Some Advice for Parents To Be:
DO NOT! And I repeat: DO NOT fill your home with animals before you bring a baby into it. I'm not sure what we were thinking when we decided we needed TWO dogs and TWO cats. I'm very sure one of each would have sufficed (However, once we got one, we figured they were lonely and needed another one of their kind to keep them company--THIS IS NOT THE CASE. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY FINE!). So, here we sit, two kids, two dogs, and two cats. I love all of our animals. We could never give them up. But I tell you, sometimes our house feels like a zoo (Because of the animals, not the kids part:)
For example: Today Byron (our Doberman Pinscher) is trotting around the house like a horse. The neighbor's dog is outside barking, and Byron is having NONE of that. Somehow he thinks that by pacing the house and whining that he is accomplishing something of great importance. Not sure what it is he thinks he's accomplishing, but it's something important for sure. He will NOT stop, and when he does, it's to look at the back door as if an intrudor is about to break in. My gosh this annoys me!
Meanwhile, Bella (our wretched little min pin who I love, but if I could have given my young, newly married self, one word of advice, it would have been to NOT buy a min pin) is growling and attacking our cats every chance they step foot into our kitchen. Apparently she just realized today that they live here, and it pisses her off.
Maynard (cat) is crawling into the boxes of Halloween decorations that are sitting in rec room, and Mimi (our other cat) is doing this thing where she sits on our bed in our bedroom (bedroom door open) and cries as if she is lost or stuck somewhere. She will proceed to do this until I come into the room.
Seriously! What was I thinking?!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
If I Stay
This book is phenomenal.
Really.
I read it in a span of three days, which is really saying something. Now that Grace is here/school has been keeping my schedule swamped, I have had less time to read. I suppose it helped that Ken had surgery, therefore I had a couple of hours to kill while waiting at the hospital. (He is fine by the way! He has had a hernia for years, but just recently it started to hurt him, so we decided to take care of it while our deductible was still met. I would post pictures of him in his oh so attractive hospital gown, but I think he would possibly kill me.)
Anyway, back to the book. It was beautifully written. It made me ache. It's one of those books that you don't want to end, so when it does, you read the acknowledgments at the end, followed by the discussion questions, and then if you're lucky (which I was), there will be an additional note at the end in which the author discusses where her idea came from. I read all of that. I ate it up. And then when that was done, I placed the book on my lap, looked at it, and sighed. It was just THAT good! I probably would have sat there for a while staring at the cover of the book, but the nurse came to tell me Ken was out of surgery, which broke me out of my reverie. It's the type of book where you need to take a breather from reading for a few days. The type of book, in which you grieve.
Really.
I read it in a span of three days, which is really saying something. Now that Grace is here/school has been keeping my schedule swamped, I have had less time to read. I suppose it helped that Ken had surgery, therefore I had a couple of hours to kill while waiting at the hospital. (He is fine by the way! He has had a hernia for years, but just recently it started to hurt him, so we decided to take care of it while our deductible was still met. I would post pictures of him in his oh so attractive hospital gown, but I think he would possibly kill me.)
Anyway, back to the book. It was beautifully written. It made me ache. It's one of those books that you don't want to end, so when it does, you read the acknowledgments at the end, followed by the discussion questions, and then if you're lucky (which I was), there will be an additional note at the end in which the author discusses where her idea came from. I read all of that. I ate it up. And then when that was done, I placed the book on my lap, looked at it, and sighed. It was just THAT good! I probably would have sat there for a while staring at the cover of the book, but the nurse came to tell me Ken was out of surgery, which broke me out of my reverie. It's the type of book where you need to take a breather from reading for a few days. The type of book, in which you grieve.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Excuse the Cliche...
You'll have to excuse me quickly, as I use a cliche. But, as predicted, my daughter is growing up way too quickly! I had been told this would happen many times throughout my pregnancy. I don't know that I realized just HOW quick quickly really was until I became Grace's mother though. On Saturday, she'll be five months old, and these past five months have FLEW! It's sad and exciting at the same time. Sad, that it's flying by, but I manage to fall in love with each new stage she's in. I've had multiple times in these last few months, where I've though, "It can't get better than this." And yet, it does. I love watching her grow. I love the new hair she's getting on her head, and the new noises she loves. I love each phase she goes through from constantly flipping onto her belly, to holding on to her toes every chance she gets. I love her. I don't know that I can find the words to describe what I feel for her. It is all encompassing. It's enveloping. I get lost in it. And, I thank God every day for entrusting me with her. I am so grateful to be her mother.
Before these next few months speed by, I thought I'd try to slow things down a bit by recording and sharing some of my favorite moments/things from these last five months.
-Waking up to feed Grace during the night. She's not at a point where she sleeps through the night yet. I really thought I'd have a hard time with the lack of sleep thing, but I'm going to be honest, I think I'll actually miss waking up to her in the middle of the night. She usually goes to bed around eight and then wakes up between two and three. I don't wake up to her crying. In fact, I'm not sure what wakes me up. She sleeps next to our bed the first half of the night, and so I think I just hear/sense her movement. Once I do, I get out of bed to pick her up, and I am ALWAYS greeted by her little grin. It's like she's saying, "Oh, there you are Mommy." I love it. Despite being sleep deprived, it is one of the highlights of every day. I look forward to it. It's like our secret.
-The way she laughs at Ken. I'll admit, sometimes I'm jealous of it. I can't get the laughs out of her the way that Ken does, but I love it all the same.
-Her bum dance. She loves it. We love it. It's a staple in our house. Bum dancing usually occurs once per day. I attempted to upload a video of this, but had no such luck.
-Bath time. Her first two baths she screamed bloody murder, but now she's my little bath time girl. She loves the warm water and she is so good in the bath. Lately, after we're done getting her clean, I drain the tub so there's just an inch or two in the bottom, and I lay her down and let her splash.
-The first time she laughed. It happened back in July. She was swinging in her swing outside while we ate and she discovered the mobile for the first time. Apparently, it was hilarious!
-That first night in the hospital. I couldn't put her down. They took her to the nursery around three a.m. because she had swallowed some amniotic fluid, and I ached the minute they took her from the room. I was immediately hooked.
-The way she looks at Fenix. She most definitely knows who her brother is. They already have a special bond. If he is in the room, her attention is on him.
-The first time Ken put her in a hoodie and she was so cute I could have died.
-Our morning playtime. Those first few months when I was home with her we had a routine. She'd wake up and eat. Then I'd sit with her on the couch with my legs curled up, and I'd lay her down on my legs, and we'd play. If it was a day Fenix was with us, he'd play with her too. Then when she was all played out, I'd wrap her up and we'd lie down on the couch and nap. I miss those naps with her.
-The first time she cried at our house. Every animal rushed into our bedroom to check out the noise. Byron was alarmed. He actually started to cry himself. The cats were equally upset, both of them hopping onto the bed to explore our newest noise maker.
-Her new obsession with her toes. She is always reaching for them. Just the other day, she was able to get them into her mouth.
-Her constant curiosity about everything. She is always reaching out to play with something; my hair, necklace, yarn, the carpet, you name it. One of her favorite's is Ken's beard:)
-When our delivery nurse first saw the top of her head. "I see dark hair!" And, then my reaction, "Dark hair? Are you sure?". Once she confirmed that she did indeed have brown hair, the waterworks began.
Of course there are other favorites too, and there are daily things I love, like her laugh or the way she talks non stop now. Her constant need to bounce when you are holding her, or the how closely she pays attention when you read to her.
I'm sure as these months progress and turn into years that I will only have more moments to add to my list. These first few months having been nothing short of magic, and I am very grateful to have the happy, healthy, daughter that I do.
Before these next few months speed by, I thought I'd try to slow things down a bit by recording and sharing some of my favorite moments/things from these last five months.
-Waking up to feed Grace during the night. She's not at a point where she sleeps through the night yet. I really thought I'd have a hard time with the lack of sleep thing, but I'm going to be honest, I think I'll actually miss waking up to her in the middle of the night. She usually goes to bed around eight and then wakes up between two and three. I don't wake up to her crying. In fact, I'm not sure what wakes me up. She sleeps next to our bed the first half of the night, and so I think I just hear/sense her movement. Once I do, I get out of bed to pick her up, and I am ALWAYS greeted by her little grin. It's like she's saying, "Oh, there you are Mommy." I love it. Despite being sleep deprived, it is one of the highlights of every day. I look forward to it. It's like our secret.
-The way she laughs at Ken. I'll admit, sometimes I'm jealous of it. I can't get the laughs out of her the way that Ken does, but I love it all the same.
-Her bum dance. She loves it. We love it. It's a staple in our house. Bum dancing usually occurs once per day. I attempted to upload a video of this, but had no such luck.
-Bath time. Her first two baths she screamed bloody murder, but now she's my little bath time girl. She loves the warm water and she is so good in the bath. Lately, after we're done getting her clean, I drain the tub so there's just an inch or two in the bottom, and I lay her down and let her splash.
-The first time she laughed. It happened back in July. She was swinging in her swing outside while we ate and she discovered the mobile for the first time. Apparently, it was hilarious!
-That first night in the hospital. I couldn't put her down. They took her to the nursery around three a.m. because she had swallowed some amniotic fluid, and I ached the minute they took her from the room. I was immediately hooked.
-The way she looks at Fenix. She most definitely knows who her brother is. They already have a special bond. If he is in the room, her attention is on him.
-The first time Ken put her in a hoodie and she was so cute I could have died.
-Our morning playtime. Those first few months when I was home with her we had a routine. She'd wake up and eat. Then I'd sit with her on the couch with my legs curled up, and I'd lay her down on my legs, and we'd play. If it was a day Fenix was with us, he'd play with her too. Then when she was all played out, I'd wrap her up and we'd lie down on the couch and nap. I miss those naps with her.
-The first time she cried at our house. Every animal rushed into our bedroom to check out the noise. Byron was alarmed. He actually started to cry himself. The cats were equally upset, both of them hopping onto the bed to explore our newest noise maker.
-Her new obsession with her toes. She is always reaching for them. Just the other day, she was able to get them into her mouth.
-Her constant curiosity about everything. She is always reaching out to play with something; my hair, necklace, yarn, the carpet, you name it. One of her favorite's is Ken's beard:)
-When our delivery nurse first saw the top of her head. "I see dark hair!" And, then my reaction, "Dark hair? Are you sure?". Once she confirmed that she did indeed have brown hair, the waterworks began.
Of course there are other favorites too, and there are daily things I love, like her laugh or the way she talks non stop now. Her constant need to bounce when you are holding her, or the how closely she pays attention when you read to her.
I'm sure as these months progress and turn into years that I will only have more moments to add to my list. These first few months having been nothing short of magic, and I am very grateful to have the happy, healthy, daughter that I do.
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About Me
- Misty
- In a paragraph...I am a mom, wife, step-mom, teacher, daughter, sister, and friend. I am a believer, a daydreamer, a memory keeper, and an avid reader. I love teenagers, animals, bad reality t.v., coffee, and wine. I value my family, my career, my students, and my faith. And, as a warning...I most likely will be horrible at updating this:)