The Mother of Mothers

For my sisters and I, Mother's Day is everyday in our hearts.  We treasure her and what she has done for her daughters.  We talk about her often and think about her constantly.  I'm sure it wasn't always this way.  Kids can be pretty egocentric.  

We continue not to deny her being a mother, and give her many chances to do our bidding selflessly.  She watches our children whenever possible.  She rearranges her schedule to be our companion/date when husband's are unavailable.  She cooks and cleans up when we frequent her table for dinner.  

My mother always listened to me with great interest.  She never made me feel like I was talking too much or about silly things that didn't matter (this meant a lot to a long-winded story-telling little girl).  She made me feel like I mattered, not just as her own child, but as a person in this world.  I remember knowing even as a young girl that my mom trusted me.  She was a guide, not my decision-maker.  

When I was 9 years old, I decided I wanted to be in a pageant.  Looking back on this pageant is what really shows me how unique my mom was in her parenting style.  All the little girls were like trained ponies, blowing kisses to the audience robotically, spitting out rehearsed answers to interview questions involving "world peace" or " becoming a doctor", etc.  I, however, got to be a 9 year old.  I walked like a 9 year old.  I smiled like a 9 year old.  I dressed like a 9 year old, and most importantly I talked like a 9 year old.  Among all the future doctors and lawyers, I was the only one that admitted that I would like to be an auto mechanic or (in a related field) a hairstylist.  I guess this was refreshing to the judges because I won that pageant.  I know being Miss Pre-Teen Oklahoma is not a big deal any more when you are 26, but the fact that my mom trusted me enough to follow my 9 year old instincts, and then I won . . . that event has done wonders for my self-confidence.  

My mom is my biggest fan.  I think more than anyone in this world, she enjoys my voice and my music.  She is always trying to get me to do more with it.  In a way, she has some ownership in my music.  Hereditarily, my dad gave me some talent . . . my mom did too, but she put in the long hours.  One of the only places in my childhood where I saw my mom demand something of us was in our musical ventures.  She MADE all of us sit down at the piano and learn three-part harmony even as little bitty girls and sing in front of the church in our matching dresses my grandmother made us.  (This also leads to the other demand - sponge-rolling our hair the night before a performance!!)  I am SOOO thankful that she did this for us (not the sponge-rolling).  

The best testament to my mother is the mothers she has raised in me and my sisters.  We will forever try to be the kind of mother to our children that she was to us - giving our children freedom to grow and trust themselves, giving our children the tools they will need or want (by force if necessary), listening to them no matter what.  I see my older sisters already doing these things so naturally with their children already, and it makes me love my mother even more.

Momma, I am so proud to see you finally carving out some time and space just for you recently.  More than the little and big favors we may need from you, we need you to take care of YOU.  We are going to need you around for a long time.  I love you so much.  You are the easiest person to be around, and I will forever sing your praises to my children, among others. 

summa-time and the livin' is easy!

"your daddy's rich and your momma's good-lookin!"

we need to make this lullaby (a regular in davie's repertoire) come true for this summer.  someway.  somehow.

summer is coming!  i am getting so antsy, just waiting for my freedom!  i want to be at the lake as much as humanly possible, which means bathing suit, which means, "we's got woik to do!"  i might like to be a shade or two bronzer than my current milky hue.  i might like to have a few things toned up.  i might like to have a flattering new bathing suit.  

i feel like these things require a little bit of extra money though.  extra money that steven and i are trying to find in our regular monthly budget (to put in savings).  however, i do have a birthday coming up this saturday.  

now for the conundrum - should i be a good girl and put my birthday money into savings?  (it sounds un-fun, but is actually QUITE fulfilling) OR do i indulge (understanding that birthday's only come once a year) and get myself ready for the best summer yet?

it sounds like i've already decided . . .

Been Awhile

Some updates:

- I took the position at Putnam City West.  Phew.  I'm relieved and excited.

- Davie has her second tooth . . . well kind of, we're still in the process.

- A couple of days ago, I glanced over and Davie was standing up at her little piano.  Luckily, just hours before Steven and I lowered her crib frame because I said, "Any day now, she is going to pull herself up and out of this crib."

- Davie's increasing mobility seems to be causing some issues in the evening (not to mention diaper-changes!) She doesn't seem to want to stop moving, especially when she desperately wants and needs to wind down, but can't seem to make the connection that it means ceasing movement.

Must go!  The baby cries yet again!

Tent camping with an 8 month old.

This weekend the stars aligned for a perfect weekend to go camping.  These stars included the "perfect weather for sleeping outside" star, the "missed my husband enough to follow him into the Sahara" star, the "baby has been pretty happy and healthy" star, and the "i can muster up the energy to do this" star.  I was nervous about tent camping with an infant . . . since I'm not really keen on tent camping anyway.  

It turned out alright.  The tent was roomy and we set it up a ways away from the group and the campfire.  I made her a little pallet in the corner of the tent, opened the vents, and patted her to sleep.  When I officially went to bed around midnight, she was still fast asleep.  I slept in the middle of the tent between Steven and Davie.  The next morning at 6am when I woke up (even before Davie), Steven said, "Well, I guess she slept alright last night.  She never even woke up." . . . Steven is obviously a VERY heavy sleeper.  She woke up 4 or 5 times actually.  One of the times as I was desperately trying to find her pacifier and get it in her mouth before she woke up the whole campground, Steven starts nudging me repeatedly, like "Fix her.  Fix her."  Geez!  Eventually I started sleeping (or slipping in and out of consciousness out of anxiety) with the pacifier in my hand ready to insert at the slightest fuss.  

Anyway, I suppose she did do alright - better than I did for sure.  The next day we went out to the climbing area and as soon as I started to getting extremely frustrated (I could feel the hives arising from my skin), Steven swept in and slapped on the baby sling and carried her around for awhile so I could have some social interaction and a break from baby duty.  It was a good day.  A good weekend.  However, it made Steven and I both tired at the same time which is always complicated when you are taking care of a baby.  But we did alright.  One point for the Charles family!

The Secret (in our case)

Over the last few days I've discovered THE secret to getting my child to sleep without a fuss - make sure her belly is full.  That's it.  Even if I've fed her within the last couple of hours, if I lay her down with a pacifier and blanket and bunny and rock her or sing to her or any of this . . . she will cry and cry.  But if I feed her again, she'll stay awake for awhile after I lay her down, she'll coo to herself for awhile and then put herself to sleep.  

It makes sense.  I like to go to sleep on a full belly too.  

In other news, Davie has also weaned herself from her sleep sack.  She is also a piano prodigy - my mom has this little piano at her house (that is now at OUR house) and Davie will sit and play at that thing for HOURS, and then cry when you take her away from it.  

Well - I have been offered a job at PC West High School.  I am 90% sure I am going to take it.  Council Road Baptist Church has a day care and it's just down the street.  Do you know how EXPENSIVE day care is?!?!  Holy geez.  There is a big part of me that would like to take a year to spend with my child full-time, but it's just not probable for us.  It's just not.  Good thing I like work.  It makes it a bit easier.  

Her gums are swollen with teeth, and I am swollen with pride!

The night before last Davie slept like a newborn . . . which is to say, not very good.  She acted like she was starving that evening and through the night, so we thought she was going through a growth spurt (which I still haven't completely ruled out since she had 37 ounces in the last 24 hours).  The next day her Mother's Day Out report said she did not take a single nap.  WHAT?!  When I came home, Steven said, "Momma- look in my mouth . . ." speaking for Davie of course.  There I saw one little tooth bud rising from her bottom gums.  I was SO proud.  I wanted to throw her a party and invite everyone we know.  I was not expecting this pride.  

I was, however, expecting the symptoms - sleeplessness, chewing, fussiness, etc.  She is a rollercoaster of emotions.  One moment she is beaming with pride, smiling ear to ear to show off her ivory new accessory.  The next she is throwing a fit and can't get comfortable.  I think the eating is a coping mechanism.  Eating solves all life's problems for her right now.  I'm glad, because I had heard sometimes when a baby is cutting a tooth, eating causes them discomfort.  And she was already starting to look a little gaunt from last weekend's stomach virus.  

Last night she woke up every hour until 3am.  I fed her and then she slept until 6:30am.  It's rough when you get used to sleeping through the night and suddenly have a few of those thrown at ya.  (I used to think people were dumb for saying sleeplessness in your 3rd trimester gets you ready for sleepless nights coming up when baby is here . . . I thought, "Just let me sleep, and I'll deal with that when it comes."  But I think it's true.  You do get used to it.  Still exhausted of course, but used to it.)

We got some of those teething tablets, which I would have NEVER in a million years found on my own at Walmart where they keep the estrogen pills!  Those seem to be working wonders too (the teething tablets, not the estrogen).  I can't seem to figure out what she wants to chew on.  Sometimes she will chew with glee on something hard like a plastic cup, but other times she screams in pain.  Sometimes she will chew on something soft like her sippy cup spout, other times it's not good enough for her.  We also got some teething biscuits for her to munch on.  They are not a huge hit yet.  So far she has offered both her pieces to Scout, and Scout gently obliged.

She does have diarrhea, but I don't know if that's from the teething or her sudden intake of food!  Anyways, I am so proud of the little tyke . . . but I must say I will miss her giant toothless grin.  

Career Options

We've come to the point in the school year where I have two handfuls of options up in the air waiting for one of them to fall in my lap and say, "I choose you, Kinsey Charles!"

I was pretty convinced this year I had it all figured out.  I was going to find me a high school teaching position.  Now, for many reasons, Steven is looking for a new full-time position.  This changes everything.  Thus far, Steven has been working from home while I am working at school.  No need to worry about finding childcare while earning two incomes.  Since we don't know where Steven will end up or what schedule he will be on, I don't really know what to pursue either.  What if (and most likely this will happen) we both have normal 40 hour a week day jobs?  What will we do with our child?!  I know people deal with this all the time, but we don't.  

What do you guys do?