Back on Aug. 22nd...

Jillian started Pre-K.

Before that, we went back to school shopping and Jillian was quite excited to purchase the things she needed for her class.  Particularly scissors.  She's really excited about using scissors as much as possible. -smile-

We had a great time picking everything out:

Sweet Jilli:

And even made a guy at Office Max take our picture:

Jillian carried the bag herself and was very excited to show it to Daddy, Liv & Evan:

Before the first day, we picked out her outfit (a new dress!) and talked a lot about how things would go on the big day:

After she went to sleep I added this little note and necklace to the top of her clothing.  The necklace was special because I wore it just a few days before in my friend Natalie's wedding.  I let Jillian wear it and Ryan and I 'filled it with kisses' in case she missed us while she was at school.  We told her she could touch the necklace and think about how much we loved her and how we would be back at noon to pick her up:

Here she is in the morning on the way to school eating some bagel in Ryan's truck.  Our whole family went to drop her off together:

She RAN to the door and opened it:

Sniff, sniff... really?  Our baby in Pre-K?!

Here's Jillian with her teacher, 'Miss Kelly'.  She also has Miss Laurie & Miss Linda.

This photo was posted on the school website after the first day.  Doesn't Jillian look tiny?!  She did great at drop off without a single hesitation or tear- although we did not keep that streak alive and had a bit of a hard time for about 3-4 mornings toward the beginning... all better now though!)

Afterwards, our whole family picked her up and asked where she wanted to go for a special family lunch.  Chipolte:

Usually she just shares food with me, but our school girl got her VERY OWN kids meal that day.  Oh la la!

One more set of photos...  After pick up she happily posed for a few photos outside of the school:

Silly Sassy Girl:

Love this kid:

And there you go- LOTS of photos to document her first preschool experience.  We've been at it for about 8 weeks now and she is really enjoying the school, teachers, and new friends.  It's interesting for me to have her away from the house from 8-noon three days a week.  I gotta say, I miss her while she's gone!  However, even though I do miss her, this whole preschool thing has not been as hard for me as I thought it might be...  (I didn't even cry the first day when we dropped her off!!) I love watching Jillian reach milestones like this!  We could not be more proud of her!

Nancy