Happy 6-months Clair!!!

My baby girl turns 6 months today. A half a year has gone by like THAT.

AS I think back on the last 6 months, the most overwhelming thing I feel is grateful, because she is a pure joy to have as a daughter. Truly.

Check out this video of her with her Dad the other night. She's SUCH a happy girl.

 I'm blessed to have her. Our family is blessed to have her.

In other news, Lester and I went to Parent Night at the boys' new pre-school (which starts in just 11 days!!)
Among other things, we learned that the school does not want the children using backpacks, but instead wants them to use tote bags, which they provide.

So those adorable little zebra and elephant backpacks I bought? Useless.

See what happens when I stop procrastinating for one second?!

So, now I need to buy lunch bags, instead of backpacks, to keep their snacks in. I started looking last night and it's hard to find what I want. Which is:

• Relatively inexpensive
• Insulated
• Easy to open
• Easy to clean
• Small enough to fit in a tote bag
• Big enough to hold snacks and a thermos
• Kid-cute, but not covered in cartoon characters

I haven't found all that in one spot just yet. But I'll keep looking.

Also, please know that  I am focusing on these seemingly-inconsequential things to keep from thinking about the fact that my babies are going to SCHOOL. In 11 days!

Preparing for pre-school

Hard to believe it but the boys start pre-school in 25 days!

I finally started talking to them about it and preparing them by reading books (Llama Llama Misses Mama; Maisy Goes to Pre-School) etc., and surprisingly, Dean is the one who keeps saying, "Mommy, I want to go to tool!!" and Cary just looks a little skeptical and slightly pouty.

It'll be interesting how this all actually plays out at the end of the month, when we have to leave them at school. I am imagining tears and panicking and shot nerves (all around).

Meanwhile, I have started preparing myself for that emotional occurrence by ... shopping!!

I soothed my bubbling anxieties a bit by ordering the books I mentioned earlier and also adorable little kid backpacks, sippy-cup-style thermoses, reusable snack bags and labels with the boys' names on them.

Aren't these Skip Hop bags the absolute cutest? Although, I am now wondering whether a backpack with so much white in it is a good idea for a 2-year-old boy. The zebra may come back to bite me.

I'll have to deal with my actual emotions later, I know, but for now, I am feeling pretty good.

Thanks, retail therapy!