tomorrow you start school at RISE.

some days i laugh because i’m so excited about all you will learn, and others i cry because i know i will miss you something fierce.

i have so many things i want to tell you and explain to you, but you are still too little to understand. maybe, one day, we can look back at them together, if you get curious why we started you so young.

your daddy and i have been on our knees in prayer that this is the right decision for us (you!) and we really feel like the RISE school is God’s perfect place for you.

i am hopeful that . . .

you will meet some of your first friends at RISE

you will be challenged in ways i cannot challenge you

you will learn how to interact with other kids

you will be taught that entire other worlds exists besides our home

you will gain experiences apart from me that will inspire confidence in you

you will experience therapies each week (speech, OT and music) that will spur your fine and gross motor skills

you will feel LOVED exactly as you are!

you will find rest when you come back at home to me

you will be taught things i would have never thought to teach you

you will flourish in an environment created especially for you

i am fearful that . . .

you will miss me terribly and won’t be able to understand why i have left you in such a strange place

you will think i don’t love you or want to be with you all day

you will be jealous of my time with madelyn

you will wonder if i chose to put you in school so i could work

you will have long lasting (attachment) effects from my not being with you all day every day at such a young age

you will be overwhelmed with all the stimulation and activity

you can’t communicate about how your day was

you won’t flourish in this environment and it will be a setback somehow

however, i am trusting the Lord to fill in the gaps where my faith is weak.

the things i know for sure . . .

you could not be MORE loved by us, our family and our friends

you have the sweetest demeanor of anyone i’ve ever met

your smile lights up a room and makes my heart swell with pride

your wild man hair is simply irrisistable

your love of music probably means you are going to inspire the world with your undiscovered talent

you are capable of incredible things

you constantly surprise me with your wit

your curious nature will likely get you in trouble in the coming months

you love to learn

you have a genuine love for others

for the past 18 months, i have not only been your mother, i’ve been your advocate. your encourager. your occupational therapist. your speech therapist. your teacher. your nurse. your facilitator. your music teacher.  your challenger. your helper.

what i am excited about for ME about you going to the RISE school is that it will allow me to step back and just be your mommy.

of course, i will still do any and everything to continue to set you up for success in every way i know how, but i can take a deep breath and just be your mommy!

we can read books! make play dough! draw pictures on your bedroom (chalkboard) walls!  roll around in the grass! go to museums! be silly with your sister! take coffee to your daddy at work! make forts in the living room!  ohhh the things we will do together.

jackson, we are on an adventure, you and me.  a lifelong adventure.  and it’s just the beginning . . .

i decided to document the day’s events . . . it’s pretty detailed (!), but at least it gives you an insight to what i’m up to.

the preface:  husband doesn’t work on wednesdays during the days, so he was a HUGE help today, and allowed me to go to a luncheon sans Jax.  but typically, he would be with me through the rest of the activities.

second preface:  the may fam is no stranger to busy days.  in fact, i’m one of those gals that gets more done when i have more to do . . .

here goes.

6:45. Wake up to husband kissing me, telling me Good Morning and Goodbye. (he has guys breakfast at 7:00 on wednesdays)

7:00. Hear Jackson happily yelling for me to come get him.

7:15. Actually get out of bed and go get my little man. Change diaper/get him dressed/open all the blinds in the house together. This is our little morning routine.

7:30. Make coffee/breakfast for the both of us and check email on iphone while helping Jackson feed himself some toast and strawberries.

7:35. Realize I accidentally doubled booked my morning with an Occupational Therapy appointment for Jackson {9am at the house} and Girls Breakfast {8:30 at Mel’s house!}. Send a quick text to girls explaining and they graciously change the time to accommodate me! Thanks girls!

7:45. Fox Electric arrives to fix our ceiling fan that shakes.  Bounce between monitoring the two men hanging out in our bedroom while I make sure the Dude doesn’t choke on the berries.

8:15. Play with Jackson for a bit in the living room/watch the Today Show as he plays.

8:30. Set Jax up in living room with some toys so I can sit at the computer to respond to some urgent client emails.  Email back and forth with an illustrator from New York about partnering together for May Books (yay!) & followed up with another client about a custom May Book order.

8:55. Occupational Therapist arrives and we do a little paper work. She starts working with Jackson.

9:00. Hubby comes home and we sit and talk with the OT for a minute. Talk too long and realize I’m now late for my Girls Breakfast. Kiss the dudes goodbye and run to throw on an outfit that can work for a business luncheon later. Throw make up in a bag along with a hair brush and run out the door.

9:30. Arrive {late} to girls breakfast after putting make up on in the car {at red lights of course}.

9:45. Eat a muffin {or two!}, hold sweet Quinn, a 6 week old, and rest/chat with the girls.

11:25. Realize we’ve chatted far too long {loved it though!} and head out the door for my luncheon downtown at 11:45.

11:30. Return several phone calls in the car {thank you built in car blue tooth} and confirm landscaping date with my grandmother for later in the afternoon.

11:45. Find the perfect parking spot downtown in a metered spot, scrounge purse for quarters and run into the Polish luncheon.  Set iphone timer so i’ll know when the meter is about to run out {genius iphone!}

12-1pm Enjoyed a fabulous meal and speaker at the Tower Club. Met a fabulous intellectual property attorney {been meaning to get a few things trademark/copyrighted!} and exchanged contact info. Timer goes off so I know I have 3 minutes to get myself and the big belly out of the bldg and to my car before a potential ticket . . .

1:15. Arrive home to find Jackson just waking from a nap  {slept from 10:45 to 1:15!}.  Love my sleepy snuggly guy.  Got him out of the crib and fed him lunch/changed clothes, etc.  {Jmay caught up on emails and made client phone calls.}

2pm: Drive to GranBy’s {she’s a landscaping guru and offered to help us pick out plans and give us tools!} and looked at plans/load tools into Jmay’s car.  Jax showed her how he can crawl!

3-5: Nearly died from unexpected heat exhaustion at Lowes/Calloways, etc. buying plants for new spring/summer landscaping!!  Whew it was hot.

5:15 Miscommunicated with the hubby about our next location {we drove 2 cars to Plano to accommodate plants} which actually worked out well.  He checked on some knockout roses at another Lowes and I dealt with a Jackson melt down at Callaways. Bought some more plants while holding Jax on my big belly. Called hubby on the drive home and had him order pizza.

6pm Arrive home. Let Jackson unwind and cool down from being in the stroller/car seat by crawling around in his diaper/play with toys.

6:15: GranBy arrives and we all sit down to eat for 15 minutes . . . Jackson was CRAZY about the pizza!  He made a royal mess, but loved every second of it.

6:30-7pm. I give Jackson a bath and put him to bed. Jmay and Granby survey the flower beds, deal with bees, and figure out why our yuca plants are dying.

7:15pm. Join the landscaping crew {GranBy and hubby} who discovered the flower beds are getting too much water. Jmay tests all the valves so we know which ones are which, and we label them as such and switch the settings.

7:30pm Kiss hubby and send him to work {he leads group at the halfway house on Wednesday nights until LATE} and said bye to GranBy, who knew all the right things to do with our yard!

7:30-8pm: Put a load of laundry in (I leave for NYC girls trip tomorrow!), wash dishes/clean kitchen/living room/office.

8:15: Search high and low for my lost May Book which has the address to a client I need to mail a custom May Book to (!!). Remembered having it at Discount Tire on Monday . . . . never found it, but cleaned out my car in the process.

8:30: Lay out all my May Books to take inventory and set up all the retail sales rep starter boxes!! Yay for hiring Dallas, Lubbock and Denver sales reps!

8:45: Back to checking/responding to emails: Schedule three meetings for Mica May Design clients for Monday and solidify plans for our Saturday dream session with the girls in New York! {more about this tomorrow!}

9:15. Check in for New York flight tomorrow and send a mobile boarding pass to my email! Double fist pump for www.AA.com being technologically savvy!

9:30. Design my Bump Diaries: Chapter 31 letter to Baby May.  This is how/when I relax and unwind from the day.

10:30. Prepare May Books retail sales starter boxes for the reps. Itemize out the chosen patterns/box on a spreadsheet and label them. Put back on my display rack in my office.

{this is the plan for after I post this}

11pm. Take clothes out of washer and move to dryer (hang dry jeans).

11:15. Attempt to jump start my packing for NYC. {find suitcase/organize toiletries/move over diaper bag to purse/etc.}

11:45ish. Go check on Jackson and pray over him.  Turn off the baby Coldplay music he goes to sleep to.

Midnight. Eat 2 frozen thin mints with a glass of milk and read on the Kindle until hubby comes home. Snuggle up with my best friend, pray for each other, our little ones, and friends/family and drift off to sleep.

we are:  wife, hubs and the jax man.

we believe life is meant to be enjoyed and shared, so who knows what our little hands might type when we get a stroke of GENIUS, are feeling introspective, or are all together excited about Life.

we hope you get to know us a a little deeper by each posting.

we are in love with our Dude.  {a note for coming posts, Jackson was born with Down Syndrome. he is healthy, adorable and has the most wonderful personality a child can have. i am sure from time to time we will reference our joys & difficult moments relating to this particular part of our journey through parenthood.}

much love, mica {wife} and jonathan {hubs}