How can life possibly get any better?

Well...I never thought this day would come this quickly.  I mean, people tell you that your kids grow fast, but my goodness this is too fast.  I just enrolled my daughter in preschool.  Yep.....a church in the area has a 2 1/2 year old class and my little princess makes the cut off.  So....I filled out the form, wrote the check and it's in the mail. 

I have to say...part of it is a little bit depressing.  After all...I want my little baby to stay a baby.  But fact of the matter is that she isn't a baby anymore.  She sees the kids getting on the school bus every morning and says "I go to school too mommy?"  So...when the opportunity came up, how could I deny my child a chance to get some education and make some friends?  I couldn't.

Through this, there has been a lot of discussion with some friends and family.  Is she really ready? Is it worth the money for her to just meet other kids? Who will take her?  I came to the following conclusion for what is best for my daughter and my family.  (I am a firm believer that you must do what is good for you and your child, regardless of what other people think you should do)

Although I am a full time working mommy, my Isabella is not in daycare.  I am blessed to have a wonderful friend and two loving mothers who watch over her while my hubby and I are at work.  That being said, she doesn't get much interaction with other kids other then an hour at church on Sunday mornings.  We have enrolled her in soccer and swim class, but since they are both "parent and child" classes, she doesn't really get the opportunity to interact with the other kids.  She tends to cling to us.

I want my child to be well rounded.  She is amazing at playing by herself.   I see her imagination run wild before my very eyes and it makes me happy to see that she is being creative and that she can entertain herself so easily.  However, I do feel she needs to learn to work with others and  I personally feel the more I push that off, the harder it will be to teach her.  So...that was the first reason why we decided to send her.

Second....an extra year of having someone educate her can never hurt.  I feel that going to school for a few hours twice a week will help her attention span and help her learn to follow instruction.  Again, because she isn't in daycare, there is really no set schedule.  So teaching her to be able to sit in a structured environment for two hours will be good.

Third...with a new baby coming in the fall, I feel this will give Bella something of her own.  She will have something that the new baby can't do or that the new baby won't interfere with.  I am hoping that it will help with any sort of jealousy issues (although I definately expect there to be jealousy of the new baby.)

Finally...I am looking forward to helping her find something to take to show and tell....packing her "healthy" snack.....hanging her artwork on the fridge......and hearing her sing the new song she learned.  I'm excited to send her on her first nature walk or her first field trip to pick pumpkins.  I'm looking forward to a christmas tree covered with homemade ornaments.  I'm looking forward to baking cupcakes for her class to eat in celebration of her birthday.

I tell people who have babies that it only gets better with time and here I am telling it to myself.  Watching her grow does get better everyday and today is no different.  I'm sitting here with a heart that is overflowing with joy and I just don't see how it could possibly get any better.  Then again...all I have to do is look down and see my growing belly and I know the joy is only just beginning.