we had hoped that the time change would help her sleep until 5am, but that hasn't helped.

School update

Right-after-school photo

I know, I'm late, but this week has been C-R-A-Z-Y. It was topped off with me getting hives on Monday night from the antibiotic I had been taking for 10 days. It was bad. I'm still a little itchy in my hair and behind my ears, but its manageable (although no fun!) compared to what it was Monday night. I've had hives from meds before, but this time was much worse than last time. I had them on my face--including my eye lids--besides all over my neck and torso. I think last time was on day 10, too. ugh.

I meant to take a picture BEFORE we went to school and I completely forgot, so I took one as soon as we got home (hence the blankey in the photo!). Megan did really well. We had planned on her being there for just 30 minutes. But, when I went to get her after 30 minutes, she was playing well (she didn't see me!), so I left and returned 30 minutes later. When I got there, she was crying (I could hear her when I walked in the door). She had been fine doing her own thing, but the teacher had just checked her diaper and I guess it was a reminder that Mom wasn't there. I don't know. Anyways, we came home. She hung on to blankey for about 20 minutes or so after we got home, then she dropped it and was fine. She then took a TWO HOUR nap! At an hour and half, I checked on her and she had not even moved. She was exhausted!

So, today was School: day 2. The plan was for her to be there an hour. She did well. They had music which she loved, of course. There are more kids there on Wednesdays. The teacher just said, there are more boys and it would overwhelm her sometimes (aka boys are rowdy!). So the teacher would simply take her into the hall to give her some space. She had her blankey and paci when I got there. There were signs she had been crying before and she was whimpering when I got there. She was glad to see me. She is really tired today, too. Between the stress of school, getting up early and not having a morning nap, I think she'll sleep pretty well this afternoon!

A Public Commitment

I've not written much on here about the dissertation I'm supposed to be working...simply because I want this to be mostly about Megan (and she's the reason for my not working on it! Well, maybe not entirely, but mostly.) But, I decided this morning...this is it. I need to jump in and really work on it hard. What's tough about it for me is that Megan does need so much of my time when she's awake. Besides who can form many intelligent sentences when you have a 16 month old in the background you have your eye on and your ear listening to? Well, maybe there are some talents folks out there that can, but I can't.

So, in sitting down to write this morning while she was napping, I decided I'm making a commitment--and then I decided I needed to blog the said commitment so I'm not the only one who knows I've made it (well, besides DH)! Can we say accountability? Yep, unfortunately. Back to my commitment...I'm going to write (aka journaling at this point) every morning when Megan naps. It's not much time, but then today I've gotten an hour, so one never knows! I'm not giving up her afternoon naps for writing (although I probably should, and will at some point in the future) as I need to rest during these times since nights are typically not that great. My body and brain need the rest.

Now it's out there...in fact, I wonder if every once in a while I need to post my progress. As in...I'm still just journaling about this and that, or I'm now onto writing my thoughts about my topic, or I'm actually now researching my topic, etc. I probably will. I don't know how often I will, but if you think of it, ask me the status. That will definitely keep me writing. It has to. If I'm going to get done by December 2009, I have about 16 months to get this done in. That's not much time. And as fast as the last 5.5 have gone since Megan came home, it's going to come fast.

It is Finished...Kinda

I am finished with the doctorate from the standpoint of the coursework. I passed my oral exams on Thursday morning (although technically I think it was around noon). At any rate, that part is finished. Now, I have the part most people falter at--the dissertation. See at this point you don't have regularly scheduled classes or a syllabus schedule created by someone else to follow. It's simply you. All up to your dedication, focus and discipline. My discipline says a year...we'll see if I can get it done in that time frame. I sure hope so! I want to be able to strictly focus on Megan as soon as possible! Yes, I will do that for a few months, but beginning this summer, research and writing is going to have to move up on the to-do list so I can ultimately get it off the list!

So there you have it...I'm officially a "Doctoral Candidate"...whatever that means!

A Milestone Achieved

Thank goodness the semester is over! I've submitted my final paper in my final doctoral class! WHEW! What an amazing feeling....of course the greatness of it fades fairly quickly when I think of the dissertation research I get to work on this summer. But for the moment, it feels good! If only it was the final submission of my dissertation. That would definitely call for a celebration of magnificant proportions!

In the mean time, I have a summer to-do list as long as my arm...all those things I've put off for so long will be tackled this summer. Once we see Megan's face, all "things to do" will be lost. Well, at least the ones not Megan related!