Chapter Two ...

If for some reason you aren't able to tell.. 

that  (<----) is Eileen... at roughly 24 hours old. 

probably bc I am her mom, I think the now almost 6 year old Eileen looks just like this picture. 

but for those of you NOT her mom.. which, well, i guess that's all of you...

how many one day old babies do YOU see smiling like that kid??

Anyone that knows Eileen - whether in person or via blog/email/social media - knows the girl smiles non-stop.  I remember like yesterday when we took this photo. All 8.5 lbs of new-born-baby-girl.. just happy as a pig in poo (which I still swear was her version of STICKING IT TO MOMMY AFTER BEING NINE DAYS LATE). 

This kid. This smiling new-born. And This Mom. This anal-ever-planning mom. That day I already was planning Kindergarten. It seemed a lifetime away. But even then, on 9/22/06.. I was already aware of the 9/30 cut-off date for starting school. And already in my head, the decision had been made to hold her back. She could start at at age 4-almost-5  in 2011.. but I knew, hell no- it would be at age-five-almost-six in 2012 before she graced those Kindergarten Doors. 

Besides. 2012 was EONS away.

Wait. WTF? what the hell? you mean its 2012? shut UP. it is NOT. 

There are no words to explain where the last not quite six years have gone.  I play with Edie, who will be 8mos this week.. and I have a very very hard time remembering Eileen ever being that age. Thank GOD my mom taught us to take endless pictures. There are never enough. Without the pics, I would not be entirely sure Eileen had ever actually been 8mos old...

And now, here we are. August 12, 2012. Normally, this day is in my head as the day after Daddy's birthday and the day of Mom and John's wedding anniversary. but this year.. well, it's the last Sunday night of life as we know it.

Tomorrow, we'll go to registration. We'll meet teachers, sign up for lunch and afterschool care. we'll but school spirit gear. 

And in about 36 hours.... we'll have a real-life Kindergartner. 

Eileen can't wait. She seriously is so very excited to start school. She reads and writes all on her own. She's ready to go. For that, we have our amazing friends and teachers at Morningstar to thank. There is no better school. 

I will never ever ever regret the fact that we held her back.Best thing we ever did. 

Eileen is confident. She's hilarious. She's sweet. She's strong. She's a runner (HUGE GRIN). She's smart. She's sassy. She's tall. She's skinny. She's a runner (wait. did you already know that?). She's better at Math than mommy. She loves art (thank you Sarah), she loves Batman (thank you Bill and Daddy) and she loves clothes and running (thank you mommy -oh wait.. thats me). She's shy sometimes. She has FINALLY almost perfected her manners (which she REFUSES to display at home, but when we are out and about.. she is ON.. and I guess that's what counts, right?).

Our little girl has had quite a bit of stuff in her life in her not quite six years. And our little girl is one helluva kid. 

It feels like yesterday she was born. 
And yet it feels like a lifetime ago.

Eileen is my life. She is my saving grace. She is my strength and my weakness. She makes me laugh until I can't breathe and she makes me cry until I can't breathe. Without her, I am not complete.

She starts Kindergarten in about 36 hours. I'm not sad. I don't think I will cry on her first day. I think I will continue to be amazed by her, to be fascinated to watch her, to thank God every day for her, and to be just as simply thrilled as she is to start this new journey. 

We wouldn't be this far without the amazing support of our family - our parents and siblings- and those not related by blood, but who might as well be family anyway. We wouldn't be this far without the Fab Four that is me, Bill,Josh and Sarah. We wouldn't be this far without the ridiculously amazing family at Morningstar. I can't begin to name all of you, but you know who you are. We wouldn't be this far if it weren't for the amazing support provided by the company for which Bill and I work, and the one for which Sarah & Josh work. 

It does take a Village. Like it or not. We can't do it on our own. 

Eileen is just as amazing as every other parent thinks their kid is. 

But she's ours. And she's growing up in a major way. 
We love her. We can't wait to see what the year holds. 

Cheers to one amazing kid. Cheers to My Mini.