New Schedule OR Our First Schedule

In previous years I admit to having felt a little jealous and left out at all the posts and excitement at the beginning of the school year. It was fun to read, but didn't really touch my family. Why would our schedule change at all? Nobody went to school! I even had a couple of really-hating-it days when I did things like schedule our family photo shoot for mid-day on a day I thought the mall would be empty, when really it was packed because it was some random school holiday.

But this year, it all changes. Naomi started Preschool yesterday! So now I too have all sorts of plans, schedules, and hopes for the coming year. I hope that Naomi will grow and learn not necessarily in an academic way, but in a social way. (I guess I hope that Naomi will grow and learn academically also.) I hope that Asher will benefit from one-on-one time with me while Naomi is at school and Isaiah is taking his morning nap. I plan to put myself in a more regular routine of cleaning, laundrying, exercising and quality-timing. I hope that our entire family will reap the reward of happiness from these new changes. I plan to have this be a memorable year.

So, in the spirit of joining in all the fun of back-to-school, here are some pictures from Naomi's first day of school and some of what Asher and I did while she was gone.


(I did not tell her to pose that way. She just did. What a cutie.)



I realize you may look at these pictures and wonder where the heck I stuck Isaiah for the day. The fact of the matter is, Isaiah was only asleep for less than half of the time that Naomi was in school. He was around. But I am planning on focusing on Asher during Naomi's school time because it seems to me that he needs it. I am really, really, really hoping that some one-on-one time with me will help Asher feel loved and special in a way that will affect his attitude and behavior for the rest of the day and possibly the rest of his life. I love Asher so much and it really hurts me to think that part of his "problem" is that he feels unloved. But, I'll remind you again, he was replaced as "the baby" at the young age of 13 months! He has reason to feel... set aside. But that ends yesterday. He is now the only child who gets regular, planned, one-on-one time with me. (The plan is also to do this without Isaiah suddenly feeling that he is... set aside.)