Finding my way

Taking time for yourself as a mother is a conflicting act. On one hand, to be a balanced person you must find more than one thing to fulfill you. On the other hand, you don't want to miss one minute of your sweet baby's life! What if she does something new, and you missed it!? This is something I used to wrestle with, but now I understand my time away from her helps me appreciate the time I do have with her, and I can focus on my self and my soul. It is perfectly acceptable and encouraged even to have interests outside of your spouse, and your children. So, I've found two things! One is painting pottery, and the other is baking! (Of course, the latter may have to go hand in hand with getting out to the gym three times a week too!)

Here is just one picture of the Cupcake Pops I attempted last night. Trial and error tells me that they need to be a lot smaller, and I needed to leave them in the freezer for at least an hour. (I could not stand waiting any longer than fifteen minutes...blast my impatience!) I will definitely try them again, as they taste DELICIOUS and are so very cute!

Every other Wednesday, my girlfriends and I try to get out and do something girly where we can talk to each other like adults! It's lovely, and I cherish those few hours I get! Of course, on the odd Wednesday the husbands typically will get together and play in a poker tournament.

My latest pottery piece is not done being fired yet, but I will show off the piggy bank my grandma bought me to paint! It turned out so cute, and I'm glad I had a while to think about what I wanted to do before I actually put paint to pottery.

There was one stipulation put on this pig, and it was the fact that she definitely needed a lady bug companion since Emersen is called LadyBug by her Gigi (great grandma).

As always, you can click on the pictures to see their full size. If you notice, this little piggy got into some mud, and now has some dirty playfully smudged on her little feet!

Now, for the pictures that I know you all come here for. Baby pictures!!!

This is proof positive that boredom plus stickers plus a curious baby equal hysterically cute pictures, every single time. We (Nicole, Paul and I) were all laughing so hard because she looked so cute, that she thought it was funny and started laughing uncontrollably too. It was so much fun, I can't wait to blackmail her with it one her first date. Although, that might be when she's thirty if Paul has anything to say about it!

This morning Emersen had somewhere to be! She grabbed her sunglasses and her Elmo purse and walked around the house for the better part of half an hour. The cutest part was when she would pull the sunglasses half off, like sliding them down her nose as if to say "Yes, can I help you?" Oh well, I can't describe it as well as a picture can show you!

Is that not so adorable? I'm also so happy she's walking around for the majority of the time. Why you ask? Because now she can wear dresses again! Crawling babies and dresses just don't mix!

So on another note, Paul (I know, I never write about him!) is getting ready for a couple of work related trips. He will leave Wednesday with his Chaplains and they will travel to Great Lakes, Il to the Naval Training Command. Once there, they will educate the Chaplains stationed there on how to run a Spiritual Fitness Center, like the one they run here. Then, a few days after he gets back, we'll take a trip to Texas, for Paul's family to meet Emersen! Then, just a few days after we get back from Texas, he'll fly to Meridian, MS to partake in some further education for his rating. They call it "F-school" and it's basically leadership training. Teaching him how to teach other Religious Program Specialists how to do their job, and do it well. That trip will take about three weeks, which will put us at the end of February! Phew, 2009 is already flying by!

I hope everyone has a nice holiday off tomorrow, and that the inaguaration goes smoothly on Tuesday! It seems like the whole world has put extreme resposibility on this one man's shoulders. It's a lot to expect of one man, but as long as we can unite as a country I think we'll be just fine.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thenavywife21/01172009

The Long-Awaited Posting

Being the mother of a one year old is strikingly different than being the mother of an infant. Before one year, my child was malleable, and willing to do the things I wanted her to do because she didn't know she could do something else. Now, she has her own opinion about what to play with next or whether or not she should get out and off of (she climbs the inside!) the fridge. She also goes and gets things to play with, instead of having me dump a bunch of toys on the floor next to her. She can even go and get a book she wants to read, or her Tupperware shape sorter because she's really into that right now.

Now as a first time mom, part of me wants to dig my heels in and tell her "Mommy said so!" The other part of me, the part knowing about child development and process wins out and I remember how absolute things feel to a child. When I take a toy from her so we can go change her diaper, it is like I've taken it from her forever. So when she throws a fit and I start to get impatient, I have to relax and think about how it looks from her perspective.

Her first Christmas went very well. We were practically snowed in, because on Christmas Eve we got a good six inch smattering of powdery snow. Nana and Papa got here around four o'clock after a harrowing drive up. We appreciate them coming up here to share in all the Christmas wonderful! Emersen was gifted many many wonderful toys, including Elmo Live! She loves that toy, and even signs please when she sees him. She knows he has to be turned on before the fun can begin!

Her birthday was fantastic as well. We had a houseful of people who love us, and have helped in more ways than I can imagine this last year.

She really loved digging into her cake, although the angel food was a little hard to get her hands on. She played in the Dream Whip we made her (I didn't even know about Dream Whip until my mom mentioned it!) and I was happy she didn't get sick from all the sugar. I wanted her to have a nice experience with her first cake, rather than having a sugar high, sugar low and then an upset stomach and diaper troubles!

The rest of Nana and Papa's visit was filled with fun stuff like Emersen's first trip to go bowling, and roller skating! The bowling alley was fun for her, she loved the colorful bowling balls and all the other little boys that were paying attention to her! The roller rink was fun at first! The roller skates may have been a little too heavy for her to enjoy herself. She went around the rink once and was done. So, the rink provides strollers for babies to be strolled around! She sat in the stroller and had a BLAST!

Nana also got a chance to stroll Emmie around so I could go faster around the rink. I loved
rollerskating as a kid, and it turns out I still do!

Emmie also got to know and love her Papa! (Of course, who doesn't love my dad...I mean, he's my dad!) They bonded over Clementine oranges, which are her favorite fruit! They read books, they played on the floor and they walked. It was so stinkin' cute, I wish everyone could have seen it!

Well, my super big One Year Old is awake from her nap. I hope this update is all you wanted and more! :)

Kaci

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You!

I swear I'm going to write an entry soon. One that regales you with the wonderful Christmas and very happy first birthday Emersen had. However, since turning one, Emersen has decided that mommy has better things to do than write about her! (Mommy begs to differ, this is fun!)

Pictures and prose to come,

Happy New Year!

Kaci