New Beginnings

Summer is drawing to an end, everyone. I mean, I know the date on the calendar might disagree . . . but my Facebook feed is full of back-to-school photos, pumpkin recipes, and more. I've been slowly collecting a new wardrobe of clothes (that actually fit my body) full of leggings, long-sleeved shirts, and sweaters. Over here, we're at t-minus one week till early kindergarten starts.

I'll miss our sunny mornings on the deck:

Some of you have been confused about Ada's grade in school. I'll clear it up. Our district offers what's called "primary sequence" where there's an early kindergarten, kindergarten, transitional first, and first grade. Where you start (and go) has to do with testing + preference. Since the NY state cutoff for school is December 1st, we really wanted to give Scorpio Ada an extra year before getting on with proper kindergarten. So, she's doing a full-day early kindergarten program that has many of the same goals as regular K -- just in a different configuration (think not sitting as long at desks, getting a bit more rest time, etc.). She'll do regular K next year.

We're really excited! I'm not so thrilled that (including bus time), she'll be gone from 8-4 every single day. Yeah. That kind of bums me out, actually. I'm trying to find the positives. She'll be in a great, invigorating environment with friends. She'll learn a lot. I'll have some one-on-one time with the baby. It'll be good. Keep repeating that, Ashley.

I haven't been in the mood to write much lately. Everything is about to change. Though transitions can be good -- it's all felt a bit overwhelming. I've started some freelancing again, and despite having trouble finding the time -- writing has been great. Ada has stopped napping. She would still happily nap two hours each day, but we had to wean her for school. Stephen will soon have his hectic teaching and coaching schedule on Mondays through Saturdays. And Eloise is in a constant state of transition for the foreseeable future.

Many days, I feel like I'm not accomplishing much at all because, well, I have been nursing every 1.5 to 2 hours. Other days, I feel like I have a grasp on what needs to get done. Like, I'll get all the laundry and dishes done along with writing an article and exercising. And then by night, everything is a disaster again. I know I should be present -- living in the moment. I try. But I am a person who craves order. As much as everyone starting school will be kind of awful . . . I am craving a bit more control when it comes to my own days. When it's just me an Eloise, I think we'll manage to get into some sort of rhythm that isn't possible with two other people around.

All of this is to say that I probably won't be writing a whole lot on this blog of mine until the second week of September. I want to soak in as much time left with Ada as possible. I also just have a lot of stuff I need to get done for this transition to go smoothly. And work assignments! (Hooray for paychecks coming in again!) I have also scheduled a few Hello Fresh boxes for September to help with dinners -- we'll need it.

Best of luck with all your new beginnings. Let's meet back here soon, OK? I don't have plans to stop blogging anytime soon, but I have seen a dramatic shift in what my readers want. For example, I started as a recipe blog. Though I don't post tons of recipes, the ones I do post get like very little attention. I want to know what you guys are interested in reading so it doesn't turn into a blog of my boring ramblings.

What are you most interested in reading about? Family stuff? Food stuff? Exercise stuff? My boring ramblings? Leave me a note in the comments!