growing up

recognize this picture?

this was the day before Adriana started kindergarten

last August 2011 and boy did it tear my heart apart to see

 her so nervous and well, scared. I knew that it would soon fade

but the thought of her being so sad about not being home all day 

and learning the way she was use to, scared me.

I remember the feeling I had walking out of the room crying,

my mind was in constant chatter and panic repeatedly asking myself

"is she going to be okay?" 

"what if she needs me?" 

"I won't be there to kiss her boo boo if she falls at recess" 

"how am I going to encourage her if she's feeling like she can't do it?"

"will the other kids be nice?" 

"what if she's scared?" 

"does she think I'm abandoning her?" 

seriously, I couldn't get a grip on myself.

but I got through the first day

and realized that she did too 

and not only did she love it but

she didn't need me.

my realization: she's growing up.

I believe she deserves a big post for me to brag 

about how smart she is and how proud I am of her.

kindergarten was an extremely gigantic step for Adriana-

It was a new concept and environment for her as she never

went to any kind of day care or preschool prior

and for her to catch on so quickly really put my worries to rest.

I love the school, I loved her teachers 

and I love the progress Adriana made from beginning to end.

 She soaks up everything and encourages herself to push harder

to achieve the goals she sets for herself, yes you heard me right,

the goals she sets.

moments like

being a part of writing a class book

and earning fancy awards like these

because she spends her spare time doing things

like perfecting her letters and reading. a lot.

I can't believe how much she has grown.

I'm so out of this world proud of her.

She reads constantly and is always writing in her notebooks 

and activity journals. She loves math, science and history so much

that she begged her teachers to let her bring home activity books

to work on and books from the library to learn more!

I have made it a point to purchase more books in those subjects

since she thrives to learn about them.

so here is a series of photos I took of her in the mornings 

when I could remember- some before we left 

and some in the car before getting out

this is Adriana on the first day

 and here she is on the morning of her last day of kindergarten

happy as could be to finally be a first grader.

She's my little book worm, writer and artist

and reminds me every day how much she wants to be a 

veterinarian when she grows up.

I know that will change as the years go on and she gets older

but the one thing that will never change is how much I love her

and how proud I am to watch her blossom and grow.

she believes in herself and knows she can be anything she 

wants to be and so much more-

so watch out first grade, here she comes!

want to read more on this topic?

changes 

she loves to write