The End of this Chapter . . .

Although we knew this day would always come, it was still more difficult than we ever imagined it would be. This past Friday was Juliana's last day at Mrs. West's Daycare. Mrs. West has watched Juliana since she was just 3 months old. She and her family have been with us on this journey, through it all. Mrs. West and Juliana have a very special bond, and I think for awhile, we imagined that she would just always be at Mrs. West's Daycare. But our little peanut is all grown up and Tuesday she will be out, away from everything she knows and loves to start her new chapter. We hope she will grow to love this new part of her life, and we know it's where she needs to be now, but we know it will never be like the years she spent and Mrs. West's.

This was the note Mrs. West put on the door on Juliana's last day. . .

This is a picture of Mrs. West (and Mr. West) opening the gift that Juliana made for them.

It was a collage of pictures of the two of them along with a poem that Juliana wrote to her:

Love Always, Juliana

Dear Mrs. West,
It seems like just a short time ago, you and I had met,
From that very first day, you showed me nothing but love,
Even when I was upset.
You always made such special time together just for you and I,
Rocking in the rocking chair, swinging outside, cuddling after a nap,
even singing me lullabies.
You’ll never know how much you gave me each and every day,
Encouragement, kindness, love and guidance, in every kind of way.

It’s time for me to spread my wings and work hard to learn something new,
Make some new friends, go to school, do all the fun stuff all us kids do.
Please always know I’ll never forget the wonderful times we had,
Laughing, crying, playing all day, and then giggling was the most fun I had.
One day I’ll come to visit you and you’ll be proud of all I’ve learned,
We’ll rock and swing and cuddle again, just like we always had.
So I’ll see you soon, and please never forget,
Just how very much I Love You.

Boy, were those cupcakes amazing!!!!

A cute shot of Juliana and Mrs. West

This is Olivia with their good friend Faith.

Juliana having her first giggle fest as an official alumni of Mrs. West Daycare!

Here she is with Omi and the nice Minnie Mouse balloon that Mrs. West gave her.