Catching Up

I've been MIA on the blog lately.....but the good news is that I've been fully present in real life.  Nothing special or exciting happening, no major pitfalls or waves of PPD.  I've just been living my life as a coach, a wife, a friend and a momma.  The sunshine is no longer painful and I don't rely on the fog to protect me.  

I never thought I would get to this point.  I suppose I've finally adjusted to our "new normal."  

Better late than never, right?

So if I haven't been brooding, moody and blogging about it then what have I been doing?

Well, Craig and I have been watching Natalie do ridiculously adorable things lately.  Last night she grabbed my Bible while I was working on Bible Study homework and she said "Jesus."  It's okay if you don't believe me - Craig didn't either........until she did it two more times.  Maybe she knows something we don't.  I had a dream last night that she was walking.  It hasn't happened in real life yet but she is getting close - she is pushing up and standing on her own a whole lot more so I would venture to guess that by the end of the month, we will have a walker.  And then a runner and a skipper and a hopper and oh dear.  Lord help us.  For her birthday, my parents gave Natalie an outdoor water table and yesterday afternoon around 4:30 after pulling her away from splashing in the dog's bowl for the fiftieth time, I had a brilliant idea.  I put her in a swim diaper and hauled that water table to the back patio.  Craig filled it with water and pulled over two Adirondack deck chairs.  I ran back inside for the essential outdoor play items - a camera, a towel, a Heineken and a glass of wine.  And that's what we did for the next thirty minutes.  We drank, relaxed, talked and laughed at her antics in the water. It was lovely.

Saturday morning Craig and I were required to work the high school track meet.  It wasn't as bad as it might sound.  Craig was running the long jump pit while I hung out at high jump and chatted with the high school volleyball coach.  It was a long, hot morning and I have the sock tan lines to prove it, but it was fun to see former athletes compete.  High school in our area of the world is tough.  Not only do we live in an area of our district that is incredibly high income (but NOT our little neighborhood - we're firmly in the middle class income bracket) but the high school that our middle schools feed into has roughly 3,000 students attending on a daily basis.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I always worry about my middle school girls when they go off to high school - it's such an easy place for a student to get lost in.  That's why I loved seeing one of my former students running the 800m and in the 4x400 relay - she was always a quiet kid that walked on the line between the troubled kids and the athletes.  I was happy to see that she was staying involved in something at school because that usually helps to keep kids out of trouble and instead surrounded by good influences.

Today while Craig was doing some yard work, I took Natalie to Target because we've been having a bunch of stuff pile up that desperately needs to be put into storage.  While she took a nap, Craig and I packed up all her 12 month clothes, her pack 'n play that has been in our bedroom for over a year, a bunch of her baby toys AND I finally took down all the St. Patrick's Day decorations.  I love a good Rubbermaid storage bin.  As Craig and I were putting away her clothes, he asked an interesting question: "does putting this stuff away make you want to have another baby?"  Whoa turbo.  Let's back the train up.  Then we played the "why are you asking - do YOU want another baby?" and "I'm not answering - I asked you first" and "but you wouldn't have asked if you weren't thinking about it yourself" back and forth little game.  Eventually my answer was.........no, the big girl clothes don't make me want another baby but I have a feeling if we were to get out her newborn stuff it would.  Like I told Craig, I just want another chance to do it all over again and to actually enjoy it and be present for every little thing.  Obviously, no major life decisions were made during this chat but at least neither of us were closing the door, but we did decide that now is not the time.

Okay, see all that stuff up there about Natalie not walking yet?  Well, I wrote all that early this afternoon.  My how things change in the blink of an eye!  After posting this draft and proof reading it on my blog I realized I had to make one MAJOR edit:

And the biggest news from today.....................Natalie is walking.  I knew we were getting close since all she has been doing while walking is holding onto the teeniest, tiniest tip of my finger.  It was all a matter of time before she gained confidence and took off on her own.  I'm so glad that she is walking but there's just a hint of bittersweet.  Walking is one step closer to running and hopping and skipping and all those other things that little girls do.  She was so proud of herself and I wish that I could record every moment of this process. From the Frankenstein walk with her arms extended out towards me to the furrowed eyebrows and pouty lips when she falls.  I guess this is what it's like for other people in the very beginning - the feeling of wanting to soak up their baby in it's entirety and not forget a single moment or breath from their life.  Okay.  That sounded a bit creepy and obsessive.  But I am mesmerized by her - I love sitting back and watching her play and think.  To see what she'll do next or how she will react to a new activity, toy or person.  I feel like she's a little onion and each day I'm peeling back a layer and finding something new underneath; more and more of her personality is revealing itself and it's fun to pick out what is like Craig, like me......or just unique to her.

Finally, on an ENTIRELY separate note - I saw Hunger Games tonight.  There were a few moments of slight cheesiness but overall it was pretty good.  They handled the death scenes very honorably and I loved how they gave Seneca Crane a little bit of humanity as well as a peek behind the curtain of who/what creates the games.  And of course who couldn't help but love Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and all of the outrageous clothes in the Capitol!  I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out.......but I'm a little worried about Mockingjay because it's pretty violent and brutal.  

I guess I was a little overdue for an update because I ended up having a lot more to talk about than I thought I did when I started this post!

Birthday Party Extravaganza

I don't know how we did it, but Craig and I were able to pull off a great first birthday party for Natalie last Saturday.  I had been systematically buying things here and there over the past month and everything had been sitting on my dining room table for a few weeks until I was ready to get things decorated.  I knew that Saturday morning was going to be crazy before the party so I started decorating about mid-week with things that I knew would be out of Natalie's reach.

One of the PTA copy moms and I put together this banner for Natalie out of heavy duty cardstock scrapbook paper that I purchased at Hobby Lobby for $5.00.  

I purchased the "Lucky" letters at Hobby Lobby and I switched out the normal Craig and Laura engagement and wedding photos on the mantle for pictures of Natalie throughout the year.

Here is a close-up of the banner - I LOVE the industrial cricut machine we have at work!  The copy mom also let me in on a scrapbooking secret - glue dots!  Glue dots are little circles of glue all attached to a big long roll of wax paper that you can peel off and stick on paper or photos for scrapbooking.  Genius.

The full mantle - I didn't make the tissue poms (although now I know I could have) and instead I purchased two bags of three lime green poms at Party City.

For seating in the kitchen table I hung some poms over the table and used fake flower arrangements from around the living room to decorate.  Sitting around the flowers are Lucky Charms in the cauldron (is that the right word?) and green and white M&Ms in my white Corningware.  My dad had the fun job of filling Lucky Charms and sprinkling St. Patrick's Day confetti around the arrangement.

On the entryway table I filled two picture frames with printables that I found on Pinterest and added a picture of Natalie.  My middle brother Mike made the green wooden shamrock and I stained and painted the lettering.  I'm going to hang onto the printables and the shamrock to put up every year during March.  The wooden shamrock was actually supposed to go outside in the front garden area but due to the downpour that we had on her birthday party day I decided to move it inside so the wood wouldn't get warped and the paint wouldn't run.

For her gift area I used one of our side tables from IKEA decorated with her green Natalie letters from her room and two pictures/portraits that we already had sitting out or hanging around the house.  Her big present from Craig and me was the pink wagon (which was a HUGE hit) and we loaded some of her presents into that for safe keeping during the party.

Since we had a few bigger kids at the birthday party and I knew that the weather was going to be rough I printed off some St. Patrick's Day coloring sheets and filled a bucket (from JoAnn's) with crayons and added some fun St. Patrick's Day books as a little quiet entertainment center.

The way our house is set up we have a great flow from the front entry way to the dining room to the kitchen to the living room - it all just makes a big circle around the stairs which are in the middle.  I put the food in what is supposed to be the dining room (but we use it as a make shift office for Craig) right off of the kitchen, the drink station was on the island in the kitchen and the her smash cake was featured on the cutting board on the stove.

We had a large spread of food which included a sandwich bar with lots of different cheeses and meats.  We had a fruit platter in rainbow colors of course.  I had three dips, two of which I made - sausage, crab and spinach.  Yummy.

Of course I had to have my family in coordinating outfits.  Craig already had his shamrock Dallas Stars shirt, I found mine at Target and we bought Natalie's tutu skirt and shamrock "kiss me" shirt at the children's store Crazy 8.

Natalie and her friend Jacklyn (14 months old) sharing crayons and learning to color on the sheets.

About to dive into the cake - of course we had to get her naked because I feared that it was going to be a massive mess.

She began eating the cake very delicately and didn't make much of a mess.  The rest of us were eating cupcakes so I think she saw us eating the cake directly from the wrapper or something........because all of a sudden she forgot about her hands and just went mouth first into the cake.

See?!  That's much better.

The pink wagon was a big hit with both Jackie and Natalie and they took several trips around the house.

There's my big girl sitting in her new rocking chair.  She will just sit in it and rock back and forth giggling the whole time.

Whew!  Planning and executing this birthday party was a lot of work and I have to admit - I'm glad that I don't have to do it for another year.

One Year Old

Wow.  We are here.  As of Thursday, March 8th, we have a one year old little girl.  Every day when I pick her up from Ms. Rebecca's house she has grown up just a tiny bit more.  A big girl giggle here.  A full on toddler temper tantrum there.  She is playing with her toys in a more organized manner.  Little People go in bed in the doll house.  Little People come out of the doll house and into the car.  She eats like a horse and will devour anything and everything placed in front of her.  Favorites include cheese, any type of fruit, lots of green beans, broccoli and zucchini.  She even gets her own meal at restaurants.  She asks questions "dis?" and wants a response, "star."  As much as I remember hating the newborn stage of her life - the fact that she really didn't DO much except eat, sleep and poop - I'm a little bittersweet about saying good-bye to having a baby..........but not so bittersweet that I'm looking at producing another.  

Some one-year-old Natalie facts and tidbits:

She is standing on her own more and more everyday but has not really ventured off into walking by herself yet.  She loves to push chairs, toy boxes, her walker and side tables around the living room.

I was pretty worried about the transition from bottles of formula to sippy-cups of whole milk but I stressed for no reason.  She has switched over beautifully and now in the mornings instead of a bottle she sits in her chair and eats fruit and either a waffle or french toast accompanied by a cup of milk.  The only bottle Natalie is still pretty attached to is her nighttime bottle that she drinks while being rocked by her daddy.

Her personality is friendly, giggly, curious, determined and pretty delightful.

As you'll see in the pictures below, she is very tall for her age and is totally wearing 18 month clothes and size four or five shoe.

Here is what Natalie has been up to this month:

Not cooperating when Mommy and Daddy were trying to take a picture of her super cute Valentine's Day outfit.

Testing out her Valentine's Day present - a Little People SUV to go with her doll house.

Open the present Momma!

I was so proud of her outfit for Valentine's Day - and even better was the fact that I got all of it for cheap at the Once Upon a Child that is close to our house!

She ate spaghetti.

We took the dogs for a walk down at the park.

She played peek-a-boo in the curtains while Momma was cleaning the windows.

Little sneak.

She has figured out how to reach things off of the table and the countertops in the bathroom.  Love the little tiptoes.

Cruising through the entryway.

Hmm....maybe it's easier to push while on my knees.

Climbing the stairs is one of her favorite activities and usually elicits the greatest tantrum when she is pulled away.

Mid climb.  Who doesn't love baby rolls of chub?

Success!!!  Look at that full little belly.

Now we're just in the final stages of preparing for the big birthday bash on Saturday!

First Stars Game!

Craig and I have had season tickets to the Dallas Stars for four years. We have really grown to love the game, the team and date nights in Dallas. When I was pregnant we went to an autograph session with the players and I bought an infant size Stars jersey to have all the players sign. It's been hanging in her closet waiting for a special time to wear it. Today was that day. Since the boys played at 1:00 in the afternoon we figured it was a great opportunity to introduce Natalie to our favorite outing - a hockey game. We were a pretty cute trio in our jeans and autographed matching Stars jerseys. She made it through two whole periods and one intermission and for a ten month old.......that's pretty good.


Natalie and Daddy outside the American Airlines Center.


Watching the game intently - true to Natalie form, she was so interested in all the new and different things at the game.


I love these two people. I know Craig was so proud to bring his beautiful little girl to the game. I sincerely hope that they still go to games together when she is five, fifteen and even twenty-five.


Mommy and Natalie - you can't tell but we do have matching jerseys on under our jackets. I draw the line at wearing a big green bow in my hair though.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Are YOU a warrior?

Warrior Dash Official Website

That's a very good question.  Am I?

Well......come April, we're going to find out.

I don't have a true "bucket list" that I've written out or anything but when I a friend of mine did this last year I was inspired.  I'm not really a runner, but I like a good challenge.  

The Warrior Dash is not your ordinary 5K.  There's mud, barbed wire and flames.  Oh.  And a big beer and viking helmet at the end.

It's going to be epic.

Mobile

We have a crawler in our house. 

It's the most basic army crawl.

But she's mobile nonetheless.

And nothing in our house, especially our tennis shoes, are safe from her grasp.

I'm so proud of her...I was THAT mother taking video last night and posting it on Facebook...but at the same time incredibly terrifying because I know that our life is going to change.  Corraling her will be more difficult and the real job of parenting is starting.

Ten Years

Ten years ago today....I was in the first few weeks of my freshman year at UNT.  I was on my way to my first class - a science class all the way across the campus in the Environmental Science building.

Today....I am in the first few weeks of my 7th year teaching in the district, I have a six month old baby girl and have been married for 18 months.

Ten years ago this morning....I was confusedly being turned away from my science class by my professor who was in tears and mumbling something about her brother that worked at the Pentagon.  I checked my cell phone and listened to the most bizarre messages from my mother and my friend Sam each mentioning something about the country being at war.

This morning....I watched my baby play on the blanket in the middle of the living room bathed in early morning light and completely unaware of the tragedy that her father and I were reliving on the television screen.

Ten years ago emotionally....I felt sad and a little shaken but I was excited about having a beautiful free day off from school to hang out with my friends.

Ouch.  That feels kind of crappy to admit.

Today emotionally....the scenes are jarring and unsettling.  I have a greater understanding of the horror that those individuals experienced on that Tuesday morning.  Anything and everything could happen to my family and loved ones at any moment in time.  I held my baby a little closer and made sure Craig knew that I love him.

Quick Post

While I've got Natalie occupied in her bouncer I figured I would give a quick update on three monumental things she has done in the past twenty-four hours.

1. Yesterday morning during tummy time I laid her on the mat with her head facing away from me and I started calling her name and telling her to turn her head to my voice.  Slowly but surely she picked up her little head and rotated it over to look at me. 

2. Our bedtime routine for her starts at 9:00 with a feeding, rocking and lullabies and usually ends between 9:30 and 10:00 with her asleep in her bassinet in the bedroom.  She typically wakes up somewhere around 2:00 and 5:00 for feedings and then waking up for the day around 8:00 when her daddy is leaving for work.  This morning I woke up at 7:00 very confused.  Had I really been so tired that I didn't remember feeding her at 5:00?  I checked my Baby Tracker app on my phone.  Nope.  No record of a feeding at 5:00 this morning.  The little munchkin just slept right on through it.  Good girl.  Hopefully this is the beginning of once a night feedings?!  I'm cautiously optimistic.

3. This morning as Craig was leaving for work and I was making my coffee we placed her in the bouncer seat in the kitchen and she was just hanging out and looking around.  After Craig left and I sat down at the computer with my coffee I heard a rattle.  I looked down and my little monkey had reached up and hit the rattle hanging down over her in the bouncer.  Okay.  I'll chalk up the first one to being an accident.  Then, after careful concentration...she did it again.  She's got a pretty sweet armswing if I do say so myself - a middle hitter/blocker perhaps?!

100th Post!

It's been about 2 and a 1/2 years since I started posting and I have now reached my 100th post! Hurray for me sticking with something for this long. It's amazing how much things in my life have changed since my very first post.

Today Craig and I went and got another thing accomplished for the wedding: our wedding bands. Although we didn't buy them, we know exactly what we want and how much they cost.

This is my engagement ring - it's a traditional diamond solitaire but with a more modern twist with the thicker band and squared edges.

Here is what I have picked out for my wedding band - the diamonds are set into the band and don't go all the way around. Initially I will get just one, but would like to acquire another one in the future for the other side of my ring. After all, I like things to be symmetrical!

Here is the wedding band that Craig chose for himself - it's made out of tungsten metal which doesn't scratch and it also has a more charcoal gray sheen to it instead of the bright white gold of the traditional mens wedding band.