Being a Mother Is.... fun, scary, the best thing in the world, awesome!!!!

Being a mother is......

• enjoying every first! Cooing, feeding, yawns, smiles, laughter, crawling, walking, talking....each new word makes you full of excitement! 
• watching your child dance for the first time (bending at the knees and bouncing) and when your child, if a girl, twirls like a ballerina for the first time. Admire them.
• watching your daughter priss around in your dress and heels and being surprised at how well she can walk in 3-5 inch heels. 
• enjoying every sweet kiss and hug.
• the funny things they say even the embarrassing things. 
• the first haircut and the tear you shed.
• the joy they get from a new toy, a fun game they play, rides they are finally big enough for.
• cuddle time.
• the bedtime stories you read and all the questions you get with it.
• the songs you make up for them to make them laugh or soothe them.
• dancing like an idiot to make them happy.
• playing Barbies or army men with them because it's what THEY like. 
• watching Barney for the millionth time because it's their favorite. 
• comforting them when they cry and knowing when to not do it because you've just punished them for doing wrong. 
• teaching them to be tough when they really aren't hurt. 
• knowing what each cry means whether it be as a baby...hunger, sleepy, just wanting to be held to an older child knowing when they are REALLY hurt or really sad compared to just crying to get attention. 
• knowing that it's your child that says 'MOMMY!' in a crowd of 20 children. You just KNOW. 
• leaving your child for the first time with someone else. Watching them cry as you leave. That's the worst feeling! 
• knowing your child is sick but there's not much you can do to help them. 
• punishing your child when it's needed. Not easy but has to be done. 
• not being able to eat a warm meal....EVER! 
• hearing MOMMY 50 million times a day. Yes, it's a beautiful sound but it can run you ragged too. 
• washing the same clothes over and over because somehow they manage to make their way out of the dresser or closet, onto the floor and you don't remember if it was actually worn or not. 
• knowing what your child's 'poo' looks like and when it's just not normal! 
• being extra cautious with your first child because you don't know what to expect or how to do anything. Even though you've always been around babies, it's different and more intimidating when it's your own. 
• knowing when to take other people's advice or when to just listen and still do your own thing. Your child will let you know what works. 
• learning the hard way how to do things. 
• hearing your child say they hate you because you are being 'mean'. 
• having play dates just so you can get out of the house and the kid(s) can be entertained and you can get your sanity back. :) 
• knowing every freckle, scar, bump, bruise, and scrape on your child's body. 
• panicking when your child just ran into the corner of the table, dresser or anything else they hit and you just KNOW they are hurt. You just wonder how bad. ER trip? Hope not. 
• the first time your child needs stitches. For me it was around 9 months old. Talk about freaking out!!! I was so scared, my neighbor had to drive me to the ER and she drove 40 miles an hour. Really! Did she not see the panic!? :) Luckily they did the glue stitches (Dermabond) but that wasn't fun at all and it wasn't fun when everyone kept asking me what happened. Looked like I beat my child. It was right on her eyebrow. 
• the moment when you don't know what to say because you are that shocked/amused/embarrassed by what your child just said or asked. 
• the moment when you realize how smart your child is....beyond her age.
• coming to the realization that your child is growing up way to fast and you don't know how she isn't still a baby. 
• the moment when you have tried every form of punishment you can think of and your child still hasn't learned. 
• when you cry because you've had it up to 'here' (picture your hand above my head) and you just need to lock yourself in your room and cry it out...breathe and start over. 
• when you feel guilty because you need 'me' time. Trust me, you need it to be a better mother/wife. If you are rested and happy, your child will sense it. 

There are so many more of these. I'm sorry it was all over the place but that's life as a mommy anyway. You think in randomness - I do anyway - and your thoughts are scattered. Somehow you manage to get things done and survive the day as do your children! I love being a mommy. The good, the bad, and the ugly all matter in life. We learn from all of them. Enjoy the good, get past the bad and the ugly. Enjoy your kids! They grow up way to fast! 

One day old May 10, 2008

Almost 5 yrs old. Boy how she's changed!

John 16:21

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

20 Random Interesting/Odd Facts about Me

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd share a few interesting and fun facts about me. Some of these things you may know and some you may be surprised by. :) ENJOY!


1. My great-great-grandfather helped design the Seattle Space Needle.

2. My great-great-grandmothers on both sides of my family are 100% Native American. Hard to believe considering how white I am. Haha! I also have German, Irish, English and Polish. I think those genes took over! You could tell that my dad was part Indian because when he was tan, he was red. I'm pretty sure that I'm part Cherokee and part Choctaw. You can tell my mom is part Indian because her hair is so dark, it's almost black. 

3. Growing up, I had 4 sets of grandparents (both sets of grandparents remarried) and I got to meet and know my great-grandparents. 

4. In 8th grade, I had Scarlet Fever! If you ever tell me that you have strep or you THINK you or your child might, don't be offended when I quickly back away! It is caused by strep. My sister was a carrier and we didn't know it. I will remember that week for the rest of my life. I didn't eat at all and barely drank anything for 7 days. 

5. At the age of 12, I was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I bet you didn't see that one coming! Yep! It's true!

6. I have moved more in my adult life more than most people do in a LIFETIME! Thanks KCS Railroad! Though I am very happy where I am right now and it has been nice seeing and living in new places. I've met a lot of great people along the way. 

7. The day Lance offered me his phone number as he said "If anything ever happens with you and your b/f, call me", that night, my then boyfriend broke up with me with this statement (after he had belittled me for buying a like-new car) .... Let me start over so it makes sense....As he was putting me down, I told him that my mother had low self esteem because my father talked to her that way sometimes and this is what he said....'If you think I'm going to turn you into your mother, then we might as well break up now.' Yeah. Idiot. He came begging back the next day saying he was joking. Um. I don't think so. It wasn't a joke to me. Well, now the joke is on HIM!! Anyway, FATE had it's way that day. So glad I met the love of my life ! Funny how life works. God had a plan.

8. I have OCD tendencies. :) I'm not a perfectionist but I like things to look pretty and correct. I hair or fuzz on someone shirt, tag sticking out, one sleeve edge folded up, drives me nuts !!!!! If you look in my towel cabinet, they are all folded exactly the same and they look nice and presentable. Even my wash cloths are all facing the same direction. Just the other day, I put a spice back in the spice cabinet and immediately opened it back up to turn the label to the front. Yeah. I'm OCD. Ask my siblings. :) If I'm counting something, it bothers me when it lands on an odd number. Ok. Now I just sound weird. It's true though. 

9. After biting my nails most of my life, I've finally broken the habit!! Mostly! Haha! I finally have long nails. I've never been able to say that. 

10. I have a Medical Transcription certificate that I haven't been able to use because when I finished my courses, all the companies I could apply for required 2-5 yrs experience. What the heck!! 

11. I love surgery/hospital/emergency shows! It sort of makes sense now. When I was in middle school and high school, my 3 siblings and I had one night per week that we could choose what we wanted to watch that night. I think my day was Tuesday and I chose it because that's when Rescue 911 came on. That was my favorite show!!! I loved it! 

12. I've had 4 boyfriends, 3 of those were long lasting relationships. One was 3 yrs (my first love), one 2 yrs and the last and final one is about 9 yrs together so far!

13. I want to be spontaneous but I'm not. I like to have a plan. I think I need a push to be spontaneous. It's not that I WON'T do anything spontaneous, I'm just cautious. 

14. I'm actually very shy. If I feel comfortable with someone, I open up pretty quickly but a lot of times, I sit there quietly because I don't know what to say or I'm nervous and uncomfortable. This is usually in crowds of more than just one on one. 

15. I've NEVER had a speeding ticket !!! The only ticket I've ever had was because my inspection sticker was expired (by a few days) and I didn't realize it. It was dropped so I guess technically that one doesn't count. :) Right?

16. Though I've never had a wreck where I was driving (thank the LORD!), I have been in a few wrecks though. My first one that I remember....I was with my mom and siblings and I was sitting in the front seat. We were going down a quiet road behind an 18 wheeler when all of a sudden, the truck starting backing up towards us. My mom started backing up as well and backed into a gravel drive to get out of his way. Apparently, that's where the truck was going too because he backed right into us and onto the hood of the car. My mom had nowhere to go. Scary moment!!!! As she's laying on the horn, he has no clue he's hitting us. He finally stopped because he blew a tire. Needless to say, he lost is license. I was in another accident when I was in middle school. My mom's power steering went out in a curve and we hit another car. We were all fine luckily. 

17. I've had 2 broken bones in my lifetime. My pinky toe (Thanks NICKI!).....and my tailbone which was broken because I was pushed almost off of my own trampoline, hitting my tailbone in the process. I have permanent issues with that one. Nothing I can't handle though. I've had only one surgery in my lifetime and it was from having Kiya. OUCH! 

18. When I was a child, my arm constantly dislocated itself at the elbow. 

19. I'm a southpaw. 

20. At the age of 16 or 17, I found out that I am allergic to egg whites and shellfish. Someone might need to know this one day. Certain medications have these in them. Also allergic to penicillin. 

Life as a Railroad Wife

As a railroad wife, I have learned to never plan any family events more than a day in advance. Even then, things can change. When my husband and I first started dating, he was already working for the railroad as a Conductor. He had a set schedule though. He worked 4 pm-4 am and was off a couple days each week. After we were together about 1 1/2 yrs they mentioned that he may have to be transferred to another location for 6 months to a year. We were asked where we would like to go (out of 6 locations) and we chose Corpus Christi, TX. Four days before Christmas, we were told that he had to be there and report on duty the day after Christmas. SO....they gave us 5 days notice to move!!! That should have been a warning sign there. So I mentioned they said 6 months to a year. Well, 7 yrs later, we are still in TX. We aren't in Corpus Christi anymore though so I guess technically they didn't LIE. While in Corpus Christi, we married. Just to clear that up. :) After those 9 months we lived in the Houston area where we actually were able to stay for a couple of years.

Since being married, my husband bounced back and forth between two locations for 9 months, leaving my daughter and I behind until his location was set. That was tough for all of us. Kiya and I ended up going to MS with our families until he had a permanent location. For 7 months, we lived in two different states. He missed out on hearing her learn to say more and more words and boy was she growing fast. We saw each other once a month during those months. Finally, we moved to Laredo, TX with him. It is the border of Mexico and not a safe area so we stayed away from there as long as we could. After being there with him for 5 weeks, back to Corpus Christi we went for another 9 months. Then, after those months, he was transferred to the Houston area. Geez! Are you confused yet? Me too and I lived it!!! 

Now that we are here settled in a small town outside of Houston, we love it!! We are really hoping to be settled now and that we won't be moved somewhere else. The chance is slim to none so we'll see! Now the things we deal with are him being stuck in a hotel for hours on end and barely being home sometimes. I do really like though that there are those occasions where he is home for a few days in a row. It's just hard with him being on call 24/7 and almost 365 days/year. The only time he isn't on call is when he is on vacation 3 weeks out of the year. Those weeks are nice!! We have no way of making plans when he isn't on vacation. He has a 2 hr call and it takes him almost an hour to get to work so really no way to go do anything more than a few minutes away from home. Though it's a stressful job for the whole family, I am happy that he works for the railroad because we have great benefits and pay. It allows me to be able to stay home with our daughter and I appreciate it so much!!!  I really don't know how military wives do it. It's got to be SUPER tough to be away from your husband for so long and raising kids alone.

Sorry this blog was more complaining than anything. Thanks for reading! 

Wow I'm behind on my blog! I try to blog about whatever comes to mind that I think will make a good blog. I haven't had that ah-ha moment recently. I've pretty much just been truckin' along in daily life. We all get busy with our own things going on. That's what makes life enjoyable....being busy but enjoying life as well. 

The past 2 weeks have been fairly busy. We celebrated Easter with some awesome friends, our old neighbors. They were so sweet to invite us to the celebration. They are like parents to us and we just love them. We brought food, ate lunch, chatted with some new friends and watched the kids do an egg hunt. It's always so fun and they are very cute. My husband was able to be there so I was very thankful for that. He was called on Easter day though before church so he couldn't join us for that. I enjoyed that service so much! Jesus paid the ultimate price for us and then rose from the grave! What an amazing God we serve!! 

After Easter was over, things slowed down a little. It was back to normal daily routines. In a typical week, we pretty much do the same thing on set days. Mondays are Bible study for me and school and ballet for my daughter Kiya. Throughout the week, I also attend Zumba or get out and run. Thursdays are Zumba and Bible study or MOPS. I'm going to be sad when MOPS is over for the semester. :( At least I'll have Bible study for a little while longer. MOPS is a great outlet for me. I get my 'me' time and time with other mommies. It's nice to be able to relate to others and have that fellowship time. It's also nice hearing from speakers and learning a new perspective. 

I realized this week that Kindergarten registration is at the end of this month. YIKES!!! I cannot believe that my daughter will soon be 5 and will be going into Kindergarten in August. My baby is growing way to fast! It amazes me how time flies. :( She can be difficult at times but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She's so sweet and is kindhearted. Every time we go to ballet, she takes flowers for her friends and teachers. She's so thoughtful. She's strong-willed and independent. I know one day she'll be a strong woman. I just hope it doesn't fly by as quickly as the first 5 years has. I'll attach some photos of my sweetie. Most of you know what she looks like but there might be a few people following the blog that don't. 

I know I've rambled in this post but I just typed what came to mind. 

Psalm 118:14-16

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!  The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"