emily is a pre-k'er

luckily for everyone, i was not nearly as hot a mess as i was this time last year.  other than being nervous about em's tooth ring, i was almost ready for her to go back to school.  she's such a big girl and loves school so much that i was excited to see what all she would learn this year as a pre-k'er.  in fact, i didn't even cry.  for the weeks leading up to school, em would ask me, "mommy, are you going to cry when i go back to school?"  me, "probably.  but i'll try to do it when i get to the car so no one sees me."  em, "is it because you want me to still be a beta?"  yes.  "but i have to go to pre-k so i can be smart and then go to kindergarten!"  goodness, they always have to remind you, don't they?

i really am excited for emily this year.  she has an amazing teacher (whose daddy is a lawyer, so that earns some points, too!, even if i decided to leave that profession myself), and i know emily is going to love her as much as she loved her beta teachers.  plus, i am the homeroom parent this year.  a little scary, but it allows me to be more involved.  we are just a week and a half into the year, but i already feel like i have a good relationship with her teachers.  also, i love planning a good party, so this is perfect! 

we had a classroom visit the day before school started.  emily was very quiet, but i think it was an act.  seriously, the kid thinks she's supposed to be nervous because it's a new class and new teachers, but i think she was secretly excited.  what pre-k'er wouldn't be after being told that playing on the ipad was part of the curriculum?

here she is posing by her star.  her teacher had sent her a welcome postcard and told her to look for her star on the door when she came for the visit.  she found it immediately :)

and then found her cubby.

during the visit, her teacher told her to think about how she wanted to greet her the next morning- with a high five, handshake, or hug?  i had a feeling she'd go for the hug because that's what she did with her beta teachers each day.  they would always tell us how much they loved their hugs from emily each day.  but still, i wasn't sure if em would give this new teacher one right off bat.  it usually takes her some time to warm up to new people.

8.15.12  the first morning of prek.  i know...so big!

i asked her to hold up 4 fingers so we would know how old she was when we looked at the picture later.  (forget the pinterest signs.  i am not that creative).  so what did em do?  she held up four and a half fingers.  because, hello, she's not 4, she's 4 1/2!

i wonder if i will still be able to pick her up next year.  such a big girl :)

my heart just melts when she wraps her arms around us.  it is the sweetest thing.

my precious girl!

i could barely get her to stand still.  she was ready to run inside!

and then caroline showed up, and they happily posed for some pictures.  i have some of the two of them from last year, too, when they had just met a couple of times.

and yes, the girls still get mistaken for each other all the time.

sweet friends :)

while the betas didn't start school until the following week, mrs. steele was sure to be waiting at her door to greet her babies on their way to prek.  emily was thrilled to see her.

and we saw mrs. moak down the hall!  even though mrs. moak is no longer teaching (boo), we still get to see her since her two girls are at ps.  emily had a lot to tell her.  it was so sweet.  we will never forget these wonderful ladies and the impression they have made on not only emily, but us. 

finally we made it to emily's new classroom down the hall.  so high five, handshake, or hug?

the hug, of course!

this is mrs. gotcher, her lead teacher.  ha,  i don't know why em looked so timid.  she was super excited.

when i picked her up that afternoon, she said she had a great day!  a few friends went to lunch to celebrate being back to school.  i'll be back to post a couple of phone pics from that later.