First Day

We've been discussing it for months...Does Baby Girl get enough interaction with other children?  She loves children.  Always looks for them when we are shopping.  Wants to hold their hands.  Talks to any that she sees when we are out and about town.  I love getting her around other kids.  The problem?  We live in a small town that doesn't offer very many opportunities for such interaction.  No Mommy and Me classes.  Normally, we are the only ones at the park because so many parents work and kids are in daycare.  So, I broke down.

Today was the first day that Baby Girl went to school.  (It's really daycare, but we call it school.)  I've enrolled her for 1/2 day, 1 day a week.  After I dropped her off in her classroom, I stood out side the door and watched her play.  She loved it.  I cried.  "It's great that she is playing with other kids.  It will be good for her," I continued to tell myself as I walked out to the car.  I continued to cry.  Her first day of school.  She is growing up so fast.  I try to enjoy each milestone.  When I went to get her, she gave the teacher and each of the kids hugs good-bye.  She had a good time.  I'm sure a much better time than I did.

I just keep telling myself, it is good for her to interact with other kids...She's getting to be a big girl...mommy is going to have to be a big girl, too!

It was bound to happen....

Baby Girl got into the lipstick...

 

 

She was so proud of herself.  Thought she was so pretty.  I agree!

My Flowerbed

I love the special feeling that you get when you see a house with wonderful flowers gracing it.  Flowers just seem to add so much to a house.  In my opinion, they help to make a house a home.  Two years ago, my husband built me a flowerbed.  I was very pregnant at the time, with a baby due in August, so I didn't get to use it that year.  Last summer, I had a toddler who was better at getting into things than listening, so I didn't get to use it last year either.  This year is different!

Baby Girl helped me every step of the planting process.  We started by pulling the weeds from the walkway connecting to the flowerbed. 

 

 

Then, we planted our flowers.  Baby Girl has 2 pots of flowers that are hers.  She got the dirt ready for planting, planted the flowers, and is responsible for watering them.

 

 

 Our flowers are looking great!

 

Here are Baby Girl's flowerpots.  They are doing well (and getting lots and lots of watering!)



Outside!

The weather has finally started cooperating and it really is SUMMER!  Yeah!  We've been waiting so long...it seems like forever.  Winter has it's highlights, but there is nothing like getting to go outside and play for just as long as we want.  Baby Girl loves the outdoors and I think would stay there just as long as we let her.  Here are a couple of her favorite things to do so far during the few weeks that we have been able to enjoy O-U-T-S-I-D-E!!!!

A, B, Cs

I am not a teacher.  I never wanted to be a teacher.  I never had that desire.

I am not crafty.  By any stretch of the imagination.  I need a pattern.  I need straight lines.

I am not creative.  I don't like to paint or draw or color.  I stay inside the lines.  I color things what they are in real-life.  I don't put polka dots on elephants or stripes on dolphins. 

I am not a huge pretender.  I can't come up with things to be.  I think of that scene in "Miracle on 34th Street" where the little girl says no one will play with her because she doesn't like pretending.  She's a little girl, not an elephant.  That's me.

That's me.  I'm analytical and straight-forward.  I'm an executor, not an idea-person.

However, I am a MOM.  So, now that I'm a mom, I have to continually step outside of my analytical comfort zone and enter into creativity.  I have to come up with ways to keep a toddler occupied beyond reading books and counting butter containers.  I have to think of things to do with toys other than stack them and knock them down.

So, I'm trying to morph into someone who is still me, but just a bit more creative.  I know that if I try too much to be someone other than me then my daughter will see right through it and now want to be around me. 

Which brings me to the alphabet.  We have been reading an A,B,C Bible book at night and Baby Girl has started picking up on the letters, so I decided that it was time to actively teach her the alphabet.  Since I have no background in teaching preschoolers and need a big shot of creativity to come up with anything amazing, I decided to stay in my comfort zone.

Here is what we are doing for the letters:

 

 

I'm tryng to keep the words that we use as those that she says or tries to say.  Plus, I think it's a good idea to use pictures that we have taken with her so that she can relate better to the picture.

We've hung the letters on the wall in our living room and everyday we go through them.  She seems to be enjoying it since she helps me glue the pictures on the papers and helps hang them on the wall.

So far, we've done A, B, C, D and E.  She's doing really well, except doesn't seem to like the letter C.   The letter C has so many great things to offer...cream cheese, cat, corn, cow, car...

Now, on to F....fingers, fish, football, fork, feet...I think I may be enjoying this more than she is.  Apparently, I needed an outlet for my creativity that I didn't know that I had.

Love Languages

I used to be an avid reader, you know, pre-baby.  I liked to read pretty much anything that came across my path....fiction, non-fiction, self-help, etc.  In fact, there was a time that I read almost exclusively self-help books.  My all-time favorite self-help relationship book is "The Five Love Languages."

In short, the book states that there are five areas where people can express and receive love:

1. Quality time
2. Gifts & surprises
3. Physical touch
4. Acts of service
5. Words of encouragement

You need to know how your partner receives love in order to know how to express your love in a way that will be received and appreciated.  For example, my primary love language is quality time.  In order to really feel loved, I need to spend time with someone without the distractions of life.  Real quality time.  My husband needs words of encouragement.  I like them, but wouldn't really say that I need them like he does.  However, since I know that this is important to him, then I tell him often how much I love him and how thankful I am for him.  It lets him know that I really appreciate him in a way that he values.

Lately, I've been thinking quite a bit about my love language and the love language of Baby Girl.  I so want her to always know that she is loved.  But, how can you tell what the love language of a 2 year old is?

Miss Fashionista

 

We have entered a brand new phase....I'll call it, ummm, BABY GIRL:  MISS FASHIONISTA.  Each morning, after we have had breakfast, we go to her room to pick out her clothes for the day.  This has become an ordeal.  Every single item of clothing must be thrown out of the drawer before deciding what to wear.  Then, and only then, can we begin discussing it.  And, I do mean, discussing it.  I never thought that I would have to allot at least 20 minutes each morning for a 22-month old to decide what to wear.  If I even dare make suggestions, then each one is quickly shot down and I know that there is no way that I am going to get her to wear that outfit.  So, we wait...she picks a shirt.  I ask, "Do you want to wear this today?"  Normally the answer is, "No."  Then, we go to dresses, I have to pull each one down so that she can study it and decide if there is one that is worthy of being worn.  If no dress is chosen, then we go back to the pile of clothes in the floor to choose something from there.  Eventually, an outfit is chosen...sometimes she chooses one piece and I get to match it...sometimes it's all Baby Girl. 

 

 



Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way...getting to experience her learning what she likes and doesn't like...getting to watch her grown a little every day....this is wonderful!

Papa's Mustang

My grandfather passed away in 1995.  I'll never forget getting the call from my father.  I was in grad school and it was absolutely devastating to me.  My grandfather left his 1966 Mustang convertible to me.  He said that it was because I helped him restore it.  My "help" consisted of standing in the garage talking to him while he was working on it.  As I get older, I can see how this is helping.  I used to think that it was so silly that he said that I helped him.

Yesterday was the first day that we had it out with Baby Girl.  She can't take a ride in it because there are no seatbelts.  However, she had a lot of fun in it without ever moving.  She got to "drive" it....

I know that my Papa would love the fact that Baby Girl enjoys his Mustang.  I just wish that he was here to see it.
 

Watering Arnie

Baby Girl and I have set out flowers.  I just love what flowers add to a house in the summer.  She loved digging in the dirt to plant the flowers, but her favorite part, by far is watering them.

She also loves to water Arnie...

Catherine Hubbard

Sandy Hook Elementary.  I had never heard of it before December 2012.  It had no impact on my life.  Then, on that horrible day, a man walked into an elementary school and killed those precious people...children, teachers.  Children.  Teachers.  It was unthinkable.  But, it did happen.  I still can't believe it did.  I think about those children every day.  One of my classmates from college was impacted in the worst possible way.  Her daughter was one of the children.  One of those precious children....

Catherine Hubbard.  Age 6.  Lover of animals.  Kind.

I never met Catherine, yet she has had a profound effect on me.  I almost hate to say that.  The tragedy has made me squeeze Baby Girl a little bit tighter every day.  Be thankful for each and every precious second that I have with her.

One of Catherine's friends established Catherine's Peace Team.  It focuses on raising money for the Catherine Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.  The Facebook page can be found here.  One of the fundraisers that they had was selling bracelets.  Baby Girl and I sport ours often. 

I think about my classmate Jenny and cannot imagine the life that she is now leading.  I read the article that she wrote for Guidepost, A Sanctuary of Healing, Born of Tragedy, and am amazed at the strength that she has.  I wish that there was something, anything, that I could do to help her.  I know that prayer is the only thing.  I pray that God keeps her and her family wrapped in His loving arms.  That He provides her with peace, a peace that passeth understanding, because I certainly don't understand it.

Is 40 the new 30?

I've been a horrible blogger.  I've thought about writing a new post more times than I can count during the past year.  But, well, I guess life got in the way.  Raising a toddler, working part-time, being a wife, daughter, granddaughter, etc.  The busiest time of my work is over for the year and I'm hoping to get back into updating my blog on a regular basis.

So, I'm starting with the subject of turning 40.  Yes, 40.  The big 4-0.

Turning 30 was not pretty.  I was not in a good place in my life.  I had always thought that I would be married by the time I turned 30 and I wasn't.  I wasn't dating anyone who I thought was marriage material.  So, I had what I have referred to during the past 9 years, as my "30 crisis."  I went on an 8-day cruise through the Carribean with my best friend, went to London for 5 days, spent a long weekend in Las Vegas, and went to Grand Cayman with my soon-to-be sister-in-law.  I suppose that I felt as though my life wasn't where I wanted it to be so if I ran all over the globe, then maybe I would find the life that I wanted.  I didn't.  I was still miserable. 

Two years later, I married the man that God made for me.  Six years later, I had a wonderful baby girl.  My life is more different than I could have ever imagined 10 years ago.  My days are no longer focused on the corporate world, keeping clients happy, meeting deadlines, developing and being responsible for million dollar budgets, etc.  Today, I concentrate on Baby Girl...celebrating her accomplishments and new things she learns each day, kissing boo-boos, giving big hugs throughout the day, and loving the person that she is becoming.  I run a household instead of a corporate account.   Days used to be consumed with client meetings, deadlines, and budgets.  Now, they are filled with running errands, making dinner, doing laundry, and somewhere, somehow, getting a little bit of my part-time job done.

In short, this is the hardest job that I have ever had!

But, is it where I thought I would be when I turned 40?  No, definitely not.  It's so much better!