Study Participation

I haven’t posted properly in a while & I feel bad…it’s not that I don’t have anything to say. It’s that I’ve hit a bit of writer’s block on how to say it…

 

I do, however, want to mention an experience I had recently…I saw this posting on choicemoms.org & felt compelled to participate. It was a worthwhile experience & I’m glad I had the chance to share my experiences with Brandi. We had an hour long conversation, her questions were thoughtful & she showed a genuine interest in hearing what I had to share.

 

I would encourage you, if you also feel so compelled, to contact Brandi & share your experiences as well.

 

And I apologize for the fly by post but I promise to write a proper post soon…

A Soggy Halloween

 

Quite a few weeks ago, a friend from work gave Elena a gorgeous lion costume to wear for Halloween...I brought it home & she was so excited to try it on...

 

Okay, she looks more like an Ewok but adorable none the less!



 

Fast foward to this week...would Elena wear the lion costume? Not a chance! No amount of coercion would convince her to put it on! Oh well...I had no intention of taking Elena door to door anyway & with the rain, there was no chance...this is the Halloween outfit she wore instead...

Note the detail at the bottom of her leggings...my favorite part



 

My favorite photo of the day though?

Enjoying her 1st ever Halloween candy...a Snickers!

 

I hope everyone had a safe & happy Halloween!



Have You Submitted Yours?

I've submitted mine...

In Case You Were Wondering...

 

...where Elena got her cute...

This is me when I was about Elena's age...I had more hair.

Gotta love that 70s top!!



 

I turn 38 years old today...I'm not sure how I feel about that...I'm a bit weirded out. I feel to young to be 38! I don't feel sad or depressed like I have in past years...but I can't say I'm excited either. I'd be lying if I said I wanted the day to pass without any acknowledgement but I don't want a BIG deal...just a deal.

 

It baffles my mind that when Elena is 38 it will be 2049...I will be 75 years old. That is just unfathomable to me. I can't even picture Elena as an 8 year old, let alone as a 38 year old! & me 75 years old??!!? That's beyond imaginable!



19 Months

 

My sweet...my heart...the love of my life is 19 months old today. This time last year, Elena was perfecting the army crawl & on the verge of crawling on all fours. Now a year later, it is language she is perfecting but one thing remains the same...I was going to say she is as adorable & precious as ever...but, no...I believe she is actually more adorable & precious! What I do know for sure is that I love her more now than I ever thought I could love anything. There is so much going on in my personal life & in the world at large that just makes me hold her close & never want to let go. No matter how bad things seem, I can just get lost in her laugh & her deep beautiful eyes & it just doesn't seem as bad anymore. Sorry, I didn't mean to get mushy...while I pull myself together, please enjoy these photos from Elena's 18 month photo shoot...

It was a Tea Party theme

 

She had so much fun!

 

 

 

And my favorite...

 

 

Okay, seriously...all bias aside...is she not freakin' adorable!!!

 

 

 

A Day in My Life...

Ali over at A Planned Life had a great post about her day to day routine with her precious son, Isaac. I loved reading how she plans & spends her day & decided to copy her idea & post my own “Day in the Life”…once I typed it all out though, I realized I have it pretty easy…pretty easy? WAY EASY! So much so that I almost didn’t post this but then thought, “Why not?” So here it is…please don’t hate me J

 Same as Ali, this is just weekdays…

 5:00am – My Mom comes down & crawls into bed with Elena & I get up for the day

 5:05–5:30am – “Workout” – I put that in quotes because I just use the Wii & do free step while watching TV

5:30-6am – Shower, do hair, apply makeup

 6:00-6:30am – Get dressed while watching TV, plus check emails & blogs

 6:30am – Grab lunch bag & head to work

 7:20ish – Arrive at work

 12:30ish – Eat lunch, most often at my desk while reading blogs

 4:20ish – Leave work & head home

 5:15ish – Arrive home to the best welcome a Mom could hope for – Elena generally squeals with delight & babbles away telling me about her day.

 5:30pm – Sit down for dinner…which my Mom has prepared…I told you I had it way easy…please don’t hate me

 6:30pm – Playtime with Elena

 7:00pm – Start getting ready for bed – bath, brush teeth, etc

 7:30pm – Snuggle on the bed & read a book…usually numerous times at Elena’s insistence, “A-den!!”

 7:45pm – Lights out…Elena gives the illusion she will go to sleep herself in her own bed

 8:00pm – After 15 minutes of Elena rolling around & playing games, we move to the rocking chair & I snuggle her to sleep

 8:30pm – Transfer Elena to the bed

 8:30-9pm – Straighten up, get my lunch bag prepared for the next day

 9:00-10:00pm – Relax, watch TV, read blogs, return emails…recently I’ve started working on Elena’s 1^st Year Scrapbook…

 10:00pm – Off to bed!

 How about the rest of you? What do your routines look like?

 

 

 

 

P.S. Please don’t hate me J

Organized Fun

It’s been a big week for Elena…she has started 2 new programs, Baby Stars Gymnastics & Movers & Shakers Music Appreciation. I was nervous because neither class is cheap so if she didn’t enjoy going it would be money down the drain that we can’t afford to lose. Thankfully she has taken to both classes & genuinely enjoys them.

My Mom takes her to the Movers & Shakers class. The 1^st part of the class is set aside for free play & the kids are allowed almost unrestricted access to a myriad of instruments. I love that! Then the instruments are put away & they participate in singing & dancing & rhythmic movement. The teacher sounds truly passionate about music & passing that passion onto the kids.

I get to take Elena to gymnastics & it is so much fun! Basically there’s a circuit of obstacles like balance mats, foam wedges for somersaults, a slide, a horizontal bar & small blocks to “vault”…basically all mini gymnastics stuff. Elena just squeals with delight at being able to run & jump & climb & roll around. It is so much fun to watch her in such a state of pure innocent enjoyment! She also takes great interest in watching the older girls’ classes.

It was important to me to get Elena involved in some activities for a few reasons. With the colder weather coming, it will be challenging for my Mom to have Elena cooped up indoors since currently they spend the better part of every day outside. Between her music class, swimming & play group at my Mom’s church they have somewhere to go 3 out of 5 days.

It is also important for Elena to be around other kids since we don’t know many kids…I often joke, since Elena isn’t talking yet, that when she does it’ll be to discuss Taxes, Retirement Savings & the price of gas since she’s predominantly around adults. Giving her a chance to interact & socialize is very necessary. She needs to learn to share & wait her turn & all those things that kids in daycare learn early. I am deeply grateful that I have my Mom to look after Elena while I’m at work but I’m also aware of the things she misses by not being in daycare too. Hopefully these programs can make up for that.

In other news, Elena started something very entertaining…I have been lucky that, although Elena will shake her head to indicate her refusal of things, I have been spared the evil “NO!”…she has however, along with her head shake, added a definite, “NEIN!”…where she picked this up from, I have no idea! It’s hilarious tho! If you’re doing something Elena doesn’t want you to do, she’ll shake her head saying, “Nein, nein, nein…” I wish I could get it on video!

My Little Gymnist...don't mind the

mess behind...a bed-maker I am not!