Happy Hearts

Em will be 1 1/2 years old in a few days. She's grown so much, and she is such a social creature. Everywhere we go, she is saying hello to random dogs or "correcting" people who do things that aren't allowed at home (she has no trouble telling them, with finger wagging, "No, No, NO!" - They say imitation is the best form of flattery, but I'm not so sure I agree right now.) Todd and I have been agonizing for months over how little interaction she gets with kids her own age. Our church doesn't have a "nursery" and while we love that she plays so well with the older girls in the neighborhood, we were still wanting something for our little 'social butterfly'. Some of the missionaries who were here before us sent their son to the Methodist pre-school just behind our complex. It is really cute and I really liked what I saw when we first got here, but I was hoping that Em would be fine here at home until she was 3 or 4. It has become glaringly obvious, however, that my little girl needs friends besides Mommy and Lani. So, I went to check out the school with Em. She not only marched herself straight into the classroom of twelve 18-36 month-old kids and started talking to one little girl, but started bossing around a little boy who tried to kiss her on the cheek! No hesitation, no grabbing onto moms legs, no nervous looks... while I was a bit sad at the whole situation (come on now, every mom wants their kids to have a little hesitation) I was also extremely excited for all the fun I know she'll have.

As soon as the decision to TRY out pre-school for just a few hours a week was made, my immediate thoughts went to the practical. We needed to get a backpack, a lunch pail (for snack) and something cute to wear for the "first day of pre-school" pictures (it's all about the pictures, isn't it?). I also realized that she'll be in school during her normal nap time, so we went to work on that as well. Being the penny-pincher that I am, I started looking around the house for a bag that Em could carry to and from school. When all of ours ended up being too large for her to handle, I took to the mall. Now I am fully resigned to the fact that she will some day really enjoy Dora and Barbie and maybe even Hannah Montana (if she's still around), but if she doesn't know who they are yet, I'm not going to be the one to introduce her to them. So when the only options for bags her size had these people on them, the question turned to price, and after checking out the tag, I figured that since I didn't really care for them anyways, I'd use that same money on a little project to make something that I do like. Here's the finished product.. and the best part: Em LOVES it!

Now on to the cute top for pictures. We went grocery shoping at Pick-N-Pay (think Wal-Mart grocery store), for groceries for the week. I've been needing capri pants since the weather has been warming up. I wandered over to the kids section and found these great little tank tops for about $2. I got a package from Auntie Em with a bunch of ribbon (a girl needs ribbon and Cooper needed a pacifier leash) so I picked out one I thought would work with some of the ribbon colors. I sewed on the ribbon, added a bow and I think it looks pretty stinkin' cute! First day of school pictures will follow because my little girl is now READY!!!