Worrying About Your Children

"Worrying about your children is sanity. And being that sane can drive you nuts."

I thought I would share quotes as I come across them. Hubby heard this while watching a movie when he was away on business recently. He wrote it down and brought it to me to read. I really liked the quote, so I had not thrown it away, and it has been sitting on my kitchen counter ever since.

I thought it was probably time to toss the piece of paper, but first I wanted to share it and document it in my blog so I can look back on my favorite quotes.

I am sure those of you with children can definitely relate!

Ready to Wean?

Could she possibly be ready to wean? We missed the morning feeding this morning, and I didn't even realize it (nor did she) until I sat down to rock her and nurse her at naptime.

When she woke up this morning, she was immediately ready to go and get some juice from the kitchen. And then it was time to eat breakfast, and then we went grocery shopping. She was so busy that I think she forgot about it, much like I did. She was not fussy at all, and she never even asked for it by pulling on my shirt or anything.

The first time she missed a morning feeding was our last morning at the beach. We woke up, put our bathing suits on and then went down to the beach without any breakfast. We ate breakfast after we picked up seashells on the beach, and it didn't seem to phase her then either that she had missed a nursing. And, that same day, she wasn't even interested in nursing at her naptime feeding. There was just too much going on.

And then I tried to skip another feeding on Monday, June 16th, but she reminded me at 11:30 a.m. that she had not eaten as she kept pulling on my shirt saying "Peas, Peas, Peas." I tried to persuade her otherwise, but I didn't have the heart to deny her that feeding.

So, I look at pictures of Annabelle with me holding her and I think, am I seriously still nursing this child? She's huge! Maybe I only think that because I read an article in a baby magazine where another mother with a child around 2 years of age felt that way.

I had originally planned to nurse her until she was 2 years old, but no longer (or only enough longer to start weaning her at 2 years of age), but it seems that she may wean herself before then. That is good though. That is really what I wanted. I really would rather that she wean herself to save us both the heartache.

Of course, I don't think it is going to cause me any heartache (unless she has a hard time with it) because I am really ready to stop nursing her. I'd like to be able to get away for just a night or a weekend. I have not yet spent a night away from her.

So, if you are not a mother yet or if you are a new mother who is not nursing or even if you are a new mother who is nursing, you are probably thinking, "Eeeww! That's gross!" I've been there! I thought the same thing too! But, unless you are in the same situation, you'll never understand. Your feelings towards motherhood in general will change completely as you go through the stages preparing for motherhood as well as through the stages of motherhood. Motherhood is a completely new and life altering experience. It is not something anyone can explain...you have to experience it for yourself. And every mother has a different experience too. Some mothers cannot nurse for one reason or another, so most likely, these mothers will never understand why anyone would nurse their child until 2 years of age. Other mothers only nurse for 6 weeks to 3 months (at the most), so they probably feel the same way as the non-nursing mothers towards nursing until 2 years of age. And then, the mothers that nurse longer (9 months or more) see nursing in a whole new light (well, some do).

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing until 2 years of age. In my eyes, it is the best thing for your child if you are able to do so. And, fortunately, my pediatrician actually agreed and recommended nursing as long as possible. Children are supposed to drink whole milk until they are 2 years of age, so is it not better to provide your child with the best source of nutrition through breast milk?

Okay, so I'm done with my soap box. I hope that all mothers follow their heart though. You have to do what you feel is right and what works best for you as a mother and also what works best for your family.

So, all that being said, please say some prayers that Annabelle will wean herself when the time is right. And, in the mean time, please pray that she'll start drinking cow's milk! She will not drink cow's milk, except for a little bit with her cereal in the cereal bowl in the morning.

What's your passion?

This past Wednesday, I went to the office to work (for pay this time) for the day. My parents kept Annabelle while I was gone for the day.

My work day started with a Continuing Professional Education (aka CPE) class from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. As a CPA, I am required to obtain 40 credit hours per year in order to continue my license. I worked too hard to pass the CPA exam in the first place, so I am not willing to give that up, if I can help it!

This particular session was a business development session titled "Selling Professional Services." It was geared towards managers and up at our firm to encourage and support business development at an individual level.

As some of you may or may not know, I have been working with this firm anywhere between 5 and 30 hours per month since my maternity leave was up in January 2007. I was full-time with them before Annabelle was born, and I started working for this firm originally back in August 1999. Lately, I have been working more along the lines of 5 hours per month (pathetic, huh?). So, I am making an effort to go to the office at least one day a week to keep my skill set up and keep my foot in the door. Since my time spent working for the firm is very little, I would rather spend my time "chargeable" (as we call it when we work on client projects) than I would developing business.

So, I am sitting in this meeting asking myself why I decided to attend this particular CPE. They were encouraging 2 hours a week for business development, which is definitely feasible if you work 40-50-60 hours per week, but with my very part-time schedule, 2 hours for business development is not really where I want to spend my time at this point in my life.

Well, after an hour of the session, they introduced an outside speaker who raised a great question. He asked, "What is your passion?" Fortunately, he wasn't looking for any verbal answers. But, he really did make me stop and think.

Even if you know me very well, you probably don't know how much I have truly struggled with being a stay-at-home mom versus pursuing my career. Whenever I go to work and sit in meetings and watch others perform, my heart aches. But, why? Mostly because I watch people who started working with the firm after me (who I trained, I might add) thrive. I sit and think, that could have been me. I could have been the one the Partners put in charge of that project. But, it isn't. It isn't because I chose to sacrifice my career to stay home with my daughter.

During the meeting, the speaker said that many of us would still be working in 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years from now. One of the girls sitting next to me who also has a young child (only 5 months younger than Annabelle) sort of gasped as if she were thinking, "Gosh, I haven't thought about it that way. That stinks!"

I think it was then that I realized what a great gig I really do have. I am so very fortunate to be able to stay home with Annabelle. Yes, I am giving up my career, but honestly, I never have really had a true passion for accounting. I've liked (sometimes just tolerated) what I've done and do for a living, but I've never woke up in the morning excited to go to work.

I know some people think, "Well who does?" I truly do believe there are people out there who love to go to work. My husband is probably one of them. Hmmm...could that possibly be because he wants to get away from Annabelle and me? I hope not! But, seriously, he truly does love his job, and he's great at it (in my opinion). His boss may beg to differ. Ha! Ha!

But, the more I sat through this meeting, the more it clicked that on most days, I truly do love my job (except for the cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, folding clothes, etc). Is there a better way to spend your day?

I get to wake up and know that a smiling little girl will be happy to see me when I rescue her from her crib. We get to plan our own day of fun. I get to spend time with an innocent child who makes me laugh more than I've probably laughed since I was a child myself. I get to hear her giggle and say "Uh-oh" when she drops something on the floor. I get to interpret her as she learns to speak and act out (in good ways and bad ways), and most of the time, I am the only one who can interpret her specific behaviour because she learned it from watching me (scary)! The Coffee Bean story is a classic example...I'll blog about that soon. I am able to watch her grow and learn, and I don't have to miss these simple pleasures because I am with her all day.

Sure, there are dirty diapers and teddy bears that have been tee teed on and spilled drinks, but those are all the small things. These bumps along the way remind me of something my brother wrote in a wedding card to hubby and me shortly after we had gotten married. I am sure I am not quoting it exactly, but it goes something like this.

"May you have enough hard times to appreciate the good times."

It was so simple, but it truly made an impression on me. If your life is only filled with happy moments, you'll never appreciate or enjoy them! That is why babies bring dirty diapers, sleepless nights and sassy attitudes!

So, I think I've finally found my passion! I am sure that I will have plenty more days full of my own pity parties, and if I do, please redirect me to this blog entry.

As for my professional career, it is definitely on hold for awhile while I raise my babies (only one baby right now), but I do think I NOW know my passion for a paying career. Did anyone guess Personal Financial Planner? I LOVE trying to figure out how to save another penny! Maybe one day I'll go back to school and get my Masters degree in Personal Financial Planning.

Until then though, I am going to try my very best to live in the moment and enjoy every moment!

Live, love and laugh!

May God bless you all!

We Climbed Stone Mountain

And, yes, we all did! And, we bought a smashed penny that says "I Climbed Stone Mountain" for 51 cents at the very top! Well, I guess it was technically 50 cents because the penny is still ours, just not expendable. Hubby said it was a mile up and then another mile back down.

Annabelle went down for an early nap around 11:30 a.m., and she woke up around 1:30 p.m., so we ate lunch and then decided to do something fun with the remainder of the day. We left the house around 2:45 p.m. to head for Stone Mountain, only 15-20 minutes away. We have a season pass through June 2008, so we are trying to get our money's worth. I suspect we'll get another season pass for this next year.

Hubby used the back carrier for the very first time, and he and Annabelle climbed Stone Mountain together. I've used that carrier before, back in the fall of 2007, and I could not stand to carry her for very long at all. I could not balance us very well, and I was afraid I was going to stumble and bring us both to the ground, so there was no way I was going to hike up Stone Mountain with her on my back!

Along the way, we pointed out puddles of water in divots (most a lot larger than a divot) in the rocks, and we'd say, "Annabelle, there is a big puddle." She would say, "Yeah." And then, she would point them out to us along the way. We could also hear the train that runs through the park. We told her it was a choo choo train. She learned a new word today because she repeated what we said in her own little words, but it sounded very much like choo choo train. I'd type it in if I only could remember how she actually sounded when she said it. It was very sweet though!

At the top of the mountain, we freed her from the back carrier. We then all sat down for granola bar snacks. Keep in mind...she worked really hard to climb that mountain, so she needed a granola bar to restore her energy. She was fairly content sitting while she ate her granola bar, but after that, she was ready to go! She wanted to go explore, but since it is still very rocky on top of the mountain, we would not allow her to go without holding one of our hands.

So, I took her for a walk down to the edge of the top of the mountain. It overlooked the field where everyone sits to watch the laser show. There is a fence along the edge, so I didn't have to worry about us getting too close to the edge. She did place her sippee cup full of juice down alongside the fence, and I grabbed it immediately because the fence did not go completely to the ground. It very easily could have fallen through the crack and tumbled down the mountain. I guess that is probably why they don't allow you to get too close to the mountain when you are at the bottom of the mountain.

On the way down Stone Mountain, Annabelle did start getting a little fussy. I would touch her legs, and she would then complain about her "Biper." Translation: Diaper. I think the back carrier was too tight on her little legs as they looked very red and swollen. She was drinking plenty of juice though, so I wasn't worried about her being dehydrated. I still cannot explain why she complained about her "Biper" except that it was very full of tee tee when we finally changed her at the bottom of the mountain after our hike. I guess she was tired of sitting in tee tee.

I think we headed back down from the top of the mountain around 5:30 p.m., and we left the park closer to 6:00 p.m. I am guessing we probably started our climb up the mountain around 3:15 p.m. Of course, we spent probably 30-45 minutes on top of the mountain just enjoying the view and catching our breath.

If you aren't from Georgia, you should check out Stone Mountain if you are ever in the vicinity. There is actually a little bit of history about Stone Mountain at Mt. Rushmore. It is rather interesting.

Every evening during the summer, there is a laser show projected onto a carving on the side of the mountain. I used to come to the laser show as a young child, and we always had a blast! I haven't actually seen the laser show in years, but we are looking forward to seeing the laser show this coming Friday when we visit Stone Mountain again for a company get-together. It will be Annabelle's first laser show, if she doesn't fall asleep before it starts!

Hastings Nature & Garden Center

It was a beautiful day in the ATL! It was the last day of spring, and it felt like spring too with a cool morning and a less hot and less humid day. So, I decided that we definitely needed to take advantage of the beautiful weather! I am sure these days will be few and far between since tomorrow marks the first day of summer. Summers in Atlanta are always so hot and humid, and we have already had some almost record setting hot days over the past few weeks.

So, we made a trip to Hastings Nature & Garden Center off of Peachtree Road near Buckhead. Our neighbor across the street recommended it to me a few months ago. She told me that her and her daughter were going to a nursery where they had birds. Silly me said, "Oh, does it cost anything to get in?" I didn't comprehend what she meant when she said "nursery." I am sure I sounded like a complete ditz! She politely said, "No. It is like a Pike's Nursery." Of course, I know nothing about growing plants and flowers, and I definitely cannot keep them alive, so why would I ever know the meaning of "nursery" in those terms.

It was truly a beautiful nursery. They had a macaw, named Mickey, that said "hello" and some other beautiful and very colorful birds. Here is a picture of Mickey.

Here is the best picture I have of Annabelle with the other birds. I cannot remember their type though. And, this picture was actually taken as we were leaving because I wasn't courageous enough to pull the camera out when we first arrived (considering it is a business trying to make money). I don't think they intend to entertain for free! But, it works for me! And, you all know how very frugal I am! But, I still was not courageous enough to take the better camera. Maybe next time!

As I was trying to take a picture of Annabelle with the colorful and very playful birds, she proceeded to move closer to the cage, and she finally reached up to place her hands on the cage. I immediately snatched her hands away, and I did just in time because one of those birds snapped at Annabelle's fingers. She was very lucky he didn't get her! It did not scare her, but it definitely scared me. We had fair warning too because there was a sign saying "Do not place fingers near the cage."

Oh, and do you see the bird seed that has dropped on the floor in the above picture? The birds were eating while we were standing there saying our goodbyes and taking pictures, and every time they would drop a seed onto the floor, Annabelle would say, "Uh-oh." Too cute!

Annabelle loved the water fountains. She loved this one water fountain in particular with the birds built into the water fountain.

And the best thing about this nursery...they had a separate little garden to the side with a train! She loved it!

And, here she is watching the train go through the tunnel. It was so funny to watch her crouch down to watch the train go through.

She really enjoyed climbing and sitting on each and every bench. So, here is a picture of her practicing to be a little lady! I think she needs to work on it! What do you think?

This next picture is one of my favorite shots. I asked her if she wanted to walk across a little bridge (to get her up and moving from the bench she was standing near). She got to the bridge, and she plopped down right in the middle of the little bridge. This picture is of her watching one of the nursery workers water the flowers. Is that not one of the sweetest smiles?

As always, she loved the rocks, probably as much as the train. She would pick them up and then line them up on a wooden shelf that held the flowers. She was so proud of herself! I wonder where she gets those anal retentive tendencies to line things up. Does anyone know? It couldn't possibly be from her mother, could it?!?! Poor child! Does anyone else pray that their child will be nothing like them? Ha! Ha!

Is this next picture, you can see her collection of rocks lined up so nicely.

And here she is again completing her collection with even more rocks.

So, we enjoyed ourselves very much at Hastings! Thank you Hastings for providing free entertainment for the day. Maybe next time we'll buy some tomato seeds to plant.

P.S. They had goldfish and turtles too! And, they had a hot tub that Annabelle was attracted to for some reason. It looked a little odd there and out of place to me, but I guess it served its purpose for promoting sales. And, in the pond where the fish swam, there was one of those big balls that reflects the light (they are typical in gardens). It was silver, and she loved it! She's been talking about the "baal" she saw all day. Translation: Ball.

Nonnie's Birthday

We celebrated Nonnie's birthday this evening. June 18th is actually Nonnie's birthday too! We joined Nonnie, Uncle Matt, Aunt Meredith and Cousins Adam and Molly for dinner at the Olive Garden off of Holcomb Bridge Road near Roswell.

On the way over to the Olive Garden, I told Annabelle that we were going to go and have dinner with Nonnie for her birthday, and I asked Annabelle if she could sing "Happy Birthday" to Nonnie. She started singing her version of "Happy Birthday" which is "Do Do Do Do Do Do" over and over as she sways her head side to side to the beat. Naturally though, she never did sing "Happy Birthday" where Nonnie could hear her.

For the birthday cake, Aunt Meredith brought along some cupcakes, and as soon as Annabelle saw them, she wanted one! She was bouncing up and down in her high chair saying "Peas, Peas, Peas, Peas." She was so much fun to watch that I held her cupcake hostage (within a few arm's lengths). It was hilarious! Is that mean? She never broke down into meltdown mode, so I think it was all fun and games for me and her (well, mostly for me).

Here is a picture of her eating her chocolate cupcake. She was, as always, the last to finish eating. But, that does NOT come as a surprise to her Mommy or Daddy! She is always the last one done, and her Mommy is a very slow eater! I don't feel rushed to eat my own dinner any more because I know that everyone will have to wait on her anyway.

Unfortunately, this is the one time that I did not bring along the better camera, so most of these pictures all have red eye, and I don't have access to Photoshop Elements right now to clean the picture up. So, this is what you get...the original picture taken by my hubby.

And, we even took some pictures of all of the cousins together, but again, I did not have the better camera, so I couldn't just shoot away to hope to capture the best shot! Oh well! And Annabelle and Cousin Molly even held hands and exchanged hugs and kisses. It was so very sweet that I wish I had captured it on film. I guess being captured in memory will have to do!

Here are some pictures of the cousins. When I did finally pull my camera out to snap some pictures of the three of them, Cousin Molly decided she no longer wanted to hold Annabelle's hand. It was quite hilarious! We asked them to hold hands again, and Annabelle reached out for Molly's hand, and Molly pulled it away and said, "No!" She was determined not to hold Annabelle's hand again. We had our chance to take pictures the first time, and she wasn't going to allow us to use her as a show pony any more.

I got an e-mail from Aunt Meredith this morning, and she said that "Molly flipped out as we were putting on her PJs because she wanted to give Annabelle 'one more hug!'" That's sweet!

This first picture is a picture of Annabelle trying to hold Molly's hand. As you can see from the picture, Molly pulled her hand and arm as far away from Annabelle as possible. Is that not funny? Just seconds before, Annabelle had gotten down off of the bench to grab her orange sippee cup, so Nonnie said Molly didn't want to hold her hand because she had that orange sippee cup. If you don't know anything about the family, my hubby went to the University of TN for his graduate degree, so he's a big TN fan, and hubby's brother and his wife both went to the University of GA for their undergraduate degrees, so they are big UGA fans. TN colors are orange and white. GA colors are red and black. Enough said?

This next picture is the best shot I think I was able to get with all of them looking. Of course, Annabelle is not smiling in this one though. Adam cracks me up with his goofy smiles!


And one last picture showing that Uncle Matt and Aunt Meredith are going to have their hands full in about 10 years! Do you see the look that Cousin Molly is giving her big brother Adam? If I were Adam, I would definitely look out for her! I suspect that she is going to get him into a lot of trouble in the coming years, and unfortunately, poor Adam is probably going to be the one at fault! Those second children can be viscious! Watch out Uncle Matt and Aunt Meredith! May God be with you! Of course, and also with us as we're already seeing plenty of "Tude" (as hubby likes to call it) in our sweet little Annabelle.

Happy Birthday Nonnie! We love you, and we enjoyed our evening together! How does it feel to be 25?

Stop and Smell the Daffodil

Or whatever flower this is! I am so excited about this picture. I think it turned out quite cute, except for the hair in Annabelle's face. Of course, I only had to take a gazillion pictures to get the almost perfect picture.

This picture was taken today at Nonnie's house. We had gone to visit Nonnie Tuesday night, and we spent the night with Nonnie, and then on Wednesday, Nonnie kept Annabelle while Annabelle's Mommy went to the office for a little while. I took this picture after I had gotten home and shortly before we left for dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Is she not the cutest thing smelling that flower? She loves to smell flowers! If she sees a flower (or even a candle) that she wants to smell, she will start blowing through her nose (in and out) as if she is smelling the flower or candle. That is her way of telling us that she wants to smell something. No wonder she doesn't talk much! She gets her way through expression alone.