Clara finishes preschool

After three years of preschool at three different schools, Clara has finally finished preschool. I still remember her starting her first year as a tiny three year old and me crying bc she was going to be gone for four hours every day, and my heart couldn't take it. That, and I was terrified to leave her. She was non verbal, young and vulnerable. 

Now I look back and where her Heavenly Father has guided her and how she has climbed mountains of progression and I see so many blessings among the growth and hard times. She is an amazing tiny human and I am so proud of her and the hard work she has put into being where she is today. 

The last two months of school, Clara was transfered to our local elementary to see how she would do among typical children. It was an interesting and frustrating experience, but I'm glad her teachers suggested we do it and I'm glad we decided to. There were many obstacles with teachers and Clara fitting in, but it opened our eyes to many many things and I know it benefited us all even with the difficult things. I'm so grateful Clara is better at handling change, though we could see her struggles. Her resilience shone through and she conquered preschool.

This is Clara on a field trip to her teachers backyard.

This is some of the class from our local school. These are typical children, and Clara particularly liked one of the girls as her friend.

Aunty Cami made her a candy lei for her last day of school. She wore it proudly and was excited to finish.

With all three schools she attended, UVU will always hold a special place in my heart. The teacher Ms. Brylie showed us over the years just how much potential Clara really had, and supported us with toilet training, speech, social skills and a lot of patience when Clara had melt downs and very difficult days. She took a special liking to Clara and truly came to love her dearly. She would make efforts to match clothes with her and even bought bows so their hair styles could be the same too. It melted my heart and made all the difference with Clara's time there and progress. I'm so grateful for teachers who love. 

Matching from the top to the bottom!

When Clara transferred schools, I had her give flowers to the teachers and hugs goodbye.

Telling her very best friend Ben, goodbye,

Brylie got Clara a gift! It was a picture frame with a photo of the two of them and a written note.

Clara loved and it hugged her goodbye.

The last week of school, Clara was invited back to UVU for a parent/child picnic. We were so excited to go and see all our old friends. You should have seen it

Two years at UVU and she got her cute diploma.

Ben! After two months apart, they were reunited.

Cutest little graduate you ever did see.

Anther tearful goodbye. This time it felt harder bc Clara had missed them so much and felt that piece missing from her heart from the last two months. Seeing her with her old friends and teachers lit a fire of light in her soul and you could see that she felt back to being herself, and was totally loved and accepted for who she is. The peace and love we felt was amazing, and we missed them very much.

I can't seem to move this picture. But I'll talk about it anyway. This is Clara sobbing in my arms after a hard day at her new school with the typical kids. No one treated her well and she was lonely, sad and confused. Even the teachers made her cry. Seeing her in emotional distress always makes me cry because she is in pain. This breaks my heart, especially bc she doesn't understand what is happening to her. I silently cried the whole way home. I hate how hard life can be for our kids, especially our special needs kiddos. Man, she is so special.