School, Sick, and New Shoes!

Madison survived her first week of preschool, and so did her Mommy!! The first day they basically had to rip her out of my arms. She wouldn't let go of me, and the teacher (Ms. Townsend) told me that she was going to cry no matter how long I stayed. It was awful. So, the second and third days were the same thing, except when we pulled in the parking lot, she started crying! However, the teachers said that she had really good second and third days. She made a friend the second day, and on the third day they went outside, and she LOVED it. So, I'm hoping that over time she will stop the crying. It's just going to take awhile. We have noticed that she is definitely talking a lot more. She tells us at dinner when we ask about her day, "I did...." Of course, we can't understand anything after I did!

Also, this week I was sick. I couldn't hear anything, and just felt terrible. I finally started feeling better on Friday. However on Thursday, Madison started coughing, and she has just gotten worse. She doesn't have a fever or anything, just congestion. And, now Jeff has it! UGH! I'm hoping that we will all be better next week.

AND, Madison got some new thongs a few weeks ago. She had a pair last year, and she wouldn't wear them at all! However, these she really, really liked! I put them on her today, and she pranced around showing us. It was cute. So, the pic up top is her in her new shoes!

Japanese Botanical Gardens

We went to the Japanese Botanical Gardens in Ft. Worth this morning. I've been wanting to go for a long time. I knew the weather was supposed to be nice. The temperature was perfect at around 60, but it was cloudy. There weren't many people there when we got there, but by the time we left, it was starting to get more crowded.

These gardens are part of the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens. It's very peaceful there. They have a huge koi pond in the middle, and you can buy food to feed them. So, we walked around and fed the fish. Actually, Madison RAN around, and she fell many times. It's very hilly and uneven, so she kept stumbling and falling. But, she always got right back up and kept going!

So, here we are feeding the fish and a couple of ducks!

This was a very fun and cheap activity to do as a family. We will definitely go back! I want to explore the other gardens. Maybe next time we can take a picnic.

I'm trying to do things around Ft. Worth that I've been wanting to do since we moved here. I decided that we've been here a year and a half, and there is a ton of stuff to do that we've never done. So, up next is the Ft. Worth Stockyards! Maybe we can go next weekend, weather permitting!

The Goddard School

We've been trying to figure out what we wanted to do with Madison in regards to a preschool for awhile now. We had wanted her to go 2 or 3 days a week starting this fall. All the preschool's/mother's day out programs are enrolling now. I honestly didn't go and look at any. Several of my friends went, and I knew which ones to stay away from and which ones were okay. Most of the ones that were okay were religious based, and we really didn't want that. So, I started doing other research and looking elsewhere. I came upon a place called The Goddard School. It's a chain that has been around for 22 years, and this particular location opened in June. It's more of a preschool than just daycare. Jeff and I felt very comfortable with it. It reminded us a lot of Riverfield, which is where we wanted Madison to go in Tulsa. All the lead teachers are certified. The owner is on site, and there is also a director. The director actually has her masters in early childhood education, and she approves all the lesson plans.

So, Madison is starting on Tuesday. She will go 3 days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) from 9am to 1pm. They really encourage the parents to stop by whenever, and they said I could definitely stay with Madison until she started getting used to it. So, I was really relieved by that. Also, if the need arises, we can enroll her in full time care. So, that's good too!

So, this weekend we are on the hunt for some more shoes (closed toe, rubber soled), a lunchbox, and an over sized shirt for messy play! I've got the shoes taken care of, but we still need to get a lunchbox and the over sized shirt. Hopefully, we can find a lunchbox in March!

We are all excited for Madison, and we hope she loves her new school!

Bear Creek Park

Last weekend we went to Bear Creek Park in Keller to feed the ducks. It was really busy, but we had fun anyway. Madison LOVED to see everyone's dog, and we had to really watch her. We walked around the park, and then fed the ducks at the end. She didn't want to leave!

So after running around, we finally fed the ducks! She loved doing that, and told the ducks bye when we didn't have anymore bread!

We hope to go back more often since the weather is getting better. It's good for Madison to run and run and get all that energy out!!