The Legal Stuff

I remember the first time I attempted a legal name change for Emma. I loaded her into her stroller, got the bus to our local courthouse, and picked up a thick packet of forms. The legal stuff was all foreign to me at the time, and I didn't have the confidence to fill them out on my own, nor could I seem to find anyone to help me fill them out. I'm pretty sure that was over seven years ago! This Labor Day, I sat on my grandmother's couch and electronically filled out every single form that I need to make this happen, including a fee waiver for filing/court fees, which I'm eligible for. Now comes the fun part - getting Emma's dad to sign off on legally changing the first name that he gave her, at a time when he's already come to the conclusion that I not only think that I'm "better" than everyone how high school is that!, but that I'm in the business of making decisions for him. His ability to make good decisions could definitely be argued, but this decision isn't about him at all, and I hope that he will be willing to hear me out, and not block this from becoming a legal reality. I didn't fight for this name eight years ago, but I'm prepared to do so now.

I'm not quite sure why the forms and/or the process was so intimidating at the start, but it felt good to be able to breeze through all seven forms this time around. We'll see just how painless this process will be.

Rockin' & Rollin'

The first week of school brought a lot of smiles and tales. I enjoyed hearing all about the excitement of Emma's days on our walks home. Well, I walked - she rode her scooter about 15 paces ahead of me while shouting out all the fun activities of the day. I love the way her eyes light up as she sings a song to me that she learned in class, or shares something else that just happened to be her favorite part of the day. Her happiness is priceless. I'm hoping that week two, and every week of this school year brings the same level of joy.

Over the weekend we received Emma's standardized test scores in the mail from her old school. Last year was her first year taking the test, and her class spent a lot of time preparing with practice assignments. I guess it all payed off because she did great! She placed in the Advanced level in Language Arts, and the higher end of the Proficient level in Math, surpassing the California standard in both. With math being one of her favorite subjects, I was a little surprised to see that this wasn't the category where she had an advanced score, but hey, 24 points shy of advanced, in standardized testing terms, ain't half bad.

I finished up my first set of homework problems over the weekend, and might I dare say, I enjoyed sitting in the middle of my bed, surrounded by pascal's triangle, inductive & deductive reasoning, universal/sub/proper & improper sets, integers, cardinal numbers and a notebook of notes. It just all kind of flowed - stress free. Let's all hope that this contentment continues as I move into future homework sets and exams! Just three more months to go and I'm home free!

I hope that everyone had a wonderfully, labor-free, weekend!

Appreciating You!

Because a little appreciation goes a long way. Take 10% off at Baby Squares for the month of September! Just use code APPRECIATE at checkout to apply the discount. Also, if you haven't already, "like" our Facebook page and suggest us to your friends!

Because a Girl Can Never Have Too Many Bows

While I'm anxiously awaiting a yarn shipment from Joann's Fabrics, I couldn't resist dipping into the yarn stash to play with those wee bits that seem to always be left over here and there. Some folks use those bits to create colorful grannies - I usually leave them be and even sometimes toss them. Well, not this time. I decided to make a few Hair Bows. The clip attachment at the back gave me the opportunity to practice my sewing!

This pair is now available in my shop, and I'm looking forward to working these up in more colors.

A Day of Firsts

Today marks the two hundred and second post here in this space, and the very first day of 3rd grade, at a brand new school, for Emma. I gotta say, its looking mighty good. Based on the warm welcome alone, I want to strongly believe that this year is going to rock. I got a great vibe from parents and staff this morning as I made my way around the auditorium, looking over PTA information and after-school classes. I even ran into a few mommy friends. Turns out, there will be more familiar faces around campus than we'd both originally thought. 30 more minutes of learning to go, and then I get to hear all about her big first day! I'm anticipating hearing all about her reunion with an old friend who she'll be sharing a class with this year. Looks like I'd better brace myself for all of those future playdate requests!

Back to school means back to the days of having an empty house for a few hours. As I reflected on this earlier today, I realized that its actually been a while. I used my alone time wisely by making a little welcome-home-from-your-day-of-firsts gift for my big girl.

This will be perfect for tomorrow morning's walk to school!

It's the Little Things

Taken at a meet & greet picnic for new and alum student-parents at the University of California, Berkeley

Reppin' the Student Parent Association for Recruitment & Retention

It's in the Air!

Sharing in Beyonce's sheer joy as she rubbed her belly nearly brought me to tears. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy pregnancy! She belted out her celebration of beautiful love, and I loved every single moment of it. Yes, love and carriage filled the air today, as I found out that several of my good sister-friends are also expecting.

Huge congrats and happiness to all the parents and their new little ones who will be arriving this year!