Plop!

Ever have a day where you have to have 1oo,ooo,ooo things to do by tomorrow, but all you really want to do is sit on the couch watching last nights Gossip Girl and drinking a Chai tea latte? That was my day today. But because all these thing have to be done by tomorrow, you can forget GG and your Chai.

Did I mention that all these things have to be done while a one year old is hanging on your leg? They can sense the absurd amount of stuff that has to be accomplished and do what ever they can to sabotage you.

That was the case for me today. With only 65,000,000 things checked off my list, Rebecca's sabotage began.

She refused to take an afternoon nap.

So instead of fighting with a cranky baby, we went to the park for a long time.

When it was dinner time, I dragged a crying baby all the way to the car.

Once home, I fixed Rebecca her favorite things for supper. All of it ended up on the floor, minus the strawberries. I tried something new. Nope, on the floor. How about this? On the floor. Finally, she decided that an apple butter sandwich would do the trick.

Since Daddy wasn't due home for a short while and I was at my wit's end, I decided it was bath time. That would make the clock go faster.

Rebecca loves a bath. She splashes and kicks and plays with her toys. Things were looking up. She was washed and bathed. I was just about to get her out when, PLOP!

She pooped in the tub.

Luckily, John came home just as I was loosing it.

Skip forward 2 hours.

The bathtub is cleaned. The bath toys are sanitized. Rebecca has had her second bath. John has been fed supper. Rebecca has been given her bottle and put to bed.

Now it is time for me to finish the 35,000,000 things left to do on my to do list, none of which include blogging.

What Really Matters

Someone sent me the following poem before I had Rebecca. I found it as I was going through some of her things. I think it is a poem that all parents should read and remember.

If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again...

If I had my child to raise all over again,

I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.

I'd do less correcting, and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less, and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I'd run through more fields, and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging, and less tugging.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I'd teach less about the love of power, and more about the power of love.

It is so easy to get caught up in everyday life. But the most important thing to a child is that they feel loved and cherished. I hope Rebecca know how much we love her; how much we love having tea parties and picking up acorns with her; how wonderful it is to snuggle with her before she goes to bed and when she wakes up. I hope that she has fun each day and learns something new.

Each night before I go to bed, I think about our day. Did I do something for Rebecca today that really made her laugh?

Tea Time

Today Rebecca, Blue Bubba (Bubba's baby brother) and I had a tea party. It was a lot of fun. Rebecca loves to pretend to be eating with the spoon and drinking the tea. She laughs as I pour the tea and make sounds. She thinks that it is funny to stir up the sugar and milk into the tea cup. The most hilarious thing that happened at the tea party was when Blue Bubba jumped into his teacup. I thought Rebecca was going to fall out of her chair laughing.

As we were sitting at her adorable table enjoying our tea, I could not help but to smile. I thought to myself, "I am actually having a tea party with MY daughter!" Sometimes I can not get over the fact that she is mine (and John's). What did we do to deserve such a joy?

This is a picture of Rebecca riding her rocking horse. This was my rocking horse when I was little. It was given to me by my Grandmother Caroline. My parents had it redone for Rebecca for her birthday. She loves it. She sits up there and says "Rock, rock, rock....". We just need to teach her how to get up and down by herself.

NO!

Rebecca has a new favorite word.

She says it about a kajillion times a day.

That word is NO!

If she really means it, she says it over and over and over again. NONONONONONONONONONO!

Isn't it too early for the terrible twos to start?

I mean, she just turned one like last week.

However, the tantrums have started.

If she does not get her way, she kicks her legs, flails her arms, and swings her head back and forth. All the while, screaming NONONONONONONONO or WHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Luckily, her attention can be adverted quickly.

Party Time

Rebecca had a wonderful birthday weekend. On Thursday, her actual birthday, we did all of her favorite things. We ate blueberry muffins.

We went to Gymboree.

Mimi and Papa came to play.

We went to the park.

I think Rebecca enjoyed her first birthday.

On Friday we went to Sesame Street Live with Ari and Joshua. Rebecca loved it. She danced and clapped. I thought she would be scared of the characters, but she was not. She even touched Elmo.

Friday afternoon, Nannie, Papa, Carrie, Aunt Amy, and John Maggio came in from Mississippi. Rebecca loved playing with her cousins.

Saturday was the big party. The weather turned out perfect. The party was held at Mimi and Papa's house down by the river. I think a good time was had by all. Rebecca had a blast playing with her friends and eating cake and ice cream.

Sunday was a day of rest and recovery.

Monday we had her 1 year check-up. This was a disaster. Dr. Knox said that Rebecca looked great. He was impressed with how fast she could walk and her talking. She weighed in at 19 lbs. 1 oz (10-25%) and 30 in. (90%). He said not to worry about how skinny she was because she is so tall.

After our visit with Dr. Knox, the nurse came in to give Rebecca her shots. Now most of our regular blog readers know how much Rebecca does not like to be tied down. She can not stand to have her diaper changed because she can not move. So picture 3 people having to hold down a 1 year old for 4 shots. I had her upper body, Nannie had her mid-section, and the nurse had her legs. Rebecca was screaming, I was crying, and Nannie was teary eyed. It was a nightmare. I am sure the nurse thought we were all crazy. It took a while for all three of us to get ourselves together so we could leave the doctors office.

Luckily we survived and Rebecca has seemed to forgotten the whole ordeal. However, I am still working on it.

Happy Birthday Baby!

It is hard to believe that my baby girl is a year old. In a way I am extremely sad. This has been the best year of my life. Don't get me wrong, it has been extremely hard, but I have really tried to enjoy every single minute of it. I remember in the first few weeks I was so sleep deprived. Even if it was the middle of the night and Rebecca was awake, I thanked God for letting me rock my baby. It has been amazing watching her grow and seeing her see and do things for the first time. It has truly been a blessing.

I am also very excited about Rebecca's first birthday. We made it! I can not thank our family enough for all their support and help. Rebecca is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents who love and adore her almost as much as John and I do. It is because of them and the rest of our family and friends that we have made it this far.

Words can not describe how much John and I love Rebecca. There is nothing like it. She has brought us more joy that we ever thought possible. I thank God every day for trusting John and I enough to raise such a sweet baby girl.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We're Back

Rebecca and I have been in a blogging funk, actually it was just me. I sat down many time to blog, but just didn't have it in me to complete the task at hand. At any rate, we have been busy! We took a trip to Mississippi for a family reunion. We had a wonderful time, and Rebecca loved seeing her Nannie, Papa, 2 aunts and an uncle, and all her cousins. She was a real trooper for the car ride and late nights. Thank goodness for portable DVD players.

Since we have been back from MS, we have been getting ready for Rebecca's first birthday. We have big plans this week. Thursday is the actual day, Friday we are going to see Sesame Street Live, and Saturday we are going to PARTY! I promise to blog all about it early next week.

Since my last blog, Rebecca has really been doing some growing up. She is a total walker now (no more crawling). She is still a little wobbly and falls down a good bit, but she gets right back up. John jokes and asks what I spiked her bottle with.

She is talking so much, and actually says stuff we understand. She says mama, dada, Bubba (her lovey), Nana, Papa, book, nononononononono (which is her favorite thing to say), where's dada, and what's that (which sounds more like utsdat). I think she called herself Becca today, but she hasn't said it again.

Rebecca and Bubba

She is also understanding what we say to her. We can say, "Where's Bubba?" and she will go get Bubba. Or we will ask her to get her stuffed dog and she will bark like a dog and go get it.

She loves to swing and just walk around the house. She loves yogurt bites and juice. She still hates having to be still for a diaper change. She loves her mommy and daddy, and we love her!