Live Laugh Love...with The Souza's: Back To School

…and we survived!!!

Our summer came and went so fast…I feel like all our summers and time off goes faster and faster now. And I told Yosh I think its because we now have kids of our own…so we get VERY little down time to relax. Having little kids is hard work…why didn’t anyone ever tell me this before? haha What did Yosh and I do ALL summer before having kids…gosh we probably slept in everyday and went out at night…it seems unreal that we ever led that life!

So our last weekend before heading back to work was spent with great friends and family…at a Beach Birthday Party for Addi…

We love being at the beach!!

And on Sunday…we had a girls shopping trip. Nana, Ella and myself headed to the Mills and then Red Robin. I realized I needed some work appropriate clothing to wear since I am now teaching Health in the class every other day (adding to my anxiety of going back to work!) We went to lunch…and look who was overly excited to get her hands on my water cup…lol

But back to work we went…Nana stays home with the kids on Mondays which is so amazing!! But Tuesday was the real day…Ella headed to Martha’s for the first time…I’ll be honest…I was a nervous wreck! Since Ella has been born my Mom and Yosh (on the rare occasion) haha have been the only ones to stay with her. Since I’m still nursing she has been with me every second for the past 6 months (minus our weekend away earlier this summer!) So this was going to be hard..

Owen’s annual “First Day of School” Pic…

Weird that he has to wear a jacket in August huh…been cooler in the mornings lately! And so crazy to think that next year he’ll be holding his little chalkboard sign saying First Day of Kinder…omg…crazy! I’ll stop stressing about that though…we have 12 months before I gotta start freaking out! haha

And LOOK at him change over the years…the first day pics…wow…brings a tear to my eye!

So we packed up and drove to Martha’s…

And I left my babies…and I know they were in great hands. Owen was so excited to play with his friends, he missed Martha so much! I was just nervous about Ella and her bottles.

AND it was a long first day…for all of us!!
You KNOW she’s tuckered, since this girl doesn’t fall asleep anywhere but her car seat and crib…lol I was trying to rush and finish my dinner because she was yelling at me from across the table…next thing I know shes awfully quiet and I found her like this…bahaha

Ella’s first day, she wouldn’t take much of a bottle from Martha…fussed a good bit and gave Martha a run for her money! And as Martha said to me today…”I think she was testing me…but I passed” since by today she was taking her bottles, her oatmeal, going down for naps without crying…she was like a new baby! My heart is at ease a bit…this little girl transitioned quickly. Thank GOD!

Each day this week got better…and I’m just so happy that it seems that everyone has adjusted and everything is going to be ok! Just have to figure out my own routine of when I’m going to pump at work and all that good stuff. When I went back to work last school year I was telling myself that when we came back in August I would be done breast feeding and my time locked in the staff bathroom would be over…BUT I’ve decided to still pump when I can, but not stress about milk (like I was before) and supplement with formula. Since shes still waking at night and I’m still nursing at home, I’m able to continue the usual! This way she is still getting breast milk and I didn’t have to abruptly STOP nursing since that kinda hurts…I want to naturally dry up!

So happy to walk into Martha’s today to see this little goose like this…in a walker! First thing Owen said “Mom can we please get one of these for Ella…” lol

She’s growing up…right before my eyes…eating lots of baby foods, drinking from a sippy cup (kinda), rolling everywhere and even starting to pretend to make attempts at crawling…