Don't Blink

Call me a little nostalgic... ok perhaps I am a lot nostalgic! Or maybe I'm getting a late case of those postpartum blues I kept hearing about.... Nah I'm way to up beat for anything that has the word "blues" in it. I guess that just leaves me with the final conclusion that you really don't know how fast time flies till you become an adult and watch your own child grow.

Maddie's first birthday is approaching quickly. Which means I have been gathering ideas from Pinterest and channeling my inner Martha Stewart.

Exhibit A: The cute invitations I made. (Minus location... and the fact the pink is purple on here and all the colors are distorted... hmmm whats up with that blogger?)

Also the other night while watching The Walking Dead ( LOVE that show), I was getting pictures together from the past year of Maddie. Looking through them and seeing how fast she has grown still amazes me. Seems like just the other day I was wondering how in the world I would know what to do with a baby. 

Another thing to think about as the 12 month mark approaches is the fact that I need to start trying to wean her from a bottle and gear her more toward getting her fill from table meals. Notice I used the word 'think'. It may sound silly but I'm just not ready for her to stop taking a bottle yet. That's the last little piece of baby that remains in my 1 going on 13 little Maddie. I was talking about this last night with Marine while trying to not sound like a crazy person. I even admitted that I can kinda see why some people breast feed so long...... ok I thought that for about a split second and then changed my mind. It still creeps me out at the thought of breastfeeding a 3 year old. Now breastfeeding advocates don't get up in arms on me at that comment. I believe in breastfeeding and all the positive things that go along with it. I did it for as long as my body would allow, needless to say if I were a milk cow I would have been sent to slaughter after about the first 6 months. 

Wow I'm really all over the place here. 

Tonight as I get Maddie for bed we go through her normal bedtime routine. Then I fix her nighttime bottle. We settle down and I pull the blanket around us and begin to feed her the bottle. She drinks for a minute then pushes it away. I offer it to her again when she adamantly pushes it away again. I wait a minute thinking she will reach for it when she's ready. But she never reaches for it. Instead she starts stretching and squirming the way she does when she wants you to put her in her crib. 

But she hasn't had her bottle. Surely she doesn't want to go to bed without eating her bottle? I offer it to her one more time. She pushes it away slightly harder this time. 

I relent and say her bedtime prayer as I kiss her forehead and lay her down in her crib. She immediately rolls on her stomach and curls up in a ball as I place the blanket over her and she snugly pulls it around her. I hit the button on her music machine, turn off the light and exit her bedroom.

I admit I hovered at the door a minute waiting to see if she would change her mind. 

She didn't. 

Wow. When did our rolls reverse? When did she become the one weaning me? When did that sweet little baby turn into a little girl? 

"Don't Blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink" ~ Kenny Chesney ~

In My Little Corner Of the World

How is it already February?

Maddie has started walking a few weeks ago, 10 months and walking. We are definitely in trouble!

I guess I haven't updated much on what is going on in life in general lately. So let's see if I can play some catch up.

After Maddie was born I went back to work full time.

I hated it.

When I would leave in the morning she would still be asleep. Marine would take her to the sitter, from which I would pick her up around 6:30. By the time we would get home it would be 7 and I would bath her and feed her and it was time for bed. I would try hard to keep her up to play but by 8 / 8:30pm she just couldn't take it.

I did this for a couple of months and then realized it just wasn't worth it. I had gotten a promotion at work and actually liked my job - and was making dang good money. But it wasn't worth it to me. I was missing out on to much.

And Marine, well I was driving him crazy as well as myself.

So we sat down and started crunching numbers and the "what if's" and came to the decision that we could afford for me to stay home with Maddie.

At that decision I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I know how this might sound to some. And I truly empathize with the single working mom's out there. I don't see how they do it. And if I had no other choice I could have kept doing it. Sucked it up and been thankful for the one hour a day I actually got to see her awake.

At that point some drama was going down at work and I knew it wasn't the right time to turn in my notice. I have never left a job on bad terms and they were good to me while I was on maternity leave so I owed them the respect of being fair to them as well. So I waited a week for things to settle down and then sat down to have the conversation with my boss.

It did not go how I had planned.

I really like my boss but.... it's safe to say she is different then anybody else I have ever worked for. She is just a few years older then myself and she lives and breathes work. She has a family also but work is what comes first to her. Also even though her and I had always gotten along, at times she can be a real witch.

I had a feeling when I told her she would be mad and not even let me work the two week notice I was planning to give.

Instead she broke down and started crying on me.

Not what I expected at all!

She offered me more money.

I thanked her but held my stance and declined. She asked if I would consider working part time.

This was not what I was expecting.

Marine's mom had already said she would still like to keep Maddie one day a week. Marine and I had already discussed that on that day I would work at the restaurant. (I did mention Marine opened a restaurant, right?).

I tell my boss about the one day. To my shock she says that if I would want to work part time I still can.

The end result I go into the office one day a week and then work part time from home the rest of the week.

So while Maddie naps I work or after she goes to bed at night. Which doesn't leave much free time for "me stuff" such as blogging or reading. But I am very thankful. It's nice to still have a little of my own money and to still have my foot in the door.

I enjoy spending the days with Maddie. Teaching her things and letting her teach me things as well.

Marine is still going to school using his GI Bill... and working at the restaurant.... and shoeing horses..... cutting lumber (we know own a small sawmill as well) and about a million other things. The man does not know how to slow down and just relax. If you count it that is 3 jobs he works and goes to school. Yet somehow still finds the time to be a wonderful dad and husband. Not sure how he does it all but I love and appreciate him for it!

In other exciting news.... we also just bought our first house! Everything Marine does happens fast it seems. All major life changing decisions anyway. Examples:
   - One day we talked about getting married and the future. A week later he has proposed and we have      
      eloped and gotten married.
   - He decides he wants to go in with his Step-Dad and open a restaurant  Within 3 weeks they had a      
      restaurant up and going.
   - He comes home one day and says he and his Uncle are going to go in together and buy a sawmill. I just
      say, "Okayyyyy......" A few days later he says they are going to look at a sawmill..... and you guessed it.
      We now have a sawmill.

Marine and I weren't really looking for a house. We have kept our eye on the market and since his mom is an agent we sometimes go look at stuff that seems to be a good deal. Three weeks ago Marine calls and says lets go look at a house. I agree and go to town to meet him and his mom.

Needless to say we walked through the house and Marine says, "I think we should make an offer."

Its an older home and needs some work but all work that Marine can do himself. Plus it is perfect for us in every way.

It's close to my mom - since my dad passed away I admit I don't want to live to far from her. She needs help with the horses and farm and Marine and I want to be close by to help.

It has 6 acres, and a pasture already fenced in. A perfect clearing to build a barn and a big open back yard for Maddie to have a swing set. Plus there is a peaceful little stream flowing through.

It seemed to good to be true.

Within an hour we had put in an offer.

The next day we heard a response that the offer had been accepted.

We close on the house tomorrow.

I'm so excited! It's going to take some work and we don't plan on moving into it for probably another 6 months. But it will be fun painting and working on it together.

I'll be honest it's all happened so fast I haven't even told any of my friends about it, other then Vixen and Giggles. I've almost been afraid to say anything for fear the deal will then fall through.

I'll post pics soon. I definitely want to track the before and afters!

Ross: We think Chandler might be having an affair.

Monica: What?

Rachel: Phoebe and I saw Chandler with a blonde woman today outside on the street and then we followed them to a house in Westchester.

Phoebe: They went in together. So sorry.

Monica: Oh, my God! Oh, my God that's awful! What did you think of the house?

Phoebe: What?

Joey: Monica, you understand what we are saying, right?

Monica: Yeah, sure... Hum, I'm devastated, obviously... (Turning to Phoebe and Rachel) Did you think the neighborhood was homey?

~ Friends ~