God created her, I carried her, now she is my happiness and my laughter.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

28 Jul 2010

There is nothing cuter than a little toddler walking around with her blankie. Maybe I'm biased because I always had a security blanket and there are those who will tell you I still have my baby blanket which I will neither confirm or deny. I just wish Emma wasn't so cute when I'm trying to discipline her.
I've had a real battle with Emma throwing fits especially when I'm trying to lay her down for a nap. I have had to resort to giving her two naps a day as well. She doesn't have to sleep, but she does need to lay quietly in her bed for at least an hour so I can have some down time after work and take a break from her fits.
Today I wanted to take some different approaches. There is a tub of toys in Emma's room that she hasn't played with in months. After two days of fits and getting no where with her, I mixed things up by pulling out the old toys. She absolutely loved them like they were brand new. I doubt she's cured from throwing fits but it is a break in her norm which gives me a chance to re-group.
P.S. I was amazed at how well Emma caught onto some of the toys. You know that red and blue ball toy that has the shape cut outs and the shapes that you put in it? Well, she ended up being very good at that. Also, she has started playing like she's talking on the phone with any of her toys regardless if it looks remotely close to a phone.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

My Must Have

Something I will always have somewhere in my house is a notebook for lists. I make a list of everything which is a trait I learned from my mother. I have gone far and beyond a simple grocery list. I have my groceries, my errands and it doesn't stop there. I have lists of Things I need to look into before getting out of the Navy, Things I want to say in my blog, meals I can eat on my diet, meals Emma likes to eat in general, items I like and want in my future dream house, things to get done by the time Jason gets back from deployment, things to do that will keep me sane while Jason is on deployment, birthday ideas, honey do list for when Jason gets back (mostly Josh takes care of all that as time goes by), things to get at walmart, things to get my sister, movies I've watched while Jason is on deployment, school ideas for Emma....that's just my new notebook. I don't have time to get my filled notebook out (which I kept, of course, because I never throw anything out. Besides you never know when I might need to venture back to an old list.)
Mom, you held the title for all these years and wore the crown, but if I'm afraid to announce that I might be the new "List Queen." You know what I just did? I just listed all my lists. The ultimate list! Bam! and Boom-shocka-locka!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Lesson Learned for both of us

I taught my daughter something today, that for some reason, I originally thought was going to be quite the task to do. But Emma is so smart. She catches on so quickly. So far Emma has been able to claim just about anything in the house. I don't really mind if she plays with whatever she wants. We have a few things we don't let her have like the remotes or other electronics, but other than that she has full reign of the house. Blankets and stuffed animals have especially always been something that she has been allowed to have. So, when Jason sent me a build-a-bear for my birthday (it came in the mail today) Emma immediately thought it was hers. I let her hold it for a while, but I was cautious because I really want this bear to be special for me. I plan to cuddle it at night or anytime I'm missing Jason and I really don't want baby drool and other messes all over it. So, I finally decided that I wasn't going to let Emma play with it and I braced myself to spend the rest of the evening teaching her this very thing.
But, it wasn't hard at all. When she reached for it, I told her this was my bear that daddy gave me and here is your owl that daddy gave you. Course the owl never seemed as great because it's not new, but Emma learned quickly and with in a few minutes she new that the bear was mine. I'm sure I'll catch it in her hands from time to time, but the whole situation made me think that Emma would probably learn very quickly in anything I try and teach her. Sometimes I put off training her in something because I think it's going to take me a week and half to instill the new concept to her.
Raising a child of your own sure does tell you a lot about yourself. I never realized how controlling I was until Emma started showing her own signs of being controlling, like not letting Jason open the refrigerator door. I realized she must have learned that from me. I started noticing that even I will keep Jason from going in to the kitchen if I think he'll make too big a mess, ect. I will rather just do it myself. I can not reiterate to myself enough how important it is that I put myself in check each morning and through out the day so that Emma is learning good habits from me.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Day 1

I dropped Jason off at his ship this morning. The weird part is, he doesn't actually leave the pier until tomorrow, but he's on duty so I won't see him anyway. We had a very nice date night last night which brought us home later than planned and he still had packing to do. I had a pit in my stomach and the feeling like I was losing my best friend all morning and even now.
Jason and I pulled the mattress from our bed out into the living room the last couple days so we could relax and watch movies and we didn't feel like putting it back last night so now for another month or so I'll be sleeping in the living room. I can't move the mattress myself and I could ask the neighbor to come do it, but I'm actually going to give it a try sleeping in the living room. I don't really like going off in the dark to sleep by myself when Jason's gone and sleeping in the living room with the noise from the chinchilla and the cats will probably help me feel less alone anyway. I'll have my sister, Elizabeth, help me move it when she comes in August if not before then.
Now that Jason is gone, I have to do all those things that I usually just call his name for. For example, as soon as I came home, I started fiddling with the blankets in the living room and out runs a spider. It was small, but really ugly and had this weird hunch back thing going on. I vacuumed him up with my hand held vacuum and then dumped him in trash and then stomped on the trash to make sure he didn't crawl out. When it was all said and done I realized I was shaking like a leaf. Silly, I know. But I really hate spiders.
Every bone, muscle, and emotion in my body wants to just cuddle up in bed, eat chocolate, and sleep. But, Emma presses me onward. And the more onward I go the more I find clutter and dirt around the house that needs picked up. I relish in the time she is napping. I've never known such an energetic child. She hasn't realized that Jason is gone for a long time yet, obviously, but it won't be long before she starts asking me about him. I plan to show her lots of pictures and the only home video I could get out of my broken video camera. I really don't want him to be a stranger to her when he gets back.
I'm not overly sad or depressed. I'm enjoying spending some time with Emma, NOT having to pick up the house by the end of every day, spending less money, and getting back on the diet. But, the moments go by slowly and there isn't a one of them that goes by that I don't remember how much I miss him already. He's only been gone a few hours, but it's the very thought of not seeing him again for a while that dampens my spirits.
Anyway, today and tomorrow I still have off of work so I plan to just really relax, do the budget, get the groceries, and catch up on some tv shows with Christin.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Mommy does it to me so....

Thursday morning after we were done eating breakfast around the table Emma wanted to get up on my lap where she continued to grab my napkin and started wiping my lips for me. It was so cute and such a special moment for me. She was so concentrated and wiped around my mouth and then wiped my cheeks, looking like a little mom already with her pursed lips and look of overall concern for my cleanliness. When she was done I told her thank you and she leaned her head against mine where I kissed her ear. She must have liked that cuz she then sat back, wiped my face some more and then put her ear to my lips.

Toys for Maryland

When packing for MD I wanted to make sure I brought all the toys that would entertain Emma the longest. One lazy, hot afternoon when we were playing inside with the air conditioning I realized how random her toys (or interests if you will) really are. The toys she brought were a small green boat to play with in the pool, a small blue shovel, a play microphone, a small treasure box, her favorite book, her drool proof photo album, and two blue stuffed cat animals.
Each of these toys, on any given afternoon, she plays with for about five minutes (not different behavior than we are at home, though) and that adds up to about 40 minutes. When she's done playing with all that it's an active time for mom and dad keeping her entertained with other things she can play with and keeping her out of things she can't play with.
Grandma Karen helped a little by bringing a fun Doctor Seuss book for her when she came to visit.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Babysitter

I have acquired a new babysitter who is trying to earn money to move back home. So, she's available all the time which is great! But, she seems a little disturbed. She doesn't hardly say a word. She doesn't say anything to the small talk I try to make and she doesn't even nod her head or say "ok" when I tell her something about Emma. It's very strange. But she seems to do a good job with Emma. Last night, when I took her home, she did start a conversation by telling me that Emma had pulled the kitchen trash can out in to the living room. Literally, the whole trash can. LOL Can you just see my little Emma, no bigger than the trash can it's self pulling it out into the living room. What was the reason? I guess we'll never know.
What do you call the person who hires the babysitter? the Babysitter Hirerer? Anyway, I feel like I am a REAL babysitter hirerer now. Megan, though she's 18, can't drive so I have to pick her up and take her home. On the way home from a late night date I do kind of dread it, but once we are in the car heading back to her place I can't help but feel a rush of nostalgia. I remember when I was just a young teen, before a driver's license, and my babysitter hirerers had to come pick me up and take me home. It wasn't anything special per say, but I feel all grown up doing it myself now. I tell you, babysitters of today are certainly different. I remember babysitting for $2/hr. First time Megan sat for me I gave her what I thought was fair. But last night, Christin was going to bring Bella over as well so I let Megan know and she said, "Ok, but it will cost extra." I was so astonished. She charged us $7/hr for the two kids. Needless to say it cost us more to pay the babysitter than it did to go out and hang with friends. But, can you really put a price on a good night out? Jason was so sweet all night and we enjoyed our movie and friends so I guess it was worth it.

29 June 2010

I'm curious to know what Emma's nightly rituals will be as she gets older. She does the cutest things now. Sometimes if she's wearing a shirt that is too lose or if the tag bothers her she just takes it right off. Then she gets all her blankets and starts fluffing them and rearranging them just so around her body. When they are just right she lays down on them face first in the fetal position. I imagine she'll grow out of all that. Usually when I wake her up she's still on her tummy but her legs are stretched out and the blankets have been pushed aside.