a mother's aspirations for her daughter...

we all have them... aspirations, hopes, dreams, predictions... Erik and I have been making them since Bear's first sweet smile... "she's such a charmer... definitely going to be a people person." This week I made this scrapbook page. It's probably my favorite to date... It is very simple with very little journaling but each thing evokes special parts of my daughters personality that I cherish (and a few things I could even do without...) I thought I should get in writing what they mean though because I'm sure within a blink of an eye they will change as she changes every day!



1. a Doctor...
Bear doesn't sleep... hubby only needs a little bit of sleep to function (though its been increasing with old age), and I am a very light sleeper... Bear inherited both of these traits. If she gets woken up after a 15 minute nap.. she's good to go! Even as an infant she never wanted to miss anything and hardly slept. Anyone who knows us knows sleep has been a constant battle in our house. She is also very caring and nurturing which would come in handy as a doctor.

2. a Zoologist or other job working with exotic animals...
ties in with number 4 a vet... Bear has always LOVED animals. Even as a small baby she was mesmerized by the animals at the zoo. Her first words revolved around lions, tigers, and bears (Oh My! I just had to!) You can't even say the word Z-O-O in our house in less you have the car packed and are leaving in less than 10 seconds to go to the zoo.

3. a Dancer..

This kid definitely got her daddy's rythym! She has always loved music... but what kid doesn't? But she totally cracked me up last week when she said "Shake the butt mom" and lately has been telling us when we need to "shake the booty" Today she demanded we "shake the booty" in the middle of Target... those were some fun looks we got!

4. a Vet...
again she just loves animals. For her 1st birthday we had beanie baby dogs as party favors because she was so in love with dog beanie babies. Ironically all her friends had things come up and we ended up with 15 MORE beanie baby dogs! She had every breed they made and could identify each one by name. She carried them everywhere with her... they have since been replaced by bears but she still cries to go home to her dogs anytime she has been away from them longer than she is comfortable with.

and lastly...
5. a Musician...

She loves music... if she's not going to dance maybe she will play it because this kid is definitely an entertainer... Just yesterday she was banging away on some containers she found and I was really surprised at her rhythm and technique... Hubby played the drums so maybe that's where she gets it from...

Now I know you are all reading this saying hello your kid is two... they all dance.. they all bang on things... they all love animals... Thats why this is so precious to me... this is you at your finest right now... all the sweet lovable things that make me so happy to have a toddler. What do you think your kid will be when they grow up? Isn't it fun to imagine?

My life in a basket...

I love baskets... Whenever I think things are getting out of control in my house (or my life for that matter)I get an incredible urge to reorganize... to do that I buy containers... big rubbermaid tubs, fabric drawers, dvd organizers... but my very favorite are baskets... I've seen pictures in magazines of shelves beautifully decorated with a simple basket... are things overflowing from the basket? No way... When you put a basket on the shelf of a model home it instantly becomes bottomless hiding all of the knick knacks and clutter inside... If anyone knows where I can buy those baskets please let me know! My house is covered in baskets... baskets to hold cookbooks,
baskets to hold coffee,
baskets to hold bathroom products,
baskets to hold remotes and cell phones,
and of course a basket to hold things I want to deal with later...
Do you know what happens when you have too many baskets??? You end up with a house cluttered in baskets and 100 different places to hold things you want to deal with later... So today my goal is to reorganize my containers for reorganization... Any suggestions?

At barely 2...

Where does time go? I swear we were just trying to make it to 36 weeks before having you... We were just bringing you home... a tiny 6 lb baby... 4 weeks early... we were just watching you take your first steps... and now we are watching you conquer the world one toddler triumph at a time... How are you already 2? I was ready for terrible 2's... (well at least I was trying to make myself ready)... what I wasn't ready for was your hilarious sense of humor... your extensive vocabulary... your caring and inquisitive nature... You are totally 2... and I love it!
At barely 2 you weigh 21 lbs...
At barely 2 you are 33 inches tall...
At barely 2 you love to say "I do MYSELF"
At barely 2 you love to "shake the booty" as you say
At barely 2 you love to sing songs like "ABC's" "Baa Baa Black Sheep" "Tinkerbells" and "I love you"
At barely 2 you say "excuse me" to everyone you walk past in the store...
At barely 2 you have a big girl Tinkerbell bed you sleep in... sometimes...
At barely 2 you don't like to eat much and when you do it's typically "fru sacks" and "yogi"
At barely 2 you love My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake...
At barely 2 you have stolen our hearts all over again...

Thank you for letting us be your parents... for teaching us about life... allowing us to experience it with you... and for reminding us sometimes it's ok to just laugh at yourself!

Mommy and Daddy

I've been gone a while...

I haven't posted in a while... I have been run down, drained, depressed even recently and just didn't have the energy to write... or do much else for that matter!
I had grand plans for my 2 week Christmas break from school (another reason why I love working in the schools)... I had scheduled a few days (4 mornings) for Bear to go to school for a few hours so I could get things done. Before you judge me for having time off and still sending my kid to daycare... we pay for a minimum of 5 hours a week anyhow so I figured I could use the time for doctors appointments, last minute Christmas shopping, renewing license plates that expire a week after Christmas (that just isn't right...)... On top of that Bear eats much better at school. Since she is only 21 pounds at 2 years old I like to make sure she eats as much as possible. Gotta love that peer pressure.
After scheduling all of the above mentioned appointments and getting my game plan firmly established we woke up Sunday morning to a sick little girl. She had the worst cold I have seen so far. She didn't get to school on Monday... or on Tuesday... appointments were cancelled... I felt myself begin to tense up over everything I now had to accomplish in a much shorter amount of time. On top of that Bear was waking several times a night because she couldn't breathe so I was running on empty. All of this culminated on Christmas Eve... She actually fell asleep at 7:40 pm. We played Santa and even watched a movie... smart parents would have also gone to sleep at 7:40 pm... not us... You have probably already guessed it but Ashlyn woke up at 11 pm and not only did she not sleep at all the rest of the night but she screamed hysterically all night long. Nothing made her happy. Eventually at about 4 am she stopped crying with the promise of watching her My Little Pony dvd but of course at this VERY moment... our DVD player stopped working! Are you kidding me?
Finally at 6 am we decided this was ridiculous and lets just let her open her presents. That had to make her happy. She walked out into the living room and ... we had the camera ready to capture the big smile... the slow motion run to the Christmas tree... instead we got... MORE CRYING.. She was so exhausted and so overwhelmed...


You have to love this scrapbook page made with Digi-Designs by Nicole's Swanky Christmas... Look at Hubby's face... he has resigned himself to just holding her and praying it ends sooner rather than later... And her face... well that says it all...

Eventually Bear and I fell asleep on the couch and daddy in the bedroom. We woke up around 10 and finished celebrating Christmas. She was happy and really enjoyed her gifts. We were so exhausted we let her play with playdoh on the couch and really have fun.
As parents we put so much effort into our children having a wonderful magical Christmas it is so heartbreaking when they aren't able to enjoy it... I hope next year is different for Bear and she can really experience the Christmas morning joy... as for me... I just hope Santa gets a little more sleep next year!

Snow fun

We took Bear sledding on Sunday... We were so excited... we bundled everyone up... went to a little hill by our house... I showed her how fun it was by going first... She was excited to try... and then she started to cry... and didn't want to go again... and asked to go home... we have a whole lot of winter left if there will be no sledding, snowman building, or general frolicking in the snow... My kid is going to grow up and hate us for moving her from Florida to Chicago... How much you want to bet she decides to follow mom and dad's footsteps and go to Florida State?

Page made with It's Snow Fun by Scraps N' Pieces

Bear's 2nd birthday!

Just wanted to share my scrapbook page I did for Bear's birthday. I used the blog train blog's The Orient train and it features many different designers (mikki designs- flowers, Eyeinspire- papers, Christine Smith- alpha, Pretty In Green- panda "buttons", Designs by Keira- other flower, Munchkyn scraps- Big pandas).

division of parenting roles...

is necessary... I don't know if it happens out of habit, personal strengths or necessity... but there are definite roles in our household. Not that the other parent isn't capable of giving baths, reading books, or putting on jammies... it's just become routine to everyone in the family that we have specific roles. Now that I have stated the necessity of it... I am jealous of my husbands role. He is the "fun" parent. He still pulls his weight in the responsibility department but he just makes everything more fun. Even bathtime turns into a waterpark adventure (complete with wet floors and a wet daddy!) I am the "comforter" it has been this way since her first head bump... If Bear is sick, hurt, or just can't sleep she wants mommy. I wouldn't trade this role because there is nothing better than comforting your child... but it's hard. I have to see my child in pain armed with nothing but hugs and kisses. Maybe it is harder on my husband because not only does he only have hugs and kisses but she'd rather have mommy's. Sometimes I just want to kick off responsibility and be the "fun" parent! I want to not worry about rules but I am such a control freak it's difficult for me. As I type this I hear water splashing, animated voices, and my sick child laughing. I guess it's a good thing we have this balance and Bear doesn't have 2 control freak, multi-tasking, never relaxing parents. How is parenting divided in your household? What is your "role" and what is your husbands?

Thoughts this evening

I had a few thoughts to share this evening...

1) My daughter just said "Shake the butt" and started breaking it down... Oh Lord!!! I am in trouble! Where did she even learn that???
2) You know your a mom when... you reach in your jacket pocket for your keys and pull out 2 my little ponies and a pacifier... but not your keys...
3) It's never quite Christmas in our house until the smell of candy cane cookies being baked fills the air... Even when I was on bedrest I stirred them from my recliner...It's officially Christmas!
4) Ask me again how I feel about said smell after I bake and wrap 60 of them for tomorrows cookie exchange...
5) I can't ever do it the easy way... For Bear's birthday this weekend I couldn't just buy a cake... I couldn't just make a cake? No I had to make 3d panda bear cupcakes! Everything looks a lot more appealing in a beautiful book made by professionals... And of course I didn't make 15 (she only had 4 friends and their parents at her party)... I made 30... 30 sad looking panda bears... But as a friend said "Man she's going to look back at that and know how loved she is!" I sure hope so!

The Comparison Game

One of the very first things I read when I was starting to read what ended up being about 50 books on parenting and what to expect, was to try to not compare your child to other children. They all develop at their own rate... la dee da dee da... and all of this of course went right out the window the first time I walked past a baby in the mall that looked "about" Bear's age. The "about" is the kicker... I have a degree in child development and a masters in communication disorders. I am well aware of the range that developmental milestones are reached... and although there is a wide range a month or two (or four) REALLY makes a difference. So as much as I told myself I wouldn't... the comparison game began... I have a friend who has a little girl that is 4 months older than Bear. Somehow because we were pregnant together (for a few months) and because we were able to share the common language of mothers of infants I feel like our children are "about" the same age. Back in July or August my friend posted how her daughter said this whole sentence about a cat she had seen earlier in the day... it was full of prepositions, nouns, adjectives, verbs and I was jealous... and worried... I started comforting myself saying well her daddy is a doctor, and her mommy is one of the smartest people I know... of course she is talking like that... As educated as I am on development I still didn't rationalize she is FOUR months older than Bear of course she is light years ahead of her talking! Just now Bear told me a sentence with an adjective, noun, present progressive verb, and preposition... Of course it is 4 months later than when my friend's child did just that!
It is also getting to the point where Bear is developing her own interests and skills. Comparison's are a bit harder because different kids are doing different things... I am setting my goal for this year...I really do want to do less comparing... I have a beautiful independent healthy child... Every time I get the urge to compare I want to instead celebrate what Bear IS doing and realize how very blessed I am!