R's last day of MDO-

What a wonderful year R had at MDO this passed year!  It has truly been such a BLESSING to not only him, but me as well!  I never ever worried about him when I dropped him off because I knew he was in great hands, and with his friends, learning about the Lord and having a big'ole time and not suck at home with me all day! :P  He learned so much at MDO this year, he would be singing a new song, or telling me about something, and I would say, "Where did you learn that...?" "At school..." It made my heart so happy that not only were those things being taught, but that he was actually learning them as well!

{2 years, 8 months & six days}

FLASH BACK!!  

 {His first day of school in September!  Just one week shy of turning 2!}

{One of my favorite pictures of us}

We are so thankful for his wonderful teachers Ms. Anna & Ms. Angie!  We are going to miss seeing them and their kids!  They were so sweet my lil man and put up with him on his "off days" and the more times than not..when he wouldn't take a nap!  ;)

I would HIGHLY recommend MDO to any mom!  Even if you don't need the childcare, it is a GREAT opportunity for your child to get out of the house and learn to interact with other kids their age, and start to learn how being in a classroom works for when they do go on to Kindergarden in a few years!  Not to mention, it gives mom a little bit of a break, to do things like go to the grocery store ALONE!  Ha!

MDO, parade & more!

We have had a busy week!

Monday I had class & Mr. Grant came & watched Ryder for me...what a BLESSING!  They played outside most of the time & Ryder was so excited when I told him Mr. Grant was coming over--the first thing Ryder said was "Icee?"  Haha!  I swear that kid never forgets anything!

Monday night, Jake came & got Ryder so I could go out to eat for Rachel's birthday!  Me, Kelly, Rachel & Katie all met & Zaza's for some yummy specialty salads & may or may not have gotten some gelato!  ;)

Me & mom had tickets to hear Erin Brockovich speak after that...so I met her at UCA for that!  My writing class last semester was focused on "How corporations affect our every day lives" & we watched Erin's movie & I fell in love with her!  It was hard to believe that it was a true story...& when I heard she was going to be at UCA I knew I wanted to hear her speak!  I wasn't as GREAT as I thought it was going to be, but it was good.  She is still pursuing companies that are polluting our drinking water...

Ryder ended up staying at Jake's over night & brought him to the house Tuesday morning before MDO..



Dad went with us to drop Punkin' off & poor baby cried when I left again...It breaks my heart.  I went to Chick-Fil-A to get some chicken minis to drowned our my sorrows.  :(  & then off to class I went...




They said he had a pretty rough day at School & cried most of the day, but we are working on a new bed time routine...dinner by 6, bath by 7 & bed by 8 hoping that this will help improve things!  But thinking about how much our time together the passed couple of weeks has drastically changed, I think it's just going to take him some getting used to.



Tuesday night was the county parade & I wanted to take him!  Poor thing fell asleep on the WAY there! Ha...but that wasn't stopping us!  We walked SO SO far (but it felt good to get some exercise) & sat in front of Morgan's store & watched the parade with her!  We even saw Miss Arkansas Kristen Glover!  He loves the bands, horses, tractors & "pretty girls"!  Ha!  =)








One thing that did go right on Tuesday at MDO was that Ryder went up to his teacher & told her he had to go pee pee & she took him & he went!  OH MY GOODNESS!  I take him to go here at home, but never has he come up to me & told me he had to go!  I was so proud of him & told him if he would tell me when he needed to go here at home I would let him wear "big boy underwear" & sure enough he did, so I put his cute little booty in a pair of Thomas underwear!  =)

I have never forced things with him when it comes to potty training, & I guess I'm starting to believe that "they will show/tell you when they are ready".  So...we are slowly stepping up our game, but at Ryder's speed!



This is my new favorite weakness snack.  Starbuck's lemon pound cake formally known as their lemon loaf.  They used to be good, but now they are EVEN better.  Uhh...I think I'd rather have one of them than a coffee!  ha!



& here is my lil booger last night when I got home from night class...(underwear were on over his diaper) isn't he just the sweetest thing?  Sometimes it's still hard for me to fathom that HE.IS.MINE.



Here is a lil sneak peak of Ryder's FIRST school pics Ms. Donna e-mailed my mom today.  I just about SQEALLLLLED!

Today he went to school again & cried when I left & kept saying "Mama come back...come back"  It broke my heart again, but I knew he would be perfectly fine once he got his mind off of things.

He had a much better day at school & got all four smileys!  & he got rewarded with a sweet tea from Sonic!  ;)  We came home & went & got Brett from KeeKee's & played outside for a little bit until just right before the storms hit!  We had a great day together & I just love that little boy!  =)

day 2 of MDO-much better than the 1st! :)

Thursday was a good day!  The day before Ryder's SECOND birthday!  =)  I dropped Ryder off at MDO & told him, "share, don't hug friends (how do you tell a 2 year old to 'keep his hands to himself'?) & to lay down & take a nap"!  Dropping him off at school is so easy & it makes things so much easier for me!  There are kids in there that cry & cry when their moms leave & my child doesn't even know I leave!    Such a blessing!

I took baseball cookies from our favorite cookie place, Maggie's, for him to share with his classmates for his birthday!

I went to class & then met up with Jake to grocery shop for the big party!  It's a wonder we didn't kill each other inside Wal-Mart...but it's all good!  =)  Before long it was ready to go pick up our Punkin'!




This was outside his classroom door & it made me smile!  He was happy to see us when we got there!




He was especially glad to see his Daddy because I think it was unexpected!  I sent Tangy, a pillow & a blanket for him to have during nap time & his teachers said that combo did WONDERS & he laid right down & went to sleep!  YAY!  I was so happy to hear this!   Also, when they tried to put Tangy & his blanket back in his bag after nap time, he wouldn't let them!  Ha!  That's my crazy kid!  :P



As soon as I got to the car, I pulled out his folder in his backpack and was so happy to see ALL FOUR SMILEYS!  I was so proud of him, & all that he accomplished the second day of school!  I knew he was capable of doing it, we just had a few things to work on!  ;)  Hehe!  I took him to Sonic for a sweet tea to celebrate!  We just kept congratulating him over & over again...we were SO proud of him!  =)

Pooh was in town that afternoon so we met up with her to get her some Scentsy stuff & she gave Punkin' his birthday present--a set of golf clubs!  Let's just say we haven't gone any where without them since Thursday, so I think he likes them!

This is the same day we had to say good-bye to Trixi.  I was crying in the car when my mom called me & Ryder said, "Mommy crw-aying?"  I just tried to explain to him we weren't going to see Trixi any more.  But how do you explain that to a two year old?

We met my parents at Panera to celebrate Trixi's life!  =)  Or just eat dinner...but we did talk about her!  Hehe!  But not without showing Pop Pops our "Daily Report" from MDO first!

 {We are seriously all SO proud of his 4/4 smiley faces on Thursday!}

 {Him & his KeeKee Mama!}

 I made him let me take a lil photoshoot...the last one of him being 1!  ;(

 & then he wanted to hide behind the grass...

We went back to my parents & were gonna go for a while & then KeeKee just HAD to give him his birthday present early!  A TRI-CYCLE!  He loved it...& actually got the hang of peddling!

 {It helps him to concentrate if his tongue is out--lol}

We went for a walk around the neighborhood with Pop Pops & then we went home & took a bath to get ready for his BIG day!  =)


I stayed up Thursday night double checking everything & make sure I had everything planned out & ready to go for the next day!

1st day of MDO!

Yesterday was my sweet boys first day of MDO!  He has never been old enough to go before, because his birthday is so late but I think it worked out being the perfect time for my lil man to start "school"!  We have been talking about school the last couple of weeks, & I think the "school" episode of Yo Gabba Gabba really helped to get him ready!  

The night before I got his little backpack ready, packed his lunch & knew we were ready to go the next morning!

I still can't believe this is my BABY with a backpack on & carrying a LUNCH BOX!  It feels like just YESTERDAY we were bringing him home from the hospital!

I sure do love that sweet smile!  =)

He was so happy & ready to go for the day, so I knew it was going to go well.  I think I was more worried about myself than I was about him!  Ha!

We even got Mary Beth to take some of the both of us outside!

He just wrapped his arms around me & started squeezing me when she was taking our picture...it made this Mama's heart FULL!  =)

Ready to go to SCHOOOOL!

He was too anxious to get into the building to take a picture outside...so this was as good as it got!  He walked straight in the door, dropped his backpack & lunch box on the floor & walked in & started to play!  Didn't even look at me, kiss me, or say good-bye!  But I guess that was okay, because I didn't have to worry about him after leaving!

I went to class & then I ran a few errands around town getting last minute stuff for his birthday party!

I took these cups (which I copied off of Pinterest) to his three teachers...little do they know what the year holds for them with my wild child!

He was happy to see me when I went to pick him up & his teachers said he was great all day, except for during nap time.  I asked a MILLION questions to him in the car & he just kept saying, "yesss" "yesss!"  So I wasn't really sure what he did during the day!

It wasn't until a few hours later that I opened his backpack & folder to find THIS!  I ABOUT DIIIIED!  I didn't know whether to be upset or just laugh.  I am a little bit upset, but it WAS his first day & the first time he has been around other kids for that long & we have seriously been working on sharing, so I guess it will just take time.  & the poor kid loves to hug on people & I'm sure that's what the "keeping hands to self" part means.  I know he doesn't mean anything by it, he is just trying to be sweet.  & I'm not surprised about nap time either, because he doesn't even take naps at home in his own bed, much less in a new place on a mat on the floor!  ha!

So...we have a lot to work on over the year, but I have been trying to talk to him about it every once & a while so he understands.  I told him I want him to have smiley faces, not sad faces!

All in all, he had a great first day, & Mama wasn't too upset!  I know how much he is going to learn, grow & excel & can't wait to watch & enjoy the ride with him!

MDO Open House!

Tuesday of this week, Ryder had MDO Open House.  I am so thankful that KeeKee offered to take him because it was during my first "real" day of class & I didn't want/need to miss it, even though I was going to to take my lil Punkin!  I was a bit worried about it all going smoothly, but had no reason to at all!

 He loves wearing his KeeKee's glasses & thinks he so "fun-nee!"

 Look at my big boy!  I can't believe it!  I am so proud of him though & know that he will excel & grow so much in this program!  You can only learn so much while being at home with Mama!  =)

 Taken it all in!  Mom said that he walked straight in & hugged his teacher & sat down at the table like a big boy.  Then he spotted some other kids playing with toys & got up & ran over there!  When it was time to go...he cried!  Which I will take as a good thing!  =)

I cannot wait to hear about his days while being at school!  He started next Tuesday & will go Tuesday/Thursdays from 830-230, which is a LONG time for this Mama to be away from her sweet boy!  :(

PS.  any suggestions as to what to pack in his lunch for MDO.  I would send an uncrustable but no peanut butter products.  I just want something easy & not too messy.