C's First Day of School... The Threes!!

C started school this week! It was a highly anticipated event in our house... for both of us. He seemed all smiles about it as we prepared for "meet the teacher" and was super excited to learn that a bunch of his favorite buddies were in his class, but there were times... of course... where he seemed to feel a bit of nerves about the whole thing. Which naturally made this Mama a bit nervous too. In fact, much like Christmas Eve, I had trouble sleeping the night before the first day... would he cry? Would he have fun? Would he miss me? Would he make new friends? Would he be sweet to his new friends? Will he be the nice guy who plays with everyone or the one who leaves people out? You know... all of those things that keep us mommies up at night! God and I had several of conversations that night in response to my sleeplessness! It took a couple of hours but I finally made it made back to sleep... just in time to wake up for the big day... 

I have to actually shower and put make-up for the first day... it's only right! :)

And make Elmo pancakes of course!!

I was a little short on my normal supplies... we had gotten in late in the afternoon the day before from Labor Day fun and I decided to get creative and wait for Kaki and I to do our shopping solo... so sweet Elmo had a bit of a make-shift face! 

All dressed and ready... Kaki insisted on being in the picture! After all... it was a big day for her too! :) GIRL TIME... whooo, whooo, whooo.... 

Back pack, lunch box (new... from Nana... thanks Nana!) and a nap mat (also new... and handmade... courtesy of yours truly and KK). One of the times KK came to visit this summer I said, "Hey... I've got a project for us... it'll be so fun! We're going to make C a nap mat!" And she said, "Ohhhhhhkay!"

And so we did... 

And after a bit of initial machine frustration we managed to get 'er done and I think it's pretty darn cute!! It has a built-in pillow AND blanket... not to brag, of course... or maybe I AM bragging... but this was a huge milestone in my sewing career... hehe! Next on my list... a Baylor dress for Kaki! Ha! :) 

I only got one pic of the Chade-man outside of school... and not one with his teacher... first day is always a bit chaotic in the classroom and it just didn't seem appropriate to add to the craziness with a pic! :)

BUT... much to my surprise, Caden went straight into his classroom, found his cubby, unpacked his water bottles out of his back pack, put his lunch up and went and found his name tag with me at the activity table. Once we found it we noticed that his play dough color was orange which for me was just a sweet little note from God saying, "Katie... we've got this... you can go now!" So I did...

The orange is significant because ME, being the slightly neurotic person I am decided to dress Caden in orange for meet the teacher and the first day... orange monogram, orange back pack, orange shoes... that way it would kind of become Caden's signature color and thus help his teacher remember him in the crowd! I know, it is extremely dorky! But if it hadn't been for that little bit of planning, I wouldn't have gotten that ever so subtle smile from God, reminding me YET AGAIN that He's got the whole world in His hands... even my little Chade-man and his orange accessories!! :) 

Oh... and I didn't cry either... turns out third year's a charm... for Caden too! :) YES!!

Here's to a GREAT year in the THREES!! 

Love you, sweet boy!