Growing

It is hard to realize how much your children grow when you see them every day, but I swear some days I pick my little girl up from school and she just looks bigger, like she grew while she was there!




We've been patiently waiting for the snow to melt so we could to go to the park and we finally were able to. A family playdate after school/work was just what we needed after 6 months of winter!











What a difference a year makes!
My little girl can climb and jump and is quick on her feet,and confident as she climbs, jumps and runs. She doesn't need me as much any more. This means we can play together!


Slide races. Mom lost.

What a wonderful day we had together!
~Angela

That Mom

I wasn’t going to be that mom who let her child walk
around the house eating and drinking and jumping off furniture. I was not going
to be that mom whose child threw temper tantrums. I was not going to be that mom whose child watched TV. I wasn’t going to be that
mom whose child did not eat her fruit or vegetables. I was not going to be
that mom who let her child sleep in my bed. I wasn’t going to be that
mom who let her child play with her phone.

Then I became a mom.

And in some ways I became that mom…because to teach
your child that they cannot walk around the house with food/drinks, they have to
walk around the house with food/drinks and then be told that is not ok.  

And I was that mom whose child had a temper tantrum in
the grocery store over a box of animal crackers that I took away on the day she
turned 2 ½ . Here I was thinking I was halfway through my daughter’s second year
and had yet to experience the “terrible twos” I’d heard so much about. And I let
her have the tantrum, then calmed her down, explaining that no matter how mad
you are, we still have to pay for the animal crackers, which means releasing the
grip so I can take them out of your hands.

I was that mom whose child some days devoured fruits
and vegetables and other days wouldn’t touch them. And sometimes you have to
introduce new foods, even if just to determine that your little doesn’t like
them. And then try them again and again because she just might change her
mind...

I was that mom who does occasionally let my child
sleep in my bed, (not as a baby - I was too scared I’d squish her) especially
when my husband is gone.  Or when she’s sick or I felt like I just needed to
cuddle my little girl because I could. Bad news stories have that affect on
me-they serve as reminders that there are people in this world who don’t have
that choice and I am lucky enough to do so, sometimes we just indulge that. It
feels good to cuddle that little person and feel the warmth of the her body and
the comfort of her breathing. As for her helicopter sleeping style-constantly
rotating all night long-I could do without.

I am that mom who lets my daughter watch videos and
look at pictures of herself on my phone. I even downloaded educational apps
(gasp!) just for her. And if I’m being honest, she is far less clumsy with the
phone than I am.

And from all this, I realized I am this mom. I am me.
I am a culmination of all those moms. I am a mom who loves my little girl and the baby on the way and who tries to make life fun. When we see other moms doing things
that are quick to fall under the category of that mom, maybe we are not
seeing them as they are all the time. We don’t always see people on their best
days all the time because we don’t have best days every single day. And that’s
ok. We don’t need to categorize ourselves anyway…

 

~Angela

 

My Little Girl is Three!!

She had her first friend's party last weekend and it was quite fun. She invited seven friends over for a train themed party (per her request) and  I am not sure who was more worn out from the party- the little people or me!  It was very low key as I had planned all sorts of outdoor activities, but then realized that a winter storm was on its way (yes, in mid-April!) so we had to make some modifications.


Such as bringing the bouncehouse inside.



Between the bouncing and the food and coloring sheets, the kids were content. It was a simple menu of our daughter's favorite foods- all kid friendly- hot dogs, mac & cheese, jello trains and grapes. And of course cupcakes. 

We realized this year that our little girl doesn't love to be sung to- which is a sharp contrast to her parents who really love the ridiculousness of that tradition on their birthdays:)

We were sad to have to cancel her family party due to her being sick...a blessing in disguise it was since all of our family lives out of town and would have travelled in the horrendous weather of a winter that will not end...
~Angela

Mixed feelings on TV

I’ve been tired lately. Really tired. This little person growing inside of me has been taking all my energy:) Therefore, I had fallen to using the TV to entertain my little girl. I have a lot of guilt about this. I do not put a lot of value on tv. I don’t watch a lot of tv. As a matter of fact, we did not have tv in our home for two years and did not feel like a big part of our life was missing. We will never be the family that regularly turns on the TV. We do not have “regular” shows.  We would much rather play outside or dabble in another hobby, of which we all have plenty. I am not saying this because I have an issue with people who watch TV. It is just not our life.  We would much rather go for walks, runs, bike rides or jump in puddles, leaves and the snow, work on an art project, bake something or read. It makes me proud that my daughter loves books and at 2 ½ when my daughter asked me to teach her to read, I did. And she can now read a handful of words. This trumps TV any day. And nothing can beat the real life memories we create together.

And when asked what she wants to do, my little girl often wants to color, play kitchen, read or work on puzzles. So, our daughter who has gone from watching movies only on special occasions and long car trips has been watching TV often in the last few weeks. And although I still have guilt for this, I have realized some good has come from this. She has learned how to operate the Blu Ray player (I realized this when I awoke from a nap to find a second movie in), she has increased her vocabulary and learned some new songs. And this has really been a treat for her to get her special blanket and pick out a movie to watch. We have cuddled together (ok, mostly I have slept) and often talked about the shows we've been watching. Her perspective always amazes me. She's learning some good lessons from some of the shows.

Now that I have gotten some energy back, we are back to puzzles and books and running around the house (at least until we can be outside!). We are having playdates and making memories and creating art. We’ve been painting pictures. Although I was rather alarmed when recently she was painting pictures for fictional characters on TV (Little Bill and Dora & Boots), I was pleased that she also remembered friends and family and painted pictures for those REAL people who are important to us as well.
~Angela 

Mother of the Year

I recently came across the quote "I was the perfect parent before I had kids." So true....  There are certainly days that I am a better mom than others, but I think trying my best, loving my daughter and making memories together EVERY SINGLE DAY are what is always important.



My friend Rachel made this sign for me, slightly as a joke since I often preface my failure-as-a-mom stories (like the time we were too late to school and my little girl missed breakfast, or the time she started preschool and I didn't realize it or the time I never buckled my little girl into her carseat- EEK!) with "Since I am not up for Mom of the Year this Year.."
I proudly display it as a reminder that although I make mistakes, I try to be the best mom I can to my little girl.
~Angela

Big girl room

This project has literally been in the works for months! The project really got pushed aside when I lost all my energy in the first trimester of my pregnancy. I am still not at 100% energy, but the project is complete! My husband helped out a lot too, once we realized I was pregnant and should not be painting. We cannot be happier with how the room turned out and it truly is a labor of love. Not a lot of money was spent in the room because so many things were repurposed, but a lot of time and energy went into it. The curtains were the big splurge from West Elm and as a general rule, I am not a fan of curtains. This is the only room in our house that has curtains. My husband jokes that I must have been pregnant and nesting to decide to purchase those, but they really add to the room.








The walls are a gray with glitter paint on top. It doesn’t show up well in photos, but I really like the effect. The bed has been in my family forever. It was once at my grandma’s, then my mom’s, then I inherited it. I painted it (ok, my husband did the painting) white and sanded off the paint for a rustic look.




I got the nightstand from a garage sale for $1. It had a tacky checkerboard painted on the top, but I painted and sanded this to match the bed. The ceramic tractor was a gift from our little girl’s friend. He painted it for her and she keeps it close to her bed because sometimes she likes to sleep with it.




The bookshelf was a gift to my little girl last year for Christmas. I made it in my woodworking class. We moved it up from the basement.




I made the signs using picmonkey to reflect what I say to my little girl every night and had them printed at our local UPS store for $.85/each. I put them in repainted frames that were in our master bedroom when I redecorated that room.








And the teepee…my fave part of the room. Since the closet in this bedroom takes up one whole wall and has plenty of storage, we could justify the loss of space that would otherwise have a dresser there. I was looking to buy a teepee online and figured I could make it for less than the $150-200 they sell for. We bought (6) 1 X 2 boards for $.79/each and drilled holes in them and tied them together. Then I bought a king size flat sheet ($15) to wrap around the teepee.




Our little girl wasted no time moving “just her favorite” books in here and reading. My husband and I also fell asleep in there…it was a cozy place to nap:)




Our little girl LOVES the room so much that it is all worth it! We did not have to worry about the transition to a big girl room for her being difficult; she was so excited to sleep in there, she asked to sleep in her new room when the only thing in the room was the bed and piles of randomness on the floor and it was far from finished! And much to her delight, every single person that comes over happily agrees to look at her new room when she excitedly asks them. Bless their hearts...
Now the nursery awaits its latest occupant- our baby that is due in October.
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Rest. Refresh. Renew. (Easter)

We made the decision to stay home for Easter this year, just the three of us. This is the first holiday since we've been married that we did not see either of our families, which was a change for sure, but it was such a wonderful weekend.

It was a weekend of rest and relaxation. We all took naps. We colored Easter eggs. My husband and I went on a date. We played with our little girl. We went out to eat so we didn't even have to worry about cooking or cleaning.











We woke up at our own house Easter morning. We celebrated Easter at our church, with our church family.



The Easter bunny came to our house and we helped our little girl hunt for her basket and Easter eggs there. The holiday was not about racing around to pack, spending hours in the car, and exhaustion once we arrived at our destination this year. It was about slowing down, being together and celebrating a holiday in our own home.


When we visit our families, it is always hectic and that is a chaos I love, but this year, I was glad to have a low key holiday that provided some much needed family time for our growing little family. The year so far has been absolutely exhausting for us and for the first time in months, I feel like we look and feel refreshed. It is amazing how rest can do that to a person.

As we anticipate spring's arrival any day, I look forward to starting the season out refreshed.


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