Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Why life doesn't suck and it does take a village to raise a child...

You always hear people say life sucks or being an adult sucks. I have probably said this more times than I am willing to admit. It doesn't though. Is it hard? Abso-freaking-lutely! It's never fair. The right way is always the hard way. You sit back and watch people who lie, cheat and steal thrive. Sometimes only for a slight moment and sometimes you sit back and wait for what seems like forever for karma to catch up. Life is stressful. You have bills to pay, mouths to feed, never ending messes, laundry and dishes to clean, tantrums to defuse, fights to break up, and the list could go on. Amidst all the chaos if you look really hard you can find the good stuff. Those little moments every parent cherishes when your child does something new and brilliant. When your 2 yr old out of nowhere says, "mommy, I love you." When that dramatic 1 yr old sees you and comes running with that adorable nose crinkling smile. When the kids finally fall asleep at night and you get that oh-so-needed quiet moment with the love of your life and best friend. It's in those moments you realize life really doesn't suck. People suck!

I always hated the expression it takes a village to raise a child. Mostly because when you get pregnant it apparently gives people the right to tell you exactly what they think you need to know. You get all kinds of unwanted and sometimes crazy advice. When you have a child you realize that for the most part you really don't need all that advice. You know what your baby needs. You find your own way to make things work out best for you. Every baby and every family is different. What worked for my mom may not work for me and my children. Even though my cousin's best friend's sister fed her baby a certain way that doesn't mean my kids need to be fed that way to grow up well adjusted.

You may not need all that advice, but you do need a village worth of support to raise a child. As much of a blessing children are they are that much work. It's harder than you ever imagine. You need a break occasionally. You need date nights with your husband. Once you've had kids and it's been a while since you had a night out. You realize how important this is. You start bickering with one another over the stupidest little things. It sucks. Especially when your 2 yr old has decided to not acknowledge bedtime no matter how many different things you try. Now I realize how important a village is in raising kids. We don't have a village where we live (half our village is in Texas). We do have an amazing sister-in-law here. I can't tell you how wonderful it is when we are stretched to our limit, we've tried every other option to get our much needed break with no luck, we call her and she rearranges her day on a moment's notice to give us that break. Just in the nick of time! Words can't express how truly grateful I am for those few hours alone with my husband. So, as it is with most things, I have realized, in the absence of a true working village, just how important it is. We need a fully functioning village and this my friends is how I came to the conclusion that it really isn't life that sucks, it's people (not all people of course)!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

What A Year!

You're probably expecting a New Year post. Nope! Today is my baby's 1st birthday! Is it possible to feel like time has moved too quickly and too slowly at the same time? That is totally how I feel about a year having passed since Annaleigh was born. On one hand, I can't believe she's already 1! On the flip side, it feels like this year has been several with all the things that happened. Seriously, this girl has been through a lot in her first year of life. She's had jaundice, her first period (yeah, crazy, I know..apparently, it's one of those medical things that are common enough for drs to know about it, but not common enough that the general population knows about it...it happens to some baby girl's as the mom's hormone are leaving their body...it was just the one when she was like a week old), RSV (hospital stay & on oxygen when we went home), acid reflux, 2 falls down the stairs, um i think that's all.  She's already been to Texas twice. She's walking. She can say "uh-oh" and "this." Those are pretty much the only words she uses appropriately in context. She blows kisses, is obsessed with food, and just yesterday she started trying to spin in circles while dancing (seriously, so cute.) She's super crazy, but she is oh so sweet and adorable!

So it really has been quite a year since she was born! We were in Texas a week ago so we had an early birthday party for her there! I loved how it turned out! All of my family were such a help with getting things all set up. Can I just say my husband has some mad decorating skills! He was my lifesaver. He hung streamers while I decorated the cake and came up with a pretty impressive design all on his own. He's pretty amazing!


I love how the cake turned out!



Isn't the inside of the bottom layer awesome! I was trying to get the zebra print effect.


Her cake ended up looking crazy. The cake was still hot, but it couldn't wait any longer to ice it. So it crumbled.


I think she liked it!


I don't know what was up with the face, but it's cute and this was the best picture of her dress that night. I bought a plain zebra print tank dress from Hobby Lobby and added to it!


She got lots of cute presents, but I didn't want to go overboard with the picture bomb!

I just can't believe she's already 1! Here's to hoping she mellows out as she gets older :)!