Chatty

So I have been told that I talk too much and not by my husband (this time). With our recent move and changing preschools, I want to meet other parents in our area and at our daughter's school. Now, I am feeling a bit nervous about this. At least with school these are people that we will have contact with over the next 10-15 years and I am worried.

My dear friend told me that I freak people out when I meet them. Strange, what are people looking for? What is wrong with striking up a conversation with someone? Typically, I could give two you know what's about what other people are thinking and I know that I will need to get back there fast. I worry that I will some how alter the course of my children's friendships and such.

How do you all do with meeting new moms, dads etc...I would love your input!

Do You Do What You Love?

I have a problem.

You see, I am fortunate enough to love what I do on a daily basis. However, I am cursed in that I would love to do about 50 other things in my life. If I lost my job today, I would have a difficult time deciding what to do, not because of fear or the availability of a job, but because there would be so many choices out there.

Yes, I am aware that there are fewer and fewer jobs available today. As a teen/ young adult I held a myriad of positions over the years. These opportunities gave me the confidence to try anything and as I get older, worry less about how much I make. Is money important? Of course! You need to eat and pay for medical expenses etc...Yet, I want to set an example for our kids.

The college that they attend, if they choose, need not be Ivy League, their careers need not be $$$$$$$. They need to be happy, confident and willing to contribute to society in a meaningful way. I hope that we are setting a good foundation for them to be successful at what they choose to do, and remember, we all measure success differently.

So, do you do what you love?

Blah.blah.blah

So...I really did not get it when people told me how different one pregnancy is from another. It is. Can you say tired? Where is the energy that I once had? As it stands I cannot get enough sleep. Although I do wake fairly early, going to bed at 8:30 does not seem to be helping.

I know that exercise will help, however, I haven't one ounce of energy to do so. Let's see what the Dr. has to say on Monday. If you have any suggestions, please send them this way.

Summer Evenings

We spent the better part of the evening preparing for today's rain. This entailed hoeing furrows for all of our wonderful seeds and teaching a 4 year old how to space out seeds. I think teaching the 4 year old was the more challenging part of the planting experience.

We figured that we still had plenty of time to plant crops that had shorter growing cycles. Abby was very excited to pick out seeds to plant, her favorite was okra. Yes, okra, it is believed to be her favorite vegetable and I admit I too am partial to it. She planted a nice 15 foot row of okra for her and poppa to enjoy in a mere two months.

As our garden grows I will post some photos of our new space. Until then we have pictures of our previous garden to get us through.

Sigh....

It's true...they grow up so fast.


Lately we have been experimenting with "new" words, our own words. Some one enjoys producing their own vocabulary, I think she likes to hear the combination of letters she produces. She has even gone as far as to attempt to name her new sibling with one such word; we are still working on that.

These days will be missed, before you know it she will shun such silliness....anyhow, I will enjoy every little word that comes out of her mouth.

Hello!

Has it really been this long since I have posted? Oh well back in the saddle! On Friday we found out the sex of our little one...a girl!! We are so excited and I am sure you can imagine how excited Abby is. She informed us that a sister is what she has always wanted ( in her 4 long years).

Oh yes, more news...we moved. What was I thinking? Right now we are living in a lake of boxes, not a sea as much of our stuff is in storage, but a little lake of disorder. We made sure that Abby's items were all unpacked to make her feel as adjusted as possible. I hope that she enjoys her new home, she has some many more opportunities than we did as kids; that seems to be the mantra these days. Those of you that know our situation understand that it is a bit unconventional these days, but it will work.

We had a busy week with moving and our first dance recital; pictures will soon follow as will the commentary!

I am Trying....

Well I am not doing too well in keeping up with this blog. It has been so hectic around here lately with the semester quickly ending and....the close of my first trimester! Yes, we are expecting number two!

Until you have been pregnant more than once, it is difficult to believe others when they inform you how different one pregnancy is from the other. Let me tell you, they are not lying!

I am praying that the nausea and heart burn are on their way out soon. The evening is worst for me, 5:30 to be exact. Let's just say curling up in a ball and waking up at 9:00 the next morning is what I dream of! There are plenty other wonderful side-effects of pregnancy that I will spare you from. All I can say is poor Jen, my lab mate, I need to buy her something special when this is all over!

Updates should be more forthcoming as I begin to feel better. Keep us in your prayers!

I have had a difficult time as of late keeping up on this blog. We have had some big changes recently that I promise to share soon!

However, I am more interested in the 70F weather we are expecting in Cleveland today. When you live where we do it is difficult to decide what to do first when the weather finally breaks. Is it the zoo, a bike ride, the park or chalking in the drive way? So many decisions to make?

Have a great day and I let you know what we decided to do today!

A Little Help, Please!

We were hit with a bombshell this week; our beloved church is one of many set to close in our diocese. As it currently stands, our parish has the opportunity to appeal the Bishop’s decision. We, as a community need to work together to appeal this.

St. James in Lakewood, Ohio is imperative to the health of western portion of the city. We offer many outreach programs to the community such as monthly community meals, the giving tree, St. Vincent de Paul to name a few. In addition, St. James sponsors one of the best daycare facilities in the city of Lakewood.

If you are a parent, imagine not knowing when your daycare will close and scrambling to find an alternative at the same level of care. What would you do? There are also city sponsored programs that are run out of the St. James daycare which are also in question under the current circumstances.

I realize that there are many faiths and that we all hold them dear, but the loss of St. James will be devastating to the greater community. Today, I ask that you take the time to write to our Bishop and help to save not only our church, but the community as a whole.

http://dioceseofcleveland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=118&Itemid=620

The Most Reverend Richard G. Lennon
Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
1027 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114

What I Wouldn't Do.....

OK. I am not the parent I thought I would be; who is? Entering parenthood I had grand dreams of no sugar, no processed foods, the list can go on. Thankfully, I have a very wise husband.

Please do not get me wrong, this is not a no holds barred environment. We do limit the previously mentioned items and eat very healthy, but we do allow for sugar and boxed mac-n-cheese. Sugar, did I mention it? You see, Abby and I went to the Westside Market on Saturday and she observed two children with lollipops, not suckers mind you.

So you can imagine what I heard this week. I was on a mission, we tried three different stores that one would imagine had "lollipops." No go. We settled on some ten cent mini lollipops from Drugmart, for now.


There was one more option that I had to locate the lollipops and thankfully, I did. We drove to the mecca of candy, B.A. Sweetie. I explained to Abby what this place was and that we would only buy a few things. It was rather surprising when Abby told me she was going to squeal when she went into the store. And, she did. Needless to say, we left with some of my childhood favorites and many ideas for an Easter basket for Abby.

Call me a sucker, I don't care. We had a great afternoon and now have enough candy for at least six months.

Really??

Has is really been a month? Wow, time is flying as the weather warms and the little one grows. Can you believe that she will be 4 in less than two months?

Lately, we have been in love with Candy Land and watercolor painting. I had the opportunity to watch a great video on You Tube about Art, it has a catchy tune and great drawings. I am in love...so is the little one. On Sunday, she announced that she wanted to be a teacher and an artist.

The teacher part she has down, easy. Let's just say she is very assertive. As for the artist part, I was a bit surprised. Yes, yes, she is only 4 (soon to be) and this will change again but I am always amazed at what they absorb.

As a parent, it is my job to expose her to various materials and experiences. Every afternoon, we have an activity following our chats after preschool. We alternate selecting the craft/ activity for the afternoon. I really look forward to our afternoons and as she turns four and then five, I hope to not lose this special time that we have together. Only time will tell, but I hope to cultivate this time to continue to be as important to her as it is to me.

Sleep Overs

Abby slept with us in our bed until she was 1 year old; I would have gone for longer but the better half squashed that. Fast forward 2.5 years and we now have a weekly family sleep over. I cannot tell you who is more excited about it me or Abby. There are some of you out there that will likely find this ridiculous, but I love it.

I will admit that there is not too much sleep with all of the moving she does. However, when she snuggles up to one of us, gives a kiss and says " I love you mama" I think who needs sleep!

It would be great if the family bed was as acceptable here in the US as it is in other countries. If and when we are blessed to have another child, the plan is to again have them co-sleep with us. I am curious as to how many of you have done this, I tend to think there are more than like to admit (my husband was one of them). What's your take on co-sleeping?

Artist for a Day!

Another fun Saturday has passed. Of course we had something exciting planned! Ralph has a wonderful co-worker who, thankfully, has become a good friend. Carol, invited us to Artist for a Day on Saturday with her two grown daughters. We spent the afternoon painting a cup, bowl and dinner plate. As you can see by the pictures, Abby had a fantastic time! We are looking forward to spending some additional time painting!

We ended the evening with a wonderful spaghetti and meatball dinner with some good friends. Our pieces will be ready on Saturday afternoon, I am so excited to see our pieces! Be prepared, you need at least 1 to 1.5 hours to spend there. I will post pictures of the pieces once we have them!

Really?

I only realized (2 minutes ago) that I have not posted in over a week! Time really flies when there are little people in your home. As you can imagine, we have been busy as usual. So many people tell me how busy they are and I can attest that you do not realize how busy you are until some one asks where have you been? Here is a quick update on our "busy" life.

Brrrr....

Cleveland is a wonderful place, we have all four seasons. Today, only 27 days into winter, we find ourselves at -20F with the windchill. I love Cleveland. Lucky for us, if the local school district is closed, Ralph can stay home and he an Abby have a day to themselves. I suspect today will be filled with play dough, Horton Hears a Who and a trip to Joe's. Hmmm....and I have a meeting, who has the better day?

Wii!!!

Lucky us! We have finally joined the masses and received a Wii for Christmas. Thanks mom and poppa. For quite some time we fought the idea of a video game in the home, me mostly. You see, I had an Atari when I was young and as one can imagine, spent many, many hours playing. The reason I did not want a video game was me. Not Ralph. Not Abby. Me.

Thankfully, the Wii has not taken over our (my) lives. Bowling is a great family game and we play a few times a week. Tennis is just now working its way into Abby’s capabilities and there is always Cooking Mama! I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas and the New Year finds you well.