Baby Talk

Having been raised by a teacher, who was also raised by a teacher (who just so happened to write a grammar textbook), I’ve often thought of myself as the grammar police.

Punctuation. Eh, I’m not so good at knowing when and where to put, or not put, commas.

Proof reading. Eh, I’m much too hasty most of the time.

However, I can generally tell you the appropriate time and place to use any number of phrases. I also know the difference between there/their/they’re and your/you’re, etc.

I always swore up and down, left and right, that my child would speak correctly from the very beginning.

There would be no “Hers a good girl” or other intentionally incorrect speaking of any kind. (That stuff drives me crazy!)

Baby talk is NOT my thing.

I would be a stickler about this ... no matter what.

However ….

Now that Baby is talking ALLTHETIME, I’ve decided to make a few exceptions to the rule. And, I’m making these exceptions for no other reason than … she’s just so dang cute when she says:

“Mommy, what can MY have today?”

or

“Mommy put me mad! I not like it!”

Sure, in the long run, I’ll have to start teaching her the correct way to say these things.

But for now, I’ll just enjoy listening to her sweet, innocent little voice say things like, “Hold you, Mommy. Hold you,” when she wants to be held.

Here we go again ...

Next week begins yet another travel/sales season for this busy working mom. It’s always a little difficult for me to get back into the swing of things after having been home for a few months.

I used to really look forward to the travel, but these days I tend to just feel guilty about being gone.

Baby doesn’t help matters much either. She tends to give me one of two scenarios:

1-She cries: Mommy no go bye-bye. Mommy stay home. Baby go on airplane with mommy. Let’s go mommy. We go together.

2-She says: Go ‘way, Mommy! Go ‘way! I no miss you!

It's heart-breaking either way!

But, even though I didn’t make true New Year’s Resolutions this year, a big goal I have is to make peace with this part of my life. I must work. I like to work. Baby needs to see me as somebody who is confident in my choices, not riddled with guilt.

So, I’ll cross the country – Texas-California-Texas-DC-Texas before February 1st and make about a dozen other trips before May 1st.

I have managed to get the number of nights away from home down to only about 15 for the entire season, so that’s great … even if it does mean some brutally early mornings (like 4:00 a.m. wake-up calls! Yuck!).

I’m also doing a different schedule this spring that should break up the travel a bit and not be as daunting on my amazing husband who totally holds down the fort while I’m away. How many women can go away for three days, trust that their husband will follow the regular schedule for the kids, AND come home to a clean house? Not many. I’m one of the lucky few, and I won’t take it for granted!

My mantra for the spring:
King-sized hotel bed all to myself +
Six-eight continuous hours of sleep at night =
a more rested, patient mommy for Baby and wife for Husband.

I can do this!

Do you have a resolution or mantra to help you balance it all this year?

It's official ...

After weeks, even months, of planning and preparing ...

Countless hours contending with tiny pieces of big toys for a special little girL

Many dollars spent (though, not too many)

Four Christmas celebrations with our large family

Gift after gift for Baby ...

She got: a kitchenette, a castle tent, a car, books, baby dolls, and more.

It’s official: her favorite new things to play with are (drum roll, please) …

Packaged mini-snickers from Husband’s stocking!

Yep. It’s what she wakes up looking for, and they’re the first thing she finds after school.

She transfers them from bowl to bowl on her kitchen stove.

She counts them and talks about the colors of the wrappers.

She hands them out to Mommy and Daddy (then promptly takes them back).

Lesson learned.

Family Traditions

I’ve learned recently that holiday traditions can be a little tricky once you’re all grown up. Which ones from your childhood do you continue , and which ones do you leave behind? It’s important for new families to create their own traditions, but we also want to carry on some of those cherished memories from our own childhood.

These are a few of my family’s Christmas traditions:

Christmas Tree. I’m insistent on this – the tree goes up NO LATER THAN the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Even if it takes a week to decorate, the tree is in our house. Lately, our tradition has been to pick one out at Lowes (LOL) … but I hope to get back to a tree farm soon.

The Elf on the Shelf. We started doing this last year. Stanley comes to visit us just after Thanksgiving. He’s very formal, and we always greet him with a hearty, “Good day, Sir. Nice to see you again. We’re so glad you had a safe trip back.”

St. Nicholas Day. We began doing this last year. St. Nick brings Christmas PJs and a book to everyone’s stocking on December 6th. Next year, this tradition will include reading the story of St. Nick.

Angel Tree. Husband and I have always selected names of children in need from the Angel Tree at church. We shop for these kids, and we do our very best to GO ALL OUT! If it’s at all possible, we purchase every single thing on those kids’ wish list so that, at least in this way, they have a very Merry Christmas. This year we started taking Baby with us to do the shopping.

Nativity Adventures. Our nice nativity set is packed away, and we’ve been using Baby’s little plastic set for the last couple of years. It’s much safer that way! The Baby Jesus stays tucked away in a drawer until Christmas, and the Wise Men are also missing until they begin their journey (around our house, making their way to see Jesus) on Christmas.

Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus. This will be the first year we do this. With Christmas on the heels of Baby’s late November birthday, she is really starting to understand the concept of a birthday. This year, completely based on her idea, we will be making cupcakes and having ice cream for His Birthday party. We will also leave Him presents.

Next year, I’m also planning to have 24 wrapped Christmas books, one for Baby to open every day in the month of December until Christmas … a cute little idea I saw on Pinterest and forgot to pin. I’ll be stocking up on books this year when they *hopefully* go on sale!

What are your family traditions?

My Christmas List

I almost hate to write about the things I want for Christmas, because Husband and I actually already gave each other our gifts. Unbeknownst (love that word!) to each other, we both bought Kindle Fires for one another and exchanged them last weekend.

We don’t usually do gifts early, but I had planned to have Stanley (our Elf on the Shelf) deliver ‘books’ to Baby and Husband the first morning I was going to be away this week. I had a cute little plan, and I really didn’t want to change it just because my trip got canceled.

So, on Sunday morning, Stanley arrived back from the North Pole with a gift for both Baby and Husband – Husband got the Kindle Fire and Baby got a fake little pink iPad (side note: this thing cost $14 and I’m almost ready to pay the $600 price tag of a real iPad to get rid of it … most annoying thing ever!). In turn, Husband also gave me my Kindle Fire on Sunday.

I have to say, these things are pretty amazing. It’s taking me a little time to adjust to the android features since I’m so used to my iPhone, but I love it!

That said, who doesn’t have a long list of things you might like to have?! Here’s mine:

-A RED Electric Tea Kettle like this one!

-An iPhone Photo Printer. It’s sad, but true. Almost every photo we take of Baby is on my phone. I do my best to email them to Snapfish and order the prints, but this would be nice to have too!

-Books. The print versions. (Yes, I know I have the Kindle Fire now, but some books are meant to be held.) On my list this year: Les Miserables, The Grapes of Wrath, The Glass Castle, and Of Mice and Men

-These pretty diamond hoop earrings.

-A pair of cowboy boots like these. Though my dad might not think much of me ordering a pair from Amazon. He has his hand made out of things like alligator and ostrich. I don’t think I need to go that fancy.

-Anything Tory Burch. I’ve been eyeing the snakeskin Reva Ballerina flats for years (YEARS!), but I also really like these camel colored croc-skinned ones. Okay, okay, maybe Dad and I don’t have very different taste in shoes after all!

-Other kitchen items. Really, you can’t go wrong with kitchen items for me. Right now, I really want an immersion blender and a new regular blender. I swear I smelled burning plastic coming from mine the other day when we made breakfast smoothies.

These are just a few things that I would love to have. Of course, there are more things I could add. And, I also don’t expect to get half of these things. But it really can be fun to think about the things you’d like to have for yourself.

Especially when, if you’re like me, it feels like you’ve spent the last month shopping for everyone else in the world.

So, what’s on YOUR list this year?

Blogging into the Christmas Spirit

When I initially thought I’d be out of town for work for four days the week before Christmas, I was more than a little bummed.

When that trip was cancelled due to an ear infection that prevented me from flying I thought … this is NOT what I had in mind when I wished I could be at home with my family instead.

And now that I am home, sinus/ear infection in full swing, it’s been a little hard to get into the Christmas Spirit.

Or to get much done, for that matter.

Actually, motivation to do just about anything – Christmas or otherwise – has been hard to come by.

Stanley, our poor Elf on the Shelf, sat in the same place (our kitchen table centerpiece) for the entire weekend.

I looked at him. I thought about moving him. Then I thought: I’ll do it later. Can’t get off the couch just yet.

But I didn’t move him. Not on Friday. Or Saturday. Or Sunday. Or even before Baby woke up yesterday morning.

It would be fair to say that I’ve been moping around a bit these last few days.

If it hasn’t been on my computer or available via the TV remote, it just wasn’t getting done.

Until … I took a quick look at a few of your blogs.

There are crafts and recipes and stories. There is joy and holiday cheer all around.

So, thanks everyone, for helping me get a little bit of the Christmas Spirit back …

I’m not quite sure I’m up for doing a lot just yet, but I’m definitely making plans!

On the agenda for later this week …

Holiday Cooking: mint truffles, cinnamon/sugar pretzels, chex mix, cookies, reindeer noses, and more!

Holiday Crafts: Cinnamon/Applesauce ornaments and about a half dozen cute hand/foot/finger print ideas

Holiday Decorations: We’re getting the lights up outside … Whether or not it is cold or raining!

Holiday Fun: A party, spending time with friends and family, making those recipes and projects

Blogging: I’ll do my best to blog my way through the holidays, too! You know, me – the extremely non-crafty mom who will now have to make a special trip to the store for supplies for all the things mentioned above.

Tomorrow, by which time I better be feeling better!

For today, we’ll start small. Stanley has a new set of wheels!

Sick Day

I can’t believe how many of our sweet, precious babies endure ear infection after ear infection in the first few years of their lives.

These past few days have been miserable for me, and I am an adult who can fully process what’s going on (i.e., feeling like you’re trapped in a tunnel is no fun!).

I feel terrible for Baby when I think back to the first year of her life. I think she had 6-8 ear infections, maybe more, before we ultimately put tubes in her ears.

She was such a trooper too – sometimes we wouldn’t even know she was sick, because she was such a happy girl.

I, on the other hand, have not been such a model patient.

Cranky and extra cranky is more like it.

I spent the weekend trying to rest and recuperate, let the amoxicillin kick in, and pretend like I could hear what everyone around me was saying.

Who knows what I nodded ‘yes’ or ‘no’ too … hopefully I didn’t commit myself to anything too undesirable. Or let Husband squirm his way out of putting Christmas lights up outside.

Baby also decided to pick this weekend to stop napping.

(Somebody, please tell me it’s too soon for that!!! )

Up before 6 am both days, and nothing but fussing in her bed during nap time on Saturday. And on Sunday.

This mama has never been so happy to see Monday arrive. Now I can finally take a much needed sick day.