Better Off

We all have those old friends that you can see once a year, but the relationship is so comfortable that it doesn't matter and you pick up right where you left off. Those are life-long friends. Those are the ones you can't live without. I know that I have a few friends that fall into this category and while it would be great to see them more often, when we DO get together it's that much better!!



And then we have people that come in and out of our lives - it's a way of life and we are thankful for their presence for the time they are around and sometimes we are sad to see them go, but it happens. And sometimes, we are glad to never see them again. Sad still, but usually for the better. I have this going on too.



My best friend and I had a HUGE, and I mean MAMMOTH falling out recently. And it pretty much sucks that it happened and it is really sad. But, it is one of those situations where there is no turning back - I am pretty easy on handing out forgiveness to people since I really dislike conflict & I don't live with a heavy heart. BUT I don't forget. The double suck part of this - she is the mother of our goddaughter. AWKWARD. But, we take that responsibility pretty seriously so hopefully we can work out visitation or something....



I really never talk about my "real dad" - sperm donor - whatever. He is pretty worthless and a drug addict/alcoholic (hellooo closet... not so dark in here anymore, huh?). Klassy. It's hard to call someone your dad when you see them once every 3 or so years and talk to them about as much. I could go forever without talking to him and my daughter will not know him because he is the same person he was 15 years ago - not good. But when I hear things about him and the shenanigans he pulls STILL (esp. when they involve my sister) , I am thankful to not be a part of that world. And even more thankful that I do have a REAL dad in my life now.

Hrmph life. The roller coaster continues.
Watcha gonna do but deal with it, move on and hope you learned from the experience.

Thanks for the Crazy

Last week & this week are crazy. And busy.


Last week I spent celebrating my best friend's wedding, stuffing my face with good food & working my ass off.

This week I will be catching up on all the papers & presentations that have yet to complete themselves all while missing out on a few girls nights out....... There are 3 presentations, 2 papers & 1 test between me and then end of this semester. It's going to be a long week...


But I haven't forgotten to count my blessings this week. There ae plenty of people that I am thankful to have (and, if I am being honest, to NOT have any longer*) in my life to share all of the crazy with. Because, you know, I wouldn't know what to do without all of this madness!


The little one still doesn't know what she's gotten herself into.....But hey, at least she's cute like her mama, right?

(more substantial posting and nonsense after this week is over)

*I will expand on this. next week.

Lock Down the Fort

My little peanut has learned something new this past week.....
Look out, this girl is on a MISSION. What kind of mission you ask? Why one to find every single piece of dirt off the floor and put it in her mouth, to tangle herself in every cord she can get her hands on and one that sends her up from her butt to her feet before your very eyes.
She also is starting to crawl with her belly off the floor - but still gets places the fastest doing the army version.

I continue to be amazed at how fast she has gone from nonmobile to rocking and rolling all over the house.

Wordless Wednesday: Part 1 of 2

My husband has stood up for 2 of these handsome fellows at their weddings [with another 1 on the way.]

I have stood up for 2 of these beautiful ladies as they entered into the world of marital bliss. And am excited to stand up for one other one on Saturday.

You will just have to stay tuned to find out which one it is......

*photo by Noble Images

Adventures

My SEVEN month old little peanut has been seriously busy, learning all kinds of new tricks

Like how to peek over her bumpers after naptime. And how to stand up in her crib....

Since she is such a tall girl, we had to move her crib all the way down.
She will even push herself to stand sometimes - then she looks really confused and tries to crawl over you!
She's been busy with the crawling too. Still in army mode, but sometimes she'll sneak in a belly off the floor move.
We even tried her on some table food. She's in LOVE! She misses her mouth 9.5x/10 but hey, she's learning.
And clearly, she is WAY too busy looking cute modeling her baby legs...But, she is still enjoys a good snuggle with her daddy.

Wordless Wed

Trying to find the strength I need to make it through life's bumpy road.

With Him, I know I will find it.

Staying Young

Being a mom of a baby girl, who will become a little girl and someday a big girl, one of the things I want for her is to enjoy her childhood and learn respect for herself.
My husband and I find ourselves saying at least 10 times a day, she will never wear that... say that... act that way... or else!
But here's the problem - In case you have been living in a hole, it seems like 90% of the things marketed to young girls are far from age appropriate. We have these dolls, clothes that don't cover enough skin - sold at stores like this one and tv shows with a more mature content than you would expect.

I got this article via email last weekend and it hit home, big time.
5 years old is the new 15. Sure, it can be cute when they say something funny and outside of their scope of understanding. And I am all for a kiddo who is into fashion, shoes and doing things like her mama. But, as a parent, I feel that we need to teach these young girls not how to act older, but how to act appropriately. A 3 yr old wearing short shorts and showing her belly, is not cute to me. A 4 yr old "shaking her booty", not appropriate. An 8 yr old buying her "boyfriend" presents, absolutely not. These are things that cross the line, in my opinion.

I want my 6 month old to BE 6 months old. Just as I will want her to act 3 years old and not 13, etc. No push in this house to grow up any faster than happens already. It's an uphill battle in that respect since there is such an inherent push to age our kids beyond their years, and seemingly beyond our control. Perfect example - while passing out candy to trick or treaters 2 young girls, no older than 12/13 came to the house wearing LINGEIRE and THIGH HIGHS and GARTERS.... who let them out of the house like that??? The article talks about 2 books, Packaging Girlhood & So Sexy So Soon, that I hope to check out soon - they deal specifically with the over sexualied society and how to protect our kids. We can only sensor so much in our own homes, because it's inevitable that they will be exposed to things at school, at the store etc. We need to take that time to explain why at our house we do x,y,z and not a,b,c instead of just ignoring a behavior or question. The book Oral Sex: The new goodnight kiss is another one I hope to check out as well. I am still in shock that such a book exists to be totally honest.... this speaks volumes of how much society has changed in the last 20+ years.

Teaching our girls to be girls and to respect themselves is key. 2 year olds don't need professional manicures, 3 year olds don't need to wear makeup and 5 year olds don't need to be worrying about what Johnny thinks of their outfit!

My Husband Rocks

Our schedules have changed this past week since Mike graduated. He is home with our little princess at least 2 days a week, and, I have to say, he is wonderful!
I came home to dinner last night, a clean kitchen and the laundry put away.
Being home all day is hard work but he has surprised me and taken it in stride with very (little) complaint.
G will miss all the extra time with Daddy when a full time job comes around, but for now, I am glad at least one of us is home with her!

Click here to view these pictures larger

photo by Tami Musick

Wordless Wed: Halloween Edition

(courtesy of Tami Musick)

my CRAZY family ready for TOT

Time for Who?

As you loyal readers know, finding time for everything has been my biggest struggle since becoming a mom.
It continues to be that way.
I have gotten better at compartmentalizing my life though - work is for work (or when baby is napping), play time is for Gianna, school is for school (or when baby is sleeping) house work is for after the baby goes to sleep, husband time is for bedtime.

Does anyone see a missing link to these compartments?
No? Look again....
Now you see it huh. There is no ME time.
My nightly routine is this: play with baby, feed baby, bathe baby, put baby to sleep, clean kitchen, make bottles, study &/or work, pass out.
I have to force a shower in there, usually around 10pm. Dinner, I eat if the hubs has made something, but typically, I just don't.

All of that stuff I can deal with, it's just the way things are right now. I might huff and puff about it - but really, I can handle missing dinner.
The one thing that I am CRAVING but can't seem to figure out how to fit it in, is working out, specifially running. This has always been my time to just turn on the tunes & let it all out. I would work out every single day when I was in medical school because it was the most amazing stress reliever (and, I had a pretty rocking body as an added bonus). Now, when I feel like I need this release the most - I can't seem to figure out where it belongs in my day. I would love to tone up this flab, get my frustrations out in a productive way and feel better about myself - but WHEN?
I have contemplated getting up at 5a to do this, but lets face it, I am NOT a morning person. Leaving the house once the peanut is in bed is another option, but all of my other responsibilities would get pushed about 2 hrs later in the night. (but I would surely get a shower those days...)
I am fully aware that those sound like excuses.
But if you can manage my time better for me, I would truly love to hear about it*.

Also - another part of ME time that is missing. The attention to personal detail. Or eyebrow maintenance and haircuts. And tanning (shut it, I don't need opinions on this one).

But alas friends, all of these things: Y membership, waxing, that sun kissed shimmer, all take $$. $$ that isn't falling from any trees around my house lately. In fact, I am pretty sure it is being buried somewhere because I can't seem to find it.... So - I need "economical"* ideas on how to accomplish these things.
Or you can tell me to shut my trap and quit bitching, because I'm a mom now and ME time doesn't exist.

*no seriously, I mean it.

Because I'm the Mom, THAT's why.........

As we all know, part of the glory of becoming parents is so we can do things the way WE want to when it comes to rearing our children.

I can give her formula if I want to.
I can have her sleep in her crib from day one, because, why not?
I can dress her up in cute clothes a million times a day like she is a doll, because PICTURES!

It never really dawned on me that, hey, it doesn't matter worth a damn what anyone else does/says/thinks because I get to make the rules on this one. FINALLY I get to be the one to say "Because I am her mother, that's why" since goodness knows the amount of times that was/is said to me in my life.

It doesn't make sense to me to give her juice before she is a year old, when water if in fact, more thirst quenching. Playing with random power cords does not seem like a good way to entertain her. No, I don't think she will get her ears pierced soon, while it's cute, I just don't see the point.* The idea of a dog slobbering all over her face is not in any way cute to me, in fact, the idea of her being close to a dog makes me slightly nervous. I do not think it's sanitary for her to put her mouth on random things - like chairs, shoes, my hands just because she wants to. Yes, I do put babylegs on her because I like them. If I could get a bow in her hair and shoes on her feet every.single.day - I would. We stick to a pretty strict schedule because I like a happy baby. Also - do not talk to her like she is a) deaf or b)anything less than a human - because she is neither of those. And, when I say something to you about how we do things, and you want an explanation, all I need to say is "because I'm her mom" and that should be enough.

And I am fully aware that this little statement will continue to evolve as she does - and surely it will go from the explaining a statement like "no, she isn't ready to eat table food yet" to "no, you may not have that broken toy" to "no, boys are NOT allowed in your bedroom" before I even realize it.

*I was DETERMINED that she would have cute little earrings as an infant, and then she got here and I liked her ears plain....