Author: Jenny Irvine

K. Bear is “1” Today!!

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My baby is “1” today!!! With this comes much joy, excitement, and sadness…..a true milestone, a mark of new beginnings and past reflections. We are certainly enjoying our little “Boo”!!

Her spunky attitude, her huge smile that can fill a room, her sassy jabber, her big brown eyes with gorgeous eyelashes, and so much zest for life you can’t help but want to squeeze her!!

As I reflect back on this day 1 year ago…I remember it like it was yesterday:
an unplanned Dr’s appointment around lunch time….(midwife “maybe we’ll have a baby”….me “NO, we WILL have a baby today”)

Walk a few stairs at home….put Pumpkin down for a nap…make some zucchini bread (contracting for 2 hours every 2-10 min)..hmmm is this labor? Call hubby….put him on alert. Hubby works a full day comes home…..says “well, your water didn’t break yet!”

NOTE: We were waiting for my water to break since that is what signaled “baby is coming” the first go around…contractions every 2-10 min was not a sign to me…just a nuisance!! 🙂

Feed Pumpkin dinner…call midwife…off to the hospital….

contractions…STOP!! What? How can this be? Walking the halls…missing my little one at home…Nonna brings her up so she can walk the halls with mommy :)…

Midwife; “how about you hop in the shower for a bit to get things moving” Me; “I hated, HATED the shower with my first delivery” ….this time LOVED IT!! Hopped in at around 10:00ish….out about 10:45 …..hardly standing, gripping the wall…

The Nurse; “sweetie, you want your epidural?” inching my way to the bed….checked….almost complete….prep the room….hustle and bustle about me…trying to breath…no epidural here….and baby came in 1 hour from the time I got out of the shower!! “ITS A GIRL”

Moving forward:
Boo loves her Mommy, loves to play with Daddy, and can’t get enough of her big sissy!! Miss Independent….wears more food than she actually eats, will nurse until she 5 if I let her (not happening by the way…any tips on weaning I’d love them!!), has 3 teeth (4 on the way), says “Mama, Dada, o’wow, waves “hi” “bye”, uh-oh, yum (um), stands on everything, climbs everything, and loves toilet paper!!

Will Boo be our last baby? I do not know…a question asked daily by friends, family, and even myself…but what I can say is she is a true joy, a blessing, Gods gift, and I can’t imagine my life without her!!!

Practice what you preach..”NO-itis”

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Yep, I have had another one of those “aaaahhhaaa” moments on “practicing what I preach”!! We all know the importance of saying “NO”. We are taught from a very young age:

When a stranger offers you candy …..you say “NO”
When a friend is doing something bad and wants you to join…you say “NO”

I have come to realize the older I get the word “NO” has taken on ever changing meanings. “No, Thank You”, “No, I can’t”, and just plain “NO”. As a mother it is important to teach our children “NO” so they don’t get hurt, hurt someone else, or don’t get in a sticky situation. What happens when they are adults? Can they still say “NO”.

Lately, I have been suffering from “No-itis”. I like to take on the world, never say “No”, and “think” I can do it all!! Well, reality check…Im not super mom, not perfect, and can not “do it all”. I am taking some time and “weeding” through the “chaos”. With August quickly approaching, school around the corner, and a billion other things going on. Now is the time, what kind of example would I be setting for my children if I continue to go the pace Im running?

My current chaos;
Watching kids(ages 8, 7, a new one coming soon 10 weeks..plus my 2 little ones!!)
Cleaning houses 2 x’s a mo
Hair bow business
Dog Bone business
cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, playdates, fieldtrips, and 100’s more!!

So some future weeding that is going to occur in our house;
Im cutting back….yep!! And it is in writing now so someone please hold me accountable 🙂

Im going to drop down to watching only the baby…
Cleaning will stay that is my 2 “days out”
hair bows and bones will stay
Pumpkin is going to school this Fall M, W, F (and we will homeschool T, Th)
1 frield trip a month, 2 playdates a mo
Soccer starts in the Fall
Looking at hiring someone to clean…I know isn’t that funny 😛
I will cook and freeze meals

That is enough weeding for now…I’ll keep you posted on my progress and how I am able to shorten my list of “to-do’s” and “just say NO”!! Wish me luck…I hate saying “NO”!!! And for all of those that know me personally get ready to hear it more!!!

Senses, butterflys, and more!!

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The best part of summer is being outdoors and we have really been taking advantage of the cooler weather. Mommy and Daddy’s electric bill is saying “thank you” to mother nature as well! For some sensory fun the girls enjoyed playing in the dry pool with 175 colorful balls (I don’t know what Santa was thinking sending these our way last Christmas!!)

F0r a cool sensory treat we enjoyed some Dip’N’Dots at the local Zoo these were a big hit and very refreshing after walking around for hours.

Our most recent school highlight was the “Butterfly Release Party” thanks Andi for letting us join in on the fun!! We enjoyed meeting up with our friends each week to watch the caterpillars change form. Some of the books we enjoyed along the way ; The Very Hungry Catepillar, Angelina and the Butterfly (Angelina Ballerina), and Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly.

Pumpkin still has no interest in learning her letters although I have found she does know more of them than once thought. She has really taken a liking to writing and we are working on this daily now. The excitement when she does it correctly is priceless.

We have also started working with some of our Mailbox kits. If you are not familiar with these be sure to check them out…..Pumpkin does really well with them!! A bit more challenging than some file folder games., but learning through play none the less!! Well worth the $$ we got ours at a local teacher store going out of business.

Thanks for visiting out “school” and be sure to check out others doing the same at “Tot-School“.