It’s Been a While

It has been a while since I’ve posted and, while it’s never left my mind, I’m feeling the urge to get back to writing and posting and sharing. My husband deployed and returned from Afghanistan and my daughter and I spent a few weeks in Miami visiting my family and even took a road trip up to see my husband’s parents and sister. I put my domesticated skills to use cooking a lot and getting into freezer and crockpot cooking in addition to a craft here and there. (I won a contest by a local thrift shop for using purchased there for Valentine’s gifts. Check out the fun I had with $4!)

The biggest recent news in our family is that my now 2 year old is going to be a big sister to a little girl in September 2013. Oh, and we are PCS’ing (being moved by the military) back up to Dayton, Ohio in July. I kind of just want 2014 to get here because I know the rest of 2013 is going to be crazy between moving, adding a new member to the family, and having a newborn again but it’s going to be exciting.

Let the adventures of a now mother of two continue!

Our announcement!

Almost One Year

I can’t believe it has been almost one year since Kelsey was born. She turns one on January 6.  It seems crazy that I will now have a toddler!

I’m sitting here trying to figure out how and when to wean her, how to switch her to regular milk, and what an eating schedule for her looks like. Thanks to my recent hospital stays, Kelsey is used to formula now from a bottle. Hopefully it makes the switch to regular milk easier. I’m still breastfeeding but I’ve never been able to pump a lot. Given that we’ve only had to buy formula for about 1-2 bottles a day for about a month, it’s not that bad. It’s been kind of freeing to not have to plan everything around where I’ll be when it’s time to nurse her.

At the same time, I went back to nursing when I recovered from my surgery because I actually kind of missed it. I missed feeling needed. I plan on at least attempting to switch Kelsey to regular milk but I think I might keep her bedtime nursing for just a little while longer.

I can’t believe how much she has grown and how much she can do now. I brought home a helpless little baby but she’s become a walking, feeding herself, babbling little girl and I know she’s just getting warmed up on the milestones.

Well, let the festivities begin! I’m working on  little “1″ onesie  and matching hair clip her a cake smash photo shoot. My Mom is making her a little pirate dress for birthday party in a few weeks. We’ll also be taking Kelsey to participate in the kid’s fun run at Disney World the weekend of her birthday – she’ll be among the youngest in her run only being 1 year and 1 day old in the 1-3 year group. She wasn’t walking when I signed her up for it a few months ago so I’m a little relieved that it worked out.

It’s going to be a busy month but a fun month – a great way to start off what is sure to be a great year!

Kelsey’s First Christmas – Part 2

We went for a drive Christmas Eve to see a few light displays.

Christmas morning, Kelsey had a good time opening and playing with her new toys. The favorites were some jingle bells, shape sorting toy, and a talking flip phone. She didn’t quite understand the unwrapping process but she enjoyed the ribbons and bows.

   

Eyes Photo Challenge

Mosquitos

Ugh…Florida in the summer.

The beaches are nice, blah, blah, blah. When you are dealing with crazy, swarming mosquitos trying to get from the front door to the car, it’s hard to remember the good things.

If you ever want a laugh, watch my husband and I trying to get into the car. Inevitably, we spend the first 5 minutes swatting at the ones that got it like some weird, spastic game of whack-a-mole. Eventually we get going only to try to suck out any remaining mosquitos through the window.

Getting back to the house isn’t much easier. It involves quickly grabbing what we can and making a break for it, slamming the door shut behind us. Then we wait for a minute to fake out the mosquitos before running back out to get anything else.

The baby gets Avon Skin So Soft when we are going to be outside a lot and to step outside requires us to douse ourselves in DEET bug spray. Let’s just say we should look into buying stock in OFF! and Cortaid.

Now that we picked up a net for the stroller I should be able to resume my daily walks (when there are not thunder storms coming through). On the plus side, there’s no mosquitos at the beach!

Wishing I could hang this around my neck!

Obsession with Mascots

I recently realized that I seem to have some kind of obsession with taking pictures with mascots. I can’t seem to pass it up! I’m even worse at Disney World. I have a bunch more, I just can’t seem to find them right now for some reason.

My obsession with mascots is only matched by my obsession with cut outs. Who doesn’t like playing dress up?!

Now I have begun to drag my daughter into my little habit. I’m hoping she’ll be ok once it’s time for Santa in a few months.

 

I Heart Faces “A Touch of Whimsy” Entry

Little Girls, Big Hair!

The latest show I think I will be adding to my DVR collection is TLC’s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. For better or worse, reality tv allows you to stare and learn in ways you can’t in real life.

At first I thought the show would be featuring extravagant dresses and wedding receptions, but I did not expect that it would be featuring 16-year-old brides and 7-year-old little girls dressed like (sorry if I offend anyone) prostitutes. I could go on about my opinions on the entire communities fashion choices but it goes beyond that.

There just seems to be more and more examples of wanting little girls to be women way too fast. Growing up in the dance community, I was used to putting on makeup and could do my own by the time I finished elementary school. I grew up around older, boy crazy girls and tried to copy their clothes and hair, too.

However, now that I have a little girl, I can’t picture her in 4 inch heels at 7 years old nevermind in a cropped corset top and miniskirt to go with them. Between the types of families featured on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and Toddlers and Tiaras it’s no wonder that Storm’s parents don’t want their child to be identified by its gender (which kind of makes me think it’s a girl).

I can identify with Patrick Dempsey’s character in Enchanted when he gives his daughter a book about historical women. Snookie is not an appropriate role model. I want my daughter to know how to carry herself with confidence while realizing that looks aren’t the only things that matter. I try not to refer to my daughter as a princess, but won’t mind if she wants to wear a fluffy dress while putting together Lego’s.

I know I’m not really one to talk with the dresses and bows I stick on my little girl, but I can only hope to keep it in check as she gets older and to encourage her to be a well-rounded individual – whether she likes wearing dresses or playing in the mud or wearing a dress while she’s playing in the mud.