We Went to Church!!!

I went to church.

Let me rephrase that… I WENT TO CHURCH!!!!

Okay, WE went to church. Haha.

Wait, let me get this right... WE WENT TO CHURCH!!!!

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’ll know why that’s such a big deal to me. If you are new - first of all welcome - it’s a big deal because I have been yearning to go back to church for quite some time now. To spare everyone a repeat of all the details, you can catch up here if need be.

Our friends Cayla and Brandon moved back to the Lou from Florida recently. They came back for multiple reasons, but the main being that they are going to start a church in the city. I’m fuzzy on the details, but the main point to this is that they are back, and wherever they are, is where I want to be. Okay, that sounds so funny to me now. I should clarify. I say that I want to be where they are because I had no idea where Gene and I (and Emma) would fit in since we are not from the same religious background. I was so confused that I just put it off and we never went as a couple or as a family. I always knew that our best bet in finding a church home would be to follow the Smothermans. And they’re back, so we can!

So, with their invitation, we went to their church on Easter Sunday. August Gate.

August Gate (South City) is not in a well-known area to most. Some may even say that it’s not in the friendliest area – although the area is very updated and recently built-up, so yes, it is “friendly.” But, when you drive up, it is BEAUTIFUL! Seriously, in the middle, of a random neighborhood, you’re just driving along and there it is, in all its glory. Lol. I sound so sappy. But looking back now, I may have heard the choir sing as the sun was hitting it. “Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.” Haha. I laugh, but it’s no joke. It was magical. I wish that there were pictures on their website because just the outside is inviting. Even the inside is pretty. The windows, the ceiling, everything. It’s. Just. Beautiful.

Anyway, moving on.

We walked in and while we didn’t know anyone there, everyone said their hello to us. I noticed that there was a coffee bar right there in front. That’s so nice. I love how relaxed they are. I can drink my coffee as we listen to the sermon! We saw the signs for the kids area and we headed that way. Emma was a concern of mine when it came to going to church. I know some don’t have “daycare” and some do. August Gate does, thank goodness. However, Gene and I have never left Emma with someone other than immediate family. We found the area, and it’s so great. So many toys, so much to do. I filled out a form and asked a few questions and Emma couldn’t care less that I was walking away from her, leaving her with people that I forgot to introduce myself to. Oops. It turns out that if she has a meltdown they will text me. Awesome!

Not only is that awesome, but looking around at the people there, it’s all families (well, mostly). It’s a lot of people like Gene and I; 20s or 30s and most starting a family. I think the reason I noticed that so quickly is simply because most of the time, Gene and I are hanging out with people in their 50s and 60s. It was refreshing actually. It was just the thing I needed to get Gene onboard. :-)

Having previously been a member of a Christian church, I knew that Gene was in for a culture shock (for lack of a better term). He’s catholic, and I’m sure everyone knows how uneventful Catholic Church is. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just pointing out the difference. Anyway, August Gate had a pretty great band. The guy on the guitar in the back right corner of the stage was wonderfully into the song that they were playing. The man and woman who did the most singing were great! While Gene didn’t really tap his foot, or dance, or show much emotion, he seemed to enjoy it (even though he had this look to him like he felt awkward). In fact, at one point he grabbed my hand and held it. Nothing huge, but to me it meant that he didn’t dislike or disapprove.

Now, the sermon? It was heart-wrenching. It hit home. We went on Easter Sunday, so it was all about the resurrection. “He is Risen. He is Risen, Indeed!” I’ve read the Bible front-to-back in my younger years, but I think that I just wasn’t into it then. I knew the stories, I could recite scriptures, but I guess I had other things on the brain back then. Who knows. Either way, when Pastor Noah read verses from Luke, it hit me. I wouldn’t have believed. The women who went to tend to Jesus’ body in the tomb ran back to town to say that He had risen. The town people did not believe. They may have even followed Jesus while He was alive, but when He died they changed their minds. Even when those women told them what they had seen, they still didn’t believe. If I was there then, I don’t think I would have believed. And I’m ashamed.

I started to think more about why I wouldn’t have believed, and I keep thinking that I still have doubt today. How could I doubt God? I remember learning when I was younger that even the strongest of men can be swayed by Satan. Is Satan why the “what if” is in my head? I pray all the time, I talk to Jesus and God like they were walking beside me throughout my day, so why would I think “what if?” It’s like I’m saying “I believe in God, I love Jesus, but WHAT IF it’s all made up?”

That brings me to my next point… the movie The Invention of Lying ruined me. I can almost guarantee you that many, many people were slightly doubtful after that movie. I think it’s the reason I have doubt.

Getting back to my point of the sermon. Pastor Noah did a fantastic job. Have you ever noticed how no matter what the sermon is about, it’s always about you? By the end of the service I was crying. And I was relieved. Pastor Noah told me what I needed to hear. And he prayed with us (of course). I have been happy ever since. Seriously. It has been so long since I was truly happy, and I am now.

That being said, I’m hooked. I want to go back every Sunday. And on Wednesday nights they have gospel community so we can talk on a more personal level about what the sermon meant to you. Right now, just typing this out to you, I am getting teary because this is what I have been longing for, for so long. However, I’m trying to hold back. I don’t want to scare Cayla and Brandon with my obsessive need, and I don’t want to scare Gene away from wanting to go back (he’s from a town where church is just church and not fun). How do I squeeze my way into this without scaring people away?

If you’re wondering how Emma did in her hour and twenty minutes of “daycare,” we had to bribe her to leave. She didn’t want to leave with us, and she wanted to stay there with them. Lol. Makes me giggle thinking back to how I was luring her out with goldfish.

We chit-chatted a little bit with Cayla and Brandon (and their kiddos) before we left; Gene ended up having to go to work Easter Sunday so we couldn’t hang out longer. We did get a CD from the church for being a new member (so we can sing along next time, yay!), but I haven’t gotten to listen to it yet because it’s always either Elmo in the CD player, or I’m talking to Mom on the way home from work.

Every day I’ve been wondering when I get to go back. I’m one of those people that gets obsessed and paranoid at the same time. So in my head I’m saying to myself “What if Cayla and Brandon want it to be THEIR church and they were just being nice for the sake of Easter?” Or, “What if Gene isn’t going to want to go back? Am I going to go without him? If he does go, will he ever open up and get into it? Is it weird for him for us to do this together?” Oy. It’s like my brain just won’t stop.

I’ll pray about it, of course, and maybe you can too. :-)

Thanks for checking in… and if you have time, check out AugustGate. You’ll like it!

Jenni

Spring Ramble

It’s funny how a little goes a long way. A little smile can make me just beam inside. A little sniffle can make me worry all day. A little dance makes me want to quit my job and stay home every day. Yes, you’ve guessed it; I’m talking about my Emma. I seem to be infatuated these days. I am beyond happy to have her, and I just can’t get enough! She is now at the stage where she wants me around (granted, it’s ALL THE TIME) and I love that she does! Life is good. :-)

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way…….

Are you as excited for Easter as I am?!?! Not only will Emma really appreciate her Easter basket this year, and actually be able to help dye eggs, but we are going to church Easter morning! It’s a new church, so I’m sure we will all have jitters about it come Sunday, but I haven’t been in so long and I desperately want to get back. So, keep your fingers crossed that we are comfortable there as a family. :-) I’m already daydreaming about vacation Bible school for Emma, and church camp, and Sunday School. Lol. A solid church community is something I think everyone needs. It’s even in the laundry list of “things that will make you happy in life.” I’m excited.

My Mom and I took Emma to Purina Farms last weekend for an Easter event. It was great to see Emma’s reaction to everything! Baby animals to watch and pet, a dog show, sand layering, a wagon ride, etc. It was only a two hour thing for us because we were starving and she was getting tired, but it was great! I’m so glad we went. And I’m so glad that my Mom went with us. I hate to admit this, but I almost like it more when she goes with us instead of Gene. Haha. No offense to Gene, but I don’t think he’d pick up on the cute factor since he’s a male. And that whole morning was cuuuuuuute!

Here are some pictures from that morning:

That same day, but in the afternoon, I took her to The Little Gym for their open house. There was to be balloon animals, face painting, jamberry nails, etc. Well, I’m not sure what happened, but all that we saw was balloon animals. So, we played in the extremely-crowded gym for about ten minutes, and then we waited in line for 40 minutes for a balloon animal that turned out to just be a balloon shaker/rattle because she was done at 5 and our 40 minute wait took us to 5:20. Emma did get a cookie and lemonade on top of a goodie bag, so all wasn’t lost. :-) It was a good time. I may have even stopped for a tropical snocone on the way home for us to share. Mommy-and-me time to the fullest. By the way, I learned while we were at the gym that Miss Emma can now do flips on the bars with a little help. She’s obsessed with it too. My big girl.

I’m actually contemplating not renewing Emma at the Little Gym for the summer. The hours don’t work well for us since my Mom goes on Days, and Gene isn’t the greatest at handling her by himself, so I’m just not sure if I should or not. The only reason I’m still on the fence about it instead of just saying no, is simply because she absolutely loves it. It’s hard to tell your baby “no” when they get such innocent joy from it.  

I’m already behind on Emma’s birthday party. Haha. I know it’s not until July, but I’m so paranoid about picking the wrong venue that I just keep putting it off. Sky Zone would be fun, but for $400, is it really worth it at 2 years old? The Little Gym is a possibility, but also $200. Jaycee park is only $50 and would be great since it has a splash pad, but we’d be against the odds with Mother Nature (not to mention they’re booked already). So now I’m thinking our only options are at my house or my parents house, or The Little Gym. Ugh. I can’t decide.

Emma’s vocabulary is intense. She has full conversations now and it’s delightful and sad at the same time. How did she get so smart?!?! Where did my baby go?!?! Just this morning she kept on about how Pawpaw was asleep, and she wanted him to wake up, but since Gramma won’t let her she will play with his hat instead. Seriously?!?!?! It was more like “Momma! Momma! Pawpaw’s seepin, Emma wake, Gramma says no-no, Emma play Pawpaw’s hat too.” But still, a whole scenario all played out by Emma. It’s insane. She also counts to twelve now (that’s how high Sesame Street usually goes) and knows lots of letters (not in order though).

Oh, yeah. With her new knowledge comes a new phase. The “scared” phase. So, going back to the beginning… The bad Momma that I am, I vacuumed while Emma was home. I had no idea it panicked her so much, so when I was done with my one minute vacuum job I found her cowering in a corner of the dining room screaming and crying so hard that her shirt was soaked. In. One. Minute… Soaked! I was able to calm her down and I thought everything was okay, but that night she had a dream about the vacuum (I’m assuming) and it was non-stop blood-curdling screaming like she was dying for close to 10 minutes. It was bad. Really bad. We’ve had bedtime issues since, and now she understands the word “scared.” So, anytime she’s remotely scared or nervous, she cries and says she’s scared. When we rode the wagon, when we walked to the car, when we left Gramma and Pawpaws, when she doesn’t want to go to bed at night, and when Thomas the Train (toy) moves. Is this a phase that will pass? Is anyone else’s child dealing with this? Are there any tricks? I’ve tried a lot of talking and hand-holding, but it only goes so far. I scarred her for life with the vacuum!

For a bit of adult talk, granted I’m not sure if I should be talking about this publicly - some of you know this already, and some of you don’t… As of April 1^st I took over a new role at Crown Vision Center (full-time). I am now the Product Assistant (previously the Managed Care Administrator). I went from handling insurance matrixes, training stores on submission, answering help-desk calls, etc., to ordering and transferring product, meeting with vendors to pick product, etc. Do I like it? Yes. Let me rephrase that… YES!!!!! I no longer have the stiff neck and shoulders from the stress of being unhappy and I have a bit more freedom (which is hard to adjust to). I enjoy it a lot. However, with the enjoyment comes a lot more work. I work longer hours (which in all honesty I wanted fewer hours), I don’t take breaks like I used to, I sometimes eat at my desk, and I don’t get to make small talk “at the water cooler” anymore. But, I guess you have to take the bad with the good, right? It’s definitely a keeper.

With spring here (although you can’t really tell right now) I keep getting the urge to do things like fishing, camping, etc. None of which Gene has the slightest interest in. I’d go fishing by myself sometime, but I can’t take the fish off the hook. I’m too scared of getting “finned.” And he would probably go camping with some coaxing, but he’s not the manly type so I don’t think he’d be much help with putting up the tent or fire-building. It’s hard to do one-off things like that when your husband doesn’t care for the outdoors unless he’s at a baseball game. :-/

Speaking of baseball games, we haven’t been to a single one yet. I know, it’s nuts! If you know us, you’ll know that we are huge baseball fans (Gene more than me obviously). This year though, we didn’t buy our 10-game pack so we missed out on the Home Opener. In fact, we didn’t even watch the game. I took off work for Gene and I to go downtown, but it rained so I played with Em in the morning, Gene and I met Holli and Russ for drinks at the start of the game, but we left in the 2^nd inning to run errands and go pick up Emma. Am I upset? No. I had a great extra day with Emma! I also haven’t watched any part of a game since. Crazy, right? However, I am craving Busch Stadium and my Cardinals, so I need to go soon.

Back to spring though, the Farmer’s Markets are opening up. We stopped by one on Sunday, but because we already had plenty of food we didn’t buy much. If you know me, I’m a diehard Schnucks shopper, so I buy all fruits and veggies there. However, I’m going to try my hardest to buy from the locals because while I want to support my hubs and the company he works for, I also want to support our communities. I want to go down to the Soulard Farmers’ Market soon too. I keep seeing my Aunt Vicki post that she’s going, so I may just have to invite myself!

We did attempt to do something fun last night… we went to “Food Trucks in the Park.” It was cold. Haha. It was at Frontier Park in St. Charles, and it wasn’t as crowded (which we were hoping for) so we were super stoked, until it kept getting colder and colder. After two trucks we decided it was time to go. We got some cupcakes and went home to finish our food. Did you know that I want to own a food truck? I already have it all planned out in my head what I want it to be, but I stink at cooking and it’s a lot of work starting something like that. Not to mention that I have no idea if it’s even worth my time profit-wise. I guess it’ll have to stay a dream.

So that’s just some of the stuff that’s been going on. As you can probably tell from my jumbled mess of a post, this took me three days to complete. I just don’t seem to have the time to blog right now. I really need to get a better schedule going and give up some of my sleep time because I can’t seem to get much done. Who am I kidding though, I love my sleep. More wishful thinking I guess.

TTYL!!!

Too Busy to Blog - The Gist of My Current Life

Seriously guys, I have been so busy that I completely forgot about blogging. I know, how could that be?!?! Well, I know everyone has been busy lately, but let me just tell you that my busy schedule was doubled and my “busy-ness” is to the extreme. Side note - I wish I lived in Italy where it is okay to go slow and take time to enjoy the world and life happening around you!

For those of you that don’t know, I got a new job! Same company, but sometime around the beginning of February I became the Product Assistant; my previous title being Managed Care Administrator. Major shift! I haven't a clue what I'm doing in the product world. Lol. While I don’t have the time for a detailed post about it (like I would have liked), I did want to say a few things about what life is like for me right now.

As of right now there is no replacement for my old position. Whether they refill it or not is up in the air and I’m sure there’s a grand plan for it all, but as of right now there isn’t anyone. Well a few of my old responsibilities are not able to sit idle, and for the time being I am still doing those. So my weeks are split in half between the jobs (temporarily). On top of that, a friend/co-worker went on maternity leave just a couple weeks after I took my new position. She had a boy! He's so precious too. Anyway, while she is not in the Managed Care department, she did something that I am familiar with, so therefore while she is out I need to do parts of her job as well.

The stress is getting to me. My neck, shoulders and back are all feeling the pain and I am now seeing two different chiropractors until I can determine which one is better suited to fix me. I went to the doctor last week for pains and headaches – I need to have blood work done for him, but when am I going to fit that in?!?! I’ve had to cancel and reschedule appointments for doctors left and right because I just don’t have the time. I also need to get in to see the dentist because I broke a filling and I think I need a root canal (on top of my bi-annual cleaning). It’s seemingly too difficult for me to get in to fix my ailments though, so I guess I’ll hold off on that.

This past weekend I had the flu (I’m thinking that my tired and stressed out body was too weak to fend it off). Friday I went home from work sick. By the time I got home, my fever had spiked and I had some serious chills. I was delirious. It lasted for three days. By the end of the day Sunday, I couldn’t tell you what was real and what was in my head. Even Monday was foggy. I went back to work and it was like I was in a haze. I actually was clear-headed at the time, but like the weekend, I couldn’t tell you much of what happened that day. Clear-headed as I was though, I left early to go get a strep test, and sure enough I had strep throat. I took off Tuesday so I didn’t get anyone else sick. Thank goodness for antibiotics though because I had also developed a slight sinus infection and a bladder infection as well, and everything is slowly going away.

Anyway, I’m basically covering 2.5 positions at the moment, my hours are a bit longer, and by the time I get home from work I am beyond exhausted. I am jam packed on the weekends, and if you add in the flu this past weekend, I really don’t have any time to spare. I have gone to the grocery store maybe once since the beginning of February. I made my first Target trip last night. I send Gene to pick up random things we need when he leaves work. We get take-out way too much.

I’m spent. I’ve had no time for blogging. My home life is so routine now. I go home, we do dinner (whatever it may be), we play with Emma and do chores, we do Emma’s bedtime, then I sit on the couch to rest and fall asleep within 15 minutes. I mean, I’m fine with routine and all, but I can’t seem to fit anything else in. Not with this cold weather anyway.

To vent a second about my sleep, since I mentioned I fall asleep right after Emma does... I sleep about nine hours every night, but when I wake it’s like I slept three. I’m tired all day. Why? Do I need a new bed? Is my neck causing me to wake? I’ve tried to set my alarm to be up at 5am, but I’m miserable. I tried to stay up later and only get 6 hours of sleep, 7 hours, 8 hours… none are enough. The only time that I can honestly say I was okay with my sleep schedule since having Emma, was from the time she was about one month, until she was between eight and nine months. In that time frame I would wake in the middle of the night a couple times to feed her and put her back to sleep. I’d get about 6 hours of sleep a night and felt great. It was interrupted, it wasn’t sound sleep, but I felt great the entire day. I just have no idea why I am so tired all the time now. It’s frustrating.

Well, that’s the gist of my life right now. You know, besides the little details. :-)

I’m looking forward to warmer weather. For Emma to play in the back yard; to get outside and let her explore the world. I’m anxious for BBQs and pool time. I think we might even take a vacation this year. Each spring I am filled with endless thoughts of possibilities for the summer. Having a child is the most fun and rewarding thing ever. I can’t wait to see what she learns, what she does, her reactions, etc.

I’m also looking forward to the little things. My friend Liz is having her second child soon and I can’t wait to meet him. My friend Alyssa and I already have plans set this month and I’m sure we will have tons more with the kiddos when the weather cooperates. I turn 30 at the end of this month so there will be festivities. Gene and I are going to the Lake next weekend for a short getaway (Spring Break).

Life is busy, but it’s exciting. I just hope I can keep up!

Five on Friday - 1/24/14

FIVE on Friday

*ONE*

So Wednesday morning I’m sitting down watching Emma flip through a Little Einstein search and find type book, when out of nowhere she says “six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” Yeah. Seriously. My jaw dropped and I got teary-eyed and I said “Oh my gosh how do you know that?” Turns out my Dad and her say numbers one through ten all the time. I don’t know if she really knows about counting, but she knows those. However, when we count our itty-bitty chocolates (her treat for cutting her nails) she skips the number two.

*TWO*

We went to Sesame Street Live on Sunday. So exciting! She enjoyed the majority of it. After intermission (when we got her a balloon) she lost her full focus on it and she spent the second half up and down, playing with anything she could get her hands on. Lol. It’s okay though. We paid extra to be in the fifth row, and at the Peabody if you’re over one you have to have your own seat, so she had plenty of room to move and she got to see Elmo up-close-and-personal.

*THREE*

After Sesame Street Live, Emma had a birthday party to go to for her friend Lorelei. It was a Minnie Mouse theme and Lorelei’s Mommy (Rachel) is a very crafty person so it was so amazing to see all the decorations and such. Anyway, Em decided to skip her nap that was supposed to take place in the car before SSL, and she didn’t nap afterwards, so my baby girl went all the way until bedtime without a nap. Wow. I’m sure you know where I was between 1 and 2:30am. Yep, in her room on the floor trying to get her to go back to sleep. Bad naps really do equal bad sleep at night. I really hope that we don’t have to do that again because Momma likes her sleep… especially on a work night.

*FOUR*

I’m getting super excited for everything Valentine’s Day. I have no idea why I get like this every year. I guess I like hearts. Hahaha. I even get all emotional. Well, I think the combination of upcoming Valentine’s Day and the start of the New Year is what makes me so emotional. Just the fresh start and possibilities… think about it! So exciting. J

*FIVE*

I really, really, really need to go shopping for new work clothes. I have some gift cards that I got for Christmas, I just haven’t had the time to use them. I used half of my JCP one on two pairs of work pants and a shirt, and I love the pants. Every time I wear them I think about how I want to go find some more. Ugh. I just can’t take Emma because she wants to walk and run around, and I hate to give up my time with her because I get so little in the first place. It’s a lose-lose. Booooo.

Five on Friday - 1/17/2014

Five on Friday!!!

ONE

My most exciting of the five has to be listed first of course. J Something good is happening. J I can’t tell you yet. Sorry. But it’s coming.

TWO

I’m obsessed with my daughter. I feel like I spend hardly any time with her at all. On average, I get Monday through Friday nights from 5:45pm until 8:30pm when she’s sound asleep in bed, I get Monday through Friday mornings from roughly 6:30am until 8:00am when I drop her off, and I get her all day Saturday and Sunday. That may sound like enough time to you, but in Mommy world, it’s close to nothing. It does make me cherish the weekends, but she’s only this small once, right? So, if I unexpectedly miss out on my time with her breaks my heart. I cry. Seriously, I cry. I cried last night talking to Gene about mere possibilities, at the thought of missing out on our time.

THREE

You’ve heard people say that a child puts a damper on some marriages. It’s true. I see my Mom friends and their husbands doing awesome things together, or having more babies, or even just having deep conversations, etc. Gene and I aren’t like that. We get one date night a month (where I’m mostly talking about Emma, see number TWO above), and other than that we don’t have any real adult time. After Emma goes to bed we do our separate things before we head off to bed because that’s the time we have to do them (I’m sure he doesn’t care to watch me pluck my eyebrows, lol). He goes to work 30 minutes before I even get up. He works Saturdays, and we do family things on Sundays. There is no time for us. And then when we magically do have time for us, we have nothing to talk about. Isn’t that awful? Our silence gets broken by one of us merely saying “I love Emma,” then we talk about her for another ten minutes or so until we go off to do our own things or go to bed out of boredom.

We’ve acknowledged the fact that we are in a rut… that we have nothing to talk about… that we don’t even really enjoy the same things to do in our spare time. Has anything changed? No. It’s hard to change when you have a good, consistent, functioning family life at home. Emma is in a routine. She pretty much knows what is expected each night. It’s hard to rattle that schedule to get in more adult time (I hate using the phrase “adult time” because it sounds like I’m talking about dirty stuff, but I’m really just talking about adult conversations and time to do things together). One date night is hardly enough for us, yet I hate to even give up my Emma time for the one night. It’s a lose-lose. How is a working Mom still supposed to have a life? I feel bad even saying that, but I don’t see any of my non-mom friends, I don’t have stress-relieving nights out. I don’t usually mind, but it takes its toll.

But am I willing to give up my Emma [time] for my sanity?

FOUR

It is awards show season. I love January! I love watching red carpets, and the shows themselves. I love seeing the after party pictures, and “who wore it better.” I always said that I was meant to be a celebrity (ha!). However, so far this year all I have gotten in is part of the Golden Globes, and that was just by luck because Emma hadn’t realized yet that “monkey’s gone.” The SAG awards are coming up and I do love those; 45 second speeches are the best. And I like that it’s actors voting for actors because then it’s not all about the favorites. Also, the Oscars are coming the beginning of March I think, so I really need to get to watching the movies nominated.

FIVE

I plan on us putting our house on the market in the Spring. It is so close, yet I have absolutely no motivation to get going on the projects that I have in mind. Ugh. Everything is truly so much harder with a child! As much as I hate painting, I’d do it this weekend with my mom, if it wasn’t for the fact that there is nobody to watch Emma. I have so much that I want to order to help with organization and simplification, but with a toddler, how organized can you really be? For each idea, comes a reason why it just won’t work. I need to get out of that mindset and just do it already. Oy vay!

Love the Five on Friday posts? Check out some friends (Liz and Megan) who post them too!

One and a Half!!!

Here we are. Emma is one and a half years old. It’s been a long journey that flew by too fast.

In the last three months (since her 15mos post) we’ve battled a pretty good head cold, roseola, molars and typical growing pains. Speaking of growing pains, while Emma is still at 30 pounds (30.2 to be exact), she’s now up to 34 inches in height!!!! She’s almost three feet tall! Oh, where did my baby go?

While yesterday marked Emma’s official 18 month birthday, today was her 18 month check-up. Nothing exciting by any means (we even had to skip shots because we were a few days shy of insurance covering it), but I did have my top five questions to ask.

Side Note – my Mom took Emma today instead of me. I had an important engagement at work.

Important Questions/Concerns:

She is coughing a lot. Dry coughing (for up to 5 minutes) in the middle of the night, and wet coughing during the day with lots of phlegm sounds all day.  *We are using the humidifier at night.

... Dr. said not to be alarmed since it’s just because she had a cold. It can take weeks for a toddler’s throat and sinuses to clear because they do not know how to help it along.

Is there such a thing as too much milk, and what is a good amount for her to have in one day? *I think she gets 24oz a day on average (maybe more here and there).

... Dr. said to limit milk to 16 ounces a day. She can have greek yogurt each day as well if I need to use it for a dessert.

What are your thoughts on a pillow in bed?

... No pillow in bed because it just gives her one more thing to bury her face in. Infants do not need leverage at this time because they sleep on their back or stomach (rarely on their side).

Is there anything else to help dry skin – Fish oil? Cod liver oil? Olive oil? *I don’t care for oil on skin.

... Limit baths to twice a week (unless a dire need) because their skin is so sensitive (even in summer time). Limit play time in the bath to about 5 minutes. No bubble bath or oatmeal treatments. Only use Dove bar soap. Lotion entire body with a calming lotion (no scent) right after bath and as needed. Put A&D or Desitin, on top of lotion, on red patchy spots (like behind knees).

Is it a good time to start potty-training? *She understands what pee means (maybe poo), but the times we try to get her to “practice” to use it she just wants to play with the potty instead of sit on it.

... Only begin potty training when she says she’s ready. If you ask her if she wants to go on the potty and she says yes, then she’s ready. Do not use a small plastic potty (this may be just in some cases because he referred to her height). A girl needs to sit facing backwards on the big toilet to get used to peeing with her legs apart. If her legs are together the pee goes where it shouldn’t and the ammonia will start to burn them. Allow them to play with the handle and the things that may be on the back of the toilet. Don’t try to force them to train too early, and don’t rush them once they do sit on it.

I hate to say it for the world to see, but I would much rather my Mom take Emma to the doctor instead of Gene. I know, bad wife to say such a thing. But, you have to admit that women ask more questions and remember the answers. My Mom rattled off the answers to all of those questions in less than three minutes. J

I would absolutely love to be able to take Emma in more often than every three months, just so I can ask all my questions. Or I wish I could email her doctor any old time to ask them. Haha. In a perfect world, right?

All-in-all Emma is right on track for 18 months. Oh! And he did sing her praises for her extensive vocabulary. Mom said that Emma just loved Dr. Murphy’s computer because he had Elmo on it.

While it’s sad that she’s growing up so fast, it’s also so exciting to see all the new things she comes up with.

I love my Emma!!!