I had NO idea...

Turns out I can be more emotional than I thought. I've never been much of a crier. But Annie started school this morning. I cried before she woke up, then managed to keep it together until the second I walked out of her classroom, and I've pretty much been a wreck since then. I think people driving down 1st N thought someone had died as I pushed the stroller home bawling. She's in first grade, and it's just such a huge change for her to be gone all day! It's about more than I can handle. Oh jeez, I'm crying again just writing about it.

On the other hand, Annie was totally fine. They even did a last second teacher switch on her, and she rolled with it (a lot better than me actually). She will absolutely love it. If I wasn't 100% sure of that, I couldn't do it.

Guess I better bust out the waterproof mascara for the next couple of weeks.

Sweet Maelie Bea

Our little Amelia Bea turned one on August 3rd. She doesn't have teeth yet, isn't walking, and is still relatively hair-less (that's nicer than "bald" right?). So she doesn't seem like a one year old to me. She says about a dozen words though and is cruising all over the house. At first, we weren't sure who she looked like, but now it's apparent she is her Gramma's girl. She looks a ton like the Hammond side of my family (to me at least), and she's become quite the tow-head like her mama. 

This little girl is as sweet as they come. Eternally patient with her big bother and squishter, there aren't many things that make her upset. She's just been easy all around. When she wants to show affection, she doesn't kiss, she leans in slowly and does a gentle forehead bump. It melts me!

I did a quick photo shoot when the kids were playing so that we'd have some one-year-old documentation. And there are also some shots of her birthday at the zoo.

Checkin' out the monkeys at the zoo.

Opening presents!

And demolishing a cupcake of course! She blew a candle out at home when we were practicing, but got a little stage fright when it came time to let-er-blow. She didn't hold back when it came to snarfing the cupcake though.