finally...

It has been a crazy busy couple of months in our lives! I finished nannying in July when Claire and her family moved to Virginia, and began a new job at the Children's Center at Dickinson College. We all miss having Crystal, PJ, and Claire close to us, but my new job is wonderful. And as Crystal's mom keeps telling me at least now I will have a good retirement plan so I can sleep when I am old :) Just before I began my new job Brent started working days at his job. It is great to have him home at night and he can start dinner before I get home from work! As if that wasn't enough change, when Mati started school she also started going to before school care. I think this is all of the change we can take for awhile! Mati is playing soccer and her team has won all three of the games they have played. She is picking up the game very quickly, and will excel at the game once she gets over her fear of being aggressive. I think she is afraid of hurting someone...LOL. I look at all of the pictures of her playing soccer and wonder where the time went. My little girl is looking so grown up. I am going to try to keep this updated more frequently. My goal is once a week, so if I don't do it feel free to send me a message to remind me :)

Ears

So it turns out that Mati has an ear infection in the ear that her tube has come out of...I hope this is not the start of continuous ear problem again. She will not be happy if we have to have tubes put in again, and either will I. It is easier than having tonsils removed, but no one wants to have their child go through all of that if it can be avoided.
On a brighter note we got a bookshelf for in her bedroom tonight. It is white and has six shelves. It will drastically improve the storage in her room. The best part is that it was free... As soon as I mentioned needing a bookshelf for Mati Crystal sent out an e-mail to the students at the Law School to see if anyone had one available. You are the best Crystal!!! I also have to thank my mom for hauling it to our house in the rain...you are the best too!!!! I can't wait to make Mati's room look like Fancy Nancy's room...canopy over the bed and all...such fun!

This little guy's name is Noah.  I found out about him from a friend of mine.   The following was taken from his parent's blog 

 "while in daycare on Monday, April 20^th, our little Noah’s life changed dramatically. He was shaken by his daycare provider and within minutes began to seize, and he continued to seize for 15 minutes until he arrived at the INOVA Fairfax emergency room where a huge team of doctors worked diligently to save him. Those first hours were so dark, as Noah was in such critical condition that we weren’t sure he would survive. With God’s grace, he pulled through those early hours and was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, where he has been ever since."

There is more to Noah's story which can be found at www.noahsroad.com I urge you all to stop by the blog when you get a moment, read it, and say a prayer for Noah and his parents.  I hope you all will remember this...while working in daycare I have learned some important lessons.  The most important lesson I learned as a parent is this...if you ever have a gut feeling about a care provider listen to it!  If you think something isn't right pay close attention!!!  Stop in at lunch, at 10:00 in the morning, at 1:00 in the afternoon...stop in 3 times a day if you think you need to!  You are the one who keeps your child safe and happy and the job of being a parent is the most important job of all.  Give your kids an extra hug today :) 

Spring Pictures

I have been having issues with my facebook picture uploader and have been trying to upload these pics for the last week... I took these pictures at the preserve by our house and at Children's Lake in Boiling Springs.

When did she grow up ? She looks so much older in this picture.

I love this one...she was so busy thinking she didn't even know I took a picture.

So Mati...bare feet, playing with the grass.

Mati, Mati, Mati

I love my camera!!! Now if I can just save enough money to buy the new lenses that I want to have...

I think Mati is going to drive us crazy!!! She is right now going on about how no one loves her and how she has no clothes to wear....the child has the equivalent of a whole store in her bedroom arranged into outfits in her closet. "There is nothing to wear!". What a typical girl!! I am off to avert crisis and find an outfit for the day...everyone who told me boys are easier had it right :)

Hair and Bears

I bought pink for Mati's hair on Friday and with my moms help she now has pink highlights all around her head. It is very cute and not obnoxious. She wasn't so sure about the foil technique I used, but anything to be pink!

Saturday we went to Boyd's Bear Country for their HUGE egg hunt. We started the day with a nice brunch and then it was time for the egg hunting to begin. We went with our friends Crystal, PJ, and Claire who is 15 months old. It was so windy I thought we might blow away! It turns out that Claire found a "prize egg" and won a huge bear. A couple hours later it was Mati's turn and she was searching for the prize egg in her age group. Our little sprinter found it and was the one who picked it up! She was all nonchalant about it, and we didn't even know she had it until we asked. She now has a new snuggle buddy who fills up an entire side of her bed..it is adorable to see her all cuddled up with him at night.

Hair

by annia316

Ok, so Mati has wanted pink streaks in her hair for the last couple of months. I pretend that I will think about it, and normally something more pressing (or interesting) comes up. Today I actually took time to think about it. Am I a crazy mom for actually entertaining the thought of pink hair on a seven year old? Perhaps. But I also know that it is only hair. It will grow and change color for the rest of her life. My moms philosophy was always that it was only hair and from a very young age it was my choice what I wanted to do with it. I think I am going to follow in her footsteps knowing that there are much worse things in this world than a seven year old with pink hair, and who knows, maybe if she makes enough of her own choices I will begin to see that she truly is growing up, and we as parents almost know what we are doing!